Field Trips Always End Terribly

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/29114745.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: Gen
Fandom: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero
Academia
Relationship: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku &
Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Akaguro Chizome | Stain &
Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku & Sensei | All For One, Midoriya Izuku &
Shinsou Hitoshi, Eri & Midoriya Izuku
Character: Midoriya Izuku, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Aizawa Shouta |
Eraserhead, Kurogiri (My Hero Academia), Yagi Toshinori | All Might,
Sensei | All For One, Todoroki Shouto, Uraraka Ochako, Iida Tenya,
Shinsou Hitoshi, Akaguro Chizome | Stain, Bakugou Katsuki, Toga
Himiko, Hikiishi Kenji | Magne, Iguchi Shuuichi | Spinner, Dabi (My Hero
Academia), Sasaki Mirai | Sir Nighteye, Toogata Mirio, Hadou Nejire,
Amajiki Tamaki, Awata Kaoruko | Bubble Girl, Eri (My Hero Academia),
Chisaki Kai | Overhaul, Shie Hassaikai | Eight Precepts of Death, Sako
Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress
Additional Tags: first chapter is my last work in knife week, btu this is now a multichapter
story, Midoriya Izuku Has a Knife, Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, for now,
Possessive Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Kidnapped Midoriya
Izuku, shiggy said "oh look a rogue" and took him, Sensei | All For One
is Not Midoriya Hisashi, ...probably, USJ arc, Manipulation,
Brainwashing, to a degree, Uraraka Ochako Has One for All Quirk,
Sensei | All For One Being an Asshole, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk,
Trauma, Traumatized Midoriya Izuku, which is valid, Midoriya Izuku
Swears, as is right, he deserves it, Protective Shigaraki Tomura |
Shimura Tenko, Protective League of Villains (My Hero Academia),
honestly at this point, Protective Everyone, Overhaul Arc (My Hero
Academia), Dabi is Todoroki Touya, Kurogiri is Shirakumo Oboro,
League of Villains as Family (My Hero Academia), Reformed League of
Villains, Vigilante League of Villains (My Hero Academia), or better,
you'll see - Freeform
Language: English
Collections: Knife Week, Sven's Absolute Top Fics, DerangedDeceiver's Favorite
Fics, Ace's Favorite FIcs, MHAfavorites, bnha fics <3, Just sum of ma
fav broccoli boi fic, Quirkless, Bnha Bookclub Discord Recs, I will die
and rise again just to read it one more time, The Hall™, Favs mesmo,
Favorites, Axolotl Mutants Favorites Collection, My Favorite My Hero
Fics, gothelixar recs, The Essence of Perfection, A Picky Vest's
Favorites, My Hero Academia Stories, Worth It BNHA Fanfics -
Completed, °.•*:.↫ ♡♡↬.:*•.°, My Favourite
Bnha stories to read, BNHA_gives_me_life, eat this, great fics from all
fandoms :), pain centre, Fckin Great MHA Fics, the bnha icebin ,
Quality Gen Fics, My Personal Collection of Best BNHA fics, some of
my fav reads, BEST BOI IZUKU_top BNHA works, Quality Fics, mha
fanfic that waters my crops, good shit, Dadzawa fics that keep me
alive , Whole Ass Novels, BnHA FFS, To Read, Wan Shi Tong's
Library , FreakingAmazingFics, Bnha fics that give me a reason to
live™ <3, JNW1'S favourite MHA/BNHA fics, Everyday873
 Stats: Published: 2021-01-31 Completed: 2021-04-03 Chapters: 25/25 Words:
69098

Field Trips Always End Terribly

by Itslivybear

Summary

Field trips have never been great for Midoriya Izuku, but when the trip to the USJ takes a
turn for the worst, it probably takes the cake for the worst field trip he's ever been on
(which is saying something, he got left behind once when he was 6 and that was a
nightmare and a half).

He has to navigate the League of Villains and get out with all his limbs, keeping Shigaraki
Tomura from getting mad, and if he's careful, he might swing a quirk out of it.

Aizawa Shouta, meanwhile, is at a loss as to how to get his kid back. His quirkless student
has a lot of knives and a lot of heart, but they have no leads as to where the League could
have taken him, and as soon as some heroes hear "quirkless," they write him off.

Notes

SO yes, this is a continuation of the Knife Week Fic I posted earlier, "Are You SURE He
Doesn't Have a Quirk?"

I did some minor edits to add in a few more details since I need to like, not be vague in this
and actually have a coherent plot (ugh, amiright?) but here is the start of my first actual
multichapter thing I really hope I don't fuck it up like I usually do!

See the end of the work for more notes

 Please God, Let Me Have ONE Good Day
Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

School field trips were supposed to be fun.

Granted, Izuku had never really enjoyed field trips in the past, because no one wanted to sit with
him on the bus, people tried to get him lost and left behind, and no one else really seemed to care
about the education aspect. Sue him, history was cool.

But UA, UA was supposed to be different. Already, of course, it had been; people sat with him on
the bus, Iida made sure everyone was on the bus and no one was left behind (his mind thought of a
reference to a prequirk movie and he smiled softly), and everyone was genuinely excited for what
they were going to learn on this trip.

But of course, then everything went wrong, because Izuku is never allowed to have a good field
trip.

The lights flickered, a purple swirl of gas appeared near the fountain, villains came out of the
woodworks, Thirteen got horribly injured, and everyone got scattered to the various zones of the
USJ. He, Tsu, and Mineta managed to get out, just in time to see their teacher lose the skin on his
elbow to a hand villain.

Without thinking, he shot forward.

“Well, well, well, one of the hero brats wants to protect their teacher, huh? How sweet.”

Izuku whipped out a knife, mouth set in a grim line, stance ready.

No one would hurt Aizawa.

~~~~~

Tomura was having a pretty good day, all things considered. Today was the day he would do
Sensei proud and finally kill that damn All Might. He had a lot of NPCs to distract the hero brats,
and Sensei had even gifted him a Nomu, which was sure to stomp on anything that could stand in
his way.

Eraserhead was really cool, so it was a shame he’d have to kill him. He timed his quirk, noticing it
dwindle, and disintegrated the hero’s elbow. Eraser was cool, but hopefully this would take him
out of the fight, so Tomura didn’t have to kill him.

And then a small green brat popped out of nowhere.

He taunted the boy, eyeing the knife. Didn’t seem very heroic to have a knife, but maybe he had a
minor quirk. He saw Eraser’s eyes widen out of the corner of his own, and the downed hero let out
a gurgled “No!” but the Nomu had a solid grip on him and he could do nothing but watch.

Hmm, maybe if he killed this brat the hero would really give up.

“Maybe if I kill a kid, All Might will show up…”

The kid in question merely swallowed, still gripping his knife, before he lunged forward.
A shame, really. Tomura was fast, intentionally so, and went to grab the kid’s arm. Not going for
the face yet, he wanted this to last. This was so boring, the main boss not even here, and he felt
super over leveled for this mission. Might as well have some fun while he was here.

But to his surprise, the brat dodged.

“Huh? You must have a high dex stat.”

The mutter went unacknowledged, but the kid lunged again, hoping to do some damage.

The song and dance continued, the green brat managing to dodge every outstretched hand, before
Tomura had really had enough. Really, the rogue (for that had to be his class, with such a high dex
stat and the knife) would have been a decent addition to his party if he hadn’t chosen the wrong
side.

Oh well, time to end this.

Tomura darted forward, clenching his hand around the brat’s fing- ok, no, that was the knife. It
didn’t manage to cut him before crumbling into dust, and he watched with satisfaction as the kid’s
eyes widened. Good, he had the fear condition, that would make him sloppy.

“What are you gonna do without your weapon, brat?”

The kid didn’t say a word, but pulled out another knife.

Tomura paused for a moment, brow furrowed, but he shook it off. Sure, having more than one
knife was pretty normal for a rogue. He’d just decay that one too.

So he did. After another round of lunging, the second knife was gone.

And then the kid pulled out a third knife.

By the fifth knife, Tomura was mad. Where the hell did this kid keep getting knives?! It wasn’t
like he had noticeable sheaths on him, or even pockets, so where the hell was he hiding all these
knives?!

By the ninth knife, he voiced his frustrations out loud.

“What the fuck, is your quirk just summoning knives?! Where the hell do you keep getting
knives?!”

The brat that he was, he didn’t answer.

“Ugh, I was wrong, you aren’t an NPC at all, despite not having any dialogue. You’re like a
miniboss, with your infinite knives.” He scratched his neck, irritation peaking. Part of him wanted
to kill the brat, but the other part of him…

“Nomu, grab the brat.”

Eraser shouted as the beast left him, grabbing at the green rogue and making his ribs crack with the
strength of his grip, and the brat had the audacity to struggle after all the shit he’d put Tomura
through. He stalked up to the boy, who stilled as he got close.

“You’re kind of annoying, but you have an interesting set of stats, rogue. I think I’m going to take
you home and see what Sensei says. Maybe there’s a quest that will make you an available party
member…”
 Finally, the brat seemed to have some dialogue.

“What? Party member? You’re not going...to kill me?”

He snorted. “I mean, I could if you really want me to, but this fight has almost been fun, so no, I
don’t think I will.” His eyes slid over to the underground hero who was trying to pick himself off
the ground, desperation in his eyes. “Plus, I think Eraser would be pretty upset if we took you.”

The rogue’s eyes widened and he looked at his beaten up teacher, breathing out his name, too quiet
for Tomura to hear. He looked back at his jailor with fear written all over his face. Good, threats to
others seemed to be what got him afraid.

“No, you can’t! I wouldn’t be useful to you anyway, even if I was able to join your party!”

He cocked his head, intrigued. “And why is that? Your infinite knives and high dex seem like
enough to me.”

“I-” he cut himself off, at war with himself as to whether he wanted to say it. Another glance at
Eraserhead got rid of any qualms he had. “I’m quirkless!”

Huh. Now that was interesting.

“Quirkless? Then how the hell did you keep producing knives out of nowhere? Whatever, that just
makes you cooler. Plus, Sensei can give you a quirk if you really want one. You could be an even
better rogue than you are. All you have to do is ditch the hero side. They’re gonna lose anyway.”

Whatever reply the kid was going to have was cut off by the boom of All Might busting into the
dome. Tomura grinned behind Father.

“Looks like we get a continue after all. Kurogiri, send the brat back, I think he’d be a fun party
member.”

The yelp of the brat was cut off as he was portalled back to the bar. Eraserhead cried out in
anguish. Haha, yeah, this was the life.

“Nomu, kill All Might.”

He stretched, thinking to the brat back in the bar. It would be fun to break him and make him the
perfect party member. All he had to do was win here, and Sensei would be so proud.

And Eraserhead didn’t even have to die!

~~~~~

Izuku looked around the dark bar, heart racing and chest in a good deal of pain.

Man, he hated field trips.

Chapter End Notes

aaaaaaand, there we go, basically what I posted earlier, chapter 2 will be out sometime
later today, so stick around if you want to see more~!
For those who read the og and skipped to the end, the only real changes were I named
the people he was with in the water zone, Tsu and Mineta, and I had the Nomu crack
his ribs a little so it would be harder for him to get out of the bar.
 You Again? Give it a REST, buddy
Chapter Summary

Finding himself in the bar, Izuku is met by a sinister presence...

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Alright, take stock of the situation.

He was in a bar that seemed poorly lit, albeit well-stocked, with a few doors here and there, and an
old tv on the bar. No one is here, the doors might lead to the outside, time to leave.

As soon as his feet shifted to try one of the doors, a voice cut through the air like a knife.

“And who might you be?”

He whirled back around, heart thudding painfully against his bruised ribs. There hadn’t been
anyone in here, he had checked, so where was the voice coming from? The portal man, Kurogiri?

“It’s rude to not answer questions, you know.”

Now facing the right direction, Izuku’s eyes zeroed in on the tv, which had apparently been on. He
squinted, seeing the words “Audio Only” on the screen. Still, there was no way he was going to
respond.

“Very well, if you don’t want to give me your name, perhaps you can tell me why you’re here.
You look awfully young to be a villain.”

“I’m not a villain!” He couldn’t help himself, the words tumbling out. He clenched his fist, wishing
he hadn’t dropped the knife as the monster grabbed him, but it was far too late for that now. God,
what must Aizawa be thinking right now? He had been in terrible shape when Izuku had been
tossed through the misty portal. Crap, what about his mom?!

“My mistake. Still, that does not explain what you’re doing here, Midoriya Izuku.”

He stiffened, giving a stuttering gasp. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Quirkless? Hmm, how interesting. I wonder why Tomura had you sent here. Tell me, why are you
here?”

He didn’t answer, but suddenly he sank to his knees, pressure and fear blinding his head and
leaving him unable to breathe. This guy wasn’t even in the room, and he had this much presence?

As quickly as it had manifested, it disappeared.

“I won’t ask again.”

“He, he said something about...a-a rogue? And j-joining the party? I don’t know, I d-didn’t
understand.”
“Hmm, he was always an impulsive boy. He’ll be able to enlighten me when he returns, no doubt.
Tell me about yourself, young Izuku.”

He flinched at the use of his given name, eyes darting to the door. Something told him he wouldn’t
get very far if this man (was he Sensei?) thought he would try to run, so he remained on the floor,
arranging his feet to get more comfortable, but still able to dart away at a moment’s notice.

“I mean, I’m pretty boring? Nothing special about me at all…”

“Oh come now, you don’t expect me to believe that when Tomura took a liking to you instead of
outright killing you. Do not try to lie to me.”

He gulped. Well, there went that avenue. “I really don’t know. He was hurting my teacher and I
just...moved. I couldn’t let him kill sensei, so I took out a knife and fought him.”

“A knife? Intriguing. Go on.”

“Uh, well, we fought? He kept disintegrating my knives but I have more than a few, which I think
made him mad. He said something about a high dex stat too, which I think means...dexterity?
Maybe?”

“It does. Tomura likes to see the world through the lens of a video game, it helps him understand
things better. How interesting, however, that he did not simply get annoyed at you.”

“I mean, he looked pretty mad by the fifth knife.”

“...Fifth?”

“Yeah, he would get rid of one and I would pull another one out. I think it made him mad, he said
something about infinite knives...then...he made the Nomu grab me.”

“How many knives did you have?”

“Um. At least ten?”

There was a boom of unexpected laughter that sent chills down his spine and he shifted with a
shiver, trying to shake off the feeling of discomfort.

“How intriguing. A hero student with no quirk, armed with only close to a dozen knives. You are
certainly amusing, I’ll give you that.”

Izuku’s mind screamed that he really didn’t want to be amusing to this man.

“Um, who...who are you?”

“Me? You can call me Sensei.” Yep, got it in one. “I am Tomura’s benefactor, of a sorts.”

As if summoned by the words, purple mist permeated the air, releasing a cursing and bleeding
Tomura (that must be his given name, since Sensei didn’t seem inclined to use anything but) and
forming into a perfectly prim Kurogiri.

“Dammit! He cheated! He was supposed to be weaker!”

“Tomura, what happened?”

The boy (man?) turn to the tv, nursing his bullet wounds as Kurogiri retrieved a first aid kit.
“Sensei, All Might cheated! He beat the Nomu!”

“Ah, a shame. Do not fret, young Tomura, you might have failed here, but there will be
opportunities in the future to correct your mistakes; after all, you did manage to take one of the hero
students with you.”

Izuku shrunk back as Tomura’s red gaze swivelled to him, lighting up behind the severed hand.

“Oh, right, the rogue! How do you like him, Sensei?”

“He is certainly interesting. I can see why you took a liking to him. What are your plans for our
guest?”

He took the severed hands off his body, setting them delicately on the bar, so Izuku could see his
whole face. There were scars around his mouth and everything looked horribly dry. A side effect of
his quirk?

“He’s pretty fond of heroes,” he spat the word like it had killed his parents, “but we should be able
to convince him against it. I think he’d make a great party member, especially if you gave him a
quirk to make him an even better rogue.”

“Hmm, that’s true, I could. It might take a good long while to...correct his way of thinking, and
some methods will not be gentle.”

“That’s fine, as long as I get my rogue.”

Izuku swallowed. That sounded like a bad time on all fronts.

“Very well, then I will leave you to your wounds. Would you like me to send the doctor?”

Tomura scowled. “No.”

“Then Kurogiri, send the boy to me. I think it’s time we talked face to face.”

Without another warning, the floor disappeared out from under him and he found himself in a dark
room, lit by monitors. He squinted at the form of the man, sitting in a chair, before he shifted and
his face came into light.

Or rather, his lack of a face.

Aside from his mouth, Sensei’s face was a motley of scars, depressions where his eyes should be,
and bald as an egg. A tube stuck out of this throat, probably to help him breathe, and Izuku could
do nothing but swallow as the man seemed to inspect him.

“So lovely to see you face to face. I would have come to you, but…” he trailed off, gesturing to the
various tubes connected to him. “I’m not exactly in a position to move willy nilly, you understand.”

He said nothing.

“Tomura thinks you’d make a good party member, which I suppose on one level would be true.
Still, you are a little too set in your ways of heroism to just join of your own free will.” He paused,
considering something. “I don’t suppose you’d swear loyalty if I gave you a quirk?”

Izuku started. There it was again, the implication that this man could somehow GIVE him a quirk.
So, he asked.
 “How could you give me a quirk?”

The man smiled, all teeth, and he shivered. “Simple. My quirk allows me to take and give quirks at
will. I have quite a store built up and could give you any one you wanted. Of course, that also
means I could take back any quirk I gave you, or I could take quirks from all your little hero
friends. Sure, you were trying to be a quirkless hero, but do you think they’d be willing to try the
same?”

He tensed, thinking of Uraraka, Iida, Tsu, Kacchan. No way any of them would fare well without
their quirks, they had had them for their whole lives, and to have them suddenly ripped away
would no doubt leave them reeling, maybe even to the point of no recovery.

“No? A shame. I thought not, you seem far too morally sound to consider it, but that certainly
would have made this all the more easier. Still, I promised Tomura I’d get him a rogue, did I not?”

Izuku didn’t have time to react before a large hand was placed on his head.

“Let’s begin, shall we?”

He heard a scream (oh, that was his own) before he blacked out.

~~~~~

Aizawa Shouta stared at the spot he had watched Midoriya disappear into, where the two villains
had gone not five minutes later, and his eyes burned. He was beat up, sure, and Hizashi was trying
to corral him into going with the paramedics, but he couldn’t help himself. He had been training
the kid knives for months now, and to just sit back and watch helplessly as that monster grabbed
him and tossed him right into the villains’ lair was a little too much for him.

He had failed his kid, all of his kids, and he finally let himself get dragged away. Asui and Mineta,
who had been near him, looked the most shellshocked, but Uraraka was a close second (friends,
they were friends, and they watched their classmate and friend get taken-). Even Bakugo, self
proclaimed hater of the quirkless boy, looked stunned, trying to push off the medics looking him
and his broken arm over.

Police showed up to take people’s statements as he, Thirteen, and a few of the kids were loaded
into ambulances and rushed to the hospital. He wasn’t even as injured as he could have been, since
Midoriya had drawn the main villains attention (getting knife after knife disintegrated, those cruel
fingers so close to taking off skin-), so he insisted he be a part of the calls made to parents. He
insisted he be the one to call Midoriya Inko and let her know that he had failed her, had let her son
get taken.

Aizawa Shouta had failed his kid once, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to give up now.

He was going to get his kid back.

Chapter End Notes

so, to clarify, if I had to pick a knife week fic for this to relate to, or rather, have
backstory from, it would probably be Teaching a Vigi, but no, Aizawa did not adopt
Mido, but yes, he has been teaching him, so ya know, parental instincts are strong in
this one.

Rip Mido and his head, but I promise he's not gonna be dead or even like, hardcore
brainwashed

just a lil brainwashed :)

 The 20 Step Program to Convert Someone to Villainy!
Chapter Summary

Aizawa starts building a team to take the kidnapping case, while Midoriya wakes up
and finds out what the hell Sensei did to him.

Tomura, meanwhile, starts the conversion plan.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Aizawa slammed the phone down, cursing the ridiculous bigoted hero he had had on the line. That
marked the fourth hero who had looked promising, but as soon as the word “quirkless” came up,
they claimed they had too much on their plates already. Bastards.

As if someone could be worth less because of a lack of a quirk. Of all the kids in his class,
Midoriya worked the hardest, fought the longest, and cared the strongest. If anyone was going to
be a great hero one day, it was that kid, but most people couldn’t see past the arbitrary label that
had been slapped on him at age four and dismissed him as a lost cause.

One of the heroes had the audacity to say that he’d either be dead or a villain by the end of the
week; it was all the quirkless were good for after all.

He hung his head in his hands, massaging his forehead to alleviate the ache from being angry for
so long. Hizashi came up behind him, setting a coffee on the table beside him.

“No luck?”

“They don’t even know him! They know nothing about him, not his skill, his heart, his drive, and
they just say they’re busy! They weren’t busy when I first brought it up, but oh, he’s quirkless?
Why is he even in the hero program, this was going to happen eventually anyway! A shame, but
nothing we can do about it! God, it drives me up the wall…”

The voice hero hummed, looking at the list of heroes he was planning on calling. “How many
have you called?”
“Four, all too ‘busy.’”

“Well, you have me and Nem, probably all the staff here, if nothing else.”

Aizawa sighed. “Yes, and you all have jobs here, that makes it difficult for you to get away. We
all have other kids we also need to help, as much as it hurts, and we can’t sacrifice all of them for
one kid, even if…”

“Even if he’s yours.”

He stiffened, eyes blazing red as he whirled around. “Just because I’ve been training him-”

“Sho, relax, we know.” The blond man smiled wryly. “You’re his teacher and you watched him
get taken. It’s not gonna sit well with you.”

He sighed, letting his hair fall, turning back to the list with a pen.

“Help me get rid of the bigots before I call them and bite their heads off.”

“Aye, aye, cap’n!”

~~~~~

Izuku woke up slowly in a concrete room on a twin bed pushed up against the wall. His head hurt
something fierce, the soft lights not hurting or helping.

He sat up, looking around in confusion. This wasn’t his room…?

It came back to him in a flash, and he clutched his head, partly in pain and partly in fear, trying to
remember what had happened after Sensei had grabbed his head, only to come up blank. Pain,
then nothing.
Knowing he had fallen unconscious, he gazed around the room, trying to get his bearings. Other
than the bed, there was a dresser and a door, no handle on this side. The walls and floor were just
poured concrete, bleak and barren, with a single fluorescent light in the ceiling.

The door opened and he clenched the sheets in fear.

“Woah,” Tomura put his hands up placatingly, “relax, it’s just me. You’re probably hungry, so
come on.”

He left, waiting just outside the door, and Izuku hesitantly got out of bed, bare feet touching the
cold floor. He couldn’t help the shiver that went up his spine and he padded out softly, trying to
keep an eye on the villain in front of him.

The guy slid his hands in his pockets, pinky on the outside and raised just slightly as he led him
down the corridor and into the bar. He tried to note his surrounding, but the winding corridors and
discomfort in his head quickly made it a jumbled mess.

Tomura slid onto one of the bar stools and patted the one beside him as Kurogiri set two plates on
the bar. Izuku eyed the door, noting the lack of restraints on him, but glanced back to see yellow
eyes watching him and his every move. Darn, probably no escape today then.

He slid into the seat, picking up the chopsticks set aside for him and taking a careful bite, keeping
his eyes trained on the guy beside him.

“You know, I’m not really sure why you wanted to be a hero.”

He started, almost dropping his chopsticks, and swallowed. “W-what do you mean?”

The blue haired man hummed. “I mean that your life sucked ass.”

Izuku stiffened and paled. “W-what?”

Red eyes slid to his green ones. “Yeah, that Bakugo guy and his cronies? Real pieces of work.
Hell, even your mom was lackluster at best.”
He bristled. “My mom did her best!”

“I mean, sure, if you call bare minimum her best.”

“She, she didn’t-”

“Yeah, you’re right, she didn’t. Didn’t support your dreams, didn’t realize you were being bullied,
didn’t try to help you. She really did a shit job of being a parent.”

He swallowed. “H-how would you even kn-know?”

Dry lips cracked into a wide grin. “Sensei read your memories.”

His hand flew to his head, pain flaring up all at once.

“Don’t worry,” Tomura turned back to his food, “he didn’t do anything else, he just wanted to see
what we were dealing with and how best to make you comfortable.”

“I...I was perfectly comfortable at UA.”

“Yeah you had, what, two friends? One good teacher, the first one in a while? Let me tell you
something, Izuku,” he got up, plate clear, and flipped the tv on to the news, “you see that?”

It was showing a hero fight, Endeavor taking down a metal looking villain.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“You’ve been here for a day, not even 24 hours yet. Yesterday, the attack on UA was all over the
news, anchors lamenting that poor captured student and all the people rushed to the hospital,” his
breath caught, thinking of the state his teacher had been in when he had left, “but today, now that
news has gotten out you’re just the quirkless charity case UA accepted into their hero program, not
a single word about you, no more news on the USJ. It was such a tragedy, but it's ok, there were
minimal injuries and only one useless kid was taken, so no harm no foul.”

Izuku clenched his fists. “Th-that can’t be right.”

He flipped through other news channels, none of them reporting about the USJ. “And yet, it is.
Society is corrupt, and they don’t see your value.”

“And I suppose you do?”

He turned off the tv again, turning back to face the small boy still seated at the bar.

“Yep.”

He stalked over, looming over the boy with no expression.

“Wanna play video games?”

Izuku almost stumbled off of the bar stool in his surprise. “W-what?”

“Video games. Some aren’t as fun to play by myself.”

He nodded slowly, still confused, and the guy lit up. “Cool, come on.”

He followed Tomura back into the winding halls until they came to a door that he swung open.
Inside, it looked like a regular teenager’s bedroom, with a bed, various posters and furniture, and a
couch in front of a tv, hooked up to various gaming stations and with a few attached controllers.
Tomura plopped on to the ground and offered one to him, and he gingerly took it and sat gently,
body tense.

Tomura loaded up a game that looked like a fighting game that Izuku had heard about, but he
hadn’t really been a player of video games as a kid, mostly just watching hero fights and looking at
cool quirks, so he didn’t even know the controls as the character selection screen came up.
The game was full of cartoon characters that looked completely out of place with one another, but
he thought it was probably the game companies other franchises, so he used one of the joysticks to
move his cursor and picked one at random.

“Pit? Good choice.”

Tomura picked a character (or was it two?) that the game labelled as “Ice Climbers,” what looked
to be a brother and sister that were dressed warmly and had giant wooden hammers. He looked
back at his angel boy with his...bow? Swords? And didn’t know whether to be excited or afraid.

He completely missed the picking of stage before the fight began and he hopelessly mashed
buttons, using the joystick to hopefully move around and avoid the hammers swinging for his face.

In seemingly no time flat, he had been knocked off, and not even his wings could save him. He
flinched as the angel boy died in a fiery and violent explosion from off screen before appearing on
a floating disc above the stage again.

By his third death, Tomura paused the game.

“Ok, you suck, why are you so bad at this game?”

“...I’ve never played before?”

There was a beat before he sighed, setting down his controller. “Do you even know the controls?”

“...No?” It came out as a squeak and it wasn’t helped by the snort he got out of the older boy.

“Yeah, that explains why you suck so hard. Right, A to attack or pick up items, also to use items,
B is your special attack, this button is a shield but if you use it too much it will stun you, and this is
how you jump. I think you figured out movement.”

Without another word, he picked up his controller again and unpaused the game, not even giving
Izuku a moment to breath before he was back to beating him into next year.

Granted, know which buttons did what was really helpful, so he managed to get some damage in,
and even gotten Tomura killed once, which merited him a grunt and a “good job,” but eventually
time was called and the ice climbers were announced the undisputed winners, having killed him
about twenty times to his three.

They went a few more rounds, Izuku glancing at the older boy every once in a while as he relaxed
a little. He played with his pinkies up, probably because of his quirk, and between rounds he’d
massage his hands, no doubt cramping after holding a rigid position for so long.

“Um.”

No response.

“T-tomura?”

Red eyes flashed to his. “Yeah?”

“Have you tried wearing gloves?”

His eyes narrowed in confusion and he frowned. “What?”

“I, I mean, for your quirk?”

He huffed, turning back to the game. “I’ll just disintegrate them too.”

“No, like, artist’s gloves? With only some fingers. I-it’s a five point touch, right? So if some of
your fingers are covered but not all of them, you’ll...be able to hold things normally.”

He looked at his hand. “Huh. They make those?”

Izuku nodded eagerly, thinking of other five point quirks he knew. “Yeah! Lots of people have
five point quirks that are a hassle in everyday life, so they make special gloves so they can still
actually hold things without getting hand cramps from holding weird positions!”

With a hum of acknowledgement, he got up, going to his closet to rifle through things before
pulling out a pair of gloves, all fingers still attached. He opened a drawer at his desk and took out a
pair of scissors, carefully cutting off two of the fingers on each glove before slipping them on
carefully. He grabbed at the cut off fingers tentatively with all five of his fingers, three covered,
and watched as nothing happened.

“Huh.”

Izuku fidgeted nervously, once again reminded exactly where he was and not drawn into the joy
that was quirks as Tomura sat back down and picked up his controller again, just as gently. He set
the last finger on and breathed a sigh of relief as nothing happened, looking to Izuku with a sly
smile.

“Thanks, rogue, that’s pretty clever.”

“Oh, um, yeah, don’t...don’t mention it.”

He turned back to the game with a silent scream, trying not to think too hard on what he had just
witnessed and helped. Sure, there was probably no real way for this to be used for evil, but he was
still helping a villain!

He watched as Peach pushed Luigi off the stage (“play him, he’s green like you”) another time and
hesitated at that thought. Tomura didn’t really seem like a villain in this instance…

No! He reprimanded himself, shaking himself out of his doubt. He had disintegrated Aizawa-
sensei’s elbow and kidnapped him, there was really no coming back from that, the older boy was a
villain!

He swallowed down his discomfort as the victory screen flashed once more.

He had to find a way out of here.

 ~~~~~

“One last call, Sho!”

He rubbed his eyes, tired. They had a sizable list of heroes who had agreed to join the case and
one last call to make. He wasn’t counting on anything coming of this, but then the list would be
over and they could actually get to work. Still, the guy had a good track record in the
underground, especially for trafficking cases and organized crime.

“Hello, is this the Nighteye agency?”

Chapter End Notes

I actually have a 20 Step Program called "afo's/my plan to convert mido to villainy"
which I will tell you one step of:
?: Classical Conditioning is your friend

Anyway this is Super Smash Bros Brawl, the one I have the most experience with, and
THAT'S the reference I was going to do for the chapter title with a "becky lemme
smash :(" but then I was like "I don't want people to get the wrong idea" so I went with
this instead

also, fun fact, Izu doesn't actually know the "Shigaraki" part of Tomura's name which
is really funny to me
 Uh Oh, Stinky
Chapter Summary

It's been a week, and Midoriya is starting to get comfortable. Of course, then Sensei
ruins that by wanting to talk to him. Goddammit.

The first meeting of the heroes involved in his rescue case occurs and things get
heated.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

The first week of captivity was pretty normal, all things considered. Eat, play video games,
practice basic hygiene, eat another time or two, go to bed, repeat, with some variation of timing
and games played.

Izuku tried to keep track of the days, but they started to blend together and he really was almost
calm. Still tense, of course, because these were villains who had kidnapped him, he wasn’t about
to forget, but they had been nothing but nice to him. For the first time in forever, someone was
actually being somewhat friendly to him. Hell, Tomura was seen wearing gloves fairly often now,
marveling at being able to hold things completely.

Despite all that, Izuku couldn’t help but be nervous when the schedule changed.

“Izuku, Sensei wants to see you today.”

He swallowed, looking at Kurogiri, the one who had spoken, as the mist man polished a glass.

“O-oh, w-why?”

Tomura spoke up instead, smiling. “Sensei’s really smart. He’s gonna help you understand why
heroes are shit.”

Oh.
Oh no.

His mind flashed in phantom pain, pain it had been in not a week ago, and he blanched. Honestly,
if he saw Sensei again in the next year it would be too soon. That man was powerful and
dangerous.

The older boy saw his fear and patting him on the head in a way that was probably supposed to be
comforting.

“Don’t worry, Izu, Sensei won’t hurt you, he’ll help you, just like he helped me.”

That’s what I’m afraid of, he couldn’t help but think with a dry swallow. Tomura had been quick
to articulate how Sensei had saved him when no heroes or civilians spared him another glance. He
would spout his hatred for heroes at every opportunity, often using it as a way to remind Izuku that
no one had come for him and that it would be better to just be Tomura’s party member. The way
he said it almost rang in Izuku’s mind like “a friend” but even that wasn’t enough to draw him in.
He had friends, he told himself, he did, waiting for him back at UA.

Even if no one had come for him yet and it had been at least a week.

Kurogiri opened a portal for him, indicating that he should step through and his fingers fiddled
with the hem of his shirt before he forced himself to walk. The mist was cool on his skin, but it
had nothing on the chill that washed over him when he felt the overbearing presence of Sensei.

“Ah, Izuku, how nice of you to join me. It’s been a while.”

He nodded, not being able to bring himself to speak.

“Tell me, how have you enjoyed your time here?”

Oh, not something he could answer without speaking.

“Uh,” he cleared his throat, “it’s been...good? Tomura is...nice, and Kurogiri is very polite and...a
good cook?”
“You sound as if you were asking a question.”

Crap.

“Uh, no it’s, it’s good.” He tried to be firm, voice still stuttering.

“How wonderful. Tomura didn’t grow up with many other people, so I feared he would be socially
awkward. Good to hear my protégé is doing so well. Now,” the scarred man shifted in his seat,
looking more like he was lounging, “come sit beside me, I have lessons I would like to impart on
you.”

Izuku gulped, twisting the hem of his shirt harshly and walking over on shaking legs. There was
indeed a chair next to the villain, far closer than he would have liked it to be, but he had no choice
but to sit down, not entirely sure what the man would do if he disobeyed.

“Very good. Has Tomura told you anything of his past?”

“A, a little.” He swallowed, forcing his voice to not turn up in question.

“Hmm. I’m going to tell you a story, Izuku.”

He nodded hesitantly, not sure if that statement warranted a response or not, but it seemed to please
the man.

“Once, there were two brothers. One was very sick, and his older brother did anything he could to
protect him. Powers had just started to manifest, and the older brother was very strong, while the
younger brother had no power at all. In an effort to protect his brother, the elder built up an army
of people loyal to him, so they could keep each other safe, but the younger brother was angry. He
didn’t agree with his older brother taking power if it was going to be at the cost of human life, even
if it was going to be better for everyone, including him. In an effort to make his brother see reason,
that this was all for him, the older brother gifted a power to the younger, but he used it to turn
against his brother, bringing down his entire empire. He labelled his brother as a villain for
fighting against the corrupt government, and finally, the elder had to kill his dear younger brother.
Sadly, his brother had found a successor to pass his power and his hatred to, and the elder was
forced to fight his brother’s legacy.”
There was silence, before Izuku managed to squeak out a question. “He could...transfer his
power? Like you?”

“As it turns out, my younger brother did indeed have a power, one that would have gone unnoticed
had I not gifted him another. He had the power to pass down quirks to other people using his
DNA, and that’s what he and his line of fools have done for eight generations.”

“...Why not just...take it back?”

The man sighed, as if this was a major point of frustration for him. “The nature of the quirk makes
it so that it can only be given willingly, instead of forcibly taken. Trust me, i have tried, seeking to
end my foolish brother’s legacy and stop it from sending foolish heroes to their deaths.”

On the word “heroes,” a shock of pain burst through him that made him flinch, and it was then that
he noticed that at some point during the story, Sensei had placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Wh-what did you do?”

Choosing to misinterpret the question, he continued, “I did what I had to do. I tried reasoning with
them, of course. I just wanted that last piece of my brother back, after all. I had originally fought
against quirk discrimination, you know; in those times, it was those with power that were shunned
and killed, instead of how it is today. You would know a bit about that, though, I suppose.”

“You tried to...reason with the heroes?” He bit his lip as another shot of pain arced through him at
the word.

“Of course. They are all foolish children, running to their deaths in the name of fame, money, and
a false sense of justice.”

“I-it’s not false!” He panicked internally, knowing arguing with the super villain who currently
had a hand on you was not a great idea, but pressed on. “All Might-” and his words were cut off as
he yelped, nearly falling over at the shock that went through him.

“Ah, yes, him. The eighth of my brother’s legacy, and the most foolhardy. He came at me with no
plan, no backup, nothing, and nearly died for his troubles. Not to mention how hypocritical he was
in handling you.”

Right, he had looked at Izuku’s memories.

Still, “...Hypocritical?”

Sensei hummed. “Indeed. Before he was passed the quirk, he himself was quirkless.”

Izuku froze, brain trying to comprehend what he had just said. All Might was…?

He clutched his head, wincing.

“Ah, I wouldn’t recommend thinking about him or any heroes, for that matter,” the shock was less,
but still there, “since you have a trauma associated with them. I mean, they never believed in you,
after all.”

He made it sound like this was a natural reaction, but Izuku wasn’t stupid. This was the work of a
quirk, and he was not about to fall into that trap.

“Aizawa-sensei believed in me.”

“Ah, yes, Eraserhead. Tell me, Izuku, where is he?”

He couldn’t help it as his eyes stung with tears, both from the pain and the painful reminder that he
had been here for at least a week and had heard no news, nothing. Tomura let him turn on the
news, after all, to see the goings on and the happenings of the world, probably also to reinforce
how people had stopped caring about him.

As he thought of Tomura, a warm feeling of peace overcame him and the pain eased up. His
shoulders slumped in defeat, knowing that at least to some degree, Sensei was right.

“Well, that’s all I wanted to talk to you about today. Go spend more time with Tomura; he seems
much happier now that you’re here.”

Izuku ran out as fast as he could without seeming rude, showing back up in the bar where Tomura
was waiting.

“Hey, rogue, how did it go?”

“It went.”

He winced at how blunt he was, but the older boy just laughed.

“Come on, we need to get through that puzzle level, remember?”

He nodded, following Tomura back through the halls to his room, when the building shook.

The boy scoffed, scratching his neck in irritation as he turned on the news. There was a fight about
two blocks away - the fact that they could feel the tremors from here meant it was big. “Shitty
heroes- holy shit, Izu, are you ok?”

The combination of hearing the word “heroes” and seeing All Might show up on screen proved too
much for whatever the hell Sensei had done now, and he sank to his knees, wrapping his arms
around his body as he fought for air.

He managed to glance up into startled and somewhat concerned red eyes and murmured out a
“Tomura…” before the pain started to ease, being replaced with a warmth, just like the last time he
had thought of the villain boy.

He realized what Sensei had done to him now.

Shit.

He was being conditioned.

Heroes and All Might were bad, villains and Tomura were good.

He needed to get out of here, and fast.

~~~~~

Aizawa slouched in his chair in the meeting room as the heroes they had managed to scour up
started to trickle in. The meeting wouldn’t start for another five minutes, but underground heroes,
of which this group would me mostly comprised, were known for being early. Nighteye, a
borderline underground hero, was apparently a big fan of punctuality, and had been here a solid ten
minutes early. He glanced at Hizashi, on board for the case and willing to speak, since Aizawa
didn’t do people well.

Soon, everyone was settled in. It was an odd bunch.

Ms. Joke, the Smile Hero.

Sir Nighteye, the Foresight Hero and former sidekick of the number one.

Edgeshot, the Ninja hero.

Tiger, Ragdoll, Mandalay, and Pixiebob, of the Wild, Wild Pussycats.

Gang Orca, the Killer Whale hero.

Then, of course, Eraserhead, Present Mic, and the rest of the teachers and staff of UA. Only he and
Hizashi were here for this meeting, but everyone was aware of how the staff was taking it on as a
whole, since it was one of their kids that had been taken.

“Welcome, listeners! Down to business, Midoriya Izuku, first year hero student, was kidnapped
eight days ago by the group that identified themselves as the League of Villains. The knowledge
we have is limited, but between us and the police force, we should be able to find them.”
Hizashi then gave them a recap of events that had happened at the USJ, putting blurry and far away
pictures of both Shigaraki Tomura and Kurogiri on a screen behind him.

“Questions?”

Nighteye was the first to speak. “What of this Nomu creature?”

“The Nomu was, as we discovered after testing, a genetically modified person with at least three
quirks, Regeneration, Shock Absorption, and a body enhancement quirk.”

Yellow eyes narrowed. “And this...Sensei person that Shigaraki mentioned? Do we have any
more data on him?”

Aizawa took the moment to speak up. “I was almost delirious at that point, but he did say
something about his Sensei being able to “give” Midoriya a quirk. He was likely the one behind
the Nomu and that is why we need to find Midoriya quickly; so he isn’t made into one of those
things.”

Nighteye suddenly stood up. “Give quirks?” he hissed, “why didn’t you lead with that?”

Aizawa’s eyes narrowed. “Again, I wasn’t certain if I had heard it correctly, I had just had my head
bashed in.”

Joke snorted once, taking in his form still covered in bandages. “Yeah, we can tell.”

“Because that coupled with the Nomu means we’re dealing with something much, much worse
than just your run of the mill villains.”

“Well,” Mandalay interjected, trying to stave off a fight, “you seem to know what it is. We would
all benefit from more knowledge of what we’re dealing with.”

Nighteye just shook his head. “We’re in over our heads. If I’m right, not even All Might could
take him down, and trust me, he tried.”

“All the more reason to not leave Midoriya with him.”

“You don’t understand,” the tall and lanky man snarled, “if this is All For One-”

He cut himself off and took a breath to calm himself. “If that man has him, there is nothing we can
do.”

Surprisingly, it was Hizashi who exploded.

“So you just want to leave a kid with a villain you’re too scared to even talk about?!”

“All For One,” Nighteye snapped, “is a two hundred year old supervillain with the ability to take
and give quirks. Yes, I think we shouldn’t risk hero society as a whole for one- …boy.” He cut
himself off, but Aizawa had heard the start of the consonant forming in his throat.

“Oh? So because he’s quirkless, he’s not worth saving? What happened to being a hero?”

Pixiebob stood up and clapped her hands together, drawing the attention away from the tension.
“You both have points! Aizawa, we are heroes and need to act like it. Not helping someone in
need is antithetical to who we are!” There were murmurs of agreement.

“But Nighteye is also right. This guy sounds like bad news, and we need a killer plan and some
kickass heroes to make this work. But first, we need to find the kid.”

Ragdoll stood up next, paw covered hand raised in a cheer. “Yeah! Let the Pussycats find the
kitten! Half of search and rescue is Search, after all!” She giggled at her own joke, bringing a
smile out of her team members, Joke, and Hizashi.

Nighteye considered for a moment before sitting down with a defeated sigh. “Fine. We will need
to be careful, however. If All For One catches wind of us, he is just as likely to kill the boy as he is
to move entirely, and that is not a risk we can afford to take.”
 Aizawa huffed.

Time to get started and find his kid.

Chapter End Notes

people keep saying they want to give mido an infinite knife quirk, but guys, the
gimmick is that he already seemed like he had infinite knives even without a quirk

anyway it wasn't GOING to be nighteye bashing hours but then he jsut wrote himself
like an asshole, idk what y'all wanted me to do, but its fine, now the heroes know
about afo even if like, mido doesn't

hmm, there's no way this can go wrong.

 Ah, So You Have Chosen Death
Chapter Summary

The sports festival and how everyone is handling things.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Class 1-A was not handling things very well. Some were worse off than others, of course, the
people who had been closest to Midoriya taking the hardest hits, but the presence of the joyful boy
that was now absent was noticed by everyone.

Mineta had the audacity to mutter something about how “he was quirkless, it was stupid to throw
himself into the fight like that,” and got Bakugo to burn his eyebrows off. He was held back from
murdering the kid by the more levelheaded of the class, but everyone sent glares in the direction of
the short boy.

He transferred out the next day.

With two empty spots in class (even if only one was truly felt), the announcement of the sports
festival rang decidedly dead.

“Sensei,” Kaminari hesitated to call out, “what about…?”

Everyone’s eyes slid to their mummified teacher, completely silent.

“We’re working on it.”

No one seemed satisfied with the non-answer, but it was Bakugo who exploded (which really, they
should have seen coming).

“We’re just gonna have the fucking sports festival while Deku is missing?!”
Black and tired eyes met red and angry ones. “I don’t like it either, but think of it as a show of
strength. We’re working to find out where he is and get him back, and we can’t put our lives on
hold until he is. Besides, with any luck he’ll be back before then anyways.”

When they opened the door to be met with a crowd of people, even the calmest of them bristled.
Monoma, from the class next door, was the first to make a mistake.

“Ah, the mighty 1-A, facers of villains. You think you’re so much better than us, don’t you?”

Asui, who had been with Midoriya, twitched.

“I hear you have two spots open - one from a coward who couldn’t handle the heat, and the other
from poor, quirkless Midoriya.”

