Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

She ran.

She was able to get away from them; her caretaker was called away and she took the chance and ran. 

Ran out of the compound with nothing at all. 

The cold concrete stung with each slap of her feet, and the wind would steal her breath and whip across the wet trails on her cheeks from her tears. But she couldn’t stop. If she did, then he would get her. He was right behind her and she knew it, so she couldn’t stop running. 

Turn after turn through the alley ways she ran, tripping over the feet of those who were sleeping in corners, doing her best to stay away from broken glass or needles that were scattered across the freezing ground. She could feel the pull on the barely healed cuts on her arms and legs, and the pain only made her run faster to try and get away from that house. 

From Chisaki. 

From the experiments. 

From the pain.

She takes another quick turn only to see a dead end. The corner alley filled with bags of garbage and a busted up dumpster that looks like no one has used in years. 

No.

No, this can’t be it. She can’t go back. The end of her escape can’t be this dead end. 

She fell to her knees, a sob hiccuping out of her as her tears return twice as hard, the coil of courage and hope that she had been grasping onto during her entire escape slipping from her and only leaving dread and pain in their place. Her feet hurt, her face stung, and she could feel that sticky wetness on her skin from the cuts that he reopened. She was so tired, and she didn’t know what to do anymore. This was her only plan, and it got her to a dead end. 

“U-um, h-hey are you okay?” A gentle and quiet voice stutters out.

She looks up (when had she looked down? it was too dangerous to not be paying attention) and sees a boy, although he looked much older than her, but definitely not as old as Chisaki, coming out of the trash bags, dragging some kind of beat up duffel bag and a torn up backpack that looks to only be holding together with a few bare threads. His hair looked matted and weighed down, yet somehow keep a fluffy look and through the dirt and grease she thinks she sees a bit of green.

 But it was his eyes that caught her off guard. 

They didn’t seem to analyze her every move, or look at her as some object or an annoyance like the other people in the alley did. He was actually looking at her. 

Carefully and slowly, he sets down the two bags and gets closer, wiping his hands off what looks like a shirt he had on underneath his jacket, although it didn’t look any cleaner than the rest of his clothes, and the grimace he made only proved he knew that as well. He kneels down to her (when was the last time anyone has done that, they always loomed over her and commanded her.) and asks again “are you okay?” That only makes her burst into tears once again and without much thought, jumps into the boy’s arms. 

“P-p-please. Save me.” She whispers into his grimy coat. She felt his arms move and flinches, ready to be thrown off him, but instead his hands land gently onto her back and held her. Not in a way that screamed  I Own You like she has always felt, but more it's alright, I’ll be here. “He’s coming. He’ll find me. Please…….help me” she pleads. 