Uraraka, one of Midoriya's first friends, twitched.

Someone in the crowd, tall with a shock of purple hair, shifted uncomfortably.

“I bet he’ll be a villain by the end of the week! Not like someone without power could ever be a
hero!”

Bakugo, who had known Midoriya the longest, twitched.

But he wasn’t the one who spoke up.

With words of “no one with your power could ever be a hero” burning through his head, he took a
step forward and socked Monoma on the jaw, breathing heavily in his anger.

“We might all be here for the same reason, but that was to scout out the class, not make fun of the
dude who got kidnapped. Show a little restraint, jackass; you’re making the rest of us look bad.”

He offered a nod at the angry and shocked class before stalking down the hall.
“Wait,” Bakugo barked. The boy stopped and turned his head, making eye contact.

“What’s your name?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

A savage grin overtook the blond. “I make a point to know the names of people who pose a
challenge.”

He paused for a moment, before smirking and turning away again.

“Shinsou Hitoshi. Don’t forget it.”

~~~~~

Two weeks later, it was the day of the sports festival, and no one in class 1-A looked particularly
happy about it. There had been no new updates from Aizawa, but they could tell it was wearing on
him as well, seeing him get more and more frustrated as time went on. When Present Mic called
for them, the 18 members marched out like it was to their deaths.

Bakugo was called for the opening speech and he looked out at the crowd of people and students.

“I’m going to win.”

The other competitors save for class A erupted into boos and jeers, and he snapped.

“I wasn’t done!”

He stood straighter, shoving his hands into his pockets, and prayed that Midoriya was watching,
where ever the hell he was.
“I’m gonna win, because to me, that’s what being a hero is. And last time I had to step up, I didn’t
win.” The stadium was silent.

“I didn’t win, and my...my friend got taken because of it. Yeah, the media stopped fucking talking
about it, but he’s still out there, and I know the little shit is still fighting. So. I’m going to fight
too. And I’m going to win.” He paused, pursing his lips. “For Deku. Plus fucking Ultra, or
whatever.”

Without another word he stalked off the stage, hands still in his pockets, expression daring anyone
to question him. The stadium burst into almost confused cheering, the school motto (even with
swearing) knocking them out of their funk.

“Well,” Midnight hummed, “that was certainly very inspiring~! Now, time for our first event: the
obstacle course!”

The class nodded at Bakugo as he rejoined them, each also hoping Midoriya was watching,
echoing the sentiment in their head as they got ready to race.

For Deku.

For Midoriya.

~~~~~

Tomura and Kurogiri fretting over him was nice for the first two days or so, because they carefully
avoided the topic of heroes or All Might once Izuku had explained that it hurt him to even think
about them for the most part. Funnily enough, when Tomura slipped and cursed All Might, no
pain came. It was almost as if it had to be in a negative light, or it would hurt.

Not something he was really keen on testing.

After the first two days, however, the mother henning from both of them was really just
disconcerting. At a certain point, he didn’t want to pick the video game, and he didn’t want to pick
what they were going to have for dinner, and he really wanted to be able to watch the news again
for some information on what was going on outside. Sure, it was nice that they seemed to care, but
it was stifling, and almost degrading.

Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Stop! I didn’t train, and get good with knives, for months to be treated like I’m fragile! I’m fine!
It hasn’t even happened since that one time with All Might on the tv!”

Tomura pouted for all of two seconds, scratching his neck lightly before sighing. “You’re right,
you’re a good rogue. My bad.”

Apparently, however, there was still a careful watch over him.

“What? Why can’t we watch the sports festival? You said you do that every year.”

“Izu, it's an event swarming with heroes, and the last time you saw a hero you passed out. No way
in hell are we watching that.”

Izuku desperately racked his brain to come up with an excuse. He really, really wanted to see his
friends after what had to have been two weeks of seeing Tomura, Kurogiri, and video game
characters.

...And Sensei.

“Tomura, that hasn’t happened in days. It was probably just an adverse reaction to, uh, something,
I don’t know, but in the effort of science, I say we take our chances and see what that was all
about.”

The older boy considered it for a moment, then shook his head. “Us saying the words is different
from you actually seeing them. Plus, I can’t believe they’re even holding it this year. One of their
students got kidnapped .”

Izuku chose not to point out that he had been the one kidnapped and Tomura had been the one
doing the kidnapping, feeling it was a moot point right now, and not helpful to his argument.
“Please? We’ve already missed the opening ceremony anyway, I’m sure the first event has already
started.” he turned on his best puppy eyes. “Please, Tomura?”

Red eyes tried to avoid his own, but eventually he gave in. “Sure, fuck it, fine. Are you sure
you’re not a bard? That charm is intense.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle, way too used to the gaming references by now. “Give me a knife
and I can prove it.”

Tomura snorted, but more in amusement than anything else. Izuku’s heart almost skipped a beat.
It almost seemed like he was open to the idea, maybe he could get more liberties...?

Not now, focus on the festival.

He had been right, it had already started, several minutes into the first event. Some contestants
were still struggling with zero pointers, which had been the first obstacle, but he watched as
Todoroki and Kacchan reached what Present Mic announced to be a minefield.

His eyes wandered back to the second obstacle and saw Uraraka and his other classmates hurling
themselves across the pit. It looked fun, and he really wished he could be there to run the race with
them…

He shook himself out of his train of thought. No use dwelling on what could have been.

“I really don’t get why they’re having this, though.”

He glanced over to see Tomura looking genuinely confused.

“...What do you mean?”

Tomura scratched his neck. “I mean, after that big attack? Sure, we didn’t really injure more than
Eraserhead and Thirteen, but we took you?”
He swallowed, thinking hard. “...Well, it’s like you said. The media and the Commission both
stopped talking about me pretty quick, so cancelling it over...over me would seem rather foolish.”

He shifted, bringing his knees up to his chest. “Besides, there’s more students at UA than just me.
Cancelling it for all of them wouldn’t have been fair.”

He heard the scratching get louder, Tomura clearly agitated over this, and his eyes widened. Izuku
darted out his hand to grab the one scratching, wincing at the angry red that was threatening to turn
into split skin and blood.

“You’re hurting yourself,” he murmured.

Tomura looked at him before smiling. “Thanks.”

Izuku nodded, turning back to the screen, ready to watch the rest of the festival and pretend that his
heart wasn’t hurting.

Was Tomura right? Was he even being looked for?

It wasn’t until the medal ceremony (Kacchan had won, which was expected but still cool) that he
felt a full body flinch. The appearance of All Might on the screen did not send bolts of pain
through him like last time, but it caused a visceral reaction nonetheless.

Immediately the tv was turned off and Tomura hovered over him, looking worried but not wanting
to touch him.

“Are you ok? Where does it hurt?”

Izuku shook his head, eyes blown wide. “I didn’t, I don’t, I’m not hurt. I don’t feel any pain. I
feel…”
 He trailed off, not wanting to articulate out loud exactly what he had felt when he saw All Might,
even for a brief moment.

He had always seen All Might and felt nothing but joy, nothing but hope. Even after his dreams
had been crushed all those months ago, All Might had still held a place in his heart.

But this time was different.

It wasn’t like the last time he had seen All Might on tv, blaring pain and stark realizations, no, like
he had told Tomura, he wasn’t hurt at all.

It was worse.

He hadn’t felt any pain at all.

No, what had caused him to flinch so hard was not pain.

It was fear.

Izuku was afraid of All Might.

Chapter End Notes

We got a lovely intro for my boy Shin (I could NOT have him be rude to them) and I
love Monoma, really, I do, he has so much potential, but he totally would say stupid
shit to rile people up. Talk shit, get hit.

Also, rip, Mido missed the whole speech that would maybe put him at ease, so sorry
Bakugo.

See you guys next time!

 Everything is on Fire. This is Fine.
Chapter Summary

The league looks at a potential new recruit and Hosu goes up in flames.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

When Tomura led him to a training room and tossed him a knife, Izuku was understandably
surprised. Sure, the older boy had seemed rather open to the idea a few days ago, with the sports
festival, but to actually give the hero student (it had only been three weeks, hopefully he wouldn’t
be expelled when he got back) the weapon he had already demonstrated proficiency in? It seemed
rather foolish.

He even hesitated before voicing his concern, but Tomura merely waved him off.

“A rogue isn’t just their knife,” he smiled, “if you really wanted me dead I’d be dead.”

Izuku could only stare at that. Could he really? Now that he thought about it, there were certainly
other ways to injure or take out people that didn’t require his knife, but the thought of hurting
Tomura at this point seemed wrong. He frowned a bit, rationalizing that even if he had done
something to Tomura, Kurogiri would have caught him and brought him back; that was the reason
he hadn’t tried to escape, certainly not anything else.

For sure.

Definitely.

…Hopefully.

“Anyway,” Tomura continued, “don’t want you getting rusty. We’re looking to add some new
party members soon; Sensei wants us to meet one today, actually, this guy who used to be a
vigilante, I can’t really remember what his name was, but I think he also uses knives? I dunno.”
He sat off to the side, pulling out a handheld device, and let Izuku just get to work.

The training room didn’t have a plethora of equipment, just some dummies, mats, and a few
weights by the wall, but it was still space to do some working out, something he hadn’t really done
in earnest for weeks. Sure, he’d done exercise in his room, wanting to keep in shape, but he hadn’t
held a knife in three weeks, and some of the lingering tension eased out of him when his hand
closed around the hilt (there wasn't a lot of tension left, after three weeks. Shouldn’t there be more
tension? He was with villains and had been kidnapped -).

By the time he had worked through warmups, a nice burn had settled in, and he ran his drills, using
the dummies when he wanted a target. He noticed Tomura glancing up from his game every once
in a while, vaguely interested in what he was doing, and after running through his drills, the other
boy spoke up.

“Do you know how to pickpocket?”

Izuku jumped at the voice and whirled around. “...No?”

Tomura grinned and set the game down, getting up. He held out his gloved hand for the knife and
Izuku cautiously handed it over, not quite sure where this was going.

“I have my gloves right now, so you don't need to worry too much about getting hit by my quirk,
but I want you to try and take this knife from me.”

Ok, that was something he could do, probably.

Wrong.

After five minutes of struggle, he hadn’t even touched the knife, and he was getting frustrated at
the extended game of keep away.

“Tomura, what’s the point of this?”

The older boy dodged again, not looking too winded. “If you need something someone else has,
you want to be able to take it from them. Disarming them is also nice. Rogues should be good at
pickpocketing, it's practically in the job description.”

True enough. What if someone had a gun? If Izuku could take the gun before they even had the
chance to draw it, let alone shoot, that would spare him and his allies a load of pain. Any
weapons, really. Or say he was chasing someone that had like, a USB stick of important data! If
he could just take that easier, the fight wouldn’t last as long and people would be safer.

His mind moved a mile a minute, absorbing how much this could help him be a hero- he stilled,
and the brief moment of surprise was enough for Tomura to send him tumbling to the ground.

Red eyes peered down at him through a curtain of light blue hair. “You good?”

He bit his lip.

Would he ever be a hero, at this rate?

“...Yeah, I’m good. Let’s go again.”

~~~~~

Uraraka read the news of Ingenium’s injury and glanced at the back of Iida’s head from where he
sat, rigid, in front of her. He had seemed fine this morning, greeting her and the other students as
usual, but looking back she could see how broken he really was.

Finally, she cornered him at lunch.

“Iida, really, are you ok?”

He was sitting perfectly straight, but the set of his jaw betrayed him. “Of course! I thank you for
your concern, but everything is quite alright!”

She bit her lip, not believing him in the slightest. “...It’s okay to be upset, you know. It’s awful,
what happened, and you aren’t expected to be ok.”

He kept trying to feed her platitudes, and she kept prodding him, until finally, he broke.

“How am I ever going to be a hero?!”

She was taken aback. “What?”

He hung his head in his hands, anger and annoyance replaced with grief. “I wasn’t fast enough to
save Midoriya, I can’t help my brother, so how the hell am I ever supposed to be a hero?”

She blinked at the almost swear from him, but caught onto the first thing he said.

“Iida...do you blame yourself for Midori getting kidnapped?”

“I wasn’t...I wasn't fast enough! The heroes arrived a mere two minutes after he was gone! If I had
just been faster, stronger, better -”

“No!” She yelled, cutting him off, “You can’t think like that! It wasn’t your fault, Midoriya OR
your brother! You went as fast as you could to get the teachers and you were nowhere near Hosu!
How were you supposed to know Stain would attack your brother? Heroes aren’t gods, Iida,
they’re human.” She pulled his hands away from his face, resting them on the table. “You’re
human.”

She wasn’t prepared for the stoic boy to burst into tears, but she could only comfort him as best as
she could.

He certainly wasn’t the only one who blamed themselves for Midori getting taken, after all.

~~~~~

“Tomura,” he hissed, “that is a serial killer!”

One of the other benefits of the sports festival was that Tomura had let him watch the news again,
so he had been able to watch in horror as they reported on the hero Killer: Stain’s latest victim (his
heart ached for Iida, who had spoken glowingly of his older brother), Ingenium. The reporter had
talked about the other murders Stain had committed and had a basic description of what he looked
like, so Izuku could recognize him when he stepped through Kurogiri’s portal and into the bar.

“Yeah, I know,” Tomura muttered back, decked out in several hands for the meeting, “Sensei
thought he’d be a good add.”

Said serial killer looked at the two of them and sneered. “What are children doing, playing at
being villains?” Tomura bristled, but Stain peered closer and continued before he could retort.
“Aren’t you that kidnapped brat? The one from UA? Now, what are you doing here?”

“He’s my rogue,” Tomura snapped, “they weren’t treating him right.”

Izuku flinched at that, knowing that on some level, he was right. For years, he really hadn’t been
treated right. UA, however, had been different...hadn’t it?

“And what are your ideals, child villains? What do I have to gain from joining you?”

This, Tomura knew the answer to. “We want to destroy hero society, to fight back against all the
people it’s hurt, and kill the heroes who dare get in our way.” His eyes glinted around the hand.
“You have some experience killing heroes, after all, don’t you?”

Stain grunted. “The fakes, yes. Hero society had become corrupted, as you say. Only true heroes,
like All Might, deserve to live.”

“All Might,” Tomura spat, “is not a perfect hero.”

Now it was Stain’s turn to bristle. He lunged forward, drawing out a knife to embed in Tomura’s
shoulder. Izuku darted in without thinking, drawing his knife and blocking Stain’s. “How dare
you?!” The serial killer snarled and it took everything in Izuku to hold his ground.

“He hurt us! He’s just as fake as the rest of them! I’ll kill All Might!”
Stain scoffed, leaning in to press further. “He hurt you, did he? What on earth could the Symbol
of Peace have done to hurt you?”

“He shattered my dreams and left me on a rooftop the same day I was told to kill myself.”

Izuku wasn’t looking at anything really, but the words slipped out, unbidden. He kept going,
unable to stop himself.

“I wanted to be a hero. I still do, I think. I just want to help people, to save them with a smile, but
when I told him I was quirkless, he said I couldn’t do it. Even after making it into the hero course,
he still tried treating me like I didn’t belong.”

Stain furrowed his brow, not quite believing what he was hearing. All Might? Did that? The
same man who said that everyone could be a hero in interviews? His knife eased up just a little.

Tomura took up the mantle next.

“I killed my family when my quirk manifested.” Izuku startled, not having heard this story before.
“I didn’t mean to; I was five. I begged people for help, anyone, but civilians and heroes alike
passed me by. I wanted All Might to save me, but you know what? He never came.” Red eyes
met Stain’s burning with anger. “He’s not a good hero. He’s a fake, like the rest.”

Stain seemed to concede the point, to a degree (one’s beliefs did not change in a few moments,
after all, especially if one’s creed and ideals were built around them), and tentatively asked, “Then
who? Who in this society has any right to call themselves a hero if the Symbol of Peace does not?”

Surprisingly, it was Tomura who answered. “Eraserhead. Underground heroes. They’re cool.”

Stain nodded, acknowledging the answer. “They do not work for fame and glory. They are true
heroes.”

“So,” Tomura leaned against the bar, “do you want to join my party? We’ll get rid of the
corruption in this society together.”
Stain pulled back, slipping his knife back into its sheath, hidden somewhere on his person. He cast
an appraising eye at Izuku and it took everything in him to meet the gaze.

“You’re pretty good, kid. I think you’d make a fine hero, if those ideals you spouted were true.”

Tomura huffed, throwing an arm around the smaller boy. “Izu would be one of the only good
heroes, but we have to tear down everything before we can build it back up again.”

Stain snorted and turned to face Kurogiri. “I’ll work with you. Put me back in Hosu, I have
business I want to finish there. I’m planning on attacking tonight if you want to join.”

Without another word, he stepped through a portal, disappearing back into the city he had come
from, and both boys sagged in relief.

“Jeez,” Tomura muttered, “he didn’t need to attack us out of nowhere like that.”

“That was by far the most stressful meeting I’ve had in my life.” Izuku paused, nose scrunching
up. “Then again, meeting with the guidance counselor was always rough.”

Tomura burst into a raspy laugh. “Not meeting me? I’m offended!”

Izuku snorted and smiled. “No, guidance counselors were definitely worse.”

They laughed for a bit more, riding out the adrenaline rush, before they glanced at the clock.

“Come on,” Tomura murmured, “let’s prepare for that attack.”

~~~~~

Todoroki Shouto grimaced at his father’s back. Patrolling in Hosu to find the Hero Killer seemed
ridiculous. None of his classmates were in the city, having all chosen to intern elsewhere, Iida
specifically wanting to be far from the site of his brother’s injury.

“I’m going to be the best hero I can be,” he had proclaimed, “so that no one else gets hurt! It is
best to do that in an environment where I will not get distracted!”

Shouto could respect that. He certainly wasn’t doing any focusing with his father around. He was
still trying to get his “masterpiece” to use his fire, to no avail, and Shouto rubbed his arm where a
bruise was no doubt going to form from how hard his father had gripped him.

At least patrol was boring. People took one look at Endeavor’s angry face and scampered off,
leaving no one trying to talk to him or Shouto. He could tell some people wanted to, being the
second place winner of the sports festival after all, but the flaming garbage can seemed to dissuade
them from trying.

When the shriek of the Nomu rang over the city and plumes of smoke rose, he was suddenly
thrown back to that day at the USJ, watching Midoriya being grabbed by an abomination and
subsequently thrown through a portal before Shouto could even think to save him.

He shook his head out of his daze as his father bellowed at various heroes and sidekicks around,
already lighting up one Nomu that seemed to absorb his flames and spit them back.

They managed to defeat the Nomu present, and Shouto worked on evacuating civilians from the
area, not wanting anyone to get hurt by this catastrophe. It seemed like an hour had passed before
it seemed to wind down, and Shouto had never felt more exhausted.

Perhaps that’s why he didn’t hear the leathery flapping of wings until he was being lifted into the
air.

Through his haze, he felt the claws piercing his side and his exhaustion quickly gave way to panic
as he was lifted higher and higher, heading in the direction of a water tower on top of a building.

As they approached, he noticed three figures on the top, soon joined by another he recognized with
a jolt was Stain. The other two he remembered from the USJ, the misty man and the hand villain.

The fourth…
He flinched as he made eye contact.

He saw his name mouthed before a cry of “Meteor Punch!” knocked him and the Nomu out of the
sky. His head shot up to see Uraraka, looking at him with a determined expression. She uncurled
her fist and yelled “Release!” while touching her finger pads together, and she fell with them.

The Nomu screamed, having come dislodged from his quarry, but it couldn’t regain it’s balance as
a small yellow blur dashed out of nowhere and kicked it directly in the exposed brain.

“Girl! What the hell were you thinking! I said stay put!”

She tapped Shouto, slowing their descent to a nice even pace before muttering “Release” again as
they touched down, before turning sheepishly to the old man.

“Sorry, Gran! Couldn’t let another classmate get snatched if I could do something about it. Plus,
my quirk is useful for rescue efforts!”

The old man grumbled something about brats and someone named Toshinori before turning to the
bleeding teen.

“Boy, you alright?”

He didn’t answer, turning with wide eyes to Uraraka. “I saw him.”

“...Who?”

“Midoriya.”

In an instant, the fire returned to her eyes and she shot forward, looking like she wanted to shake
answers out of him but restraining herself if only because he was injured. “Where?”
 He pointed up at the water tower where he had seen the League and Stain...and Midoriya.

“Was he alright? Did he look hurt?”

He shook his head slowly, mind replaying the scene over and over again. “He wasn’t hurt, from
what I could see. He was next to Shigaraki, the mist villain, and Stain, but he wasn’t hurt.”

She breathed a sigh of relief before her brow crinkled. “He was just...standing there? Next to three
villains?”

Shouto didn’t have a chance to reply before his father’s booming voice rang down the alleyway.
He flinched briefly before turning, annoyed. Some might think he was concerned for his son, but
Shouto could see the anger from letting himself get taken and injured. That was something
quirkless people did, after all, not the son of the Number Two.

He turned back to Uraraka as he was fussed over by the paramedics that had trailed the pro hero.

“Tell Sensei.”

She nodded, face set.

They had a lead.

Chapter End Notes

They have seen the green bean! What will they do with this information?

So yes, Iida was not in Hosu! The loss of Midoriya had more effects than one, of
course, and Tensei's injury was the straw to break the camel's back, as it were. Instead
of being filled with the desire for revenge, Iida just broke and felt like his whole life
was falling apart. This means that no one actively sought out the Hero Killer, so
Native is uh. Dead.

Another big change is Stain - with Mido there to contribute, he might actually stick
around and join the league. Does he immediately believe All Might isn't a good hero?
No, but he is starting to accept some flaws, perhaps in heroes in general. We'll see
where this leads.
Also, it took a lot of deliberation to giving Uraraka OfA, but I have good ways to
disguise it using her quirk (Meteor Punch, for example, can be explained by her
increasing the gravity of her arms to give her more power behind her punch, and
moving fast is just her negating her own weight, easy clap).

Hope you enjoyed, see you next time!

 My Little League: Friendship is Magic
Chapter Summary

Kurogiri thinks, the heroes meet, exams happen, and Kamino gets blown sky high

Chapter Notes

Izuku: "I miss my friends :("

Tomura: "don't worry I have a plan"
Izuku: "no now I'm more worried"

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Kurogiri was not entirely certain how he felt about Midoriya Izuku. After about four weeks, he
could definitely say he was much more polite than Shigaraki Tomura, and certainly more well
behaved, but a villain in the making?

Up for debate.

He had seen the boy’s skills, of course, and saw what got Tomura so intrigued, but he seemed far
too good to really think about villainy as a serious career.

Still, that had perhaps saved them both from injury at the hands of Stain, now a frequent guest of
the bar, whether for a drink or to teach the rogue more knife skills. If he hadn’t jumped in front of
the knife, Tomura would be sporting yet another injury, which would decidedly make him irritable,
something Kurogiri never looked forward to, as it meant dusted glasses and more.

But on that note, it seems Midoriya Izuku worked again. The gloves were on more often than not,
Tomura delighting in being able to hold things again. He had even stopped scratching, for the
most part, and he didn’t look nearly as chapped.

Even if Midoriya never became a villain, it was clear to see the positive influence he had on
Tomura, and that was something Kurogiri could not fault him for.

In fact, Kurogiri was perhaps the calmest he had ever been. Aside from occasionally sending the
boy to Sensei, something every resident of the bar was starting to dread, things were almost
normal.

It was nice.

Even Stain was feeling the effects of the kidnapped hero student, if Kurogiri had to guess. One
time he had mentioned his target and the green boy was quick to defend that hero. Tomura even
joined in, pointing out a better target, and Stain had actually listened, if the next day’s news were
anything to go by.

Kurogiri was not sure how he felt about Midoriya Izuku, but he didn’t think that was a bad thing.

He was good for them.

~~~~~

Aizawa rubbed his forehead as the rest of the heroes trickled in. When Uraraka and Todoroki had
come to him, saying they had seen his student in Hosu, he had immediately called a meeting. This
was the best lead they had gotten since the start of the investigation, aside from Nighteye
reluctantly handing over the files on All for One.

Those files were grim, to say the least.

As the last heroes gathered, he was quick to get to business.

“During the attack on Hosu, two of my students who happened to be on site happened to see
Midoriya Izuku.”

Joke sat up, more than attentive. “Where? Was he ok?”

“He was,” Aizawa sighed, “and he was still with the League. The students identified Shigaraki
Tomura, Kurogiri, and… Stain.”
Several people noticeably bristled, and Gang Orca sighed. “So we have confirmation that Stain is
with the League.”

Edgeshot huffed. “It’s not in his MO, he’s been working alone for months, and now he just joins
the League? The org with one vaguely successful attack to their name?”

“Plus,” Midnight, present for this meeting, muttered, “he got Native in the chaos, and another pro
last night. Maybe that’s his angle; let the League cause a distraction for his more ballsy targets,
but throw us off enough that we don’t know where he’s going to strike next.”

“Do we have any leads on his next target? If we can track him back to the League we can arrest a
dangerous serial killer, villain org, and rescue your boy in one fell swoop,” Tiger growled, giving a
pointed look to the haggard Aizawa.

He merely sighed in response. “From what we can tell, he’s also making use of their warper.
Certainly useful for a quick getaway if nothing else. God,” he ran a hand through his hair, “the
exposé’s on the heroes that get released after their deaths are brutal and efficient. These aren’t like
his regular targets, these are putting his ideology out there. He’s all about getting rid of “fake
heroes” that people are starting to talk about him in a positive light.”

“Murder is still wrong, though,” muttered Mandalay.

“Yes, murder is still wrong.”

“My teams,” Nighteye spoke up suddenly, “have located a few locations that might be potential
bases. We aren’t certain of course, and it is a fairly large list, but perhaps if we split it amongst
ourselves, we would better be able to narrow it down.”

Aizawa had to restrain himself from leaping up and ripping the list from his long spindly fingers,
but he managed to hold himself back.

“Good idea.”

Mandalay spoke up with a sigh. “The summer camp is in two weeks. The Pussycats won’t have
time to look into any locations, but we can familiarize ourselves with them on the map.”
Aizawa nodded. “Final exams are this week,” and didn’t that hurt to think about, Midoriya had
been missing for almost a whole term , “but the UA team will be spending sometime this week
looking into locations.”

The assembled heroes nodded, taking their sections of the list and dispersing.

They would get him back.

They had to.

~~~~~

Ochako looked at Yaomomo beside her, preparing to enter the city where Aizawa-sensei was
waiting.

“You have a plan?”

The vice-rep startled. “Oh! Um, I can make...flash bombs?”

Ochako smiled brightly. “Right! I can continuously use my quirk and I can warn you when he’s
looking at us, and then once we flash him, I can make us both light and then run!”

Momo nodded hesitantly. “You have gotten much faster since your internship. A rather unique
application of your quirk.”

“Thanks!”

They quieted down, Momo making a few flash bombs hidden inside dolls, and Ochako let the flow
of One for All overtake her limbs, making her feel like the effect of gravity on her had lessened,
like she was on the moon or something. A few pink sparks flicked off of her, and she loved the
feeling of power.
Which is why she noticed immediately when it was gone.

She yelped, tripping as weight returned to her, and Momo whirled around, facing their teacher and
throwing. They both screwed their eyes shut and Ochako felt the power return. It surged through
her at 5% and she tapped Momo, making her lighter, before they both booked it, gunning for the
entrance.

She hoped they could pass and go to the summer camp. She needed all the training she could get
if she was going to save Deku.

~~~~~

Hitoshi was honestly kind of nervous. Yeah, he had wanted to be in the hero course, and now he
was at the summer camp with them, but he really felt out of place. He made 19 students, an odd
number (and a prime number, ugh) and he didn’t want anyone to think he was trying to replace that
Midoriya kid. He wasn’t, after all; if anything, he was replacing that grape kid that had transferred
out.

He really felt for the Midoriya guy, in a way. Not the whole kidnapping part, but how everyone
dismissed him when they realized he was quirkless. He had it better, of course, having a quirk in
the first place, but seeing how quick this class was to defend the kid, saying quirkless didn’t mean
worthless, he had hope. He really wanted to meet this guy one day, because all signs pointed to
him being really nice. Hopefully his time being kidnapped by villains wouldn’t have changed that.

When the Trial of Courage came and the woods lit on fire, his nerves were replaced with
something else, and he swallowed past the lump in his throat.

Everyone else had training, and he just had his quirk.

As he eyed the lizard and buff woman villain who approached, he steeled his resolve.

He had his quirk, after all.

~~~~~
When Spinner got taken over by the purple kid’s quirk, Magne immediately reported back to Dabi,
squad leader.

“A brainwasher?” He muttered, “how interesting. Mister, if you see him, feel free to grab him too.
Boss would like that.”

The showman chirped a confirmation, stating he had already found the targets and apprehended
them both, and would be heading to Magne’s location to see about a bonus objective before
swinging back to the extraction point.

On the call to retreat, Magne pulled Spinner towards herself, jarring him out in the middle of his
sentence.

“Bakugo and- ow! Thanks, Big Sis!”

She grinned. “Objective gathered, time to head home.”

She watched the purple boy pale, the Pussycats behind him doing the same, and she tossed their
teammate back to them.

“See you later!”

She caught the edge of the mutter from the brainwasher. “Bakugo and someone else? But that
means they’re captured- ”

Her grin widened as they passed the magician. He tossed the two marbles to them, just in case
something happened, and darted back to grab the bonus target, heroes far too slow to react to the
master showman, and they met back up in the clearing, all members present.

Mustard, Toga, Twice, Dabi, Mr. Compress, Spinner, and Magne.

Kurogiri opened a portal for them and they slipped away, leaving the forest burning behind them.
Boss would be happy.

~~~~~

Boss might have been happy, but Izuku really wasn’t.

He looked at the three students, unconscious and tied to chairs, one gagged (the one he didn’t
recognize. He had been in the sports festival, he thought), from his seat at the bar and he didn’t
know what to say.

Toga hung off of him, gushing about two girls she had seen and fought (Uraraka and Asui, his
brain supplied based on her descriptions), and Dabi was looking at Todoroki with an unreadable
expression. Spinner was in the corner of the room, staring suspiciously at the purple haired kid,
and the rest were just hanging out while Tomura congratulated them on a successful mission.

Looked at Kacchan (who was not on the list when Tomura told him they were going to try
kidnapping another UA student, and wasn’t that concerning) he was glad he had talked Tomura out
of recruiting Muscular and Moonfish, knowing they were way too bloodthirsty and crazy.

Granted, he thought, looking at the rest of them, the people they had recruited were still villains,
some with several murders to their names, Toga and Magne specifically, so maybe there was no
helping it, but no one looked injured, so that was something.

Kacchan woke up first, which was probably the worst case scenario, if Izuku was being honest.

Red eyes shot up and almost instantly found green, and Izuku could only watch as he bristled.

“Deku?!”

Conversation stilled, and Tomura stalked up to the boy. “Ah, you’re awake. Good.”

The blond ignored the villain leader, continuing to spit at Izuku.

“The hell?! Are you just here? Did you really join the villains you little shit?!”

He flinched. “No?”

“Yeah? Then why do you get to walk around free?”

“Oi,” Tomura said, annoyed, “stop talking to him like that. He’s my rogue and you’ve already
been a huge piece of shit to him.”

Finally, Bakugo looked at the leader. “What would you know, hand fuck?”

Tomura grinned wickedly. “Oh, I know a lot about you, Kacchan . See, Sensei showed me Izu’s
memories, so I know more than you want me to.”

Bakugo narrowed his eyes, but Todoroki and the other kid were waking up. Heterochromatic eyes
blinked before focusing on him.

“Midoriya,” he breathed out, “you’re alright.”

He nodded after a moment, shifting uncomfortably. “Yeah, I’m ok.” He was quiet, but the other
teen still heard him, nodding in satisfaction.

Tomura turned his attention to the new teen. “Todoroki Shouto, son of the number two hero, and
yet, you don’t use his side of your quirk. We have a theory as to why, but want to tell us anyway?”

Todoroki’s gaze darkened at the mention of his father, and he glared at the floor. “I will never use
his fire.”

Stain nodded from the corner of the bar. “He is nothing more than a fake, not worthy of the title of
“hero.””

Dabi folded his arms, in apparent agreement with both of them.

Tomura’s grin widened. “Perfect! Then how would you feel about taking him down?”

All four UA students in the bar jolted and looked at Tomura. Izuku less so than the others, already
fairly used to this, but really? This was a recruitment pitch? For Todoroki?

Dual colored eyes narrowed. “You’re villains.”

Izuku flinched, and he slid his eyes away, but not in time to miss Todoroki turned his gaze to him.

“Izuku, are you sure you’re alright?”

It was Toga who answered, hanging off of him with a big grin. “Yeah! Izu-kun is doing great!
He’s our rogue.”

Izuku pursed his lips and Bakugo snarled. “Shitty Deku, they’re still looking for you, and you
didn’t even have the decency to tell them you joined the fucking villains?!” He trailed off. “I was
looking for you.”

He jolted in his seat, eyes wide, and he saw… was that… hurt? In Kacchan’s eyes?

Todoroki nodded solemnly. “He gave this whole speech about you before the sports festival.”

“Shut up, Half n Half!”

“You did?”

Bakugo rolled his eyes. “Guess you didn’t hear it then.”

“I… we missed the opening ceremony. People are… looking for me?”
Tomura narrowed his eyes. “As if one pretty speech is enough to take away years of abuse. Your
side had your chance with him, and you wasted it by being shitty.”

“Um, Tomura?”

He immediately stopped his rant to look at Izuku. “Yeah?”

“Who…” he pointed at the gagged boy, “who is that? Why is he here?”

Lilac eyes narrowed at the villain leader.

“He has a brainwashing quirk,” Magne spoke up, “thought you might like him.”

Izuku blinked in surprise. “So cool…” he murmured.

Tomura grinned. “Does seem pretty handy. I’m guessing it’s voice activated?”

“Seems like,” Spinner grumbled.

Tomura crouched down, peering up at the brainwasher. “I’m betting society has really put you
down for having a quirk like that, huh?”

The boy didn’t answer, of course, being gagged, but he did roll his eyes and slouch in his chair.

There was a knock on the door and they all turned as one.

“Kamino, Pizza-la!”

Before they could react, the wall burst in, burying Spinner, Magne, and Twice under the rubble.
Mustard would have gotten caught if Stain hadn’t dragged him out of the way.
Izuku saw who it was and flinched away.

All Might.

“I am here!” He bellowed, heroes swarming in before the villains had time to react.

Stain was the first one to recover, darting to grab Spinner out of the rubble, not able to reach
Magne or Twice before he had to dart back, avoiding the small yellow foot hurtling for his face.

“Kurogiri! Bring the Nomus!”

“I can’t!” The mist man seemed almost panicked. “They aren’t in the designated locations!”

“HA!” Tiger scoffed. “Looks like the second team did their jobs! I see the four students you
captured - where is Ragdoll?”

Izuku’s blood ran cold. Ragdoll had been captured as well?

Tomura sneered. “Not here. Who knows, maybe you’ll find her before it’s too late.”

Edgeshot rushed forward, thinning himself out to pierce Kurogiri, who let out a choke before
falling to the ground, unconscious. He managed to also knock out Dabi before they were all
hacking up grey sludge, four three prisoners included. They all looked rather panicked, and Izuku
had time to see Nomu spilling out of thin air before the sludge consumed his vision.

His mind flashed back to the slime villain from over a year ago at this point, and even once his
vision cleared, he couldn’t see anything, breath coming far too rapidly to be normal.

He felt a four fingered touch on his back and a raspy and panicked voice trying to calm him down.
He managed to suck in a few breaths as his vision cleared and he gave Tomura a soft smile.
Then he looked up.

He didn’t recognize where they were, but he did recognize how utterly destroyed it was.

He also recognized Sensei standing amongst the rubble.

“Ah, Tomura, it was a good try. You did your best.”

“Sensei…”

“Izuku.”

Both boys flinched and the four fingered grip on his shoulder tightened a little.

“...Y-yes?”

“Come here, my boy.”

He reluctantly got to wobbly feet, stumbling forward until he was within arms reach.

“I never did give you a quirk, did I?”

He stiffened. “Uh, no, but it’s fine, really-”

“Nonsense!” He could hear more than see the twisted grin and he tried to edge away slowly, but it
was too late, a hand on his head. “If you’re going to be staying with Tomura, it only makes sense
to make you the best rogue you can be .”

He fell to the ground, gasping at the pain, and something tickled his mind, but he was in far too
much pain to do anything with it.
“I just got that quirk, actually, but I won’t have much need for it after this. Perhaps you’ll even
find fun new uses for it.”

He stumbled back, mind reeling, wanting to get as far away from this man as possible, when All
Might touched down.

“ALL FOR ONE!”

Sensei chuckled. “All Might. You’re getting slower. That was only 5 kilometers, and it took you
this long to get here? Did you choose a successor already?”

“Your crimes have gone unanswered for too long, All for One!”

“Hopefully you have, since you won’t be leaving this battle alive.”

“That’s my line!”

“Oh? A hero, saying he will kill the villain? Not very heroic, if I do say so myself.” Sensei
paused, turning to the scattered League. “Time for you to go, Tomura, to fight another day.”

Tomura almost protested, but just looked at Izuku and nodded.

Black and red tendrils sprung from Sensei into Kurogiri’s still unconscious body and the mist
spread into a portal.

“Go.”

The league was more than happy to clear out, the conscious members picking up the ones who
were not, but then there was an explosion and a shock of ice.

Izuku spun his head to see Bakugo and Todoroki (and the purple guy) had gotten out of their
 restraints and had taken up defensive positions around each other, daring the villains to make a
move.

There was a shout and he turned back to see Uraraka, Iida, Kirishima, Tokoyami, and Kaminari, of
all people, speeding towards them, made light by Uraraka’s quirk. The other three wasted no time
grabbing onto people in the group, and Uraraka gave a cry of “DEKU!” holding out her hand, and
on instinct, he reached up to take it.

“IZUKU!”

He looked back to see Tomura looking distressed before Stain dragged him towards the portal,
giving the green boy a nod.

“Tomura…” he muttered, feeling lost.

And then the stress of the past half hour caught up to him and he passed out.

Chapter End Notes

God I had such fun writing this. It did go a little fast, going from Hosu one chapter to
the summer camp the next, but to be fair it felt like everything happened really fast in
the anime too. The next few chapters will be a lot slower, since we have to deal with
the fallout of...everything.

How far has Midoriya been brainwashed? What quirk did he get? And why the heck
did Stain nod at him? (That one is probably just like, a minor detail that's easy to
guess, but w/e)

Hope you enjoyed!

 Dealing with the Fallout
Chapter Summary

The first dealing with the fallout of the longs months Izuku was kidnapped.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

When Izuku woke up in a hospital bed and not in his usual room (and God, the fact that he thought
of his room in the bar and not his room at home), he was confused for all of two seconds before the
events leading up to his passing out came rushing back.

The kidnapping, Bakugo, Tomura, the heroes, Sensei forcing a quirk on him -

He cut off that train of thought, not willing to think about what he could possibly have right now as
the doctor came in.

“Oh good, Midoriya, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

He swallowed past the dryness in his throat. “Sore. Confused. What...what happened?”

The doctor frowned sadly. “I think you’ll have to ask your teacher about that one.”

As if summoned, Aizawa swept through the door and immediately came in to fret over him in a
way that uncannily reminded Izuku of Kurogiri when he had passed out all those weeks ago. The
comparison made him shift in discomfort.

“S-Aizawa-sensei,” he stopped himself from calling this man Sensei, visions of twisted flesh
making him bite the word down, “what happened?”

His teacher sighed as the doctor continued to look him over. “When the League went after
Bakugo, Todoroki, and Shinsou, they were sloppy and led us directly to their base, and by
consequence, to you. Your classmates staged an unsanctioned rescue attempt that managed to get
all four of you out, and the majority of the League escaped. The main villain, All for One, is now
in Tartarus.”

Izuku let out a sigh of relief. He wanted to tell himself that it was only because Sensei was gone
and couldn’t hurt them anymore, but he also felt better that Tomura and the others had escaped,
and then immediately cursed himself with a frown for thinking it.

“And… is everyone else alright?”

“Health wise, they’re fine. Most of them are waiting outside, actually. The seven of them will,
however, be facing disciplinary actions.”

Izuku furrowed his brow, counting in his head. “I only saw five?”

Aizawa sighed again. “Yaoyorozu and Asui were also there. I believe they were referred to as the
“ground team,” or something.”

He left, holding the door open for said seven students to come piling in.

“Mido!” Uraraka flung herself at him, hugging the life out of him. “I was so scared when you
passed out like that! Don’t do that again!”

“I-I won’t!”

Iida chopped his hand down, face stern. “We have sorely missed your presence in the classroom! I
am glad to see you unharmed!”

“Yeah,” Kaminari swallowed nervously, “thank god the villains didn’t hurt you. They didn’t hurt
you, right?”

He waved his hands frantically to reassure them. “No, no, Tomura didn’t hurt me!”

They all paused.

Asui was the one to break the silence. “Tomura?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I didn’t actually know his full name until like, a week ago, and by that time I had
already been calling him Tomura for a long time. Plus, he looked annoyed when I tried calling
him Shigaraki…”

Kirishima grinned, all shark teeth. “That’s pretty manly! The leader of the League of Villains let
you call him by his first name! I wouldn’t have had the balls to do that!”

Tokoyami nodded. “The emissaries of darkness are strange and unknowable.”

“Right… so, yeah, I’m fine, the only person who ever really hurt me is in Tartarus now.”

They all shuddered at the mention of him.

“How did you stand that guy?” Kaminari muttered.

“Honestly?” Izuku scratched the back of his head, “I didn’t.”

His classmates were ushered out as a police detective, introducing himself as Tsukauchi Naomasa,
came in to take his statement.

Izuku was somewhat reluctant to talk about his long time with Tomura, but he answered all the
questions, even when they were hard.

“You knew who Stain was going to attack?”

“Well, yeah, he’d tell us who he was going after so we could give him our opinions or better
targets.”

“And when you say we, you mean…?”

“Me and Tomura.”

“Did you ever try and stop him from killing heroes all together?”

“Um… no? I tried to make sure he steered clear of the good ones, and only went after the guys that
weren’t really heroes at all, but telling Stain not to kill was like asking to be his next victim.”

“Did you know about the attack on the summer camp?”

“...Yes. I knew they wanted to kidnap a student, but they didn’t tell me who.”

“You weren’t expecting them to bring back three students?”

“No! I have a pretty good idea why they took the people they did, but it’s not like Tomura told me
who he was planning on grabbing. He knew I’d be upset.”

“And why would you be upset?”

“Because the only reason he grabbed Ka-Bakugo is because he hated him.”

“Why did he hate Bakugo?”

“... Because of what he did to me.”

“To clarify, he kidnapped Bakugo...for you?”

He shifted in the hospital bed, uncomfortable and looking away with a grimace. “He… Sensei
read my memories practically on day one, and shared them with Tomura. Bakugo wasn’t the
nicest to me growing up because I was quirkless, and that made Tomura mad.”
“Shigaraki was angry on your behalf?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“And his reasoning for the other two?”

“I think he wanted to recruit them. From the sound of it, the brainwasher, Shinsou, was a spur of
the moment capture because of his quirk, but Todoroki was probably the plan from the start.”

“Ok, next question, what were your interactions with the man you call Sensei?”

The questions continued.

After what seemed like hours but was only maybe one, he was released, and his mom came to pick
him up. Apparently, Aizawa was still there, and was planning on escorting them home so nothing
happened on the way back.

“Oh, Izuku!” His mother sobbed, lurching forward to wrap him in a hug. He melted into her
embrace. It had been months since he had last been able to hug his mom.

“Oh baby, I’m so glad you’re ok. You’re safe now, baby.”

He sniffed, wiping away a few tears as they made their way to the car. He looked to Aizawa with a
wry smile, finally feeling at peace after this whole ordeal.

“I hope I can make up classes this summer, I don’t want to fall behind.”

His mother tensed beside him and she slowly turned to face him, wringing her hands as her face
was painted with worry.

“Oh, sweetie, are you sure you want to go back to that school? It’s so dangerous…”
“Mom?”

“It’s just,” she looked away, putting a hand on her cheek, “you've been gone for so long, taken
from the school itself, and Katsuki and those other boys were taken from another school event. It
just doesn’t feel safe anymore, not for you…”

His ears rang as she continued extrapolating all the reasons he had to give up on his dreams, but he
couldn’t hear her anymore. He could only hear Tomura.

“Yeah, you’re right, she didn’t. Didn’t support your dreams, didn’t realize you were being bullied,
didn’t try to help you. She really did a shit job of being a parent.”

“-and I just-”

“Stop.”

“-think that you-”

“ Stop .”

“-would be better off in a different school-”

“STOP!”

He looked at her like he had never seen her before, and her expression morphed from worry to
shock that he had yelled. He took a step back.

“Mom, stop. What are you saying? That I should leave UA? Leave the hero program?”

“...Well, yes.”
“I can’t…” he ran a hand through his curls. “I can’t believe this. Stop, stop treating me like I’m
fragile ! I trained so hard for this, I spent months with villains , but now you want me to just…
give up? On everything I’ve worked so hard for?” He laughed breathlessly, not quite believing
what he was hearing. “God, thinking about finally going back to UA, to some of the first real
friends I’ve had in years was one of the only things that kept me going. I didn’t want to believe
that you’d try and keep me in a stifling bubble, but I guess I should have known, since that’s all
you’ve ever done!”

He let out a ragged breath, looking at his stricken mother. She took a breath to say something,
reaching out, but he turned to Aizawa.

“Someone mentioned dorms. Are they built yet?”

“They are.”

“Then I’d like to stay there.”

Aizawa blinked once, giving a single glance at Midoriya Inko, before nodding.

She didn’t get another chance to speak, and he didn’t look back.

He should have known Bakugo would have problems with that.

Frankly, Bakugo, he had come to find, had problems with a lot of things, but one thing was his
Auntie Inko. No one hurt Auntie, not even her own son.

“Shitty Deku, what the hell did you say to Auntie?!”

He narrowed his eyes at his former childhood friend, still on edge from the confrontation with his
mom last night.

“A few things were said, be more specific.”

“Why the hell was she crying about you not loving her?! She was the most upset out of any of us!”

He sighed, sitting on the ground and looking at the horizon. He liked being able to see the sky and
plants again.

“Like I said, be more specific. We got in a fight, I wanted some time to cool off, so I came here to
the dorms instead of going home with her.”

“What the fuck? Why the fuck would you need to cool off, you never get angry.”

Izuku pursed his lips. “Yeah, well, when your mom wants to pull you out of the school you
worked your ass off to get into and destroy your dreams like she’s done for the past eleven years of
your life, I think even the calmest person would get a little mad.”

“She wanted to pull you out?” Bakugo sneered. “No shit, the first villain attack and you get
captured. You can’t be a hero.”

Izuku bristled and whirled around to face him. “Excuse me? The only reason I got kidnapped is
because I put my life on the line to make sure Eraserhead didn’t die . What did you do, other than
piss off Kurogiri and make him scatter us to the high hills? Oh, right, jack shit .”

Bakugo growled and took a step forward, palms crackling with explosions. “Watch it, you little
shit.”

“And oh yeah,” he pretended to remember, “the NEXT villain attack, you weren’t even there.
Which of the top ten heroes were you with when Hosu was burning ?”

“What the fuck? Were you there or some shit?”

“And what about,” he snarled, “the summer camp? I heard from Mister that he grabbed you with
absolutely no fuss! Heroes barely had time to realize the Vanguard was there, so your ass sure as
hell did nothing!”
He was wrenched up by his collar, Bakugo grinding his teeth.

“You little shit! You wanna know the real reason you can’t be a hero? It isn’t because you’re
quirkless, it’s because you’re a fucking villain !”

Izuku flinched and Bakugo grinned savagely. “Don’t think I forgot you being all buddy buddy
with the vampire chick. Or how you called Handsy “Tomura,” like he was your fucking boyfriend
or some shit! You were there for months and you didn’t try to escape?! You were walking around,
free as a bird, while the rest of us were trussed up. You can say what you want, but there’s no way
in hell you aren’t on their side now!”

“SHUT UP!” Izuku punched him in the jaw, sending the blond boy stumbling back. “You think I
wouldn’t have tried to escape if I could? Kurogiri was right there ! Not sure if you noticed, but
his quirk is Warp Gate, and I would have been right back where I started but maybe a little worse
for wear. You don’t know what Sensei did to me! You want to know?! You want to know what I
had to go through?!”

He started pacing, throwing his hands in the air. “Sensei read my fucking memories! He and
Tomura knew every damn thing about me. The process was so invasive and painful I was
unconscious for a full day afterwards. He also used a quirk on me that started to condition me!”

He whirled to face the angry but stock still blond. “Do you know what conditioning is, Katsuki ?
It’s where they associate things with other things, like sensations, so that when you see those
things, you feel the sensation on instinct. Want to take a guess how I was conditioned? Heroes
and pain .”

Bakugo flinched and Izuku laughed. “Yep! It was so bad, I saw All Might on tv once and passed
out from the pain. The only thing that offered me peace was Tomura , the person who kidnapped
me. Now if I see All Might, I flinch! I can’t help it, I’m afraid of the number one hero! And how
shitty is that! I probably can’t go in my room without having a panic attack, with all the merch I
have. Does that make me a villain, Katsuki? Does me trying to avoid that and worse make me a
shitty human being? Does it?”

When the other boy didn’t respond, he ran a hand through his hair and plopped to the ground
again.

“You know,” he was far quieter now, “Tomura was nice, a lot of the time. I knew he just wanted
me to join his party, or whatever, but we played video games. He didn’t hurt me, and he was easy
to talk to once you figured out the video game references. Even without the conditioning to
associate him with peace, I think I still would have been friendly with him. He didn’t like it when I
went to see Sensei because I’d always come back more fucked up than how I left. I think even he
was scared of Sensei.”

He looked up at the sky.

“You know, I think he captured you specifically because of me. Like, how you used to treat me. It
made him mad. I think he was the first person to ever really stand up for me, to make me want to
stand up for myself.” He laughed humorously. “Isn’t that something? A villain, making me want
to stand up for myself.”

Bakugo couldn’t say anything, but he sat down beside Izuku on the grass.

“I have a quirk, you know.”

“What?”

He closed his eyes. “Sensei… Sensei forced one on me, in Kamino. I don’t know what it is, but
it’s there. I didn’t… I don’t want it.” Tears slid their way past shut eyes.

Bakugo huffed. “Nerd, a supervillain gave you a free power. I say take it and be the best damn
hero ever, just as a fuck you.”

“But what about the person he took it from? I don't know what it is, or how to use it, and I wanted
to be a quirkless hero, to prove to the world it could be done! I didn’t want this!”

“But you have it now.”

Both boys jumped to see Aizawa standing nearby, arms crossed as he looked at them with an
unreadable expression.

“You should have told me you were given a quirk, problem child.”
He sat up and shifted guiltily. “Right, sorry. I… I didn’t want to think about it.”

“We’ll have to add that to your catch-up then, at least until you figure out what it is and how to
activate it.”

Izuku blinked owlishly. “Catch-up?”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. “You want to stay in the hero course, right? Well, you’ve missed
almost an entire term, so we’ll have to play a good bit of catch up.”

He brightened. “Yes, sir!”

Bakugo huffed, getting up. “Whatever, I’m going home. See you later, or whatever.”

“Bye, Kacchan!”

He merely rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked away, heading in the
direction of the gate.

When he was out of range, Izuku turned to his teacher.

“How… how much did you hear?”

“Right after you mentioned Hosu, so, most of it.”

Izuku winced. “Well, at least now you know the baggage you’re dealing with!” He shot his
teacher finger guns and tried to smile.

Aizawa looked unimpressed. “Right. Let’s go.”

Without another word, he turned on his heel and Izuku scrambled to follow. All he had to do was
 catch up and he could go back to school.

His life would finally be normal.

Chapter End Notes

That's a really funny joke, Izuku.

Next time we'll see some more of the fallout (what? You thought that was it?) and how
it gets dealt with as well. Writing Bakugo is proving to be an adventure, because I'm
like, do I make him a full asshole, or do I make him an asshole who's concerned.

We'll also get a look at how Tomura is dealing with this (spoiler, he's not).
 Please, God, Let Me Have ONE Good Day (Reprise)
Chapter Summary

The second half of the aftermath - Tomura's reactions, and Izuku's realizations.

Chapter Notes

I'm only a little sorry.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Tomura was having a pretty bad day, all things considered. Yesterday had been the day he was
going to do Izu proud and finally hurt that damn explosion brat. He had gotten more members for
his party, and he even had Stain on his side, who was sure to crush any of the fakes that tried to
come up.

Eraserhead, however, was really cool, Tomura didn’t even want to kill him, and apparently this had
been just the clue they needed to find the League base. Between him and the other heroes (god,
shitty All Might was there, he saw Izu flinch), they managed to do a lot of damage, but that was
before Sensei had pulled them to the Nomu factory.

And then he gave Izu a quirk.

Tomura knew he didn’t want it, and seeing that hand grab the boy’s head had sent a spike of fear
through Tomura; every time Izu was near Sensei, he came back in pain. He screamed, this time
being no exception, and stumbled away from Sensei on jelly legs, shaking profusely. He probably
didn’t even notice he was crying.

When All Might came back, Izu didn’t notice, still trying to focus, and Sensei told Tomura to
leave. Perhaps in another life, he would have protested, wanting to stay and help Sensei, but he
just looked at Izu and nodded. There were too many heroes, Izu was too hurt because of Sensei ,
and they needed to get out, to fight another day.

And then the brats they had captured made it out of their restraints and started attacking, like now
was a great time to do so. More hero brats came out of the woodworks and the three captives
wasted no time grabbing on.
“DEKU!”

Tomura’s head shot up, glaring at the offender who dared call Izu by that insulting name, only to
watch as Izu reached up to meet her hand, almost instinctively.

He felt someone dragging him towards the portal and couldn’t hear over the pounding in his ears,
but he was sure he let out some strangled cry, because green eyes met his, still so confused and
teary, before they fluttered shut, the boy falling limp.

For a moment, Tomura had hope. Without the grip on the girl, he would fall, and they could sweep
him up, so he could keep his rogue, his friend, but then he got tugged along like he weighed
nothing, being drawn into the group of people soaring through the air. Later, he would look at the
profiles for the hero students and recognize the girl with the gravity quirk, knowing he really had
weighed nothing, but that didn’t take away the feeling of loss and anger.

Kurogiri was the first to try and comfort him, seeing as he had known the boy the longest aside
from Sensei, but really, what could you say, when your best friend had been taken from you after
getting so very hurt at the hands of your father figure? The person who had treated him like
normal for the first time ever. He couldn’t even look at his hands, gloved as they were, without
thinking of green eyes and soft, nervous smiles.

The Vanguard, notable Toga and Dabi, tried next. Toga bounced around, talking about how she
could probably break in and steal someone’s blood to get him back, about how if he needed a
rogue, she was also good with knives, but he ignored her. Dabi said the heroes would break him
and he’d be back, and Tomura actually pushed him away with a growl. He didn’t want him to
break.

Finally, it was Stain who said something that seemed to get through to him.

“There are a few possibilities of what’s going to happen with your little rogue.”

The serial killer had the attention of Tomura and everyone in the warehouse.

“One,” he lifted a finger, “he’ll run from the heroes and try to find us. He knows where my
hunting grounds are for the next few kills, so if he wants to find us, he can.”
Tomura perked up at the possibility.

“However, the chances of that happening are slim.”

“What? What do you mean?” Tomura almost snarled.

Stain raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. “For one, he’s likely on a hero guard, probably
Eraserhead, so he’s not going to get far.”

Tomura nodded, conceding the point. “Eraserhead is good…”

“Two,” he lifted another finger, “they will lock him up and assume he’s a villain.”

Toga cocked her head. “Isn’t he, though?”

“No,” Stain muttered, “keep up. Three.”

He lifted a final finger. “He becomes a hero.”

Half the party is thrown into chaos, people scoffing or getting mad, but Tomura just looked
contemplative.

Red eyes met Stain’s. “If anyone could do it, he could.”

The killer nodded, effectively cutting off all discourse. “The boy will make a true hero, even if no
one else will. Even if we hadn’t helped him on his way, showing him the difference between the
real heroes and the fakes, he has Eraserhead for a teacher.”

Dabi folded his arms and rolled his eyes. “You guys seem to hold this Eraserhead guy in high
regard.”
“He’s a true hero, underground, fighting for good, and not fame or money.”

Dabi pursed his lips, not quite believing it, but Spinner cheered. “Good that the little rogue has a
good teacher, then, if we can’t be there to guide him on the right path!”

Tomura nodded. “I still want him back, though.”

Stain scoffed, but it seemed amused. “Of course.”

~~~~~

Training wasn’t supposed to be fun.

Granted, using the UA facilities and not being in that concrete box under the bar made the
experience far nicer than it had any right to be, because there was light that came from the sun and
not fluorescents, he got to fight against more than like, Stain, and Aizawa was there to watch him.
Sue him, he had missed his teacher.

But UA, UA made training different. Without the constant worry about villains and heroes, just
being in school over the summer, knowing Sensei couldn’t hurt him anymore, it was nice, and it
was fun.

Of course, voicing this to Aizawa did not have the reaction he had intended.

“You trained… with Stain?”

“A-And Tomura! He’s just not as good with a knife, so with him I was learning other things.”

A single eyebrow arched up. “Such as?”

“... Pickpocketing?”
The tired teacher let out a breath. “If that’s it, then fine.”

“Oh, um!” He stood up straighter, scratching his neck with his free hand. “I also learned a bit of
stealth? Not a lot, but still, Tomura said any good rogue knows how to stealth, so…”

He trailed off, getting uncomfortable and sad.

“Stealth, huh?”

Aizawa looked at him through narrowed eyes. “Then here’s an assignment for you.” He reached
into a pocket and pulled out his phone. “The password is 2287. If you can successfully take this
and replace the phone background, all without me noticing, I will consider you good on hero
training.”

“...That doesn’t feel very… heroic.”

“Kid, underground heroes are all about this kind of thing; I assume that’s what you’re aiming for?”

He nodded hesitantly.

“Good.” The phone disappeared back into the fold of fabric, and Izuku didn’t actually see any
pockets, so he knew this was going to be hard.

“Right,” Aizawa sat cross legged on the ground gesturing to in front of him, “quirk. Sit down.”

Izuku folded his legs beneath him, nervous.

“I’m assuming you never went to a quirk counselor?”

He shook his head.

Aizawa sighed, running a hand down his face. “Technically they’re still supposed to send you,
even if you’re quirkless, but I guess they didn’t. Not entirely sure what I expected. Right,
anyway, since we don’t know what your quirk is,” and Izuku flinched at the word “your,” “we’re
going to meditate. What do you know about the quirk already?”

He pursed his lips. “I think it’s mental based? I felt something settle into my head, but that could
have just been me freaking out. Oh!” He looked up, eyes wide. “Sensei said… Sensei said he had
just gotten it.”

Aizawa’s heart sank internally. He had a pretty good idea of what quirk it was now, thinking of a
certain woman in the hospital, but he really didn’t want to be right.

“Right, then meditation should be even more helpful. Try to reach out to that feeling you had.”

Izuku sat for several minutes, trying to regulate his breathing and think of nothing but finding this
quirk. His mind devolved into thinking about the day in Kamino and he had to calm himself back
down, trying to ignore where he had gotten this quirk, whatever it was.

Then, he felt that same tickling sensation. He paused, not sure if he really wanted this, but
Aizawa’s words from before, “ you have it now ” washed over him and he set his jaw and reached.

Almost instantly there was a flood of information in his brain, specifically about the man still
sitting in front of him. Apparently, he was sitting exactly five and a half feet, or 167 centimeters,
away from him. His eyes were fairly irritated, which made sense based on his quirk, and his elbow
was giving him trouble, the scar tissue pulling uncomfortably.

His eyes flashed open with a gasp. “I...I got it. It’s a mental based quirk that gives me information
about people. I…” he gulped, looking away, “I’m sorry your elbow still hurts.”

Aizawa stood up with a sigh, extending a hand to his student. “It’s fine. It’s not like you were the
one to do it.”

As the man started walking out, Izuku hurried to follow after him. “Where, where are we going?”
“We’re going to someone who can help you with your quirk.”

He bounced excitedly, wondering who it could be. Not many pros had mental quirks, but who was
to say this person was a pro? Maybe it was an analyst? This did seem rather helpful for analysis,
after all.

It wasn’t until they had arrived at the hospital that Izuku started to get a little confused. Aizawa
had apparently called the person they were visiting ahead of time, letting them know of the
situation. He had cast glances at Izuku the entire time he had made the call, keeping his voice
quiet so the boy couldn’t hear, but Izuku didn’t mind, he was just excited to meet someone with a
mental quirk. He had always found those the coolest.

They went to the hero ward of the hospital and Izuku found his excitement creeping back. Maybe
it was someone who had helped in the raid, that wasn’t too long ago. He had seen a lot of cool
heroes there, and it would always be neat to meet new heroes.

Aizawa opened the door and motioned him inside. It took him a moment to recognize who was in
the hospital bed, but when he did, his eyes lit up.

“Oh my gosh! You’re Ragdoll, of the Wild Wild Pussycats! You guys are one of the only hero
teams in existence, and you’re rescue heroes! That’s so cool! All of you have such fascinating
quirks, which I guess is why we’re here, but your quirk is so cool! You can find the location and
weak point of… any…”

He looked back at Aizawa, realization and horror dawning on his face, before he turned back to
look at Ragdoll.

“Oh.”

Her eyes brimmed with tears and she gave a bitter smile, opening her arms. “Oh, kitten.”

His vision blurred as hot salty tears fell and he stumbled over to the now quirkless pro-hero,
muttering “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry” over and over again while she just rubbed his back and
sighed.

“Oh, kitten.”
Chapter End Notes

I'm not really all that sorry, except for MAYBE the delay, I just needed a hot sec to
think things through, but I knew that that's how I wanted to end this chapter, with
Izuku realizing just what his quirk was. Congratualtions to all the people who
correctly guessed it in the comments, I wasn't super subtle but it was nice to see so
many people get it right, means I'm doing something correct, probably.

I will be updating Teacher Chat before I update this again, but it should only be a day
or two, see you guys then!

Edit: how many of you noticed the parallels between this chapter and the one that
chares it's name? ;)
also the numbers for his password are intentional, they spell out CATS lol
 When the Existential Dread Sets In
Chapter Summary

Aizawa tried something to get Izuku out of his funk.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Aizawa was understandably worried for his kid, but he didn’t expect it to get better over night.

This visit with Ragdoll was fruitful, if depressing. Truly, there is no better person to learn from
than the person who originally had the quirk, after all. Still, he could see how this was breaking
him, how his eyes filled with tears every time he glanced at the woman. Even her own words
couldn’t help.

“Oh, kitten,” she had said, cupping his face with one hand, “think of it this way. I would much
rather you have it than that man.”

It hadn’t helped.

Now he sat in the common room of the freshly completed dorms, staring at nothing.

Aizawa shifted uncomfortably in the doorway, pursing his lips. He had a plan, something that
would hopefully break the kid out of his funk, but it was still on its way.

“You don’t have to just hover, you know.”

He was jolted out of his reverie by the quiet voice. Midoriya hadn’t turned to face him, eyes still
glazed over and looking at nothing.

“...Sorry, I thought I was being quiet.”

“You were. I just know where you are.” His head fell onto his knees when he pulled them up to
his chest. “And I always will.”

Ah.

His phone buzzed and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’ll be right back.”

He got no acknowledgement, but he didn’t really expect one.

Hopefully, this would work.

~~~~~

Izuku was in a sort of haze, ever since he had gotten back from the hospital.

He had almost been excited to see his quirk. He had always loved quirks, after all, and a mental
one was really cool. The ability to track people and their weaknesses was even cooler, perfect for a
rogue, just like Sensei had promised.

What a joke.

The door opened and he sensed Aizawa walk in, with someone new. They pinged as someone he
had seen since Sensei forced Ragdoll’s quirk on him since he had gotten the quirk, but other than
that, he didn’t know who it was.

He slid his eyes over to see that one purple kid.

He blinked.
“Um. Hi?”

“Midoriya,” Aizawa started, “this is Shinsou Hitoshi. He was moved to the hero course since
you’ve been gone, and will also be here for a bit more training, since he is also behind.”

The guy, Shinsou, scratched the back of his neck and looked sheepish. “Hey.”

“Great, I’m leaving you two to get acquainted.”

Without another word, Aizawa turned on his heel, leaving two panicked boys behind.

“I’m sorr-”

“I don’t-”

They both froze, looking at the other, before Izuku ducked his head. “Sorry, you go.”

Shinsou clenched his jaw. “Uh, I don’t, I don’t really know why I’m here, but, I brought… a cat.”

Izuku’s head shot up. “Wait, what?”

Shinsou took off his bag and unzipped it, reaching in and pulling out, in fact, a cat, a grey tabby.

“Her name is Pigeon.”

Izuku scrunched up his face. “P-Pigeon? You named your cat after… a bird?”

Shinsou came more into the room, plopping down on the couch next to him and offering the cat.
He gingerly took her, settling her on his lap and stroking her softly.
“Yeah, her meows sound like the noises pigeons make, and she’s grey.”

Izuku snickered as the cat purred. “Sounds like a good enough reason to me. Oh!” He looked up,
guilty. “I’m Midoriya Izuku. Sorry, I should have said.”

Shinsou huffed with a slight smile. “I was aware.”

“Oh, right, the whole… kidnapped thing…” He trailed off, stubbornly looking away, focusing on
the cat.

“Nah, the class talks about you sometimes.”

His head shot up. “R-Really?”

The purple boy gave a nod. “I noticed it pretty early, the class mantra when they want a
confidence boost, or whatever, is “for Midoriya,” or “for Deku,” if you’re Uraraka.”

Izuku could feel his face heating up and his hands flew to his cheeks. “W-What? How would,
how would that give th-them confidence?”

Pigeon meowed and pawed at his arm. “She really does sound like a pigeon cooing,” he muttered.

Shinsou extended a hand to scratch her chin. “Well, from what I gathered, they wanted you back,
and they were going to be the best heroes they could be to do so.”

Izuku stilled and his vision blurred. He sniffed and felt Shinsou stiffen next to him. “Shit, I think
I’m supposed to be cheering you up, fuck, this isn’t-”

Izuku cut him off by wrapping him in a hug, leaving a careful cavern between them so Pigeon
wouldn’t get squished.

“I’m sorry Tomura kidnapped you!”

“Um,” the other boy patted him awkwardly on the back, unsure of what to do, “it’s fine?”

“No, I mean, it sucks, they thought you could be a villain or maybe Sensei just wanted to take your
quirk, god, that would be a nightmare, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, and I’m just, so scared of
what the future is going to be like because I don’t know anything, but I also know a lot at the same
time, and I’m just so confused at what’s wrong and what’s right and I don’t know if I’m a villain
now-”

He was wrenched back, hands on his shoulders as he was forced to meet lilac eyes.

“Midoriya, no, you aren’t a villain just because you were kidnapped by one.”

“But,” he blubbered, “I learned from them? And I agreed with some of what, of what Stain was
saying? And Tomura is my friend, and he’s definitely a villain, though I think he’s been getting
better, and I have a stolen quirk!”

Shinsou frowned. “None of those things make you a villain. Hell, half of those things make you a
good person, or at the very least a resourceful one.”

“Ragdoll is quirkless because of me.”

“Based on what I’ve heard about this All for One guy, I highly doubt that.” Shinsou sighed. “Plus
it kinda seemed like he gave you that quirk on a whim. He probably played “What Will Give
Midoriya the Most Trauma” and went with whatever came up first.”

Izuku giggled a little, wiping away tears, when Pigeon cooed insistently.

He went back to carding fingers through her fur. “Sorry Pigeon, I had a breakdown.”

Shinsou snorted. “After almost an entire term living with the League, you deserve at least three.”

Izuku choked out a laugh again. “Sh-Shinsou!”

“I’m right.” He leaned back, lounging against the sofa. “Hell, I need a couple just from getting
kidnapped for less than a day.”

“Well,” he mused, “it was a pretty bad day, as far as being kidnapped goes.”

“You’re right, Bakugo was also there.”

That was finally what did him in, causing him to burst out laughing, barely able to keep a hand on
Pigeon as he was wracked with giggles and snorts. Even Shinsou joined in with some chuckles.

“Come on, it wasn’t that good.”

“No, it’s just, if Kacchan heard that-”

“Hold up, Kacchan ?!”

Izuku nodded slowly, not liking the look in Shinsou’s eyes. “We grew up together and I never
really grew out of the habit of calling him that.”

“I’m so calling him that next time I see him.”

His eyes widened and he shook his head rapidly. “No! You will definitely be murdered!”

“Perfect, a surefire way out of the prison known as life.”

Izuku blinked, then giggled again. “Shinsou, no, life isn't prison, it’s just being in a Denny’s at
3am on a weeknight.”

Shinsou raised an eyebrow. “I see. You get it.”

“Please,” he gave an exaggerated bow, or as much as he could sitting on a couch with a cat on his
lap, “I was born into it.”

“And that was your first mistake.”

“Being born?”

“Yes.”

Izuku sniffed again and wiped his eyes or any remaining tears.

“... Thanks.”

Shinsou raised an eyebrow. “For?”

“Being here, I guess. I don’t think this would have worked if any of my classmates came.
Kacchan was already here a few days ago and while it was nice to yell at him it wasn’t exactly
good for my mood. I didn’t really have the chance to get to know many more people. Hell, at this
point I probably know Tomura and Kurogiri more than them.”

“So… why was I different?”

He hummed. “I don’t know. Maybe because we just… didn’t know each other at all. There
weren’t any expectations, I guess?” he glanced down at Pigeon and back at Shinsou. “Plus, you
brought a cat.”

Shinsou snorted. “I see, the way to your heart is through feline companionship.”

“Of course.” He managed to keep a straight for all of two seconds before smiling softly, ducking
his head as he did.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, simply petting and playing with Pigeon.
“Your quirk is… brainwashing, right?”

He could feel Shinsou tense beside him. “Yeah.”

“I think that’s pretty cool.”

“... You do?”

He nodded, still not looking at his maybe friend. “I always admired mental quirks. Sure, All
Might was cool, but mental quirks were always so neat to me, as a quirkless kid. Something non
physical, something like that was something I wanted more than anything in the world, because my
brain has always been probably my greatest tool anyway.” He pursed his lips.

“Guess I got my wish.”

He pressed on, not letting the other boy reply. “Brainwashing is really neat because you can
diffuse most situations without violence, or get people out of panic attacks so they don’t hinder
heroes on site. So, yeah, I think it’s cool. You’re going to make a great hero.”

Shinsou was quiet for a moment. “You really think that, don’t you?”

He frowned and looked at the other boy. “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

Shinsou smiled ruefully. “I’ve been called a villain my whole life for this quirk, you know.”

Izuku snorted. “Well, that’s ridiculous. The quirk doesn’t make the villain, or even the hero. It’s
your actions that count.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And what have I done that’s heroic?”

Izuku smiled. “You certainly helped me.”

 Shinsou paused, stunned, before turning back to the wall.

“...Sure.”

~~~~~

When Shinsou and Midoriya came to training later that evening, Aizawa was pleased to note the
smiles on each of their faces, even if they were both slight. Midoriya was back to talking
animatedly with the other boy; from the sounds of it, about Shinsou’s quirk. Aizawa breathed a
sigh of relief. The plan had worked.

“Alright, this isn’t social hour,” he grumbled into his scarf, eyebrow raised, but both boys could
feel the lack of any actual heat in the remark.

Shinsou merely rolled his eyes and Midoriya gave a cheeky grin. “Yes, Aizawa-sensei!”

Aizawa chuckled internally.

Brats.

Chapter End Notes

Love these boys, really, I do, and Izuku needs a friend, enter one perfect purple boy
with a cat!

I did debate izu seeing a cat and bursting into tears, but eventually decided that nah,
there's more trauma when people get back to school, namely heroes (like All Might) so
I'm going to give him one good thing.

I won't take it away, I love Pigeon and I invented her today.

See you guys next time!

 Alright, Party's Over
Chapter Summary

The first day of the new term, everything is fine until it isn't.

Chapter Notes

TW: there is a panic attack in this chapter!

From the break until the line "He breathed evenly for another few moments before he
felt the control slip away and he hugged his knees."

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Izuku and Shinsou were the first ones in class when the new term started. Izuku because he was
nervous and the dorms were right there, and Shinsou because he really had no where better to be.
He was currently passed out (probably) on his desk, the one right behind Izuku. He thought he
remembered the person who was originally there, but it had been so long. It hadn’t been Shinsou,
that was for sure. Someone small?

Iida was the next to arrive, which Izuku expected. His eyes widened for a brief moment before he
chopped out a greeting, sitting down and giving Izuku some much needed space. Already, he was
jittery. He and Shinsou had spent the last week or two just hanging out in the dorms, as they had
both moved in earlier. According to Aizawa, the rest of the class would be moving in over the
course of the week, partially to ease the transition for him.

Todoroki was next, he sent him a nod and sat quietly in the back of the class, like usual, and slowly
but surely, people began trickling in.

Uraraka bounded up to him, giving him another hug and looking as bubbly as ever. Tsuyu bobbed
her head and led the louder girl away, which Izuku greatly appreciated. He loved Uraraka, but her
energy was not helping his nerves.

The other people who had been at Kamino wished him well, Yaomomo being reserved, Kirishima
being exuberant, and Tokoyami giving him a slight nod. The rest of the class had varying
reactions, but most were genuinely excited to see him, and he smiled at a few of them, hoping his
nerves would die down.
See , he thought, no one thinks you’re a villain, even with your stolen quirk.

“Alright, settle down.”

He breathed a sigh of relief as Aizawa swept into the room and everyone sat in their seats, falling
quiet.

“Welcome back. As you all know, during this week you will all be moving into the dorms. You
have assigned rooms, don’t cause a ruckus, and general etiquette applies. On another note, as you
have all already noticed and no doubt saw on the news, Midoriya is back with us. He has been
spending the last three weeks catching up with the classes he missed. Remember what I have told
you all.”

His sharp gaze swept over the students and Izuku frowned. He had told them something? Must
have glossed over it in all the training he had been doing. Everyone else looked serious, nodding,
some casting glances over at him.

Odd.

“We’re actually going to the ceremony this time, so follow me.”

He gave them a moment to stand before sweeping back out the door, leading them to an outside
field where the rest of the classes were gathering.

Once everyone had settled, Nedzu took to the podium.

“Hello! Am I a dog, a mouse, a bear? Who knows, but one thing’s for sure, I’m the principal!
Welcome back, dear students, from your summer break! For our hero students, this semester
would usually mean work studies, but due to recent events, we will be reevaluating who can go.
Those who already have work studies may continue on them at the discretion of their teachers and
supervisors! Now, on to other orders of business…”

Izuku bit his lip. Work studies? If they decided to let the first years go, he would need one, since
he had no experience in the field whatsoever, having missed the regular internships (he tried not to
think about seeing Todoroki and Uraraka in Hosu after his friends Tomura and Stain had laid waste
to the city), so there was no way he could miss out on this.
He fell into step beside Shinsou, taking ease in his silence, when Uraraka bounded up to him.
“Hey, Deku! You know, You weren’t here when we all picked hero names, so you still need to
pick one! Got any ideas?”

He blinked. “Um, n-no? What did y-you guys go with?”

“I’m Uravity!” She punched the air. “Tsu went with Froppy, Iida is Ingenium, in honor of his
brother,” don’t think about Stain, don’t think about Stain, “and I think Todoroki just went with
Shouto? It was weird, but then again, so is Todoroki.” She considered for a moment, then lit up.
“Oh! Bakugo tried to be Lord Explosion Murder!”

“Shut the fuck up, Round Cheeks!” Bakugo exploded nearby, literally.

She just giggled. “Then he tried King Explosion Murder, which was also rejected for obvious
reasons.”

Izuku chuckled. “What did you end up going with, Kacchan?”

The blond scoffed and rolled his eyes, but still muttered out, “Ground Zero.”

His eyes widened. “Oh, that sounds really cool!”

“Tch. Whatever.”

He turned to his quiet friend. “What about you, Shinsou?”

Lilac eyes averted from his own and he scratched the back of his neck. “Headspace.”

He blinked. “Oh! That’s really subtle, I like it! Perfect for an underground hero.”

“So what about you? Got any ideas now?”

He scratched his head with a thoughtful frown. “Not...really? I mean I could always go with
something like Rogue, Tomura always called me that anyway…” He trailed off, not really
knowing what to say after that.

“You could also go with something like Pinpoint.” Izuku looked at Shinsou, who was currently in
the know about his quirk.

“Oh! You’re right, that would actually work pretty well!”

Speaking of the quirk, he felt it hovering at the edge of his consciousness, waiting to tell him
everything he needed to know about the locations and health statuses of his classmates, but he
shoved it back down, not wanting the influx of information.

As they walked back, Izuku fell into a comfortable conversation with Shinsou, Uraraka chipping in
at times, offering hero names (“Mothman.” “Why?” “Why not?”) and chatting about everything
and nothing.

For the first time since that morning, Izuku felt some of his nerves leave him. Maybe everything
wouldn’t be so different after all.

~~~~~

He was wrong. He was so very wrong.

All Might, apparently, was still the Foundational Heroics teacher, despite being in his skinny form
almost permanently and being officially retired, and despite not seeing the man in his muscle form,
it seemed like he couldn’t trick his brain. He knew it was All Might, and that was enough to send
him into a panic attack.

He bolted from the room after the initial flinch and blanch, not wanting to stick around when every
single fiber of his being was telling him he had to run or he was going to die. He was going blindly
through the hallways, trying to find somewhere that wasn’t well lit, somewhere out of the way,
somewhere he could break down.
Because he was going to and he knew it.

He managed to find an alcove, hidden and tucked away, somewhere in the school he had probably
never been before (seeing as he had only really been inside the building for a week) and he sank to
the ground, breathing heavily and short.

Someone pinged on his radar but he was too far gone to actually figure out who it was, just
knowing they were getting closer.

When they were within 10 feet, he shuffled away in panic, eyes staring at nothing as he tried to get
air.

“Ok, don’t approach, got it. Can you say something for me?”

Izuku could barely shake his head, breath erratic.

Whoever it was cursed. “Ok, I’m going to get closer, is that alright?”

He whined, shaking, and buried his head in his knees.

“...I’m going to assume that’s a no. Midoriya, if you can respond, just anything verbal, a whisper,
then I can help, please, trust me. Midoriya? Midoriya, Izuku .”

He gasped sharply at the use of his given name and managed a mutter. “Tomu…”

He felt his mind cloud over and whoever was there sighed in relief. “Ok, I want you to breath in
for four, hold it for seven, breathe out for eight. Do that ten times.”

He felt himself take a deep, shuddering breath as he followed the instructions, body not his own in
this moment, and he felt the tears slow to a stop, frantic thoughts forcefully stilled by the
connection. Brainwashing, he dumbly realized. Must be Shinsou.

“Ok, you’re looking a little better, but just to be safe, come out of it only when you are calm.”
He breathed evenly for another few moments before he felt the control slip away and he hugged
his knees.

“Can I move closer now?”

Izuku looked up through wet lashes at the purple haired boy and nodded.

Slowly, every so slowly, Shinsou slid closer, keeping his eyes on Izuku the entire time in case he
showed any discomfort. Finally, he was sitting right beside him on the floor.

“Feeling better?”

Izuku nodded again, flopping his head back to his knees.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, just sitting.

“I’m sorry.”

The boy beside him raised an eyebrow, he could feel it. “Why? Not your fault you had a panic
attack. Those things suck.”

“I’m sorry you had to find and help me.

A snort. “I didn’t have to do anything. Pretty sure Aizawa might be giving me detention when I
get back, I just kind of dipped.”

Izuku looked up, confused. “You ditched class? Why?”

“You looked bad, Midoriya.”

He pursed his lips. ‘You called me Izuku before.”

Shinsou winced. “Yeah, sorry, really needed a response there.”

“No, it’s fine, you can keep calling me that.”

“...If you say so.”

They sat in silence for another moment before Izuku broke it again. “I was right.”

“About?”

“Your quirk. It can get people out of panic attacks.”

“...You did say that, didn’t you. Huh.”

Shinsou shifted. “So, wanna talk about what caused it? You don’t have to, but sometimes it
helps.”

Izuku pursed his lips. On one hand, he really didn’t like talking about it. On the other, Shinsou
was his friend.

Ah, fuck it.

“I think I have a phobia of All Might now.”

Shinsou blinked. “Seriously?”

He nodded, weary. “One of the things Sensei did was make me associate heroes and All Might
with pain. Even after I stopped feeling pain, I still feel like it’s going to hurt just looking at him, so
I freeze up and all my instincts tell me to run.” He laughed, but it was empty. “I’m afraid of the
Symbol of Peace.”

Shinsou whistled. “Damn, no wonder you ran out. Seeing the guy in the flesh must be like seeing
a murderer or something.”

“...You don't think I’m weird?”

Shinsou looked at him. “You were conditioned. Not really something you can control. It’s shitty,
but we might be able to break you out of it, and if not, it’s not the end of the world.”

Izuku tentatively smiled at him. “Oh, shit, Shinsou, I’m making you miss class!”

“Hitoshi.”

He blinked, taken aback. “Huh?”

The other boy stood up, offering a hand. “If I’m going to call you Izuku, you should call me
Hitoshi.”

Izuku took his hand and let himself be hauled to his feet.

He smiled.

“Deal.”

Hitoshi smirked. “Now, let’s go kick All Might’s ass. First trial, can you be afraid of something
you can beat?”

Izuku snorted. “People are afraid of bugs, aren’t they?”

“You heard it here first, folks,” Hitoshi spread his arms like he was talking to a grand audience,
“All Might is nothing more than a common bug.”

“Hitoshi, no! That’s not what I meant!”

“Are you saying you can’t take a bug in a fight?”

“What? No!”

“This just in, Midoriya Izuku is able to be beaten by the humble fruit fly. Truly, what has this
world come to?”

“If I can be beaten by a fruit fly then… then you can be beaten by a worm!”

“Well duh, they can go underground. I’m planning on being an underground hero, but not that
underground.”

“So your bane is anything that can go under the earth? So like, moles?”

“Also not great at things that can fly. Or swim.”

“Fruit flies can also fly, does that give me an excuse?”

“Not a chance, you have those crazy knife skills, don’t think I didn’t see.”

“I can’t hit a fly out of the air!”

“Have you ever tried?”

“Well, no, but-”

 Aizawa cut them off with a raised eyebrow. “Nice of you to rejoin us. The rest of the class is in
Gym Gamma with All Might and Cementoss. We’re working on super moves. Midoriya, do you
need to sit out?”

He swallowed and glanced at Hitoshi. “I… no, I think I can handle it. If all else fails I can just
leave, right?”

AIzawa sighed. “I’d rather Yagi leave, but if it comes to it, fine. We can try and overcome this
obstacle later, but you don't have to force yourself to do anything. As for you,” he turned to the
other boy, who tensed and set his jaw, “good instincts, following him. You may both go.”

He turned away without another word and Izuku and Hitoshi looked at each other in shock.

“Damn,” Hitoshi muttered, “did I just get praise? From Eraserhead? ”

Izuku giggled. “I hope you write this down, because who knows when it will happen again, for
anyone.”

“Har har,” he cuffed Izuku lightly on the back of the head, “now come on, we have to work on
super moves.”

Izuku grinned. “Race you there?”

Hitoshi snorted and smirked. “You’re on.”

Chapter End Notes

poor baby boy, there is still some trauma that needs to be addressed, but for the most
part he's handling it pretty well, and he has a buddy to help!

Everyone in class is going to be treading lightly for awhile; they were informed that
Izuku now has a quirk and all the trauma associated, people have been told to not bring
it up if they can help it.

My logic for Yagi still triggering Izuku in his small form is that since Izuku has seen
this small form already, in his head it was already linked to All Might when the
conditioning took place, so now the sad green boy is never free :(
 Ring Ring, Hello?
Chapter Summary

Ignoring rumors, and the start of the provisional licensing exam

Chapter Notes

me: "I'm going to have good pacing this time"

also me: "so here's the prov exam in chapter 12"

See the end of the chapter for more notes

It was coming back from lunch when he heard it.

He, Hitoshi, Uraraka, Iida, Todoroki, and Tsu had taken to eating outside in the early fall weather.
No matter how much he suppressed Search, being in the cafeteria was a little distracting, and he
liked not having to focus on keeping the quirk off. This meant, however, that they would
occasionally be a bit early or behind on getting back to class, which could sometimes lead to
encountering people in the otherwise empty halls.

It was a day where just he and Hitoshi were left, the others going back sooner, and they were
passing by the gen-ed courses when voices carried down the hall, reaching his ears.

“So that quirkless kid who got kidnapped came back and he had a quirk, I hear.”

“No way! Was it just a dormant quirk brought out by trauma?”

“Nah, he has the joint and everything, but supposedly he got it from that villain who fought All
Might. You know, the one with multiple quirks?”

“Oh, and they just let him back?”

“Right? Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was working with the villains in the first place,
just to get a quirk. I mean, there’s been talk of a traitor, right? I heard he wasn’t even injured
when he got rescued. Hope nothing bad happens because they let him back in.”

Hitoshi grabbed his hand tightly, forcing him to breathe.

“Don’t listen,” he murmured, “they don’t know shit.”

The voices faded, heading in the other direction, and Izuku swallowed down tears. “Sensei only
gave me a quirk because he wanted me to be a villain. They aren’t technically wrong…”

“Bullshit, they’re wrong as hell.” Hitoshi continued tugging him back to the classroom, face set in
a scowl. “They don’t know jack shit about you or anything. The bastard gave you that quirk
because he wanted to fuck with you and make it harder for the heroes to get you back. Luckily it
didn’t work and you’re back with us, but him being a bastard doesn’t make you any less of a hero.”

“Hitoshi…” He pulled back, forcing the boy to stop tugging on his arm.

The other boy shook his head, placing his free hand on the shorter’s shoulder. “Nope. Not gonna
hear it. And when you kick major ass at the provisional license exam, it’ll prove it. Now come
on,” he clapped Izuku on the back, “you gotta do your best if you want to help people.”

Izuku straightened. “Yeah! If I want to be a true hero, I have to do my best, so I can save
everyone!”

The lanky boy smirked. “Atta boy. Besides,” he eyed him, “you’re way too cute and innocent
looking to be a villain.”

“Hey!”

Satisfied that he had gotten a laugh out of Izuku, they slipped back into class, Iida scolding them
for not being more than a few minutes early.