Please……….save me .

~~~~~~~~~

“Please…...help me.” 

It was so quiet and scared that he barely missed it,  this shivering and sobbing girl in his arms was terrified of something. And apparently that something was getting close. 

Izuku has been out on these streets for years now; and he has seen tons of things in the last 5 years of his 14 year old life; but the fear in her eyes and the desperation in her voice told him that whoever was coming after her was bad. 

Really bad.

As carefully as he could, both to make sure he did not touch her wounds that were beginning to bleed through the wrappings on her arms and legs, he picks her up and whispers  a quick “I’ll do my best” into her hair before quickly walking over to his duffel. It’s the biggest thing he has at the moment she can hide in. Unzipping it quickly he lays her down into the bag, moving everything around to where it would help to hide her and with one last quick “stay as quiet as you possibly can” he zips the bag closed, and throws it over his shoulder. He blanches at how light the bag still is, even with her inside of it, before quickly grabbing his other bag and throwing it onto his other shoulder and trying to act natural in case anyone was about to come up to the dead end.

He was able to make it out of the dead end and a bit away from the entrance before he found a pretty empty spot. Quickly he sits down and puts both bags on the ground and begins acting like he is asleep, much like the rest of the residents in this area. 

It was just in time too as some guy in a way too nice suit pants and shirt starts walking down the alleyway. It immediately puts those who were coherent enough on edge, as everything about him screams dangerous.

A predator among the trash. 

And the weird bird mask he had on didn’t make him blend in. 

It just screamed super villain. 

It took everything in Izuku’s power to remain semi relaxed, as though he was asleep. Laying against both bags as any homeless operas on would, to make sure that it would not be taken. And to make sure that noticed that his bag had a terrified little girl inside hiding from this monster. He kept his breaths deep and slow, and focused on making sure he let any kind of hint that he was pretending. 

The steps from the guys shoes seemed to echo throughout the alleyway, getting closer and closer until stopping right next to him. 

Did he figure me out?! Are we both going to end up dead?!

“Hey, you.” He calls out, but Izuku makes no move to show he was awake, praying with every fiber of his body that he would go away.

“What do you want?! Huh?!” A rough and drunk voice responds instead. It must have been the guy next to him that he was taking to; but he can’t relax yet, he can’t show that he was conscious at all, or else it would are him twice as suspicious to this crazy guy. 

“Have you seen a little girl run by? She is my daughter, and seems to have to have run off and gotten lost in these alleys.” He says it so confidently and like he was doing nothing but being a good father, but Izuku didn’t trust a single word from him.

“You think i give a fuck about who might be running around?! Why don’t you go barking up some other tree.” The scratchy voices yells at him, he keeps his eyes closed tight as he feels the wind from most likely a half drunk swing blow right above his head, nearly missing his hair and hitting his backpack instead. It took everything in him to not flinch, but thankfully he stays still and doesn’t move. Hoping with everything that showing no reaction to the blind swing was the right choice. 

“I don’t have time to deal with trash like you.” The mask man said, some kind of rustling sound following his remark as the homeless man beside him seemed to have taken the remark hard and from the sounds of it he stood up to get ready to fight the guy. Izuku was ready to move when needed, not wanting either he or the girl to get hurt if they got in a brawl. But instead of the sounds of fists hitting skin, he heard a weird sound and then suddenly it was quiet. 

Way too quiet. 

Izuku didn’t even dare to move; trying to keep his breathing even in hopes that the guy hadn’t figured him out yet. 

The feeling of this guy was completely psychotic.  He was glad he didn’t have an empath quirk, cause he could feel the murderous waves coming off of the guy now. It was deathly quiet for a full minute, and Izuku feared that he was found out. Finally, the guy seems to have calmed down and let out a small exhale like he was disappointed or something. 

“Such a mess. It would be too much of a hassle to clean it up, and its not like it matters.” The mask guy said before continuing to walk off down the alleyway, seemingly done with the area he was in and moving on to find the girl. 

Izuku didn’t move at all. Not after he heard the last tap of those shoes.

Not when it felt like an hour went by after he last heard anything.

It wasn’t until he could finally breathe normally again that he was able to gather the strength to sit up, his arms still shaking. He looked around a few times before finally zipping open the duffel bag and moving the few items within to get a look at the girl. “A-are you o-okay?” He asks, scared that she may have been seriously hurt by staying in there so long. She looks back at him, tears clinging to the edge of her eyes and she shakes her head no. He lets out a shaky breath before whispering “are you o-okay with staying in the bag a bit longer? We’re heading to my usual area, but I-I want to make sure that no one sees you in case that guy double backs this way.” He asks, he knows that it must be uncomfortable in the bag, and if she wanted to walk on her own or go her own way he wouldn’t fight her on it, but he had the feeling that at the moment, she didn’t want to be left alone.

“I-I can stay in the bag. T-thank you.” She says quietly, still barely a whisper, but he heard it loud and clear. He zipped up the bag again, this time leaving a small amount of space open so that he could make sure that if she said anything he could hear her, and to make sure that she could get fresh air. 

The walk was pretty far, since he was going slower to make sure that the girl was comfortable, and he also made sure to take a far more roundabout way to get to his own place to make sure that they weren’t followed. 

He made his way until he got to a less populated area, where it lined a beach. Most people usually stick to the more popular areas; but he could see in the distance an area devoid of people, and only the outline of the piles of trash crowded the area. 

Quietly, he says “we’re almost there. Just hang on a little longer, okay?” He gets a small hum as a reply and tries to pick up the pace, wanting to get back to Dagobah beach before the sun sets. 

The whole area used to be a great area for tourists and locals alike, but over time trash began to pile up on the beach because of the currently, and soon enough people just used it as a free dump to get rid of anything and everything. And no one actually acknowledges the area anymore, which made it the perfect place for Izuku. 

Thankfully, he was able to beat the sun and took the stairs as gently as he could before weaving in and out of the towers of trash, keeping an eye open for anything that he may be able to use for it or anything new. 

Doesn’t look like anything too new, but that’s alright.

Finally he made it to his area. He cleaned up a small area of the beach, making sure to be meticulous and remove every piece of trash in the sand and creating a sort of alcove of trash, and in built into the wall of trash was his home. It was built of loose metal sheets and pieces he was able to break off of rusted cars and broken appliances, as well as plywood planks that he was able to scrounge up. Nailed together with duct tape and any rusted nails he could find in the dump. It wasn’t pretty, but it was certainly sturdy and could hold up to quiet a bit of weather. He removed the duffel bag and gently placed it down onto the sand, unzipping it fully and picking up the girl, placing her on his hip. 

“Whelp, this is it. It doesn’t look like much, but it's out of the way, and no one even comes close to this place, so you should be safe.” He says to her,taking another look at her to see if there was anywhere she was hurt that he may have missed. “I have a few medical supplies inside so I can take a look at where you're hurt and see if there is anything I can do.” He says, making sure to give her plenty of room to tell him otherwise. She looks to and from his little hut and to him before giving him a quiet nod.

Moving aside the door (which came from a busted refrigerator) and takes them both inside. He grabs a few camp lanterns and turns them on, putting a warm glow about the small space before grabbing the bag that held what few medicinal supplies he has been able to scrounge up. 

He sets the girl on the floor; well more like a couple of large rugs that were stained beyond reason, torn in some areas that he was able to fix up with some duct tape, or were so faded and worn out, that it was barely there. It sits down next to her with the bag and asks “are you alright with me removing the bandages?” She seemed startled by the question, but nods regardless. Once he was sure she was okay with it, he started with the ones on her arms, slowly removing them and making sure that the clean ones stayed as clean as possible before going about cleaning up the opened cuts.

Then silence as he worked was awkward at most, but didn’t feel tense at all. 

“Oh, I-I guess I should go ahead and introduce myself. M-my name is Midoriya Izuku. What is your name?”

The girl is silent, and izuku doesn’t push to try and get an answer, letting her take the time to actually calm down from their hectic day. He continues on with cleaning and wrapping the cuts again, trying to be as gentle as possible and giving quiet apologies whenever she flinches.

It wasn’t until he finished cleaning and redressing her wounds that he finally got an answer 

“E-Eri.”

He gives her a small smile, one he hasn’t had in a long time.

“Hello Eri, you’re safe now.”

Just those few words seem to break whatever spell was on her as tears began to well up and spill down her face. but they didn’t seem like tears of fear, or pain, or anger. 

They were tears of relief. 

Chapter Text

The sun had long since set, and Eri had finally been able to fall asleep against him on the one mattress that Izuku had been able to salvage years ago, but Izuku can’t find it in himself to fall asleep. 

After he had been able to calm Eri enough to where he could get a bit of food in her (although it wasn’t exactly great, most of it being cold canned food.) he was able to get a bit of her story, he knows that she was hiding quite a bit of it, but he wasn’t going to pry or get on her for not telling him everything. After all, she was just a little kid, and just from what little he was old painted a very awful picture.

All he can think about is how scared he is; of Chisaki finding them, or finding Eri when Izuku isn’t around. 

But he also can’t help but to think about how he also ended up on the streets; how he and Eri both were able to escape awful lives and ended up on the streets. The only difference is that he didn’t have anyone when he was first out here.

As quietly as he could he gets off the bed, making sure the few sheets that he had were wrapped snugly around Eri to help are off the cold sea air that comes every night. He pulls a piece of rebar to him and takes a step outside, keeping an eye out for any bird masks and to try and calm his thoughts down. The cold sea air didn’t help as much as he had hoped, and it only reminds him more of those cold nights in that bare room and the screaming matches he had to listen to through thin walls. 

Looking out to the ocean, and the beach being lit by the half moon, he can’t stop thinking about his past.

It was 5 years ago now; well, that’s not exactly correct. His life had always been awful. His dad was a drunk who could never hold an job and used any money that they had on underground gambling, although he always came back empty handed and filled with alcohol; With his quirk, Fire breath, it was a noxious mix that left twisted and heavy scars on his body, and that was just with his quirk, the beatings themselves were on another level. Mom was slightly better, in that she was always at work to try and keep them barely alive, although most of it would go to either the loan sharks or dad would steal it. When she was home, the beatings he would have to try and live through growing up were ten times worse, her quirk being perfect to pull small but heavy rocks and hit him at such high speeds that it could (and has on quite a few occasions) break something. 

It was a hell in his house; and his quirk coming in later then most kids didn’t help either. Almost everyone thought he was quirkless, so any time he came to school covered in bruises, or he came with no lunch at all, the teachers would only give him a nasty look before ignoring him. 

The only person that made that entire time of his life worth it was Kacchan. He was his best friend in the world, and didn’t care when Izuku’s quirk didn’t come in straight away, he only said that it meant that his power was too cool to be revealed yet. Kacchan always did his best to take care of Izuku’s bruises…. well, as best as an elementary school kid could, with paper towels soaked in cold water and glares at his blue and purple patches. When he had asked why he always glares at them, Kacchan only said “I’m scaring away the pain! That way they’ll heal faster!” 

Kacchan was the only person on his side, even through the years, he always stuck by him. And Izuku always knew that Kacchan would become a hero; after all, he was his Hero. 

And then when he turned 7, he finally got his quirk. 

He was being punished again (he wasn’t even sure what he did that time to make mom go off on him like that) when she had pulled something from the kitchen. It was one of their kitchen knives, too dull from years of use, but that didn’t make it any much less a knife. It wasn’t the first time he feared for his life, but it was the first time he actually felt like his parents were trying to truly kill him. 

With fear and pain and adrenaline rushing through him he threw his hands up to try and stop the blade, he felt something different. He felt like something inside of him broke open, and he heard his mother gasp as the knife was pulled out of her hands and thrown into the wall, stabbing into the wall and staying there. She was so shocked that he was able to get to his closet of a rom and lock the door, putting his desk chair under the doorknob to make sure that they couldn’t open it. 

They didn’t take him to a quirk doctor (or any doctor), but after many….”trial and errors”, and with Kacchan’s help,  he was able to figure out that his quirk wasn’t like his mother’s exactly. It was magnetism manipulation, which allowed him to control any metal. 

It helped some, at least with making sure that his parents couldn’t use knives or anything metal against him, but that just only made them get creative.

And getting creative was even more dangerous. 

After living there for 9 awful years, he finally couldn’t take it anymore, and packing what he could and stealing all the money that was left in the house, even if it wasn’t much at all, he ran away. 

He ran and ran and ran until he didn’t know where he was anymore, before ducking into a random alley way and cowering next to a trash can. 

After that the years became a blur, all of it a means to survive. Things that he forgot he did, and some things he wishes he could forget. But none of it ever made him wish he could go back, everything he has experienced out here is nothing compared to the hell hole that was that run down apartment. 

He had found this beach after living on the streets for a year, and has been working to build his home here ever since, it's not great, and it was hard to find everything that he actually needed to help keep it together, but he was proud of it. 

The only thing he regrets was not being able to say goodbye to kacchan. After all he was the only one who he actually cared about.

Or well……. was the only one. 

Taking his eyes off of the push and pull of the ocean, he looks back into his little hut at Eri, who was still sound asleep, curled up in his blankets and sleeping on the beat up old mattress that was missing quite a few springs and was patched with tape and clothes that he had outgrown years ago. His cleanest shirt bundled up underneath her head as a pillow. 

He won’t let her go back, he refuses to send her back to those villains. He might not have had anyone, but Eri has him now. And he will do everything he can to protect her. 

He hears her mumbling something in her sleep, her face turning from calm to scared. A nightmare. He stabs the pole into the ground and makes his way back into the hut, using his quirk to pull the refrigerator door back over the entrance. 

“H-hey, ssssh its o-okay.” He whispers, sitting down on the mattress and picking her up from the bed, holding her close as he runs his fingers through her hair. gently, he hums a tune that he remembers Kacchan teaching him once when they were younger, the words lost to him now, but the melody always seems to come to mind when he needs it. It thankfully seems to do the trick and Eri goes back to a restful sleep. 

“It won’t be easy, but I’m not going to leave you Eri. You aren’t ever going back there. I promise.” He says into the dead of night, before a yawn pulls itself from him. Laying down on the mattress himself, he curls around Eri’s sleeping form defensively before finally being able to fall into a light sleep. 

His dreams holding fire and screams, hulking shadow figures that seem to seethe with hatred and pulse with poison words.  but also the smell of burnt sugar and a smirk that seems to melt away any pain and bring only hope.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t the worst sleep he has had, honestly it was quite nice compared to some of the sleepless and terrified nights he has gone through; but he honestly wished he could turn off the sun for a couple of more minutes as it had decided to wake him up by shining right into his eyes. 

Sluggishly, he crawls up to his hands and knees on the bed and looks over to the ball of blankets and the mess of white hair and a small horn that peeks out from the mess of ragged sheets. It honestly was really cute, and Izuku almost didn’t want to wake her up, wanting her to get the rest that she most rightfully deserves, but he also knew that they needed to do some planning, to figure out what she needed, as well as what they would need to do overall.

He knew one thing for sure, he was not going to leave her alone for awhile. From what he was told last night, she has always been alone, and because of that Chisaki was able to use that to his advantage. He does want to be able to get her confident and comfortable enough to be able to be left alone, especially when he may need to go further into the city for supplies that they can’t find on their beach, but he knows that right now he can’t leave her alone, not only would it break the trust that he was able to get with her so far, but also that Chisaki is still probably looking for her and leaving her alone is way too dangerous. 

“Guess we’ll be sticking to the beach for now.” He mumbled to himself, trying to plan out what they will need to do and find on the beach. He snaps out of it when he hears the unmistakable groan of someone who does not want to get up and be a part of the world yet. He moves some of the blankets to get a clearer view of her face, the tear tracks still evident on her cheeks but thankfully it seems like she isn’t scared about where she is from how she looks around the small hut. “Morning Eri, how are you feeling?” He asks quietly, giving her time to sit up from the cocoon of sheets and ratty blankets and rub the sleep from her eyes. 

He never really gets a response, but granted he wasn’t expecting too much. 

He hears a quite loud grumble from both of their stomachs that seems to break the silence. Crap! I didn’t have that much food stocked up to begin with, and now i have two mouths to feed!!!!

“Do you mind if i look at those cuts? I want to make sure they are doing okay. Once we check them over we can check what we have that we can have for some breakfast and then we can work together to make a game plan.” He asks instead, trying to forget the feeling of his stomach pain to focus on Eri and what she needs. He thankfully gets a nod this time, and with her permission they work together to clean her cuts and re-wrap her wounds. From there is was up to Izuku on what they should do for breakfast; normally he would try and hold off as long as he could and eat only once a day, but from how it was last night, he knows that she won’t eat if he doesn’t eat, so he’ll need to figure out a way to either get them more food or get her more comfortable with eating by herself.

He looks over what he does have that looks to be good for a light breakfast, although most of his food is canned food he was able to find here and there, but he didn’t really think that canned food would be good for her, and he wanted to do his best. The freshest thing he had was some apples that he had stolen from a fruit stand a day or two ago. Grabbing two of them, checking them over for any bad spots, and once he confirmed they were good to eat, he walked the short distance back to where Eri still sat on the bed.

“I-It’s not much, but it should hold us over for a while.” He says offering up the apple. The look in her eyes when she saw the bright red gleaming Apple was magical; she was so excited over something as simple as an Apple, he wanted to try and get that look everyday. It made everything seem like it was going to be just fine. However, it did concern him that while her eyes showed her glee, she didn’t actually smile. That would definitely be something that he is going to work on. 

She carefully picked up the Apple from his hand and the shine in her eyes could rival the sun. Izuku makes sure to eat his apple alongside her as she savors each bite, not wanting to ruin her enjoyment by forgetting to eat his own. 

“T-thank you.” She says, barely above a whisper, but the sentiment was more there enough. 

“There’s no need to t-thank me. N-now, Lets start thinking about what we are going to do for the next few days.” 

As carefully as he can, he explains that they will be staying at the beach to help steer clear of Chisaki until his search dies down, and that they can also use the time to get some work done on the hut as well, ad look for supplies for her, such as clothes and shoes and anything they may be able to use to help hide her identity. He technically knew someone that may be able to help, but that was going to be more of a last option kind of deal. It wasn’t that he hated the guy, in fact it was probably one of the few people he actually somewhat trusted out on the streets, but he was also definitely a bit unhinged and Izuku didn’t particularly like how he dealt with some things. 

“S-so what are we doing today?” She asks, Izuku doesn’t mention the shakiness of her voice as she said it, sure that just asking the question brought back memories of how her days used to be like. 

Honestly, Izuku wasn’t very sure where to begin. Sure, he had an overall plan, but he wasn’t sure where to start with the plan. They needed a lot and he wasn’t sure where to even start, how can he take care of Eri if he wasn’t;t even sure what she needed right now?!

He looks down at the stained carpets and notices Eri’s bare feet hanging off of the bed. He remembers back when he outgrew his first pair of shoes and how the sands here were riddled with broken glass and needles, he had to use his quirk and use metal plates as a makeshift snow-shoe to make sure he didn’t cut his feet on either. It took months of scouring the area around him to make sure that the sand was clear of needles and glass, and even then he barely left his hut without his ratty red shoes. 

“W-well, i guess the first thing we need is some shoes for you. The sand in this alcove should be al-alright to walk on barefoot, but anything past here could be dangerous. We sh-should also look into some clothes for y-you as well.” He lists off, hoping that everything he was saying actually made sense. She nods along with him as he explains it, helping to give him a bit more confidence in himself. 

“I-I don’t want to leave you on your own yet, in case we n-need to run fast, but I’m not sure exactly what we’ll be able to find in this beach dump that may work, and we may have to move to a different area of the beach as well to see what we an find. I-I don’t want you walking on the sand u-until we can find some shoes for you though, s-so….u-um….” he looks around his hut, trying to see if he could come up with some kind of idea of being able to keep her close without it being weird. His eyes land on the blanket that was pooling in her lap, it was one of his newer ones, so it wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the other blankets he has. It was a bright red and appeared to have been ripped pretty badly at the bottom, but besides that, it was a perfectly fine blanket. 

Wait.

He carefully scoops up the blanket and places Eri on the floor; wrapping them blanket around her in a way to both support her weight and keep her comfortable before lifting her up and tying the blanket around himself, creating a makeshift sling for her to sit in and keep her feet off the ground. “H-how does th-that feel? A-are you uncomfortable?” He asks, getting a quick shake of her head, her white hair falling into his face and tickling him.  making sure that the knot was secured, he grabs the duffel bag from before, as well as the rebar pole as well and starts to make his way along the beach. 

“If you see anything that looks interesting, or something that might be useful, d-don’t be afraid to point it out, okay?” He says to her, feeling her head nod against his shoulder as he made it through the towers of trash. He would take every chance he could to grab any clothes, even if they were too big or had pieces missing, thinking that they could come in handy if they needed extra clothes, or if in the end he may need to try making the clothes for her himself. He was able to find a pair of shoes that look like they may work for her after a few hours of searching; although they were different colors and the right one had a hole in the toe, but he could fix it up easily. 

Throughout their day, Eri stayed mostly quiet, only pointing at a few sheets of metal that would work to help out with the hut he could tell that she wasn’t super sure about her find, so he made sure to congratulate her on the awesome work she did and thank her for helping him find it, her eyes full of glee, although she didn’t smile like he had hoped. 

By the time the sun was past its peak and making its way to the horizon, he was heading back to their hut, their treasures in tow and his bag much heavier then before as they made their way back. 

“I’ll get those shoes fixed up for you so hopefully by the end of the day, we can take a walk around the beach to test them out.” He says, fill in the warm silence between them. He was expecting to feel her nod along, like she has done for most of the day, but instead he feels the tiniest tap on his shoulder. He looks over to her and notices that she is looking at one of the piles they were walking by, her hand shakily pointing out towards a small thing that looked to be slumped next to the pile. He walks over to the pile and picks up what she was pointing at; and it looked to be a green stuffed rabbit, the tips of the ears and the feet being red just like the blanket. He was missing one of his arms, a rip going along the seem and had quite a bit of sand and dirt stuck to him.

“I’m sure with a bit of work, we can get mr. bunny here as good as new. Awesome job Eri!” He says, making sure to carefully place the bunny into the duffel bag and not lose anymore stuffing. The proud look on her face, as well as that same gleeful shine in her eyes only cemented that he was going to do everything he could to get this stuffed animal as fixed up as he could for her. 

The rest of the walk back was quiet, but he could also feel the excitement coming off of her, so he did his best to quickly make it back to their little hut. Once they got back, he set her down onto the carpet again and started to pull out all of their findings from the duffel, making sure to take extra care of the rabbit and place it onto the bed. Eri looks at it with that hopeful look in her eyes, and he wants to be able to help keep that look there, to be able to help her be just like any other kid, full of hope and wonder. He knows that she won’t be naive to the world like kids that grew up normally, after all he experienced that same crushing feeling when he was just around her age, but if he can help give some of that excitement and normalcy back to her, he would do everything in his power to do it. 

“We’ll work on fixing him up later, promise. First let's get some food into you.” He says before redirecting her over to his small stock of food; Izuku decided to let Eri decide what they would have, although there wasn’t much to pick from, and the glaringly obvious issue that Izuku had run out of water was very apparent to him. 

“I-Izu…..Izu….um…..w-what is this?” Eri asks, holding up a potato.

“Oh, that’s a Potato.have you never heard of them before?” He says, kneeling down to her level.

She shakes her head no, giving the potato an odd look.

“You see, its a vegetable that grows under the ground, and then when its done growing, we dig it up and we can cook it in a lot of different ways.” He says, taking one of the potatoes in his own hands and passing it back and forth between them. 

“R-r-really?”

“Yeah, how about we have Potatoes for dinner, then. you can help me make them too.” The prospect of helping to make dinner was surprisingly a good idea as Eri excitedly nodded her head and was raring to go. 

“Great! Go ahead and grab two potatoes.” He says, before plopping the one he had been playing with into her hands “tadah! Two potatoes! You’re already ahead of me.” He can see the corners of her mouth twerk up a bit. Win. “Now that we have two potatoes we need to wash them and then-“ he stops short as he tries to reach back for one of the water bottles he had, only for his hand to hit nothing. Crap, he forgot why he had gone out yesterday in the first place! He had went out to get some more food and water, but then things kind of went different then how he planned. “Um, go ahead and wash them in the ocean, and then you can bring them back here and we can poke some holes in them and start cooking.” He says, trying to cover his fumble and make sure not to stress Eri out. She nods enthusiastically before racing to the waters edge in their alcove.

We may need to leave the beach for supplies sooner than I thought.  He thinks to himself as he walks outside to start making a small campfire to cook the potatoes on. 

I might even be able to get a fish, I’ve been able to do it once or twice since cleaning up this area of the beach. He contemplates as he grabs some of the broken planks from his pile and starts to pile them up, he can see Eri racing back to him, two dripping wet potatoes clutched in her hands. It was too adorable, how excited she was over something as plain as a potato, and almost made him want to find that Chisaki guy and make him regret ever hurting her. 

Their dinner was actually very nice, he taught Eri how to make the potatoes, and while they were roasting in the fire, they were even able to catch a fish ( even if it was a bit small) but seeing her actually enjoy herself was something that Izuku would never give up. When the sun had set and they were able to see the stars, he told her stories of the constellations, or at least the ones he remember from the few times he was able to camp out with Kacchan in his backyard that Kacchan’s dad would tell them, and he was able to get Eri to smile. It was a small one, and he was sure she wasn’t even aware of it, but it was the most magnificent thing he had ever seen. 

Once he put out the fire, he picked up Eri, who had fallen asleep, and carefully wiped away the sand stuck to her and her clothes before taking her inside their hut and putting her to bed. He can feel his own exhaustion from the day hitting him, but something catches his eyes that he knows that he needs to do. 

He grabs one of the few candles he has, and lights it, placing it onto the crate he uses as a table before carefully taking a hold of the bunny. Pulling out one of the torn up shirts he had grabbed earlier today, and a small sewing kit,he gets to work fixing the stuffed animal, being careful of how much thread he uses, and pulling some of the stuffing from one of the old couch pillows he keeps on hand. It takes a few hours of hard and meticulous work, but he can say that he was able to fix it up as good as new. Quietly, he puts everything back, and curls up next to Eri, before carefully putting the bunny into her arms, it’s new arm a stark gray from the rest of the bunny as it sticks out from under the sheets. 

It doesn’t take her any time to pull it closer to her, snuggling the stuffed toy to her as she continues to sleep on. 

A small, tired smile worms its way onto his face as he gets comfortable on the bed, placing a protective arm across Eri to make sure that if needed, he can grab her and run. It doesn’t take long for him to fall asleep, the quietly breathing of Eri helping him relax into a light sleep.

It may be small, and they may both have physical and mental scars, but they will get through it together. 

Chapter Text

 The last few weeks with Eri have been….something. Izuku almost wanted to say smooth sailing, but that would mean there haven’t been hiccups and instances where they weren't at their best.

Eri would have nightmares quite a bit; screaming and crying in her sleep. The first time it happened it scared him to pieces, he thought that Chisaki had found them, only to see Eri struggling in her sheets. It took a couple of tries to actually get her to wake up, and when she did she apologized profusely. He had to learn how to help her out with them, since when they got really bad, she freaked out if he tried to touch her. But he could also see the good it was doing for her, finally being free. She liked to explore and over time would actually ask questions about something she didn’t understand, rather then look worriedly at something until Izuku asked if she had a question. There were moments when she almost seemed like any normal kid, and other times he could still see the scars that were left over.

It was definitely a change for Izuku as well, now not only looking out for himself but for someone else now. It kind of made him realize how awful he has been treating himself. When living on the streets, being constantly seen as trash and beneath everyone, or as a nuisance to society, let alone the fact that he had to rummage through garbage just to find a meal or something to get a bit of cash, it hit your pride. while Izuku tried not to show it, it definitely hit his self esteem hard and his own idea of what was acceptable for him got worse and worse. 

But now that he has Eri with him, who is so dependent on him, it kind of woke him up and brought him back to reality. He started to eat more, both to try and regain some strength (to make sure that if you-know-who came by, he would be able to actually run away and carry Eri and whatever they may be able to grab.) and also to make sure that Eri was eating, since she still would not eat a bite until Izuku did. 

Something else that Izuku had kind of forgone after living on the streets. 

Hygiene.

When living by himself, and scuffling thigh bags of trash, he kind of threw any kind of regular hygiene schedule out the window, since it would get ruined the next day anyway. There was also the problem with money, as trying to buy any kind of hygiene item with the meager money he would be able to scrounge up for soap and hair care started to feel somewhat redundant. He would usually wash in the ocean when he could, but those times were few and far between. But now that he has Eri, he realized just how dirty he was. And not just him, but the clothes he has and the sheets were also filthy. When he realized it, he grabbed the can of money that he has been able to save up since he started living on the streets(he had hoped that one day, he would be able to save up enough and get a small apartment and try remaking an actual life from scratch) and took it and Eri to the closest store. It was run down, and obviously was used mostly by those with little to no money, or those that live in poverty, and grabbed soap, shampoo and conditioner, toothbrushes and toothpaste as well as some hair ties and a brush. he debated on whether to purchase water while they were there as well, or to try and steal it another day, but in the end decided to buy it, in order to try and be a good example for Eri. 

Meanwhile, Eri, who was wearing one of Izuku’s cleanest hoodies with the hood up to hide most of her hair and her horn, was exploring the aisles as they walked through the dimly lit store. She wouldn’t go far, staying in the same aisle and only really going a few feet away, but she had that look in her eyes. Even as he was checking out with the grumpy store owner, as he counted the money, she seemed enthralled with everything, and she even had the courage to ask a few questions to the store owner, which definitely surprised him and got Izuku an odd look, he was able to come up with a story about how they were siblings that got out of a bad home, which thankfully garner any more questions from the guy. (Izuku did see a small smile come from the guy and saw out of the corner of his eyes that he gave Eri a chocolate bar. He will definitely want to check it later but from the relaxed look, the owner did it out of good will…...but he’ll definitely need to have a talk about taking candy from strangers.)

The amount definitely took a chunk out of his savings, but it was worth it. 

They made it back to the beach, thankfully without running into anyone, and Izuku set down the packs of water bottles, heaving as he was finally able to let go of the weight. Eri was right behind him, carrying the bag, she drops the bag dramatically and acts as though the paper bag had weighed a ton. It took a second, but it connected that Eri was copying him, and he chuckles at her antics before ruffling her hair. 

Now, time to round up the clothes.

“Alright, Commander Eri! Are you ready for your mission?” He says in a deep voice, hoping to help make this a bit more fun for her. He can think back to when Kacchan’s dad would do this with them to help them clean up their toys. It does not really get the reaction he wanted, getting an odd look from Eri, but he continues on. “Our mission is to gather up all of the aliens that have infested this home. They have taken the form of shirts, pants, and other clothing. We must put them into this secure holding cell.” He opens up the duffel bag and places it between them. “Do you think you will be able to complete this mission commander?” 

The look in her eyes was precious, so full of fire and determination. She furiously nods her head and says, although still a bit quietly “ I-I’ll do my best.” Together, they began pilling all of the clothes they have into the duffel bag, he also threw in a few tattered towels he had lying around as well. As he wrangled the sheets off the bed, he also noticed the stuffed bunny lying next to the bed. Eri never goes anywhere without it, and he knows that she loves it to pieces, but it did come from the trash, and he honestly should have washed it awhile ago. Carefully, he also picks up the bunny and places it into the duffel bag. Eri put the last of the clothes into the bag, getting a congratulatory hug from Izuku. 

Once Izuku has the duffel strap on his shoulder, he offers his hands to Eri, who takes them giddily, and he lifts her up and sits her onto his shoulders. He double checks to make sure that the hood is still up before he carefully picks up the paper bag and a plastic tub, they make their way back out. 

He didn’t have anything to actually wash the clothes back on the beach; he wouldn’t do it in the ocean, since that would be dangerous to wash the soap off in for the environment, but he also wasn’t going to use the water he just bought for it either, so the next best thing would be either a homeless shelter or a public restroom. A homeless shelter may be too risky, with all those people there, and Izuku actually knew of a park that had a public restroom with a shower stall in it that they could use. 

Thankfully, due to the chill in the autumn air, no one was in the park so they had the restroom all to themselves. 

“Alrighty, down we go.” He says playfully, taking Eri off of his shoulders and placing her down onto the lamentation tiles gently. “So we’ll start on the clothes first and get them all clean and drying, we’ll both shower.” He says,placing down the duffel bag and the tub that held their supplies. He was expecting some kind of hum or even a small “Okay” as a response, but he heard nothing. He turns back around to Eri and sees her face is deathly pale and the most terrified look on her face. 

“Eri?”

“Sh-sh-sh-no no no no no no….” she mumbles as she seems to start to struggle to breath and shake uncontrollably. Her eyes seemed like they weren’t really looking at him, but through him. 

He has only see her get like this a few times, usually after a nightmare about before he found her, and he has learned that Eri did not like to be touched when she was like this. It hurt that he couldn’t hold her close when she got this scared, but he did everything that he could. He called to her, gently and calmly, trying to put how much he cares into each syllable. He held his hands out to her, but never made a move to touch her, letting her come to him when she was ready. When he started to see some kind of recognition in her eyes, he walked her through some breathing exercises, exaggerating his own breathing to be big and slow for her to be able to watch and follow along. It felt like ages, but finally her breathing seemed to calm down and the shaking seemed to stop as well, and she finally reached out and took his hand as well. Slowly he pulls her to him and gently wraps his arms around her, letting her take a few moments to just be held and finish calming down.

Once a few minutes pass with Izuku sitting on the floor with Eri curled up in his lap, her hand grabbing onto his shirt, he finally asks. “Can you tell me what scared you?” 

She was quiet for a few moments, before answering “shower. Showers are always rough and cold and they always called me dirty and left my skin red and it hurts.” She says, he can hear her holding back the tears, but he doesn’t point it out.

“I promise, an actual shower is nothing like that, and i can go first if you want so that you can see how a real shower works, okay? I won't let the shower hurt you, okay?” Izuku says calmly, doing everything in his power to hide the rage he was feeling. They made her be terrified of something as basic as showering?! I’m going to make sure that they get what they deserve one way or another .

He gets a little nod from her and she stands up, wiping away her tears and looking at him, trying to be brave even when he could tell she was scared. 

“Besides, we are washing the clothes first, so you don’t need to worry okay? Want to help me wash them?” He asks, staying around her level of height to try and not appear imposing where she still seemed scared. The nod he gets is a bit more definitive then the first, so he takes that as a good sign. 

As they wash the clothes in the tub, he does his best to make it fun for her and help her feel a bit more comfortable with washing; from blowing suds and letting her pop any bubbles that drift from the tub, and cheering her on when she would help scrub the clothes. They had to clear out the tub multiple times before all of the clothes and sheets (and of course the bunny, which he took sastra care to wash) looked better than they had in ages, drying out on the floor and on door frames and towel racks. 

Now came the hard part. Showers. 

As promised, Izuku goes first, showing everything he was doing to Eri and explaining everything as best as he could, he let her feel the water pressure and the temperature, telling her that they can change the temperature so that if the water feels too hot or too cold, she can tell him right away and he can adjust it. He shows her the soaps and shampoo and conditioner and explains how each work on the hair, or at least, what he knew about them . It seems that she was feeling a bit better about the whole thing, and he had her stand out of the stall for a moment so he could get undressed. He does so as quickly as possible, then throws the towel on around his waist to help cover, before calling her back in. 

It took quite some time for him to actually get clean, having to wash his hair multiple times to get the grime out of it, and even then, there were still mats of hair that he couldn’t really do much with, so he decided that he would cut them out later, to make sure they wouldn’t get worse. Eri was quiet for the most part, but she was always there in the corner of their stall, watching his back as he worked to clean himself as best as he could.

Once he was sure he got as much as the grime off as possible, he turned off the shower and started to dry himself off as quickly as possible with another towel. Once he was dried off, he grabs one of the last towels he brought and holds it out to her, signaling that it was her turn. She still seemed scared, but bravely took the towel. Izuku steps out of the stall for a few moments to let her change and also takes the time to check which clothes were dry and gets changed himself, and even folding some of the clothes as well and putting them back into the duffel. 

He hears a small “r-ready” behind him and he goes back into the stall, she was obviously still scared, and it seemed like she was also scared about showing her scars, although Izuku has already seen them multiple times when treating them, but he can also understand how vulnerable it makes her feel. He does the same as before, letting her feel the water pressure and temperature with her hand first and once she gives him the approval, he starts to wash her, being gentle as he washes her hair and being aware to not let the soap run into her eyes either. Throughout it, she seems to slowly relax and actually works with him as he cleans he up.

 It takes less time for the water to run clear with Eri’s shower and not soon after that, they are both dressed in clean, dry hoodies. All of their clothes folded and put in the duffel over Izuku’s shoulders and the tub with their shower items propped onto his other hip. Hero (as she has started calling her bunny) held tightly to her as she hold’s Izuku’s hand on their walk back.

It was quiet. But not an oppressive quiet, just a comforting one. They didn’t need to have any kind of chatter between them, they just needed each other.

By the time they got back to the beach, the sun was already setting and Eri had migrated from walking beside him, to sitting on his shoulders again, her head resting on his as she tiredly tried to keep her eyes open. 

He decides to forgo food at the moment, also tired out from their day and sets her down on the carpet, getting to work on getting the sheets out of the duffel so he can make the bed for them. As he wrangles the sheets to look nice, he feels a tap on his shoulder, he turns around slowly to see Eri behind him, holding up two apples. 

He chuckles as he grabs one of the apples from her hand. “thanks for looking out for me Eri. You did an awesome job today.” He says, before taking a big bite from the Apple, trying to be over dramatic with his reactions, although he was honestly too tired to make it look authentic. Eri also takes a big bite from hers, and although he can tell that she’s half asleep on her feet, that same sparkle shines in her eyes. Apples were her favorite food apparently, and it made Izuku want to learn some actual recipes with apples just so that she could try them. 

Both tired and worn out from the day, they crawl under the sheets, Eri curling into Izuku’s chest as he uses his body to act more as a wall to block anyone from seeing her if they look into the hut from the entrance, as well as block the salty sea air from hitting her. This has become routine for them, and was the only for either of them to sleep now a days. 

Just before they went to sleep, Eri asks “do they hurt?” 

Izuku was confused at first by what she meant, until he remembered that Eri must have seen all of his scars while he was showering. 

“No that much; I sometimes forget they’re even there. The only time they really hurt when there’s a big storm. Besides that they are just apart of me.”

Eri looks down at her own scarred arms, he can tell that she doesn’t like them at all, and wishes they were gone. He sometimes wishes that too. No deserves what they have been through. But he didn’t want her to start hating herself because of these.

He holds up one of his own scarred arms in front of them, taking Eri’s hand in his. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that your scars are a bad thing. They aren’t the marks that mean we are weak, and we shouldn’t think of them as a link back to those who made them. They are ours alone, and they prove that we are strong….that we survived and can continue to live on.” 

 He can hear her sniffles as she cries, and he can see just barely from the moon light that she was holding Hero close as she cried, but then she turns around and hugs him, however awkwardly  it was to do so while they were lying down, and he hears the muffled thank you that was muttered into his chest.

Slowly he pats her hair, fresh and clean and seeming to almost absorb the light from the moon. He can feel her sag as sleep finally claims her and pulls up the sheets to make sure that she was warm. Call was fast approaching and that meant that Izuku would need to start stockpiling canned food and would probably need to find some kind of coat for Eri for the coming winter too. That was always the most hazardous time living on the streets. But he’ll find a way. 

Placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head, he whispers “Good night Eri.” Before sleep claims him as well, leading them both to sweet dreams.

Chapter Text

The Autumn season was in full swing; leaves were changing colors and falling off of their trees and that biting cold wind always made you want to curl further into your jacket and scarf as you scurried from place to place. 

But for those who are homeless, Autumn is not a joyful season full of change, but rather an omen that winter was coming right around the bend, and that made every single one of them more volatile over anything found in dumpsters and homeless shelters such as food, clothes, or items to help beat the cold. More fights would break out on the regular when it came to territory, some trying to take over good spots, while others are so defensive that they beat up anyone that even gets close. its something that happens every year, it scared him the first time he had to endure it, thankfully, one of the older alleyway regulars had taken him in and helped him survive that year and teach him the ropes, and from then on he has been able to get by for the most part with sneaking what he needed and avoiding the others at all costs.

But now, things are different. He has Eri now, and not only does he need to stock up on as much food as he can, but he also needs to get more clothes for both him and her, as well as any extra blankets and……..so many things to help them survive. They thankfully don’t have to worry about territory; almost no one comes to this beach, and anyone that dares try Izuku had already a scared off so they know better then to try, but the issue is that while they have a beach full of trash that would normally be a heaven to some of the other homeless, but rather has not much to give besides protection and seclusion. Most of the items that would be helpful he had already scavenged from the towers of trash throughout the previous years of living here, and he usually checks them daily for anything new, like he would with a fruit tree. 

But in order to get what they need, they will need to go into the city streets to try and get what they need. the city is dangerous. Not just because every alleyway could lead to a fight, but it might also lead to Chisaki. And while Izuku wishes he could meet him and make him pay…...Izuku also had to be realistic. This guy was a real villain and would not hesitate to kill him with his quirk. While most homeless people may use their quirks, if they have one, to scare or threaten, they never did. That’s where broken bottles,shanks and fists came into play. If Izuku ever wanted to be able to at least get close enough to punch the dude, he needed to really start working on his quirk offensively. While he knows that his quirk can be quite strong, he hasn’t had a lot of practice with it and it was hard to pick up any of the heavy machines in the beach. He would need to start needing working on that as soon as he could. 

But back to the main issue, which is needing to go into the city. 

The wind was already nippy and bit at his cheeks and nose as he helped Eri get into one of his warmest hoodies, making sure her hair and horn were covered by it before grabbing the blanket closest to him. Since they were heading out to the maze of alleyways, he would rather have Eri right beside him then risk having her get lost, or if they needed a quick escape.

“Izu….can Hero come along?” Eri asks quietly. She has been getting better about asking for things, although usually its only with Hero the rabbit and with simple questions about one object or another from time to time, but they are honestly a big leap from how she was weeks ago. 

It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to bring him, as he may be left behind by accident or ripped. But he also didn’t want to say no. Hero has honestly been a big part of Eri’s growth, he gives her courage and helps her feel more safe. And in such a crowded place as the city, she would need that. 

Letting out a gentle sigh, he carefully leans down and picks up Hero, passing him over to Eri to let her get him in a position that works best for her. “You have to be really careful, the city is going to be busy and crowded, so we can't lose him, alright?” He feels her nod against him to confirm that she knows she has to keep him close. 

Once he was sure she was secure and double checked with her that she was comfortable, he grabbed his trusty duffel bag and pulled up the hood of his own before making his way out of the beach. 

The walk to the city was quite long, Especially with everything that he is doing to make sure they are not followed, but they finally make it with it nearly being noon. The streets are crowded, but he knows that they are much worse at night, but everyone gives them space, but never actually acknowledges them. It’s how they usually treat the homeless and he knows that for their survival, that is the best thing. 

He quickly goes into one of the alleyways and starts to make his way, whispering words to Eri to not be afraid and if they pass by anyone to tuck her head into his 

shoulders to make sure that she doesn't need to see anything scary or unsightly, and to help make sure that if they happen to run into you know who, he wouldn’t recognize her right away. 

They make their way through the, thankfully, empty alley and scour through trash bags and dumpsters, getting a couple of good cans of food that haven't expired yet, and he even found a couple of thick blankets with some holes, which shouldn’t be too big of a problem to fix up and patch with some left over scraps he has left over. Stuffing them into his duffel as he keeps making his way through the alley maze, grabbing barely spoiled food and anything that may be worthwhile, or at least something he may be able to sell. 

The only thing that he can’t seem to find is some new coats, or any clothes that would fit Eri. He should have expect it, but usually he could find something that may be closer to her size, but there was nothing, the closest thing to her size was a pair of pants that were so ripped and mangled that it would honestly be worse than the hoodies. 

After the 6th dumpster with no luck of coats or clothes, Izuku can't help but think that this will be a bit tougher than he thought. It’s not like he had expected it to be easy, but he wanted to try and take as few trips to the city as possible during this time, and With the threat of Chisaki, even more so. “Hmmmm we may need to try the homeless shelter.” He says to Eri as they start making their way back out onto the public sidewalks and start making their way. He sticked close to the walls of the stores, trying to stay as out of sight as possible. He could hear Eri quietly gasp as they walked by the stores, whispering to her bunny as they made their way about explaining about treats and dresses that were displayed. It honestly warmed his heart to hear her act like this.

Like an actual child.

“U-um Izu?” She calls, getting his attention instantly. 

“W-what is a ho-homeless shelter?”

“Well….a homeless shelter is where some people who don’t have an actual home and live on the streets will go if they are looking for support. They usually carry supplies that are much harder to find on the streets as well as cooked meals. However they can be pretty dangerous since supplies are limited and it can be just as bad as it is out on the streets. But the main purpose is to help support people who don’t have anywhere else to go.” Izuku tries to explain, as they naturally weave through the streets, moving from both public walkways to alleyways. Honestly, for a while Izuku lived out of the homeless shelter, but it didn’t take long for him to understand the dangers within it. While they did provide a roof and food, it was also always a fight to keep his place there, and as just a kid, he lost that fight a lot. There were also those who would use the homeless shelter to prey on kids who either ran away or were kicked out. People who would offer homes to them under the pretense that they wanted to save them, only for them to come back weeks later scarred and obviously broken from what they witnessed….while some didn’t come back at all. For better or for worse. It was then that Izuku decided it was better if he avoided the homeless shelter unless absolutely necessary, and to limit how long he would be inside them. 

He tried to explain this as they make their way, while also making sure that he doesn’t terrify her of the place. He wants her to be able to learn to trust people, but on the streets it's hard to actually teach her this.  

They make it to the shelter, and as Izuku expected the place is packed. With winter coming, homeless shelters became that much more dangerous and crowded, but he needed to find clothes for Eri and jackets that would fit them for the most part. He whispers a quick “don’t talk to anyone, and if anyone is being creepy and watching us, tap my shoulder twice to let me know.” To her before they begin working their way through the shelter. 

He can feel Eri clinging onto him as they make their way through the crowded cafeteria and food section, since that is the first room you first walk into and have to pass through to get to the other sections of the shelter. He whispers quiet words of encouragement as they make their way, doing his best to make sure to use himself as a crowd breaker and keep Eri safe as he can from the crowd. They thankfully make it to the clothes room without too much trouble and he immediately makes a beeline to the children’s clothes, going through them to find things that would fit Eri the best and would be good to use for the next few months. He holds up each one he thinks would fit her to gain her approval, wanting to make sure she had a choice about what she wanted. (Granted, she agreed to everything he showed her, but he hoped that she was getting the idea that she had a choice in what she wore.) everything that she agreed to he would put into the bag, making sure that he stuck to around the same size and only going up a size every once in awhile to make sure she would have things she could grow into as well. Eventually he found a coat that would fit her, it was two sizes too big but that would mean that it would at least fit for possibly a year or two and that it would completely cover her in case they needed to sleep in their coats. She also seemed. to like the red of it as well, whispering something about how it reminded her of Hero the bunny and her favorite blanket. He made sure to put the jacket into the bag and keep it deep enough to where it wouldn’t fall out at all. 

Next up was looking for clothes for himself, which was much more of a struggle then it was looking for Eri; there are not a lot of children to her age on the streets, usually the only people who look through those bins are mothers who aren’t able to purchase clothes for their kids, but for Izuku, there are more teens who are out on the streets and thus the bins full of clothes for his sizes were much more bare. 

Eri would do her best to point out any clothes she thought would fit him or that she liked, and he would always pull them out and look them over, checking for any holes or rips that would either make them usable, or at least mean he would need to fix them up. He did find some shirts that would work for the most part and even two pairs of pants too, which is a great find since pants are usually one of the first things to go in these places. however,even after scouring every bin in his size and even some of the adult bins,he wasn’t able to find any coats for himself. He hated that he couldn’t find one, since that would mean that they would have to go back out to look again, but for now, they got them most important things, which was some food and supplies and clothes for Eri.

While Izuku absolutely wants to leave as soon as he can before they gain any attention, he does know that while they are where he should stock up on medical supplies and some more fresh food. They go into the third room of the place, it was much smaller than the other two; there was some shaggy haired guy who looked to be in charge of the area, keeping an eye on those inside to make sure that no one was hoarding a certain item, and to make sure that no fights break out as well. from the look of him, Izuku almost thought he was one of the homeless that lived there, but there were subtle differences; the way his clothes while baggy, seemed more intentional and clean and fresh, the way that his hair didn’t hold the grime and dirt that others did, even if it looked like it hasn’t seen a brush in a few days, and then there was then weird scarf. Izuku wasn’t sure what to make of that, but he got the feeling to not try anything around this guy, even though he wasn’t planning on causing trouble to begin with. 

They make their way through the bins, grabbing a few things of bandages and wraps, as well as anything he was running out of, or think that they might need, paying special attention for kids medicine and even grabbing a box of bandaids with bunnies on them for Eri. While Eri was mostly quiet while he went about grabbing what he needed, she would point to some items and give him a quizzical hum to ask what the item was or what it was used for. 

They make their way through the lanes, grabbing everything that they need, or may need, they make their way out and start heading back to the cafeteria section, Izuku fully aware of the eyes that are on him. While he would rather bolt out as fast as he can, he didn’t want to scare his passenger or make her nervous, so he tried to go through the food aisles as quickly as possible, grabbing food that would last long, both fresh and canned food, and right before racing back out, he grabbed a handful of candy and left the shelter. 

He thankfully didn’t feel those eyes on him anymore once they left, but Izuku didn’t want to take any chances and decided to use the alleyways to lose anyone that may have tried following them. 

The walk back was completely empty, which was a bit odd to him, and only put him more on edge; but with Eri on his back and a heavy duffel making him slower, he did not want to stop and try and get an idea on what was going on. Maybe he should have knocked on wood, because of course, halfway home and the sun setting and the wind getting colder by the minute…...they come across a man, a large scar going right down the middle of his forehead, who was barely hanging onto consciousness, a red spot blooming on his white undershirt as he was leaning against the walls of the alley. 

The guy must have gotten into a fight about territory with another homeless guy, and he ended up losing the battle. 

Deep down, Izuku wishes that he could help him, some part of him that he has had to bury inside in order to survive out here. The same part of him that helped save Eri, that made him start moving without even realizing it. But he can’t. This isn’t a child running from a villain; this was a full adult, someone that neither knows who he is or what kind of person he is, and while he wants to help, he can’t put Eri and himself at risk. Too many times has Izuku learned the lesson to not get involved with things like this; either from watching the people that actually looked after him die, or for being made a fool and used. He can’t do that to Eri. 

But just as he was walking by the man, trying his best to keep his eyes on anything other than the man, Eri pipes up“Izu, are you going to help him too?” 

He wants to yes. 

He needs to say no.

But both answers get caught in his throat. 

He doesn’t know what to say. 

But it seems that Eri does; “you said that heroes do everything they can to help save people, even if it's something small. You can save him Izu.” She says, never going louder than her usual whisper, but her words hit harder then any yelling or screaming ever could. 

“But…..I’m not a hero.” He says, choking on the words and trying to cling onto any kind of reason why he can’t help the man. 

“You are a hero, Izu.” Its not a question. She is saying it as fact. One of the few times he has ever heard her be so resolute on something. This isn’t her opinion, to her this is something that she accepts with her whole heart as fact. 

And there goes any other reasoning that his brain can think of out the door. 

He gently places his duffel onto the ground and opens it up, pulling out the medical supplies that he just got. Looks like we’ll need to go back sooner than I wanted to. He makes sure Eri is secured on his back and whispers to her to hide her face into his back, since he wasn’t sure how bad the stab wound was, and he didn’t want her to see that. She nods before he feels her shift lower, to where his shoulder would block her sight, and then he begins. 

Thankfully, the guy didn’t resist or try and hit him when he touched him, and slowly pulling away the tank top, he can see that while it was bleeding still, the wound didn’t look too deep. Grabbing one of his water bottles, he opens it up and starts pouring it on the wound, getting a groggy groan from the guy as he makes work trying to clean the area before pushing one of the shirts from the bag and using it to put pressure on the wound. 

“Wha…...huh?” The man mumbles out, seeming to become a bit more aware of his surroundings, but not that much since his eyes seemed to be pretty dazed. 

“Its going to be okay, I’m going to help you, okay?” Izuku says quickly, trying to make sure the guy didn’t try and start any fights with him or get the wrong idea. It seems to work as the guy doesn’t stop him from putting pressure on the wound and lets izuku work. While still keeping one hand on the wound, he grabs the bandages from the bag and starts working on using them to keep the shirt in place and tight to the wound. 

While the wound wasn’t deep, the guy would definitely need stitches to help close up the wound, but the nearest hospital is an hour away and most of the clinics around here wouldn’t even touch the homeless and would kick them out. Izuku hated the idea of having to bring this stranger into his home, but if he wanted him to survive, he would need to stitch him up there since that was closer and safer than any other option. 

“This definitely was not how I thought our day would go.” He says under his breath. 

“Is the man going to be okay?” Eri asks, still curled up in the blanket, Hero clutched in her arms. 

“Yeah, he’s going to be okay for now, but we’re going to need to get him home so we can make sure that he gets better.” Izuku says “Eri I’m going to set you down real quick to readjust some things okay?” He feels her nod against him before he slowly undoes the blanket, and gently sets her down, before having her come around to his front. He slips the duffel on over his shoulder before having her wrap her arms around his neck and using the blanket to support her and hold her to his chest. Now that his back was open, he wrangles the guy to half way lean on his back and holding his arms around his shoulders to make sure he doesn’t lose the guy. 

The walk back is long and rough, since he is half dragging a man twice is body weight slowing him down. He takes the time to distract Eri (and himself) by telling her fairy tales that he was able to remember, and made up tales to help fill the silence between them. by the time they get back to the beach, the sun had already long set and his muscles were screaming at him, but he couldn’t stop yet. 

As carefully as he could, he sets the guy onto the bed before untying Eri from himself and setting down the duffel as well. He tells Eri to grab the candles that they have and the first aid box as well, which she quickly scurries off to do as soon as she is free of the blanket. 

Izuku turns back to the man, who seemed to have passed out somewhere along the way. 

Good. 

That means that he may not have seen the way to their place, and it will also save him the pain of stitches. 

Eri comes back quickly, candles stacked on top of the box and the box of matches sitting right next to them. 

Thanking Eri and giving her a quick ruffle of her hair, he grabs the items and starts setting the candles down around the bed and lighting them, giving him the light he needs to be able to do this. 

“Eri, I’m going to have to stitch up his wound, and it can be pretty gross; so can you work on putting everything in the duffel bag away for me and to not look over at the bed until I am done?” He says, trying to keep her aware of what is going on without going into the details of everything. He doesn’t want her to feel like he is hiding things from her, but it can also be a bit scary for a kid to watch someone get stitched up. 

He can tell she has questions, but it seems she has decided to hold onto those questions until later, and agrees to the job with a nod, turning around and slowly working on emptying out the bag.

He turns back around to them and with a heavy sigh, he gets to work. 

He works diligently, making sure to keep everything clean and as neat as possible. It was only a few stitches thankfully, and putting one of the cloth pads over the wound and rewrapping the wound on his waist and making sure that the guy is covered up from the salty and bitter cold sea wind.  He turns around to check on Eri to see her fast asleep, the red blanket and one of the extras from the bag wrapped around her, Hero acting as a pillow as she sleeps on the carpet. 

While he wants to try and move her to the bed, he isn’t sure if he can trust this guy yet, or at all. 

Carefully to not wake her up he repositions Eri to where she is laying on his legs as he leans back against the wall and watches over both the strange man and make sure Eri is okay. He tucks Hero into her arms, and pulls the extra rebar pole over to his side, just in case.

Izuku was definitely not going to get any sleep tonight. 

But he didn’t mind.

It was just going to be a long night. 

Chapter Text

The entire night was indeed long, much of it just watching the two sleep soundly as the bitter wind whipped through the open window, the salt sticking to him and freezing him to the bone. but even as his arms shook and the salt stung his unprotected arms and face with each blow of wind, he didn’t dare move, as Eri was sleeping comfortably with no sign of a nightmare in sight. It is one of the few times that she seemed to have a peaceful night, and he was not going to move an inch in fear of waking her up.

He had tried to use his quirk to pull something to cover the open tear in the sheet metal that acted like a window, but there was nothing loose close by that he could actually pull to it, pieces either ring too far away or too heavy to move closer. The brisk, cold, salt laced wind did not let up and would make sure that even if he wanted to try and grab an hour or two of rest it wouldn’t let him.

I guess while they both sleep, I’ll start working on my quirk and get better with it. 

It wouldn’t do him any good right now to try and work on controlling bigger and heavier things, and that might always need to be necessary, so he decided to begin to work on precision and accuracy with smaller items. Without any difficulty, he pulls on the small collection of knives, screws, bolts, nails and the like that he keeps around, mostly for fixing up the metal hut or when he has enough material to add on to the metal shack. 

Through out the hours, he works on manipulating them; working to stick the nails and knives into random pieces of wood he has lying around and keeping them in a similar area much like darts, and working on putting the bolts on and off the screws, spinning them back and forth and back again. It was much harder then he thought, making such small pieces do exactly as he needed and working on having them both quick and power attac is as well as careful movements that need a more gentle touch. 

By the time Eri is starting to wake, Izuku had already put the tools back into their box and out of reach for her. 

“Mmm….m-morning Izu.”she mumbles into her bunny, rubbing at the sleep in her eyes. Izuku smiles at the adorable display. It looks like she slept peacefully the whole night. 

“Morning Eri, how did you sleep? Any fun dreams?” He asks, ruffling Eri’s hair, getting her to playfully bat at his hand as she sits up, the blanket oolong around her. 

“I-I don’t remember, but it doesn’t feel like a bad dream.” She says, looking a bit disappointed and a bit fearful, as if her not remembering something as quickly forgettable as a dream that he would be upset at her. 

“Dreams can be pretty hard to remember sometimes; one moment they’re there, and the next they go Poof! don’t feel down if you don’t remember, I’m just glad to hear that it seems like they were all good dreams.” He says, patting her head gently ad giving her a small smile, one that always seems to help perk her up. 

It does just that and she looks back up at him with the same smiling eyes she always gives, Although her mouth still doesn’t seem to quite understand the action yet, but he has noticed over the last few weeks that the corners of her mouth have started to quirk up when she doesn’t realize it, so he is sure that soon enough, he’ll be able to see her full smile. But these smiles are just as great as any other smile that she will be able to make in the future. 

“Why don’t you go ahead and scrounge up some breakfast for us, okay? I’m gonna keep an eye on this guy for us.” He says cheerfully, although now that he actually takes the moment to speak at a normal level, his throat kinda hurts. Oh well, it shouldn’t be anything.

He gets a more energetic nod from Eri as she gets up from the floor and runs into the area that Izuku would consider a kitchen, since that was where they kept the food and stray utensil that Izuku had managed to scrounge up. 

He looks back over to the sleeping man and takes the chance to stand up and get a closer look at the guy, as well as make sure that the wound was doing alright. As he pulls himself up, he can feel the world spinning around him, almost making him lose his balance and throwing his stomach into a knot and his head to thrum with heat and pain. 

“Ugh” he mumbles under his breath, hoping that it was just some quirk exhaustion and not that he was sick, he can’t be at a disadvantage right now, not with Chisaki somewhere out there, and this strange guy sleeping right here. Its just quirk exhaustion, its just quirk exhaustion.  

The room finally stops spinning and he is able to get his bearings again and makes his way to the mattress; making quick work on unwrapping the wound and checking around the stitches, making sure nothing looks inflamed or any weird colors or anything leaking out of it. Everything looks good for now, so he grabs the half filled  water bottle that he had used the night before and a clean cloth and washes the wound and carefully dries it before rewrapping the wound.  Eri comes back with three apples and some pieces of bread, handing Izuku one of each before carefully placing the extra apple and bread slice before sitting next to Izuku and eating her own. 

It was just as Izuku was finishing off his own food that the guy started to groan and slowly started to wake up. “Eri, go and hide until i say you can come out, okay?” Izuku asks, concerned that the guy might be connected to Chisaki, and if he doesn’t, even the knowledge of eri being here getting out could put Chisaki on their trail and put Eri in danger again. She doesn’t question him, most likely thinking something similar. She scurries into the kitchen again, pulling out one of the crates that they used for storage and sliding in, before pulling the box halfway back into its spot. 

Perfect! Looks like their games of hide and seek have been working well to help her find hiding spots, just in case someone may come in that is not welcomed. 

Izuku drags his attention back onto the stranger, the drumming in his head getting louder with each passing minute, but he pushes it aside for the moment to make sure that he can put his full attention on the guy in front of him.

“Uuughhhergh, where am I?” They say groggily, stumbling into a near sitting position before the pain of the wound in his side actually hits him, making him jolt and lay back down. 

“You are currently in my home, sir. You had a pretty nasty stab wound so i brought you here and patched you up, although i would recommend still going to the hospital, since i can’t say i am the best at stitches.” Izuku says, his voice sounding hoarse the more he talks, but he tries not to show how much it hurts. 

“what? You…. you did that? Why? What the hell?! Who asked you to help me?!” He yells out, his voice seeming to have switched slightly in the middle of his sentence, confusing the hell out of Izuku. That reaction was…….so out of left field that Izuku wasn’t even sure how to respond. 

“W-well, I didn’t want to leave you out on the streets like that, and with that wound it would have been even more dangerous.” Izuku explains carefully, keeping an eye on the guy’s mood to try and stay on whatever goodside he might have.  He seems to have accepted the reasoning, although it was obvious that he still had more questions. 

“U-um, go ahead and eat real quick, I’ll grab you some more meds and will lead you b-back to the main roads once you are feeling up to it.” Izuku stumbles out, getting on himself about stuttering over his words. He takes the moment as the guy stuffs his face to head over to grab the medicine, which was right by where Eri was hiding currently. He takes a quick glance to see how she was doing, worried that having the stranger actually awake and talking would scare her then having some unconscious guy sleeping on the bed. 

From the looks of it, she seemed much more curious about the guy then she was scared, she wasn’t even really hiding in the box anymore. He can’t help but worry about the guy, since he doesn’t even know who he is, or what he does as a living. For all Izuku knows, he could be some hit man or worse. Uuugh, why can’t I ever listen to my head and not my heart. Speaking of heads, his was killing him, the pounding from before getting worse as he moved around, and speaks of black would come in and out of his vision. He almost wanted to puke, but he couldn’t do that. Not with this guy in his place and not around Eri, he didn’t want to worry her. Swallowing down the growing feeling, he quickly grabs the meds and a new bottle of water and made the short walk back over to the bed.

“Here. Hopefully these will help with the pain for a while.” Izuku offered the bottles to the guy and the water. He seems hesitant to accept them but in the end he takes the medicine and water, although he slip them into his pants pocket rather then take them right away; Izuku didn’t exactly blame him for it, he would have done the exact same if their situations were switched. 

“Excuse me, sir?” Eri asks, scaring Izuku as he whirls around and sees her right behind him. When did she get there? How did I not notice that?! “Are you feeling better, sir?” She asks staying behind Izuku’s leg but peeking her head further out to get a better look at the guy. 

Apparently her sudden appearance also caught the guy off guard, by how his eyes look like they were about to pop out of his head. He seems to try and come up with something to say, with how his mouth opened and closed, before he finally shook his head and was finally able to croak out. “Uh yeah, i feel a lot better, uuuh-“ 

“Eri.” 

“Right, Eri. Thanks for asking….um, is it just you two kids out here?” The guy asks awkwardly, obviously trying to keep...whatever strange outburst under control in front of Eri. 

“Yup! Izu saved me from bad bird men and has been taking care of me here ever since! He’s super nice, he’s a hero! He’s taught me so many things that the bad bird 

 Men never did! Like these!” She says excitedly, running back over to the kitchen before coming back with a potato in hand. “This is a potato! Its really tasty and you can cook it and cut it up and Izu has even made them all mashed up and it was still really good!” She rattles on, showing him her stuffed bunny and telling the guy how she got him. It was too cute, seeing her unadulterated joy, even I thought a large smile, it warmed his heart…..and maybe his head? It was feeling pretty hot for it being really into fall. 

“Eri,” he calls her over, finally saving the poor guy from being overwhelmed, and gently takes her hands in his “I’m glad you feel more comfortable around people, but we have to be careful about who we trust. Just because someone doesn’t have a mask on doesn’t mean that we can trust them completely. There are a lot of dangerous people out there, some wear masks, and some don’t.” Izuku tries to explain to her, not wanting to break the confidence that she has been gaining slowly, but he also wanted to make sure that she would be safe. 

“Mask….mask….mask mask mask mask...”

Izuku looks over to the guy, as he seems to start mumbling about a mask, his hands reaching up to his face and feeling around, and getting visibly more and more upset.

“Where is my mask?! I need it! I’ll split without it! I need it I need it i need it! I need a mask! Where is it?!” He continues to yell, getting more and more hysterical as he checks his pockets for but nothing to come from it except the bottle of pain meds that seemed to only make the guy freak out more. 

Shit! The only people I can think of that would care about a crazy mask would be Chisaki’s people, or Chisaki himself! Don’t tell me i just brought the one thing that we have been working so hard to keep them away and make sure they could never get their hands on Eri again! And this guy might destroy all of that!!!!!?!?!?!  Izuku’s thoughts ran wild and only made him feel ten times worse while the Possible Chisaki was having a full blown melt down. He wouldn’t let him take her, he would protect her no matter what happened to him.

Izuku reaches out with his quirk for the knives that he has in the corner of the room and wraps his quirk around them ready to throw them at the guy and make a break for it with Eri; but it seems that Eri has a different idea. 