Now all that was left, besides ignoring the rumor mill, was this provisional license exam. He had
to pass, he was too far behind already.
He had to.

~~~~~

“Hitoshi, I can’t do this.”

The purple boy rolled his eyes. “Sure you can. We aren’t even there yet, so you actually have no
idea what you’re in for.”

“We’re competing with other schools for those spots! Everyone’s probably seen the Sports
Festival and knows what everyone can do!”

The rest of the bus quieted at that and Kaminari grinned. “Yeah, but we got new moves! Plus, not
all of us made it past the second round, so how much could they know?”

Jirou twirled an earphone jack. “They’ll still probably go for us, though. They know our quirks, at
least, and I know I would go for what I know rather than an unknown.”

“You guys are forgetting our secret weapon,” Hitoshi drawled, throwing an arm over the boy next
to him.

Uraraka cheered, fist in the air. “Deku! None of the enemy know what you can do!”

“They are students, Ochako-chan, not the enemy, kero.”

Izuku smiled nervously. “I… I don't think one person is enough to throw them off.”

“But it’s like Kami said,” Mina piped up, “we also have our new super moves! If they think we’re
going to hand them victory just because they know our quirks, they’re in for an ass kicking.”

“Ashido! Please watch your language!”

“Hehe, yes, rep!”

“Tch,” Bakugo glared out the window, “shitty extras won’t know what hit them, even if we didn’t
have Deku.”

“Yeah, but you gotta admit having our super aware roguelike hero, Pinpoint, will totally help!”
Kirishima flashed a thumbs up at the boy in question, and Izuku ducked nervously, but smiling
softly all the same. He had ended up going with his first reaction after all, not really thinking of
anything else. Rogue, maybe, but that reminded him too much of Tomura and he didn’t need even
more ties to the league than he already had, lest the rumors spread more. Plus, it was a reference to
both Search and his knife skills.

When they finally pulled up to the testing site and unloaded off of the bus, Izuku was back to being
a nervous wreck. He let his radar extend to cover his closely huddled class, but no more, finding
comfort in the statuses of his friends but not overwhelmed by the sheer number of people.

“Alright, alright, stop causing trouble, you rascals…” Aizawa trailed off with a sigh when he
spotted someone and buried himself further in his capture scarf, but it was too late.

“Eraser!!!!!!”

Izuku’s head shot up at the cheerful voice and he watched Ms Joke bound over to their teacher,
who already looked like he wanted to pass out, right then and there.

“Eraser! It’s been so long! Let’s get married!”

“No.”

She burst out laughing, doubling over. “You always know just what to say to crack me up,
Eraser.” Her eyes zoomed in on the green boy. “Oh hey! I knew you made it out ok, the whole
team was told, but good to see you stuck around in the hero course, and that you’re still in one
piece! Here to test or watch?”

“Um, test, ma’am.”

She guffawed, slapping her knee. “Don’t call me ma’am, squirt, makes me sound like an old lady!
But really, good to see you’re doing good! Eraser here probably would have gone on a murder
spree if he didn’t find you soon!”

He blinked. “You… you were part of a team to… find me?”

“Yeah! When this guy calls you for a case, you can’t say no! I mean, you can, but that’s lame, he
only asks people when he really cares. Man, I heard from Mic that making those calls was a
nightmare and a half.” She slapped the tired teacher on his back, pushing him forward a little with
the force of it, but not enough to make him stumble. “Welp, I see my own kids looking like lost
little ducks, so I gotta go, but good luck, kiddos! See ya around, ‘Raser!”

The man grumbled some sort of probably goodbye under his breath and began herding them to the
test center. “Change into your costumes, get to the waiting area, and do your best. Go beyond…”

“PLUS ULTRA!”

Izuku flinched as he felt someone encroach on the radar and heard the unfamiliar voice join in on
the cheer. A tall guy with a fancy cap and a big grin was standing behind them.

“Ah! I apologize! I have always wanted to do that, and got caught up in your passion!”

A boy covered completely in hair came up behind him, also sporting the hat, and clicked his
tongue. “Inasa, you can’t just butt into other schools’ cheers.”

The boy’s eyes widened and he immediately clapped his hands to his sides and bowed deep,
slamming his head into the pavement, denting it. “Of course! Forgive me for being rude!”

When he raised his head, a trickle of blood slipped down his nose from where the ground had split
his skin. Izuku patted his belt pouches until he found some medical supplies and passed them over
with a frown.

“Um, you’re bleeding…”

“Ah! So I am! Thank you for your assistance!” He took the gauze and bandage, wiping the blood
off of his face and holding the wound, slight as it was. The school (Shiketsu! That’s what the S
on the hat was, how could he forget?), which looked to have only sent a handful of students,
started walking to the arena. A tall blonde girl looked at Izuku and grinned, winking at him,
before slipping into the crowd of students.

“Yo, Mido, did you know her?”

He blinked at Kaminari’s question before his brow furrowed. “Uh, no? I don’t think I’ve seen her
before. I… haven’t exactly gotten out much.”

The electric boy patted him on the back. “Damn, she’s a hottie, though! Kudos, my man! You got
her attention, it looked like.”

He chuckled nervously. Maybe she had just liked him helping her schoolmate?

In seemingly no time at all, they were in a room with the thousand other test takers and a tired
looking man from the Commission who introduced himself as Mera.

It was explained that they had three targets, to be placed somewhere visible on their bodies, and
their goal would be to eliminate 2 other people (or six targets) by touching their targets with the
rubber balls they had been given.

“Oh, and only 100 people can pass this first section.”

At the deadpan announcement, Izuku tensed. Everyone started muttering, some people talking
about how unfair it was, but UA closed ranks.

“If we want all 20 of us to pass,” Yaomomo took the lead, “then we should probably stick together,
helping each other out. Traps will likely be beneficial.”

“Um!” Izuku raised his hand, “I can keep track of people and see when people are sneaking up on
us?”
The vice rep nodded. “That would be helpful, thank you. If Midoriya is correct, people will likely
go for us first. This is dangerous, but could work in our favor. What do we have by way of
trapping, because I highly doubt I will have enough lipids to trap 40 people…”

Sero grinned. “We got my tape! That’ll bind em!”

Jirou slammed her fists together. “Heartbeat can distract them and trip them.”

Hitoshi leaned back, nonchalant. “I can always brainwash a few, but that trick works maybe once.”

Bakugo tched. “I’m not hanging around you extras. I’m going off on my own.”

Kirishima sighed. “I think I’ll go with Bakubro, then. Good luck though, guys!”

Kaminari fidgeted nervously as the two boys walked off to another part of the room, but before he
could make a decision, the walls came down, revealing a large arena with multiple different areas,
reminiscent of the USJ but without the domes and obvious danger zones.

“The test begins in… yawn… thirty seconds. 29, 28…”

“Let’s move!”

On Iida’s call, they started running as a unit, Yaomomo passed out radio earpieces as they went,
before they found themselves in a rocky area, surrounded by people.

“There are… 30 people in the immediate area.”

The class nodded. He nervously took out a knife, not sure exactly what he was waiting on, but the
predatory look in the eyes of the people around them was enough to set him on edge.

“3… 2… 1, go.”
A horn blared out, signalling the start of the test, and immediately, students from other schools
were leaping in the air, throwing the rubber balls at the gathered class A. Before they had a chance
to get close, Izuku heard a cry from behind him.

“Meteor...PUNCH!”

A great gust of wind came from Uraraka, who was grinning fiercely. She dropped back to the
ground as the balls fell around her, momentum cancelled.

“Bring it, bitches!”

~~~~~

Izuku wasn’t entirely sure how everything went to crap so fast. They had been doing so well,
defending against the onslaught from the other schools, but then this one kid (who looked kind of
like Izuku, on further inspection) shattered the ground and made it roil. Izuku barely had time to
mark him on his radar, noting he was shaken up and almost immobile after that big earthquake,
before he found himself far away from practically every one of his classmates.

He could still pick them out if he concentrated, and they seemed to be doing ok, but there were a
couple bogeys on his radar as well, and he’d need to be careful if he wanted to get back without
getting caught.

The closest to him were Hitoshi, Uraraka, and Sero, all in about the same direction, so he took a
deep breath and set his feet.

When Aizawa had given him the stealth task (which he still had not beaten), he had put a lot of his
free time into walking unnoticed, even when he wasn’t going for his teacher’s phone. Several
times, Hitoshi and other classmates had jumped when he appeared behind them, but that was on
school grounds when no one was actively searching for him. Sure, he had gotten better, getting
within a couple feet before Aizawa caught him, but he still wasn’t quite up to the level needed to
steal his teacher's phone, break in to it, change the background, and then put it back on his
teacher’s person without said man noticing.

Still, he had gotten a lot better.

He managed to find one kid knocked out by a falling rock and quickly tapped his three targets,
eliminating him and getting Izuku one person closer to passing, just in case. He breathed, closing
his eyes and focusing on Search. Hitoshi had met up with the other two and they were 40 feet
away. Doable.

Suddenly, someone appeared on his radar a mere five feet away. He tensed and spun around, knife
out.

It was that girl from Shiketsu.

She grinned. “Oh wow, you found me! That’s really cool!”

He swallowed. “Um, can I help you?”

She cocked her head, still smiling, eyes never leaving his face. “That was some pretty good
sneaking. Where’d ya learn that?”

“...From a friend.”

Her eyes widened a little and her grin stretched impossibly further. “A friend, huh? I’m sure he’d
be happy to hear that.”

He narrowed his eyes. She was familiar.

“...Toga?”

She clapped her hands. “Izukun! You knew it was me! But call me Himiko, it’s much cuter!”

He paled. “Himiko,” he hissed, “what are you doing here?! And who is that girl?”

She patted her hips. “This is Camie! Isn’t she cute? And I wanted to come say hi! We’ve missed
you!”

“You… you snuck into a hero exam, that is full of heroes and hero hopefuls, to say hi ?!”

“Yep! And don’t worry about Camie, she’s totally fine. We have a strict no civilian policy. She’ll
wake up in a few hours, and by then I’ll be long gone!”

He sighed, furrowing his brow. “T- Himiko, this was arguably the worst place you could have
snuck into. It’s good to see you’re doing ok, I guess, but seriously? You snuck in just to say hi?”

She thought for a moment, finger to her chin, before she brightened. “Oh! No, that’s what I
wanted to do, but there is another reason I’m here!”

He tensed, hoping it was nothing bad.

“Here!”

She tossed something small and black at him and he fumbled to catch it. He held it at arm’s length
before he saw it wasn’t a bomb. It was a phone.

“Now you can talk to Shiggy!”

His head shot up. “What?!”

She nodded, pleased as punch. “He misses you the most! Now you can text him and stuff! Don’t
bother checking it out with the heroes though, it’s untraceable, we checked!”

He looked down at the device, a sleek burner phone, in wonder. He could talk to Tomura again?
Then the worry hit. What if people saw him talking to a villain and assumed he was feeding them
information? That he really was a traitor?

“Anyway, that’s all I’m here for, so I’m gonna go meet cute people! Bye bye, Izukun~!”
She slipped away while he was busy staring at the phone. Should he turn it in? It was untraceable,
according to Himiko, but who knows what kind of technology quirks were out there. But would
that be betraying Tomura and the League? Sure, he wasn’t exactly a member, but he knew them
all, and they weren’t. The worst.

Ok, he winced, some of them were pretty bad, but if what Himiko said was the truth, they didn’t go
after civilians if they could help it. Plus, Stain was still there, so they’d probably only go after
heroes who weren’t true heroes, and the occasional villain if the need arose. Sensei wasn’t there
anymore either, so things were probably way better, all things considered.

But could he really just talk to Tomura, like old times?

He decided to focus on that later, as he heard the announcement that 63 people had passed.
Hopefully that included people in his class, but with just over a third of the spots left, he had to
focus on the exam. He could worry about the implications of this phone later.

He slipped it in a pouch and tuned in to Search, darting in the direction of his classmates. Hitoshi
was the first to notice him.

“Oh, Izuku, thank god. How is the rest of the class looking?”

“Hmmm, a few people look like they’ve passed, I think. Everyone is with someone except
Todoroki, but I think he went off way in the beginning. THe other groups seem to be doing ok, but
Yaomomo is… cold? With Tsu, Jirou, and Shouji.” He trailed off, muttering about the various
states of his classmates before Hitoshi put a hand on his shoulder.

“But everyone is relatively ok?”

He pursed his lips. “Bakugo is weird, but he’s not hurt or anything. Plus, Kirishima is right there,
so they should be fine, I think. Other than that, yes, everyone seems to be doing pretty good.”

“Great!” Uraraka cheered. “We have a plan for a trap, but we could totally use your help!”

He nodded. ‘What can I do?”

Sero grinned at him. “Well, Pinpoint, we need you to live up to your name and tell us where
people are over this wall,” he tossed a thumb behind him.

He cocked his head, expanding his range.

“It looks like 17 different people, so enough for us and five more people to pass.”

“But Deku…”

“Oh, I already have a person.”

Uraraka nodded. “Right, time for Spider Trap!”

He rattled off their directions and distances as Sero and Uraraka set up the trap, using tape and
weightless rocks spread out like a spider web.

“Ready?”

They nodded at each other and Hitoshi ran out, trying to get the stragglers in the area of effect.

“Hey, losers! Catch me if you can!”

Enraged, all 17 people went after him, until Izuku nodded at the other two.

“Release!”

Hitoshi ducked out from the trap as it settled on everyone else, the 17 people giving various cries,
all of them in various stages of grief.
Uraraka lit up with sparks and dashed forward tapping each person and making them weightless.

“Sero, how do you feel about making balloons?”

The four set to work tying up the bargaining, angry, or some accepting their fate, and they went
into the air like human shaped balloons. Izuku kinda felt bad for them, but guided the group to
other classmates and offered them the people they needed to pass. They didn’t encounter
everyone, but they did manage to get Aoyama, Iida, and their group some extra mess free targets,
until they finally all passed and made their way to the waiting room, only a few spots left.

They gathered with the rest of their class, missing a few people, and Izuku nervously watched the
door, extending his range to watch the people coming in.

Then, just as the last spots were called, the class was whole.

“Heck yeah!” Mina cheered, grabbing Kaminari and Sero. “We did it, you guys! We all made it
to the final round! We’re gonna be chicks!”

The two boys laughed, Kaminari doing a little dance, clapping his hands, and Izuku smiled. He
glanced around at the other people, trying to see who had passed. There was the loud boy from
Shiketsu, with the hairy boy, but he didn’t see Camie-Himiko and he breathed a sigh of relief. She
must have left, having done what she came to do.

“Attention, people who made it past round one. Congratulations, I guess, I’m just glad that’s over.
One part left. You will each be individually graded by members of the HUC, the Help Us
Company. Please turn your attention to the various screens around the waiting room.”

They listened to Mera, looking at the TVs, which showed the arena they had just left, before they
heard and felt a rumble. Izuku sucked in a breath as it all came crashing down, turning into a real
disaster zone.

Kamino .

Suddenly, he heard Sensei’s voice. “All Might, you’re getting slower .”

 He shuddered.

“The name of the game is rescue. The test begins in one minutes.”

The walls fell down again, revealing the zone in all its glory, and the 100 examinees tensed, ready
to go.

“Test 2, start.”

At the blare of the horn, they all shot into action.

Chapter End Notes

So multiple things are happening!

We have the start of the exam, some mix of what happened and not (you guys were
totally expecting Toga to still be there, right? I mean, she had a job to do, after all, and
she had to see her knife buddy!) and we also got some more insecurities for our
precious green bean! Don't worry, there are still two notes of trauma I haven't even
gotten to yet!

We're getting there, tho.

Just wait for Nighteye lmao, he's great at bringing out trauma.

See you next time! (Hopefully there won't be a week of silence like this time lmao.)
 Stahp! I Could Have Dropped My Croissant!
Chapter Summary

the croissant in this case in Shindou

(aka the second half of the test)

Chapter Notes

yo, 10k hits? I'm flattered!! Very excited people like this ^o^

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Izuku was frozen, looking at the destruction of the arena as other people rushed around him. The
icing on the cake would be if it was dark outside, maybe lit up with fires. He could feel a headache
coming on, Search tickling the back of his mind as his ears rang, before a little tinny voice cut
through the haze.

“-I will be helping with the first aid station. Pinpoint, Earjack, and Tentacole, split up to go with
various groups to find civilians. Does everyone else have their assignments?”

Right, the earpieces from the first round that no one had gotten to really use.

There was a chorus of agreements from the various class members at Momo’s declaration and
Izuku blinked. Right, this was still a test, and it was just a test. He wasn’t in Kamino, Sensei was
locked up tight, and he was going to be a hero.

He ran over to where Uraraka was gathering with a few others, mostly their friend group.

“Let’s head to the city zone! My quirk can lift off rubble, Todoroki can stabilize, Shinsou can
calm people down, and Midori can find them! Then Iida can run them back to the first aid station!”

Said boy chopped his hands in the air. “Agreed! We will be a most efficient team!”
They set off, running for the city zone, where there were a few other test takers already.

One of note was the mountain of hair from Shiketsu, who was using his hair to clear an area and a
path back to where the first aid station was getting set up. From there, students spread out,
gathering the members of the HUC that were posing as the victims.

Izuku closed his eyes, spreading out Search. “Two in that building, one smaller than the other. A
child and adult.”

Uraraka and Todoroki carefully worked to get the rubble cleared to where he could crawl in to get
the smaller of the two, a crying child.

“Waahhh! Where’s grandpa?!”

He tried to smile. “Don’t worry, we know exactly where he is and are working to get him now.
Are you hurt anywhere?”

The kid scowled. “Duh! Can’t you see my bleeding leg?”

He winced. There was indeed red, even if the wound didn’t ping on Search. “Ah, yes, let me help
you up. My friend can take you to the first aid station, and we’ll send your grandpa right after you,
ok?”

That seemed to be the right response, as the actor went back to crying as Izuku gently picked him
up, heading back the way he had come through the larger hole and handing him off to Iida. “He
has a leg injury, but otherwise seems to be in good health. I’m going back for the grandpa.”

He extended Search once again, locating the old man and directing the team to where he was
buried as Iida ran off, cradling the child.

They had a test to take.

~~~~~
When the wall bust down and gang Orca and black clad sidekicks came pouring in, Izuku panicked
for about half a second before video game brain took over and he recognized the final boss of the
level. Now the test had two parts - get the civilians out of the chaos and keep the civilians out of
the chaos.

“I’m going in,” Todoroki muttered over the radio and there were several people who chimed in,
wanting to help defend the vulnerable first aid station from the villains. Izuku, however, with
Search, was much more suited to finding the last of the civilians in danger.

He pressed a finger to his ear. “Ingenium, we have another civilian to take back, are you on your
way?”

“Negative!” Iida was just as robotic over the radio. “There are too many minor villains around, I
am assisting with the evacuation efforts!”

He bit his lip before nodding, smiling at the civilian. “Ok, then I’ll take you. I’ll know if anyone
tries to sneak up on us, so we’ll be totally fine.”

The actor nodded, eyes wide in apparent fear as Izuku wrapped his arms more tightly around them
and took off in the direction of the aid station, leaving Hitoshi and Uraraka to work with the other
hero students on site.

Upon arriving, it was chaos. Controlled, to a point, but still chaos. The black clad sidekicks were
shooting cement guns as the heroes scrambled behind their defences to move the civilians. One
kid (the earthquake one from before!) slammed his hands into the ground, ripping up the ground
like he had done in the first round, staggering and displacing a horde of sidekicks.

“Thanks, Shindou!”

The boy clad in green grinned, but Izuku felt him out on Search again, noting his body was full of
tremors and he was unable to move. He cursed internally, handing the civilian off to a student
manning the first aid station, before he rushed over.

“How soon can you move again? Is there anything I can do to help?”
The lookalike’s eyes trailed up to Izuku and narrowed in a frown. “How did you know?”

“My quirk. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Shindou chuckled. “No. I’ll get up eventually, I’m more used to vibrations than most people. It’ll
be soon enough to stop another wave, though.”

Izuku felt a prickle on his neck and whirled around to see Todoroki and the loud boy from Shiketsu
having… an argument? His eyes widened as the boy’s wind pushed Todoroki’s fire directly in
their directions and he latched onto the older boy, still unable to move much, and darted out of the
way.

“Sorry about the rough handling, but I have to go yell at some idiots.”

Shindou merely snorted, trying to get movement back into his limbs as Izuku darted over to the
boys who had now begun yelling.

“You’re just like-”

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU TWO THINK YOU’RE DOING?”

They both jumped, turning to the shorter boy.

Todoroki stepped forward. “Midoriya-”

“Don’t you Midoriya me! You almost got Shindou killed!”

The rumbling voice of Gang Orca had him whirling around and he whipped out a knife, throwing it
with deadly accuracy into the hero’s leg before he could sonic blast it away.

He drew another knife as the hero winced and tossed the thrown one aside. “If you two want to
settle your differences,” he spat, “then do it when other people aren’t counting on you. This isn’t
the time for you to let your emotions get the better of you. Work together or drop out of the test; at
least then you won’t be a hindrance to others and yourselves.”

Not waiting to see their reactions, he spread Search to the faux villain in front of him.

“Ah, Pinpoint, how nice of you to save your two colleagues from making a fatal mistake, and good
shot. You will not get another one.”

He cocked his head. “We’ll see about that.”

He ran forward, rolling to the side as the orca hero let out a shriek that hurt his ears, but missed
him due to his dodge (he thought of the game Dark Souls, but something told him this would be a
little harder than fighting any of the wayward demons in that game, seeing as gang Orca was the
number 10).

He threw a knife at an approaching sidekick without even looking, knocking the cement gun out of
their hands. No one could sneak up on him, not right now. He barely even needed his eyes open to
intimately know everyone nearby.

A lick of fire distracted the villain boss and Izuku’s eyes darted to Todoroki momentarily. Good,
he had gotten over whatever was distracting him and was deciding to help.

“His left side is weakest right now!” Izuku called out, hoping the other two heard. “Focus your
attacks there and he’ll go down faster.”

Gang Orca grunted as the fire came at him again, this time focusing on his left side completely,
while Izuku came at him from the other side, forcing him to choose which attacks he wanted to
deflect. He seemed to be drying out, just what Izuku was counting on.

Before he could dart in, the hero made a sweeping sonic attack, locking him in a temporary
paralysis and causing Todoroki’s flames to die out as he stumbled away from the assault. He
desperately cast out Search again, getting the information on the hero as he whipped out a water
bottle and doused himself in it, effectively countering the drying that had been happening.

“Ah, a good effort, truly, heroes. Sadly, I am far more prepared than you could be. This ends
now.”
As if his words were prophetic, the buzzer sounded out and Mera’s tired voice rang out once more.

“All HUC members have been successfully evacuated, and with that, the test is over. Please make
your way back to the preparation area to receive your scores.”

Gang Orca relaxed. “Ah, it is over. That was a good fight, and Midoriya,” the boy looked up,
shaking off the paralysis, “it’s good to see you looking so well.”

He blinked. “Oh… were you… also on the team that Aizawa put together?”

“I was indeed.” His voice rumbled as he strolled forward, completely relaxed, and his eyes
crinkled. “I couldn’t stand the thought of someone your age getting kidnapped, so of course I
accepted the offer when it came.”

“Ah!” His eyes lit up. “That’s right, you are rather fond of children, even if many of them find
your appearance scary!” He realized what he had said when the tall aquatic man slumped, and
hurriedly patted him on the arm. “I think you look really cool, Mr. Gang Orca, sir. Thank you for
looking for me.”

He grinned at the hero once more before he went over to help Todoroki and the other boy, Inasa,
the hairy one had called him.

“So what was that about, fighting in the middle of the exam?”

Todoroki shifted, looking away, but the wind boy was more than happy to elaborate.

“Todoroki is just like his father, with cold eyes!”

Todoroki flinched and scowled, whirling on the taller boy. “That’s insulting. I reject my father
and everything he stands for. If you hadn’t made me so mad, I wouldn’t have used his fire at all.”

Izuku narrowed his eyes. “ His fire?”

Todoroki nodded stiffly. “I will become a hero without his power.”

“Todoroki look me in the eyes and call it his power again.”

The dual colored boy frowned and furrowed his brow, but opened his mouth to comply when Izuku
cut him off.

“No, that’s bullshit. Even if you inherited the genes for your quirk from him, it’s still your quirk.”
he pursed his lips and looked away. “At least you have that luxury.”

Todoroki seemed to realize what he was getting at and paled, but Izuku turned to the other boy.

“As for you, Todoroki isn’t his father, he’s his own person. If you have a problem with him,
again, you should have dealt with it after the test, but in reality, it shouldn’t matter. You both had a
job to do and you let a petty squabble get in the way of doing your job. If this were real, that could
have caused the deaths of countless civilians and massive property damage. Both of you need to
talk it out and get your shit together. Now come on, let’s go see the results.”

Without another word he turned on his heel to where the rest of his class was gathering in front of a
large screen and podium, with Mera behind it. The rest of the students trickled in from across the
arena and the tired Commission representative cleared his throat.

“We will be passing out score breakdowns in a moment, but look at the screen now. If you see
your name, it means you passed and now have a provisional license.”

Izuku chewed on his lower lip, searching for his name. It was alphabetical, so his eyes flitted to
the syllables closest to his name… Midoriya, Midoriya, Midoriya…

Yes!

He let out a breath. He had passed. His gaze drifted to try and find his friends. There was Hitoshi,
Momo, Uraraka, Iida, Tsu…
He glanced over at his hot and cold classmate who looked rather stoic and almost resigned as he
was handed the paper with his score breakdown.

“Those of you who didn’t pass will have the chance to do a remedial class and get your license in
three months. Congratulations to those who passed, I’m going to nap now.”

Izuku was handed his own paper and was pleased to see a score of 81, only a few points getting
taken off for some or his responses to civilians.

He heard Bakugo explode across the area, Kirishima trying to calm him down; it looks like he
didn’t pass either. Best not bring it up…

In no time at all, he was back on the bus, the class congratulating each other and the Bakusquad
ribbing their namesake for his near miss.

“Shut the fuck up!” He finally exploded, popping off his quirk, sending Mina shrieking back with
laughter. “I’ll get in in three months! If those extras weren’t fucking stupid they wouldn’t have
docked my points!”

“Yes, yes,” Kirishima patted him on the back with a barely concealed sharp toothed grin, “we
know. They weren’t really that hurt, but you coulda been a little nicer about it, ya know,
Bakubro?”

The blond boy rolled his eyes and grumbled, but immediately deflated under the ministrations of
the other boy, and Izuku blinked. He had never seen someone calm Bakugo down that quickly,
and with minimal explosions. Kirishima really was something else.

Hitoshi sat back in the seat with a tired sigh. “That Mera guy had it right. I need a nap after all of
that.”

Izuku snorted. “Toshi, you want a nap all the time.”

“Yeah, well, it’s always a good time for a nap.”

Uraraka laughed in the seat ahead of them. “I feel that right now. My bones feel like jelly!”

“Well,” Momo interjected, “when you did that power up application of your quirk, you did almost
break your arm a few times until you got a better handle on it.”

Izuku perked up. “Oh, yeah! I noticed that earlier, how did you do that? And when?”

She chuckled and scratched her head. “After the sport’s festival, I wanted to be stronger. I figured
out how to negate partial weight and the difference in momentum helps put more power behind my
punches. I think there’s also a little extra weight behind them? Like an increased muscle mass?
But anyway I can really only apply the partial stuff to myself for now.”

His eyes glittered and his fingers itched. “That’s so cool! I wonder if you could somehow reverse
your quirk and add weight to things? I know that technically your quirk is all about negating
weight, but maybe if you took that feeling and somehow, I dunno, inverted it…? Hmm, that might
not work…” He trailed off, lost in thought as his classmates chuckled.

“I’ll have to try it, Deku! Thanks for the ideas!”

He looked up and smiled. “Of course! You already came up with some clever things, mine’s just
an idea that might not even work.”

Hitoshi scoffed. “Please, you come up with something for everything. Sure, not all of them work,
but the ones that do? Holy cow.”

Izuku blushed and ducked his head. “I’m just glad as many of us passed as we did.”

“Hah?! You saying shit?”

“No, Kacchan, we’re first years, we’re not expected to pass, that’s all.”

The blond snarled once more before turning away. “Good, you know better than to talk shit.”
Todoroki looked up from his phone. “You aren’t the only one who failed at this junction,
Bakugo.”

“Shut the fuck up, Icy Hot.”

Jirou apparently had no sense of self preservation, even if she was half a bus away from Bakugo, as
she twirled her ear jacks. “Kinda crazy how arguably the two strongest people failed.”

“Arguably?! No shit I’m strong! Half and Half isn’t too bad either, but I’m the strongest, don’t
come at me with any of these ‘arguably’ shit!”

“And yet, you still failed.”

The entire Bakusquad lunged to grab him before he could get up and fly down the bus to kill the
punk girl who was looking rather satisfied with herself and the rest of the class laughed. Izuku
sweatdropped at the clear provocations and was reminded of another bus ride where he had been
blown away by people actually teasing Bakugo and getting away with it. Then he thought of what
happened after the bus ride and his smile fell.

Hitoshi nudged him. “Frowning is not allowed, we passed the provisional exam and now we can
maybe go on work studies.”

He straightened his back, steely determination back in his gaze. “You’re right! I really need the
experience, so hopefully they let me go.”

His friend nodded. “I think Aizawa might be sending me through more training, so maybe that
counts. I’m sure if you don’t find a work study he’d take you too.”

Izuku nodded with trepidation. “It’s… it’s not the same, though. Sure, I want to be an
underground hero, but something tells me Aizawa doesn’t take interns on a lot of patrols.”

“On top of his teaching duties? No, probably not.”

Said teacher spoke up from the front of the bus. “You’d be correct. But neither of you should be
worrying about work studies right now, you just took an exam.”

The whole bus gave a chorus of “Yes, Sensei,” and Izuku managed to not flinch. It was just an
honorific, he was their teacher, after all.

He wasn’t Sensei.

The memory made the phone sitting in his pocket weigh a little heavier and he fingered the edge of
it, safe in his pocket and out of sight.

He wanted to talk to Tomura. He missed the older boy; how could he not? To him, Tomura was
peace and comfort, Tomura was practically home at this point, conditioning or no. Hitoshi was
starting to feel like home as well, and the dorms were nice, school was good, but some part of him
really missed playing video games in a bedroom in the bar, missed the simple knife fights and pun
wars that had Kurogiri actually groaning with how terrible they were.

On the other hand, Tomura was a villain. That probably hadn’t changed in the weeks he had been
gone, despite how he wished that maybe they could all be friends. He associated with villains, had
kidnapped UA students (even more than him) and had definitely killed people before. Stain, even
if he had technically been a vigilante, definitely crossed into villain territory as soon as he started
going after heroes, even if Izuku could understand his reasoning behind most of the attacks and
even agreed with some of his choices.

But could he, in good conscience, just… Talk to Tomura, like before?

He had the means. The untraceable means. According to Himiko, even if he turned the phone in,
they wouldn’t be able to use it to find Tomura, so he would just lose his only avenue of talking
with his friend, and lose whatever trust had been built up.

As the bus pulled back up to the school, he made his decision.

He had been through a lot.

He could be a little selfish.

 In the safety of his room, he opened the one, unnamed contact in the phone and typed out a
message.

“Hi, Tomura. It’s Izuku.”

Chapter End Notes

I hope you guys know I have like, -3 plans for this fic. we're going to learn the ending
at the same time, each new chapter is an adventure that we all get to go on together.
Hell, I don't even know a relationship, if any, that might be end game. I've laid the
seeds for a couple to see how they pan out but like.

I'm not in control here.

Not sure who is tbh.

 Oversharing is Basically Therapy
Chapter Summary

boys probably oversharing for 3k words (and 24 google doc pages, holy hell), but they
both do it so it's fine

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Hi, Tomura, it’s Izuku

Ah, so she did get you the phone

Nice

Yeah

I passed, btw

Have my prov license now

[image.jpg]

Of course you do lmao

Only good hero out there

Plus eraserhead

R u ok

Like

After kamino

I know you took the test or w/e but still

Yeah, I’m good

Well

Good as can be, i guess

Wdym

Well

Sensei gave me a quirk

Ye

And I really didn’t want it

But is it a cool quirk

Yeah it is

It’s ragdoll’s

Oh shit

That rescue hero they nabbed?

He gave you her quirk?

Yeah

Shit, sorry, I know you liked her

She’s not dead, right

No she’s alive

She helped me with Search, we visited her in the hospital

I still visit sometimes

Damn, sorry izu

Kinda wasn’t expecting that one

Then why did you have the vanguard kidnap her

Sensei wanted her

Didn’t know why but like

Now I guess I do

Shit

Tomura

Yeah?

I hate him

Sensei, I mean

Oh

Hmm

Like, I know he saved you and everything, but he’s kind of the worst

And I don’t mean as a villain or w/e

I mean as a person

Like I kind of can’t call eraserhead sensei anymore because he’s ruined the word

Sorry

No I

I get it
Its been a couple weeks since he got captured but like

God

Fuck

I'm so sorry izu

I swear he didn’t use to be like this

It’s like every time you saw him you got hurt

Which is ass

Pretty sure I did get hurt every time I saw him, tbh

I'm sorry

For what

Not liking him?

hell , i'm not sure if I like him rn

What?

Yeah he hurt you

For like

No reason

That’s shitty

I mean yeah but

He was still like

Your pseudo dad

Maybe at one point

I think kurogiri is more my dad at this point tho tbh

 Lmao

How is he doing

Oh, you know

Same old

Getting pestered by six times as many people as usual

I think you mean six times as many infants :3

You motherfucker

Keep being a lil shit and

And

Damn I don’t have a good threat

I can't thrash you in smash anymore since you aren’t here

I miss it too

You still beat everyone else tho, right

It’s not just me?

No yeah, everyone is garbage

They always play the same people purely for the aesthetic

Which is ridiculous

You had me play luigi all the time just because he was green

Yeah but it didn’t matter who you played you were gonna lose anyway

You BITCH
But yeah they’re all crazy

So they fit right in

Hell yeah

Btw toga keeps whining about missing her “knife buddy”

Stain is right there

Yeah but you were her age

“Were”

Did one of us suddenly get older when I wasn’t watching

I mean depending on who’s blood she drinks

You know, actually I have a question about that

So I don’t like, condone this, or anything

Sure

But if she hypothetically drank a baby’s blood

Holy shit izu lmao

HYPOTHETICALLY AND I DON'T CONDONE IT

Since babies are less developed would she have the intelligence of a baby?

Would she be able to talk and think like normal?

I mean, ehr motor skills would obviously lower

 Especially if she went really young

But technically she has the knowledge to do regular people stuff, right?

Is this really a question you have

I mean if she doesn’t already know then PLEASE do not test it

But idk, i'm curious

She said she hasn’t tried it

Spinner looks like he’s going to be sick lmao

Again, do not test it

Please

For the love of all things that are holy

Please do not

We won’t, we aren’t taking blood from a baby

Its like candy but worse because it actually hurts them

Also apparently you have a no civilian policy?

I mean if they actively get in our way and try to hinder us

Then I can’t promise we won’t injure them

But I mean

It’s not right, or whatever

Plus you’d probably be sad and stop talking to me sooooo

You’re right I would be very sad if you just straight up murdered someone

Because murder is wrong

So are most of the things we do

Technically, you talking to me is wrong

Apparently this phone is untraceable so its not like turning it in to the police is gonna do anything

But then I wouldn’t be able to talk to you about video games

Hahahahahaha, I’ve gotten you hooked

You fool, this was my master plan

You have been indoctrinated into the cult

Pretty sure liking video games isn’t a cult, tomura

No, let me have this, you’re in a cult now

My cult

The League of Gamers

That’s just League of Legends

We never even played league how do you know about league???

Honestly i think any gamer worth their salt should know about lol and wow, they’re the classics

That and like, minecraft

And doom

Huh there are a lot of classics

But of course, the ultimate classic

Is Tetris

God I hate tetris

 Why???

Its literally just fitting things together

That’s so satisfying

You put the pieces together and then they fade into nothingness, its the best

Its so boring

There’s basically no puzzle solving, there’s no fighting, there’s no teamwork, it’s a single player
time waster

Tell that to the world champion tetris player

Please tell me there isnt a world champion tetris player

Idk there probably is tho

Some old russian guy maybe

Nothing else to do in the old folks home

Idk they could play league

I think I’d rather play tetris than league

You always did like puzzles more than fighting

I thought you said tetris wasn’t a puzzle game

Its not

Well

Mostly
Idk

Lmao, ok

The dorms have game systems so sometimes I play with the gang

Wait a minute

Doesn’t smash have online multiplayer

Yeah why

Oh

OH

But what if someone realizes it’s me

Midnight smash tournament?

Yes, omg

I can even get some of the goons in

You could probably beat most of them tbh

I thought u said i suck

They suck harder

Damn, didn’t know dabi was out of the closet

I mean, it was pretty clear he was gay but still

LMAO

I'm gonna tell him you said that

Because you aren’t here to be set on fire

 toMURA NO

Fuck he’s gonna kill me

Everyone is dying rn you aint special

He looks so done lmao

Wherefore hast thou forsaken me

Because you arent here to get charbroiled

Plus pretty much everyone here likes you so the chances of you getting murdered are slim

So if I say that YOU said it, I don’t get killed for saying what everyone already knows

The criminal mastermind at work, people

This is how he gets you

Join the league today

Lmao if that’s all I needed we would already have a better world

Speaking of better world

Disregard news about us

I can promise you we aren’t starting trouble

Yet

Like it’ll happen

But rn it’s fine

Tomura quick question what the FUCK does that mean

We’re looking to recruit people but we’re trying to be like, you know, subtle

So if you see a big fight

Wasn’t us
Scout’s honor

1. You are not a boy scout

2. Pretty sure that’s an american thing

3. Honor? Who is she? You don't know her

You rude ass bitch

But yeah anyway

Not us

But you’re recruiting people

What makes you think I won’t tell

Doubt you know anyone on our case

Eraserhead probably is

He’s underground, honestly he probably already knows

If he’s looking, anyway

Fair enough, I guess

Please don’t kidnap any more people tho

I mean the last time we did we got raided within 24 hours soooo

Yeah no we’re good

Plus kidnapping people is a pretty big hassle

Unless you just have a nomu yeet them through a portal

:)
Izu i'm sorry I didn’t know you then

And I was right, you’re a great rogue

Even if you didn’t join my party and probably aren’t going to

But yeah, I mean, if you have a nomu and a portal man, kidnapping is pretty easy

Until you get tracked and caught

Then its not easy anymore

Its just painful

You know

It’s kinda weird how they found you within a day

Like, I heard Momo put a tracker on the nomu

But like

That went to the warehouse

Not the bar

Soooooo

Yeah that kinda seemed weird to me too

But then like

For you

They didn’t find us for months

Which is a little

Sketchy tbh

I mean they had time to put together your location, I guess?

Because you had me?

Idk I’ve met two of the heroes that were on the team to come find me and they seem pretty good

Oh shit who
 Why

Wdym why

Why do you want to know who was on the team

Because if they were looking for you then they must be pretty decent

Aww, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said about heroes

How does it feel?

Disgusting, now tell me who I’m telling Stain to avoid

I dunno all of the people on the team, but I know Ms. Joke and Gang Orca at least

Shit, the number ten?

And joke’s underground ish, right

Yeah

Gang orca likes kids and joke is a teacher herself

So it sounds like teachers are generally pretty good

Oh?

You know all might is a teacher right

:3c

disGUStang
He’s still shitty

Yeah I can’t really look at him

I’m getting better

But it’s still hard

Shit that sucks

Wait didn’t you have an all might shrine in your room

How did that go

Oh uh

I didn’t exactly

Go home

...then where did you go?

To the ua dorms

Early

Yikes, why

Not like we were gonna kidnap you AGAIN, you didn’t need the protection

I mean we didn’t know that

But that’s not really why I went

So are you gonna tell me or keep beating around the bush lmao

My mom wanted me to transfer schools and I really

Didn’t want to deal with that in the moment

 Like, everything sort of came to a head and I knew I was going to break down if I had to listen to
my mother try to convince me to give up on my dreams

Holy shit I knew she was bad but hot damn

I mean i'm sure she’s trying her best, she’s probably just worried

I mean you spent months with villains

Pretty sure you have more experience than most second and third years at this point

You’re gonna be the best hero

fuck her if she couldn’t see that

But also yeah, I figured out later that if I had gone home I might have actually had a panic attack
lmao

Doesn’t feel like a lmao moment but go off

Yeah

First time i saw all might I definitely Did Not break down in the hallway

For sure

Didn’t happen

Motherfucker

Are you sure i can’t kill him

Won’t do much now because he’s a stick

But then you wouldn’t have to look at him

No no, I’m getting better

Plus hitoshi helped calm me down

Whomstve

The purple kid you kidnapped

Oh him

He’s cool

Yeah!

We’re friends now!

He’s helped me a lot

Also he has cats which are like, basically therapy

Pretty sure the only thing that’s like therapy is actually therapy

Have you ever been to therapy

That’s besides the point

Idk I kind of like it tbh

You don’t even have to talk about like

Your problems

And obviously every therapist is different

But mine has a really cool empathy quirk

It also lets her dispel intense emotion so if you do wanna talk about the hard stuff you don’t burn
yourself out

But it's still healthy to feel things so she only does that if it’s really bad

Talking about sensei and how terrified I am of him even now that he’s locked up has been

Kinda nice
But they don’t understand, empathy quirk or no

Yeah but they don’t have to

They just

Help

So that you can understand

Hmmm

Pretty sure the whole league could use some therapy

To some degree

Yeah I can see that

Not sure who will take known villain clients

But idk maybe there’s a villain therapist?

Who won’t snitch to the cops?

Yeah!

That’d be really cool!

God that conversation with giran is going to be

Awkward

Pfft

“Yes hi, do you know any therapists?”

“...what”

“Yeah do you know any good therapists, I’m interested in therapy.”

“Like as a career option or…? Because honestly I am very sorry to say but that’s not the career
path for you”

He’s right, it’s really not

Rude, I could be a great therapist

Maybe

Idk

It requires talking to people

And helping them

And having probably a basic grapes of the human psych which i can guarantee

You do not

RUDE

Maybe I actually know the human psyche so intimately that this whole conversation is fabricated
to elicit this specific reaction out of you!

Maybe this whole conversation is actually… THERAPY!!!

I mean

It is kinda therapeutic to talk to you

It’s been so long

Yeah

But we can talk now

Not like

On a phone call or in person

But texting is still something i guess

And you promised me an online smash tournament, don’t forget

 I completely forgot curfew is a thing, shit

Hmmmm

Well I can probably still text you at the right time and as long as you aren’t busy

You’ll just need inconspicuous names

Like don’t go with your usual IGN

What’s wrong with DustToDust I think it is very nice

And it’s a reference to that one saying people have about death so its just the right amount of edgy

Ah yes, the perfect amount of edge

Not enough to cut someone on

But enough to be cool

At least it’s not fucking “FuckEndeavor”

Dabi?

Of course, who else

Idk I think they’d probably just assume it was a random hater

BloodLover

Ok yeah that one needs to change, himiko is a bit obvious with that one

0v0

Himiko?

She told me to call her that so i'm gonna

 Not like she’s the only member in the league I call by their first name

Cough cough

Oh No

Are You Sick?

You Should Take Better Care Of Yourself

Midoriya

Ew please never do that again

The letters thing or

That too but please never say my family name again that just feels weird

But it’s your name, isn’t it, Midoriya?

Idk Shigaraki, is it?

Fuck, ok, I see what you mean

Oh no, Shigaraki

This is war

Please

I'm begging you

What was it himiko called you?

Please no
 Shiggy?

Ugh, stop, the power of christ compels you

Well I mean if you’re gonna bring religion into then sure

Can’t believe you let her call you that lmao

“Let” is a strong word

I just haven’t convinced her to stop

Apparently being dusted does not phase her in the slightest

Sucks to suck lmao

You can’t tell me you don’t have your own share of crazy

Doesn’t even have to be crazy girl, just crazy

Oh no we do

There’s this girl in support

Absolutely batshit

She’s great

No fucking fair why do you get the tech crazy and we get the blood crazy

Its an occupational hazard

Damn u right

Got any other friends than purple kid?

 I mean

Some of the same ones as before, I guess

Is that like

The people who came to the raid

Ye

Plus or minus a few

I mean

Everyone is NICE

So

Better than middle school

Yeah if they weren’t I’d attack the school again

Tomura no

Tomura yes

Your response to people being not friendly should not default to murder

Idk seems like a classic solution to me

No

I thought you had a no civvie policy

They’re hero brats they aren’t civvies

Not heroes yet

Still counts

How many of them got their licenses today with you

Most of them

Only two didn’t

Oh, really?

Who?

Erm

Todoroki and kacchan

Holy shit lmaoooooo

Exlodey mcfuck?

He FAILED?

Holyt hsihit i'm ufcking dying that's hialksours

Hang on

Gotta

Breathe

Its not that funny

It really is

Ok its a little funny

Apparently he was too mean to the judges so they took off points
That is

Incredible

I dind’t know i needed that but i really really did

The rest of the gang is kind of looking at me like i'm crazy but

Yeah ok i told them and now they’re laughing too

This is great

What about the todoroki kid?

Wasn’t he super strong or whatever?

Oh someone picked a fight with him and they almost killed a test taker

Wait hold up

What

Someone almost died???

Yeah but I dragged him out of the way in time

Still yelled at them tho

Like honestly, fighting in the middle of a test?

When you have the crazy power of the elements on your side?

Bitch???

Nah I threw hands

Hell yes, put those shitty bitches in their place

This is exactly what’s wrong with hero society damn

Fighting over stupid shit when there are lives on the line

Fuckin hell

Ah shit
 What

Its curfew in a few minutes and I haven’t done anything to get ready for bed

Aizawa is gonna kill me

Lmao run bitch run

gn!!!

Yeah, gn nerd

thanks

Chapter End Notes

Now like, every card is on the table between the two of them. Tomura is also growing
as a person and becoming his own person separate from AfO.

There's memes, dreams, and questioning their teams.

How soon before the League of Villains becomes the League of Wait What Are We
Again?

Anyway, very excited to get into work studies, thanks for reading this absolute
monster of a chapter (lengthwise, word wise it's normal).
 Everything is Moving Very Fast and I am Not
Chapter Summary

A careful fight and a work study consideration

Chapter Notes

the longest chapter to date because these words don't quit.

Actually had to plan things out for like, the first time, don't recommend it but it will
probably help tell the story in the future I guess so w/e.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The very next day, heart lighter than it had been in a while, Izuku had stars in his eyes at the three
third years that stepped into the classroom at Aizawa’s behest. He recognized the blond one as the
accidental exhibitionist from last year’s second year sports festival, and together they made the Big
Three of UA, or the three third years closest to being pros.

Talk about exciting!

Apparently, they were there to talk about work studies, but between the one who was painfully shy
(Amajiki Tamaki), the hyper one who asked enough questions that even Izuku would call it
excitable (Hado Nejire), and the exhibtionist himself trying an awkward call and response (Togata
Mirio) the class wasn’t really impressed.

“Tell you what,” Togata said, “the best way to demonstrate is experience, so how about I fight you
all at once?”

The class immediately jumped and started yelling in surprise. Sure, he was a third year, but there
were 20 of them and they had almost all gotten provisional licenses. Surely this guy was joking?

But then Aizawa basically said “sure whatever” and they all changed into gym clothes and headed
to a gym to spar him.
“This dude is crazy,” Hitoshi muttered, “but he must have a plan or skills that would make him this
confident…”

Izuku nodded. “My thoughts exactly. The other two, his friends, don’t seem concerned, and he’s
carefree. Plus, he’s the top dog in school right now, and that has to count for something. I say we
play it safe until we know exactly what he’s doing.”

The other boy raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You’ve tagged him, right?”

“Of course, as soon as we walked in the gym.”

Hearing this, Jirou stepped closer to them. “Trust Midoriya to have a plan.”

He chuckled nervously as Togata finished stretching. “Alright!” He grinned wide, hands on his
hips, stance confident and wide. “Come at me!”

Never one to hesitate, Kirishima lept at him, arm hardened, but the boy didn’t move.

And Kirishima went right through him.

The class froze, and in their distraction, Togata disappeared, leaving his clothes behind.

“Shit, where’d he go?”

Izuku cocked his head. “He’s… below us? Jirou, watch out!”

She immediately threw herself to the side at his exclamation and was rewarded with not getting
punched in the gut and a confused third year.

Blue eyes locked with Izuku’s.

“Oh, yeah! You must have marked me, huh? So you know where I am? That’s pretty handy!
Still, if I’m fast enough,” he grinned and slipped through the ground again, popping up and
slamming a fist into both Sero and Aoyama, “then you can’t warn people!”

Jirou paled at the state of her two classmates even as she avoided looking in the direction of the
naked boy.

“Welp, time to keep going for those back liners!”

He slipped back into the ground and Izuku scrambled to give accurate readings of where he was.
Sure, he knew, but he couldn’t translate that well into directions people could understand, not in
time for them to dodge Togata, at least.

Soon it was Uraraka, Hitoshi, Tokoyami (who had Dark Shadow help him with maneuverability),
Kaminari (who was keeping a constant static on his skin to deter Togata from hitting him), and
Izuku himself.

Five students, three fourths of their number gone in under two minutes.

“Uraraka! How many people can you probably float?”

“If Kami turns off his voltage field for a hot sec, everyone but me and one other.”

“Tokoyami, can you stay on the ground with Uraraka?”

The boy nodded solemnly, watching as Hitoshi tried to distract the third year with his capture
scarf. “I can defend myself and our allies, if that is what you desire.”

“Yeah, you and Dark Shadow are going to launch the airborne people at Togata when he comes
up.”

The three people not currently engaged in combat looked at him incredulously, but didn’t have
time when Hitoshi shouted.
“Shit, he’s grounding again, Izuku!”

He nodded. “Uraraka!”

She quickly tapped the three of them and then both she and Tokoyami moved from their spots.
Togata popped up, ready to punch Izuku or Kaminari, only to find them gone. He blinked in
surprise at the floating students before breaking out in a grin.

“Ah, taking to the air to avoid me, huh? Sadly, that just tells me my target!”

He slipped back under and they all tensed.

“Uraraka! He’s going for you! Tokoyami, are you ready?”

The raven headed boy nodded and Dark Shadow wrapped around the three boys with a grin.

“Kami, as soon as he goes tangible, shock him. He’s coming up in three, two, one…”

Tokoyami and Dark Shadow tossed all three of them at where he was coming up, Uraraka having
moved behind him, ducking when they flew overhead, and the blond boy looked surprised.

“Toshi!”

Izuku looked pointedly at Kaminari and Hitoshi blinked and nodded. In unison, the two boys
yelled, “Taser: 5000 Volts!”

Mirio merely slipped through them. “Sorry, but that won’t-”

His blue eyes went blank and they all sagged in relief.

“Say the following words: I surrender.”

“I surrender.”

He blinked, being released from the brainwashing. “Oh, wow! Brainwashing, huh? That’s really
neat and handy! Totally didn’t think you’d get me, but that voice trick, nice job!”

Kaminari cheered weakly. “Don’t know when you got so in time with me, Shin! It’s like only one
of us was saying it.”

The third year hurried to put his gym uniform back on and Hitoshi snorted. “I pay attention.
Mimicking is a fine art that requires this shit down to a science.”

Uraraka let out her last deep breath. “Ok, I’m good now. My weight tolerance has gotten higher,
but man, that was so nerve wracking!”

Tokoyami nodded, helping the other three up. “An interesting plan, Midoriya. I’m glad we were
able to assist in the takedown.”

He smiled, and they all went to help up the classmates still on the ground and he winced when they
did.

“Sorry,” he muttered to Jirou, “I wasn’t fast enough.”

She shook her head. “You saved me once, and you still ended up beating him.”

Still , he thought. If only he had been better at articulating the information he was getting.

Hado bounded up to him, completely abandoning Togata. “Ne, ne, how’d you do that? How’d
you know where Mirio was gonna be?”

“Oh, um,” he flustered, “I tagged him before so I could tell. My quirk.”

She grinned and turned back to the boy in question. “Ne, Mirio, he tagged you! That means
you’re it!”

She giggled, twirling in the air, and Mirio chuckled as well. “Yeah, I guess I am! Hey, Tamaki?”

The other boy just looked at him.

“You’re it!”

The other two third years bounded off and the elvish boy sighed, looking miserable. “No,” he
whispered, “come back…”

“Alright,” Aizawa drawled, “what have you all learned?”

“Third years have way more experience than us!” Mina shouted, still clutching her stomach.

“Correct, what else?”

“Listen to Midoriya,” Kaminari offered, and Izuku held his face in his hands, most likely
completely red.

Aizawa sighed. “Sure. Anything else?”

“Um,” he murmured around his hands, peeking out in trepidation, “communication and relaying
information is important. If you don’t know how to relay the information in a timely and
understandable way, there’s not much use in having the information.”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow and nodded. “I’m sure everyone has something they need to work on,
then, yes?”

The class groaned and Bakugo exploded (“I’m great at communicating, fuck off!” “Yeah,”
Kaminari chuckled, “I don’t think yelling at people counts as communication…” The lightning
boy ducked behind Hitoshi and Izuku, screaming as Bakugo tried to murder him completely).
Izuku nodded. If nothing else, that was something he needed to learn. There was no point in
having the information he did if he couldn’t relay it to his team, something that had cost him two
thirds of his class at least.

The rest of the lessons carried on as usual after they thanked the Big Three for their time, and Izuku
was scribbling in his notebook, trying to figure out the best ways to articulate information.

The first thing he got was positioning, and he could give direction by pointing and distance in the
usual way, but what if people couldn’t see, or needed the direction and distance over radio? What
if people used different systems? Luckily, he knew the direction intrinsically and the distance was
given to him in both meters and feet, and not in say, vectors, because he wasn’t far enough in
calculus to do a lot of that math and he highly doubted anyone in the hero business actually was
either, with the state of most heroes nowadays. Math just wasn’t needed as much unless you had a
quirk that specifically required it. Maybe he should get a compass?

Vitals and health information was easy enough to tell, that was pretty much verbatim to whatever
the quirk gave him, indicating region, intensity, whatever, so that wasn’t a problem.

Mental state was a bit harder. Hell, it was hard to articulate his own mental state, so even if he
could understand exactly what was going through a person’s head, mood or otherwise, there was no
way he would be able to accurately tell people about it. That was something you had to just feel to
understand.

He ended up trailing behind at the end of the day, engrossed in his notebook writing down
different ideas. Sign language would be good anyway, in case of underground operations that
required quiet…

“Hey, I thought I had missed you!”

He looked up, startled. It was Togata. “Oh! Senpai! Sorry, I, um, I didn’t see you there.”

The boy grinned. “I imagine not! You looked pretty invested in that book! What are you writing
about?”

He grimaced to himself. “Well,” he said slowly, “I realized today that I’m not very good at telling
people what my quirk tells me. I was trying to figure out the best way to do that, but it kind of just
boils down to getting faster and using a common system that’s easy to understand. Maybe some
shorthand? Sign language, for sure, in case it’s a stealth op…”

He trailed off, already drawn back into his train of thought, but he was shaken out of it again when
the older boy chuckled. “Sounds like a plan! You haven’t had that quirk for very long, right?”

Izuku nodded, frowning.

He grinned. “Already got all these plans, thought, that’s super neat! I imagine you’ll be
unparalleled in information gathering, other than Sir, maybe, but that’s just because he’s been in
the game longer than you.”

Izuku looked up. “Sir? As in, Sir Nighteye?”

Togata shot him two thumbs up. “Yep! That’s who I’m working under right now! He helped me
a lot with my quirk too! Say, you’re looking for a work study, right?”

Izuku nodded, barely daring to breathe.

“I think Sir would like you! If you can get your teacher to approve, maybe I can introduce you! I
know he just has me, so maybe he’d like a fresh provisional hero like you. Plus, he helped get ya
back, you know?”

He shook his head, dumbfounded and vibrating practically out of his skin. “You’d really introduce
me to the Sir Nighteye?”

Togata clapped him on the shoulder. “Sure! You’re pretty quick on your feet and you got a lot of
heart! I’d love to work with you!”

Izuku hastily nodded and bowed, thanking the third year profusely before bounding right back the
way he had come, hoping to catch Aizawa before he left for the day.

He managed to find the man outside the teacher’s lounge and practically pranced up to him, eyes
no doubt shining and full of stars. The man merely sighed.
“What.”

“Togata-senpai said he would introduce me to Sir Nighteye for a work study as long as you said it
was ok!”

The tired teacher grimaced like he had tasted something foul, but searched Izuku’s eyes for any
shred of doubt, finding, of course, none. He ran a hand down his face and shifted the papers under
his arms more securely into the crook of his armpit.

“Fine. If you don’t like it, you have my number.” He passed the confused boy a form, the work
studies form, and turned to walk into the teacher’s lounge, leaving Izuku out in the hallway alone.

If he didn’t like it…?

Weird, but whatever.

~~~~~

Mirio scratched his head sheepishly. “I mean, I can totally do that, All Might, but I kind of
promised Midoriya I’d take him too, if that’s all right. I’d love to do you the favor, but…”

Uraraka’s eyes lit up. “Midori? Yeah, he’d be great there! Don’t worry, Senpai, if Sir only wants
one intern, Deku is definitely a great pick! Don’t you worry about me!”

The skeletal All Might shifted, surprised. “Ah, forgive me, young Mirio, I didn’t know you
already had someone in mind! No worries, of course.”

Mirio grinned. “I can just text Sir about it, no problem! The office is pretty small, and it’s always
fun to work with friends!”

All Might looked relieved. “Thank you. Sorry to spring this on you…”
“No trouble! Though Sir would love to hear from you if you have time for a phone call or an
email! He still collects all your merch, you know? Oh, he responded!”

He looked at his phone, reading over the words before smiling wide again. “I can bring both! He
said that if they’re both good he can take both no problem. No promises of course,” he winked at
Uraraka, “but I’m sure you’ll be able to win him over. You both helped beat me, after all!”

The girl grinned back at him and pumped a fist in the air.

He was right; both were a great fit for the agency!

Hopefully Sir would like them too.

~~~~~

Izuku fiddled with his costume case nervously. Why he had to bring it, he wasn’t entirely sure, but
Mirio said it was a good idea (and to call him by his given name, which Izuku was still having
trouble with except in his head), so he decided to trust his upperclassman.

Uraraka bounded up to him. “Hey Deku! Mirio-senpai running late?”

He nodded, frowning. “Um, how did you…?”

She smacked her forehead. “I completely forgot to tell you! He’s bringing me too. How neat
would it be to do a work study together, huh? Make up for lost time?” She elbowed his ribs with a
grin and he smiled softly back.

Mirio ran up, not even out of breath, but looking sheepish. “Sorry about that, kouhais, Nejire
distracted me. Totally ready to go now!”

He led them to the train station, him and Uraraka chatting back and forth, with Izuku occasionally
offering commentary, but content to listen to them. He was a little nervous. After all, Uraraka was
probably more in line with the kind of hero Mirio was, so maybe Sir would like her better? Plus
there was the cryptic warning from Aizawa, and he couldn’t imagine that the man would give an
unfounded warning. What if Nighteye didn’t like him? What if he thought that Izuku was a
villain, working with Sensei just to get a quirk? The league was still at large, after all, even if, like
Tomura said, they hadn’t made the news since Kamino and were trying to be subtle and not
commit major crimes.

They got off after a few stops and came in front of a large, nondescript office building. It made
sense, he supposed, that Nighteye, a borderline underground hero, wouldn’t want to advertise the
location of his agency to just anyone walking down the street.

Mirio greeted the receptionist, a person with a centipede mutation, and led them up the elevator
outside the hero’s office. He paused, looking at the two of them seriously, and they both tensed.

“If you want to get in,” he intoned, “the best way to do it is to make Sir laugh.” At that, he
brightened considerably and knocked twice before opening the door, leading the two into a rather
odd sight.

“I brought them, Sir!” Mirio didn’t spare more than a glance at where the blue-skinned sidekick
was tied up and crying laughing and Izuku and Uraraka eyed each other, worried and confused.

“Ah,” the hero pushed up his glasses, face blank, “excellent. Mirio, take Bubble Girl and wait
outside. I will send one of them out to you in a moment to conduct the individual interviews.

The woman, Bubble Girl, gasped for air as she let herself be led away and Mirio shot them both a
thumbs up, leaving them to look around the room.

Izuku managed to suppress a flinch at the magnitude of All Might, forcing his gaze onto the green
haired hero who was staring at the two of them behind the reflection of his glasses getting hit with
the light.

“Welcome to the Nighteye Agency, Midoriya Izuku, Uraraka Ochako. Which one of you would
like to go first?”

Uraraka swallowed and they gave each other a glance before she stepped forward with a smile. “I
didn’t planet , but I’ll star t.”

Nighteye blinked at the space puns and she smiled nervously.

He nodded.

“Very well, Midoriya please wait outside.”

Much like Mirio, he shot her a thumbs up and closed the door behind him, finding Mirio waiting all
alone in some chairs outside the office.

“Ah, ladies first? Did either of you make him laugh yet?”

He shook his head. “Uraraka tried two space puns I thought were decent but he just nodded.”

“Oh man,” Mirio rubbed his jaw, “puns usually get him, he might be in a bad mood today, or
maybe he’s just being extra hard… well, I believe in you both!”

Izuku smiled sheepishly. “Thanks, senpai, wouldn’t want you to have made this trip for nothing.”

The blond shrugged. “Wouldn’t have brought you if I didn’t think you could do it, but even if he
ends up not hiring either of you, this trip was definitely worth it! We got to hang out, which is fun!
Hey, maybe we can go out for ice cream after this! Think Aizawa-sensei will mind?”

He chuckled, but cut himself off with a frown and turned to the door. “That’s odd.”

“What’s up?”

“Uraraka is mad… like, really mad, so mad I don’t have to actively search for it… now that I’m
thinking, Nighteye is too, but his is… colder.”

They glanced at each other and Izuku closed his eyes, breathing and focusing on the two people in
the room across from him.

Uraraka was angry, like he thought. It was almost indignant in nature, but Nighteye was annoyed
and aloof. Had he said something insulting? Oh, now she was darting around the room, and he
was avoiding her.

He opened his eyes in alarm. “I think...I think they’re fighting! Like, physically fighting!”

Mirio frowned, concerned. “That’s… really weird. Angry and fighting? Doesn’t really seem like
Sir’s style. I mean, I know he wanted an interview, but that seems a little…”

Izuku shot up from his seat, pacing. “Do we… I dunno, do we intervene? Neither of them are hurt
yet, but surely this can’t be good, can it?”

Mirio rubbed his chin. “I say we let it play out up until the point someone gets hurt. Sir is a pro,
he wouldn’t be fighting without reason, for sure. I mean, it’s probably just a test of some kind.
She recently got an upgrade from her sports festival performance, right? Maybe he’s just testing to
see how far she’s come, like he did for me.”

Izuku sat down heavily, worrying his lip. “If you say so… you know him better than me.”

After three tense minutes her anger turned to exasperation and Nighteye’s annoyance turned to
calm, like it had been before Izuku had left the room, now that he thought about it, and he relaxed
minutely.

“They stopped,” he muttered.

Uraraka opened the door, face neutral, but she grinned almost wickedly when she saw Izuku and
Mirio. “Hey! Your turn, Midori!”

He nodded nervously. Hopefully Nighteye didn’t ask him to fight too, his knife was still in his
costume case and without it he wasn’t as effective at combat.

He shut the door behind him and blinked at the state of the room. Nighteye was straightening up
papers that had gone everywhere, and there were footprints on the walls and ceiling. Other than
that, nothing looked broken, and Nighteye himself didn’t have a scratch on him, so that coupled
with how Uraraka had come out of the room, things must have been fine.
“Have a seat, Midoriya.”

He gulped and sat, gently setting his costume case on the floor as Sir Nighteye sat across from
him, hands steepled in front of his face and gaze critical.

“So, you want a work study here. Why?”

Izuku nodded. “You’re one of the best information gatherers. You know how to gather data,
summarize it, and give it to people in the most helpful manner, something I desperately want to
learn. Like me, you don’t have a physical enhancement quirk and you’re almost underground in
nature. Also,” he rubbed his head sheepishly, “I need experience desperately.”

Nighteye said nothing for a moment before he asked a question entirely out of left field.

“I hear you have a quirk now?”

He tensed and swallowed. “Y-yeah, it’s… Search. It used to be Ragdoll’s before… before Sensei
took it and gave it to me.”

He raised an eyebrow, nothing else moving. “Sensei?”

“All for One,” he said hurriedly, “I didn’t hear the name until after Kamino, so…”

Nighteye blinked once, slowly. “And why would the Symbol of Evil give you a quirk?”

He fidgeted. “He, he wanted to?”

“He wanted to.”

He nodded hesitantly. “Yeah, I didn’t want it but…”

The man eyed him for a moment before nodding. “What do you bring to this agency?”

Izuku blinked. “Um, I can… I can find people? If I tag someone I know the general area of where
they are even if I’m not close enough for specifics. I can also use it to get… emotion?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I was not aware Search had an empathy based ability.”

“Ah, it, it might, I guess,” he rubbed his head, “because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to tell, right?
I think it’s tied to their mental state, which is why I can feel it. It’s not like I can read their
thoughts or anything, but similar to pain it’s something people feel, so I can feel it, I guess. That’s
how I knew…” he trailed off, looking back at the hero before looking away again, “that’s how I
knew you and Uraraka were both angry, for some reason.”

His eyes narrowed minutely. “Elaborate.”

Izuku swallowed. “Well, Urarka’s anger was, was indignant? Like she was upset about
something, maybe something she thought was unfair. You were more… annoyed.”

Nighteye set his hands on the desk. “And why do you think we became angry?”

Izuku really didn’t want to say “you antagonized her about something” but that was his gut feeling.
Still, not something you said to your potential employer, so he went with the next best thing.

“I don’t know.”

Sir sat back in his chair, letting out an almost imperceptible sigh that had Izuku fidgeting in his
seat. Oh god, he didn’t like him and now he wasn’t going to have a work study.

“Give me your form and let your classmate back in.”

His eyes widened and he hurried to comply, gently setting the form on the desk next to Uraraka’s
and slipping the door open.
 “He wants us both back in.”

She smiled and bounded over, joining him in standing in front of the desk.

Sir Nighteye steepled his hands again, looking at them both.

“I have a few doubts, about both of you,” Uraraka stiffened beside him and he felt her indignation
come to the surface again, “however, since Mirio has vouched for you and you both seem to care a
great deal, I will hire you both. If,” he raised a finger, looking at them over the rims of his glasses,
“if you slack off in any way, I will not hesitate to fire you, is that understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

He nodded. “I look forward to seeing you both on Saturday.”

They walked out, Izuku still shaking with nerves, and Uraraka was quick to tell Mirio they were
both in. He high-fived them.

“How bout that ice cream, eh?”

Izuku nodded dumbly, still staring off into space.

He had done it.

He had a work study.

Chapter End Notes

My logic behind putting both Izuku and Uraraka with Nighteye is 1) I really did think
Mirio would go "this kid is rad" and 2) All Might is still gonna try and get his
successor with Nighteye. Ryukyu will be getting someone else, someone who caught
Nejire's eye, and the work study kids are gonna be... wack, tbh. That was part of the
planning I had to do.
I really don't hate Nighteye, I swear, but he would absolutely be an ass to both of them.
Uraraka wouldn't take that like Mido would tho, so she definitely threw hands at least a
little.

You'll find out what made her so mad next time, dw.

See you guys next time!

(For those who read Teacher Chat, it's done and there is a poll at the end for my next
work. It is now closed but I'm about to edit it with the votes, so check there in a hot
sec)
 Oops, Can You All Forget I Said That?
Chapter Summary

work studies get worse, better, and then worse again

Chapter Notes

in which izuku slips up

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Izuku was nervous in his hero costume, even with Uraraka and Mirio walking with him to the
agency. Today they were going to be patrolling, each of the first years being broken up with the
older sidekicks, Pinpoint with Lemillion and Uravity with Bubble Girl, each partnership with the
most compatible quirks, and a combat and support (ish) in kind.

He was even more nervous when they were actually on the streets, briefed on the current case and
told to avoid any people in plague masks at all costs, specifically the leader, but, as Sir Nighteye
had said, the chances of him showing up the patrol areas was slim, so they would just be doing
regular patrols.

“Hey,” Mirio grinned, “loosen up! The crowd’s not bothering you, is it?”

He shook his head. “No, I’ve figured out how to get the least amount of information possible, and
my range is at 10 meters right now. It’s not bad I’m just…” He sighed. “I wasn’t here for the
internships the first go around, so I feel like I’m really behind in experience and I don’t want to
mess up…”

Miro chuckled. “Not to worry, this is just a pretty basic patrol! We don’t even have a lot of crime
in this area, but I suppose if you’re planning on going underground you won’t do this as much,
huh?”

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, not really. I know most daylight heroes patrol in areas to deter crime, but
underground heroes go looking for it in high crime areas, right?”
“Right! See, you already know a lot!”

Izuku was suddenly hit with a wave of fear from his left and he whirled around, catching the small
girl that was running from the alleyway.

Mirio stopped walking, glancing back to see his partner holding a little girl who looked on the
verge of tears she was so afraid, and he immediately rushed back.

“Hey there,” Izuku murmured, “what’s your name?”

He didn’t ask if she was alright. He knew she wasn’t. As if on instinct, he had Searched her,
reading her state, and he was shaking with how bad it was. She was in so much pain, and she was
so afraid.

“Eri.”

“Well, Eri, I’m Pinpoint, and this is Lemillion. We’re heroes!”

She blinked up at the blond, smiling boy, and then back at Izuku, who’s expression was much
more subdued, and nodded, almost confused, but fear dying down a little bit.

“Mirio,” he murmured, “she’s hurt. I don’t know how she’s still running, but she’s in bad shape.”

“Ah, you found my daughter.”

All three people tensed and Izuku kept his eyes trained on Eri after a quick glance at the bird
mask. He heard Mirio suck in and breath and hiss before putting the smile back on his face. Izuku
continued to look into Eri’s red eyes, seeing the fear return in full force as he held her, avoiding her
most painful injuries.

“Ah, hello, sir! Your daughter, you say?”

“Yes, she was throwing a temper tantrum and ran away. Time to come home, Eri.”
Izuku extended Search, tagging the man as Eri started to shake.

Mirio leaned down. “Looks like she’s a little shy, but we’ll give her in a moment! Pinpoint,” he
breathed, “we have to let her go or we all die.”

“Eri,” he muttered, heart breaking at the blatant fear in her eyes, “I can always find you, wherever
you are, ok? I’ll always know where you are.”

She nodded and he slowly loosened his grip. She stumbled backwards, looking back at them
again.

“Come along, Eri.”

At the cold, almost bored voice that masked a hidden anger, she ran in the man’s direction and he
grabbed her hand with his gloved one. Izuku’s eyes never left her back until they couldn’t see
them anymore, when he collapsed to the ground, eyes tearing up as he wrapped his arms around
himself.

“Oh god, she was so hurt. That was someone in the Shie Haissakai, wasn’t it?”

Mirio helped him up, already ringing Nighteye. “No, that was Overhaul.”

Izuku tensed and Searched for where they both were, still moving away from them. “That was…
Overhaul?”

“Did you not notice?”

“No, I saw the mask but just focused on Eri…”

“Sir! Yes, we just had an encounter with Overhaul.”

Izuku stopped listening, focusing solely on Eri. Since she was farther away than before, he didn’t
feel anything as strong, but he did feel one thing that made his heart sink, even more than the fear.

Resignation.

He numbly travelled back to the agency and let himself be fussed over by Uraraka for encountering
the big bad, but was drawn in when he heard her name from Mirio.

“...said her name was Eri. He claimed she was his daughter.”

“They weren’t related.”

Nighteye raised an eyebrow. “And what leads you to that conclusion?”

“He’s germaphobic. Can’t imagine he’d be intimate with anyone long enough to have a child.”
He looked up. “He found the alley filthy, skin crawling, even though he was wearing gloves and a
plague mask and it was rather clean, for an alleyway. Also, if someone can abuse their own child
that much then they don’t deserve to be called a parent, regardless of blood relations.”

Uraraka looked startled, then sick. “Abuse? Mirio-senpai, you said she was injured, but…”

Izuku shook his head. “I said she was injured. She was in so much pain I’m surprised she
managed to run as fast as she did, or for as long as she did, based on the state of her feet.” He
racked his brain, replaying the information he had gotten and then immediately memorized.

“Can I have a piece of paper?”

Bubble Girl wordlessly passed one over with a pen and he sketched out the rough shape of a
person.

“Specific and detrimental wounds, to the point of debilitation, were in her forearms and calves,
with her upper arms and thighs having far fewer. Her feet had the more recent injuries from
running barefoot, and she had a headache. However, her arms and legs should have been more scar
tissue than arm with the obvious frequent borderline torture.”
He set the pen down, shaking, looking at the scribbled in areas that denoted her pain, and came to
a very horrible conclusion.

“You said Chisaki’s quirk is Overhaul, yes? It lets him deconstruct and reconstruct things?”

No one was smiling.

“Are you saying,” Uraraka swallowed, looking pale, “are you saying he…?”

“...Yeah.”

Nighteye examined the paper, frowning. “Did you tag her?”

“I tagged them both.”

They all jumped, looking at him in worry, and he hurried to explain. “Tagging doesn’t require
actually touching people, it just makes it easier and faster.”

Mirio and Uraraka breathed a sigh of relief. Yeah, no way Izuku was going to get in touching
range of Overhaul, or frankly any criminals if he could help it, not if you paid him real money.
The only reason he should be that close to someone that dangerous is if they were a) friends or b)
he had several knives. Preferably both, actually.

Nighteye pushed up his glasses. “That will likely be incredibly useful in locating Overhaul. Good
work, Pinpoint.”

He blinked, startled at the praise, and Mirio shot him a grin.

“For now,” the hero continued, you should all go home for the day. I have a few more leads we
will be looking into, but I will contact you again when it’s time.”
He swept upstairs, taking the paper of Eri’s injuries with him, and the three students waved
goodbye to Bubble Girl and Centipeder before going to change out of their hero costumes.

Izuku was still blank, feeling like he was in a fog, when they got on the train, and Uraraka nudged
him.

“Are you doing ok?”

He shook his head. How could he be? He had a hurt girl in his grasp and he had let her go, over
something as small as the fear of death. No, he thought, Mirio and Eri would also have died, even
if Overhaul would put her back together again for whatever sick purpose he had for her, but still.
Could he have done something? He would always know where Overhaul was, so he probably
could have dodged if he had come at him, his training wasn’t for nothing, and Mirio would have
been able to permeate if he tried to touch him , so maybe…? No, there was no use looking at what
ifs, he knew that by now.

Uraraka just put an arm around him and they rode back to UA in silence.

As they went through the gates, Mirio stopped, and the two underclassmen looked back at him.
He was angry, looking at the ground.

“We’re going to rescue her. We will.”

Uraraka nodded, eyes set in steel. “Of course. That’s what being a hero is about! Saving people!”

“Hunting things!”

They blinked at the upperclassman and he blinked back before breaking out in a grin. “Sorry,
instinct. A little before your time, huh? Anyway, we’ll save Eri, no matter what.”

Izuku tried to smile. They would. They had to.

~~~~~
Hitoshi flopped next to him underneath the tree, opening his bento on the way down.

“So, you’ve been working hard. You didn’t even notice when we passed by the cafeteria on the
way back from that exercise.”

Izuku nodded, eating a bite of rice. “Yeah. not sure if Aizawa and you will be working with
Nighteye, but the case… it’s not nice.”

“Coming from you? Hmm, worrying. On a scale of small robbery to Kamino, how bad is it?”

He grimaced. “Honestly, my kidnapping doesn’t look as bad as this. Maybe if Tomura had gotten
to do what he wanted to Kacchan, it might get as bad, but this is like…”

He trailed off, swallowing over the lump in his throat.

“It’s bad.”

He felt a buzz in his right pocket, the one that kept the burner phone, and he let Uraraka take over
the conversation, drawing in both Iida and Todoroki, but Hitoshi merely looked at him worriedly.

He ignored the concern in favor of reading whatever was so urgent that Tomura sent him in the
middle of the day.

Hey so if you see a bird guy, like with a plague mask, please steer clear, but also get him arrested
or killed, whichever is easier

Bird mask? Overhaul?

Izu wtf what are they teaching you in school

 No I ran into him the other day

You ran

Into the YAKUZA

The OTHER DAY?!?!

WTF

Yeah I was on patrol for my work study

But why do you know him?

Motherfucker killed magne

WAIT WHAT

Would have gotten compress is stain hadn’t stopped that shit

We’re all pissed

Big Sis Mag was one of the better of us, and now she’s fucking dead because bird bitch was mad
we didn’t grovel at his fucking feet

Izuku took a deep breath, steeling his features so no one around him would catch on.

Ok, so I hated his ass before, but now I might actually kill him

R u guys seriously going after him because if so gl

He’s got these quirk erasing bullets

Not permanent, but he’s probably working on it

He has a little girl

Like

A kid?

Wtf

Yeah pretty sure she’s being abused

I have them marked but like

I have never wanted to kill someone more

Awww, baby’s all grown up

baby’s first murder!

Jk don’t kill someone that’s bad you wouldn’t like it

Ok but it’s overhaul

Yeah but like

Murder

Can’t believe shigaraki tomura is saying no to murder, this seems out of character

Fuck off, no murder for you, you’re baby

I can murder anyone I want

Except civilians

FUCK

Ugh, fine, anyway, we’re gonna fuck him up, I’ll keep you posted
Izuku took a deep breath, slipping his phone back into his pocket. Magne was dead. Sure, he
didn’t know her that well, having only really been around her for a week, and she had definitely
committed murder at least twice, but based on conversations with Tomura, she really was the big
sister of the league, and Himiko at least really liked her a lot.

That could have been him.

Plus, the idea of quirk erasing bullets was terrifying, even if they were only temporary right now.
Izuku hadn’t even had a quirk for long, but he knew the degree to which people relied on them.
That’s probably what killed Magne, actually - if you suddenly lost your weapon, you’d be thrown
off completely, giving your opponent time to go in for the killing blow. Disarming someone was
an excellent tactic to give you a moment of surprise. Take something like a quirk, which for some
people was more akin to an extra limb than a weapon, and it would be child’s play. It’s part of
what made Sensei so terrifying.

He looked back up at his friends and smiled, pretending nothing was wrong. There was no way he
was going to be able to give this information to Sir, not without telling the hero where he had
gotten it, and that was definitely not going to happen, with how well that’d go over, so for now
he’d keep it to himself and hope nothing came of it.

After all, it was only temporary, it was fine.

~~~~~

Seeing Kirishima and Shouji distraught about Amajiki, their upperclassman on the work study
working with Fatgum, losing his quirk, made Izuku queasy. Maybe if they had known, Kirishima
could have deflected the other bullet as well, and the shy third year would still have his quirk.
Izuku just hoped it was still the experimental type, and his quirk would come back.

Seeing Red Riot’s hero debut and Tentacole’s recognition for the help in evacuating the civilians
and subduing the criminals and drug dealers, assisting Fatgum, made him feel a little better, but he
resolved to do everything he could from now on.

He locked himself in his room, telling his friends he was going to bed early, and whipped out a
fresh notebook, his laptop, and the burner phone.
 Tell me everything you have on the Shie Haissakai.

~~~~~

He tossed the filled notebook on Sir Nighteye’s desk and the hero looked up with a raised
eyebrow, taking it.

“What is this?”

“Everything I could find on the Shie Haissakai, including members, quirks, and a few schedules
and general locations.”

Nighteye thumbed through the notebook slowly, never showing any emotion beyond his constant
light frown. “And how did you get this information? Most of this is not public knowledge.”

He forced himself to remain strong and looked the pro hero in the eyes. “I told you I wanted to
learn more about information gathering. I didn’t come in with nothing.”

Nighteye considered for a moment before nodding, handing it back. “Show this to Centipeder and
we’ll see what else you can find.”

Izuku turned on his heel, feeling a drop of sweat trickle down his neck before he shut the door
behind him, letting out a sigh and unclenching his jaw. Some of the information he had found on
forums and internet digging, of course, but Tomura had provided most of it, and he really didn’t
want to have to lie to his boss.

He stood up straight, eyes set. He was here to learn, and by god, he was going to learn. He would
be the best at gathering and distributing information.

~~~~~

The work studies kids all chattered excitedly on the train, having figured out they were all going to
the same place. Tokoyami was with Hawks, so he wasn’t here, but Tsu and Kaminari with Hado
and Ryukyu were there, as were Kirishima and Shouji with Amajiki and Fatgum, on top of the
Nighteye kids. All nine of them were headed to the Nighteye agency.

Bubble Girl led them all to a meeting room where several pro heroes were already gathered,
including Aizawa and Hitoshi. Izuku blinked at him and waved. Hitoshi waved back, looking
dead on his feet.

“Oy, Girl!”

Uraraka lit up, turning to face a small man. “Gran! How are you, old man?”

He scowled and went to smack her with his cane. “Better than you’re gonna be after that sass. So
you ended up with Nighteye afterall, eh?”

She snorted. “Something about my old mentor losing his teaching license, I dunno.”

“And who exactly cost me that license, brat?”

She snickered and sat down and the old man merely rolled his eyes and picked his own seat. They
divided themselves by agency, and soon, everyone was there, Nighteye and Centipeder in front of
the room, with Bubble Girl but the laptop controlling the projector.

“Thank you all for coming,” Nighteye started, “this is the briefing for the Shie Haissakai case.
Centipeder?”

The centipede man took over, detailing some things Izuku already knew, before one hero, Rock
Lock, raised a complaint.

“What are these kids doing here? Isn’t this a bit above their paygrade?”

Fatgum raised their defense first. “These two helped us get vital intelligence! We were able to get
one of the quirk erasing bullets back intact!”
“Indeed,” Centipeder chittered, “which allowed us to analyze the contents of the bullet, and we
found… human cells.”

The three from Nighteye tensed and Mirio and Uraraka looked at Izuku, who just felt numb.

And then felt angry.

“That bastard,” he spit, “if we had moved before he showed up we could have gotten her out!”

“And,” Nighteye pressed, “he would have moved and caught wind of our operation.”

Izuku’s head shot up, eyes blazing. “So leaving a little girl, an abused and, now we find out,
experimented on little girl, with that monster was the best course of action? Somehow I don’t think
that’s in line with hero principles.”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, remembering another mission involving a child and a similar claim, and
stared Nighteye down. This should be good.

“With the information we had, it was the best course of action. You couldn’t have known she was
being experimented on.”

“Actually, I could! Remember that handy paper I made you with her injuries? I told you she was
being overhauled, and all you were concerned about was whether I had tagged her!”

Centipeder tried to wrangle things back. “Which brings us to our current objective, finding which
of the hideouts they are currently located in. We have about a dozen we will need you all to gather
information on, some in each of your provinces-”

“That won’t be necessary.”

The entire table turned to Izuku, eyes dark. “Get me a map.”

He took out a compass and marker from his belt pouch as Bubble Girl handed him a map, one that
included all the locations and the Nighteye agency.

They watched in silence as he oriented the compass and the map in tandem, making both face
north, and then he uncapped the marker, narrowing his eyes to find his starting location before
breathing deep and feeling for Eri.

There.

He drew a line, starting at the agency until it had passed all the locations. He looked at the
projection for reference and then drew a broad circle around the area of the line that they were
located in.

“There, check anything around there, don’t bother with the others. That’s where she is.”

“And Overhaul?”

He glared at Nighteye. “Yes,” he spat, “and Overhaul. He moves a bit more than she does, you
understand.”

Nighteye seemed unfazed, Bubble Girl gently taking the map as he put the marker and compass
away and sitting back in his seat, anger turning back to sadness. In the brief time he had searched
her out, he could faintly feel her pain, even with how far away she was. He settled his head on the
table, feeling drained.

He tuned out the rest of the meeting, knowing a lot of the information of the yakuza since he
helped compile most of it, until something had him sitting up straight.

“...the League has had contact with Overhaul.”

He knew that, he already did, Tomura had already told him, but he didn’t miss the glances his
classmates sent him at the mention of his kidnappers.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes. “If the League really is working with Overhaul, we need to pull the UA
students, they are too closely tied to them.”
Izuku almost shot up, but Kaminari beat him to it. “No way, sensei, there’s a little girl in trouble
and you think the League is enough to scare us off? No! We beat them once, and their big bad is
gone now, you can’t pull us from work studies.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I absolutely can. The League is already too invested in your class, and I
don’t need anymore kidnapped students.”

Izuku sighed. “They aren’t going to be kidnapping anyone, even if they were working with
Overhaul, which they’re not.”

Everyone paused and Izuku froze.

Shit.

“Where did you get this information?” Nighteye demanded.

“Uh, it was just a guess, I don’t really, I don’t know, why would I know?” Shit, shit, shit.

Aizawa frowned. “That didn’t sound like a guess, Midoriya.”

“I know you’ve been gathering information,” Nighteye scowled, “but I specifically told you to
avoid the League-”

“You wouldn’t have any information without the League!”

Everyone froze and he paled. Shit .

“Izuku,” Hitoshi murmured, “what does that mean?”

Izuku swallowed, eyes darting around from where he was standing. He didn’t even know when he
had stood.
“I think this is between me and my intern. Midoriya, please step outside with me.”

“Oh no,” Aizawa stood, “he’s my student, I’m here for this.”

His classmates exchanged glances as Izuku numbly walked outside and then all got up to follow,
Uraraka glaring and Hitoshi raising an eyebrow when Aizawa tried to keep them in the meeting
room.

“Izuku,” Hitoshi intoned, “what did you mean?”

He sat shakily in a chair, not looking at any of them. “I’m not gonna tell you.”

Nighteye scoffed. “If you’ve had contact with the League we should be made aware, so we can
drop you from this case and all future ones.”

“What?!” Uraraka was instantly on her feet. “I told you he isn’t a fucking villain, stop bringing it
up!”

Nighteye merely rolled his eyes. “After all that time with the Symbol of Evil and getting a quirk
out of it, not a scratch on him otherwise? Please, I’m not stupid.”

“Wait a minute,” Aizawa growled, “did you accept him for a work study so you could keep an eye
on him? I thought you gave up your stupid vendetta when we brought All for One down, and
that’s the only reason I let him even consider coming here.”

“Of course I did! No one can spend that long with villains and not come out changed, and clearly I
was right! None of you knew he was still communicating with them either, despite being his
friends and teacher.”

“We don’t know that!” Kirishima clenched his fists. “Midobro has no reason to talk to his
kidnappers, right Mido?”
He was silent.

“Besides,” Shouji muttered, “he’s never really left campus until the work studies started happening
and he’s constantly been with people during those times. How would he even contact them?”

“A burner phone.”

Izuku looked up at Hitoshi, who was staring. “It wasn’t yours. The one at lunch the other day.”

Izuku just looked at him.

Aizawa’s gaze sharpened. “A burner phone?”

“Kero,” Tsu said, finger to her chin, “it did seem rather odd, and you tensed a bit, but I figured if it
was important you’d tell us.”

“Midoriya, do you have the phone on you?”

He stared at the floor.

Aizawa sighed. “Alright, everyone out, just me and Midoriya.”

“Absolutely not,” Nighteye snapped.

Both Uraraka and Hitoshi set their stances, not even considering moving, but Tsu and Shouji each
gathered their work study buddies and led them back to the meeting room, casting glances back at
the group of four.

Aizawa looked at the two remaining students with a raised eyebrow.

“I'm not going to leave and let Midori be vilified by Nighteye again!”
Hitoshi shrugged. “He’s my best friend and I accidentally snitched so, yeah, I’m staying.”

Nighteye ignored them and rounded on Izuku, who was still staring at the floor.

“How long have you been in contact with the League? Obviously since you’ve started the work
study, since you apparently got your information from them.”

He frowned, looking up at his boss. “Not all of it. Some of it really was just from the internet.”

Nighteye rolled his eyes. “Of course, my mistake.”

“Yes,” Aizawa said sharply, “it is. Stop assuming things. Midoriya,” his voice was much softer,
“are they threatening you in any way?”

“What? No! I wasn’t even asking for information until I found out he knew Overhaul! We just
talked!”

“So you have been in contact. With Shigaraki, I assume?”

He glared at Nighteye. “Yes, I’m talking to Tomura, whoopdeedoo, you guessed it, big leap
there.”

Aizawa crouched down, face serious but not angry. “Midoriya, how did you get the phone?”

He grimaced and muttered, “Himiko.”

“Himiko? As in, Toga Himiko?”

He nodded.
Nighteye scoffed. “So you have been in contact with not one memberr of the League, but two!”

Aizawa ignored him. “And where did you meet Himiko?”

“The provisional licensing exam.”

The room paused and both Hitoshi and Uraraka looked shocked. “What, when?” Hitoshi looked
extremely confused. “It must have been during the split, but you found us pretty fast.”

“She was Camie, that girl from Shiketsu.”

Aizawa tensed. “That explains that then. I’m glad she was still alive when we found her…”

Izuku looked up, alarmed. “What, no, they have a no civilian policy now, she would have been
fine!”

Nighteye snorted. “Ah, tell you that, did they? I don’t think a single villain has ever actually stuck
to that policy, Midoriya. Even if you aren’t a villain, you’re a fool.”

Uraraka growled, turning to face their boss. “Oh my god, stop! Stop calling him a villain just for
getting kidnapped and talking to his friend!”

“His friend who is a villain.”

She stalled for a moment, but shook her head. “But he’s still his friend. I can’t fault him for
wanting to talk to him.”

Hitoshi shrugged. “Honestly, I can’t either, from what Izuku has told me the guy was pretty nice to
him.”

Aizawa held out his hand to stop them. “Midoriya, you said they have been giving you
information and that they wouldn’t work with Overhaul?”
 “He killed Magne and if Stain hadn’t been there he probably would have gotten Mr. Compress too.
They’re planning on “fucking him up,” their words.”

His teacher nodded. “Midoriya, do you have the phone on you now?”

Izuku hesitated.

On one hand, they might not give it back.

On the other, it was untraceable and the League had been giving them information, even if they
didn’t know it.

He looked up at his teacher, searching his eyes for anger, but found nothing.

He nodded, took it out of his pouch, and handed it over.

Chapter End Notes

I imagine the four who went back into the room probably got asked by at least Mirio
"so it was all a misunderstanding right" and Tsu would deadpan go "no he's definitely
talking to someone in the league"

rip mido, he just couldn't take it, he really went "y'all are wrong and I'm emotionally
charged so I'm going to say something I will regret"

As for the other work study picks, Shouji and Kaminari, Shouji is quiet and a tentacle
buddy, Kaminari is full of energy and you know Hado would go "a human taser? yes
please!!!" plus raka is now with nighteye so hado has to pick someone else and Kami
seemed like a fun choice

Zutopia has the first chapter up, btw, if you want to check that one out.

Thanks for reading, y'all, it's just gonna get more and more fun from here
 The Eraserhead Fanclub's First Meeting is Now in Session
Chapter Summary

Aizawa has the phone so he does the only thing he can - talk to Shigaraki Tomura

Chapter Notes

tw: panic attack! It's not explicit but it is mentioned, just be aware

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Aizawa watched Midoriya shut down, curling in on himself once he had handed over the phone,
and his other two students pulled up chairs to sit on either side of him, each glaring at Nighteye
with varying levels of fury. Said hero was ignoring them, trying to see the phone, but Aizawa was
fully prepared to wrap him in a capture scarf so he didn’t fuck this up.

He turned on the phone to find one singular contact, unnamed and number clearly something
entirely random, and pulled up the text conversation.

On one hand, the clearly wiped text logs showed a caution he applauded for his student.

On the other hand, they also now had no proof that any of what Midoriya had said was true.

That left only one solution, of course.

Is this Shigaraki Tomura

And whomstve the fuck might this be since it sure as hell isn’t the owner of this phone

I’m going to assume that’s a yes

I stg if you’ve hurt him in any way I will come dust you, civilian policy be damned

Now who tf are you and where tf is my rogue

Currently in a chair about five feet from me

He’s perfectly fine

But also he’s not your rogue

Shit, fuck, you’re right

Mister has been getting on my case about that

Something about people not being possessions but everyone knows that’s not what I mean

Anyway

The og question

Who tf are you

I don’t see how that’s any of your business

If you want any questions answered it will be

Because you’re obviously someone on the heroes’ side

Unless izu neglected to tell me the raid went ahead and this is the bird bitch or one of his shitty
minions

You mean Overhaul?

Yeah, bird bitch

He’s a motherfucker and I really don't care if you’re one of his goons

But it will increase my likelihood to destroy the has-been yakuzas

No this is a hero
Cool which one

Why on earth would I tell you that

Because if you’re decent I can tell spinner to stop hacking the cameras to find izu’s last known
location and we won’t storm the place

Because trust me everyone is pretty pissed rn

You find some heroes decent?

sure

Not a lot, but ya know

Underground heroes are pretty legit

Ah

Hmm

Well if it gets you to answer my questions

Then fine

This is Aizawa Shouta, better known as Eraserhead

Holy shit

Why didn’t you say so???

You’re the most decent of all the heroes except izu

So as long as he’s safe and not like, getting expelled or anything

What do you want to know

It can’t be that easy

Nah it really is

You’re the coolest

Hang on wait send a picture, preferably with izu in it so we know you’re not like

Juking us

Bro if you’re legit we’re not gonna do anything with it

I mean

Spinner might make a shrine

But other than that

It’s totally fine, your picture will be safe

Fine

[image.jpg]

I’m also going to ignore that, btw

Rad

Yikes he looks upset

Who are the random kids glaring at, because girly looks pissed

Another hero

He’s convinced Midoriya is a villain

Because he was talking to me?

Among other things

Well like
That kids probably the purest motherfucker on the planet

Probably doesn’t mean much coming from me

But we’re all rooting for him

He’s gonna be great

Plus he beats all the other losers at smash

Has

Has he been playing video games with you?

I mean not recently

I just mean in general

Comparing skill levels

He can probably beat everyone but me

Unless he’s gotten rusty

In which case its a toss up

But he’ll still probably win because these nerds are ass

I see

I don’t suppose that after this is all over you’ll let him come to game nights on fridays?

It’s highly unlikely

Figured

Anyway

Why do you have the phone

Pretty sure he was planning on telling anyone

Even you

No matter how much we both like you

You’re still a hero

So

Explain and I’ll answer your questions and shit

I thought you’d answer my questions if I proved I was a decent hero?

Yeah but then stain brought up a good point

Btw he might try and fight you for custody rights

What?

What?

Anyway

Yeah what were the ~events~ that brought us to this point

It was a briefing for the overhaul mission

I’m assuming you know about it

Only in the sense that I know the heroes are also after bird bitch’s ass too

Ah, he did mention you didn’t like them, why?

Technically you havent passed the requirements to unlock our backstory yet

BUT

You’re cool so here’s a freebie

Overhoe killed one of our own because he was being a shitty little bitch baby

There aren’t a lot of us but like

We’re family
And he just fucking killed her

So we’re pissed

Toga and twice were planning on playing nice before gutting them

Honestly I might just decay his arms at this point

Because apparently he’s hurting a fucking kid which is

SOMEHOW

Even worse

So yeah

Anyway

You were saying

Right.

He let something to the affect of “the league would never work with the yakuza” slip and then
panicked

Nighteye tried to interrogate him in the hallway but like

No that’s illegal

And also

I know Midoriya and he’s not evil

Fucking THANK YOU

So nighteye was being a bitch, continue

Apparently he was on this phone during lunch one day and his friends noticed

This is clearly not his phone

He ended up giving to me

Pretty cut and dry

Shit yeah I can see why that would look bad

Y’all know he wasn’t like

Feeding us information

Right

The text logs are deleted so we have no real way to be sure

But from what we’ve heard and seen, it was more you giving him information

Well yeah

We got underground connections

No offense

None taken

Villains certainly have a larger reach into the underground than any hero could hope to

ye

So anyway

Figured the more info the heroes had the more they could fuck up bird bitch and his posse

Toga and twice would fuck things up on their end

And the whole castle would come crashing down

Since izu was pretty closely connected to the information hub, he asked us for any info we had

If anything i feel like him using his resources just makes him a better hero so like

If he gets expelled

Or arrested

We will throw hands

You know that, right?

I have an inclination

But I happen to agree with you

Despite the nature of his source, to not use every resource at your disposal is illogical

I would also, as you say, throw hands, if someone tried to call him a villain
 One moment nighteye is being a nosy motherfucker

Oh I like you more now

Aizawa rolled his eyes at the tall and thin hero trying to wrench the phone from his grasp.

“Eraserhead, this is evidence, I must insist-”

“Evidence for what?”

He pushed his glasses up, clearly annoyed. “Collusion with villains, at the very least. Sabotaging
of a hero operation-”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” he drawled, “seeing as he actively assisted a hero operation,
using every resource at his disposal.”

Nighteye sneered. “The nature of his ‘resource-’”

“Was perfectly within the realm of what an underground hero would do anyway. Perhaps not on
villains so… high scale, but it’s still extremely common and gets us some of our best information.”

“He was speaking to a high tier villain, the successor of All for One-”

“He doesn’t even like Sensei.”

All eyes turned to Midoriya, who looked extremely tired of everything.

“He told me. We just… talked sometimes. I was going to therapy and I talked about it with him.”
He looked at the ground again. “He told me he wasn’t sure if he even liked Sen- All for One, at
this point.”
Nighteye scoffed. “Ridiculous. He was raised by the man.”

“No, he was raised by Kurogiri. All for One just took him in off the streets after his quirk
manifested and he accidentally killed his entire family. Pretty sure you’d latch on to the first
person you saw in an instance like that.”

Well, they were learning all sorts of fun things tonight, weren’t they?

The phone buzzed in his hands again and he turned it back on, reading the new messages

Nighteye sounds like a dick

Anyway you know this in untraceable right

So honestly I feel like you should just give this back to izu

Actually tell you what

What about a call

Pretty sure that phone can still make calls

We jerry rigged it but like

It should be fine

U still there, eraser?

Yes, I’m still here

You seem to have tech support

Yeah spinner couldn’t get a real job because mutant discrimination

But he’s pretty handy at computers

Twice isn’t half bad either but you should always double check his work

On principle
Anyway

If you want to call

We totally can

Maybe not when bitch baby nighteye is there

Wait a second that name sounds familiar

Who is he again

His most lauded achievement is being all might’s only sidekick

Oh no wonder he’s a dick

If he’s anything like the old stars and stripes

He’s a grade a asshole

Hey quick question if we happened to attack ua to get to all might again but hurt literally no one
else

Would you still try to arrest us

On principle

That’s not a perfect, foolproof yes

I’ll take it

Anyway if he wasn’t in a panic attack when you sent the picture and isn’t rn I say give it five
minutes before it all comes crashing down and he breaks

You might want to get him away from shite-eye before then

Or he might find himself making a mistake

And we like to get rid of those :)

Ominous

And technically a direct threat that could be added to your exhaustive list of crimes

However I am planning on deleting this conversation once I take the pictures for evidence

And if I happen to accidentally crop certain messages

 Then it’ll be a shame

For someone, probably

You keep saying things that reinforce how cool you are

If we turn ourselves in

Can you like

Be our teacher or something

We promise to play nice

You’ll be busy in prison

What about the teenagers

Please tell me that there are not teenage members of the league

Uh

Then I wont

But I will say that Dabi and I are 20 and

We’re definitely not the youngest

Jesus christ

Who

Toga and mustard

Ages

Toga’s probably 16 and mustard was a middle schooler last time I checked

I mean he dropped out obv

But he’s basically a baby

A baby with a gun

… if you really want to try like, idk, reforming

Then I’ll work something out

Wait that requires reforming?

Disgusting

Hard pass

You know

It would make Midoriya happy to not have his friends be wanted criminals

You drive a hard bargain

But we are kind of planning on rebuilding society so it doesn’t suck ass for people like us

So until that happens

Gonna have to decline

Zu will understand

Regardless, I will be keeping the phone on me, and we may or may not call you.

Not gonna pick up if its not you or izu btw

You wouldn’t know until you actually picked up the phone and heard us talk

But fine

I wasn’t planning on letting this phone out of my sight

Good

See you then I guess

 Wait

Two more questions

Sure what ya got

Does the league really have a no civilian policy?

Yeah

Unless they actively get in our way

Then the worst we will do is take a bit of their blood for a disguise

And even then not often

That shiketsu kid was pretty much a one time deal

We have enough resources to not need civvie blood much

But yeah

Unless they try and play hero

They’ll get left alone

What’s the last one

What are your, Shigaraki’s, feelings on All for One?

Loaded question.

He saved my life when no heroes would and when civilians turned away

But he also hurt izu for like no goddamn reason

He wasn’t a good person

I don’t think he really wanted to make a better world

I think he wanted to destroy it

So
I don’t think I like him much

But it’s complicated

Ttyl, eraserhead

Tell izu hi from us

Will do

“Ok, I’ve asked enough questions, we’re leaving now and getting Tsukauchi involved. If,” he held
up a finger to stall Nighteye’s rant, “if you want to be there when we call them and confirmation on
those answers, then you can be behind the mirror, listening in. You will not be in the room. I
don’t think he likes you very much, on virtue of being All Might’s sidekick at one point. Now, if
you’ll excuse me.”

He poked his head back into the meeting room. “UA students, we’re going back. Any further
updates can be emailed to me.”

“Is it true?”

He sighed and looked at Gran Torino, the diminutive man that Uraraka had gone to for internships,
who was looking uncharacteristically serious, considering he was often playing senile.

“Is what true?”

“Was that boy talking to the League?”

“It hasn’t been confirmed and I don’t see how it’s relevant to this discussion we are not having. If
you’re asking if my student is a villain, or in any way not a prospective hero,” and here he looked
at the entire room, to drive his point home, “then you’d be mistaken.”

He swept out without another word, his seven students and the Big Three trailing after him in
complete silence. Uraraka and Shinsou still flanking Midoriya on either side, and Aizawa could
tell he was maybe a minute or two from that panic attack Shigaraki had mentioned, and he was
quick to storm past Nighteye and out into the early morning air.

The city was just starting to wake up, with a few people heading to work already, but he knew that
it would be worse around the train station.

“Everyone but Shinsou and Midoriya go ahead to the train station. If the train comes before we’re
there, get on it, we’ll catch the next one.”

“Sensei,” Uraraka protested, “I’m not leaving Deku.”

He stared her down. “Can you help someone out of a panic attack?”

She blinked, surprised, before her gaze flicked to her friend and her eyes widened in realization.
She swallowed and shook her head weakly.

“Then you won’t be helpful,” he said gently, “go home.”

She nodded and trailed after the other seven, casting a worried glance at Midoriya who was
starting to take quick and shallow breaths. Shinsou looked panicked.

“Don’t overthink it, you’ve helped him out of one before and we’re here for the start. He isn’t
reacting to our conversation but see if you can brainwash him out of it.”

Shinsou swallowed and nodded hesitantly.