~~~~ 

the strange scar face man was getting more and more upset,his words seeming to mix together and get more frantic. It was honestly scaring her, for a second all she could see was Chisaki getting mad, yelling and screaming and throwing things at anything and anyone. And then he would reach for her and pull her into the hurt room and would cut and hurt and deconstruct and reconstruct her for hours.

But something caught her eye that was very different.

He had tears in his eyes. 

He wasn’t getting mad and angry about not being able to find a mask….he was scared.

Just like her, he was scared for some reason, and maybe the mask was a way to feel safe, like hero and Izu made her feel safe.

She looks around the hut and finds a hat that Izu had grabbed the other day that was really big and looked like a tube a bit. She remembers him calling it a beanie. She quickly grabs it and the pair of scissors that he had used last night while helping the man and cut out two holes where she thinks his eyes would be before racing back and against Izuku’s warning call, she approaches the man. 

“U-um, sir? I-i don’t have your mask….b-but would this work?” She quietly asks, holding out the black beanie to him. He seems to stop his yelling and looks down to the offered hastily-made mask. He seems to look up to Izu before looking back over to Eri’s outstretched hands. With a shaking hand, he takes the offered mask and slips it on over his head; the eyes are a tad off, one being way bigger than his actual eye, but it seems to have done the trick, helping him calm down quickly and help dry his tears.

It was quiet between all three of them for a moment, Izu was still behind her, but she wasn’t worried. The man was taking deep breaths, and Eri was making sure that he was still okay. Once it seemed like he had his breathing back to normal, Eri says quietly “I also get scared a lot. I’m scared of new things, and things that the bad bird men made me scared of, and I’m scared of my quirk too. but now, I have things that help me get through the fear, and help make things feel safer. I have hero, and I have Izu too, and they keep me safe. Is that what your mask does for you? It makes you feel safe?”

He takes a moment and nods, “i guess you could say I’m also pretty scared of my quirk too, the mask helps make things feel whole again. Not that it has anything to do with you twerps!” He says, once again going into a lower octave and taking a very different stance then what he just said, although it didn’t sound as contradicting as it did before. Eri smiles and heads back over to Izu, taking hold of his hand and leading him to sit back down with them. 

“Eri, what if-“ Izu does finish his sentence, seeming to get a weird look in his eyes as she pulls him down and stays quiet for a minute, before whispering “ do you recognize him as one of…. you-know- who’s guys?” He ask slowly. 

She thinks for a moment before replying “all the masks i saw didn’t cover the full face like Mask man. Their masks only covered the bottom, and they looked like beaks, and none of them had a scar down their face like that.” Eri tries to explain, but also tries to avoid the memories of all of them. 

Izu gives her that look that she is always thankful for, the one where he knows that she doesn’t want to go further into her past, into the memories that only haunt her in her memories and dreams, that he understands she doesn’t want to go further and accepts that completely. 

“Alright, as long as you are sure.” Izu says tiredly, his shoulders slumping. All the tension that felt like it was going to break at any moment seems to be gone, and all three of them could breathe easily again.

~~~~

After Eri heads thankfully broken the tension and helped calm the worry that both of them had, it was peaceful for the most part. They had talked for a bit, both Eri and Izuku had learned that his name was Jin and that apparently he could make copies of people, and that after something bad happened with his quirk, though he didn’t delve into what exactly, he has always had a mask on when he can. Meanwhile Izuku didn’t go into anything too deep, just telling him that he has been living out here on his own for some years now and that he had recently saved Eri from a crazy villain who was still possibly looking for her and that was why he started to freak out when he was asking about a mask. 

Jin even took some of the pain meds as well, and soon enough he was getting up and heading to the door to leave.

“One last thing, if you don’t mind my asking? Why did you help me?” Jin asks, this time not flipping to his other personality or contradicting himself. 

“Because it was the right thing to do.” Izuku replies instantly, not showing an ounce of hesitation, Eri leaning against him as she dozes off. 

“Heh, I’m pretty sure you’re the only one around this area that’s like that. If i ever run into that guy, I’ll try and lead him off your trail.” He says before leaving the shack, not even hearing the thank you that follows him. 

~~~~

Izuku had thought that getting a good night’s sleep would make him feel better. He thought that when he would wake up that morning his headache would be gone and this stomach wouldn’t be twisting like it was in the middle of a tornado. 

He was wrong. 

He woke up with his head feeling like it was bashed in with an ice pick, the gleam of the sun off of the sand making it even worse. His throat was dry as a bone and felt as though it was cracking apart with every breath and word. He was both freezing and burning at the same time and didn’t know if he needed to warm up or cool down. The world itself was a blur, nothing felt real but the pain he felt everywhere in his body. He could hear a worried voice somewhere but he couldn’t tell from where. He just knew that he needed to comfort them, he didn’t want them to worry, they shouldn’t have to worry about anything. But he couldn’t say anything; as soon as he open his mouth a series of coughs racked through his body, making him shake as he tried to stop. 

He just wants the pain to stop, he just wants to comfort whoever was crying near him. 

Through his fever laden haze, he remembers a moment from before he was on the streets, back when he still had to live with those people  where he was sick like this, but instead of the thread bare blankets and worn down tatami mats that he had in that room;  he was in a bed, think blankets weighing down his body and stopping him from shivering. He remembers a cool towel on his forehead and a soft lullaby, a gentle hand running through his hair and someone else laying by him, someone around the same size with blonde hair and a death grip on his hand as coughs ravaged his body and his fever would spike. 

“Don’t leave me Deku; we’re suppose to be heroes together, you can’t be taken down by some dumb bug. You better get better nerd.”

He doesn’t want to be sick…..he needs to protect someone….he needs to meet someone again someday….but everything just felt too hard. He just wanted it all to stop. Stop hurting….maybe…..he can just take a nap…..then he’ll feel….better.

He can hear voices float through his empty dreams, he just can't place them. 

“Don’t leave, please Izu…...please don’t leave.” 

I don’t want to…...I just need to sleep it off…..then I’ll be up again….good as new. 

“Don’t worry kid, i gotcha. Don’t go crapping out on us brat! Can’t have you dying yet!” 

“Don’t worry Eri, he isn’t going anywhere. He took care of us, now we gotta take care of him.”

“I’m not going to leave you Izu. I’ll help you get better.”

“Brat, you can’t die yet, you have people waiting for you.”

All the voices seem to bleed through memories, Kacchan and Auntie Mitsuki, and these new voices that he knows, that he cares about deep down, they weave through his dreams and bleed into one another. Memories of his mother and father also filter through, the things they did, or didn’t, do to him. The burns, the scars, all of them his dreams seem to go through a manic flow of happy memories to living nightmares and he isn’t sure which one is worse. Sometimes he feels more aware of what’s actually around him; a wet cloth on his head and what feels like extra sheets tucking him in tightly, a small weight laying next to him. Someone’s hand running through his hair, not petite and smooth like Mitsuki’s, this one was rough and large, but gentle all the same, lulling him back into his dreams. 

He can hear a hesitant tune hummed sometimes. Its not the same lullaby that loops through his memories, and it almost sounds like its being made on the spot. But it fills that same feeling that he was only started to feel again recently. 

It feels a bit like home. 

Chapter Text

Izuku can’t say for sure how long it has been, sometimes waking from his fever induced dreams and nightmares, only to fall right back into them and continue the cycle. Each time he woke up either Eri was right there with him, or he could hear

A rough voice and a hand carding through his hair pulling him back to sleep. 

Sometimes, when he felt that hand, he would confuse it for Masaru’s hand, lulling him back to sleep after a nightmare or the few times that he would get sick at their house. He knows that they aren’t the same, his hands were smaller and weren’t so callous, and he doesn’t hear the soft lullaby that Bakugou’s dad would always sing to them either. But in those moments he doesn’t care, the faint dreams of a warm bed and a caring hand watching over him was something that he almost forgot about. 

It felt like an eternity, but finally, Izuku was starting to feel more aware about everything around him; his head didn’t hurt nearly as much and the sunlight streaming in did not feel as if it was personally trying to blind him. He was able to pull himself out of the multitude of sheets that he was encased in, although now that he can actually think straight for a moment, he doesn’t remember having this many blankets around, and noticed that Eri wasn’t there. 

Frantically he looks around, struggling within the cocoon of blankets to throw hoping to catch a glimpse of her snowy white hair and her cute little horn. Although all he ends up with his a particularly nasty spike in his headache from throwing his head around so much.

Izuku throws off the sheets and tries to get his legs to cooperate with him, although he can still feel a deep ache in every joint of his body; that's when he heard that rough voice again, it was outside of the hut and it seems to be singing some kind of tune. On instinct, Izuku tries to reach out for the metal rebar pole that he always keeps nearby, feeling a wave of nausea and his headache spiking again. He grabs hold of his head, covering his eyes and nearly falling onto the floor with the pain. 

“Woah there, looks like someone is up. Finally! Your a-butt has been dead to the world for 3 days!” A deep and familiar voice exclaims, getting Izuku to look through the cracks of his fingers and see the now mask covered face of Jin and Eri’s own mop of white hair popping up from behind his back. “Izuku!” She cries out, repeatedly tapping Jin’s shoulder, getting him to put down the bag that Izuku didn’t even see before and carefully pulling Eri up and over his head and back down safely onto the sand, where she quickly runs over and tackles Izuku, although she still wasn’t strong enough to knock him over, he felt so happy to see that she was alright.

“i missed you too.” Wow, he regrets opening up his mouth, his throat felt like sandpaper and he sounds as though he has been smoking three packets of cigarettes for weeks. Gingerly, he rubs at his throat as Eri tries to burrow herself into his stomach, her arms squeezed just a bit tighter as he begins to feel a small wet spot on his shirt. Jin walks over to them and hands him a bottle of water, which izuku takes with a sliver of hesitation before the raspiness of his voice won over any kind of doubt as he guzzled it, Jin having to stop him before he got sick. As Izuku started to take slower and smaller sips of water, he pet Eri’s head with his free hand as she snuggled somehow closer to him, her tears having stopped and had fallen asleep on him. Jin had taken a place on the edge of the bed, fiddling with….a measuring tape? But seeming content in just knowing that Izuku had finally woken up. 

Whatever virus he had was still holding some kind of grudge, however, as once Jin tried to help him eat something, any food he tried to eat would immediately end up in a bucket only a few minutes later, and exhaustion pulled him back to sleep before Eri even woke back up. 

The next few days followed the same routine, Izuku sporadically waking up for a few minutes, trying to eat something only for most of it to be thrown out a few minutes later as Jin cleaned out the bucket. His fever acted more as a roller coaster as it would spike and decline but never fully go away throughout those days. Some days felt more like a blur, or covered in a hazy fog then others, and he knows that Eri was always worried about him throughout that time. He wanted to tell her that everything would be fine,  that he was alright, but he couldn’t say that to her, he couldn’t lie to her. He felt like absolute shit, from head to toe his body ached and felt too hot and too cold all at the same time. He probably looked like hell too, from the worried looks both of them would give him when they think he’s not looking. 

It wasn’t until four days later that his fever finally and completely broke and he was actually able to stay awake and eat down a few morsels of food. Eri had decided that she was going to make dinner that night to celebrate. 

Never has a half-way cooked potato tasted so good. 

~~~~~

Izuku didn’t really know how to thank Jin for all that he did for them while he was completely out of it.

Eri had explained while Izuku was still recuperating that Jin had come by the same day that he collapsed and had practically stayed with them the whole time, only leaving to get medicine and supplies from his place. 

Izuku honestly didn’t expect for him to come back at all, let alone look after both of them by himself; most people would have tried to take them to the hospital, but that would have put Eri in danger (and possibly put him back in the hands of his family), but Jin understood that that was most likely not an option for them, and stayed by their side. 

There were still some quirky aspects to him, but those didn’t matter in the long run, he could tell that while he may contradict himself verbally, he wasn’t a bad guy. Izuku decided that it wouldn’t be bad to have him around from time to time. 

Granted, he didn’t think that “from time to time” would be almost every day. 

“Hey Kiddos! I brought some stuff that you might need!” He could hear Jin yell joyfully as he rounded the last trash pile into their little alcove. Its now been a few weeks since he had been bed ridden, and for the last few weeks had been working on getting better with his quirk, as well as just his overall body; using the trash left behind to create a nonconventional gym of sorts. He knows that there is still a lot he needs to do to even stand any kind of chance of lasting a few minutes if he has to face chisaki, but he can also tell that the work he has put in has started to pay off as well. He was currently working on keeping up a vacuum in the air while lifting two  large buckets filled with wet sand, which apparently was way heavier than he thought it would be. The jovial yell had startled him out of his concentration, causing him to drop both the weights and the vacuum as well. Thankfully Eri was inside taking a nap, but she was quickly up and running across the sand into Jin’s shins. 

It took a few seconds to get his arms to work with him to get the bar moved off of him, but soon enough he was able to get himself out from the weight and slowly made his way over to Jin as well, rubbing out his sore muscles.

“I-uh, realized i bought too many groceries and figured that you guys could use them.” Jin stumbles out, showing them the boxes, bags and cans of food within. All stuff that would last long and be able to be made quickly. Izuku knows that he intentionally bought these for them, besides the fact that he’s used this excuse three times already within the past few weeks.

“Yeah, sure. Thanks Jin, but I just don’t feel alright with you spending all this money on us, it doesn’t feel right.” Izuku mumbles, trying his best to make sure that Eri doesn’t hear him as she curiously goes through the box of goodies, ‘ooh’-ing and ‘aah’-ing any new foods and items she has never seen.

Jin gives him a bashful smile, which Izuku can see even with the older man’s mask on, before giving a small excuse “don’t worry too much about that stuff kid;i just want to see you two be prepared this winter. You guys aren’t able to see the weather reports, but it’s supposed to be a really nasty winter this year and i get the feeling that you won’t go to a shelter. Which you should, you idiot! And I get it, not really trusting too many people on the streets, let alone some stranger you literally don’t know anything about, And who says you need to know?!”Jin says, switching between one personality to another, before groaning and tugging on the mask, “what i mean is that, even though i don’t know anything about you, and you know nothin’ about me, i still want to make sure you two are safe and not starving over here.” 

Izuku was caught off guard a bit, not expecting the response from the masked man. He wasn’t really sure what he was expecting as a response, but the raw honest care in his voice was definitely not what he was expecting at all. With most adults he has known throughout his life, no one ever really cared that much without expecting something in return, and that ‘something’ he doesn’t even want to go into specifics about….. ever. But this doesn’t feel like this, sure the guy wasn’t exactly mentally stable, but it was just honest concern that he came back, checking on them, trying to help them get ready for the winter without stepping on any toes or make him question his intentions because in the end his only intention was to help. It reminds him of the Bakugou’s quite a bit, who would always send Kacchan with an extra bento for lunch, and would invite him over or onto trips to help keep him from having to go home. They cared, but couldn’t do any more than that, at least not without solid proof of the abuse, but even those small things helped so much more than they could imagine.

Before Izuku is able to come up with some kind of reply, his mind trying to figure out what exactly was the right thing to say, Eri comes up to them and pulls on Izuku’s pants before holding up a particular bag of food, “Izu, what’s this? She asks, pulling both of their attention. He looks at the offered bag, his heart sinking in sadness as what she held up was a large, fluffy and white marshmallow. It looked so much bigger than it actually was held within her small hands, cusped gently as though it would break at any sharp movement. 

Bending down to her level, he looks over the marshmallow with a curious look, playing it up for her to help her feel more at ease at not knowing what it was. She knows he’s playing it up by the small huffy laugh that escapes her, which only makes him want to do it more, to know that she is enjoying herself even when she is uncertain about something. To be able to hear her finally laugh and see her smile, he would do almost anything.

“It looks to me that we have a marshmallow in your hands!” He exclaims, “it's a super sweet treat that is squishy and pillowy, you can eat it as it is now, or some people roast it over a fire and make s’mores with them!” Jin adds in, sinking down to the sand with Izuku and being super expressive with his hands and voice to try and pump up how great the small little pillow in her hands actually is. 

Thinking back, its been a longtime since Izuku has had a s’more. The last time was…...years ago, before he even got his quirk. Back then, his parents didn’t really  care too much when he came home; it could be days he would be away, but in the end he always had to go back. But sometimes, when things would get really bad at home, Masaru would take him and Kacchan to the woods and they would camp out for a few days; he can remember all the hikes they would go on, the times that he and Kacchan would go adventuring near the campsite, the ghost stories told over a crackling campfire as they both would stuff their mouths full of half-charred marshmallows from their attempts at making the perfect s’more. Those were the best, because during those camping trips, Izuku would always be able to forget about the troubles that would come when he would inevitably go home. 

“Let’s do it!”

“Yeah!” 

The yells spook Izuku out of his memories, making him whip his head toward Jin and Eri, both pumping their fists in the air. What exactly did i just miss? “Ummm, what are we going to do?” He asks hesitantly, suddenly feeling very overwhelmed by the intensity that Jin was giving off and the shine in Eri’s eyes. 

“We’re gonna make s’mores!” Eri says excitedly, bouncing up and down with anticipation. He looks over to Jin, who was just as pumped up about the supposed s’mores as well, jumping around and racing around the small clearing.

“I’m not sure guys, with the weather getting colder and colder, it may be some time before we’ll be able to do s’mores.” Izuku comments, catching Jin off guard and tripping over his own feet. The sad look on Eri’s face only deepened the guilt Izuku felt at accidentally saying that out loud. He didn’t mean to rain on their parade, and the sad but accepting looking on Eri’s face hurts even more when he thinks about all the times she must have had to accept whatever someone else commanded without complaint. 

Ugh, it is definitely going to be hard to say no to her in the future when it counts, he knows it.

“Well, if you really want to do it as soon as possible then we will need to do it tonight, as it will probably be the last time the weather is nice enough for any kind of campfire.” Izuku amends, the other two immediately reinflating with excitement. 

“I’ll get some wood planks we can use for the fire!” Jin says, bounding over to the dwindling wood pile that they had. 

“Come on Eri, lets go ahead and get the food put away and we can cook some over food too on the fire.” Izuku says, holding out his hand to her, which she doesn’t hesitate to take right away and lead him over to the abandoned bags of food. As quickly as possible they are able to put the food away into the multiple small crates they had in the hut just as Jin had gotten a small fire started. In a quick decision, Izuku also grabs some tin foil and a few vegetables, using his quirk to pull a knife along with them as they rejoined Jin at the fire, where he had pulled up a few item they could sit on; an old tire, a stool with the cushioning falling out of every seam and a large hole, and a half of an oil drum. Together, all three of them make quick work in making some small roasted vegetables as a dinner for the three of them before Izuku finally lets them start making s’mores. 

Its honestly quite a mess, half melted marshmallows everywhere, many were sacrificed into the fire as well, Jin had somehow gotten marshmallows onto the back of his mask and Ei’s face was covered in the stickiness of the melted sugar. Izuku was able to manage a few fairly good roasted marshmallows, golden brown all around and just barely hanging onto the sticks just long enough to put onto the graham crackers and chocolate and sandwich together. All the while they all talked, at first Jin mostly talked about all the things that Eri needs to try, from food to entertainment, and that’s when he saw it.

It was so natural, a wide tooth grin, filled with melted marshmallow and chocolate as she watched Jin explain a carousel to her, a beautiful smile hindered by nothing. Just pure joy.

Her first real smile.

“Izu! Can we ride a cara-ca-carousel?!” She asks excitedly, that same beaming smile never leaving once, bits of melted marshmallow sticking to her face and her eyes shining in the firelight. He almost wanted to cry of joy, being able to see her finally start to truly move forward from Chisaki and enjoy the world around her. 

~~~~

Eri had fallen asleep on Izuku by the time the moon was reaching its peak, having curled up in his lap, a spare blanket that Jin had grabbed from the hut wrapped securely around her as she dreamed away, her head leaning on his shoulder. Jin had grabbed a few bottles of water and the two of them began to talk, at first about small things that didn't really matter to either of them, but helped fill the silence. 

But as the night wore on, and the fire still burning bright, they began to talk about their pasts. Izuku told him about his parents, the abuse, what he has experienced out on the streets throughout the years. He had to shush Jin multiple times as his alternate personality would yell out throughout his story, and while normally the yelling would throw him off, the fact that he was yelling in anger for Izuku rather than at him, this time it warmed his heart.  And then Izuku told about how he met Eri, how he had to be on edge about Chisaki finding Eri, and in the end he thanked him for not taking them to the hospital, where they would have been in great danger of Chisaki finding them.

Then Jin was sharing his story, how he never really had a good hand in life and always struggled, then he spoke about the mishap that happened with his quirk, where his clones attacked, tied him up and fought for days about who was the real Jin, how he fought with himself constantly, could never be sure if he was the real Jin or just another clone. He told him how the mask helped him get more in control of himself and not as though he was about to split apart at the seams. He told of how he was mugged on the streets that day that Izuku and Eri had found him and saved him.  and how it has helped him a lot with feeling more like himself, and having more control over his separate personality. He talked about how knowing the two of them has most likely saved him from falling into a deeper pit of his own despair and probably making a lot of bad choices.

Knowing more about why Jin acted the way he does, knowing the trauma behind the two separate personalities and the mask, made Izuku feel more at ease, especially as he was about to ask a very large favor of him, but he felt like Jin is the only one he can trust with this.

“Hey, Jin…..i need to ask a favor of you.” Izuku hesitantly starts, gaining Jin’s attention “i really appreciate what you have done for us with the food, I shouldn’t have to worry about that for quite some time for the amount that you have brought, but i still need to get some more supplies for Eri and I to be able to get through this winter. I was thinking of going to Hosu for a day or two and scavenging there; they don’t have a large homeless population, so I’ll be more likely to get the clothes and other supplies we need easily there. But I can’t take Eri with me, since there won't be a safe place that we can hide in if we need to or during the night, and I don’t want her to be overwhelmed with an entirely new city.” Izuku explains, sending a cautious glance to Eri to make sure she was still sleeping soundly as they talked. “I was wondering if you could watch her while I’m gone. This beach isn’t used by anyone else, and I’ve scared off anyone that would try and scavenge through it to where everyone knows not to come around here, so she should be safe on the beach, but i worry about if she doesn’t have anyone with her just in case something happens, and i could never live with myself if she got hurt while I wasn’t there to-” izuku stops his rambling as Jin sets his hand onto his shoulder heavily, a determined look coming through his mask.

“Don’t worry Izuku, I’ll stay right here with her the whole time, and when you get back, she’ll be safe, you have my word. I’ve only known you two for just a few weeks, but if anything happened to either of you, I would never forgive myself. I know I’m not exactly...stable enough to actually take care of you two, most of the time I’m here, you’re the one taking care of me, but I’ll always be here for you guys. So please make sure that you come back safe as well. While Hosu might have more supplies, it can also be dangerous for a kid, so please…..come back to Eri and I safely.”

Izuku nods, his eyes misting up as Jin’s words seep in. 

He’ll do his best to be safe, to get back home as quickly as possible and get back to Eri. “I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning, going to try and take what money I have and grab a train ticket for Hosu. I’ll be safe, I promise. To both of you.”

Jin nods, giving Izuku’s hair a tussle before he stands up and goes to put out the fire that had dwindled down to a few struggling flames throughout the night. Jin gives him one final goodbye and a promise to be back in the morning before he heads off back through the trash towers and onto the empty streets. Izuku carries Eriback into the hut, naturally reaching out with his quirk to more the fridge door over the entryway to try and keep out the cold night air, doing the same to the window as well, bathing the both of them into darkness. Fumbling around, he finally manages to find the bed in the pitch black room and grabs the extra blankets that Jin had “forgotten” back when Izuku was sick, wrapping them both up tightly as sleep finally pulled him into his own dreams. 

Dreams that were filled with kacchan and campfires and a blooming warmth in his heart that he has not felt in years. 

Chapter Text

“Hey Tsukauchi, what are you still doing here? I thought your shift ended an hour ago?” One of the officers asked as he made his way to the break room for a new cup of coffee. This officer must have recently transferred here, most of the precinct already knew why he stayed late on some days throughout the last 5 years or so. It was honestly a tad bit embarrassing whenever the question was asked by a new guy. 

“Oh, just finishing up on some paperwork.” He mumbles as he pours out a new cup of coffee; he can tell the pot has been slowly losing its own heat for some time now by the lack of steam coming from his cup. He takes a quick swig and the near cold drink bitterly drags down his throat like sludge. 

He can hear some of the few older officers chuckle into their own paper cups, a few of them having been here long enough to know exactly what he was waiting on. With an exasperated sigh, he takes his cup and makes his way back out into the bullpen, the desks all crammed together, the continuous bustle of noise from interviews and small talk filling the already small space,  leaving some semblance of a walkway as he makes his way slowly to his nice, quite, personal office that he has worked so hard for where he can wait for his visitor. 

He relaxes into his chair, nursing the cold black coffee as he takes in the near silence of the room, the only sound being the muffled noise outside his door, enjoying the peace and quiet before his visitor arrives. Taking a glance at the clock on his desk, he notes of the 3:18pm glaring back at him in it’s aggressive blue light. School must have just let out, so he should be here in a few minutes. Naomasa thinks to himself as he turns around and pulls out a small bag of candy; most would think it odd that he kept candy in his office, since he didn’t have much of a sweet tooth.  

Just as he pulls out the bag, a few quick knocks are coming from his door, Sansa’s voice coming through that he had a visitor. 

“Come on in.” He loudly calls out, before his door is thrown open and his awaited visitor stomps in, fresh High school uniform, the grey blazer only half buttoned and his blue green trousers sagging, despite the belt he had on. Naomasa had hoped that getting into the top hero school in the country would get the kid to try and put himself nicely together, instead of brazeningly toeing the line of the dress code. The constant scowl on the student’s face lifts into a smirk at seeing the bag of kitkats that was recently released. 