~~~~~

Izuku came back to himself through a haze, but he felt rather calm. Worried lavender eyes peered
down at him and he blinked.

“Hitoshi, you’re very tall.”

The boy in question sighed, seemingly both relieved and exasperated. “Yeah. I am.” He raised an
eyebrow and considered Izuku slyly. “Or maybe you’re just abnormally short.”

Izuku rolled his eyes and huffed, then jumped. “O-Oh, Aizawa-sensei!”

His teacher nodded. “Great, we’re going home now.”

He hesitated. “Home?”

“UA.”

Ah, that made sense. He still hadn’t been home yet. Maybe he could visit his mother again?
After the raid, maybe, to prove he was fine with this hero life.

“In case you’re wondering, I have your phone.”

His…?

Oh.

“Shigaraki was surprisingly easy to talk to. You really did a number on him.”

Wait, what?

“Wait, what?”

Aizawa nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets as they walked to the train station. “He wanted
to know who I was and why I had your phone before he told me anything, but as soon as he knew
that he just told me whatever I asked.”

Izuku squinted in confusion. “You told him who you were?”

“Yes.”

“That you were Eraserhead?”

“Yes.”

He chuckled sheepishly. “They didn’t say anything… weird, right?”

“Apparently Spinner might be making a shrine to me.”

He winced. Yeah, that was decidedly weird.

“Sorry, you’re kind of a celebrity…”

Hitoshi snorted. “Kind of the opposite goal of being an underground hero, isn’t it?”

Aizawa rolled his eyes.

On the train, in a rather empty carriage, Aizawa leaned over to Izuku.

“We will be calling the League later at the police station if you’d like to be there. You don’t have
to, but you can if you want.”

Izuku blinked.

He could hear Tomura?

Talk to him out loud?

 He felt tears come to his eyes and he nodded.

“I’d like that. Thank you.”

Chapter End Notes

yall: "at least the chat logs will clear his name"
me: "it's like you guys have never heard of caution, that shit is gone"

but anyway, aizawa knows his name carries weight in the league now
spinner seems like the guy who would make a shrine to "the only real hero"
and stain absolutely misses his sane knife gremlin, toga jsut doesn't have the same
appeal because she's not heroic in any way

anyway that phone call is gonna be fun and then we might have the heroes legit
teaming up with the villains to take down a mutual enemy
we also have the start of the league of vi(gilantes)llains maybe getting some
redemption??? :3

anyway if math doesn't take six year's I'll update Zutopia tonight but if not you'll get it
tomorrow
 I'll Send You My Consultation Fee
Chapter Summary

a phone call, a stern talking to, and the formation of plans

Chapter Notes

its 90% cute because next chapter is the raid so enjoy it while it lasts

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Detective Tsukauchi was just as nice (if a bit formal) as Izuku remembered, very polite and
understanding. Nighteye had opted to be in the observation room for the phone call, obstinate and
refusing to believe that Izuku could be anything but a traitor.

It hurt, on one hand, since he had been genuinely excited to work with the man that had Mirio’s
glowing recommendation, and was excellent at information gathering aside. Finding out he had
been a part of the team that set about rescuing him was sweet, until Aizawa had pointed out the
reason he had done so.

What would it take for the hero to see Izuku as, well, Izuku?

Still, it was just the three of them in the room, Aizawa, Tsukauchi, and Izuku, setting up all the
devices (read: a voice recorder) and settling in until the higher ups gave the go ahead.

If this went well, it would be the first collaboration between the heroes and police and the League
of Villains.

Aizawa pressed call.

It rang twice before someone picked up and Izuku’s breath hitched.

“This is the Handy Man, who is this?”

“Tomura!”

“Yo, Izu! Are you ok? Is Nighteye still being a bitch?”

The two adults in the room snorted.

“Shigaraki Tomura, I am Detective Tsukauchi. My quirk is Lie Detector and I’m here to verify
that the things you tell us are true. I am obligated to inform you this conversation is being
recorded. With me are, as you might know, Midoriya Izuku and Aizawa Shouta, otherwise known
as Pinpoint and Eraserhead.”

“Pinpoint, huh? That’s pretty good, Izu.”

He snorted. “Well, I was put on the spot and a friend suggested it.”

Suddenly they heard a voice in the background.

“Hands fuck, are you on the call right now? I swear to god, we told you to tell us, you absolute
mongoose.”

“Fuck off Dabi, I’m talking to Izu!”

“Spinner! Mister! Our fearless leader is on the call now!”

“ That call? Shigaraki, I trusted you!”

“Oh my, let me get Kurogiri, he was rather looking forward to this.”

“Compress, no! Kurogiri will just ask him about his eating habits and it’s going to take forever!”
“Tomura, are you trying to keep this from me?”

“Yes! All of you go away!” There was a rustle of movement and then Tomura came back with a
hushed tone. “The rest of the rats will be trying to butt in so please feel free to ignore them.”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. “Who all is there?”

“Oh my god is that Eraserhead?! Hi sir, big fan, love your work!”

“Spinner shut the fuck up, oh my god, this is a professional call!”

“...Tomura, nothing you do is professional.”

“Kurogiri how could you betray me like this.”

Izuku giggled. “Hi, Giri!”

“Ah, hello Izuku, are you well? You sound fine, I assume your teacher has been taking good care
of you.”

“Oh my god, Kurogiri, stop, he’s fine, go away!”

“Tomura, I just wanted to check on him. I know you were worried before you had a
communication line with him, so forgive me if I feel much the same.”

“Yeah and through that communication line I told the rest of you he was fine now can I talk to him
or not?”

“Oi, you have the brat on the phone?”

The two adults stiffened at the colder voice, but Izuku perked up.
“Oh, hi Stain!”

“Have you been keeping up with your knife practice, brat?”

“Of course! Search makes it better because it’s pretty hard for people to sneak up on me, so that’s
good! I used that method in the exam to take out one of the faux villain sidekicks.”

“Good. Now, I’m assuming this is a business call?”

Aizawa took over. “It is indeed. We’re calling to confirm a few things, and if all goes well,
perhaps collaborate on taking down the Shie Haissakai.”

Stain hummed over the line. “Eraserhead. Very well, what do you want to know?”

“First, is it true the League has a no civilian policy?”

“Yes.”

Tsukauchi nodded. True.

“Are you opposed to the Shie Haissakai?”

“Yes.”

Another nod.

“Has Midoriya Izuku been feeding the League information?”

Stain sounded amused. “No, other than telling Shigaraki about his day.”
True.

“Is Midoriya Izuku a traitor?”

“No, that’s ridiculous.”

True again.

“Has Shigaraki Tomura been feeding Midoriya Izuku information?”

Tomura responded this time. “Yeah, anything to take the bird bitch down.”

True.

“Do any of the members of the League mean harm to any UA students?”

“No.”

Tsukauchi paused and frowned. “That was a lie.”

Tomura groaned loudly. “Ok, the Bakubitch doesn’t count, it’s literally just him.”

Aizawa snorted. “Wow, ok. Tsukauchi, anything else we need to go over before we consider them
reasonably trustworthy?”

The detective shook his head. “No, that seems like it for now, at the very least.”

“You never answered our question,” Aizawa drawled, “who is there?”

Tomura grumbled, sounding like he was trying to fight someone off. “Fucking everyone, it seems
like.”

“Not true, Toga and Twice are with the birds right now.”

“Ok, Dabi’s right, we’re missing two, but other than that, everyone.”

“Can we have names just for the record?”

“Sure, fine, whatever. Me, Stain, Dabi, Kurogiri, Mr Compress, Spinner, Mustard - hey wait,
actually where’s Mustard?”

“He’s sleeping.”

“It’s literally 10 in the morning.”

They heard Dabi snort. “Says mister ‘I sleep in till 2pm some days.’”

“After a game night, sure! Shut the fuck up, you purple stapled bitch!”

“Boys,” Kurogiri scolded, “we are still on a phone call. Regardless, yes, that is everyone currently
here, with two of our members infiltrating the yakuza.”

Aizawa nodded. “Seven people, nine total members. Tell me, what are your current plans for the
yakuza?”

“Easy,” Tomura growled, “we wait till the heroes come knocking and stab them in the back,
rescuing the kid in the process and probably handing her off to you guys if you aren’t shitty about
it.”

“If you don’t hinder us and help us during the raid, I am prepared to offer you all temporary
immunity.”

Izuku looked at his teacher in surprise, hearing the pause over the phone.

“...Really?”

“Really. This is going to be incredibly difficult and dangerous, and I can technically on site use
hero authority to designate you as part of the team, letting you off scot free for at least this
operation. Of course, if we encounter you again or you commit major crimes during, then you will
get arrested, but I imagine you can burn that bridge when you get to it.”

Izuku blinked at the combined idioms and shrugged. It still fit.

“Now,” Aizawa sat back, “let’s compare information.”

~~~~~

Ochako was busy pacing in the dorm common rooms. Shinsou was slouched on a couch, scrolling
aimlessly through his phone, occasionally glancing up at her, and the rest of the work study
students were scattered around the room in various states of anxiety.

“Uraraka, chill, you pacing will not make this pseudo interrogation go any faster.”

She rounded on the deadpan boy. “Like you aren’t just as worried if not more! Sure, Aizawa said
it would be fine, but what if he was being lied to? They wouldn’t have figured that out until now
and then Midori will have been being duped for weeks!”

“It’s literally been a week and a half since the exam, weeks is exaggerating.”

“Shinsou, I swear to god.”

“He’s right,” Shouji spoke up, “but you are also correct. We all saw, Shinsou more than the rest,
how broken he was after we got him back.”
Tsu nodded, finger to her chin. “He looked rather frightened this morning as well, kero.”

Kirishima looked lost. “He really was talking to his kidnapper?”

“No,” she snapped, “he was talking to his friend. The fact that Shigaraki happened to also be his
kidnapper was happenstance.”

“Wait,” Kaminari interjected, “does this mean we’re dealing with a case of… what was it called,
Stockholm Syndrome?”

Shinsou raised an eyebrow and looked at the blond boy. “One, that was proven to not be a real
thing and was made to make the woman involved look crazy, two, how do you know what
Stockholm Syndrome is but don’t know how to find the zeros of a polynomial without a graph?”

“Math is hard as shit, Shinsou!”

He rolled his eyes.

“Guys,” Ochako growled, “that is really not the point! At least half of the information we have on
the Shie Haissakai came from Deku, and therefore, from the League. If we find out this was all a
ruse, then this operation is fucked and we’re never getting Eri back!”

They all quieted down. Ochako had told them how Midoriya and Mirio had found the little girl
and how she was being abused by Overhaul, not to mention finding out she was being made into
bullets.

“Mido tagged her, though, right? So we have the location, right?”

They all looked at the nervous electricity quirked boy. “I mean, if nothing else, he’d probably be
good to get in and get out, right? He can feel everyone around him anyway, he would know if and
when someone was sneaking up on him, he could get Eri out and then, I dunno, Endeavor can fire
bomb the place?”
“One,” Shinsou drawled, almost a sigh, “that’s incredibly dangerous and cameras exist, and two,
fire bomb the place? Kaminari, that’s not the due process of law and definitely illegal.”

Shouji nodded solemnly. “The stealth option does have some merit, though. If someone could get
the girl out before any fighting happened, then all we would have to worry about was arresting the
members and no one dying.”

“Agreed, kero. Not Midori, however, that would be best left to a fully fledged hero.”

“Hang on,” Kirishima interjected, “Midobro is, well, a bro, but again, the League . We’re not going
to ignore this, right? I mean, come on, Shinsou, they kidnapped you too!”

“Yeah as far as kidnappings go it wasn’t that bad; I mean, I was in and out in 24 hours.”

They all stilled.

“Do you think he’s salty about that?”

They all looked at Kaminari. “I mean, he was there for months, but as soon as the other three get
captured, boom, in and out in 24 hours, like Shinsou said.”

Shinsou snorted. “We’ve talked about it, he is just a little irritated, but then I point out how much
he talks about Tomura and he shrugs it off.”

Ochako nodded stubbornly. “Yeah, even if we don't understand, he was talking to his friend! SO,
when he gets back and everything is fine-”

The door opened just then and Midoriya walked in, Aizawa trailing behind him, a big grin on his
face. “Oh, hey guys! What’s with the gathering?”

Shinsou wasted no time getting right to it, droning, “So how did it go?”

Izuku bounced excitedly. “Great! We’re technically officially collaborating with them!”
“Oh, neat.”

Kirishima nodded slowly. “Making use of resources, ok, cool.”

Aizawa sighed. “Midoriya, go ahead and go to your room.”

“Ok!”

The small green boy bounced off. As soon as he was out of range, Aizawa rounded on the six
students in the common room. “I am well aware that this class has been attacked by the League
more than once. Once at the USJ, and once at the summer training camp, but I would like to point
out that almost no one actually got hurt in those instances except me, Midoriya, and the Wild Wild
Pussycats. This is not to say that you should automatically be comfortable working with them,
even if it's mostly in a consulting role, and you should not automatically call them your friends.”

He looked them all in the eye. “ However . We are currently working on making them not
villains, we have confirmation they have a no civilian policy, and they are in fact working with us,
of their own free will. Midoriya is in a very precarious situation, caught between both sides, and
he has only recently started getting better. If any of you treat him differently for using his
resources and contacting the League, then I will not hesitate to remove you from this case, are we
clear?”

They all nodded.

He looked them over a critical eye, then sighed, deflating. “This is very complicated, and I don’t
expect you all to be completely on board with this, so if you feel uncomfortable, then you can drop
out of work studies and no one will blame you.”

Ochako’s head shot up, eyes ablaze. “No way! I have to be there to make sure Nighteye doesn’t
pull any shit again!” She slapped her hands over her mouth at the swear, but her teacher didn’t
seem phased.

“Yeah,” Shinsou drawled, “no way am I leaving my friend to do this alone, especially not when
there’s a little girl on the line.”
“Yeah! Leaving now would be so unmanly!”

“We have come this far, kero.”

“No way am I letting this stop me, no sir!”

Shouji merely folded his many arms, standing firm.

Aizawa looked them over appraisingly. “Good. Here’s the information we have thus far…”

~~~~~

Himiko hummed to herself as she bounced through the halls of the underground compound.
Shiggy had sent her a notice that they were officially working with the heroes now, so when the
raid happened she should try to avoid stabbing them.

He did also say that if she saw Sir Nighteye to hamstring him, however, but honestly, once she
knew what he had said about Izukun, that was already a given.

She excitedly told Twice about the plan and he readily agreed. Overhaul wouldn’t get away with
his murder of Big Sis Magne, no sir!

It was a simple plan, really.

Lock a few members in broom closets, Twice would make a couple clones of her, she would drink
their blood and take their places, immediately stabbing people in the back as soon as the heroes
struck, hopefully be near little Eri when the fighting broke out, and then grab her had book it.

She knocked on a door and only waited a few seconds, hearing a quiet “come in” before she
opened the door to reveal a little girl’s room.

“Hi, Eri!”
The girl’s red eyes glanced away and Himiko’s heart broke a little. She was so small and so
scared.

“H-Hello, Himi-nee.”

She stopped, blinking. Oh, that was precious.

“Hey Eri,” she whispered when she sat down next to her, “you wanna know a secret?”

The girl glanced over, curious, and nodded hesitantly.

Himiko grinned. “Soon, the heroes are gonna come and we’re gonna get you out!”

Red eyes widened. “Heroes?” Her voice was almost reverent.

“Yep! But it’s a secret, so you can’t tell anyone, ok?”

“...Will Pinpoint come too?”

She blinked. “Pinpoint?”

The small girl nodded. “He said he’d always be able to find me. He was really nice.”

Realization dawned on her. “Was he green?”

Eri nodded again, eyes sparkling. “Do you know him, Himi-nee?”

She grinned baring her fangs in a gleeful smile. “Yeah! He’s a sweetheart, huh? Yeah, he’ll be
there too! No one could resist coming to visit this cute face!” She bopped the girl on the nose and
 Eri went cross eyed trying to follow her finger, blinking in confusion.

She wrapped the girl in a hug, resting her chin right next to the horn. “Don’t worry, Izukun will
always come save you. He’s the best hero.”

She felt the girl nod beneath her.

They’d get her out of there, even if it killed them.

Himiko would make sure of it.

Chapter End Notes

Toga would absolutely get close to Eri if she knew she was there. What better way to
get Eri out than to have an excuse to be near her anyway?

Also semi related, if Toga drank Eri's blood, what would happen? Who's quirk would
work first?

Also I don't condone it, obviously, like with the baby question, but what about people
in general? Is Eri's blood basically a youth potion?

Alright, ignoring my questionable science deep dive, thanks for reading, things are
getting hectic in life but I'll still update every couple of days if I can help it.
 I have Two plans and the first one didn't work
Chapter Summary

The raid gets off to a...

A start.

It gets off to a start.

Everything is simultaneously different and the same

Chapter Notes

it hasn't been a week you can't get mad, but have at it you starving animals

(bold is still Twice, just his split personality)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Himi-nee… it hurts…”

“Oh, Eri… Hmm, you wanna know something me and Izukun figured out?”

“Pinpoint?”

“Yeah! I drink blood for my quirk, but we tested it and apparently I have something in my saliva
that makes it not hurt if I bite someone! So, if you wanted, it would be a little funny feeling, but I
could make it hurt less, if you want me to!”

“...You could?”

“Yeah, totally! What do you say, Eri?”

“...Ok.”
“Great!”

“...You’re right, it doesn’t hurt anymore!”

“Glad I could help Eri! Here, let’s bandage you up again…”

“Himi-nee, what’s that rumbling…?”

“Oh! Pinpoint is here! Let’s go pretend to be scared, even if we know he’s gonna come help us!”

“Ok!”

~~~~~

Izuku watched the police get knocked back. Well, ok, plan “we have a warrant” was a bust.
Uraraka and Aizawa (Uravity and Eraserhead while on the mission, he corrected) caught the ones
who had been blown back.

“Ryukyu Agency has got this,” the dragon hero roared, “everyone else go!”

They nodded and passed Froppy, Chargebolt, and Nejire-chan taking out the yakuza members that
had swarmed out. Tsu and Kaminari actually worked well, where Tsu would throw him and he
would become a human taser, taking out everyone he touched; it was like high stakes bowling.

The rest of them pushed past the grunts, Nighteye coming to the hidden door and pressing the
panels in the right order, as he had seen in his vision. Bubble Girl and Centipeder took out the
three people who came rushing up the stairs and the rest of them rushed on.

Izuku was keeping careful track of where Eri was.

“Sir! She’s on the move!”

Nighteye nodded. “In the direction of the escape route?”

He paused. “...No. Wait, that can’t be right, she and Overhaul are moving in different
directions…”

Eraserhead nodded sharply. “Focus on Eri. We’ll get Overhaul once she’s secure.”

The walls started to roil and rumble, making all of them have to catch themselves, a few of the
police officers with them falling.

“Irinaka! Wasn’t his size limit something like a refrigerator?”

Rocklock groaned. “Ugh, trigger.”

Izuku cast his radar out, trying to get a read on people nearby, ignoring his immediate vicinity.

“Pinpoint! If you can find him, I can erase the quirk, but we need a visual!”

He nodded at his teacher, looking for anyone nearby, but was interrupted by most of the heroes
falling.

“Well, well, well, Mimic sent us some tasty heroes, eh, Tabe?”

The police officers raised their guns but Eraserhead barked, “put them away,” quirk flaring. THe
blond man in a bird mask clicked his tongue.

“Aw, no fun, I like playing with guns. Eraserhead, huh? You know, Boss really admires you.
We’ll just have to deliver you to him on a silver platter…”

Suneater stepped up, mouth set. “Not gonna happen…” he muttered.

The third member of the group (besides the blond and the crazy one in a scarecrow mask that had
been called Tabe) frowned around his simple white mask. “A child? We won’t go easy-”

Still erasing their quirks, Eraserhead quickly slammed them all together by wrapping them in his
capture tape.

“Let’s go, we don’t have time for this.”

Suneater stayed, taking out quirk suppressing handcuffs. “Go, someone needs to handle them
completely…”

Red Riot’s eyes widened. “Senpai, no!”

“I’ll catch up…”

Most of the other heroes nod, and Red Riot is forced along with them, looking back with worry,
before declaring his senpai is really manly and cool.

“Right, that’s three down. Pinpoint, who’s nearby?” Eraserhead didn’t even spare him a glance as
they ran.

“There’s two people down the hallway and above, a bit, in the direction of Eri and Overhaul, two
further ahead us, and then there’s one person by themselves, not counting Overhaul and the two, no
three people with him.”

“Mark them and give me information.”

“The two up the hallway, one is drunk? Probably Deidoro. The other I’m not sure of, some sort of
mental emitter quirk.”

“Likely Nemoto Shin. Next group.”

“The two coming up are one strong person, so Rappa, and someone really calm. Not sure.”
“Right, by elimination, Tengai, the shield, next. The person by themselves?”

“Definitely Irinaka, he’s frazzled and hyped up on drugs.”

“Who’s with Overhaul, then?”

“Seems like Chronostasis, and… Himiko. Twice.”

“Twice is there as well?”

“No, Himiko is there twice. One of her is… different, smaller… hurt.” He stopped and blinked.

“Oh my god, she’s Eri. She juking Overhaul and has a clone being Eri.”

Red Riot whistled. “That’s really ballsy. Where’s Twice then?”

Having already marked Himiko, he focused a bit more, and blinked. “There’s three of her.
Himiko, I mean. At least two are clones, but she’s with the actual Eri and Twice, moving away
from Overhaul. It doesn’t look like they have an actual direction, just away.”

Eraserhead nodded. “You have her marked, then let’s go.”

“Now hold on,” Fatgum interjected, “We know the locations of a lot of their members, and if the
League is really on our side, how many people really need to go to secure her? We can divide and
conquer, ya know?”

Rocklock sighed. “For sure.”

Nighteye nodded sharply. “Uravity, Lemillion, Eraserhead, and I should go on ahead to take on
Overhaul, defeating Deidoro and Shin on the way. Fatgum and his agency can take on Rappa and
Tengai, Rocklock can escort Pinpoint to ensure the villains don’t try anything.”
The locking hero automatically protested. “You’re sending Fatgum and his two baby interns to
fight fucking Rappa? Meanwhile, you get two pros and a third year on top or your own baby
intern, and I get babysitting duty for someone who doesn’t need it? Yeah, no, I’m going with
Fatgum, Pinpoint will be perfectly fine with our… Eraser, what did you call them? Independent
contractors?”

Eraserhead nodded. “They aren’t a threat, especially not to Pinpoint. If we can get to Mimic,
we’re good.”

Izuku tensed. “He’s near, Himiko and Twice are two corridors over.”

Lemillion grinned. “Which direction?”

“Mimic is up and right, the league and Eri are down and left.”

Lemillion slipped through the right wall and into the floor, no doubt looking to shoot up and find
Mimic, when a yell Izuku remembered from Twice echoed through the halls.

“Man, imagine being a member of the dead end yakuza! Couldn’t be me, yeah, this was a trick
the whole time! ”

The walls stopped roiling briefly.

“Jeez, getting bested so quick by the dumb heroes! Eraserhead isn’t dumb, Stain said so! ”

The walls parted with a shriek of rage and Irinaka was revealed. “How dare you-”

He was cut off by an uppercut from Lemillion and Eraserhead flared his quirk, making the man’s
body drop to the ground below them.

Izuku cupped his hands around his mouth. “Thanks, Twice! We got him! We’re up and right from
you!”
Uravity grinned, running in their direction. “Allow me! Comet Kick!”

The first wall came down, and they heard coughing on the other side. For a moment, his heart
seized, but then a voice slurred out, “Now that wasn’t verrrry nice!”

Shin and Deidoro were on the other side.

Fatgum and Rocklock dashed forwards, only to stumble as they got closer and Deidoro, hanging
from the ceiling, chuckled.

“I’m alwayssss drunk, so I’m good! But you guyyys, you guys get drunk just by bein nearrrby!
Lucky…”

Shin scoffed, turning up his nose at the gathered heroes before taking out a gun. “I don’t suppose
you’ll make this easy for us?”

Red Riot and Tentacole stepped up to help. “No chance!”

Uravity bust down the other wall. “They’ve got this, let’s go!”

Izuku wasted no time darting around the fighting group, flinching when he heard the gun go off,
but not wanting to look back as he could feel Eri and Himiko get closer.

“Pinpoint!”

“Izukun!”

A small body collided with his and he rugged the girl back, smiling softly. “Hi, Eri.” He looked
up at the grinning vampire girl. “Hi, Himiko.”

“You really came!” Eri rubbed her face into his legs, sniffing. “You really came…”
“Of course, he murmured, leaning down to wrap her up more, “I said I would always know where
to find you, didn’t I?”

Nighteye sniffed at the blonde girl. “Where is the other one?”

“Oh, Twice? When he knew you guys were close he bolted, something about contacting Shiggy
and giving them the signal? I dunno, I just heard Izukun and got excited. Kinda stopped paying
attention.”

Uravity gave her boss a not so gentle shove. “Right, you wanted to go after Overhaul, now’s the
time, let’s go!”

Lemillion leaned down a little to smile at Eri, but she turned her face into Izuku’s shoulder, shy.
“Right,” he stood up, “let’s go!”

Nighteye reluctantly moved with them, heading towards the escape route they all knew about,
Eraserhead sending a glance at both Izuku and Himiko before nodding and moving with them.

Himiko grinned. “Ok, you wanna come kick Overhaul’s ass?”

He blinked and his grip tightened on Eri. “No, not really, I think everyone else has a pretty good
handle on this, and we need to get Eri out.”

She snickered. “Oh, don’t worry, Kurogiri should...yep, there he is!”

As if summoned, the mist man appeared beside them and kneeled to the slowly calming girl.
“Hello, Eri, I am Kurogiri, I’m here to get you out and safe, is that alright?”

She looked at him with wide eyes, then back at Izuku. “With Pinpoint?”

He nodded. “If Pinpoint would like to come, he can, of course, but if not, I will simply take you
somewhere safe. Pinpoint can join us after Overhaul has been taken care of.”
She looked back at Izuku, and Himiko piped up. “Tell me you don’t want to turn him into a
pincushion with me.”

That was… way more tempting than it should have been.

He looked at Kurogiri. “She’ll be safe?”

“You always know where to find her and how to check her status, do you not? I have no doubt if
she was not being cared for to your standards, you would find a way to let us know, but yes, she
will be safe, and at the conclusion of the raid, will be turned back over to your care, or the care of a
hero of your choice. Plus,” he looked almost hurt, “you should know I take care and safety
seriously.”

He nodded with a single laugh. “Ok. Eri, can you go with Giri for me? He took care of me
before, and he’s a really nice guy. I have to go with Himiko, ok?”

She looked panicked. “No, Overhaul, he’ll kill you! Himi-nee, you have to tell him, Overhaul is
bad!”

“Oh, Eri,” the girl leaned down with a sad frown, “I know, but Izukun is really good at telling
where people are, he’d never let Overhaul get close , but we both want to make sure he can never
hurt you again, mmkay? We’ll stay super duper safe!”

Eri hesitated, clenching her hands on Izuku’s hero costume. “...Promise?”

“Promise!”

Izuku nodded. “Promise.”

She frowned before releasing her grip on Izuku and fixing them both with an intense stare. “You
promised, Izu-nii, Himi-nee! You have to stay super, s-super duper safe!”
He blinked but in the next moment she was gone, Kurogiri getting her out.

Himiko cackled. “Izu-nii! She called you Izu-nii! That means we’re basically siblings now, you
know that, right? Oh, Lordy, you’re so red! Oh this is incredible, I love this so much. I wish I had
my phone so I could take a picture, because holy shit this is too good-”

“Himiko,” he strangled out, “Overhaul. It’s been a couple minutes since the other heroes went to
fight him, we should go before there’s no Overhaul left to pincushion.”

She lit up. “You’re right! How many knives do you have, Izukun? I have seven!”

“...Fifteen.”

She giggled. “Just like the stories Shiggy tells us! Never change, knife brother.”

They took off at a run, ignoring the fighting still coming through the hole in the wall.

They had only been delayed by a couple minutes and there were two pros on the scene, one a
perfect counter. How much could have gone wrong?

~~~~~

Izuku should have known better to tempt fate by saying that, because Uravity and Lemillion were
working overtime to try and stop the spikes that used to be the ground from skewering them or
Nighteye, who was trying to get a good angle to launch his weighted stamps at Overhaul and
Chronostasis, who was currently facing off Eraserhead.

As they watched, Eraser had to blink and Chrono stabbed him with his hair, slowing the pro hero to
halt.

“Kai! Eraserhead down!”

Overhaul chuckled. “Lovely. Now all that’s left are these pests…” He trailed off, gaze catching
on Izuku and Himiko.

“Ah, the hero from the alley and… wait.”

He stalled to look back at the fake Himiko and Eri, who were cowering, and they both grinned,
grey sludge pouring off of “Eri” to reveal another Himiko. They shrugged in tandem, shit eating
grins stretching their faces. “Oops?”

Overhaul screamed in a fit of rage and the next spikes speared both clones, making them dissolve.
“How dare you! You work for me! What is this treachery?!”

Himiko snorted from beside Izuku. “Work for you? Nah, we’re a family, and you killed one of
our own. No way in hell you mess with the League and get away with it, bird bitch!”

Shin rushed in through another entrance. “Sir! Rappa and Tengai are engaging with the other
heroes, but they won’t be long!”

Tentacole burst out of the same entrance. “You aren’t getting away that easily!”

He flexed his six arms and took stock of the situation, noting his downed teacher with wide eyes.

“Nemoto, Kurono, to me. We will deal with these pests and find out where they have taken Eri,
and then we’ll break them down into their base components in the most painful way possible.”

The two members of the yakuza, not either unconscious or currently engaged in combat, came to
stand by their leader. Tentacole took up a defensive position beside their slowed teacher, heaving
him to his feet and maneuvering him to get a good sightline on the three bad guys still left.

“None of that,” Overhaul scoffed, forcing them behind a wall. “I can collect Eraserhead after
dealing with you. At least he’ll be a decent consolation prize.”

Both Shin and Chrono took out pistols, pointing them at the heroes-in-training, who ducked behind
spikes, and Izuku and Himiko followed suit.
“Sir Nighteye, was it? The foresight hero? Tell me, what did you see the outcome of this battle
being? Have you seen it yet? Go on, use your disgusting quirk on one of your students and see
how everyone is going to die.

Izuku glanced at Nighteye, who narrowed his eyes, but Lemillion extended a hand to his mentor.

Nighteye’s eyes went dark purple (ah, that must be the reason for his hero name) and after a
moment, he stiffened, eyes going wide and face paling.

“What? What happened?”

“It just, it just stopped! You extend a hand to me and then it just cuts off! Nothing was even
pointed at you, Overhaul wasn’t using his quirk, I don’t understand!”

Himiko glanced at Izuku. “That’s the asshole, right?”

He shook his head. “Himiko, no, not right now.”

“Jus’ sayin.”

Uravity looked determined. “We just need to wait for Chronostasis’s quirk to wear off Eraserhead
and then he can erase their quirks, we move in, it’s all good. No one was hurt before it cut off,
right?”

Nighteye shook his head slowly. “True enough. Then, we should probably work to get to
Eraserhead and Tentacole, so they can be ready as soon as it does wear off. We will need a
distraction, and Uravity, you can break down the wall.”

Lemillion nodded. “I got the distraction part!”

Izuku swallowed nervously. “Himiko and I can probably do that too, since we won’t be super
helpful at breaking down walls. Plus, it will divert attention.”
Nighteye nodded. “I will assist as well.”

On the signal, they moved in, the distraction team going in all different directions while Uravity
snuck behind them, getting to where they had last seen their teacher and classmate.

“Ah, here come the rats.”

Izuku and Himiko alternated throwing knives at the group of three, drawing attention, but Overhaul
just deflected them with spikes made of the floor, sending them scattered around the area. Izuku
winced as he watched one knife chip badly.

“Pinpoint, wasn’t it? The green one, the one from the alley. You were that missing student,
weren’t you? I heard you were quirkless. Is that true?”

He grit his teeth, not exactly wanting to make small talk with the yakuza leader.

“Answer the Boss! Are you quirkless?”

He felt the words being ripped out of him and he shuddered around clenched teeth. “Not anymore,
but I wish I was sometimes.”

He blinked and frowned. Was that true?

“Oh, how unfortunate. I didn’t realize the disease was infectious. But if you really want to be
quirkless again, I have these lovely bullets that will cure you of your sickness.”

He paled. Cure?

“Oh,” he said out loud, figuring he was already talking and it was a good enough distraction, “does
that mean you finished the bullets?”
“Oh yes, Eri was most helpful.”

His hackles raised and he snapped, “You’re sick, using a little girl in your experiments, breaking
her over and over!”

“How interesting, I didn’t think anyone knew exactly what we were doing, but you seem to know
more than most. Your new quirk, perhaps?”

“What’s your quirk, brat?”

“Search.”

“Oh my,” Overhaul sounded amused, “wasn’t that Ragdoll’s? That would do it. Could you feel
her pain? I bet you knew exactly what I was doing to her, didn’t you? That must have made you
angry.”

“Pinpoint,” Nighteye said harshly, “don’t let your emotions get the better of you!”

“Ah, yes, Pinpoint, that makes a lot of sense now. No wonder the heroes found us so easily. I
suppose the only way to make sure you never find us again would be to remove that pesky quirk
you have. Tell you what, if you let yourself get shot, I promise not to kill you, and maybe you can
even spend time with Eri after this, keep her company. Speaking of, where is she?”

“Far away, where you’ll never get her!”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

All at once, the spikes fell, the floor becoming open, revealing everyone, including a startled
Uravity, caught like a deer in the headlights.

“Ah,” Overhaul sneered, “there you are. I was wondering where you had gotten to. Kurono.”

Chronostasis levelled the gun at Uravity and fired.

 They all cried out as one, but Nighteye was faster.

The room was silent for a moment before Overhaul burst out laughing. “Oh, now that’s rich .
Sure, if you all want to throw yourselves in the paths of the bullets, by all means. Honestly,
Nighteye,” he sneered, “all you had to do was ask.”

They were all frozen as Nighteye delicately plucked the dart out of his back, tossing it to the
ground.

And then the ceiling crumbled to dust.