“Hello Bakugou, how was your first day at U.A.?”

~~~~~

Katsuki couldn’t say for sure how and when Polygraph wormed his way into being friends with him and his parents; it first started off as how you would normally meet the police. 

They needed help.

When Katsuki was 9, Izuku stopped coming to school, stopped showing around the neighborhood. It was like he had disappeared off the face of the earth. It wasn’t the first time that Izuku wasn’t around for a few days, Katsuki had first thought it was like one of those times, where his dad got too mad and wouldn’t let him leave the house at all, or his dad decided to do some “training” as Izuku would excuse the bruises and cuts that he couldn’t hide. But usually after a day or so, Izu would manage to get to their place and let the Hag and his Dad help fix him up. (They always made sure to try and take photos of the haggard state Izuku was in, they had been trying to build a case for years to try and get Izuku out of that hellhole that was called the Midoriya residence, but it was hard enough getting Izuku to trust them to help with the serious injuries, let alone document them.)

But Izuku never came over.

Katsuki had waited for two whole days; heck all of them did, each of them taking turns throughout the night, waiting for when the tentative knock on a window or door would let them know that Izuku was there. 

After the third day, the Hag had decided that she was done waiting and barged into the place, yelling out for Izuku and screaming at the flaming waste bin that was Hisashi, that is right after she decked him right in the face when he tried to throw a drunken punch her way. It was one of the most badass things he has ever seen his mom do. But Izuku wasn’t there. The little stuff that was Izuku’s was completely gone from the house. No clothes, no book bag. Nothing as all. 

That’s when they met Polygraph. 

His dad had thankfully been a much smarter person then the hag and had called the police as they were making their way to the Midoriya house, letting the dispatch worker know about the situation and that they were going to try and get into the house and make sure that Izuku was alright. Polygraph had been sent to the house both to make sure that things didn't get out of hand, and to investigate the Midoriya’s and their now missing son. 

At first, it was all professional; interviews with the guy and finding out that he could tell when those fuckers were lying through their teeth. Katsuki wishes he could have watched those interviews and see the color drain from their faces when they realized that they couldn’t get out of this shit with just a few well placed lies. His dad had given all of the proof that they had collected over the years about the abuse; the trial process was long and many days Katsuki spent it glaring at the back of those fucker’s heads in the spectator seating as they floundered in the courtroom, their sleazy lawyer trying to smear Izuku’s name left and right to try and excuse the shit that they did. 

Watching them both be sentenced was almost enjoyable.

It would have been so much better if Izuku was there to witness it himself.

Throughout the entire court process, they had been searching for Izuku left and right; Polygraph helping every chance he had when he wasn’t requested in court. Sending out the missing person report to other precincts, getting some of his cop friends and even some Heroes to help keep an eye out for Izuku. 

Meanwhile, the Bakugous took to the streets. Putting up Missing Person flyers anywhere they could, talking to some of the homeless to try and see if they had seen hide or hair of Izuku. They went to the homeless shelter for days, looking for any sign of green hair or Malachite eyes. 

They would frequent the police station a lot during those days, helping to make some kind of timeline of where Izuku was seen when he first ran away and trying to find out where he was. Many late nights where the four of them would try and theorize and figure out where his best friend could be. Those late nights turned into late night dinners at a 24 hour diner that was close to the police station, and somewhere along the line the Hag had bullied the guy into having family dinners with them. 

Throughout the last 5 years the detective has turned into more of an uncle of sorts, he guesses. Even when all of their leads have gone cold, Polygraph still tried to search for any mention of anyone fitting Izuku’s description, sometimes joining the Bakugous when they would volunteer at the homeless shelter or try and find any kind of new lead about Izuku. It's become an almost regular occurrence that Katsuki would visit the Precinct a couple of times a year, usually when something big happened and they would sit and catch up, check over the case and see if there was any new information about Izuku. It's one of the few places where Katsuki feels the most relaxed.

“What’s up Polygraph.” He snarks, getting an eye roll from the detective as he motions for the cat officer to go ahead and close the door as Katsuki makes his way over to the chair in front of the desk, aggressively sitting down and flinging his feet up to prop up onto the desk. 

“Katsuki, I am very sure I have told you my name several times, I would appreciate it if you would at least use it.” The detective says half jokingly, knowing full well that the nickname was his way of showing that he respected him. 

“Yeah yeah whatever Polygraph. So anything new on Izu from your buds?” He asks, popping open the bag of kitkats and immediately eating two right away. The spice was barely even a heat, but they were still something to snack on, so he grabbed a few more of the chocolate treat to snack on. 

“Nothing actually. No new sightings, no murmurs about a kid with green hair, nothing at all; which is a bit surprising. Usually we hear about one or two sightings of someone matching the description, but in the last few weeks there hasn’t been anything.  He may be hiding, or has moved to a different city that we don't have ties with, but its hard to say exactly. I asked a few officers in the neighboring areas to try and reach out to other provinces and see if they have anything that they might be able to find out. Anything on your end?” Polygraph explains, leaning back in his stupid chair and pulling open on the drawers to take out something. 

Katsuki already knows what it is; its Izuku’s case file; everything that have on his disappearance, to reported sightings and everything they have worked on in the last 5 years is stuffed into that Manila folder. 

“Nothing either; its been years since anyone at the Homeless shelter has seen anyone close to Izu come in; and even some of my regular sources haven’t seen him. The idiot better not have got himself hurt or stuck somewhere. Knowing him, he probably did something stupid and heroic without thinking.” Katsuki says, his voice getting softer as he thinks about all the times that Izuku would stand between some loser extra and a bully, even when he already looked like the shit got beat out of him. It always pissed him off that Izu would never put himself first, but he was also kinda proud of him too, always doing his best to help someone else, even when he was tired and sore. 

“From everything that you, your mother and father have told me about Izuku; he is strong, and knows how to take care of himself. Let's just keep an ear out for anything about him for the next few months, usually this is around the time that some may move around to new areas with the seasons changing, and with winter coming he may be laying low and saving supplies for the season. This may be. Good time to keep an eye around the shelter, he may pop by for some supplies he cant find on the street.”  Polygraph says, trying to help bolster Katsuki’s hope of seeing his best friend again. Not like he needs to, Katsuki isn’t going to let the idiotic bastard die, and he is going to do everything he can to get Izuku back. That’s why he is still going on the hero track, even without Izuku by his side. It won’t matter how long it takes, he will become the hero that both of them wanted to be and he is going to find Izuku and bring him home. 

“Anyways, tell me about your first day at U.A, was it everything that you expected it to be?” The adult asks, getting a scoff in return.

“Definitely was something else.”

Katsuki goes on to boast about his first day in the Hero course, about how he could easily beat most of the extras in his class, but admitting that there were a few that actually were quite strong and made Katsuki realize that he wasn’t the only big shot trying to be a hero. He also told the detective about the quirk assessment test that their crazy homeroom teacher made them take, and how he blew away his classmates and got third place in the test, both proving his worth in the hero course but also proving that he wasn’t the best like he thought. Izu would always say that Katsuki’s ego was just as big as his potential, and he needed to be aware of both to be able to move forward and be the hero that people would look up to; back then, he didn't get it as much, since the only person around that even matched him in strength was Izu. But now, after seeing one girl make a cannon for one of the tests, and some guy using ice left and right to demolish almost every test…..those words from years before have a lot more meaning to him now. 

“And you’ll never guess what! Aizawa is my fucking Homeroom teacher!” He yells, throwing one of the wrappers towards the trash can, missing it by a long shot as the wrapper floated to the ground feet away from the metal can.

The detective gives him a fake surprised look, sarcasm lacing through his words as he mockingly exclaims. “ really?! I had no idea! Who knew that Aizawa, aka Eraserhead, worked at a school that teaches the next generation of heroes.” Katsuki levels an expert level scowl at the man, grabbing one of the mini packets of KitKats and throwing it at him, who doesn’t even try to dodge the piece of candy. 

Katsuki had met Aizawa during one of his days volunteering at the homeless shelter; a few months after Izuku went missing, the Bakugou’s had started to volunteer at the shelter, helping with meal preps and watching over the different areas they had of supplies. It was a good way of staying in the know with some of the regulars who might be able to help them find Izuku, and also to give a helping hand to those who need it. It didn't hurt that the hours volunteering would look great when he applied to U.A. as well. Although he had hoped that both he and Izuku would be applying .

At first, they had thought he was one of the homeless, with his disheveled look and how it seems he hasn’t slept on a bed for months. Usually he would also be hanging out as in the cafeteria, or going from room to room. Katsuki nearly laughed his ass off when his mom offered him some food and clothes, only to find out that not only was he not homeless but he was a Hero that volunteered as well at the shelter quite a bit, usually making sure no fights broke out and being an extra set of hands when the winter season started and more of the homeless community flooded the shelter to escape the freezing weather. 

It didn’t take long from there for the Hag to somehow rope the guy into also becoming a regular for family dinners. Katsuki almost felt bad for the guy….Almost. Aizawa did tell them that he worked at a Hero school, and that he taught a lot of extras ( well more like he expelled them from how much he would come back from the first day of school with a stack of expulsion forms to fill out.) but he never said anything about it being U.A.!  And he didn't even give any kind of hint that he knew Katsuki would be in class last week when the Hag set up a family dinner night. That guy and his crazy mind games!!! But it doesn’t matter, he knows that even though the guy was a few screws short, and always willing to pull the wool over their eyes, he was going to make them all into the best heroes they can become. 

“Hahahaha! Sorry, Aizawa had made me swear not to tell you until after your first day.” Polygraph says through his laughing fit, only getting another KitKat thrown at him.  “Anyways, it does sound like you have had quite the day. I know that meeting others and learning that you’re not the only strong person there might seem daunting right now, but try and talk to some of them, heck make a friend or two. I know your mom would feel a bit better knowing that you’re actually reaching out to others.”

Yeah. 

No.

Katsuki only needed one person to be his friend; and they are currently plastered on hundreds of missing person flyers posted all over the city. 

Izu was the only one that he needed. 

“I know that Izuku will always be the number one for you when it comes to friends. The fact that you come here, after exhausting days and catch up on his case, and jump through hoops that most people would think is too much is proof of how precious Izuku is to you and your family. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have other friends; they don’t need to be as close to you, after all, you decide how much you want to let them in to your life. But having others who can relate and work with you will help you become stronger in the long run.” Damn it. He hated it when the detective made actual sense. It made it harder to fight him on stuff. And gets a smug look on his face- yup, there it is. That stupid look he makes whenever he knows he hit the nail on the head. Its satisfying to see him makes it when he gets a criminal to confess, but being the receiver of the dumb look over fucking advise makes him want to blow up his dumb face.

“I gotta go. The Hag wanted me to head home as soon as possible to talk about school.” Katsuki says curtly, deciding to ignore the smug look and head home before it starts to get dark. 

“Alright. Tell your mom and dad I say hi and that I’ll be there for game night.” Polygraph says, carefully placing the folder back into his desk drawer for next time. 

“I don't have to tell them shit.” He cockily replies back

“Sure you don’t. Stay safe on your walk home, katsuki.”

“Whatever.”

He abruptly closes the door to the office behind, getting a few stares from the lingering officers. With a scoff, he struts past them, waving goodbye to the cat working right by the office and heads out of the building, the doors behind clicking shut. The heavy heat in the August air made it seem like it was still June and July, and Katsuki let off a few sparks to help dry up his hands. The heat was perfect for his quirk, but it made it harder to control when he set off explosions, too much excess sweat and he’ll start setting off palm fireworks without even wanting to. The streets were starting to slowly lose most of the traffic and crowds by now, his phone showing that it was 6pm and he had missed two calls from the Hag. That doesn’t really matter, it's only when he gets a call from his dad after missing calls from his mom that he has to worry. He sent a quick text to his dad to let him know he was making his way back home and leisurely started to make his way, keeping an eye out in every alleyway as he goes, setting off a few sparks when there was no one around.

Katsuki can’t help thinking back to when he first got his quirk, how they were barely more than little pops and sparks in his hands, and the look on Izu’s face he will never forget. It was full of joy, not a hint of fear or a lick of worry. Even back then, Katsuki knew that Izuku's home life wasn’t great. From the few times he met Izuku’s dads, it was obvious that Izu was scared of him. And when Izuku saw Katsuki’s quirk for the first time, he hated to admit it but he was worried that he would see the explosions and be reminded of his dad's ashy breath and the flames that would lick up the corners of his mouth.  But he wasn’t scared at all, he said it was the coolest quirk! When others heard about his quirk, they told him he would be a great hero with it, but Izuku…..he didn’t say that his quirk would make him a great hero.

He always told him that no matter what his quirk would have been, he would be a great hero regardless.

That’s why when IZuku’s quirk didn’t appear right away, when everyone else turned their backs on him and called him worthless, quirkless, useless. Katsuki never did. Because he knew that even if he never got his quirk, Izuku would never let it stop him from being the best. From being a hero. And when he got his quirk, that awesome and amazing quirk, Izuku still made sure that both of them learned how to fight and work without their quirks. Izuku knows very well that not everyone relies on their quirks to deal damage or to fight all the time, after all, his home life was proof of that. 

Clenching his hands, his frustration boils at the thought. He’s glad he was able to get those two put away, and they’ll never be able to touch Izuku again. But he wishes  with every fiber of his being that that could have done it before Izuku thought that the best option was to run away and live on the streets. He wishes that they weren’t too late. 

“I’ll find you Izu. No matter how long it takes; I’ll find you. And we’ll be able to keep our promise. We’re going to be heroes together.”

Chapter Text

“Izu, do you really have to leave?” Eri asks, trying yet failing to hide her sadness and worry. It was barely dawn, the sun had not even peaked over the horizon yet although the sky showed warning of its approach, and Izuku was getting the last few things he needed for the trip to Hosu packed up.  Eri has been very adamant, in her own way, that she did not want Izuku to go to Hosu, her own fears seeming to make it harder for her to sleep since he told her the other night. Granted, Izuku realized that he should have told her sooner than he did about his plan, but it was all a bit last minute to begin with, but he still felt guilty about the hurt look she carries.

“Yeah, Eri, I do. Jin has really helped us out with getting food and a lot of what we already needed for the winter, but there are a few specific things that we still need to get and Hosu will be the best place for me to find them quickly.” He says as he grabs the few dollars that he still had that would be enough for a ticket there and back. Before picking up the duffel bag, he turns around to face Eri, silent tears already streaming down her cheeks and her hands covering her mouth as if to make sure she didn’t make a sound. “Eri, come here.” He asks gently, holding open his arms to her. She doesn’t miss a beat and throws herself into her chest, squeezing him in a desperate hug as if that would be enough to make him stay, although it only hurt his heart more. 

“Please…..don’t leave. I-I-I’ll be a good girl, I promise! Don’t leave me alone again.” She whimpers into his chest, heavy gulps of breath breaking the pleas. He holds her close, carding a soothing hand through her hair, hoping that will help calm her down more so that he can try and explain further. He knows that when she gets this overwhelmed that a lot of what he will try and say won’t actually stay with her. 

It took a few moments for her to finally take a deep full breath, a few sniffles still there but she seemed more aware of what was going on now. 

“Eri, can you tell me what you are thinking? What you’re feeling? I want to make sure that I explain this fully to you, but before I do that, I need to know what’s going on up here.” He says, patting her head. She’s quite for a moment before replying.

“Momma left me too. My q-quirk is a curse that took away daddy. A-and mommy left and never came back. She said I was evil and that my quirk was evil and she didn’t want me anymore; that she hated me. So she left and never came back…...Are you leaving me too? Do you hate me too?” She cries, her voice breaking as she finishes and a fresh wave of tears trailing down her red cheeks. 

“Eri, Eri please breathe with me okay? Deeeeeeep breathe in, and loudly breathe out.” Izuku leads her through the breathing exercise, making it far more dramatic to help make it easier for her. He even gets a tiny giggle out of it, seeming to help break the tension in the air slightly. “Eri, listen to me, okay. You are not evil. Your quirk is not evil. No quirk is a curse or evil, it's always up to the person and how they use the quirk, and Eri you are one of the most kind, caring and greatest people I know. I want to make this completely clear; I am not leaving forever, I will be gone a few days at most so that I can make sure I have absolutely everything we need for this winter so that we don’t have to worry about having to go out again to get something that we will need. I will come back to you, I swear. And you won’t be alone while I’m gone, Jin is going to be staying with you to make sure that everything is okay and in case an emergency comes up.” Izuku takes his time explaining, and it seems like everything he was telling her was getting through to her, not completely like he had hoped but it does seem like she was starting to understand. 

“So, you’ll come back?”

“Absolutely! After all, I gotta come back to...” He paused, taking a moment to try and figure out what to really call what they had. It only took that one moment for the right word to come to him. “..to my family.”  The tired smile she gave him was hands down one of the most beautiful moments he has had the honor of seeing since taking in Eri.

….

Jin came by soon after and with a half awake Eri sleepily waving him goodbye, he called out one final promise he would be back in a few days and started to make his way to the train station. The sun was only just now peaking over the horizon, and while there were a few people heading to jobs and heading home from night shifts, it was still relatively empty and quiet in their city. A few shops were open however, hoping to snag a few people before their shifts, mostly coffee shops and a cafe or two. 

It was quite peaceful, the air still holding onto the cold that the night brings with it, and the few plants he walked by still holding onto their dew. 

He walks by one of the few open cafe’s to see a tv going on a bit further inside, the image making him stop and stare; it was obviously recorded a few days ago with how it looked to be a commentary show reflecting on the event, the but he can still see it clear as day.

 Kacchan.

Standing above another student who had apparently lost the fight. He looked both different and yet the same all at the same time. He was obviously older then the last time he saw him, a lot of the baby fat that ad club to him was now sharp features and muscles that showed that he never stopped training, even after Izuku left. He looked like he still had that aggressive attitude, although the look on the screen seemed less mad then he thought, the pull at his scowl seemed also sad. 

Kacchan did it though. He was achieving their dream; if it was another world, maybe Izuku would be standing up there with him. But Izuku isn’t sure Kacchan would even recognize him as he is now. Deep down, he still wanted to be a hero, to be able to save people, to give people a peace of mind, a hope that things would be alright now that he was there. But looking at where he was now, on the streets, homeless for the most part and having so many scars, that dream feels more like a fantasy.

“I guess…. we both have changed over the years. Huh kacchan.”

…..

This was shit. 

Katsuki was sitting in class, ignoring everyone as they all boasted and crowed (ironically, the only one not doing so is the actual bird head.) about the news articles that have been going on non stop since the sports festival ended. Katsuki could honestly care less and was fed up with it all. He had obviously won the sports festival in a landslide, after all he was going to be the best, but it felt fake. Shitty Icyhot didn’t even try to beat him! He only used his ice like an idiot! He didn’t want to win beating someone who only put in half the effort, he wanted his win to be resounding, he wanted to beat in Icyhot when he was giving Katsuki 100%! 

But the bastard didn’t. 

Wouldn’t.

Katsuki wanted to bash the fuckers head in, but he also noticed the look that he was giving him during that fight, it was smug and defiant and the most emotion that Katsuki had ever seen on the guy’s face; Then he noticed that the look actually wasn’t to him, but to someone behind him. 

At Endeavor.

Then the fucker passed out from his own quirk making him too cold and Katsuki never got to fight the idiot. And then Katsuki never had the chance to talk one on one with him either with the award ceremony and the flaming dumpster hero hovering over him constantly afterwards. So many small things reminded him of Izuku, so many red flags that if you weren’t really looking for them, you would pass it off as just something else. But Katsuki wasn’t some idiot. 

“Alright everyone, seats now.” Aizawa’s voice drones over the chatter, immediately silencing any conversations and getting everyone to sit back down. That kind of command over the entire class is something to marvel at. Katsuki doesn’t have many people that he actually respects, but Aizawa has been someone who he always respected since he first realized that he wasn’t a hobo. He’s serious and calm, and never seems to be caught off guard by anything; and that’s not cause of dumb confidence, this was a kind of confidence that came with knowledge and experience. Aizawa deserves to be respected and he knows it. 

“Aizawa-sensei, it’s good to see you without those bandages now.” Frogger says, pointing out that the bandages that dressed him head to toe from the USJ incident had finally been removed, only leaving a scar under one of his eyes. “Recovery girl did go overboard with her treatment method.” Ha. Katsuki bets that the old nurse went overboard on purpose because Aizawa wouldn’t actually stay still long enough to heal enough. He’s seen him do it plenty of times with his parents when he tries to hide bruises and cuts from them. “But let's put that aside for now; today’s homeroom will be a bit different than usual…..”

The tension in the room was palpable.

“You’ll be creating your hero names.”

The explosion of cheers and excitement made Katsuki’s ears hurt, and he could see Aux cord also hold her own ears as well. 

Aizawa, once again unfazed by the noise, continues on. “This is related to the internship with pros that we had talked about previously. This year will be more about your “interests” or what you feel would be good for you further on once you are a hero. Internships and the heroes you do internship with will matter more during your junior and senior years, so don’t worry if you don’t have many recommendations this year, we also have a list of hero agencies that are pre-approved as well that you can select for your internship. For your hero name, otherwise known as code names, Midnight is going to take over from here.” And with that, Aizawa seamlessly zips himself into his sleeping bag and falls to the floor, seemingly out for the count. 

Sleep gas came barging into the room and explained how they were going to come up with their hero names,  and she would either approve or deny their names. A few have already gone up and shown the name that they are using, some of them weren’t so bad, like the frog girl, but then there were others that were absolutely shit. Seriously, some guy was using an entire sentence for his name! 

Granted, it’s not like he was doing much better, both of the names he was going for; King Explo-Kill and Explosion King Murder were both shot down immediately, and thinking about it from a different point of view, she was probably right to turn them down. He wishes that Izu was here, he would have had a stupid great name and help come up with a name for him too that was powerful and scared the shit out of his enemies without it being…...anything that he has come up with so far. 

He can remember how way back before Izu went missing, when he would stay over and was wrapped in bandages and couldn’t quite get comfortable to fall asleep, and Katsuki was too worried and wound up to sleep either, they would stay up and suggest hero names to each other, work on costume designs for their suits, it was some of the few times that Izu seemed to fully forget about his parents and everything he went through. 

Actually, now that he thinks about it, Izuku had come up with a hero name for him a few nights before he had run away. It was the best one yet, hands down, Katsuki should have realized it then but he was just a dumb kid back then, but it felt almost too perfect, like Izuku was waiting to give to himuntil the perfect time….as if it was a parting gift. It was everything that Katsuki wanted in a code name, but it also wasn’t as aggressive as all the names that Katsuki had made. Wiping off the board, he pops off the cap and carefully writes out the name. 

The right name. 

The one that Izu gave him.

“Oh! Looks like Bakugo might have one more name he would like to give a try!” Sleep Gas proclaims as he stands up and heads to the front again. He knows that this one will be the one; it's not just his hero name, its the name that will show them all his power but also be a signal.

 A signal to his best friend that he hasn’t forgotten their promise to one another. And he isn’t going to give up on him or either of their dreams to be heroes. Hitting the edge of the board against the podium, he proudly shows the room the name he knows he will never let go of.

“Ground Zero.”

“Approved!”

…..

Finally, the school day was over, and Katsuki finally had a chance to drag the idiot peppermint off, yelling off Shitty hair and the other extras from following them. Dragging Icyhot throughout stairwells and hallways and confused students before he finds an empty classroom and throws him hostage inside, slamming the door shut behind them. “Alright Icyhot, I got a bone to pick with you about how you went about the sports festival, but before we even go into that, you are going to tell me exactly what the fuck is going on with your dad.” Katsuki states, making sure to block the doors behind him, but also to give the peppermint some space in case he didn;’t want to be crowded. This was going to be a tough conversation, maybe for only one of them, maybe both of them, but making sure to give each other room is vital to make sure that he doesn’t feel he has to lie to get out of this. Ugh, he hates that Lie Detector’s advice on how to handle scared people is actually coming in hand right now. He’s going to have to owe him one of those fancy coffees during their next meet up. 

“I-I’m not sure exactly what you mean bakugou.”

“Don’t try hiding it Icyhot, i saw the look you were sending your pops at the end of our fight. Plus, the guy throws up red flags all over the place. Now spill. Either you tell me what the fuck is going on, or I get Aizawa-sensei and the Mutt teacher.” 

Peppermint is silent for a while before finally seeming to decide on what he wanted to do. “Have….you ever heard of Quirk Marriage?”

It was slow going, Peppermint needing to take moments to recollect himself and figure out how he wanted to explain things, but in the end he explained everything. The neglect his siblings face, the ‘training’ he has to endure on a daily basis and the disconnection he has to his brother and sister thanks to his dad. How his mom broke under the abuse and boiled the guy’s face. Everything. damn, now he really wants to beat the shit out of Endeavor. Guess it’ll have to be added to his things to do once he goes pro; find Izu, become number one, destroy Endeavor. Its a pretty good list if you asked him. But back to the matter at hand.

“So your dad doesn’t just look like a dumpster fire, he is one overall. I can kinda get why you want to shove it at him.”

“So you understand why I refuse to use my left side, why I-“

“I don’t understand shit!”

“What?”

“You say that you are holding back your own quirk to get back at the trash fire, but all it’s doing is holding you back! You just gonna hide your fire out in the field with lives on the line?! What if you were facing off against someone that’s quirk is weak against fire? Are you just gonna sit on the side lines twiddling your thumbs waiting for some other fire user just cause you don’t want to use yours?! And what if you do have to suck it up and use it years later, you don’t have any kinda training with it, it would be even more dangerous!!!! Don’t hold yourself back over some petty shit!! IT'S YOUR QUIRK DAMNIT!” Katsuki yells out, his frustration boiling over just remembering all the shit Izu had to deal with when his quirk didn’t show up right away, the way people treated him was despicable, and when his quirk finally did come in, it was hard for him to control at first since he was learning all of that kind of shit after everyone else had but no one seemed to understand that and got on Izuku constantly about his quirk going off without him meaning to. Just thinking about that, and thinking about Peppermint's own situation at home, and the one he is forcing upon himself, it's all kinds of fucked up! 

Icyhot seems to be shocked by the rant, like its stuff he never even thought of before. Before looking down to his left hand, seeming to mouth to himself “my quirk”. Well, at least his rant got through his thick skull. 

“Don’t even think about trying to use your quirk right now. It’s been years since you’ve even tried to use it, and I’m not going to be the one to try and explain to the Principal and Aizawa-sensei why we torched a classroom.” Katsuki says, seeming to knock some sense back into his classmate's head. “Come on, lets go.” He says as he opens the door and walks out, not taking a moment to check behind him as he hears Icyhot falling into step behind him.  They take their time to walk through the now empty halls, letting the quiet atmosphere surround them and calm any tension that may have been clinging onto their previous conversation. 

Just as they make it to the front gate he turns back around to Icyhot. “Look, if things get too heated over at your old man’s house, and you need a place to crash for the night, just shoot me a text and you can crash at my place.” And without even taking a chance to look at the once again shocked expression on the usually stone faced Todoroki, he turns and heads home. Feeling both more weighted down and also ore free then he was before. 

….

It was finally time for them to go off to their internships. All of the extras were happily chatting away, although Engine’s seemed to be totally out of it, he isn’t getting on anyone for not, I don’t know, tying their shoes right or their tie. Katsuki isn’t sure, it's just like he checked out and has had a weird look in his eyes this past week. It's been weirding him out and giving him a bad feeling. He shouldn’t care, but he knows that Izuku would probably say something about this, he was always a goody two shoes and always helped people whenever he saw someone that needed help. It got the both of them into more scuffles then they should have, but it was fulfilling seeing the two of them being heroes. Damn it Izuku, why did your stupid hero complex have to rub off on me!

He moves his way over to Aizawa and pulls him off to the side a bit and tells him about how weird Engines was being and that it was sending up some red flags. Aizawa seems to know more about the situation, because he lets him know that he’ll be keeping an eye on Iida personally both to his own suspicions as well as Katsuki’s concerns as well, I guess that’s his actual name or something, and thanked him for letting him know about his concern. They move back over to the group and their teacher gives them some last minute rules and advice before sending them all off onto their different trains to their week of internships. 

He can’t deny it, he is crazy excited for this; he is interning with the #3 hero, Best Jeanist, and he’ll get to see what it means to be on top, or as close to the top as he could get without going to the Burning Garbage Can that is Endeavor.  But an entire week being able to actually do some hero work, it might not be anything big since they are only first years, but this is the next big step that will lead to him being a hero. And hopefully one step closer to finding Izuku too. 

The train ride was long and an hour in he was scrolling through his notes on his Finding Izuku file that he hasn’t been able to update recently had picked up a couple of shifts over at the homeless shelter hoping to get any new info, the only thing that popped up those days was some guy in a half blacked and half white mask popping in a lot and getting some weird stares from some of the volunteer staff. He didn’t seem like a danger to anybody, he just had a couple of screws loose that made others give him some space. But no sign of green hair, no teens around Katsuki’s age came in. It feels like he’s going around and around in circles at this point, most of the regulars who used to let him know that have seen him popping around from time to time suddenly haven't seen him at all.  It’s terrifying to not have any idea at all if Izuku was okay, he could have been hurt or sick with no one there to help him or where to find him. But he has to be okay, he can’t give up on him yet; Izuku has been able to make it this far, he can’t just quit yet. 

He hears his stop coming up, so he closes his phone and refocuses on the here and now. 

The train stops with a lull, and he quickly gets up and leaves his seat and steps out onto the platform, his eyes scanning around for his escort; the acception call he got after agreeing to the internship said that once he got onto the platform there would be someone there to help lead him to the agency, and…...wow. 

Right off to the side, standing above the rest was Best Jeanist himself, covered almost head to toe in the blue tones of denim and making straight on eye contact with him. He straightens his shoulders and struts over, weaving through the crowd and making a beeline straight to the Hero. 

“Alright. Lets do this.” 

Chapter Text

The last few days in Hosu have been going fairly well for the most part, if Izuku could say so. He’s found most of what he was hoping to find, coats that are bigger for both himself and Eri so that they can layer up, medical supplies, as well as extra cleaning and bath supplies. Izuku knows that usually because of the harsh sea wind during the winter it will be hard to leave for supplies once winter fully sets in, and with the trash that towers around their hut,  the wind becomes harsher. There’s been times during the years that he has lived there where he would be completely snowed in, the shore frozen and the icy wind cutting through the cracks of the window. 

“I’ve already got what I need to block up the window and the door; and thanks to Jin, we have quite a bit of food and plenty of blankets now stocked up so I should only need to get a bit more and there should be enough for the both of us to last the whole winter, even if we get snowed in.” From what some of the others have been whispering in the alleyways and homeless shelters, its going to be a pretty rough winter with multiple snow storms expected to pass through, and Izuku wants to make sure that they are prepared for it. “All that’s left is getting the rest of the extra clothes in case we need to go without a fire for a while, oh and Firewood too, while we have a bit built up,  a lot of it has been rotted through or has been rained on, so it’ll be good to try and grab as much as I can while I’m here since they haven’t had rain in the last few days. Plus I wanted to grab some more metal as well to use as a-OOF!!” Being caught up in his ramblings, Izuku had lost track of where he was going and tripped over a corner of a dumpster and was heading face first to the sidewalk and the possibility of being stepped on by those who crowd it . He braces himself for the fall, until a large hand wraps around his shoulders, stopping his fall.

“Woah there! Slow your roll or else you’ll go running into walls soon too.” A bright voice lightly teases before helping Izuku back up to his feet. 

“Um, t-thanks.” He stutters out taking in the person who had caught him. Surprisingly, it was the hero Manual and it looks like one of his interns, a guy covered in some kind of armor with engines coming from his legs. 

“Its no problem, if you would like we can help lead you to one of the homeless shelters that are nearby?” He offers, giving Izuku space, but not how he has seen some other heroes do so. He isn’t giving him a wide berth because he is homeless, he’s giving him space because he doesn’t want to crowd him. His eyes only show empathy, not pity or disgust. Izuku has heard from some of the other homeless that move between Hosu and Musutafu a lot that Manual is one of the few heroes you can trust. 

“T-hanks, but I’m good. I just came from that way.” Izuku says, trying to burrow into his worn-in coat a bit to buffer some of the cold wind, and also to try and get out of the sidewalk a bit more, the disgusted glares he is getting from those walking around them searing into his skin. 

“Alright well, I won't keep you. Just know that if you need help or anything, you can always reach out to my agency and we can help you out.”Manual says, handing him a card with a number and a bit of cash taped to it, most likely enough for a pay phone.

“Sure.” Izuku quietly says,taking the card and stuffing it into his coat pocket. He nods to both Manual and his Intern before making his way back into the alleyway, ready to try checking out the other side of the city for what he could find. 

The day went smoothly as the hours passed, he was able to find quite a few of the things he was hoping for including some extra bits and pieces that will be perfect for some of the plans that he had to secure the beach, and most importantly their little alcove of it all. Usually he only has to put up a few trip wires, since during the winter other people get desperate and aggressive; but now that he has Eri with him, Izuku doesn’t only have to plan for other Homeless people to try and take over his area, but also Chisaki and his guys, so he’s going a bit further with his preparations for the trash heap to keep them both safe and alert. 

By the time Dusk was starting to set, Izuku had ended up back around near the area that was Patrolled by Manual and his agency, since it’ll be safer to find a spot to sleep for the night. As he was checking out a possible place to sleep, that’s when it started. He heard screaming coming from the streets, and as he cautiously got closer to the greet he understood why.

Monsters. 

Normally he hates thinking of someone else as a monster, as many of the “monsters” that he has met have been people on the streets, those with large physical mutations or their quirks making them look different than what would be considered normal for their time. They have all been good people who were judged and ended up on the streets just because of how their quirks made them look. But the….thing that was surrounded in turned over cars and flames, throwing punches randomly and attacking anyone…..that was a true monster. Its brain was completely exposed and their eyes were blank and not even looking at the hero it was currently fighting. Its...beak? showing off all of its teeth as, what looks like,its leather skin was pulled back and stapled in place. It looked like something out of one of the old pre-quirk era B-rated horror movies that Kacchan and he used to watch in the middle of the night, when neither of them could sleep; it is where it shouldn’t look real, as if someone took different pieces of people and stuck them together with tape and glue but it was definitely real, it was right there in his face and dear god what is that thing!?! 

A bit farther away, he could see the silhouette of another one of those things within the flames, this time looking as though it had wings attached to it. There is more than one?!

Stumbling backwards, Izuku quickly  turns and runs; racing through the alleyways hoping that the destruction and those creatures don’t chase him or at least get lost in the labyrinth that is the alleyways of the city. 

The fires must have begun to spread as many exits back out to the street were littered with flames and the smoke choked him and stained his bag and clothes as he continued to run. But he didn’t stop running, not when his lungs burned with smoke, ash, and exhaustion; no matter how battered he felt his thigh from his bag hitting it with every step, he didn't stop. 

Soon, the smoke began to clear and the sounds of roars and fighting were becoming quieter. 

Just as he began to think he was finally out of the main fight, he took a right turn and found another fight. But this one was completely different; there weren’t hulking Frankenstein-like monsters causing terror,  this felt far more intimate and personal. a man covered almost head to toe in knives and swords standing over…..is...is that Manual’s intern from before? It’s hard to forget the leg engine guy from before, a sword aimed straight for the guy and another hero seeming to be slumped against the wall next to him. 

“Being overcome by the hatred within you and trying to fulfill your own selfish desires of revenge...that is the furthest from what a Hero should be.” The guy with the sword preached, suddenly striking down and stabbing the guy in the shoulder, the intern’s choked cry as he quickly withdrew the blade again. “And that is why you will die.”

...die……die? Why did he have to die?! 

Izuku knew that a lot of heroes weren’t actually in it to help people, and more for fame and notoriety, but even then that doesn’t mean that they had to die?! They were still people, and no one deserves to die!!! 

No

No

Nonononononononono

Izuku didn’t know what to do, part of him screamed to keep running, this wasn’t something he had to get involved in, they hadn't even noticed him yet so he could easily turn around and find another exit. but he couldn’t move, the other part of him screamed at him to do something, the part that still held onto the slivers of his dream, of finding a way to be a hero, to how he was able to help save Eri, he helped save Jin. He couldn’t move at all, not away from the fight and not towards it, his body and mind at a standstill.

“Goodbye. You’re an offering to a more just world.” The crazy knife guy lifts the sword again,this time aiming for the head. 

“No matter what you say, you are the criminal who hurt my brother!” The kid yelled, just as the blade began to come down. 

Why wasn’t he fighting back, why wasn’t he moving?! He can’t, the other guy is yelling too but he isn’t moving. Can’t move. He’s going to kill him, he’s going to die! Izuku doesn’t think any further, his body moving on its own as he throws his bag to the side and reaches out with his quirk, Yelling as loud as he can, “No!” 

~~~~~

Damn it. DAMN IT!

He lost him; in all the fighting and chaos that the sudden Nomus (and that only meant that the League of Villains was around; just the thought of them made the scar under his eye throb at the thought of the Nomu he had to face alone, the black fog with burning yellow eyes and the awful crawling, burning feeling of his elbow decaying- STOP! Don’t go spiraling. Not now.) created as they rampaged through the streets. Aizawa had looked away for a moment, a single moment, to help take down one of the nomus that some sidekicks were struggling to take down, and when he looked back…..Iida was gone. 

He already had his worries about Iida’s mental state after his brother was attacked by Stain; but when he put his internship in Hosu with Manual, who was a much smaller Hero Agency, he started to suspect what was going on. The fact that Bakugou also noticed and actually made the effort to bring it up with him only reconfirmed his own thoughts. He was already going to keep an eye on Iida during his internship, and he had been doing just that for most of the week, but now he lost him.

Right in the middle of an attack that would pull everyone’s attention off of him.

Damn it.

He quickly made sure that the sidekicks could handle the rest before throwing out his scarf and pulling himself back up to the rooftops. He starts to run as fast as he can, making sure to look through each alleyway he jumps over before continuing onto the next Alleyway. Remembering about the files that have been made so far about the Hero Killer, its been noticed that many times his victims were found in hard to see areas, such as dead-ends or in allies, making it more secluded and smaller space, with unfortunately many of the heroes that he has attacked are disadvantaged in those kinds of spaces. He’ll check every alley if he can, but with Hosu, whose entire city creates a maze of alleyways and backroads that even those who have lived here their whole lives don’t know than full layout of those back ways. 

But he can’t stop.

Two other alleyways passed. Nothing.

Come on Iida, where are you?

Aizawa would never forgive himself if he gave up; he understood that Iida was grieving with the attack of his brother, and it was his job as a teacher to make sure that he doesn’t let that grief turn into something worse and to stop his students from going too far. Ingenium was an old friend and he was also upset about the attack and the fact that such a good man would no longer be able to be a hero. 

He should have tried to talk to Iida more about it, Aizawa had wanted to give him space, but it seems like that was a wrong move. 

Not like it's the first time he’s made a bad call since becoming a hero; he just can’t let this one be the thing that ruins Iida. 

Three streets cleared. Nothing.

Damnit! 

“Where the hell are you?” Aizawa mumbles under his breath as he decides to start moving in a new direction, his calves were burning along with his lungs as they screamed for a break, but he couldn’t stop himself, he couldn’t take that chance. Every second could mean a second less he has to save him. 

A second more that Iida could be injured or bleeding out.

A second more that he was failing his student. 

Just as he was about to change directions again, he heard something. Not the Nomus and the fires, not the scared citizens running from the blaze. 

It was a small yet loud yell, it was so sudden that he wasn’t even sure what was said. But that feeling in his gut, the one that has helped him save a life just in time, the one that has saved his own life more times than he can count, it was screaming at him to find it. That’s where he needed to be. 

The sound had been to his left, so he quickly turned back around, his feet skidding on the roof and pushed himself into a running start off the roof and onto the next, scanning throughout the alleyways to find that sound. 

Find the fight. 

Find Iida. 

~~~~~

Before the blade could reach the intern’s neck, the sword stopped, completely in the control of Izuku now as he held onto the blade with his quirk with everything he had. His scream echoed off the high walls and drew the attention of the crazy sword guy, and oh geez he looked completely unhinged, that look in his eyes was screaming murder and having that gaze set on him sent shivers throughout his entire body, his boots visibly shaking on the loose stones of the alley. but he held firm onto the blade, not letting it move another inch further in anyway that the crazy guy tried to pull it. 

“I-I-I won’t let you hurt them!” He stutters out, not sounding the least bit confident. 

“Huh? What’s a little trash rat like you doing here? This has nothing to do with you.” The sword man says, once again pulling at the handle of the sword to try and get Izuku to let go of it. In a desperate attempt, Izuku pulls forward, yanking the sword out of the guy’s hand and sending it straight to Izuku himself. Realizing that the blade was flying straight to him by accident, Izuku ducks quickly as the sword rams into the wall, the blade going in a far amount before stopping, the hilt and part of the blade still hanging out, but was now obviously stuck in the wall itself. 

Izuk wanted to look at the sword above him, to bask in the shocked look that was in the man’s eyes at having his sword pulled from his own hands. but he refused to take his eyes off the insane man, knowing that he had more than enough knives and another sword to not be defeated or to run with his tail in between his legs. This guy wasn’t like some of the homeless people that he has had to fight throughout his life, there wasn’t a hint of desperation on him, he seemed calm and aware of his surroundings.  The danger wasn’t in the fact that he was willing to do anything to hurt them, the danger was in the way that this man was skilled beyond belief.

“J-just leave the-them alone. N-no one h-has to die.”  Izuku manages to stammer out, cautiously moving around the horizontal sword. He takes something of a fighting stance, his quirk at the ready to pull and throw away any blades he might try and grab from the many holsters he had about his person. 

“He..hehehehe, hahahHahaHAHAHhahAHAHAHAHA!! It's almost laughable! It is laughable! how someone who has nothing and is seen as nothing more than the trash they scavenge has more potential of being a true hero then one who claims they are training to be one!” The crazy man rants, creeping the heck even more out of Izuku. The intern under him seemed more and more enraged as he lay there. Suddenly the laughing is cut short as he throws his attention back to the bleeding hero-in-training, “there is no hope for fakes like you, the only thing you can do now is to die and further show the truth to those who are blinded!” In one swift move he grabs one of the knives that were strapped to his leg and tries to plunge it into the throat of the intern. Izuku was almost too slow that time, the knife going a few centimeters further even after he grabbed ahold of the steel with his quirk. From how far away he is from the two heroes, and with the crazy guy’s back mostly to him, it was hard to see everything, but he could hear the gasp from the hero that was slumped on the wall, but the exhale seemed more out of relief than anything else. 

“You’ve already proven yourself, little street boy, I do not wish to harm one who is a true hero, but if you keep getting in my way I won’t hesitate to fight you. These two are fakes that must be culled!” The crazy man yells, loosening his grip on the dagger in his hand, enough to where Izuku took the chance to pull this blade from his hands too, but this time instead of releasing his hold on it like he did with the sword, he kept the dagger within his quirk, the blade now pointed at its previous owner. 

“W-why do you t-think they are fake?! W-what did they do that deserves d-death?!” Izuku asks, hoping that if he keeps the guy talking long enough, one of the heroes that are running around will find them…...although its not like anyone knows what’s going on over here…..with those creatures creating a mess in the middle of the city…..oh god, Izuku was on his own with this crazy guy, isn’t he?!?! Maybe he can keep the guy distracted enough til one of them finds an opening and either runs for help or tries to attack and restrain him. He just needs to help make that opening.

“Neither of them could be true heroes! Native accepting money as a hero, and letting his own anger fuel him, to the point where he will act crass and go too far with some of the petty crime he would stop!” 

“T-that’s it? Getting paid for his job and having s-some anger-issues?” Izuku can’t help but gauck at the lunatic. That’s why he isn’t a “hero” ?

“And this one!” The crazy guy continues, showing no sign of hearing Izuku, “he is here only for revenge of another fake hero; Ingenium, you called yourself, you Fake! he did not come here to help his fellow man, only to further his own selfish desires! This is what a fake hero is! Those who only act as heroes for a profit, for fame, for glory, for their own shellfish desires!” He cackles. Screaming out to the world his twisted view. Izuku, with adrenaline fueling him, decide to take the moment that he was absorbed into his on rankings, to weasel off a few more blades from the holsters from him, making sure to keep them all near himself and floating at the ready; the less weapons the crazed man has to work with, the more likely that all three of them may make it out of here alive. 

“That’s why they aren’t real heroes?” Izuku starts to say slowly, moving the extra blades to hide behind him, being thankful for his overly large coat as it gives him a bit more space to hide the daggers underneath and behind him as the insane look was pulled back to him. “Y-you are not wrong that some of the things you mentioned is not very heroic…” slowly he take a few steps closer, trying to take a deep breath to calm his voice and to stop the stutter that wants to show just how scared he really is. “But you act as though i-its impossible for them to learn and change. Ingenium i-is still only just learning what it means to be a hero, a-and from the sound of it, o-or at least what i was able to hear, you hurt someone very dear to him. I-I can understand what he is feeling, even if I don’t think he did the r-right thing….but that doesn’t mean he can’t learn f-from his mistakes, and be better for it. A-and Native, without money, he would end up just like me…..out on the street, not able to take care of himself and that could end up getting o-other people hurt even more. People n-need money to live, and need money to take care of themselves and their family, for their homes and for food. It shouldn’t be wrong to get paid for their jobs, as long as they do their best to help others as much as they can. A-and if he has issues with his temper, he can reach out for help to learn h-how to control it.” Izuku tries to explain, he knows that it’s probably useless, but he has the guy’s attention away from both heroes so it might give one of them the chance to escape. But neither. One of them move, it actually looks like he has everyone’s attention, which is probably the worst time to actually make people aware of himl why weren’t they moving?! 

Wait……..idiot! They haven’t moved a single finger since the whole thing, and even when the crazy guy had almost stabbed Ingenium, the hero hadn’t moved an inch, even when he was yelling to stop; what if they literally can’t move! Why didn't he think about that before?! Now he really is going up one on one with a mad man! SHIT!

“Y-you have to give them the chance to learn and change and grow, be-because that is what it means to be human, right? To make mistakes and learn from them?” Izuku states loudly, really hoping that someone will hear all the yelling thats been going on in their little alleyway and is either a hero or at least calls one. 

Please. Please someone come and help.

“Wow kid, you took the words right out of my mouth.” Another voices says, confusing all four of them and causing them to startle when a white fabric shoots out from the rooftop and aims straight for the sword man, missing him only just barely but getting him to move off of Ingenium and now standing between the new person and Izuku himself. He could hear the insane man mutter under his breath about another interloper. 

The new man, dressed in a black jumpsuit, the stark white scarf like fabric wrapping back around his neck as he stands over Ingenium, only this time he is standing as an obvious protector then aggressor. “Ingenium, once we have this under control, I am going to be having some serious words with you.” The man says, not even looking down to the one he stood protectively over. Izuku can’t see if but he is able to hear a choked out “sensei” from the hero-in-training. “And as for you,” Izuku jumps as he feels the tired look directed at him, and yet he can also tell that he isn’t ignoring the attacker either. “I can’t exactly say that what you are doing isn’t Vigilantism, however it’s because of you that I was able to get here in time and you kept these two safe until I got here, so thank you.” Izuku nods dumbly before focusing back onto the issue at hand.

“It doesn’t matter how many of you come, I WON’T LET YOU STOP MY MISSION!” The deranged man screams, pulling one of his daggers that Izuku hadn’t been able to grab and throws it at Izuku, even with Izuku trying to dodge it as he was almost at his limit with how many things he could hold and control at the same time. his aim was true however as it hits him in his upper arm, stabbing into the muscle and gaining a strangled cry from Izuku as the pain made him lose control of his quirk for a moment, many of the daggers he was holding and hiding falling from his grip and clambering onto the ground. 

“Kid!” The unknown hero yells out, grabbing bright yellow goggles that Izuku hadn’t been able to see at first and easily slipping them over his eyes, and his scarf seeming to float on its own, acting almost like the hair of a cat, standing on end and making the hero seem bigger then he actually was. A warning. A threat. 

Their fight was only just starting.

Chapter Text

The intense silence drowned all those within the alleyway, leaving a pregnant silence that Izuku could cut with any of the knives that was still within his control. 

Both the crazy man and the dark-clad hero moved at the same time, the scarf whipping out and aiming for the chest, only to be dodged and another dagger to be thrown swiftly. Even with the excruciating pain of the dagger still stuck in his arm, Izuku reacts instinctively and stops the blade before it can embed itself into anyone, quickly pulling it back to himself to keep it out of the hands of the mad man. 

Both were moving as if it were some kind of deadly dance, steps quick and reactions to one another’s moves almost in sync, they were both practically bouncing off the walls at time to try and get ahead of the other, with each knife thrown, Izuku tries to grab hold of the blades, the smaller ones easier to remove from the battle, but the larger ones were getting harder and harder to grab, leaving him to only be able to redirect them to where they miss their mark. the adrenaline was starting to leave his systems and if he thought that the pain in his arm was already bad, it was starting to become unbearable, the pain spiking and driving white and black spots to his eyes at each wince and move he made as he tried to get around the two fighting and get over to the other two who are still paralyzed on the ground. 

He wants to remove the knife so bad, but he knows that removing it would only make things worse for him. He ducked from another dagger being thrown and bites his tongue at the staggering pain that lanced through his whole body. 

Taking a staggering breath, Izuku throws himself forward to land near the paralyzed hero, rolling to where his feet were once again under him. He had to take a gasping breath as his arm feel as if it's being ripped in two and he could feel every heart of his heart pulsing throughout it, making the pain last longer. 

But he couldn’t stay still, he needed to keep going. He isn’t trained in how to actually fight, if he were to try and get caught up in the death fight happening just behind him, it would get all of them dead. But that doesn’t mean he can’t still help. Turning back to the fight, he works past the blinding agony in his arm and is able to throw off the crazy sword guy by pulling at the metal on his boots and threw him off balance, giving the Hero with the flying scarf to get in a good hit, the crack of his first against the mad man’s jaw echoing and making Izuku sympathetically wince. But the crazy guy just took it and went in to try and go for a swipe of his blade once again, the hero already aware of it and moving out of the way with a fluid move. 

“Kid! Get those two out into the open!” The hero yelled out, once again ducking and striking with such speed and strength that Izuku wishes that he could one day be that strong as well. He quickly shakes out the passing dream of being a hero that had wormed its way into the forefront of his mind at literally the worst moment to try and day dream, come on Izuku! And quickly turns back towards the two still unable to move.

“A-a-are you hurt anywhere?” What the hell?! Of course they’re hurt, why did you ask that?! 

The hero-in-training could only sniffle and seem to be struggling with some kind of self-realization, so Izuku turns to the hero that was still slumped on the wall. Native “ my shoulder; its his quirk, when he draws blood, it paralyzes you. I-I’m not sure how long it lasts.” Izuku nods quickly, before realizing something…...he had been hit by one of the knives, yet he wasn’t paralyzed. So maybe it was the drawing of blood that caused his quirk to activate, but something else. 

“D-did he do anything else after getting this hit in? Anything at all?” Izuku asks, moving to Native’s sleeve before ripping off a large piece of it and using it to act as a bandage to stop the bleeding in his shoulder. 

“He….he licked the blade afterwards.” Ingenium muttered out, seeming to snap out of his thoughts and back into the present. Izuku looks over to him, noticing that Ingenium’s hand twitching and slowly curls into a fist.  He was regaining his ability to move? That’s good at least, to know that the paralysis was only temporary, but why was Ingenium able to move before Native? From the sound of it, Native was already hit and paralyzed when the young intern had rushed into the fight, so wouldn’t Native be able to move first? 

Unless……

“Sir!” Izuku calls out, hoping that he wouldn’t be throwing the Hero off guard. “Don’t let him taste your blood! That’s what activates his quirk! The time frame might be based on blood type.” Izuku continues, not waiting to get a response from the hero, although the nod he gets helps ease some of his worries. 

“Damn trash rat, you’re smarter than you look. Since you haven’t taken my offers to let you leave, I’ll have to kill you too.” The crazy guy yells out, throwing three daggers in a blink of an eye, not towards the hero he was currently fighting, but straight at Izuku and the two immobilized heroes. As quickly as he could he threw up his arms, sending two of the daggers off in different directions, but the pain that shot through him from his right arm made him lose that focus for a moment and the third one embedded itself into the same arm. Izuku choked on the scream, clamping his mouth shut and cradling his arm. He couldn’t scream, it could throw off the scarf hero and put them all into a dangerous situation. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how much his jacket sleeve grew more and more red, no matter how the blood was making it hard to use his hand, how sticky it felt, he wouldn’t make a single sound. 

Focusing back on the two before him, he takes a few deep breaths to try and get himself under control then mutters into Ingeniums ear. “It looks like his quirk is starting to wear off on you; can you lift your head off the ground?” It takes a few agonizing moments, but the hero-to-be was able to lift his head from the pavement. “Keep your head up, I-I’m gonna use my quirk to move you.” Izuku stutters out, a flash of pain making him lose his composure for a moment. He does get a grunt in response, and as quickly as he could, he takes hold of the armor the was apart of the Hero’s costume and pushed Ingenium out of the alleyway and into the empty street, far enough away so that if the crazy guy tried to aim his attacks at the hero again, he would have to leave the safety of the side street and go out into the open. 

He turns back towards Native, ready to try and do the same thing only to notice one key difference. There was barely any metal on the guy; and he was a lot bigger than Ingenium, probably heavier too. With how much it took out of him to be able to get the other out of the alleyway, even with all of his metal to help make it easier, trying to do the same with the actual adult and with so little metal, it would be impossible to try it. 

“Shit. Okay, we’re gonna have to do this differently.” Izuku looks around and takes notice how many of the daggers he had dropped all around them, he must have let them go throughout getting stabbed a second time and with moving Ingenium, but maybe if he can swallow the growing migraine and pounding torture that was his right arm, it might work. Grabbing onto the daggers quickly, he moves them to where the are laying horizontally, the blade laying flat against Native’s arms. “Don’t move.” Izuku warns before he starts to warp the blades, pulling them off their hilts to where they can be easier to mold, crafting the metal to become solid metal bands that loop around the Native’s limbs. Hopefully that, and some physical pulling itself, will be enough to get him out of the Alleyway. 

His head was throbbing, he could feel it behind his eyes  that can’t even see straight anymore, the pain was excruciating and he just wanted to sleep, but that might not be a good idea with the blood loss, let alone the fact that he’s still kinda in the cross hairs of the hero and the crazy guy fighting like their lives depend on it, which it kinda did. He works through it though and with a push, he reaches out to the metal and with it lifts the hero and slowly moves him out of the side street, pulling on his arm and his cape to try and move him a bit quicker then he could with his quirk alone. He grabs ahold of the hero’s arm with one arm and his cape with the other and pulls, the pain in his arm spiking to a new high as the knives dug into the arm at the motion, but he refused to stop, he wouldn’t stop until he had saved them.

He feels with his quirk rather than physically sees, as his sole focus is getting them out and the spots that were crowding his sight made it almost impossible to see anyway, the blades that the killer tries to throw at him as a last ditch effort to achieve his goals, and uses what little control that isn’t focused on moving the man to aim them down, making them fall just short of them. Izuku can hear yells off in the distance, but focuses on getting the two of them out of there. He was so focused that he tripped over the lip of the sidewalk where it  falls to meet the street, and he manages somehow to keep his feet under him and continues moving the both of them until they are close to Iida. As he sets down Native he can finally make out the yells he was hearing before, other heroes were making their way towards them. Izuku slumps down next to the hero, his arm killing him, his head felt like it was going to explode and the world kept tilting back and forth.

“Hey…..kid.” 

Izuku looks over to Native slowly, trying to show he was listening without making his head hurt anymore. 

“Thank you. Not just for saving us…..but for what you said before. It….I didn’t…...I am going to take what you said to heart and try and do better.” He stumbles out, seeming to struggle with getting the words out like he wanted. 

Izuku hums to him, acknowledging him but trying to keep speaking to a minimum, leaving the quiet that had surrounded them to finish the conversation.

Wait…..quiet? 

Izuku whips his head back to the alley, the alley that no longer made any noise of a fight, as if there wasn’t a fight to begin with. 

No, please let that hero be okay. Don’t let that killer win. I don’t know how much longer it’ll take Ingenium to regain his mobility and Native still hasn’t shown any sign of the paralysis wearing off on him yet!

A figure starts making his way out; thankfully, his prayer was answered, as instead of the red mask and knife-covered manic, it was the hero, his scarf no longer wrapped around his neck but instead one end was grasped in his hand as he dragged the manic behind him. He definitely was worse for wear, with cuts and bruises already blooming on his face and tears in his clothes, but the relief of knowing that he was walking out of that alley on his own brought relief to him, knowing that he had done the right thing at that moment. 

The other heroes finally made their way to them and immediately started working to try and check over the two paralyzed, one of them even coming over to Izuku, although they look a bit hesitant to actually touch him; well it has been a few days since he was able to do any kind of shower, so he was probably grimy with filth. He could see the hero’s mouth moving, but for some reason he couldn’t really hear what they were saying. The world was only static and his vision blurred with spots and…..god it was so hard to keep his eyes open. 

Now that the crazy guy was caught, he could relax and close his eyes for a bit.

But he couldn’t sleep though. He….he needed to find the rest of the things needed for their shack...he needed to get back to Eri…..and Jin…...why couldn’t he keep his eyes open?

No matter he tried to fight it, he slumped over, all the adrenaline leaving him exhausted to the bone. He fell to the side, ready to have the pavement smack him, but instead a strong arm caught him before any contact. He fights through the weight that was pulling on his eyes, and sees that the tired hero that had taken down the maniac was the one that caught him, he was a bit confused as to why he looked like he was shouting, concern painted all over his face. Why was he worried? Oh, right, he did get hit with two knives, but he just need to stitch himself up and he would be fine. 

It’ll...all be…..fine.

He couldn’t stop himself from falling unconscious, still unable to hear the worried yells from the hero that saved them. 

~~~~~

If someone were to say that Aizawa was calm at this moment, he would call them blind. He was already on his third coffee in that hour alone, he's sure that he has paced a permanent dent into the lamented tiles of the hospital, and he kept looking over to the door that the kid was currently sleeping in at the closest hospital, hours of waiting, hours after the fight had finished and the kid had fainted from the blood loss, for the results from the doctor.

Once backup had arrived, Iida and Native were both looked over, and he could see the terrified look that painted itself over Manual’s face as he took in the state the kiddo was in. His arm looked like it was dunked into a vat of blood with how much it was coating his jacket and hand; he had a nosebleed that painted his mouth and nose in the same red mess as well, most likely from quirk overuse.  He looked as though he went through hell and back, his pants ripped and knees scuffed up, his shoes were covered in soot and debris and his hands so pale and bone thin, yet rough and calloused. When he had caught him, he felt so light that he was terrified what he would see if he removed the obviously large coat. 

After that, and dealing with the flaming glare that Endeavor shot at him at seeing that the Hero Killer had been caught and detained by someone other than him, they quickly made their way to the closest open hospital. Aizawa didn’t give a damn about the credit of the arrest, only getting his student and the homeless kid to a hospital. Thankfully, both Iida and Native were able to freely move once again, Iida able to get up right away and Native needing a few more minutes before he too could walk on his own once again. Once they got to the hospital, it was a flurry of doctors and nurses and the kid was taken from his arms at some point and taken in for surgery for his arm. Which then left Aizawa with only the option to wait. 

He busied himself by checking on Iida and Native, thankfully both of them had minimal damage, although they both may have issues with using their hands to their full capacity, but in the grand scheme of things, that was the best case scenario. The police chief also came by to go over the events that took place during the fight, as well as what they should do about Iida acting as a Vigilante and trying to take down Stain. It took a bit of work, but they were able to come to a consensus that he would be on thin ice but wouldn’t be expelled or charged with any crimes, and Aizawa would also be tacking on mandatory sessions with Hound Dog as well to make sure that he does get help with dealing with his brother’s attack as well as his own near death moment he put himself in. 

Explaining everything to Iida, he took it with his head hung low with guilt, but he could see just a sliver of his student’s eyes and could see the gleam in them. Not the gleam of revenge, but of courage and the need to be better, of being a better hero. Aizawa can breathe a little easier knowing that Iida would be alright in the end. 

During that meeting, the kid that helped save all of their lives out there had been moved into a room of his own, still unconscious but from what the doctors are able to tell he should wake up soon. Unfortunately, because of his quirk which apparently had something to do with electromagnetism, it was messing with any machines that they tried to connect to him to monitor his condition, but from what the nurse told him the kid was doing just fine and they would be checking in on him every thirty minutes or so to make sure it was alright. Although there was a few things that their were worried about with his health that also added onto Aizawa’s concern for the kid; he was greatly underweight, his body carried so many scars, some old and obviously never cared for, some that do show some signs of healing, others faint lines and blotches of what was most likely echoes of smaller burns that were healed fully and cared for. The worst of them were the burn scars on his back, one of the largest ones spanning across his kids left shoulder and reaches to his mid-back, the skin pitted and dented in some places and others looking almost like the skin was branching out to try and heal itself, creating an uneven and vein like look, the whole area discolored red then from what was the kid’s normal skin, other burns looking the same as the large section while others taking on a more leathery look and feel to it.

Aizawa had asked them to run his blood through the police database so that they can try and get a proper name for the kid and see who exactly would harm a kid. 

Its been hours now, pacing back and forth in front of that door, the nurse going in every thirty minutes like they said to check his heart rate and breathing and the like before rushing off. He was probably getting on their nerves with how much coffee he’s had and the frequent squeak of his shoes as he pivots on each turn of his self assigned track. 

The Nurse that he had talked to before suddenly rushed out of whatever room she was in, and briskly walked over to him, making him stop in front of the door. 

She got to him a bit out of breath, but held up a couple of sheets of paper to him. 

“I-I ran the blood through the database and got a hit.” She says between heavy breathing. He quickly takes a hold of the papers, one being the results of his blood work, a bunch of medical jargon that he couldn’t really understand, and then the next one makes him freeze up. The nurse continues on, unaware of the change in the hero. “It was a missing person case, a Midoriya Izuku, looks like he’s been missing for over 5 years. I’ve already called the- wait!” 

Aizawa doesn’t wait. 

He quickly opens the door to the kid’s- Midoriya’s-room, only to find the bed empty, the window open, the duffel bag he had grabbed from the alleyway was gone as well. 

Izuku was gone. 

“Damn it!” 

Chapter Text

Its been weeks now since the Hosu attack, and there was no trace or hair of Izuku anywhere. Aizawa figured that the kid had gone back to where he has been hiding out for all these years to take some time to heal, and with Winter now in full swing, it’ll be even harder to try and find the kid. Most of those who are homeless will usually hunker down if they have found a good spot for the winter, almost like a hibernation in a sense, if they haven’t found one, usually go to the homeless shelter to wait it out. But Aizawa knows that it’ll be better if they don’t see him, since that will mean that he has a good hiding spot that would keep him safe and alive, but it would mean that there would be almost no leads on where that spot, and in turn Izuku, would be.

Bakugou has also been quite aggressive with his searching as well, once Aizawa updated both the Bakugou’s and detective Tsukauchi on Izuku’s appearance in Hosu. The kid has been going out almost everyday, as soon as school is out til late into evening, searching every part of the alleyways that thread throughout Musutafu, or working in the homeless shelter to where the owners have had to kick him out a few times to make sure the brat actually got some rest and didn’t stay there the whole night. 

It didn't stop him from roaming the city’s maze of alleyways late at night, flashlight in hand and talking to anyone that didn’t try and stab him. It was almost manic how much Bakugou was throwing himself into this search, Aizawa has never seen him this desperate since he’s known the Bakugou’s. If he had known them at the beginning of their search, it would probably have looked like this though. Desperate for a lick of info, throwing caution to the wind and focusing only on the task at hand. 

Granted…..

Aizawa couldn’t exactly say too much against it, since he was also doing the exact same thing. Granted, he wasn’t throwing himself into fights with the homeless who sprinkled every corner and dead end alley, but Aizawa had been talking on more shifts at the homeless shelter as well, and taking nights either following Bakugou to make sure he didn’t get stabbed in some dark alley, or when Bakugou wasn’t out there, he would look through the outskirts of town, slowly trying to make his way through the rooftops of the city to try and catch hide of hair of the kid. 

He, as well as the Bakugou’s, the police, anyone working on the case has already scoured the high density areas in the middle of town for the kid, and no one has ever seen him, and he knows that a few times throughout the year, the Bakugou’s would check out the outskirts too, where city life turns more suburban and skyscrapers turn into small homes and schools, Aizawa has even gone as far as to some of the beaches that he knows some of Homeless community will use during hot summer days to try and cool off with the sea breeze and the empty sand. It’s honestly been awhile since he’s gone out that far to where the shore was in view, since during winter, most homeless men and women would seek shelter in the city where apartment buildings and office buildings were packed together and built high, it was easier to block the cold wind that way and to find alcoves that help hold the heat in a bit better. It was much more dangerous to be around the seaside during winter, since the sea breeze turns into a vicious ice breath that would steal the breath from those unprepared. 