Tomura, Stain, Dabi, and Mister Compress landed on the ground.

Tomura cracked his back, stretching, and turned to face Overhaul.

“Hey there, bird bitch, I’m here to cause problems on purpose.”

Chapter End Notes

Eri is safe! With the League! For those of you wondering where Spinner and Mustard
are, they are also with Kurogiri prepping the getaway. ("Eraser was right, you are too
young to be a villain!" "I hate this fuckign family")

nighteye lost his quirk tho because I believe in karma and poetic cinema
 The Gang's All Here!
Chapter Summary

the end of the overhaul arc!

Chapter Notes

yall, that gang is all here!

also:
me, when writing chapter 19: "man I feel like im missing someone but everyone is
accounted for based on the wiki, plus the two kids I added to make up for the raka
shuffle"
me, in the middle of the night: "FUCK, HITOSHI"
so he's here, I swear, dw

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Tomura,” he sighed, “really?”

The boy in question snorted. “Like that wasn’t cool as hell. Honestly, the drama was on par with
you when I eat the last brownie.”

Izuku bristled. “Ok, that’s not true at all! But it was my brownie and we all knew it!”

Dabi sighed, rolling his arms in their sockets. “Can we, perhaps,” he drawled, “get to kicking
ass?”

Tomura rolled his eyes and threw his arm out at Izuku. “Izu started it!”

“And I’m going to finish it,” Dabi muttered, lighting his arm on fire. “Hey Overhaul,” he called
out, “break down this!”

Overhaul, not able to break down something that didn’t really have a physical form, dodged,
throwing himself and his two minions to the ground to avoid the blue flames that were suddenly
hurling towards them.
“You disgusting-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Stain huffed, drawing his sword, “disgusting, we got it. What I find
disgusting is your blatant disregard for human life. Only the scum of scum would do that to
another person.”

Overhaul hauled himself to his feet, growling at the four villains that had joined the fray.
“Ridiculous, we had a deal!”

Tomura snorted. “No, you had a deal. We played pretend. You weren’t getting anything out of us
when you decided to kill Magne.”

Himiko went to stand beside them, holding two knives. “Yep! It was all just a logical ruse~!”
She grinned, levelling a knife at him. “And now we’re gonna collect our due, kay?”

Shin seemed to be panicking as he quickly said, “Heroes, are you just going to stand there? It’s the
League, who have been threatening you for months!”

“Like Eraserhead said,” Izuku piped up, grinning despite himself, “they’re our independent
contractors! Also, you know, my friends. Now, with 3 to… 9? Yeah, I think so, with 3 to 9, how
are you liking your odds?”

Overhaul straightened. “Kurono, Nemoto, are you willing to do anything for the cause?”

There was no hesitation. They both nodded.

He placed a hand on each of them. “Thank you.”

In an instant, everything went to absolute shit.

~~~~~
Hitoshi was doing pretty ok, all things considered. He had been separated from the rest of the team
when the first hole had formed, leaving him, Kesagiriman, Mr Brave, and a multitude of police a
level (or two) higher than everyone else. Mr Brave took control, and their mission became to
neutralize as many yakuza members as possible.

This included backtracking, and Hitoshi was very much looking forward to assisting on the
surface, and then they could get an entire other hero agency in the final fight, which he had no
doubt in his mind Izuku would find himself in.

After leaving the police to take out the yakuza in the courtyard, he went back out to the entrance
just in time to see Nejire-chan get slammed into the ground by the big guy, Rikiya.

“Hey,” he called out, “who do you think you are?”

“I’m-” he was cut off as Hitoshi took control, and Ryukyu moved in to restrain him, stripping him
carefully of anything he had on him. The police hurried forwards to put on quirk suppressing
cuffs.

Froppy helped her upperclassman off the ground and Chargebolt shot Hitoshi a grin and a thumbs
up.

“Thanks, Headspace!”

He grunted, still straining to keep the big man from breaking free. The police gave him the go
ahead and he released him with a gasp, breathing deep. Immediately, Rikiya tried to break free of
his restraints.

“Hey, no fair! Let me outta here!”

The dragon hero nodded at him. “Thank you for the assist. What happened to the infiltration
team?”

“Separated,” he replied, “we think Mimic on Trigger. Most of the others went on ahead, Brave
figured if we were trapped up here we might as well help.”
She nodded. “Do you still have contact with your team?”

He shook his head. “Too far underground, connection is spotty. Have our… jeez, what did he call
them, independent contractors? Have they shown up yet?”

“No, or at least, they haven’t made contact yet.”

He clicked his tongue. “Shame, I kind of wanted to meet this Shigaraki guy when I wasn’t
kidnapped. Pinpoint seems to like him.”

Chargebolt darted over. “We’ve seen Stain! We think the rest of the League should be nearby,
what should we do?”

The dragon hero (still in her big form) whirled on her intern. “Take me to them.”

He nodded and darted off again, heading to where Froppy was keeping a careful eye on something
around the corner. She blinked in alarm before they could get close.

“Ryukyu!” Nejire-chan was floating nearby, looking no worse for eating asphalt earlier. “They
just took out the road and went down!”

She cursed. “Shigaraki’s quirk. That means they moved without us. Independent contractors my
ass, Eraser just wanted them to have temporary immunity, they are complete loose cannons.”

Hitoshi watched the hole light up blue for a moment before they all tensed and a horrible
squelching sound, followed by a roar. They could only watch in horror as a huge abomination
(there really was no other word to describe it) crawled out of the hole with an inhuman shriek.

Six arms, posture like that of a centaur, and much larger than Rikiya had been, larger than Ryukyu
still was, it screamed, looking around wildly, searching for something.

The heroes on the scene wasted no time in moving in.

While the more combat oriented heroes distracted the monster (Hitoshi was not certain he’d be able
to get a response, and the mental strain of trying to hold that thing would be rough even if he
could), he peered into the hole, seeing five members of the league plus four heroes and heroes in
training.

“Headspace,” Uravity called out, “I’m going to float people, please haul them up!”

“Sure,” he yelled back, “but what the hell is that thing?”

“Overhaul and two of his cronies, but together.”

He grimaced, looping his capture scarf around Lemillion and Nighteye who were closest to her and
hauling them to the surface.

He yelled “Clear!” when they were a safe distance from the ground and she released them. They
repeated this until everyone but Uravity was out, but instead of jumping or floating herself up, she
instead roundhouse kicked a wall, revealing Tentacole and Eraserhead. Hitoshi could not help but
breathe a sigh of relief at seeing his mentor safe and sound.

Uravity floated the last of them, Eraserhead hauling them all out himself, and Hitoshi turned back
to see the thing that was apparently Overhaul being attacked by various members of the league.

Stain was trying to get a cut in, but despite his size, the monster was surprisingly agile, carefully
dodging the swinging blades.

Dabi was launching blue fireballs at his head, trying to limit his field of vision so their melee
fighters could get some shots in, but he happened to have three sets of eyes facing different
directions, so it was pretty hard. Plus, it looked like the fire user was doing his best to avoid
property damage.

Mister Compress was throwing marbles that apparently contained large pieces of rubble, hitting
Overhaul with bludgeoning force. Sometimes it had the opposite effect of making him stumble
away from Stain or Shigaraki, but overall it was definitely making him slower.

Speaking of, Shigaraki was aiming to dust his legs.

The problem with that is that he had to be close to the legs, and the legs would definitely kill him if
he got too close.

“His left back leg is weaker!” Izuku (Pinpoint, right, hero names) called out. Hitoshi could see
Stain’s eyes glitter as he dove for the proffered leg, Toga launching knives to cover his charge, and
it looked like he got a decent slice in from the scream and wobble of said leg.

Uraraka was wreathed in pink sparkles. “Coming in hot, boys!”

Dabi briefly stopped his barrage to let her jump up and “METEOR PUNCH” the monstrosity in the
face, sending him reeling back.

Stain took that moment to lick his blade, locking up the lower half of Overhaul’s body.

“What! You dare paralyze my legs? Disgusting!”

Overhaul slammed his still perfectly functioning hands on his lower body, and it rippled,
momentarily disappearing before coming back, perfectly whole again.

Izuku groaned. “So everything just reset, but his lower half is still weakened from the fact that he
was overhauled, body trauma and all that.”

“Izu,” Shigaraki cried out, “which of your hero friends are here? Who has a mobilizing quirk?”

Hitoshi watched his eyes light up before he ran back to the Ryukyu folks. “Chargebolt! Froppy!
How do you feel about a human taser?”

He watched Chargebolt pale and gulp, looking up at the monster in trepidation. “Pinpoint, that
seems like death.”

“Nah,” Uravity bounded over, tapping him once, “you’ll be fine! Froppy, batter up!”
“Kero.”

Chargebolt screamed as a tongue wrapped around him and launched him at the monster, but he
seemed to steel his resolve as he got closer.

“Indiscriminate Shock: TWO MILLION VOLTS!”

Lightning shuddered through the air and Hitoshi could smell the ozone as the monster and the
monster alone let out a terrible shriek. The smell of burnt flesh overtook the ozone and Overhaul
wobbled.

They collectively held their breath.

Tendrils shot out of his body, arrow shaped, and stabbed everyone close, slowing them to a halt.

“Pinpoint,” Hitoshi called out, “can I get a read on his mental state?”

Izuku looked flustered, face pale, but he nodded. “Uh, I think this is what schizophrenia is like?
Shin and Chrono are still in there, but they’re muted. Overhaul is pretty much insane with anger,
but he’s disoriented right now. If you’re going to try it, try it now!”

Hitoshi nodded and took a breath. Everyone else was giving it their all. What was one monster?

~~~~~

Tomura was pissed.

First fucking bird bitch had decided to sacrifice his minions and get two huge power ups, but then
he had stabbed all five members of the league, the electric kid, and that dragon hero besides.

Cheating ass motherfucker.

If Tomura didn’t hate the asshole before, he definitely did now.

Toga came over to fret over them, dragging their slow moving bodies away from the fight,
throwing both literal daggers and metaphorical ones at the big hulking beast that seemed to have
infinite health bars, no matter what Izu said. Body trauma? Whatever, it was still regeneration,
and it was bullshit. The nomu had regeneration and it was braindead, so why wasn’t bird bitch?

Come to think of it, the nomu also had a beak.

Huh, what a coincidence.

“If you’re going to try it, try it now!”

Ah, there was the purple kid, brainwashing, the one he had kidnapped. Also Izu’s friend, which
was nice.

“Hey bird bitch!”

Oh yeah, he liked this one.

“I heard there was a special on quirks down at Tartarus, buy one get one free! Maybe you’re
interested? I mean, you seemed to have picked up two on your own anyway!”

“You ignorant, insufferable-”

The kid grunted, recoiling from an unknown impact, and immediately went to clutch his head.

“Eraserhead! Cancel the quirks so we can take him out before Headspace loses his grip!”

Oh yeah, he definitely liked this kid, brainwashing Overhaul was incredibly satisfying to watch.
Shame they could make him do something embarrassing while they had him under.

All of a sudden, they could all move again at their normal speeds, and he watched Toga send the
Erasure hero a thumbs up with a sharp grin.

“No one jostle him! What’s the fastest way to take him down?”

Tomura cracked his neck. “Me, unless Dabi feels like getting all roasty toasty.”

The man snorted. “No thanks, I don't feel like adding to my scars. He’s still a little too big for
me. I could probably get his upper half, though.”

Izuku nodded, coming up beside them. “Then both of you attack at once. Run, we have maybe 15
seconds before he breaks out.”

And boy, wasn’t that terrifying!

Tomura ran, cursing his lack of stamina, and gave a cry of “NOW!” as he slammed his hands onto
the bird bitch, feeling the searing heat above him as Dabi let loose an intense flame, sending
screams piercing through the air as Overhaul came back to himself.

“Burn in hell, bitch!”

Tomura could not agree with Dabi more as Overhaul withered beneath his hands, until all that was
left was ash and dust.

Eraserhead sighed in exasperation. “We did kind of want him alive, but extenuating circumstances
made that generally impossible, so good work.”

Tomura grinned.

Yeah, the heroes weren’t so bad.

~~~~~

Eri was incredibly nervous. Giri was really nice, and he got her a juice box and some snacks that
were shaped like little orange fish, and the lizard guy was also nice. Even the kid in the gas mask
treated her kindly, but he did seem a little grumpy. She didn’t know why, so she pat him gently on
his knee when he started grumbling.

It made him stop, so maybe she was getting good at this whole “comforting” thing Himi-nee had
been doing for her.

Still, she was nervous.

She heard rumbles and screams in the distance, and she just knew that it was Overhaul fighting
Izu-nii and Himi-nee and their friends, and she didn’t want them to get hurt, not for her. They were
only fighting him to help her, she knew, and even though they had promised, she knew Overhaul
was stronger.

Maybe even stronger than them.

She shook her head rabidly to clear it of negative thoughts and nibbled on another small fish,
crunching it delicately between her teeth.

“...Giri?”

“Yes, young Eri?”

Her voice was quiet, and she hesitated for another moment. “Are they going to be ok?”

The man made of swirling purple mist paused and knelt down beside her. “Yes, Eri, I believe they
will be. There are many good and powerful heroes there to make sure that everyone is ok. If they
get hurt, it’s no one’s fault but Overhauls.”
She nodded, even though she was still unsure.

“...Giri?”

“Yes, my dear?”

“What’s going to happen if they’re not ok?”

“Ah,” he hummed, “if that were to happen, they would likely go to the hospital, where doctors and
nurses would help them get better.”

“But what is Overhaul… what if he wins?”

“Then I will take you somewhere he will never find you and take care of you, should you wish it.”

She looked up at him, feeling tears pool in her eyes. “What if, what if th-they d-die?”

She burst into tears, unable to contain her sobs, and she felt his surprise before she heard a scrape
and suddenly she was wrapped in warm arms. She blinked and sniffed, looking blearily at the boy
who was holding her.

“They’ll be fine,” he muttered, “they’re really strong. Overhaul is no match for Shigaraki, Stain,
Dabi, all of them. And if they do break their promise to you, I’ll find a way to bring them back
from the dead just so I can kill them again, got it?”

She blinked, confused, and the boy tensed, hurriedly releasing her and shoving his hands into his
pockets.

“They’re strong, alright? So stop worrying about them and take care of yourself first.”

The lizard man was looking at the kid in shock, but he brightened and turned back to Eri. “Yeah,
don’t worry, Izuku and Toga were both taught by Master Stain, and Ersaerhead is there too!
Together, there’s nothing they can’t defeat! In fact, I bet they’re on their way right now!”
 Kurogiri shot to his feet when his phone buzzed.

His eyes narrowed into his version of a pleased smile.

“They have won. It is time to fulfill our end of the bargain with Izuku.”

The lizard saluted. “Aye aye, Kurogiri! I’ll man the vehicle with Mustard, you go do what you
gotta do!”

Giri held out his hand for Eri to take. “Come along now, my dear, it’s time to see Izuku again.”

She brightened considerably, but she still couldn’t quite smile.

Still, Kurogiri thought to himself as he wrapped them in mist, the sparkles in her eyes were quite
adorable.

He was glad Izuku would be there to make sure they remained in her eyes, and perhaps one day,
she would smile again.

Maybe they all could.

Chapter End Notes

"the end" as in he's dead and dust, but we still have some trauma and resolution to get
through.

I wonder what this deal is?

Oh well, I honestly don't think there are going to be many more chapters, so get ready!
We'll probably end with the school festival, in all honesty, and then have an epilogue
to tie up loose ends.

Worry not, as we get closer, I'll put up another poll, so I can have two stories running
at a time! We also have new options from last time :)
 Let's Just Have a Nice Chat...
Chapter Summary

a series of conversation snippets that tell a bit of the future, and then one that tells a bit
of the past

lotsa things get said

Chapter Notes

bold is, like before, Twice

(this keeps writing itself it's like I'm getting possessed, only half of this was meant to
happen lmao)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“The time is 10:43 am, we’re at the Mustafa Police Station, I am Detective Tsuchauchi and I am
legally obligated to inform you that this interview is being recorded. This is not an interrogation, it
is-”

“Can it, trench coat, you can call this a report all you want, but we all know this is really an
interrogation.”

“...Right. Can you state your name for the record?”

“Shigaraki Tomura.”

“...Perhaps I should tell you, my quirk is called Lie Detector.”

“So?”

“...That pinged as a lie.”

“Oh. Ugh, whatever, technically my og name was Shimura Tenko, but I like Tomura better, ok?”

“Your name was… Shimura?”

“Yes. Now, ask your shitty questions.”

“Right.”

~~~~~

“Can you state your name for the record?”

“Dabi.”

“Your. Your real name.”

“No thank you.”

“Um.”

“Call me Dabi or call me nothing at all.”

“Right…”

~~~~~

“Can you state your name for the record?”

“Toga Himiko!”
“Thank you.”

“Sure, hehe!”

~~~~~

“Can you state your name for the record?”

“Akaguro Chizome.”

“And you are also known as Stain, the Hero Killer, correct?”

“That is correct.”

~~~~~

“Can you state your name for the record?”

“Bubaigawara Jin, my name is Twice. ”

“I see. And you’re keeping the mask on?”

“Yes please! Yeah, if I don’t I’ll split. ”

“Oh, split? Could you elaborate more on that?”

~~~~~
“Can you please state your name for the record?”

“Certainly! Sako Atsuhiro, at your service!”

“Thank you. Can you tell me your involvement in the League of Villains?”

“Ah, a wondrous tale, for certain…”

~~~~~

“Why did you initially become a villain?”

“Sensei, All for One, he saved me. I think. Not super sure he didn’t also set me up so that he
could save me, but whatever. I was a scared kid and he was pretty nice. He told me things that
made me hate people, heroes in particular. I wanted to get back at them, and I wanted to pay him
back for saving me. I was… dependent.”

“And has that changed since his arrest?”

“It changed before his arrest, I think. I mean, you remember the phone call we had, right? I’m
sure you already know.”

“For reference, he is referring to the evidence for the Midoriya Izuku case marked 2b. But yes, we
know. Can you reiterate what made you want to side with the heroes in this raid?”

“The yakuza was full of asswipes who were sticking their noses where they didn’t belong and
hurting people just because they could. It was shitty, we wanted to stop it.”

“This is referring to the treatment of both Magne, a recently deceased member of your group, and
Eri, the girl rescued, correct?”

“Yeah. Pretty sure there’s others, given bird bitch’s holier than thou nature. Shitty-”
“Right, moving on.”

~~~~~

“What was your initial reasoning for becoming a villain?”

“Not all heroes are as pristine as they appear to be.”

“Ah, a follower of Stain?”

“Nah, I knew that way before Stain was even a dream. I’ve been living on the streets for a decade,
by now.”

“How old were you when…?”

“Thirteen. Anything was better than home.”

“Why did you feel the need to leave home?”

“Let’s just say these scars didn’t happen for fun. Dear old dad was a shithead.”

~~~~~

“...and my magic business just wasn’t taking off like it should have. Really, it felt awfully
inconsiderate, but in the day and age of quirks, simple sleight of hand isn’t even given a glance.
Truly, a tragedy. I had hoped to be a magician at children’s birthday parties, but nowadays, people
just want horrendous cosplays of their favorite heroes! No respect for the craft, I tell you. So, of
course, with the lack of work, I had to find something to pay the bills, and then I heard about this
interesting group…”

~~~~~
“Ne, Eri is ok, right? Like, yeah, I saw Giri drop her off before booking it, and with Izukun
besides, but like, I know how shitty people were being to him earlier, so, ya know, how is she
doing?”

“Eri is recovering in the hospital, they are monitoring her vitals and letting her rest and heal. She
has a lot of trauma to work through, but we are confident she’ll make a full recovery, at the very
least physically.”

“And Izuku?”

“He’s with her.”

“Is anyone still being a shitbag to him?”

“...He is currently being monitored.”

“Fuck! Ok, what do you need from me to clear his name, Eri needs at least one of us.”

“You were her primary caretaker, is that correct?”

“Yeah, so between me and Izuku, there aren’t many other people she trusts.”

“I see, can I ask you about…”

~~~~~

“Around the time of the Hosu attack, you started releasing dossiers on the heroes you killed. Can
you elaborate as to why?”

“Yes. Izuku and Tomura brought up very good points.”

“...Can you elaborate further?”

“Not every hero is perfect. That is a given. In my eyes, the ones who do not measure up to the title
of hero don’t deserve to hold it. For me, that meant culling them before their ideals could spread.
However, as Izuku pointed out while showing me news coverage of my attacks, that often would
make the heroes into martyrs, and no one would realize why I had killed them. To them, I was a
serial killer bold enough to go after heroes. Then, I would reveal to the public why I had decided
to kill them in the first place, and the narrative changed. Some were still criticizing my methods, of
course, but more people came to understand why I was targeting the people I did. It made heroes
start to clean up their acts.”

“Then why did you stop killing in recent weeks and simply release the dossiers?”

“Motivation by fear is handy, but in the end, it is extrinsic motivation. If the heroes could change
because they wanted to be better, instead of fearing for their lives, it would be more meaningful. It
wouldn’t work for everybody, of course, and the scum of scum like Overhaul still need to be cut
down, but like I said. No hero is perfect.”

“Didn’t you used to say the only true hero was All Might?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself, detective.”

~~~~~

“Have you ever gone to a therapist of a psychologist to try and stop the splitting?”

“Yeah, no, that’s ridiculous, who would help me, but they just wrote me off as crazy, no one
tried to help.”

“I see. That shouldn’t be allowed. If you still know the names of the people who dismissed you,
that would help, and then we could get you a better list to help with the problem, if you’d like.”

“You’d do that for me? I totally remember them, too. ”

“The system failed you. We should try and make it right.”

~~~~~

“If you were put in a probation course that, over a period of six months, helped you come to terms
with things and, upon graduation, would let you live as a regular citizen, would you take it?”

“...Is this an option? Even for someone like me, who’s killed people?”

“I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t.”

“...Yeah, I would want to try, at least. Seeing Izu again for the first time in months was… nice.
Even though it was technically on a battlefield and there was a chance we were all going to die, it
just settled into something natural. Me ribbing him, him complaining about my ribbing, and then
just. Working together. I’d like to do that again; maybe not in a scenario so life threatening, but
it’d be cool to play video games with him again.”

“So you’re willing to enroll?”

“Yeah. I am.”

~~~~~

“If you were put in a probation course that, over a period of six months, helped you come to terms
with things and, upon graduation, would let you live as a regular citizen, would you take it?”

“Hang on, are you serious? I mean, I know Eraserhead mentioned something like that to Shiggy,
but I thought the Handy Man was pulling our legs. That’s really an option on the table?”

“It is.”
“Well shit. Damn, I dunno. Need my old man brought to justice before I could even consider not
trying to kill him. Plus I’m legally dead, not sure how the family would react to me suddenly
being alive again.”

“If you tell us who you are, we could help.”

“Yeah right, my old man is a bigger fish than you could fry.”

“Please, we can’t help you if you don’t tell us. Even if we just get you a completely new identity
for when you’re out of the program, it’s something.”

“...”

“Dabi, please. We want to help you.”

“Ha. Good luck with that.”

“Will you tell us who you are?”

“Ugh, fine. Good luck dealing with dear old dad, though.”

“We’ll do everything we can.”

“If that’s what you need for this program to work, fine. Nice to meet you, I’m Todoroki Touya.”

~~~~~

“If you were put in a probation course that, over a period of six months, helped you come to terms
with things and, upon graduation, would let you live as a regular citizen, would you take it?”

“Oh.”
“Oh?”

“I mean, I can’t exactly live normally, ya know?”

“Elaborate, please.”

“I mean, I drink blood.”

“Yes…?”

“Why do you look confused, I can’t live normally because I’m… a monster…”

“Toga, you aren’t a monster.”

“Oh yeah? I have to hurt people to not go crazy, not sure how that makes me not a monster, but go
off, I guess.”

“It’s a side effect of your quirk, and it’s not even the most extreme one. I have a coworker that
regularly has to eat human brains.”

“...You do?”

“Yep. When she eats them, she also gets the memories of the person before they died. It made her
really handy in investigative work, but she still has to eat what amounts to a whole brain a week or
she’ll slowly die.”

“Oh.”

“Yes. You would be accommodated. You aren’t the first person who needs blood to live normally,
and you won’t be the last. Anyone who led you to believe you shouldn’t drink blood was quirkist
and should honestly be arrested.”
“...My parents always called me a monster.”

“Are they also called Toga?”

“Yes.”

“...Right, thank you, we’ll look into it. Other than that, would you be willing to join the program?”

“...Yeah, I would.”

~~~~~

“If you were put in a probation course that, over the course of six months, helped you come to
terms with things and, upon graduation, would let you live as a regular citizen, would you take it?”

“Oh my! Of course I would be interested! I think the most villaining I’ve done was maybe some
thievery? Oh, and the kidnapping, of course, but other than that I wouldn’t mind going back to
regular life. Maybe I could… no, never mind, I’m perfectly content with being a regular citizen!”

“What were you going to say?”

“Well, it’s silly… I would have loved to have been a magician, of course, as you probably well
know, but I think that’s no longer on the table, so I was pondering another option. Something that
would still allow me to use my power to wow the masses, maybe even bring the joy of magic
back.”

“And what’s that?”

“Well, a hero.”

~~~~~
“If you were put in a probation course that, over a period of six months, helped you come to terms
with things and, upon graduation, would let you live as a regular citizen, would you take it?”

“Now who’s favors got turned in for that deal?”

“I’m not sure what you mean?”

“I’m a serial killer. The higher ups must be frothing to throw me in Tartarus. Hell, the
Commission probably wants to tear me in two just for the dossier that’s going to come out today.”

“You have one set to release today?”

“Yes, the biggest one yet. Took awhile to gather all the sources, but having someone nearby who
could give a first hand account was very helpful.”

“You don’t mean…?!”

“Ah, so the brat told you who he was. Interesting. Well then, yes, I imagine that makes this even
easier. Yes, the next crimes we’re exposing are Endeavors.”

“That’s… actually that helps a lot, Dabi’s condition for joining was bringing justice to his family.”

“Is that right? Good for him. But still, I don’t see how someone like me can live as a regular
citizen.”

“We actually have a few more favors, but if you go through the program, the government will
pardon you.”

“Really, now?”

“Yes, there might be a bit of extra testing, and of course, if you relapse, so to speak, you will be
arrested and thrown in jail.”

“Of course.”

“But, are you willing?”

“...Who else has already said yes?”

~~~~~

“If you were put in a probation course that, over a period of six months, helped you come to terms
with things and, upon graduation, would let you live as a regular citizen, would you take it?”

“Really? Are you kidding me? ”

“Yes, really.”

“Would I still be able to go to the psychologist?”

“It would actually be included, for ease of access, and everyone is probably getting therapy.”

“Everyone? You mean the rest of the clowns are going? Count me out! I’d love to.”

“Great, then all you need to do is sign this form…”

~~~~~

“Shigaraki, do you know the whereabouts of Kurogiri, Spinner, and Mustard?”

“Why.”

“If it wasn’t clear, we’d like to offer them the same deal.”

“Kurogiri doesn’t need rehab, he needs his memories back.”

“...I’m sorry, what?”

“He’s a nomu. He was some kid who died and Sensei thought it would be funny to revive him and
use him as a nomu. He’s the only one who’s a sentient nomu and a perfect mix of quirks.”

“Do you know who he was before? Or his original quirk?”

“If I knew who he was that would mean he’d have his memories back. But his quirk I do know. It
was Cloud.”

“...Give me a moment.”

~~~~~

Izuku looked softly at the girl curled up asleep next to him.

She had gone to sleep after he had read her a story, but had been woken up by nightmares.

Nothing seemed to calm her except him being nearby, so he had crawled up on her hospital bed to
hold her until her tears had dried, her breathing had evened, and her heart had calmed.

It took longer than he would have liked.

He knew he was being watched, but frankly, he hadn’t planned on leaving the hospital until Eri
could anyway, or at least until she wasn’t waking up every half hour without him nearby. Aizawa
had also told him most of the League was being talked to and they would be deciding what to do
with them, and Izuku couldn’t help but be anxious.

What if they all got sent to jail?

What if their temporary immunity to help on the case meant nothing?

What if Eri lost someone else she had begun to trust?

… What if Izuku lost his friend?

Seeing Tomura had been like coming home, almost. Sure, he felt that way walking into the dorms
and seeing Hitoshi as well, but it had been so long since he had seen the older boy.

It was nice.

He looked nice.

Talking and texting over the phone, even if that had cut down in recent times, had been nice.
Hearing his voice had been nice. Getting ribbed by him, just like normal, was nice.

And when he was taken away again, both of them sent in different directions, something inside of
him broke a little.

He hadn’t known most of the others for long, seeing them in person for a week and then only
hearing of them through Tomura and the phone, but he worried for them too. Most of them
weren’t entirely bad people, just those in messed up situations. Hell, if Izuku hadn’t been found by
Aizawa all those months ago, before any of this kidnapping thing even happened, he might have
joined them.

He paused at that.

It had been so long, but to Izuku, it almost felt like it was yesterday at the very same time.
~~~~~

Izuku was staring out over the city.

It was nice, this time of year. School had started a month ago, and it was beginning to warm up, so
being outside was nice.

He had a good view from the roof as well.

He had meant to go back down, honest, he had! But All Might had gone away, telling him he
could never be a hero, and now he just wanted to look out over the edge of the roof for a moment
and breathe.

He saw a pair of birds swoop in the air, trilling, and he flinched.

Why don’t you take a swan dive off the roof and hope for a quirk in your next life?

He shook his head and stepped back, putting a few feet between him and the edge. No way was he
gonna do it. Not after all this time; it would feel like giving up, and if Izuku was known for one
thing, it was that he never gave up.

Not when he was diagnosed Quirkless, like it was a disease.

Not when his best friend had turned on him, treating him like dirt.

Not when the whole class called him Deku, and useless.

Not when his own mother inadvertently told him he couldn’t be a hero.

Not when his teachers actively looked the other way or punished him for fighting.
 Not when the lilies started showing up on his desk.

Not when his things got destroyed.

And certainly not when his childhood friend told him to kill himself.

Izuku was many things, but a quitter was never one of them, so he knew, no matter how bad it got,
he would never take the easy way out. Hell, he chuckled to himself, if he was going to die, it
would probably either be something really stupid, like tripping and breaking his neck, or something
really brave, like getting caught up in a villain fight.

He didn’t think he would be proven right so fast.

Chapter End Notes

oh yes, we're getting backstory now

ever since someone asked me what happened before the USJ, I realized I didn't really
have a plan, especially since this started out as a one shot with no specific background,
but I knew that I wanted to include some in more than just implications from the first
two chapters.

How did Midoriya and Aizawa meet?

Why is this different than canon?

And how the hell do I fit this in without it being weird?

The answer to that came in the form of this chapter. I knew I wanted to do the
interviews and had specific plans for a couple people (Stain and Tomura mostly) but
like always, this story wrote itself and I got a few surprises along the way (Compress
and Giri, hot damn, did not mean for either of those to happen lmao). One of those
surprises was the Izuku part and where it went, but luckily, that gives me a perfect
avenue to give you the past, so yay!

See you next chapter for some background! (glad we get to do this when the story is
almost over lol, it's not padding, it's tying up loose ends)
 To Go Forward, We Must First Go Back
Chapter Summary

a look into how Izuku and Aizawa met, way back when

Chapter Notes

he's a villain magnet, its a secondary, hidden quirk

poor boy

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Later that night, after the sludge villain attack, after his mother had fretted over him, talking about
how Katsuki was caught up in an attack, and how worried she was about him being hurt too,
especially since he wouldn’t pick up his phone, he decided to take a walk.

Probably not the smartest thing, since it was nighttime, but All Might was known to be in the area
and that meant crime was at an all time low, and the moon was bright and high, so really, he would
be fine.

Plus he took a multi tool with him. You could never be too prepared.

Apparently, you really couldn’t, because right before he was going to cross a break in the street, a
body was flung out of the alleyway and directly on top of him.

“Teach you to mess with me, punk!”

Izuku had barely caught the bloodied man (it wasn’t a corpse, thank god, he was still breathing,)
but looked up at the aggressor like a deer in the headlights.

His arms were longer, but were shrinking back to normal size. That was probably what had let him
throw the man, like a trebuchet, Izuku reasoned. He looked pretty strong besides, but he was more
lean than bulk. Still, he was really tall, and lanky, towering over Izuku from where the weight of
the delirious man was making him slouch.
“Eh?” The man sneered, “You had a little buddy? Whatever, I’ll just get rid of him too.”

Izuku yelped as arms extended to grab him and dropped the man, ducking under the arms that
swiped for him, rolling clumsily to the side and patting his pockets.

He came up with nothing.

His eyes flicked to the pavement and he cursed. The multi tool, with its knife, must have fallen out
of his pocket in the dodge.

Fine, time to try another tactic. “I’m not with him! I was just walking! Wrong place, wrong
time!”

“Yeah right, you’re just trying to save your own hide! Joji never should have come here!”

Must be the guy currently blinking on the pavement, wincing every once in a while.

“No, I swear, I’ve never seen him before now!” He ducked under another swipe as the man
growled, but he pressed on. “Why did you guys even get in a fight?”

“He kept marking up his prices!”

His what?

“I honestly have no idea what that means, can I please just leave? I promise I’ll go right home!”

“Not a chance in hell, kid! No middle schooler would be out this late and in this part of town if he
wasn’t doin something shady!”

This part of town? Izuku soared a moment to glance around and cursed again. Really? He had
wandered here? Maybe he really was a trouble magnet…
His eyes darted to the multi tool and he dove for it, rolling up and away from the man who was
slowly getting more frustrated with his lack of results and Izuku’s expert dodging (hey, school was
good for something!).

Izuku quickly flipped the knife open. “I don’t want any trouble, dude, we can both walk away
from this.”

“Fuck that, you’ll just call the cops!”

Well, yeah, but he didn’t need to know that. “I won’t, I’ll just leave, I swear!”

Suddenly, the arms that were going for him snapped back to their original length and the man made
a noise of confusion before a grey stripe arced down and wrapped him up.

“Luckily, he doesn’t need to call the cops.”

Izuku’s head shot up at the voice and his mouth dried. Was that…?

Eraserhead jumped down from the roof and hauled the man a little closer. “A dealer and his
supplier got in a fight. Well, I’m not complaining, I’ve been looking for you two for a while now.
Good to know I can finally turn you in.”

The man struggled and the hero unwound more of his capture scarf to scoop up Joji, who was still
fairly out of it, before turning to a still frozen Izuku with a raised eyebrow.

Izuku shook himself out of his awe and flushed, quickly putting away his multi tool. “I don’t know
how much you heard, but I swear, I was just walking out and suddenly that guy was thrown at me.
I really have nothing to do with this.”

Eraserhead nodded. “It’s a little late for you to be out, walk with me to the station and I’ll take you
home.”
“Oh no, Mr Eraserhead, I couldn’t-”

“You know who I am?”

He paled a little at the narrowed eyes but hurriedly waved his hands. “I really look up to you! You
fight basically quirkless, and I think that’s really cool! I know a lot of heroes; well, I know a lot
about heroes, not that I’ve met many, but you’ve always been my favorite, and I’m sorry, this is not
helping my case, I’ll stop.”

“...Right, well maybe you can tell me more on the way to the station.”

Izuku flushed, not really feeling like he had a choice. Sure, he could book it, but this was
Eraserhead! There was no way he could make it all the way home before he got caught and then
it would look really suspicious and they’d probably call his mom, and then she’d find out he had
accidentally wandered into the bad part of town, and then she’d keep him locked up in his room for
the rest of all time and eternity.

“Kid, calm down, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

His head shot up from where he had been watching the sidewalk and the pro continued.

“You’re obviously getting worked up over this, but I was just surprised, is all. The whole point of
being underground is that no one knows about you, but things are bound to slip through the
cracks.”

Izuku nodded in starts, not quite believing the hero, but going along with it all the same; it wasn’t
like he could run, even with the hero occupied with the two apparently drug dealers.

The rest of the walk to the station, while not a long one, was a quiet one, Izuku still on the verge of
a breakdown and Eraserhead apparently content with the silence. They walked in (or were carried
in, for half of them), and Izuku really wanted to slip out of the door while they were distracted, but
the officer on duty noticed him.

“Who’s the kid?”

“A witness.”

The officer nodded. “Right, come this way and we can get your account, if you please?”

Izuku was sweating bullets.

“Right,” Eraserhead sighed, “I’ll take these two into holding so someone can deal with them in the
morning. It’s far too late for this tonight with our main interrogator at home.”

Izuku glanced at the clock on his way into what looked like an interrogation room and paled. It
was almost midnight.

The officer sat down in the chair, gesturing for him to do the same. “My name is Officer Nazuki,
it’s nice to meet you.”

“M-Midoriya Izuku, ma’am.”

She nodded. “Thank you. Now, can you describe what you saw?”

“Well, I was just out walking, trying to clear my head, but I must have been lost in thought, because
I honestly didn’t mean to go this far, or be out this long, I swear! But then the hurt guy, I think the
other one called him Joji, was thrown at me from out of the alley. The tall guy, with the arm
stretching quirk, he must have thought I was with him, since I caught him, but it was just my gut
reaction. He tried to beat me up too, but I managed to dodge and get my multi tool out. Then
Eraserhead showed up and wrapped them up…”

The officer nodded. “Ok, anything else you can tell us, Midoriya?”

He gulped. “Um, can you not tell my mom about this? She doesn’t know I’m out this late and
would probably ground me for life if she found out I got involved in an attack…”

She chuckled. “I will have to warn you for being out this late at night, but you seem like a nice
young man, so as long as you let me or Eraser walk you home, you’ll be fine. Try not to get in
another attack again, huh?”
“I-I’ll try.”

She wrote down a few more things, probably notation she might have needed, and they both
walked back to the front. Eraserhead was waiting for them in the foyer.

“Oh, Eraser! Do you mind taking Midoriya back home?”

The pro hero slouched a little more, but nodded, mouth concealed behind his rewound capture
scarf.

“Midoriya, come on.”

Izuku could do nothing but follow, quietly giving the man his address before they both headed in
that direction.

“So, what has you out this late?”

Izuku gulped. “Just… needed to clear my head. It’s been… a day.”

Eraserhead snorted. “And yet, probably the most exciting thing happened today on your ‘walk.’”

Izuku was silent.

The hero stopped. “It was, wasn’t it?”

Izuku looked away. Sure it was scary, but he almost died, met his idol, got his dreams crushed,
and was told to kill himself before being left by said idol on the edge of a roof, so really, this was
just icing on the cake.

“Yeah, it was scary.”

Eraserhead didn’t seem to believe him, but then again, Izuku didn’t believe himself, so it wasn’t
really that surprising.

Seemingly looking for a new conversation topic from the otherwise quiet boy, Eraserhead changed
tactics.

“So what do you know about me?”

Izuku was hesitant to tell him, but it was late at night, he was high strung, and the familiarity of
analysis and his new favorite hero had the words pouring out of him, slowly at first, but then
picking up speed.

“Well, your quirk is called Erasure, and it erases other people’s quirks. I’m pretty sure it's related
to your eyes because of the goggles, and you have a visual tell where your hair floats when you use
it. Between that and the capture scarf, I almost think you have a secondary quirk mutation of
telekinesis, but anyway. You can only erase quirks that aren’t mutants, so that’s the glaring
weakness other than the visual tells. Other than that, you fight mostly quirkless, specializing in
hand to hand and parkour. It’s estimated that if there was a ranking system for underground
heroes, you’d definitely be in the top ten, if not the top five.”

Eraserhead raised an eyebrow. “And who estimated that?”

He blushed furiously. “Um, me…”

The hero snorted. “I don’t have a secondary quirk, the capture scarf is just a refined piece of
technology. And you’re right, it is from my eyes, but try not to tell anyone that.”

He nodded, completely serious. “The less people who know about you and your quirk, the more
effective you are.”

“Those were some pretty good dodges back there, kid.”

Izuku flinched and looked away. “I… have a lot of practice.”

“Also have practice with a knife, or were you hoping to get lucky?”

“Hoping to get lucky,” he grumbled.

The pro hummed. “If you keep finding yourself in scary situations, you might want to invest in
getting some actual practice in. Using your quirk in self defense is illegal, so good on you for
avoiding that, but weapons are not banned, especially small knives like that.”

Right, he knew that. Technically, he could never break any laws unless he was actively searching
for things to butt into, as long as he didn’t use his quirk, and seeing as he didn’t have one, he would
probably be ok on that front.

All he said was “Yeah, ok.”

Eraserhead drew up. “This was the address, right?”

Izuku blinked and saw the apartment complex he and his mom lived in, and nodded. “Thank you
for walking me home…”

“Sure. Stay out of trouble, kid.”

He watched the underground hero haul himself on top of a building and jump off into the night and
he blinked, cursing himself.

He had met his favorite (as of today, of course) hero and hadn’t even gotten an autograph! There
was no way he was going to see the man again either.

~~~~~

So, of course, he saw the man again not two days later.
It was just a grocery run, nothing special, but then a big transformation type villain smashed into
the next door store and Izuku was suddenly in the middle of a villain attack. He hadn’t been
feeling super hot and was actually looking for some saltines to make sure he ate something and
didn’t just hole up in his room doing analysis and looking at knife videos. As it turns out, finding
knife instructional videos was really hard, the majority of videos were all about knife tricks, which
is not really what he wanted.

Could he have found someone who taught knife skills? Sure.

Would they have taught a quirkless kid like him? Doubtful.

So here he was, taking a break to get snacks and a few groceries for his mother, and there was a
villain attack, great.

The hero on the scene was Death Arms and Izuku was pushing through the crowd like normal to
get a closer look when he bumped into someone.

“Oh, I’m sorry…”

He blinked, the man blinked back.

“Kid,” Eraserhead sighed, “we’ve gotta stop meeting like this.”

“In my defense,” Izuku’s traitor mouth started to say, “this one just happened, and it isn’t even the
shady part of town. How was I supposed to know a villain would attack during my impromptu
grocery run?”

The crowd cheered and his head turned sharply to watch Death Arms (someone he didn’t
particularly like after the sludge villain incident) finish taking down the villain. The police on
scene hurried to get the man in cuffs, and he thought he spotted Officer Nazuki, but he noticed the
underground hero leaving and went to follow him.

“Wait! Era-”
“Aizawa, I’m not on duty.”

Izuku blinked, stunned for a moment, before pressing on. “Aizawa, wait, why didn’t you do
anything?”

“Again, not on duty. But regardless, Death Arms had it handled. It was a mutant quirk anyway,
not much I could have done.”

“But it was a transformative quirk? Plus, you had your scarf.”

Aizawa looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. “A transformative, you say?”

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, pretty sure I saw him add and remove a few features. I mean, I could be
wrong, you’re the pro here…”

Aizawa cast a glance back at the man who was just about loaded into the wagon before he
squinted and hummed. “You might be right.”

The man shrugged and began to walk off again, carrying his own bag of groceries.