But it was also one of the places that they have rarely checked, due to it being such as dangerous area for the homeless to set up camp.No one in their right mind would try and camp out through the winter on one of those beaches…...but maybe that’s why they may not have been able to find his hiding spot all these years. 

Its in the one place that no one thought to look….because only someone crazy would actually try it.

Aizawa watches out over the night, his fingers already becoming chilled to the bone, even with the gloves he has on, he watches on as he keeps an eye on Bakugou, who once again was out late into the night, his breathing ghosting into the air, flashlight in hand and once again barely getting out of a possible fight. 

Aizawa sighs, his own breath appearing before his lips. He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket, and carefully he pulls his phone out, making sure not to let it slip from his gloved hands. Checking over the email he just got, it was from Nedzu, something about getting the hero course students, as well as any students from other courses that want to participate, and have them do community service. Either voluntarily over the next few months, or they can do something like a whole class. 

It isn’t a bad idea, since many heroes nowadays kind of forget that doing community service is also technically a part of being a hero, not just beating up the bad guys and the popularity. 

“Maybe that will keep this brat in line for a bit, and make sure he doesn’t push himself too far, and it will be good for the others too.” Aizawa says to himself, writing back to the principal confirming that he thinks its a good idea, and his own suggestions on community services would be good for the students to know about, or have an extra class about. Stuffing his phone back into his pocket, he watches out over the night, Bakugou seeming to finally be making his way back home, his shivers quite apparent to him even from this far away. 

Aizawa can’t help but think back to Izuku, thinking about the scars on his back, the obvious markers of everything he has been through, how the jacket he had on that night was so worn thin, even though it seemed to swallow him whole. 

“I should touch base with Tsukauchi about getting some heroes or police to canvas near the more suburban and near the coast line.” He says, making sure he made note of it before calling it a night himself, the blistering cold making his fingertips numb and his nose feel as though it was frozen through and through. 

Winter was upon them, and it was going to be probably one of the worst ones they have had for a while. 

“Wherever the hell you are Izuku….I hope you’re safe. Stay alive for us, okay kid.”

We’ll find you soon. 

The last few weeks have been a mess of getting everything prepared for waiting out the winter. Jin has been a bit busier with odd jobs he was picking up, and Izuku was actually surprised that it wasn’t anything too ‘dirty’ or too deep into the crime world,Jin has never really told Izuku what exactly he did before, but from the fact that Jin would immediately switch the subject, he was sure it was something crazy or illegal. Thankfully though, it does seem like he is trying to leave that kind of life behind now, with most of the small jobs being labor work that would last a few days, and from the sounds of it was stuff that was around town. Jin has even started to use his quirk, albeit sparingly, to take on multiple jobs at once around town to help get some more money in. 

Apparently he had his own apartment nearby in a a nearly closed down complex, where only a handful of people stayed at, so he needed to save up the money for his own rent and groceries, but almost anything else he would, against Izuku’s wishes, use it to help them get ready as well. Eri has taken to organizing everything they had for when they would pretty much shut themselves in the hut for the next few months. She was having fun with it too, seeming to get the idea that they needed to make a pillow fort of sorts with the mounds of blankets that Jin has been no so subtly sneaking into their supplies, and stacking the cans of food nearby as well in a crate that they could slide under the wooden table (that also seemed to just magically appear while Izuku was away.) Meanwhile, Izuku began to board up the one opening he would call a window, granted there was no glass there anyway, and was making sure the refrigerator door that he had used for the last few years would be able to hold up for one more winter. Also going around and making sure that there were cracks or loose boards, even switching out rotten wood for pieces of metal or with new planks. 

Izuku has also taken some of the supplies he was able to grab in Hosu and used that and some of the tools and made a, albeit primitive, security alarm with some fishing wire and some old cans that he threw a few nuts and bolts into each one. Now, in case anyone gets too close to the alcove, or if anyone even enters the trash heap of a beach they call home, They’ll know about it and be ready for it.

At the moment however, Izuku was working on his quirk control. After the events of almost getting murdered by that crazy killer, Izuku had been taking training his quirk to a whole new level. Any time he wasn’t playing with Eri, fixing up the hut, or getting everything ready…..he was training his quirk. Lifting up and holding larger and larger objects from the heaps of trash, holding multiple items up at once, controlling as many tiny nails, bolts, and nuts as possible and making both small, medium and large objects complete insane maneuvers around the towers of trash that encompassed them. No matter if he lost feelings in his fingers, or the new scars on his arm throbbed in pain, he worked himself to the dead of night making sure that if anything or anyone were to try and hurt them, Izuku would be able to protect them. The training was brutal and more often than not, Jin would have to drag his exhausted body back into the hut to warm up and actually catch some sleep. 

On the bright side though, sometimes Eri would come out with him when he was training and would help him, normally being an added weight on whatever he was controlling (Izuku would usually try and make it a bit more fun and would join her on her impromptu seat, pretending that the rusted car door they were using was a flying carpet and telling her all sorts of stories along the way.) but she has also taken to trying and practicing her own quirk as well. It's always been something Izuku knew was a sensitive topic, and the talk they had before he left seemed to have helped a bit, at least in some instances. She is less afraid of reaching out to him during nightmares, which have also seem to have become few and far between the last few weeks. And then there was the training she has been doing, granted, she has forbid them from touching her or helping her with her quirk, and Izuku relented to her request, with the exception that she only practices her quirk when other he or Jin can watch her to make sure nothing goes wrong, they were with her. 

But Izuku can’t help but be proud as she starts to accept her quirk as nothing more than that. Her quirk. 

And while the work has been slow going for her, apparently never having someone actually help you learn how to turn on your quirk on your own made it difficult, she was making some progress. 

Apparently her quirk let her rewind the time on a living object; she’s mostly been practicing with Apple cores and bits of leftover potatoes. She still struggles with stopping as well, many Apple cores literally blinking out of existence in her hands, or all the way back into seeds or apple blossoms, but he can tell that she s starting to get the hang of it. 

The first time that she did accidentally go too far and rewound something too far, she cried her eyes out, crying that she didn’t mean to and making her quirk go out of control. Thankfully Jin had made a few doubles of himself and with enough patience ( and a few clones lost) they were able to calm her down and explained that she didn't need to worry. That they weren’t going to leave her just because of a small mistake that was bound to happen while she was working on her quirk. 

After that, she seems to be doing better, although she still refuses to have them touch her while she is training. Izuku doesn’t mind, he knows how important it is to her to feel like she has control over when she uses her quirk, so he won’t go against her wishes when it comes to it.

As the days grew shorter however, Eri stayed inside their hut more than not, bundled up in sweaters and coats to try and stave off the blistering cold that signaled the beginnings of what would be their first winter together. She would mostly play with Hero, the stuffed bunny, or would try and learn to write and read; Jin had brought by some workbooks for practicing reading and writing, thinking that it would be a good idea for Eri to practice and learn while she would be more likely to be bored once winter hit them full on. Izuku was honestly surprised by the gift, having only a middle School level of learning, and figured that Jin’s gift was the right choice as she seemed to get quite involved in learning Kanji and trying to read along to some of the beginner books Izuku would read to her. Sometimes when it would be late and either of them had a nightmare or just couldn’t fall asleep just yet, they would read through those children’s book by the light of a candle, letting the silent push and pull of the waves and the gentle whisper of the story wash over them as they curl up together under the piles of blankets they have. 

Those moments were sometimes his favorite, where it didn’t feel like they were living in some run down garage dump, and it was just the two of them enjoying a moment of true relaxation and happiness. 

This night was just like the last few nights as Winter truly set upon them now; Eri was safely wrapped up in the blankets, already fast asleep with Hero tucked in with her, protecting her dreams from any horrible nightmares. Meanwhile Izuku was getting in a few more chances of practicing with his quirk before the cold became too much for me as well. Jin was off to the side, smoking a cigarette and aggressively pulling his coat around himself. 

“Come on kid, its getting way too cold out here. You keep going any longer and you’re gonna start losing toes. Keep going Izuku! I wanna see you lift that truck over there!” Jin called out, seeming to contradict it himself once again. Granted those moments of where he seems to be fighting with himself have also been getting rarer as time went on, it seems that whatever trauma that caused it he was slowly getting better with it, which Izuku was glad for. 

“J-just a bit longer.” Izuku stutters out, both from the exhaustion and from the freezing sea wind that continues to whip at him as he stands in the center of their alcove, fridges, Microwaves, nails and broken phones floating along with them as well. He’s been keeping them up there for almost an hour, adding more an more items into the grips of his quirk, he just added in some hubcaps and the drum of a washing machine as well. He knows he has made leaps and bounds from where he was before, but an time he even thinks about Hosu and that killer, he finds himself out here, working more and more on his control, ignoring the staring he feels in his new and old scars as it pulls and moans at the freezing cold.

“Sorry kid, but any more and you’ll be a popsicle. Set that stuff down and at least get over here to warm up a bit.” Jin says, holding out his coat for Izuku to bundle in. 

Normally, it would take a bit more nagging from Jin to get Izuku to quit, but he concedes this time and sets everything down, making sure to not just drop them suddenly and wake up Eri. He shuffles quickly over and grabs the coat, finding some gloves and slipping them on, rubbing his hands together quickly to try and bring some feeling back into his hands. 

“Hey, Izuku. I know that you guys are staying out here to make it harder for whoever is after Eri to find you guys, but I’m gonna go ahead and put out the offer. If you guys run into any trouble out here, either it gets too hard to stay out here, or if the guys after her do find you both. Don’t hesitate and come to my place. It's small, but the neighbors aren’t snitches and it’ll be a good backup plan in incase you guys need to lay low for a while before finding a new area to hide in, or at least wait out the winter if it gets too tough.” Jin offers, handing over a piece of paper with an address and a phone number on it. Izuku looks at the offered hand before accepting it, making sure to carefully place it in his pocket.

“Thanks Jin, I know that with winter coming, it’ll be harder to come by, since you have some jobs lined up, let alone the fact that it’ll look weird for a guy to be sneaking into a dump in the middle of winter. If you do get a chance to sneak in, you’re always welcomed here. I’ll make sure to keep it in mind in case we do need that backup plan.” Izuku says, before bidding him goodnight and heading into the hut, pulling the Fridge door over the opening on the outside, and the second fridge door he decided to keep on the inside as a way of doubling up on the protection from the cold, and prying eyes. He shuffles his aching body over to the hill of blankets, Eri safely wrapped up within the cave of sheets, sleeping peacefully and no hint of a nightmare from the relaxed brow and the way she loosely hugs Hero to her. Izuku doesn’t bother with shrugging off the jacket, the cold from outside still clinging to him as well as seeping into the hut within the cracks and holes that still speckled their walls. 

Once he was able to slink his way into the mound of blankets, thankfully not waking Eri up as he moved and shuffled onto the old mattress, he relaxes into the warmth, the stinging in his fingers and toes as his body tried to bring back the life in them after spending hours being out in the freezing cold keeping him awake just enough to realize that Eri had immediately shuffled over to him, curling into his side and dragging the few blankets that were in reach with her. Stifling a chuckle, he pulls her into his side, making sure that any buttons or zippers on the jacket he still wore wouldn’t press into her and shock her with the cold metal from her sleep. 

Izuku knows this winter is going to be a long one, for both of them. 

And its not going to be easy in the slightest. 

Something inside of him is just telling him that he needs to stay alert, he isn’t sure if its due to the weather or if Chisaki is on their trail, but even he shouldn’t be able to do much with the weather coming in.

Or at least, he hopes so.

IZuku sighs, hoping that he was able to do enough to keep them safe for the next few months. He tried to think of everything he could do to help protect them from whatever dangers may face them. The traps, alert wires, all of it he put up in case of anything coming into their home and trying to hurt Eri or himself. 

He will do everything to protect Eri,and he wouldn’t hesitate to throw himself to the wolves in order to let her have a chance to be free. IZuku wants to do everything in his power to make sure that her smile, her happiness and freedom are protected from anything that will try and harm her. 

The wind seems to pick up outside, howling against the wood and metal, causing creaks and groans that Izuku only hopes won’t startle Eri from the abrupt appearance of the sound. She merely digs herself further into his side, a deep sigh as she settles back down. 

“Don’t worry Eri…….I will always protect you.” IZuku whispers into her hair before he lets hi-s exhaustion take hold of him, dragging into the deep abyss of his mind. 

No matter what.

Off somewhere in the dark alleys of Hosu, two men stand in the opening of where supposedly the hero Killer Stain had been defeated, seeing if there was anything that could be gained or anything to be left behind by the crazed man. 

Suddenly, another man appeared behind them, bowing to them before speaking.

“Sir, we believe we may have found something on where she is.” 

“Oh?” A slightly muffled voice calls out, giving the silent command to continue.

“It seems that she has been spotted around the Mustufasu Homeless shelter a few weeks ago, as well as seen there previously about a month ago as well. We know for sure she is within that area, it’ll only be a matter of time before we are able to bring her back.”  The informant says, a sudden chill seeming to creep up his spine as his boss looks over to him, the metal in his plague mask glistening in the street light. 

“So you finally seem to be doing something correct for once. After giving you more than enough time, it's only now that you have finally found Eri.” The other man says, his hair seeming to look more like the handle of a clock as it covers part of their face, the rest of it being disguised by their own mask. 

“Enough, Kurono. We will speak about this in length once we have Eri back where she belongs. You best be quick about narrowing this down; as you have already wasted more than enough of our time.” The leader, Chisaki says, turning away from the alleyway and continuing down the sidewalk, Kurono walking a few paces behind him, leaving behind the informant to continue the search for the young girl who was the key to their plans.

Chisaki can’t help but smile behind the mask, the clear and cold night seeming to not affect him at all as he continues to leisurely walk down the empty sidewalks.

Soon…..you will come back to me Eri. And nothing is going to stop me.

Chapter Text

The last few weeks have been quite……..boring, if you asked Eri. After Jin had left a few weeks ago, they haven’t been able to see him as much, since he has managed to find a job that has been going on for much longer then his last few jobs, Izu says that Jin had left them a few letters throughout the weeks, and he would read them out loud to her; it seems like Jin was in a bit of trouble with the law people ( Izu called them ‘Police’) and a friend of his had been working on getting him a different ID so that way he could get better jobs, and he finally got it too! So he has been getting back into working more steady jobs, which has also been why he hasn’t been able to come around as often as before. 

But it's been a bit quiet without him around to help out, either talking ( or fighting?) with himself, or poking fun at Izu. Not that Izu isn’t fun! He has been trying really hard to make sure that she was able to have as much fun as possible, even when it was too cold to leave the hut, he still did a lot to help make sure that she wasn’t ick or bored or hurt. But there’s only so many things you can do before even those things start to get boring. Jin’s letter’s and the quirk training they would do helped break up some of the routine that they got themselves in. Izu always did his training outside, even on days that he told her she shouldn’t leave the hut due to the weather. Eri likes to think that he is practicing something to surprise both her and Jin the next time he comes back, so she doesn’t spy, instead she works on training her quirk with some of the eaten food bits they have, Apple cores, potato peels and the like. She’s been getting a bit better at it, she still has a few mishaps here and there, but she knows that its okay if those happen with stuff like this; Jin and Izu had taught her that mistakes only help her learn more for the next time, and as long as everyone is safe, its okay to make some mistakes. So she will do what she can to learn from them. Now, she can turn an Apple core back to a shiny red apple almost 25% of the times she tries! 

Eri had asked if they could send him letters back, and while Izu did seem nervous about it at first, mumbling about how to send them since they didn’t have any stamps, but it seems like he figured it out in the end cause during one of the days where the wind howled outside of the metal and wood home, and the sky was overcast, as though it would rain any moment, Izu had pulled out an old notebook, looking as though it was held together with taper and careful hands and took one of the pages out of it, motioning for her to come over so that they could write the letter to Jin together.

She wrote ( well….Izu wrote, since she was still learning the basics) about how they have been doing, how the days seem to be getting shorter and shorter, and that it was getting cold too, making sure Izu put down that Jin should be wearing a scarf and hat to keep himself warm. She also wrote about how she has been doing with her writing and reading, about how much fun she and Izu have together playing pretend, even when they couldn’t go outside. 

A few days later, Izu helped her get dressed up warmly ands they walked through the towers of trash, getting a bit to halfway from where the entrance was, and he stops at a small metal, rounded box that had a cute red flag in it, the was dented and had a lot of rust on it, but it was able to open up the box with a small squeak and then lifted her up, and inside was a letter! It was a letter from Jin! She excitedly grabbed the letter in her mitten-covere hands, making sure not to bend it as she wiggled her way out of Izuku’s hold and rushes off to the hut, out of the cold and into the warmth of the bed and the nest of blankets they have made. Izuku was right behind her, making sure that the door was closed behind them, while it did throw the room to be quite darker than before, but it shut out the blistering wind that nipped at her ears and nose. 

Izu helped her remove the coat from her, although he left the sweater, gloves and scarf on her, and teasingly pulled her hat to cover her eyes, giggles bubbling out of her as she pulls the hat back up, at least making sure that it covered her horn, which she didn’t realize would feel the stinging bite of the harsh winds either. Izu had grabbed the candle that they just started using that week, the wax piling up at the bottom of the candle holder, and brought it close to them so that they could read over the letter together. Once he has sat down, Eri scurried into his lap, making sure to pull one of the loose blankets across their laps and grabbing Hero close to her.

“Alright Eri, you ready?”

“Yeah!” She says excitedly.

“Dear Eri-chan and Izuku-kun,

What’s up you two! I know its been awhile since i have been able to stick around and hang out with you guys,  the recent job i was able to grab has been sending me out waaaaay too early, and all over japan. I can’t wait til i get a day off back in the Musutafu and I can give you all the cool stuff I’ve been able to grab for you guys all over! It’ll be like Christmas! Oh God  gosh! Eri, have you ever had a Christmas before?! Its more of an American thing, but its a fun time and now I’ll definitely make it your first and best Christmas ever!!! How have you two been? Its been getting colder and colder lately and I know that Izuku’s been working on getting an Irori set up inside the place, so keep hanging on and soon enough you’ll be having warm meals and an even warmer hut!  Izuku also told me about how you have been working hard on spelling your kanji; that is awesome Eri-Chan! I can’t wait to get a letter from the both of you. I’ll send you guys another letter soon, stay safe you two!

• Jin”

Eri looks back over the letter, wishing she was able to read them on her own, rather than just a few words or kanji. Izu seems to let her think as he carefully places the letter back into the envelope, tucking it under the mattress where the keep the other ones. 

“Izu...will I be able to read the letters on my own soon?” She asks, not looking up and deciding that Hero’s little paws were much more interesting. She knows she shouldn’t  be embarrassed about these kinds of things, but she can’t help it. She wishes she was being taught these things when she was trapped with Chisaki, she wishes that she could read the words that Jin wrote just for them, she wishes she was able to write back on her own. 

Izu sits back up and adjusts Eri to where they can look at each other face to face, she scans his face, expecting sneers or crooked smirks, flashes of the men that would work for Chisaki as they just threw toys at her, thinking that was all they needed to do to take care of her, thinking she didn’t know that they hated having to deal with her. But all she sees is his caring eyes and understanding smile, not a single hint of pity or anger or disgust…….. it's moments like this that help truly cement that she isn’t there anymore. That she’s free to do what she wants and to be happy.

“With time and practice, you’ll be able to write and read these letters to Jin just like I do for us. It will take some time, and you have to make sure you study those books Jin got you so that way you can learn the kanji’s and be able to write your own letters.” Izuku says smiling, and she can’t help but smile back. This was one of the reasons that she liked Izu so much, why she trusted him; he never stopped her from trying new things, unless they would hurt her or someone else, he encouraged her to learn about the world around her, and learn about her quirk. He once told her that understanding ourselves and the world around us helps make everything less scary, and he never hesitated to help her learn, he encouraged questions and always answered everything in a way that made her feel like she could do anything she dreamed of. 

“Mhmm! I’ll go ahead and work more on my writing now! Since we already have the candle lit, can you help me with some of the harder kanjis?” She excitedly asks, already making plans that when she is able to write her first letter…..it’s going to be for Izu, to thank him for saving her, and teaching her what being a family means. 

What being free means.

But first, she needs to learn the basics. 

……

Its been a few days since Jin’s last letter to Eri, but Izuku wasn’t worried. He had his own letter fromJin as well letting him know that he would be out of town for a while for some work and wouldn’t be back for a bit, but let him know that if they need to, they can go to his place if any danger comes popping up, or they need a place with heating. He even let Izu know where the key was hidden as well, the doodle he drew next to the instructions looked almost like Eri drew them, being cute and simplistic. The thought of being able to sleep in a heated home was tempting, but to try and move Eri now would only put more attention on the two of them, with it being crazy cold, more people are going to notice two kids dressed in rough and worn down layers walking around town then they would during the summer. Izuku makes sure that he doesn’t lose the letter though, in case they need to make an escape or if it does get way too risky to stay out here. 

Izuku thinks he has been doing alright for the moment though, he has been able to keep Eri warm and meals have been easy to do with all the stock that Jin had been able to get before he left. And she didn’t seem to be bothered or upset with him when he asked her to stay inside when the weather got tough, even when he would go out, bundled in almost too many threadbare coats and shoes two sizes too big for himself. He knows that she has been getting a bit bored and sleepy, so he was glad that Jin and him were able to come up with a way for letters to be passed between the two, even with him being so busy with his work. 

Most days, Izuku would work more and more on his quirk, trying to learn more about it and seeing what exactly he could do; for a while he has been working on not just how much he could lift, but what he could actually do with the metal as well, twisting pipes and deconstructing pieces of equipment, shaping the metal into different forms and reshaping them or putting them back together as best as he could. Even as it got colder and colder and the overcast on the city and beach made it difficult to determine if the sun ever actually came up or not, and his fingertips would be stinging from the freezing cold, Izuku still worked as much as he could, at the most a couple or hours, on his quirk. In. Match between him and Chisaki, he knows Chisaki would be able to destroy him with a single touch…..so he has to make sure that he can’t touch him. He has to last long enough for Eri to be able to escape if needed.

He just hoped that it wouldn’t come to that.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, in an area that he has been trying to ignore, he gets the feeling that what he wished for won’t come true. 

Its already the end of another long and yet short day; Izuku had been able to help Eri with learning Kanji and helped her out with reading some of the beginner books that Jin had dropped in the banged up mailbox that they have been using to give each other letters and apparently gifts and packages too. Eri had been so excited to use them even though she still struggles with a lot of the words, she has been trying to read them through once in the morning, once when she is practicing and once more at night. Izuku finds it quite cute, although he is pretty sure he has half of the small books practically memorized by now with how many times she asks him to help her read through them. But he can’t turn her down, he loves that she is so excited to learn, and be able to do these things on her own, he doesn’t want to stop her from learning or doing what she wants to do.

The slightly lit grey clouds have darkened to the unmistakable pitch black of night as Izuku closes the door once last time for the day, making sure that there is no cracks in the doorway for the salty ice cold wind to seep in. Eri was already curled up in the cocoon of blankets, seeming to fight off the drowsiness that was trying to drag her down. 

“Hey there Eri, what are you still doing up? Usually you would be asleep by now?” He asks, removing the outer coat, but leaving on the two sweaters underneath and kicking off his shoes by the doorway before shuffling into the sheets with her, doing a kick check to make sure she still had on socks and gloves, he didn't want to wake up to either of them having frostbite, before tucking one of the thicker blankets around them before blowing at the candle that stood on the small crate that they were using as both a table and night stand. 

 Yawning through her reply, she says “wanted to wait for you Izu… wanted to wish you goodnight.” She mumbles sleepily before burrowing into his arms, a heavy breath leaving her as she starts to be drawn into sleep. 

He tucks Hero in next to her, and does one last check to make sure none of the makeshift alarm bells have gone off and the door and window are fully shut before he also burrows into the blankets, subconsciously thanking Jin for getting them so many of them. He whispers into her hair “goodnight Eri, sweet dreams.” Before he himself falls into a light sleep.

Neither of them are aware of the first few flecks of snow falling from the sky.

~~~~~~

The next morning was somehow even colder than it has been the last few days, Izuku waking up to an involuntary shiver that racked through his sleeping form. Eri had also seemed to have burrowed further into the blankets and into his side during the night, most likely to escape the drop in temperature as well. Izuku didn't want to get up, afraid of waking up Eri as well as the fact that he knew that while it was a bit cold under the mound of sheets, it would be 10 times worse once he left them. 

But he also needed to get some food made for both of them too. 

With a defeated sigh, he a few more moments basking in the warmth of the blankets, Izuku finally gets off the mattress laden with sheets, doing his best to make sure to not let the freezing air around them invade into the cave of warmth and not wake up Eri. And he was wrong before…….it was 20 times colder out of the blankets then within it. As quickly as possible, Izuku rummages through their pile of extra clothes and throws on a few other layers of clothes to try and combat the cold, before quickly moving to the other end of the small shack where they kept the food and cans. Thankfully due to the cold, he didn't have to worry too much about the food spoiling too fast, so some of the more fresh and time sensitive foods like vegetables were all pretty good to eat even now. 

The issue was more along the lines on how to heat anything up; it was an issue that Izuku had realized with all the prepping, that there was no way to cook anything unless it was outside on a fire, but being outside of the flimsy walls would be even worse than it is in here. Years before it didn't really matter to Izuku, as survival was more about making sure that there was food in general, not if it was hot or cold. Thinking back on it now, izuku has been in a really bad place for quite some time, something that almost everyone on the streets has to accept in order to survive. But with Eri with him now, he has done so much more in order to make sure he took care of both of them; to not just survive, but to try and thrive. 

Izuku had decided to speak with Jin about this, since he may have a few better ideas on what may work for the small space. The results of it being that they make a little Irori in the hut, just big enough to heat up the smallish wok that Izuku was able to scavenge out of the piles of trash a while back. 

Izuku had hoped that he would have been able to get it all set up and done before the Winter full on came, but with the whole fiasco that was Hosu, his plans got a bit pushed back with trying to build it. Let alone getting the material that he would need to have to make a good one is surprisingly a bit harder. He didn't have the building experience to make something nice looking, and everything Jin had looked up said that stone was the best material for the pit.  In the end, after a couple of days rummaging through the piles of trash, he came across a number of cement blocks, which looked to have been dumped by some kind of construction company, that he figured would work for it.

It wasn’t until they were quite a few days ago that Izuku was finally finished building the Irori, it wasn’t pretty but it worked well, there was even an old grate that he used with it for some of the pots and pans, and also the hanging pot hook as well, made out of some old fishing gear and pipes. 

Quickly shuffling over to the small pit, and excited to use it for a hot breakfast, he threw in a few pieces of a broken old stool and a piece of some fire wood that was left over from Jin’s last visit. he was able to get a fire started in the pit quickly the small amount of warmth that was already being made helped to ease the stinging cold of the room; meanwhile he was using his quirk to cut up a few vegetables and to even open up one of the cans of miso soup that he can heat up quickly over the small flame while cooking the veggies. Dented pots and pans react to his quirk calling on them, maneuvering around one another to not bang and collide with one another as he brings them over to him and to the quickly warming area of the hut. 

Preparing the food quickly and putting into the chipped and worn wooden bowls and plates that Izuku had found in the garbage behind a small restaurant, mostly thrown out due to not being “pretty” for the customers.  By the time that he was bringing over the food back to the bed, Eri was slowly waking up as well; thankfully the bone chilling cold had eased into a pretty neutral chill thanks to the pit that he decided to let burn itself out, since they only had a finite amount of wood to use, they had to pick and choose when to light up the pit. The cold would creep back in overtime once the wood smothered itself out, but it was a reprieve from the outside that Izuku would take for granted as much as he could. 

“Morning, sleep head.” He says joyfully, getting a pout from Eri, which wasn’t as effective as she probably hoped it would have been with her hair being so unkempt and ruffled from rolling around in the sheets. 

“Izu, it's cold…” she mumbles out, rubbing the sleep in her eyes away before accepting the plate and bowl from him. Sitting himself carefully on the edge of the mattress to not jostle her or the steam soup. 

“I know, Eri, it is really cold this morning, but eat your soup, it’ll help you warm up.” He says, carefully holding his own soup bowl and sitting down on the mattress with her. The residual cracks and pops from the smoldering wood was the only sound as they both delved into their meal, small slurps interrupting the crackling. 

Once he was done with his soup, he went into Eri’s clothes bin, and grabbed an extra sweater and socks for her to pull on to help stave off the cold. 

“Why is it so cold today, Izu?” Eri asked as she did her best to pull on the sweater over the long sleeve she already had on, trying to stay within the blanket pile as long as she could.  

 Izuku was pretty sure he knew why it was so much colder than it has been in the last few days, but the idea of just telling her bluntly didn't feel right, so he decided to have her find out on her own. “I’m not quite sure Eri, how about we take a quick peek outside and we can see what it is.” He said, holding up her thickest jacket and boots, his own jacket and shoes in the other hand. A small smile, and a shine in her eyes at the thought of finding the answer, was his reply as he handed over the coat and boots, slipping his own on and soon enough grabbing some scarves and gloves for them as well. He helped wrap her up in a scarf and hat, slipping her gloves on before doing the same to himself. Once they were both ready, he held up his hands to the door, ready to move it aside with his quirk. “Ready?” He asked.

A very serious nod came from his little companion, and he grabbed a hold of the doors with his quirk and pushed; feel some resistance on the outer door before the sound of cracking was heard from the outside, before whatever was holding the outer door hostage finally released its grip on the door. 

With both doors now moving to the side, they were treated to a world of white. 

The entire area was blanketed in untouched snow, creating a hypocritical painting;  The towers of trash were completely coated in it, creating the illusion of their little alcove being surrounded by icy columns, the edge of where the sea met the beach was covered in ice, it was the view of a beautiful winter wonderland scenery, hiding the trash pile that the world had created around them. Izuku looks over to the edges of the doorframe, confirming that the reason for the cracking sound and the resistance was that the door had been frozen to the doorframe. He then looks down at Eri to see the wonder and awe at the scene before them.

The smile that was shining on her was by far the best thing he has ever seen before; her eyes were twinkling from the sun shining off of the snow, and the way she seemed to shuffle in place just behind him showed just how excited she really was to go outside. 

“So this is snow?” She asks under her breath, not even looking back up at him, as though if she were to look away, the scene before them would disappear. 

“Yeah, and you can play in it too. N-not for too long though, since its really cold out, but we can make snow angels, and snowmen, we could even do a snowball fight if you want.” Izuku rattles off, each suggestion getting a small gasp before she lightly pulls on his coat, giving him the silent question that she always seems to asks, even after constantly letting her know that she doesn’t really need to ask it. 

Can I really do this?

“Yes Eri, we can do all of that. In moderation, that is. Don’t want your fingers or toes going numb.” He says before taking her hand in his and leading her outside. 

When her boot hit the snow and the slight crutch of it hit her ears, seemed to have broken whatever spell was on her as soon she was off, running around, laughing and giggling up a storm, looking at the towers as though they were the best decorated Christmas trees in the world, and  almost bending backwards to look at Icicles that hang from the roof of the hut. It's been what feels like forever since Izuku has had the chance to actually look at snow and winter as something mystical and enchanting; once he was out on the streets its became another obstacle to overcome, something to prepare for. But seeing Eri now, carefully scooping up the snow to throw back up into the air and giggling as it puffed out and clouded around her, it was as though he was seeing the season for the first time all over again. 

It didn't take long for Eri to come back over to him,he didn’t even realize he had not moved since stepping out of their dented home. He quickly closed up the doors again and joined her in the fun, he helped her make snow angels nearby where the ocean still crashed along the shore. They made tiny snowmen and placed them all along the path to their little cove( granted they didn't have any too far out, since it would probably draw someone’s attention, wondering why there were snowmen speckled all over a trash heap). She named each and every one of them as she practiced making the snow balls to make up her little snowmen, telling Izuku little stories about each and every one. Eri even made one her own size right by their home; Izuku even grabbed some spare gloves and a hat to place on the snowman as well,and while they were out of carrots, a potato ended up being the nose. 

By then, Eri was obviously shivering from the cold, even though she seemed persistent to stay outside as long as possible. 

“Come on eri, lets head in and warm up a bit, we can make some more soup for lunch to help warm ourselves up too.” Izuku said, hoisting her up into his arms and carrying her back towards the hut. 

“B-but…” she tried to protest, but seemed to deflate in defeat and let him walk them back to the door, his quirk already easily pulling the doors out of the way. 

“I know you want to play more, and we can go back out again in a bit; but we gotta make sure we stay warm. If we get too cold, we can get sick or our fingers and toes will go numb and get sick too. So we gotta make sure we know when we need to warm up. And you, little Eri, are going to shake right out of your jacket.” Izuku joking chides, walking past the threshold and closing the doors behind him with a simple command before reaching out again for a few utensils, sending them over to where the blankets and towels were kept by the bed and pulling out one of the more ratty towels and bring it over before laying it down. 

Working together, they both were able to get out of their snow crusted shoes and coats, laying them on the towel to thaw out. Izuku even grabbed a couple clean sets of clothes and hands to Eri to change herself, meanwhile he turns away to try and give her some privacy in the small shack, working on getting the fire started again with the wood from that morning. Once the fire had gotten started and didn't look to putter out anytime soon, Eri shuffled over, blanket draped around her shoulders and dragging behind her, and a writing activity book in hand.

She huddled up near the Irori, absorbed in practicing her kanji while Izuku took the chance to get out of his own wet clothes and into something dry. Once he had been able to dry off and change, h e grabbed one of the extra blankets and draped it around Eri, who finally looked up from her book, Izuku took a quick check over her work ( although he was running a pretty limited knowledge himself) before ruffling her hair and telling her that her hard work is showing. 

He whips up some quick and hot miso soup for the two of them, putting the broth into mugs so that the heat could help warm up their hands and help make sure there was leftovers if Eri wanted seconds. Izuk can’t help be remember how when he would be with the Bakugou’s during this time of year, aunt Mitsuki would always make hot chocolate for them when he and kacchan would drag their each other, both of them half frozen because they didn't want to admit defeat to the snow and icy wind. They would shed off their coats and boots and curl up next to each other wrapped up in tons of throw blankets, sipping on hot chocolate and watching the newest All Might cartoon together, both of them ending up falling asleep on the floor. 

He wishes he could make Eri some Hot chocolate, but he didn’t have what he would need to make it, let alone even know how to. And remembering it only brought longing to his heart, a longing to have that again, and to have Eri experience that same kind of carefree life. 

The Irori helped to heat up the hut nicely, and the two mugs of miso soup were soon drained and any leftovers were gobbled up too. Izuku had taken to practicing more with some of the nuts and bolts he kept around while Eri continued to work on her booklet…..Or, well…. she tried to. It seems like the fun of today, mixed with the warmth in their small hut and the soup has begun to make Eri struggle to stay away, jolting every few minutes to try and keep working on her writing. 

After the third time, Izuku carefully drew the booklet from her and placed it by the mattress before scooping her up into his arms and placing her onto the mattress, grabbing the discarded blankets from before and tucking her in. 

“Noooo...wanna play with the snow….more.” She says between yawns, getting a chuckle out of Izuku as he grabs Hero from the side of the bed and brings him over to her.

“The snow will still be there, you get some rest.” Izuku says quietly, although he isn’t quite sure she heard him as she was out like a light as soon as the rabbit stuffed animal was in her arms.  Just as he is about to head back over to the warmth of the fire, she mumbles “good night, Izu-nii.” He stops and looks over to the sleeping girl, already deep in sleep and probably doesn’t even know she said that out loud. But hearing it truly shocked him, and yet it warmed his heart ( and maybe his cheeks, is he blushing?! He can’t tell?!?!)

Izuku was also feeling the exhaustion from their day of fun, but he knew that he still had a few things he wanted to do before he could go to sleep himself. He went ahead and prepped some food in case either of them were up for some kind of dinner; and if not, then he can use it for breakfast the next morning, maybe make something more than just miso soup. Then he double checked the door and window to make sure that nothing had come loose. He went about grabbing the wet clothes from the doorway and setting up a bit of a makeshift drying line above the Irori to let the heat from the small hearth dry out their clothes and boots. 

He even took the time to start up a letter to Jin that they can put into the mailbox tomorrow, letting him know how they were doing and telling all about Eri’s first snow day. He knows that Jin would be both excited and sad about it, since he seemed keen on being there for every moment Eri gets to experience being a kid. It warms his heart knowing that even though he doesn’t have much, and sometimes he worries that living out here in a trash heap on the street that he isn’t able to give her the life he wishes she could have; the one that she should have, if she can still have days where she gets to forget about everything that Chisaki did to her, and be able to just be a kid, it makes it feel like at least he is doing something right. 

While the sky had been a heavy gray all day,  he could tell when the sun seemed to begin to set, as the gray grew darker and darker with each passing minute. Izuku didn't waste any time, as he had dowsed the first a bit ago and the cold, while slow, was starting to creep in again. He crawled into the pile of blankets, trying to warm himself up before letting sleep take hold of him as well. Eri, still fast asleep curling into him, even if he’s clothes still had the cold clinging onto them.

~~~~~~~

Chisaki was not happy, it's been weeks now since they had their last lead on Eri, and his benefactors were starting to lose their patience waiting for his anti-quirk bullets. He was already behind on having the fully completed bullet, the best they were able to make was one that would last a day or so. 

then of course Eri had to go and ruin it even further with her little escape attempt.

But it would only be an attempt; because he knew that he would find her eventually, he always did during their little game of hide and seek. No matter where she hid or how long….he would find her. 

And it didn’t matter who he had to go through to get her.

A knock on his office door brought him out of his thoughts, he curtly calls out to whoever was behind the door to come in, his patience already worn thin from dealing with constant calls and dealing with his precepts of death as they scoured the city for his missing ingredient. 

Cronos comes in, seeming to already pick up on his mood and thankfully does not waste his time like so many other things have.

“We’ve found her, sir. We have the location now.” 

Finally, something is going right for a change. 

“ well, Eri….it looks like our game is coming to a close. You better be ready for the punishment you are about to face when you get home.” He says to himself before addressing his right hand man, “we’ll go tonight. Let's keep the team small; you, me, and we’ll bring Sasaki too.” Chisaki orders. He had expected Cronos to simply acknowledge the orders and go to get things ready for their departure, but it seems there is something else he was planning to say.

“There also seems to be someone else with her, a teenager from the looks of it. We haven’t been able to confirm his quirk yet, but it seems like he may be protecting her.” Ah, so that was it. 

“It’s no concern of mine if some boy is there. nothing that boy can do will be able to stop us. It just gives us more reason to bring along Sasaki, to make it easier for us to deal with the brat and get back Eri.” Chisaki says, pulling on his gloves and grabbing his coat from the back of his chair as he stands. 

“Get Sasaki and meet me at the car in an hour.” He calls out as he leaves Cronos behind, already expecting him to go and get everything ready. 

“I will make sure you regret ever running from me Eri.” 

~~~~~~~

It was the middle of the night when Izuku woke up with a start. He wasn’t sure what it was that woke him, and the warmth of the sheets were practically pulling at him to lay back down. 

But then he heard it again, the thing that woke him. 

A sound?

It was silent for a moment, the snow seeming to call for the silence. Hen strained to hear whatever woke him up, and there didn’t seem to be anything. And just as he was about to curl back in the sheets, he heard it.

Loud and clear. 

It was the cans. The ones he has set up as a makeshift alarm. 

They were clanking together. Three short and slightly distanced bangs from them.

Someone was coming. 

Chapter Text

Eri woke up to her shoulder being shaken, she wanted to grumble and roll back in the sheets but Izu was whispering at her to wake up, and why did it sound like he was trying really hard to whisper? Did he have a nightmare again? 

“Wha-mph!” She was about to groggily ask Izu what was going on, before a hand clamped down over her mouth; it scared her completely awake, memories of Chisaki doing something very similar rush to the forefront of her mind, but she soon calmed down as Izu’s very worried face came to view. She focused in on the feel of his hand over her mouth, it was not pressing into her until it hurt, but merely stopped the sound, his calloused and cold hands a stark contrast to the phantom feeling of rubber fingers digging into her cheeks to force her mouth open or close. Izu holds his free hand up to his mouth, signaling to stay quiet and not say a sound. She nervously nods in agreement, and Izu gently removes his hand.

It was then that Eri heard a small clang that seemed to resonate throughout their tiny shack, making the silence even more oppressing.

It was the security cans that Izu had set up before. They were being tripped. 

Eri looks back over to Izu, hoping for this to be just a visit from Jin, maybe he was coming by late tonight, he had said something in his last letter about something called Christmas? Maybe it was supposed to be a surprise??? She tried to convey this hope, her wish that it wasn’t what she was starting to think it was. But Izu’s face only confirmed her worst thoughts. The ones that she had hoped would finally be behind her after months of hiding.

It’s not Jin. 

It’s him.

“Chi-“ she immediately clamps her own hands over her mouth, silencing herself from saying his name. 

Izuku doesn’t nod or shake his head; but it looks like he also knows that its Chisaki, even without having seen him yet. Izu makes quick work grabbing the duffel bag quietly as he can, stuffing all sorts of blankets and jackets and canned food, not even checking to see what he was exactly grabbing. He then grabs his coat from over the Irori, but instead of throwing it onto himself, he wraps her up in it and quickly turns back around to grab their shoes from the hearth as well. 

She wants to know why he gave her the jacket, but she keeps quiet as she hears another can clang by the door, those hollow cans acting as the bells of impending doom as it leisurely walks closer and closer to them.

Izu quickly slips her shoes on and ties them off in haste, so much so that the laces felt like they were digging into her feet, but she didn’t pay too much mind to it as Izuku does the same to his own shoes and and is soon pulling her up from her position, she scrambles to grab Hero with her as well, hugging the stuffed rabbit close to her chest, and positions her to be behind him as he stands tensed towards the door. She looks up to him and notices that in his haste, he forgot to put on a jacket for himself, the only thing keeping the cold out from him is his pants and the worn out long sleeve shirt.

“Eri…” Izuku whispers out as they can start to hear the muffled crunching of snow underfoot from outside, the last tin can clinging along as well, confirming that their unwanted guests were now in their little alcove of trash. “When I tell you to….I want you to run. Go to the homeless shelter and get them to call Jin. He’ll be able to keep you safe til I can find you guys.” He whispers out, she can barely hear him over the blood rushing in her ears, but she picks up how he seems to waver at the last part. 

“B-but what about you?” Eri mumbles, grabbing onto the leg of his pants to try and stop her hands from shaking.

“I-I’ll keep them busy long enough for you to get away, and then I’ll meet up with you and Jin when the coast is c-clear.” Izuku stumbles out, his voice seeming to hitch in pitch. She could see that his hands were shaking as well as he held them out from himself, fingers spread wide as he took a stance to be ready for whatever comes next, but she couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or from fear. “Just promise that you don’t look back. You keep running until you get to the shelter, okay?”

She didn’t want to promise that. She wanted to stay with him, she didn’t want to leave Izu to be hurt by Chisaki. 

She wanted to be a hero to her hero. 

But she could see the look in Izu’s eyes; he was scared but set firm in his decision to keep Chisaki back for as long as possible. And she knew that she couldn’t do much to help fight either, she still was confident in her quirk to even begin trying to use it on living plants and animals, let alone try and use it to help Izu. She didn’t know what to do. But then a thought came to her as she started to hear Chisaki all out to her from the other side of the door, trying to bait her into coming out on her own. 

Maybe she can still be a hero to Izu, just like he has been for her since she met him in that alleyway all those months ago. 

Then the sound of the two fridge doors being deconstructed broke through the silence.

And then everything came crashing around them. 

~~~~ 

Aizawa looked over his shoulder at his small group of students as they followed him through the back alleys towards the homeless shelter, their steps crunching through the hardened snow as they fought against the wind and the glaring sun as it was starting to set. 

After speaking with Nezu, who agreed to having community service available to both the hero course and the others as well, he had to pull quite a few all-nighters working with multiple groups to get some time open for the students to sign up for and work out when and which teachers would go along as supervisors too. Those days were absolute hell and he is pretty sure that he scared Hisashi and Nemuri with how much coffee he was drinking. Granted, the community service is only voluntary at the moment since they only started offering it in the middle of the school year; but he was honestly glad to see that a lot of the Hero course, from first years all the way up to 3rd years, and even those from other courses were signing up.

Currently, he had Bakugou, Kirishima Ejiro, Mina Ashido, Yaoyorozu Momo, and a third year, Mirio Togata following behind him as if they were ducklings trailing behind their mother. God, did he hate making that kind of comparison, and he knows that if Hisashi or Nemuri say them right now, they would be laughing their heads off. Bakugou someone looked both extremely pissed off ( most likely because Aizawa let him know that he was going to keep a close eye on him and that he couldn’t leave to go hunting the streets for Izuku) and appreciative at the same time ( since this community service would still be a way of keeping an eye out for Izuku if he came to the shelter at all.) Kirishima and Mina were trailing slightly behind him, chatting back and forth, Mina turning around and walking backwards multiple times to strike up a conversation with Yaoyorozu or bring her in on whatever nonsense they were talking about, and Kirishima constantly trying to get Bakugou to join in as well, without much luck. And taking the rear was Mirio, smiling brightly and laughing along with the first years, joining in sporadically into the conversation as well. 

Aizawa isn’t too surprised that Mirio had signed up, with Nighteye being his mentor, he must already had Mirio doing a lot of community service over the last two years or so, and he has that odd personality to always be happy to help, even in the most mundane things. 

Another blast of frigid air howls by, bringing with it a cold chill creeping down their spines as they finally make it to the homeless shelter and clamor in out of the cold. 

“It’s nice to see you again, Aizawa. It's been a bit since you last came by to volunteer.” An old and gentle voice greets them as they shake off any loose snow that clung to their clothes and boots. Aizawa turns around to find an over seven foot tall woman, smile lines and crows feet matching her graying hair and her husband who barely reached up to his shoulders greet them.

 The Azumi’s, who have opened and run this shelter for nearly 30 years, were an almost comedic couple; with Mrs. Azumi having a small gigantism quirk that had her naturally at a nearly seven and a half foot height, and she could grow to about nine foot back in her prime, but being near 70 years of age puts some stress on her old joints, although you couldn’t tell by how she holds herself. A true gentle giant, caring and trusting until she needs to take the reins or handle a dispute between paytrins. Then there is her husband, the man was naturally shorter than most, and no quirk at all, had more gumption in his old age then. Most heroes nowadays do. Always being proactive in how the quirkless and those with mutation quirks are treated and never tuning anyone away based on quirks, quirk status, or sexual and gender orientation  like some other shelters have been known to do. Even now, with the wrinkles setting in, and needing a cane to help support him, he still has many people looking up to him as a role model and protector. 

He is glad that he was able to meet them when he was a teen, they have helped him more than they know. And he’s glad that his students are able to meet and learn from them too. 

“Oh my, and it’s little Katsu too! I hope you aren’t being too much of a brat to your parent’s now with how much you have been coming by.” Mrs. Azumi playfully scolds as she ushers everyone further into the building, clearing up the doorway again for any other people wanting to come in from the cold. 

“Hey! I told you to quit calling me that!” Bakugou barks out, but doesn’t shrug away when she pulls him in for a brief hug. 

Aizawa, used to seeing this kind of thing, since this was the homeless shelter that the Bakugou’s volunteered the most in ever since Izuku’s disappearance, and where he first met the explosive family. The kid has practically grown up here, and it’s probably thanks to the Azumi’s as well that even now with Bakugou going crazy trying to find Izuku, that he has been alright when Aizawa wasn’t able to watch him.

The Azumi’s lead them over to the volunteer’s locker room in the back of the kitchen and help everyone place their bags and winter coats and boots into the lockers before locking it up. They were offered slip-on shoes to work in so that way their boots and snow-logged shoes could dry out. 

“Alright, we’re going to be doing different jobs around here and switch out every couple of hours. We are going to be here for 6 hours, so you will be able to go to each station once. Bakugou, you’ll be with me and we’ll be manning the food line first, I’m sure you all have an idea on what you’ll need to do when you get to that area. Mirio and Yaoyorozu will be starting with helping out in the clothing section, if someone needs help finding anything over in that area, you’ll be handling it with mrs. Azumi, and Kirishima and Ashido, you’ll be helping out in the donations area with Mr. Azumi. There, you’ll be helping to go through and categorize all the items that have been donated. Again, if you run into an issue with something you find, or have any questions, you can ask Mr. Azumi.” Aizawa calls out, giving short explanations of what is expected and who they will be with during that time. He gets energetic nods from his students and Mirio. 

“Anything you would like to ask before we start?” 

Yaoyorozu swiftly lifts up her hand, and Mrs. Azumi motions for her to ask away.

“Ma’am, I am sure that there are far more areas that would need help then just the few that we will be helping in; why are we not going through all the sections on the shelter to help?” She asks, clearly she must have noted that the sleeping area that was upstairs was not on the list of rotations, nor the actual kitchen. 

“Oh, well, some areas will be off limits for underage volunteers. This is just to make sure that no one gets hurt, and to help keep you all safe as well. And we also have plenty of volunteers as well helping to cover those areas as well. If for any reason you do need to be in those areas, please let us or another volunteer and we will help you out, but you shouldn’t have to worry about having to go near those sections.  Also, none of this ma’am business, you all can call me Granny Okura. Or if you’re stick-in-the-muds like Aizawa and Katsu are, you can call me Azumi-Chan.” She says brightly, waiting for anyone else to ask any questions before they all start moving out of the locker room and spread out to their sections.

“When you said you would be keeping an eye on me, I didn’t think you meant it like this, Aizawa.” Bakugou says as he works on the gloves and hair net before wrapping the apron around his waist and taking up his station, Aizawa close behind him. 

“The only reason I’m sticking this close to you, Bakugou, is because I know you. I know how long you have been searching, and I know how much it hurts that he was so close and let still slipped away because of me-“

“I want to be mad at you.” Bakugou interrupts, “ I was mad at you at first. I wanted to punch your lights in and scream at you for letting him get away. For letting him run away...again. But, I also know you didn’t do fucking nothing like others have done in the past. You kept him alive. You got him to the hospital. He probably looked like absolute shit, and the fact that we didn’t have any clue about what he looked like until now didn’t help either. But we have an idea on what he looks like now thanks to you. UGH!  I hate doing this kind of mushy shit talking kinda stuff! WhatI’m saying is we don’t blame ya, so a stop blaming yourself!” 

Aizawa is a taken aback slightly at the oddly mature thought process, especially considering how he has been acting the last few weeks, but he was glad to see that Bakugou was able to work through all of those emotions, whether on his own or with guided help, either way it is great to see him grow like this. 

“Alright, I’ll take your words into consideration.” Aizawa continues, pausing for a brief moment to dish up some food to a few patrons that had wandered up. “But back to my main point, what I am trying to say is that I know you Katsuki, I know how much effort you put into trying to find Izuku, even if it means putting yourself into danger or doing something idiotic, and that you know is a terrible idea but you do it anyway; and don’t give me that look, you know exactly what I am talking about.” Aizawa says, not even looking away from his job to know the glare that Bakugou was sending his way. “ I am here not just as your friend, or as a fellow volunteer, but as your teacher and I will not have any of my students roaming about in alleys under my watch. I know you can protect yourself, but that doesn’t mean that you have to yet. You’re still a student; my student, and until you graduate, you and every single one of my students is under my protection.” Aizawa finishes, sending them into silence for the next couple of minutes as they focus on the job.

It wasn’t until almost ten minutes go by that Bakugou mumbles out “ fine, whatever, just stop being sentimental and shit, it's creeping me out when you’re the one doing it.”  Aizawa chuckles to himself before focusing back onto the work at hand, an uneasy weight that had been on him seeming to have disappeared after their talk. 

The hours seem to have flown by, and before they know it 6 hours have flown by before they know it; thankfully no fights or anything dangerous seem to have happened, although apparently there was a moment where Mina and Kirishima were messing around in the donations section and ended up with Mina’s sweater being half melted and Kirishima had gotten stuck in one of the donation bins….Aizawa didn’t even want to know how he got stuck in a bin that they weren’t even working with to begin with.  But they were fine for the most part and were getting their coats and boots back on to start heading back to the school.

Just as they were heading back out into the main room from the back, they heard a loud bang from the front door, before it was slowly opened and a small white blur rushed inside, gasping and choking on sobs. They collapsed onto the floor as soon as they got into the building and that’s when he could see past the largely oversized jacket that encompassed them and the duffel that came sliding past them as they landed onto the floor trying to get the air back into their lungs. 

It was a young girl, so small that she could be a grade schooler, her white hair was long and tangled, but obviously looked like it was taken care of. Aizawa immediately moved forward, crouching down to the floor and offering a hand to her. Mirio and his students were right behind him, Mirio also kneeling down while his students stood a bit further back. 

“Hey,are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” Aizawa asks slowly, taking a quick glance to see if she was hurt anywhere. She could see that one of her shoes was missing and her bare foot was obviously not agreeing to her running through the snow without one, and she has tear tracks all over her cheeks. She was coughing as she tried to catch her breath again, and probably trying not to cry again. Aizawa gently and slowly, as to not startle her, rubbed her back and Mirio seemed to have caught her attention as he was leading her to get her breathing back under control. Mrs. Azumi also came out quickly with a glass of water and handed it to Mirio, who offered it to the girl. 

She seemed to hesitate but finally took the cup and sniffed it before taking a few gulps greedily, 

 Once she finally gotthe breath back into her, she grabbed onto Aizawa’s sleeve in a death grip, grabbing his full attention, as she looked up straight into his eyes, tears springing up in the corner of her eyes. A well worn bunny was crushed to her chest in her other hand as she spoke for the first time since running in here.