“I was serious though, kid, we have to stop meeting like this.”

~~~~~

Izuku really had thought it was a support group of some kind, honest.

Of course, when Eraserhead and the police started to arrive, and things started coming to blows,
Izuku realized, oh, this is a recruitment meeting for a gang. Really, the fact that the meeting was
held at night and once again in the shady part of town should have been some indication.

Eraserhead also said as much.

Izuku was incredibly embarrassed. “I thought it was a support group for victims of quirk
discrimination,” he murmured.

Eraserhead raised an eyebrow (he did that a lot). “And why exactly do you need to go to a support
group for quirk discrimination?”

Izuku looked away. “I…”

He shook his head. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter. We do have to take you into the station for
questioning, though. Luckily Tsukauchi is there so this should be over fast…”

“Did you realize this was a recruitment meeting?”

“No.”

“Before today, had you ever heard of the Silver Fang gang?”

“No.”

“You’re free to go.”

Eraserhead was waiting for him outside.

“Kid, Midoriya, was it? I usually don’t see people more than once unless I work with them, let
alone three times in one week. Are you in a safe place?’

Izuku looked up, alarmed. “Like, at home? Yes, I’m perfectly safe, it’s just…”

He trailed off and scuffed his shoe on the ground.

Here goes nothing.

“Do you think someone quirkless could be a hero?”

He closed his eyes, bracing for impact.

“Yeah, sure.”

His eyes flashed open and he looked at Eraserhead in surprise, but the man wasn’t even looking at
him, just folding his arms.

“It will be hard, of course, but it’s doable. You’d have to work ten times as hard as someone with a
more physical quirk, but you said it yourself, after Erasure, I’m basically quirkless. Why?”

His eyes got blurry and he belatedly realized he was about to cry.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Eraserhead let him cry, either letting it run its course or simply not knowing how to deal with a
crying child. Either way, Izuku was grateful.

When it died down, Eraserhead extended a business card with an address scribbled on the back.

He looked up at the scruffy man, confused.

“Saturday, 9 am, we’ll see what you know and where you need to go. Other than that, I do not
want to see you when I’m on duty again, are we clear?”

His eyes welled up with tears once more, but he blinked them back. “Yes, Eraserhead-sensei!”

The man scowled. “Aizawa, kid, I told you.”

 He grinned. “Yes, Aizawa-sensei!”

Aizawa rolled his eyes and muttered, “Brat.”

Chapter End Notes

for those of you wondering, Officer Nazuki is the one who eats brains that Tsukauchi
referenced last chapter! Her name just means brains, her given name might have
something to do with memory or eating, idk I didn't plan that far, I just think she's neat

Might get one more chapter (or half chapter) with the past, but here's how the kids
met. if I do more past stuff, it might include the entrance exam and the first few days
at school as quirkless and not kidnapped still (fleeting tho those days may be) just for
some fun, but otherwise we're just going to get back up to date and see how things are
panning out for the league, especially the three people currently MIA
 Before it All Went Down
Chapter Summary

the final chapter of background that is mostly the beginning of UA and the entrance
exam

Chapter Notes

last bit of background, gets us right up to the USJ

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The next several months were hell, as was to be expected, but Izuku had a newfound confidence,
and newfound skills.

Knives, for example.

“You’re going to need a leg up, since you don’t have a quirk,” Aizawa explained, “so having a
weapon is always good. Plus, it’s the most common weapon on the streets aside from quirks, so
knowing your way around a knife will be helpful.”

At first, Aizawa had been the one with the knife and taught Izuku takedown tactics, and how to
disarm someone with a knife. As soon as he had that down pretty well, he was also handed a knife,
and then he learned how to fight.

He was really glad the knives were fake and dull, because he really didn’t want to explain the
numerous cuts that would otherwise be all over the place.

Next he was taught how to throw knives, because throwing knives were smaller and easier to
conceal on your person, but were also a bit more rare. If you could throw a regular knife, you
could throw a throwing knife, apparently, so that was the next thing he was taught.

“Well kid,” Aizawa said after eight months, “the UA entrance exam is soon, and I think you have a
pretty solid grasp on the basic skills you’ll need. The rest can be taught in school.”
Izuku nodded. “Are you sure I can get in?”

Aizawa shrugged. “Maybe. Public knowledge about the exam is that it’s robots, and big ones, so
good luck. Still, you’ll probably figure it out.”

Izuku paled. Robots? What was a knife going to do against robots? What was basic hand to hand
going to do against robots ? How was parkour going to help with robots?!

“I can see you freaking out, but seriously, don’t overthink it. Just go with your gut and follow your
heart.”

What the fuck did that mean?!

Izuku spent the next several nights obsessively learning some basic engineering to try and figure
out how he could use a knife to dismantle a robot (go for wires or try and find the panel that
covered the important bits), and he was honestly exhausted on the day of the entrance exam. He
could tell his mom was worried, and that she didn’t really want him to go, but he managed to smile
away the worst of the exhaustion.

He took a nap on the train anyway.

He saw Kacchan and almost tripped, but a nice girl with a cool gravity based quirk saved him from
face planting and even wished him luck! The written test wasn’t bad, Izuku had kept up with his
studies still, and then it was time for the practical. He got the knife he had brought registered with
no issues, and settled down to listen to Present Mic introduce the exam.

“Excuse me, I have a question! The pamphlet details a fourth robot! If this is a mistake, it reflects
poorly on UA! And you, with the green hair, your muttering is most distracting! If this is a game
to you, please go home!”

Izuku flinched and curled into himself. Ah, right, hadn’t curbed that habit successfully, had he? A
few people around him laughed, and Present Mic took back over, explaining about the zero
pointer.
“It’s more of an obstacle, you really want to avoid it!”

When he called start, Izuku dashed out, leaving behind a bunch of confused kids. Aizawa had
stressed the importance of always being ready.

“That kid’s got it! There are no countdowns in real life, folks! Get out there!”

He came across a one pointer and immediately circled it to find the panel. It was much bigger than
he thought it would be, but that was UA for you, Plus Ultra and all that.

He found the panel and pried it open, revealing the guts of the robot that was trying to get a good
angle on him. He grabbed a fistful of wires and sliced cleanly through them.

It powered down and he took his first breath.

“12 points!”

His head shot up as another test taker shot a beam from their belly, calling out their supposed point
total.

Twelve points? Already?

Izuku paled.

He had to step it up.

~~~~~

That same test taker had been a little careless with his beam weapon, and part of a building fell off,
heading directly for another test taker. Izuku tackled them out of the way, frowning in worry at
them as he shook himself off.
“Are you alright?”

“What the hell dude,” the guy snapped, “what’s your problem?”

“Th-there was rubble coming right for you…?”

“Whatever, just leave me alone!”

He wasn’t the first and he definitely wasn’t the last test taker to carelessly be in danger, but Izuku
interspersed taking down robots with rescuing test takers. Sure, it ate into the time he had to
dismantle robots, but he couldn’t just let them get hurt for being reckless. Aizawa had taught him
that recklessness got you killed, and Izuku was not ready to witness death quite yet, even if it was
just a test and they’d probably be fine.

He had 16 points when the rumble of the zero pointer being released shook the testing area.

“Three minutes remaining!”

Izuku was despairing, at this point. He only had 16 points, which was definitely not enough to get
into herro course. He had to step up his game in the three minutes that were left, especially since
everyone else seemed to be at least in the thirties.

He had to get to where there were no people, so he could have his pick of the robots.

It was only when he heard the cry for help that he realized he had wandered directly to the zero
pointer.

He heard the cry again and saw the gravity girl from earlier pinned under rumble, looking like she
was about to be sick.

She was directly in the path of the zero pointer.

He abandoned all thought of getting points (18 points was fine) and ran full sprint to the girl. He
crouched down and pushed against the rubble, but it barely budged.

“Can you… you have a gravity quirk, right? Can you negate any of this weight?” He grabbed a
piece of rebar and started to wedge it under the rubble. She nodded, looking more queasy at the
thought, but managed to touch the rubble.

He managed to pry it up a little and braced the rebar to get his hands free so he could pull her out.

“Can you walk?”

She shook her head, holding a hand to her mouth.

He glanced at the zero pointer. They might have been able to get out of it’s path if the alleys
nearby hadn’t been blocked by more rubble, but as it stood, they had two options. Either get as far
down the road as possible and hope the exam ended in time for the zero pointer to be shut down, or
stop it somehow.

Neither option looked good.

His eyes were drawn to a panel on the zero pointer’s front. It was bent a bit, with smoke coming
out, but it had a good foot of opening, revealing insides that had various lights and wires.

In all honesty, it looked like a motherboard.

Izuku leaned the girl against a building. “Get as far as you can, I’m going to see if I can stall it at
the least.”

She looked alarmed, but he left her behind and hefted his knife.

If you can throw a knife…

He did the mental math and lined up his shot.

He threw.

He didn’t even look to see if it hit. Either it did, or it didn’t, but now they had to move.

He hooked an arm under her. “So my knife is gone so if we encounter any more robots we might
be fucked, but I’ll do my best to get us out of here, ok? Fight through the pain, the test has to be
over soon.

She cast a glance back at the sparking and sputtering zero pointer with wide eyes. This kid had
thrown a knife and gotten it lodged in this massive robot and he didn’t even look at it, more
focused on getting her out?

Who was this kid?

Not thirty seconds later, a loud buzzer sounded and Present Mic announced the end of the exam.
She heard the boy sigh and mutter something about eighteen definitely not being enough, but the
zero pointer stopped more than it had already been.

As soon as Recovery Girl showed up, the boy flashed her a smile and disappeared.

She hoped he got in…

Maybe she could give him some of her points?

She went to go find Present Mic.

~~~~~

Izuku felt awful. Sure, he had managed to help that girl, and she was nice to him, so it felt like
paying her back if nothing else, and he was glad she hadn’t gotten more hurt, but he had probably
disappointed Aizawa for wasting his opportunity. Sure, he had also applied for Gen Ed as a
backup, but the transfer-from-the-Sport’s-Festival thing was super rare and Izuku was almost
certain he wouldn’t make it far enough to warrant a transfer.

It was a lose-lose.

He trudged to the training gym Aizawa had had him going to every Saturday for the last eight
months (and other days besides, when they were both free), dragging his feet. He would be so
disappointed in him; all his training had gone to waste, because there was no way he got it, not
with 18 points.

“Good job kid, here’s your knife.”

He blinked, numbly taking his knife back. The blade had probably been cleaned, because there
were no robot guts on it; oil, grease, soot, nothing. It wasn’t even chipped.

He looked up at his teacher, confused.

The man just handed him a letter. “No point in waiting for them to mail it out if I have the results
right here.”

He just held it for a moment before mechanically opening it.

A disk dropped out.

As it clattered to the ground, a hologram came out of it, revealing All Might.

“I AM HERE! To give you the results of your exam! I am joining the staff at UA next year as a
heroics teacher. Now, for the results! Young Midoriya, you did excellent on your written exam,
passing with flying colors! On your practical exam, you managed to score 18 villains points,
which is not enough to get you into the hero course…” He trailed off a little, still grinning, and
Izuku accepted it. He hadn’t gotten in. “... If that was all we were grading you on, of course! We
were also grading test takers using RESCUE POINTS! That’s right, what kind of hero school
would we be if we didn’t reward heroic behavior? You sacrificed your point gathering to help your
fellow test takers, including rescuing a girl from the zero pointer! Take a look!”
A video played of the nice girl asking Present Mic to give some of her points to the plain looking
boy with the knife and Izuku just blinked.

He didn’t understand.

“As such, you earned yourself a total of 35 rescue points, putting your total at 53, which is more
than enough to pass! Welcome to your Hero Academia!”

The hologram switched to displaying a list of the top ten scorers (Kacchan was first with only
villain points) and then after scrolling, blinked out.

Aizawa said nothing.

Izuku said nothing.

Slowly, his eyes traveled to his teacher’s, expression still blank. The man’s eyes widened and he
started to look panicked, and oh, Izuku was crying.

Happy tears.

He had gotten in.

~~~~~

He was nervous. Kacchan had been so incredibly confused and angry that he had apparently gotten
into the hero program, and there was no telling which of the classes the explosive boy was in, but
with his luck, probably also class 1-A.

He opened the massively large door to see the glasses boy who had yelled at him was currently
yelling at Kacchan to get his feet off the desk. It wouldn’t work; Kacchan hated being told what to
do, but luckily before Kacchan could quite literally explode, the glasses boy noticed him and
dashed over in a controlled manner.
Izuku started. He was really tall.

“Hello, I am Iida Tenya! It is a pleasure to meet you! I apologize for antagonizing you at the
exam, you clearly divulged the true purpose and are a better candidate.”

“The… purpose? The rescue points? No, I had no idea, honest! But, um, I’m Midoriya Izuku, it’s
nice to meet you too? No hard feelings, honest.”

“Hey, it’s the knife boy!”

He whirled around to see the gravity girl grinning at him. “You got in! Good, I was worried, but
anyway, I’m Uraraka Ochako!”

His eyes slid past her to see a yellow sleeping bag on the ground.

He knew that sleeping bag.

He and Aizawa made eye contact and Izuku’s eyes widened.

“If you’re just here to socialize, you can leave now.”

He sweatdropped at his teacher’s words but hurriedly got into his seat, trying to indicate to Uraraka
to do the same.

“It took you eight seconds to quiet down. We’ll have to work on that, it’s illogical. I am Aizawa
Shouta, your homeroom teacher. Now, it’s sudden, but put these on and meet me outside in ten
minutes.”

Izuku wasted no time grabbing a gym uniform and dashing to where the changing rooms were.

He was rewarded with being the first one out.

“Aizawa-sensei, why didn’t you tell me you were going to be my teacher?”

“No point, you’d figure it out on day one anyway. It seemed illogical to ruin the surprise.”

Yeah, right, illogical, Izuku was sure that was the reason. He hadn’t missed the subtle smile when
they had made eye contact, Aizawa just lived for the drama.

When the rest of the class came out, Aizawa wasted no time in starting what he called the quirk
apprehension test. Kacchan started it off with exploding a ball over 700 meters and he heard
murmurs of how this looked like fun.

Izuku winced internally and Aizawa immediately went into pro mode, giving them a lecture for
daring to think something like this could be fun (Izuku was honestly not looking forward to this, if
he was being honest) and then he threatened to expel the person who came in last.

Izuku knew he would do it, too.

Uraraka said it wasn’t fair and he winced again. Yeah, no shit, life wasn’t fair.

AIzawa said something similar and then the tests began.

Izuku did pretty ok, avoiding Kacchan from exploding his face in, and got some pretty good scores,
all around. Nothing like Iida in the running, Yaoyorozu in pretty much anything, or anything else
one of his other classmates specialized in, but he felt middle of the pack at least, he had gotten a lot
stronger in the past nine months under Aizawa, after all.

It wasn’t until he was called up to do the ball throw (Uraraka had gotten infinity, it was really cool)
that someone called him out.

“Why hasn’t he used his quirk?” Mineta yelled out, looking rather annoyed.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, asking for permission, but Kacchan beat them to it.
“Because Deku’s fucking quirkless!”

Iida’s cry of “language” was lost in the muttering and exclamations of the class and Aizawa
silenced them with a glare.

“Yeah, Midoriya is quirkless. This seems like a fine time to remind you all of UA’s discrimination
policy, that being, it’s not tolerated. If I catch you saying anything untoward at Midoriya, you will
get suspended. On the second offense, you will be expelled. Am I clear?”

The class was quick to agree, and Izuku watched Kacchan roll his eyes. Oh well, Aizawa would
make good on his promise if it came to that.

Izuku stepped up, hefting the ball. It was certainly easier to throw than a knife, after all, being
round and more built for throwing, but he probably would have been able to get a knife farther.

Oh well.

Aizawa posted the scores and Izuku was pleased to be at 14th on the list. Uraraka also gave him an
excited smile and a thumbs up, and the short grape boy was in hysterics that he was in last place.

“Oh, the expulsion thing was a logical ruse.”

The class collectively breathed a sigh of relief and Izuku’s head shot up, confused.

“No it wasn’t.”

Aizawa looked at him and sighed. “Problem child, stop spilling all my secrets.”

“But you expelled your entire class last year.”

Ashido looked between the two of them. “Do you two… know each other?”
They exchanged a glance and both said “No” at the same time.

(She didn’t look convinced.)

The rest of the day went by rather quickly, reading the syllabus and getting caught up on what they
missed from the opening ceremony, until before they knew it, it was time to go home.

“Deku!”

He flinched a bit and spun around, expecting to see Kacchan, but only seeing Uraraka and Iida
running (or in Iida’s case, power walking) up to him.

“Oh, h-hello, Uraraka, Iida.”

“Hey! Walk with us to the station?”

He blinked then nodded with a soft smile. Was this what having friends felt like? He wasn’t sure.

“So you’re quirkless, huh? I never would have guessed! The way you took out the zero pointer
with your knife in the entrance exam was so cool! I wish I could do that!”

He blinked. She seemed excited. Was this how people felt about him when he went on a quirk
tangent?

“Um, it’s not a big deal, I just trained. Anyone could do what I can…”

Iida chopped his hand through the air. “And yet, you are the one to do it! You have put in the
time and the effort, and that is not to be discounted!”

He blushed and nodded.

Yeah, this was alright.

~~~~~

“I AM HERE… COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”

This was not alright.

Sure, he knew All might would be teaching heroics, but he wasn’t exactly excited about it. THe
last time he had seen the man, he had been told he could never be a hero. Well guess what, the
spiteful part of him thought, here I am, in a hero school, in the heroics course, ready for the heroics
lesson! Suck it, All Might!

Part of him was still in awe of the number one hero, but the man had lost his luster a little bit.

Apparently, they were doing battle trials, and they were putting their costumes on for the first
time. Izuku was excited, because he was really proud of his costume. Since he wanted to go
underground (it was far more feasible in the long run, and made best use of his training) it was
darker, muted colors. Still green, like his original plan had been, but it was less All Might inspired
this time.

For one, the hood was just a hood, no bunny ears in sight, and while his mouth guard still looked
like a smile, it wasn’t a shiny silver. Much better for sneaking.

He also had several hidden and not so hidden holsters for his knives, learning from his first (wait
no, second) villain counter all those months ago. If you only have one knife, you will lose it,
guaranteed; best to keep as many spares as you could.

For the most part, the sheaths were detachable and he could put them anywhere, blending them
easily into the costume, but he had some specific spots that would probably be good for now, at the
very least, and he had some slipped in his boots and up his sleeves for good measure.

With his arm braces and fingerless padded gloves, and then the thick and high boots, he felt
incredibly protected.
Then he was on a team against Kacchan and suddenly he felt very not protected.

Sure, he had Uraraka on his team, and she was great, nice and hardworking, but again. Kacchan.

It was like the universe hated him.

Kacchan pulled the pin on his gauntlet and Izuku threw himself to the side, thanking that his
training had focused on agility, but it still burnt off part of his costume, exposing his upper arm and
shoulder. He winced at the blistering that was starting to form, and vaguely heard All Might tell
Kacchan to stop immediately, and that the fight was getting called off for excessive use of force.

Part of Izuku was glad that it was over, but the other part of him was upset that they hadn’t gotten a
chance to really do anything. Still, he let Uraraka help him back to the viewing room, a parody of
the entrance exam, and watched as All Might reprimanded Kacchan.

It was nice until he felt Uraraka tense under him and he actually started to listen to what All Might
was saying.

“...he’s more fragile than the rest of your classmates, so you-”

“Nothing about Deku is fucking fragile! He’s fine, he dodged and didn’t die. Lord knows he’s
good at dodging.”

Izuku blinked. Was Kacchan defending him? Eh, not quite, but close.

“The fact of the matter remains, he doesn’t have the same advantages you do-”

This time, Hagakure cut him off. “My advantage is that I’m invisible. Pretty sure that doesn’t
protect me from an explosion that big.”

“Yeah,” Uraraka piped up, “the only person who might be able to resist that would be Kirishima!”

Izuku looked at All Might. Seems some things didn’t change.

He shrugged off Uraraka’s arm. “I’m going to the infirmary to treat this burn. Good luck, you
guys.”

All Might almost looked embarrassed and flustered as he left.

Ugh, what a pain, he thought he had escaped this when he had gotten to UA.

~~~~~

The next day, he was all healed, and Aizawa announced they were going to pick class
representatives.

“But Sensei,” he called out, “we barely know each other.”

“Yep. Figure it out, but be quiet about it, I’m going to take a nap.”

Iida immediately took charge and they ended up doing a democratic vote from papers Yaoyorozu
had made (couldn’t they have just taken out notebook papers?). Izuku knew he didn’t want it, so
he voted for Iida.

He got the most votes anyway.

He was entirely flabbergasted on the way to lunch, Uraraka comforting Iida a little jokingly and
congratulating him.

During lunch, the alarm went off, sending the whole school into a panic, and Iida managed to
dissolve the tension and get people to calm down, further cementing Izuku in his decision.

“For my first act as class president I’m stepping down and making Iida class president.”

The class was confused, but he just reminded them of what Iida had done and soon he was
 graciously accepting the position and working with Yaoyarozu.

It was good.

~~~~~

The next day, Aizawa announced they were going on a field trip, and Izuku was excited.
Everything else at UA had been different, so maybe this would be the same!

Chapter End Notes

and we all now how THAT turned out.

also, this is Izuku's hero costume. I actually drew it around chapter 19, but kept
forgetting to link it, so here! Technically this is the post Search version, with the
earpiece, but most of it is the same. SO many spots for knives, as it right...

anyway, two more chapters, so now is where's I introduce the poll! Instead of how we
did it last time, here's a strawpoll link!
 The End
Chapter Summary

Tying up the rest of the loose ends

Chapter Notes

one more chapter, sniff, we're almost done.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Katsuki could only watch the news with the rest of the class as the raid went down. They all knew,
of course, that most of the work study kids were on this raid, and that it had been making them
upset, so there was no way they were going to miss this.

And then the League was there.

Pinky was yelling, shaking Soy Sauce Face in the absence of Sparky and Shitty Hair, and everyone
was tense. Ponytail was nervously wringing her hands, Glasses was pacing furiously, even the
Frenchie and Koda were freaking out. The Muffin Man was stress baking in the other room, Jacks
was frozen to the spot, Tail and Hands were clutching each other for dear life, Icy Hot was glued to
the screen, Poe was muttering something about the forces of darkness, and Katsuki?

Well, Katsuki was not having a great time.

He wasn’t stupid, mind you, he had seen how Izuku had talked about the League, so he knew they
weren’t nearly as bad to him, at least, than they were to everyone else, but he still got kidnapped by
the fuckers, so forgive him if he wasn’t pleased as punch to see them happen to show up when this
all important raid was going on.

“According to the hero teams, those are… are you sure that’s right? Really? But aren’t they- ok,
we have confirmation, they are officially being called “independent contractors” to assist in the
raid.”

The whole rest of the class freaked the fuck out, to put it mildly.
Katsuki’s heart sank as the battle drew on.

He just knew Izuku had something to do with this, and he really didn’t want him to get hurt again.

~~~~~

Midoriya Inko had been living alone since almost the beginning of the school year. She kept up
with UA news to see what Katsuki was getting up to, and she visited Mitsuki quite often, but the
house felt so empty without her son.

She had stopped going in to dust after a month of him being missing, because it was too painful to
see all of his things, untouched. The bed was still rumpled from where he had sloppily made it up,
in a rush to get to school for that field trip they were going on.

She wishes she had made him stay home that day.

Worse still was getting him back and him not understanding how hurt she was by this whole
ordeal. Sure, he didn’t look physically injured, despite needing that precautionary hospital visit,
but then he just. He brushed her off, completely ignoring her completely valid concerns . I mean,
who wanted to see their kid go back to the school that let them get kidnapped and then remain
kidnapped for months? No sane mother. Her baby just wasn’t safe at that school, and watching
the news didn’t do much to convince her otherwise.

He was there, she just knew it.

When the monster crawled out of the hole in the street and that purple haired boy she remembered
from the sports festival and one of the other boys who was kidnapped with Katsuki starting pulling
people out of the hole, she knew she was right. There was her baby boy, in a darker version of the
costume she had helped him design at the beginning of the year. It had changed for sure, even
beyond the color, and her heart clenched to see him go after the beast with the rest of the people on
site.

She wasn’t even paying attention to what the news casters were saying, eyes glued to her baby boy
(probably for the best, so she didn’t realize the League was right there). He wasn’t directly
engaged in the fighting, thank god, but he seemed to be directing the others on how to fight the
monster. She didn’t even know what the centaur looking creature really was, probably the result of
some drugs or something, but she had never been more scared.

Suddenly, two of the heroes (what else could they be?) jumped forward to the temporarily frozen
abomination and engulfed it in flames, turning the creature to ash.

She sniffed and grabbed a tissue, tension bleeding out of her as she tuned back in.

“...thanks to the efforts of Headspace, Pinpoint, and others, it looks like Overhaul is finally down!
The raid is a success!”

Pinpoint, that was his hero name, wasn’t it?

A microphone was proffered to Eraserhead, Izuku’s teacher, but he scowled and pushed it aside.
“We don’t have time for this, some people are seriously injured-”

“ERI!”

The camera wobbled to see fading purple mist and her boy grabbing a sobbing little girl with white
hair and bandaged limbs. Inko’s heart broke for them, but they looked so happy to see each other.
A blonde girl came up and joined the hug before police swarmed the area, blocking them from
cameras.

“What a touching reunion scene!”

Inko couldn’t help but agree.

...Maybe she had been wrong.

Maybe her baby was always going to be a hero, with or without her.

~~~~~
Eri was feeling a lot of things right now.

One was what she imagined happiness to feel like, of course. She was feeling calm for the first
time in ages, and her heart only sped up a little whenever the door opened and a nurse came in, but
Izu-nii was here with her and he would tell her stories and hold her.

He was really warm, and it made her feel warm too.

She was also feeling scared, still. She knew she shouldn’t be, but when she told Izu-nii, he just
told her it was normal and it wasn’t her fault. That didn’t seem right, everything with Overhaul had
always been her fault. Besides, she was out, it was over, and Overhaul was gone; there was no
reason for her to be scared, so why was she still scared?

She was nervous, which was different than being scared, apparently. She didn’t know what they
would want with her now. Izu-nii said no one would ever hurt her again, but sometimes the nurses
came in and wanted to stick needles in her, and that always made her panic. Izu-nii was quick to
send the nurse out and hold her until she stopped crying, but she never knew what was going to
happen next. Was she going to get punished for not letting them stick needles in her? And what
about when it was time to leave, like Izu-nii said would happen when she was feeling better?
Where would she go? Would Izu-nii and Himi-nee be there?

She was also feeling something new. She wasn’t quite sure what it was yet, but it felt both bad and
good. She felt it about other people and the looks they gave Izu-nii. One time, when he was
asleep and the nurses thought she was too, she heard them talking about him, and calling him
names like “villain” and “traitor,” which gave her this feeling. It felt hot and hard, and made her
frown. He didn’t deserve to be called those things, he was a hero and he had saved her! He had
kept his promise and had found her! He wasn’t any of those things, and it made her feel this new
feeling whenever she heard them.

She could tell Izu-nii didn’t want her to worry. She asked why he was with her in the hospital if he
didn’t need to get better, but he just said it was to help her. She kept pushing, and eventually he
said he was “under observation,” which apparently meant they were just watching him to make
sure nothing bad happened.

She could read between the lines.

They were making sure nothing bad happened because of him.

...She decided she didn’t like that.

She got other visitors, the other people who had been with Himi-nee and Izu-nii. Lemillion was
one, he was very bright and smiled very wide. He brought her fruit, and Izu-nii helped her cut up
an apple. She really liked apples.

Then there was the red rock boy, Kiri. He also smiled a lot, but his teeth were very sharp. She had
never seen teeth like that before, and he let her touch them. She was very careful, because they
were sharp, but they were funny. She liked Kiri.

She also liked Shouji, though he was very tall. He gave very good hugs and he was quiet. When
he visited, they would just color quietly. It was nice. She liked Shouji too.

There was also the frog girl, Tsu. She would sometimes come with Shouji, because they were both
good at being quiet, but sometimes she came with the pink girl, Ochako, who was really smiley.
She made Eri feel warm like Izu-nii did, and she was always happy to see Eri and Izu-nii.

There was also the lightning boy, Kami, who would come with either the frog girl or Kiri. He kept
trying to tell her jokes, saying he wanted to see her smile, but she didn’t get the jokes.

Almost everyone said they wanted to see her smile, but she had forgotten how.

She had been getting better, with Himi-nee, because Himi-nee could become her. She had showed
Eri what she looked like when she was smiling, and Eri tried to copy what she saw, but it was
harder than it looked, so she still hadn’t managed to do it, but she was trying, really really hard.

Eraserhead, or Aizawa, would also come visit sometimes, but he mostly talked to Izu-nii. She
liked those visits, because sometimes she felt like everyone was there to visit her, and not Izu-nii,
but Eraserhead pretty much said hello and then started talking to Izu-nii, which made her happy.
He always looked better after those visits.

“Izu-nii, what do you talk about when Aizawa comes?”

He smiled sadly down at her. “He tells me all the things that are going on outside, and things we
might get to go to later!”
She frowned. “Izu-nii, why aren’t you allowed to leave?”

He blinked, then chuckled. “It’s ok, I don’t mind, this means I get to spend more time with you!
Himiko got to spend so much time with you, I feel like I fell behind!”

She was not deterred. “Izu-nii, why aren’t you allowed to leave?”

He sighed. “I was talking to people that most others don’t like, so they think that maybe I was
helping the bad guys and want to make sure I don’t mess anything up while they finish up the
investigation.”

Her brow scrunched up. “But the bad guys were Overhaul, and he’s gone. And didn’t you say
everyone else was are- arres- air rest- arrested?”

“...Did Himiko ever tell you about her group?”

Eri shook her head.

“Well, Himiko is a part of a group that was called the League of Villains for a long time. Most
people don’t like them very much.”

“Was Giri and, um, Spinner and Mustard, were they part of the League?”

“Yes.”

“But they were nice. Giri gave me a juice box and little fish to eat, and Mustard stopped me when
I was crying.”

“Yes, but they did some bad things before, even if now they are trying to get better.”

She blinked. “Are they trying to get better like me? Are they in the hospital?”
Izu-nii frowned. “I don’t know, Eri. I don’t know.”

~~~~~

Kurogiri was incredibly interested as to how he had gotten in this position.

To be fair, part of the original plan was to have him, Spinner, and Mustard out of the raid to ensure
that if the “temporary immunity” wore off, they would be able to get the rest of the League back,
but Tomura nor Stain had given the signal to be busted out yet. Of course, it was possible the
police had found the trackers they had and gotten rid of them, but unlikely in the grand scheme of
things.

Then Kurogiri got a call.

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Kurogiri?”

“I suppose there is no point in denying at this point. Detective Tsukauchi, how can I help you?”

“The rest of the League is getting involved in a program and we would like to offer you, Spinner,
and Mustard a deal, if you’re willing to listen?”

“Everyone? Including Tomura?”

“Yes, he was the one who gave us this number so we could contact you about it.”

Kurogiri felt an eyebrow raise. “Very well, I’m listening.”

~~~~~
Getting back to the dorms after the raid was a nightmare, because Hitoshi knew that Izuku
wouldn’t be with them, which would be suspicious as hell to anyone not on the raid team. Aizawa
had given them full permission to talk about the League’s involvement when they got back, but
they weren’t allowed to talk about the details that had already been marked as confidential when
they were going over their reports.

True to form, the remainder of Class 1-A, all thirteen of them, burst into yelling as soon as the
remaining six walked in.

Mina was the first one to break out of the noise cacophony. “Was that really the League? Were
they on our side?!”

Tsu was the first to speak, blunt as always. “Yes. They were a big help, kero.”

Hagakure was bouncing with nervous energy. “Where’s Mido? Is he ok? He didn’t look hurt on
the broadcast!!”

The work study students all grimaced at each other and Hitoshi sighed.

“Might as well get this over with. We all knew a while ago, but Izuku was in communication with
the League.”

The noise broke out again, mostly shock, outrage, and disbelief.

“I wasn’t done,” he snapped, “so sit down and shut up. Good. Now, he is not, was not, and never
will be, a traitor. He was not selling them information, he was not planning sabotage, he was not
doing anything more than acting heroic. He was just talking to them. In fact, he got information
from them , and without it, the raid would not have gone as well as it did.”

Aoyama was the one to break the tense silence. “And how did he contact them?”

“A burner phone. Toga Himiko delivered it to him.”

Iida was pale, chopping his hands through the air. “He accepted an item from a villain? He spoke
with villains? Forgive me, Shinsou, but I do not see how that is equivalent to acting heroic!”

Uraraka beat him to the punch. “He was using all his resources. The League hated Overhaul and
his cronies, and Izuku was in their good graces, so he was getting information from them and
feeding it to the heroes.”

“So he was just using them?”

Hitoshi looked at a nervous Momo, who was looking more relieved by the second.

“...No.”

That set the class off again, but before one of the work study kids could intervene, Bakugo popped
off an explosion directly into the air.

“How stupid can you morons be? He was talking to his friends! The fuck was using all his
resources to make sure that kid was safe.”

“...So why isn’t he back yet?”

The whole class looked at Jirou, who was looking at Hitoshi. “I mean, he’s not a traitor, we been
knew, he’s too sweet anyway, probably turning the villains legal at this point, but that doesn’t
explain why you guys came back and he didn’t.”

Hitoshi really didn’t want to say it, and a glance at Uraraka said she felt the same.

Tsu, however, had no such qualms.

“Some pros suspect he is a villain despite the evidence, kero, so they are keeping him under
observation until the investigation into him is complete.”

Bakugo scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Jacks said it, no way is he a villain. I guess we just have to
wait for this shit to blow over, huh?”

“THE LEAGUE MIGHT BE GOING THROUGH A REFORMATION PROGRAM!”

Kaminari let out a breath no one knew he had been holding and grinned. “Feels so good to get that
off my chest, oh my god, you guys don’t even know!”

Mina bounded over, shaking the electric boy. “What?! Where did you hear that?!”

Jirou raised an eyebrow. “Damn, did greenie really do it? I was mostly joking.”

Kaminari grinned. “Yeah! I overheard detective Tsukauchi and Aizawa-sensei talking about it
when I passed them! They really want to see if this can get them a full pardon and reintegrate them
into society, because they helped a whole hecking lot in this raid!”

Iida was stiff. “ All members of the League?”

All of a sudden, the news turned back on. They whirled to face Todoroki, who was staring
between the TV and his phone.

“Breaking News! Stain’s newest dossier was just released today, and the subject matter may shock
you! Current Number One Hero, the Flame Hero, Endeavor, has come under fire for the scathing
dossier released not half an hour ago onto all public forums and news sites! Even if they get taken
down, presumably by Endeavor’s PR team, they just keep popping up, reposted everywhere.
People want this message to be heard! What does this mean for hero society as a whole? Here is a
statement Endeavor Agency gave to the press five minutes ago…”

A woman was standing in front of a podium, face completely neutral even as cameras flashed and
reporters swarmed.

“Endeavor will not be acknowledging the words of a famous serial killer, and frankly, finds this
ridiculous that anyone would believe this.”

“Miss! What about the fact that he sources several citations and all the information seems to be
accurate?”

“No comment,” she sniffed.

The class, completely forgetting Izuku and the League, turned to stare at Todoroki, who was
grinning unabashedly. He turned to face Iida, eyes sparkling.

“Finally.”

~~~~~

Kyouka was feeling weird. She had been ever since Aizawa-sensei had announced the Cultural
Festival. They had ended up deciding on a concert, to relieve stress all around (they had caused
most of it, after all), and she was in charge of writing and singing the song, but it didn’t feel right.

Things were missing.

She mentioned it to the band team and watched Kaminari light up. “Oh yeah! I know exactly what
you mean! Mido’s gone and it just feels wrong to do this without the whole class, you know?”

Uraraka had been walking by, taking a break from dance to get some water, when she overheard.
“Oh my god, guys, wait, Kami, you know how Eri hasn’t been smiling?”

“Yeah?”

“And how she’s with Midori?”

“Uraraka I don’t see where you’re going with this.”

“I need to ask Aizawa-sensei if we can bring them to the festival! Eri would love it and we’d get to
see Midori! Plus, there’s no way the investigation on him won’t be done by then, right?”
Bakugo clicked his tongue. “You underestimate the fucking Commission, they are going as
slowly as possible. They fucking interviewed me on our goddamn childhood, looking for things
that would turn him villain. They are grasping at straws.”

Kyouka blinked. “Is that why you missed the first half of practice yesterday?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah. They’re still going with this shitty investigation.”

Uraraka frowned, but looked determined. “I’ll ask anyway. Maybe they can have a lot of hero
guards or something!”

Momo smiled softly. “It would be nice to see him again. I fear as though we just got him back and
now he is gone yet again.”

Tokoyami nodded. “He is a beacon for the forces of darkness.”

Bakugo snorted. “Just say he’s villain catnip and be done with it, edgelord.”

The bird boy bowed his head.

Kyouka sighed. “Well, back to work then. We’ve gotta make this good.”

The rest of the band grinned at her and she couldn’t help but grin back. “1, 2, 3-”

~~~~~

Aizawa was irritated. His student was basically being held against his will (and technically rights)
because of something he had already made quite clear was perfectly legal and within his rights.
The League was coming along nicely, all members officially enrolled in the rehabilitation program
with the exception of Kurogiri.

Of Shirakumo.
Telling Hizashi had been incredibly hard, probably because he wasn’t certain he wanted to hope
either, and he was maybe ten seconds away from a panic attack. He hadn’t had one of those in
years, but seeing the fog clear away and revealing a very familiar face (young, so young, just as
young as his students) had been quite a shock.

Now they just had to figure out how to get his memories back.

With the Commission being a huge piece of shit like always, slowing down the investigation that
was bullshit anyways on the grounds of “we have to deal with the Endeavor slander,” Aizawa had
no choice but to take a solid break if he didn’t want to go insane, genuinely.

So, when Uraraka asked if Midoriya and Eri could go to the cultural festival, it was a welcome
relief.

Well, not quite, he still had to get approval, btu he would be with them the entire time, as would
Mirio, in all likelihood.

The kink in the plan came when Eri, wide-eyed, asked if Himi-nee could come too.

Actually, no, this was perfect, Aizawa had a great plan.

A mid-program test is exactly what some of the League needed.

There was no way this could go wrong.

~~~~~

“Problem child,” Izuku started awake. Had he really not felt Aizawa come in? Huh, weird.

“Get up, I’m taking you and Eri on a field trip.”

He blinked, but straightened out his clothes from his impromptu nap and hopped off the bed. Eri
was bouncing excitedly, tugging at his hand.

“Sir?”

Aizawa grinned. “A field trip, come on.”

Izuku was not expecting to be led to school ground, and he definitely wasn’t expecting half the
League to be waiting for them when they got there.

His eyes widened. “Tomura? Himiko?”

Twice wailed about favoritism and Mustard (weird to see him without his mask, but it was
definitely him,) just rolled his eyes. Dabi was slouching against the gate, fairly covered up so his
rather recognizable burns didn’t give him away, and Mr. Compress was also sans-mask.

In fact, pretty much everyone was disguised in some way, probably to prevent panic.

“What are you guys doing here?”

Tomura rolled his eyes. “Some shit about a mid-program field test. I dunno, but we’re out for the
day.”

Himiko bounded over, getting hugged by Eri almost immediately.

“Mid-program…? Wait, what?”

Aizawa grinned. “Surprise.”

Izuku rounded on the man. “Wait, what? You knew?”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. “Of course, problem child, I was the one who arranged this.”

Izuku turned back to Tomura slowly. “Program?”

The taller boy scowled and looked away, but Izuku could see a blush creeping up his cheeks.
“Some shitty reform program so we can be actual citizens again.”

“But… but I thought you wanted to change society?”

Mr Compress chortled and bowed at the waist. “And we can do so through legal means, without
the police and government on our tails! Indeed, the side of good is much better funded, if nothing
else!”

“...Where’s everyone else?”

“Spinner and Stain are still working through some things, and Kurogiri is getting his memories
back, so none of them are here today.”

Pro Hero Ms Joke walked back through the gates. “Eraser! I was wondering when you were
gonna get here with the kiddos! Me and the gang were starting to get worried you had caught the
traffic!”

Izuku blinked. “The others?”

She chuckled. “Yep! All League members needed a hero bodyguard for this excursion, so me, the
Pussycats, and Eraser are here to help out!”

His eyes widened at the mention of the rescue team and he passed Eri off to Himiko before darting
inside. Green eyes met yellow and he leapt forward.

The teal haired woman caught him and spun him around, laughing. “Hey there, kitten! Heard your
school was having a cultural festival and needed some hero backup and thought I’d come say hi!”
 He sniffed. “You’re ok?”

She chuckled. “Of course! We just switched roles, you know? I’m going to be the first quirkless
hero, for you!”

He buried his face in her clothes and the rest of the Pussycats laughed.

Tomura grumbled something about sentiment and cry babies, but once he had Himiko distract Eri,
he flipped him the bird.

The group chuckled and Dabi heaved himself off the wall. “Well, I heard there’s a concert and
candy apples, so let’s go.”

Izuku gave a toothy grin and held Eri’s other hand.

This field trip wasn’t so bad, in the end.

Chapter End Notes

gave a few extra people redemption. honestly, I do understand Inko to some degree,
she's been told that her kid has no power, and the first week of school leads him
kidnapped. When she finally gets him back, he still wants to be a hero, and that's really
scary, but I also wanted her to realize that her son is incredibly capable and is
surrounded by incredible people, so she starting to come around. Maybe her
relationship with her son is still salvageable.

On another note, I know Eri would catch on that her big brother was being kept from
going outside. Sure, people would visit him, but most were under strict instruction to
keep outside information outside. Aizawa, of course, gives 0 fucks, but he would tell
Izu about the reform program because he's an ass like that.

Wanted a Pussycats reunion, did always plan for Ragdoll to be like "you wanted to be
a quirkless hero and you were doing great, so I'm going to try! We just switched, see?"
because she's lovely and wonderful and she and Izuku are definitely friends.

Next we will have the epilogue, which will be a good deal shorter than this (and no
Gentle and La Brava because stain is doing god's work) but we'll finally finish this :)

Thank you all so much for your support, the votes for the next story are really close,
between TLT and Placebo Effect (like Zutopia, that was an idea from the wife, so if
that one wins she'll be two for two lmao).

Votes close soon after the epilogue is posted!

 The Epilogue
Chapter Summary

Thank you for joining me on this journey, folks

Chapter Notes

better click that link

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The auditorium (or was it a gym?) was dark when Izuku heard Kacchan start it off with yelling and
an explosion.

“Let’s do this shit! We’re gonna murder UA with music!”

He couldn’t help but chuckle - that was par for the course, honestly. The wind swept over them as
the music started and Jirou yelled out, thanking them all for coming.

Eri was on Mr Compress’s shoulders, as a taller person, but they were all gathered at the side of
the crowd, to not attract attention (even with disguises, Tomura, Dabi, and Mr Compress were all
pretty tall; plus, everyone technically had a hero guard).

Everyone was dancing, with Jirou, Tokoyami, Kaminari, Kacchan, and Momo in the band. It
seemed like Hitoshi, Todoroki, Kouda, Kirishima, and Sero were on the effects team, in the rafters.

“What am I to be? What is my calling? I gave up giving up, I’m ready to go!”

Izuku thought on that. Who was he supposed to be? So many people called him a villain for
things largely outside his control, but all he had ever wanted to be was a hero.

“Future’s left unseen; it all depends on me. Put it on the line to follow my dream! Yeah!”
No matter what Nighteye said, wanting Izuku to fit in the mould he envisioned him in, his choices
were his own. If he could go back, he thought, glancing at Tomura, he would probably do it all
again.

“Tried all my life, I’ve tried to find something that makes me hold on and never let go!”

When he was younger, it was his desire to save people. When he was first with Tomura, it was the
thought that he’d get out and go back to UA. Now?

“Hero too, I am a hero too! My heart is set and I won’t back down! Hero too, strength doesn’t
make a hero; true heroes stand up for what they believe, so wait and see!”

Strength definitely didn’t make the hero. The Pussycats were a rescue team, the most successful
one in Japan, but they weren’t strong in the traditional sense. Eraserhead wasn’t a musclehead.
The best heroes weren’t.

Izuku wasn’t.

“What do they think of me? Who do they think I’ll be? I could not care less, I don’t wanna
know.”

Izuku found he didn’t really care what people thought of him. The people close to him didn’t
mind, and that was what mattered.

“Am I doing right? Am I satisfied? I want to live my life as it’s meant to be. Yeah! Tried all my
life, I’ve tried to find something that makes me hold on and never let go!”

Was he satisfied?

…Yeah.

“Hero too, I am a hero too! My heart is set and I won’t back down! Hero too, strength doesn’t
make a hero; true heroes stand up for what they believe, so wait and see!”
He was going to be a hero, no matter what anyone like the Commission may say, and he wasn’t
going to compromise himself or his relationships to do so.

“People will judge for no reason at all… Yeah, they might try to say your dream’s dumb… don’t
listen.”

When it came down to it, the people he cared about most, Hitoshi, Tomura, even Uraraka and
Himiko, they never told him his dream was dumb. They supported him. Everyone else might have
told him he couldn’t because he was quirkless, a villain, or weak. He never listened, and he wasn’t
going to start now.

“They may look down on me and count me out. I’m going on my own way… They may look
down on me and count me out… I’m a hero, I’ve got music!”

He was going his own way, but he was still a hero.

“Hero too, I am a hero too! My heart is set and I won’t back down! Hero too, strength doesn’t
make a hero; true heroes stand up for what they believe, YEAH I’LL BE!”

He was going to be a hero .

“Hero too, I am a hero too! My heart is set and I won’t back down! Hero too, strength doesn’t
make a hero; true heroes stand up for what they believe, so wait and see!”

And he would help people, no matter what.

“I have met so many heroes in my life, gave me strength and courage to survive! Gave me the
power to smile everyday; now it’s my turn to be the one to make you smile!”

Himiko nudged him, and Izuku glanced over at Eri.

She was smiling.

 He found he was too.

Chapter End Notes

and that's a wrap! Doing some final editing for TLT, but I should be able to get at least
two chapters up within the hour.

Always knew this is where I wanted to end, and listening to this song on repeat really
got me vibing, because a lot of this applies to Izuku as well. I thought it was fitting!

As for the rest, I won't tell you what happens, but you are welcome to headcanon
whatever you want. I set the stage for the future, but didn't feel like spoonfeeding it to
you. You all have had great ideas (some of which I've implemented, as you've no
doubt seen) and I know your versions of the future will be better than mine so...

Thanks so much for joining me on this journey! This is my first actual multichapter fic
and it's over!!!!

End Notes

it's done, thank you for reading!

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!