“Please. You have to save him! Save Izu!” 

~~~~~~

Everything came crashing down around them.

The hut itself broke apart and became nothing more than atoms at the touch of Chisaki, who even through the mask Izuku could see that he loathed having to touch his hut, wiping his hand on one of his partner’s jackets, some guy who looked like he was two beers away from crashing. 

Izuku doesn’t move, waiting for the right moment to try and catch him off guard long enough for Eri to escape. The chilling wind whipping at his face and through his thin shirt, but he did everything he could to keep his shivers to a minimum, not wanting to be pulled off guard by these guys. He could feel Eri clutching onto his leg like a lifeline. 

The tension around them was as thick as the stench of the trash around them, Izuku could almost choke on it. 

“Well, I definitely was not expecting the little hiccup I was told about would be some teenager that looks like he can barely even keep himself up straight.” Chisaki starts, his voice obviously bored, as though this is the same as getting his dry cleaning. He barely even give Izuku a passing glance before his attention is solely on Eri, “ now Eri, its time to end your little game of Hide and Seek and to come home, we have a lot of work todo and you know how dangerous you are, you don’t want to burden this…… person, if you can even call him that, any more than you already have been.” Chisaki chides, before holding out his gloved hand to her, obviously expecting her to follow orders. The way he talked to her only made the anger within Izuku burn even hotter, making him forget about the spine chilling cold and only focus on making sure this monster never gets his hands on Eri again. 

No one from Chisaki’s side moves, apparently waiting for Eri to “make the right choice” but Izuku can’t help the smile that slides on his face as Eri’s hold his leg grows tighter, and in a shaky but clear voice, showing how much she has grown.

“I won’t go back. Never.”

Chisaki lets out a disappointed sigh, dropping his arm and easily moving to remove the other glove. “It looks like we’ll have to do this the hard way then. Chrono, Deidoro, get rid of this trash rat.”  He sneers, and finally gets his lackeys moving into action, but that was what Izuku was waiting for.

As soon as he saw the two move, he immediately grabbed ahold of the trash towers around them, every screw, wash, microwave, car door, all of it each individually held and controlled by him and caused them to crash down around them, and immediately began to move it around them, faster and faster, picking up speed with every pass and picking up more and more trash with each chance he had. Within mere seconds he was controlling what he would consider a trash tornado, with both him and Eri in the eye of it all. It definitely wasn’t as fast as a real one, but it was fast enough that those three couldn’t get in, with each try from them having them pulling back from flying nails and broken bike parts that whizzed by. While still focusing on keeping the rotation tight and fast, he pulled the more wide and bulky trash closer in, creating a shield of sorts to keep them from sight. The strain of constantly moving so much metal all at once and commanding specific items to do different things was already putting a strain on him, but he couldn’t stop yet, he didn’t know how long he was going to be able to keep this up, and he didn’t even know what other quirks he was dealing with besides Chisaki, so while they are off guard, he had to take this chance to get Eri out. 

If he thought that getting everything to move as fast as he can and keep it going was hard enough, now he was trying to keep its going while also making a hole completely devoid of the cyclone around them for her to squeeze through, and pulled one of the metal sheets that he had placed as cover and moved it to where it was just outside the vortex waiting for Eri to get on it so he can lift her up to the street so she can take off as soon as it reaches the sidewalk. 

“Eri, go now!” Izuku yells, the wind from the swirling air and trash thankfully blocking out his call from their attackers. 

She startles as his yell, and seems to hesitate, wanting to stay with him. And it's sweet, it hurts having her run away again, he wanted so hard to be able to tell her that she could stay, that he would beat them and save her. But he can’t. He can’t tell her that, because he knows that sooner or later he’ll be too exhausted to keep this up, he knows that once they get close enough, he won’t be able to stop them. “Eri, go. I’ll find you as soon as I lose them.” Izuku says, hoping that the frightful thought of if I’m able to lose them. Just as he says that, a wave of nausea hits him, everything felt off kilter and was spinning. “Please Eri, go now, while we have this chance.” He says once more before trying to focus on keeping up his whirlwind and the hole while also trying not to fall over or throw up. Eri looks at him, seeming almost lost in the whirlwind that circled them before shaking herself out of it and with as much conviction as she could gather, ran through the small hole in the tornado and hopped onto the slab of metal. Izuku immediately drops the small hole in his defense and gets the sheet of metal to lift Eri quickly up to the street and as soon as he felt her weight leave the sheet of metal, he pulled the metal back into the debris field he was trying very hard to keep up. 

It was getting harder and harder to keep his tornado of trash going with each passing second, the dizziness and nausea getting worse and worse and making it harder and harder to keep everything spinning as fast as possible, but he could tell that he was starting to slip, bigger pieces were starting to slip out of his grasp, the speed was slowing down with every turn, he could tell that Chisaki was talking over the rattling and banging of the metal he still held some kind of grip on, but it all felt fuzzy and wasn’t really sinking in. The feeling kept getting worse and worse, and in a desperate attempt to not throw up what little food was in his stomach, he clenched his eyes shut, holding to get everything to stop spinning. 

But that was his mistake, as he tried to keep his vision from swimming, he must have lost more control of the cyclone he was creating, and suddenly he was kicked in the stomach by a steel toed boot, the pain making him lose complete control of the trash around him, the last pieces falling down into the snow and sand around them. 

“You know, I honestly hate having to deal with trash, you’re all so unclean and are barely above the stray dogs.” He can barely hear as another kick is sent his way, Izuku barely able to dodge the blow to the head, although it sent the creeping sickness that hit him in waves to flare up and he nearly threw up. He could feel himself sweating and hear his heart beat in his ears. 

“Sasaki, good work. You can stop now.” He can barely hear Chisaki say over the pounding in his ears. Suddenly, the spinning, the nausea, the pressure, as quickly as they came they disappeared, leaving him trying to scramble to get his bearings again, but he didn’t have a chance as he was grabbed by his collar and thrown into the side of a dented up car door. Izuku doesn’t wait though as he clumsily gets back up, his fingers and ears numb in the cold. 

Chisaki is already way too close, and doesn’t even seem put off at Izuku getting back up. Izuku can’t move further back due to the car door, and Chisaki gets closer and closer. 

“Do you know how annoying this is having to deal with you? Eri seems to have already slipped away again because of you deciding that someone like you is a hero.” Chisaki says, clearly being bored and irritated, that he has to actually do anything connected to Izuku. 

Izuku takes the chance and takes a swing at Chisaki. He knew it wouldn’t do much, but he needed to distract Chisaki, just long enough for him to get whatever echos of that quirk and be able to grab onto the screws that were sprinkled throughout the snow. But he didn’t get the chance; Chisaki easily grabbed his wrist and slammed him back into the car door, his head slamming into the metal as Chisaki grinds his wrist further into the metal. 

“But now it seems like she has scampered off again, and the only one here who knows where she went is you. Now, you can either do this the easy way, and tell me and I may just let you live, or if you think some mangy mutt like you is still some kind of hero, we can do this the hard way. I don’t care either way, because in the end you will tell me where she is.” Chisaki says, leaning over Izuku as he tried not to scream at the pain in his wrist from being twisted and turned into the metal, his bones yelling at him to try and get away. He tries to pull away, but only manages to lose his footing in the snow and is now only being held up by his pinned wrist.

The other two soon joined Chisaki, the one who looked like he could barely stand up from being drunk took his other free arm and slammed it into the metal, and the guy with arrow shaped hair took his hand from Chisaki, stretching him across the plane of the metal and making sure he couldn’t move away. 

“Last chance boy. Tell me where she is.” Chisaki says, patience obviously wearing thin.

He was scared. Izuku was so scared about what was about to happen, but he refused to give him anything about Eri. Eri was finally getting better, she was finally enjoying life like a kid and regaining her confidence, her curiosity, her imagination. No matter how scared he was, he wouldn’t ever let everything that she was finally getting back be broken again by this monster. So mustering up the last specks of courage he had, he spat at Chisaki, hitting him on his jacket sleeve. He could tell that he really pissed them off with such a childish act because once the glob of spit hit their leader, the two holding him immediately rammed him back into the door, knocking the air out of his lungs and making his head spin from the strength of the blow.

Chisaki looked completely disgusted and threw off the coat, letting it pile up in the snow.

“Looks like we will be doing this the hard way then.” He says, the rage and twisted glee decorating his words and sending an ominous chill through Izuku’s spine, and he could easily tell the difference between the chill of the cold and the chill of this monster’s words. “Why don't we start small and work our way up, yes? I don’t want you fainting or dying on me before I can get what I want from you.” He says, more talking to himself than to Izuku. 

He reaches out with his gloveless hand and grasps his pinky, and then pain is all he can feel in his hand. He clenches his mouth shut to make sure he doesn’t cry out, not wanting to give him some kind of pleasure in hearing his screams. The pain only worsens as he looks up to see that his pinky is missing, the wound slowly seeping blood as though Chisaki barely made any effort to close the wound. Mostly he did it intentionally, to make sure he still felt the all encompassing pain and panic without worrying too much about blood loss being Izuku’s demise. It scared him how much just having only a digit removed made it feel like his whole and was on fire, how much more it will hurt as he disassembles him piece by piece to get what he wants, making sure Izuku stays barely alive and in pain to get what he wants.  

“Now, where is Eri?” He asks, Izuku could hear the smirk in the Bastard’s voice, even if he couldn’t see it behind the mask. 

“Don’t know.” Izuku retorts, although he gets a punch to the gut for the sas, making him gag and hold back from puking his guts out from the pain in his gut and his hand. He reaches out with his quirk in a vain attempt to try and get the upper hand, grasping onto nuts and bolts that were scattered throughout the snow. As soon as he had enough, with all of his desperation, he melds the metal together; this is something he didn’t know he could even do before, but has been tempted to try for a while , being able to truly manipulated the metal, changing its form from its initial state to something new,to what he needs, meld it with other metals to create whatever he needs from the metal at hand. 

If it wasn;t a life or death matter, he would be ecstatic, cheering for getting further with being able to use his quirk, But right now he didn't care, he just needed to stop Chisaki.

Stop the pain from getting worse.

He makes a spike out of the metal and shoots it at Chisaki’s back, hoping to catch all three of them off guard. He sends it as fast as he can, which he isn’t sure how fast it is with how much his brain is focusing on the burning in his hand. He thought it was fast enough, the headache he would get from pushing his quirk too far flaring for just a moment when he sent it flying. 

He waits to hear Chisaki yelp in surprise or pain, to feel his arms get released as his lackies come to help him, to use the moment to get out this torture. He doesn’t even realize he closes his eyes in anticipation of it.

But instead, all he hears is a low chuckle.

He looks up and sees the quirk-made shank in Chisaki’s hand.

He failed.

“I will say, that pesky quirk of yours is quite bothersome; let's deal with that first so that we don’t have anything else interrupting our little chat. ” Chisaki says, tossing the shank back over his shoulder before reaching his hand out to the guy with arrows for hair. Without even loosening his grip, he grabs something from his side that Izuku can’t make out what it is, and hands the item over to Chisaki. It's only then that Izuku is able to see clearly what was in Chisaki’s hand, the slivers of moonlight that poked out from the thick clouds caressing the metal and showing the barrel of the handgun that Chisaki was now pointing at Izuku. Before he can even yell in fear, Chisaki aims at his leg and fires, hitting him right in the calf and cutting off the half aborted yell and instead getting a scream of agony instead at the new sparks of pain. “This will be a great test for the new formula as well that we are testing out for the bullets; you see little trash rat, that was a quirk-erasing bullet, so no matter how much you try to use your quirk, it won’t work. Now, the formula is still a work in progress, so within a few hours the effects will wear off. Granted…..you would have to be alive long enough for that to happen.” Chisaki boasts, handing the gun back to Arrowhead, who easily slides it back into wherever he is keeping it.  Groaning in pain, Izuku can’t stop his legs from giving out from under him again, his weight now only being supported by his pinned wrists, pulling at the already bruised bones and muscles and sending a new wave of pain from his hand. 

He doesn’t know what to do now. Without his quirk, there’s no way he’ll be able to get free. He may actually die here; he’ll never be able to see Eri smile again, or help her learn her Kanji, or read Jin’s letters to her. He wants to watch her grow and be happy and experience life and be free. But in order for her to experience all of those things, Chisaki can’t find her. Maybe…..in order for her to be free, he will have to die and take everything he knows with him. Jin will be able to move her far away and keep her safe; he’s definitely odd, however he knows that Jin has been working on handling his mental issues better, has been in control more often….he can make sure she gets to keep living freely and keep her safe. 

But to give up everything; his life, his dreams, everything….. is it worth it?

“Now then, lets continue, shall we? This time, lets go for more than just a finger, hmm?” Chiskai says, before placing his hand on top of Izuku’s hand. “ where is she?”

Izuku is silent, gathering up his strength and catching his breath.

Absolutely.

“You will never find her……..AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!” 

Chapter Text

“Please. You have to save him! Save Izu!” 

Aizawa jolts at the nickname, could she be talking about him??

“Who is Izu? Do you know their full name, or a description of him?” Aizawa asks, bringing the young girl’s attention back to him. He could feel Bakugou hovering behind him, the nickname obviously grabbing his attention as well. 

The girl hesitates, seemingly nervous about all the eyes on her but shakes herself out of it and continues. “ his n-name is Midoriya Izuku. He- he saved me from a villain a while ago. He has green curly hair, and gr-green eyes too. Oh! And Freckles! But the Villain found us and is fighting him right now! You have to save him, Ch-Chisaki will kill him!!!” She rushes out, trying to make sure that her voice is clear, even as she stumbles over a few words. Unsurprisingly, both Bakugou and Aizawa both react to Izuku’s name and description; surprisingly, Mirio seems to recognize the other name she had said. 

“Mirio, do you know who this villain is she is speaking about?” Aizawa asks, wanting to get an idea on what they are dealing with exactly. 

“A bit, Sir Nighteye has been looking into him and his group for the past few months now and recently let me in on the situation. From what they know, he runs a yakuza group that they believe has been pedaling some drugs throughout a few prefectures. He is definitely not someone that we can take lightly.” Mirio supplies, before turning back to the girl with his usual go lucky smile. “We’ll definitely help save your friend. Do you remember where they last were?” 

“The trash beach.” She says confidently, seeming to relax a bit with the knowledge that they’ll try and save Izuku.  The other student’s seem to be a bit confused at the name, but Aizawa recognizes what he is talking about. It seems someone else does too. Within a moment, he whips out his capture weapon and shoots it out to wrap around and pull back Bakugou, who was trying to make a break for the door. 

“And where do you think you’re going Bakugou?” Aizawa asks rhetorically, dragging him back over to their group.

“To go and get Izuku!” He yells, struggling against the binding pinning his arms to his chest. “I have been looking for him for years, and blow. Finally know where the hell he has been hiding!!”

Aizawa hated that he would have to do this, but he isn’t going to back down on this. 

“You’re not going. Mirio and I will be going. You’ll be staying here with Kirishima, Mina and Yaoyorozu and the girl for us to come back.” He says with an air of finality.

“WHAT?!” Bakugou yells, stopping his struggles to turn his attention fully to Aizawa. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN I’M STAYING!?!  You can’t do that! I’ve been looking for years for him! Ever since he disappeared I have been looking, years of gaining scraps and hints of if he was alive or not, if he was here or somewhere else; years of walking through these alleys and talking and asking and begging just to see him again! He is my best friend, and you’re telling me to stay and wait while he is out there, where I can finally find him, and he is being hurt! You know how much I have done to find Izuku; you have watched me for years, you said you knew how much I have put into finding him. You can’t say that and then tell me to not go to him when he needs help!!!” Tears escape Bakugou as he yells his heart out, having somehow gotten one hand free, grabbing his own shirt in frustration.

“Katsuki!” Aizawa interrupts him, gaining his attention again, and most likely his other students as well. “ I know how much you have done to find Izuku, I have watched you struggle and grow and learn trying to find him. I’ve known you for years and If the situation was different, I would let you join us in getting him. But we are dealing with a very dangerous villain, and I will not have my students having to fight villains if I can help it. You all have already been through one villain attack this year and I am not going to let you face another so soon. At least until you get your provisional license; Mirio has his and is also aware of the person we are facing. I need you all here to help keep the girl calm and safe here.” Aizawa says, not budging an inch on the subject, and seeming to get through to Bakugou about the situation. He slumps in the capture weapon and gives a subdued nod, allowing Aizawa to unwind his capture weapon from him and slipping it fully back onto his shoulders. “Once we have him, I will call you Bakugou. Yaoyorozu, Mina, Kirishima, Bakugou I’ll be counting on you to stay here and keep...um, what’s your name?” Aizawa looks back over to the girl, seeming to startle her slightly when putting the attention back onto her.

“Eri.” She says shyly.

“You all will be making sure that Eri is alright and safe here. Mr. and Mrs. Azumi, I hope you don’t mind keeping an eye on them while we handle this.” He asks.

“Dear, you don’t even need to ask, go and save the kid. We got things handled here.” Mrs. Azumi says. 

With one last look for confirmation from everyone, Aizawa and Mirio head out, running through the snow and wind to try and get to the beach in time. Aizawa took the lead, Mirio easily keeping up with him as they weaved through the alleys, until they made it back out onto the main road, since that would be the quickest way to get to Dagoba beach. Over the wind whistling in their ears, they spoke tersely about the plan once they got there.

“This isn’t about catching Chisaki or anyone who may be with him, this is about getting the kid and getting out as fast as possible. Once we get there, I will; handle holding him off, your main focus is getting the kid and getting out, once you and Izuku are out, we will retreat. If he has reinforcements, subdue them if needed.”

“Yes sir, Eraserhead.” 

“Do you have any other info about Chisaki?” Aizawa asks as they make another turn, the seaside now to their side as they continue moving alongside the wall that went down to the beaches. 

“Yes; his quirk is Overhaul. It allows him to disassemble and reassemble anyone or anything through touch.” Mirio explains, getting a nod from Aizawa that he heard him. They pick up the pace as they see the pile of trash off in the distance and that's when they could start hearing it. 

The screams. It was from a single person, obviously loud but the distance made it nothing more than an echo for the moment. They try to speed up even more, even with their lungs shaking from each freezing breath and the screams growing louder and reverberating in their bones, bringing with it a different kind of chill that was settling in. Closer and closer, and the screams got louder, and it hurt his heart even more hearing them. Finally they were there, they could see in the space between the piles of trash four people in a small clear area of the beach; two were holding one person while the last seemed to be talking to them. 

“Lets go.” 

“Yes sir.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Aizawa and the Tintin look-a-like left, Katsuki didn’t really know what to do with himself. 

He hated Aizawa for making him stay here, but he also understood on some levels that even if he knew Katsuki could take care of himself, he’s still one of his students and can’t let him go due to the seriousness and danger of the situation surrounding it. It doesn’t mean that he hates it with every fiber of his being and wants to just rush out now before Granny and the others can stop him.  But he knows he can’t. He is a fucking badass and knows how to fight, but he hasn’t been trained for this kind of situation yet, and even with his strength, he would be a liability and a distraction to Aizawa if he went there now. He remembers the USJ, how one moment of being caught off guard, from looking away from the task at hand even once could be the deciding factor of the fight. So even with every fiber in his being screaming to go and save Izuku, he forced himself to stay.

Looking over to the kid, she was obviously thinking the same thing he was about wanting to go to Izuku and help save him, but knowing they shouldn’t; looking to the door every few moments and shuffling in the same spot, fiddling with the oversized coat and the duffel strap that was already worn thin from probably years of use. Mina had went with Mr. Azuma to get the first aid kit while Granny was in the food line getting some food together and talking to one of the helpers in the kitchen. Kirishima and Yaoyorozu were trying to get Eri to talk to them or move to a seat, although they didn’t seem to be having much luck with her, her mind elsewhere. 

Katsuki shuffles over to the three and squats down to her level, seeming to get her attention with how close he was, she takes a few steps back and he doesn’t stop her either, letting her put as much space as she wants between them. Once she seems to have settled again, even with the vice prez scolding him about something or another, he doesn’t bother listening, and says. “I know what you're thinking. You're worried about Izuku. I am too. But trust me on this, Aizawa will save him and bring him back.” That seems to break whatever space her head was in, as she seems to finally nod to him and ask quietly if she could sit down. 

Shitty hair smiles and offers his hand to her, leading her over to one of the many empty seats in the cafeteria; granted, with it being this late into the night, it's not odd that there isn’t a soul in here. Once she was off her feet, he could see that the foot without a shoe was swollen and tinged with blue around her toes, as well several small cuts on the sole of her foot as well. It didn’t look like the foot had frostbite at all, thankfully,  but it must have definitely been painful as hell to stay standing on it, let alone run as far as she did without one. It was at that time that Mr. Azuma and Pinky finally came back with a thick blanket and the first aid kit, Mina explaining that they put the blanket through a quick dry cycle in one of the dryers which was why it took them so long. She immediately wraps the warm blanket around her shoulders, keeping it out of the way of her foot so that Mr. Azuma could look over it and treat her foot and wrap it with some light gauze to help keep it clean. 

Katsuki was always amazed at how Mr. azuma was always able to help calm people down in such an easy way, if he didn’t already know that Mr. Azuma was quirkless, he would think he had some sort of empathy quirk or something. There have been times where Katsuki himself was close to blowing up on someone, either because of a bad day or because the other person was being a complete dick, and Mr. Azuma would be right there and within minutes his mood would take a complete 180. While it doesn’t;t look much like it, he can tell that the older man’s calm and soft tone is helping to ease some of the tension in the kid, but not really making headway on getting her to focus on something other than Izu, with how she still looks over to the door every few minutes. 

“What was your name again, short stack?” Katsuki asks, wanting to make sure he caught the name, since he wasn’t really paying attention when she said it before. Granted he was struggling with having to stay in this place while his best friend was in trouble…...god did he wish he would already get that call from Aizawa. 

“Eri…” she mumbled out, her eyes darting from him, to the door, to the bunny in her lap. It was only then that he actually noticed the stuffed animal, how it looked pretty worn out but obviously has been patched up, one of the arms now a different color then the rest of the bunny. “A-and this is Hero.” She says holding up the bunny to him, introducing him to the stuffed doll. Katsuki knows that he isn’t the best around kids; he prefers it that way, they stay away and he can handle the hard shit without worrying about them getting in the way. But with this kid, it felt like he had to kinda play along, if anything to try and get a bit more info about Izu.

“Uh, its nice to meet you too…” 

“Dude,” Kirishima says, butting in, struggling to keep himself from laughing outright. Katsuki sends back a glare, as though he was hoping that Kirishima would finish his sentence so he could beat the hell out of his ass for whatever dumb thing he was about to say. Kirishima did seem to get the hint though and didn;t say anything more. 

Soon enough, a hot plate of food is brought out, and what looks to be a mug of hot chocolate as well, from the kitchen and is placed in front of her. That does seem to catch her attention for a bit as the warmth from the miso soup and fish seem to draw her in. Granny takes the time to take one of the few combs and help untangle her hair while she eats, thank god that she doesn’t eat like a caveman like katsuki has seen other homeless kids and adults do. 

“Soooooooo, Bakugou…..whose this Izu you were talking about before?! I’ve never heard you mention him before, you almost never talk about yourself with us!” Pinky suddenly asks, cornering Katsuki and getting in his face, a smile plastered on as she rambles. Katsuki seriously wants to get her out of his space and tell her to fuckj off, but he can see the knowing looks from granny and Mr. Azuma, the questioning looks from Shitty hair and vice prez, and even the kid was looking at him curiously too and damn it was it hard to say fuck off to her shitty puppy dog eyes. 

“Uuuugh fine, he was….” God, how did he even explain this? With a defeated sigh, Katsuki continues, “ he was my best friend growing up, we were inseparable. He’s still my best friend. But his home life was shitty at best, and freaking hell at worst. There were times that he wouldn’t come to school for days, and when he would finally come back, some part of him would be bruised black and blue or wrapped up to cover up all the shitty stuff. Whenever we could, my parents would have him stay over at our place as much as possible, and sometimes he would sneak out after dark and come over and we would help patch him. We were scraping together evidence for years to get him out of that shitty place and have him stay with us, he was fucking family at that point. But then one day he disappeared, ran away from home and didn’t tell anyone. It took days for me to realize it wasn't like all the other times. And i;’ve been trying to find him ever since.” His eyes hurt from how much he was holding back his tears, not wanting to fucking cry twice in front of these losers in the same day. 

“Wow, Bakubro, I didn’t know…” 

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want you guys to know. Okay?” He says dismissively, cutting off Kirishima from whatever he was saying. 

It’s silent for a bit, before Eri speaks up, asking him, “Did you u-used to camp with Izu and your dad would t-tell you about the s-stars?” 

The questions definitely caught him off guard, surprised that someone would ask about that. It was Izuku’s favorite thing to do, when everything would just get so overwhelming whether it was quirk stuff, or stuff at home, they would camp out and forget about reality for a bit and listen to the stories his dad would tell about the stars and constellations. “Yeah…...did he tell you about that?” 

“Then….you’re Kacchan!” She says excitedly, squeezing some kind of stuffed animal to her and some kind of excited shine in her eyes. “Izu would tell me stories about you two all the time! He told me all the star stories too!” She said excitedly, bouncing in her seat as if she wanted to hope out of it and go to him, but the dull pain in her foot probably kept her where she was. All Katsuki could do was stare, completely surprised by her reaction; by hearing that name that he has so long wished to hear again. 

“He talked about me?” He whispered, kneeling down to be at the same level as the girl who now seemed to be looking at him like she was meeting some celebrity. 

“Yeah! They were my favorite stories!  And…..Izu liked talking about you too. He would always look sad and happy when he told me your stories.” She said, seeming to get a bit embarrassed as she realized that all attention was on her. He sends a quick glare behind him, catching Mina and Kirishima quickly looking away and acting as if they weren’t listening to the whole thing, and absolutely failing at it. Vice Prez at least didn’t try and hide it, although she did take a step back to give the girl some space. 

“Well yeah, I am going to be the next number one hero! Of course Izu told you about me!” He says, trying to shake off the light blush on his cheeks. 

Thankfully after that, Eri seemed a lot more comfortable with them, practically hanging onto every word, and his literal sleeve as she somehow got him to sit down next to her, from Katsuki’s mouth as he regaled them with stories about Izuku. Soon stories about Izuku turned into stories from school and all of their classmate’s shenanigans. She would giggle when Mina decided to make fun of Katsuki and his obviously over the top reaction, and gasp in amazement when Momo used her quirk to make a small Russian doll for her with each little doll being their classmates. She didn’t look at the doorway as much, although she didn’t completely stop either.

Neither did Katsuki.

Any chance he got, he was checking the door or his phone, trying to will the call to finally come or for Aizawa and the upperclassmen to return with Izuku in tow. Minutes passed by like hours for him, probably for all of them, but they were doing their best to keep calm and to not worry at all. 

It wasn’t long before it looked like Eri was trying to fight off sleep as it seemed to try and drag her back down. Her head bobbing up and down every few minutes and her body unconsciously curling further into the blanket that engulfed her. 

Vice Prez brings it up quietly; “if you’re tired Eri, you can go ahead and sleep and we can wake you up once we get any news from Mr.Aizawa.” She offers, but gets a determined shake from the child.

“Nu-uh. Not until Izu is there.” A sad and worried look passes over her face as she buries her face into the stuffed rabbit. Katsuki can understand, he feels tired as shit, but he doesn’t think he can fall asleep even if he wanted to. Not until they know that Izuku is okay. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll get that call any minute.” Shitty hair says, offering up a smile.

Ring ring ring~ 

Well……speak of the devil…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It hurts…..

His arm hurts so much…..

But it wasn’t……. how can it hurt when its…..

He can’t keep himself up, his feet have long since given out on him. His weight being fully held up by the two lackey’s. The pain that felt like it was engulfing his entire being was even worse as the guy who made the world felt like it was spinning- god was that what it felt like when you’re drunk? He hates it- has been making everything even worse by making his stomach turn into knots and make the floor feel like it was moving back and forth, throwing his pain riddled brain into complete panic at times. 

He’s thrown up……he can’t remember when but he can taste the acid still burning on his tongue, feeling it sting his freezing lips. 

How many times have they disassembled a part of him?  It all feels like its all bleeding together  by now, minutes seeming to swim together and spreading apart, feeling like seconds to hours…. he can still feel each finger being unwoven, but why does it feel like they are right there, writhing in pain and his nerves burning alive?! He knows that if he was able to actually lift his head and look at it, the shock of seeing what was left of his arm would probably break him…….and he can’t break.

He has to keep himself together….he can’t lose it. 

For Eri…and probably for himself too. If he spills, they will definitely kill him.

He knows they are talking; maybe to him, maybe to themselves, he can only make out muffled sounds over the ragging heartbeat that was pounding in his ears. His feet have long since gone numb, the cold and wet snow having soaked through his thin shoes and brought with it a numbing pain. He can feel the same cold attacking his face and other arm, making them more and more blindly numb by the minute… second? Hour? How long has this torture started? He can’t focus, with every touch of that monster, it feels like more and more time keeps slipping away from the pain. 

Has Eri made it to the shelter yet?.......I hope Jin is with her now, she’ll be safer then.

….just need to……hold on……

Suddenly, the two hands that were holding him up were wrenched away, dropping him flat into the snow, the sting of the frozen flakes waking him up a bit more from the pain riddled daydream his body was in. He couldn't lift his head, too exhausted to even try, but from the one eye that wasn’t submerged in snow, he saw one…no, two, people seeming to engage Chisaki and those lackeys. He can barely comprehend the fight, and he’s pretty sure that he started hallucinating, cause how could someone’s fist go through someone’s head without it seeming to actually hit the guy. Meanwhile, the fight between Chisaki and the second guy was happening out of his view, but he can tell from the strained coughs and curses, Chisaki wasn’t getting any farther in the fight than his lackeys were. It brought some piece to his mind, that two strangers actually came to his rescue…. maybe even for living trash like him, some people can still see that they are people too.

Within just a few blinks - I can’t trust myself to keep track of the time, seconds turning into hours and minutes seeming like they are slowed down- the arrow head guy and the drunk ass were out cold, and the first guy was soon enough kneeling by him. He could see his mouth moving, trying to speak to him, but the pounding in his ears and some kind of high pitch ringing was blocking him out. All Izuku could do was cough in response, his eyes slowly shifting down to the growing red in the snow. Oh…..I’m still bleeding…..that’s not good, is it?

The guy, obviously worried at Izuku’s failed attempt at a response, quickly takes his jacket off and throws it over Izuku, before going for his belt and ripping it off too. Izuku wanted to know why, but then he felt an ungodly pressure on what was left of his arm, getting tighter and tighter and all Izuku could do was scream in the new wave of pain. He can barely make out a whispered “sorry” from the guy, before he was picked up and firmly pressed into a warm chest, his body unconsciously leaning into further, the adrenaline from before having since long left him. He felt warm……safe…. even with the pain, he felt like he could almost float away from it all. His head slumps into the warmth as he closes his eyes. He can barely pick up some kind of curt conversation between the two men, and he feels the cold wind bite into his bare face as they seem to be running somewhere.  

It doesn’t matter much, he feels warm…..maybe he can take a little nap.

That thought is quickly ripped from him as they enter an entirely too bright place; too many people talking and yelling around him and it all hurts all over again. They place him on something soft; they take away the coat- no, give it back- and now the soft thing is moving, kicking up another wave of dizziness that makes him feel like he needs to throw up, even though there is nothing left in his stomach. Then there’s a  small pinch in his arm, so quick he almost missed it, but then there’s another one, but this one doesn’t stop. He catches out of the corner of his eye some kind of….tube? Leading to his arm; and he wants to ask what was going on, where was he? Was Eri alright? 

Before he even knows it though, before he can say a single word, he falls unconscious, from the drugs or just from the pain or blood loss, he can’t be sure. 

Chapter Text

The first thing he notices when he starts to wake up is that everything feels fuzzy, as if someone stuffed his head full of cotton balls. He can hear some kind of sound nearby him, but the words themselves were completely unknown to him. 

Everything just feels so warm and cozy, and he doesn’t want to wake up yet. So he keeps his eyes closed, just basking in the bliss of the moment. He knows that there is something that he should do, something he needs to check on, something was just missing from this moment that would make it perfect. What is it? What is he forgetting?

“...id? You wak….” 

“C’mon…………up!” 

God, why is it so noisy? It's not usually so noisy in the morning, Eri usually…..

ERI!

Jolting up, a wave of pain and panic breaks through the cotton balls that were clouding his mind and brings with it a choking feeling in his lungs, his eyes fighting against him to fully open, as soon as they crack open he immediately sinches them shut again, the blinding light around him, and the throbbing in his arm isn’t helping either to clear his head or focus on what’s going on around him. 

None of this matters; the pain doesn’t matter, the grogginess and dizziness doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters right now is finding Eri!

Izuku tries to open his eyes again; the bright light looking bleary and shadows against it are grainy at best, they seem to be trying to say something to him, but none of it is really sticking in his brain. They don;t matter. Have to find Eri! Izuku tries to lift whatever sheet is on him with his hand, but his right arm doesn’t react to him;  odd, and if his head didn’t feel full of cotton balls he would think more about it, but Izuku doesn’t let his right arm not reacting to him end his seach. His other limbs are, thankfully, listening to him; barely listening, as though that are lagging behind, but he was able to shake off whatever hands were on him and get his feet off of whatever surface he is on. He leans forward to give himself more momentum to get back on his feet, however , something wraps around and tightens around his arm and torso. He sputters as he is pulled back onto the cushy platform and the hands are back, along with alot of noise coming from everywhere. Every yell and grunt rattle in his brain and make it that much more disorienting. 

“E-Eri?! W-wher-” he yells out, something pokes him in his arm, and with each moment the warm fuzzy feeling is coming back as a tidal wave, dragging him further and further back into sleep. Coughs rack his body as he can feel his limbs getting weaker and weaker. His eyelids felt heavy, and each blink seemed to take more and more effort to open them again.

The blurry figures around him seem to clear up a bit, he could make out long, shaggy black hair and tired eyes…..a long scarf. 

A head of yellow hair next to them…..

People with white coats…and medical masks…..not bird ones, but fabric……doctors? Is he…is he in the hospital right now? 

Izuku doesn’t get a chance to think much more on it as the medicine that they had given him deftly pulled him under once more. Much to the relief of those who were in the room with him.

~~~~~~

The Azuma’s were nice of enough to help get everyone home with the Community Center’s van once they got the call from Mr. Aizawa, they found Izuku and were at the Hosiptal waiting on Izuku to get out of Surgrey; by the time they dropped off Vice President, the only ones left were Katsuki and Eri, who had curled herself into his side, the stuffed rabbit being squished against his arm as she held onto his arm tightly. 

Katsuki didn’t really react much, being in too much shock since getting the call. He found him. Aizawa found him……and he’s hurt; hurt enough to where he needed surgery. Oh god, what if Izu was dying right now and Katsuki would never be able to see him again!

He needs to get there. He needs to get there NOW!!! But he can’t, ‘cause he’s got to watch over Eri until he can get her back to Izu; he knows that is what Izu would want while he’s out for the count and in surgery. FUCK!!! How bad is it that he needs Surgery?!? He’s gotta keep Eri safe until Izuku is awake again. He has to wake up; he has to! There is no way that Izu would die on him or Eri. He still has so much he needs to say, that he needs to do! Please, let him be alright when we get there…… HOW MUCH LONGER UNTIL WE GET THERE?! WE NEED TO GET THERE NOW!!!

Katsuki unconsciously flexes his hands, trying his best not to set off any sparks so close to the kid’s head. He can tell she is also pretty worried about Izuku, but she seems to be trying to get some sleep; the crazy night and warm food and blanket that was still draped around her shoulders seems to have worn her out, that and it's way past midnight now, the first hints of sunrise just barely giving the sky a lighter glow as they made their way through the empty streets to the Hospital. Granted, it didn’t look too much of a restful sleep with how there was a constant crease between her brows, but he knows that without Izu here, this is probably gonna be the best sleep she’ll be able to grab. 

Mrs. Azuma, sitting in the passenger seat looks back to them and quietly lets him know that she already called his parent’s and let them know what was going on, they’ll be meeting them at the Hospital. Katsuki nods, not really having the energy to speak at the moment, the long nights ( the long years) of searching at all hours and then also doing an all-nighter hitting him all at once. Its only the knowledge that they’re getting closer and closer to him finally being able to see Izuku again that is keeping him awake at all. His eyes feel sore and tired, but he has to fight it off. 

“Katsuki dear, go ahead and get some sleep. We still have a bit to go to get to the Hospital. Once we arrive I’ll wake you up.” Granny says, reaching back and patting his knee lightly. Katsuki doesn’t react to her prompting, wanting to try and keep some kind of pride; granted it was very hard to do so running on so little sleep. “There are a few extra blankets in the row behind you if you need it.”  is all she says to his silence before turning back around and facing the road once more.

Katsuki looks back out the window, watching the rhythmic passing of streetslights come and go past the window as they speed by it all. He can see barely a few cars also on the street with them, many of them most likely are those with a night shift, the warm air from the air vents keeping out the cold that decorates the windows in frosted patterns and fills the streets with snow. In a moment, his head lulls to the side before snapping up again, trying his best to stay awake. He can’t go to sleep yet, damnit! No matter how much he fights it though, within only a few minutes his head is leaning against the back of the van seat, his eyelids dropping as the warmth and exhaustion from the stress and days without sleep catch up to him. With his last conscious thought, he worms his arm out from Eri’s grip and drapes it over and around her, holding her close to him and having her head lay on his thigh instead of into his ribs and side. She groans a bit and seems to shift a bit before falling back asleep. From there Katsuki is barely aware of the ride, coming in and out of sleep as they make turns and at some point the radio must have been turned on cause he can hear some kind of music playing lowly during the ride. 

Finally, he feels his knee being shaken a bit firmly, jolting him from whatever half-sleep he was in. He quickly looks around, trying to get his barings and sees that they aren’t moving anymore, as they are parked right outside of the Hospital doors. “Aizawa is waiting for you two inside, we need to head back since we did leave on such short notice. We’ll be back sometime later with some of the things in Eri’s bag when we can.” Mr. Azuma says, seeming to help catch Katsuki’s sleep laidened brain back up to the situation at hand. He nods and carefully scoops Eri up, blanket and all, and awkwardly works them out of the van; apparently carrying a kid in your arms makes it kinda difficult to move around, let alone in a cramped van. It took a bit of work, but he was able to get both of them out of the van, the biting cold wind stinging his cheeks and sneaking into his loose jacket as he waves off the old couple before making his way past the automatic doors.

It doesn’t take long to find Aizawa, waiting by the front desk for them. Katsuki briskly walks over to him and without a single word they head down the halls and to the elevator. 

It’s not until the doors silently close and they feel the shifting of the elevator cab beneath their feet that Katsuki finally says, voice hoarse with how much he is trying to hold back his voice( and his tears), “how is he?”

“He got out of surgery a while ago, and is stable. He’s even woken up once, although he was still quite out of it so they had to put him back under until the rest of the sedatives have left his system.” Aizawa says, rubbing at his eyes every few seconds and even putting in eye drops. 

“What’s going on with your eyes? You usually complain about dry eyes, but you're rubbing them raw.” Katsuki asks, honestly wanting to know more about Izuku, about why he had surgery to begin with, but he…..he was scared to ask. Coward.

“The fight, while quick, was pretty grueling with the cold air. But also, I had to use it constantly during the surgery as well.” he explains, getting a confused ‘huh?’ out of Katsuki, “due to Izuku’s quirk, most of the tools that they needed for the surgery would go haywire due to his own magnetic field. So I joined the Surgery in order to keep Izuku’s quirk turned off for as long as possible to make sure that his own quirk didn’t get in the way of the operation.” Aizawa elaborates bluntly. Katsuki is almost glad he didn’t hold any punches about it, but he kinda wished that he didn’t ask. 

“W-why did he…..” Katuski tries to ask, he really does, but the words catch in his throat and choke him. “Why d-did Izu n-need….” Katsuki tries again, only to get stuck once more, his frustration at not being able to put the fucking question out there. Aizawa seems to understand what he is trying to ask, placing his hand on Katsuki’s free shoulder as the other was currently occupied by Eri’s sleeping head. The Elevator gives a light ding as it reaches their floor. With a gentle push he leads them out and around the corner, making sure they don’t run into anyone as they head closer and closer to the room….Izuku’s room……

They stop at one of the rooms closest to the nurse’s station, aizawa explaining that because of his quirk, they can’t use normal heart monitors, so they put him in the room closest to the nurse’s station and there will be a nurse in the room at all times until Izuku is fully awake and aware of his surroundings. There’s a small window looking in, and he can see the  urse he was talking about, moving out and back into a section of the room that was currently covered by a privacy sheet; the only other person that Katsuki can see if the third year, seeming to be sitting off to the side and out of the way. Aizawa thankfully doesn’t push him to go into the room, letting him just watch from the window for now. 

Katsuki isn’t sure how long he stood there, watching, waiting for…something. Anything really. He wanted to see Izuku, he wanted to touch him again and feel him breath and finally know that everything will be alright. But even with that running through his head, with those dreams and hopes having fueled him for the last….god he doesn’t know how many years it has been, but its been the only thing keeping him going sometimes. So why couldn’t he go in…. Why does his feet feel like cement right now as he looks into that window, Izuku behind just a simple sheet. A simple door. Why is he such a coward that he can’t face the one thing he has been reaching for this whole time. 

It was at this moment that Eri began to shift around, most likely waking up as she sits up groggily, obviously still quite sleepy from the circles under her eyes, but more awake then she was for the last 30 minutes or so. She takes a moment looking around, seeming quite tense looking around at the doctors and nurses that casually weave around their little group; her hand clenching into his jacket and cowering behind his shoulder as much as she could without looking away from the medical masks and doctor coats. The reaction to their surroundings is definitely sending off some red flags in Katuki’s mind, and from the look of it, in Aizawa’s too. 

“Why don’t we head into the room now.” Aizawa prompts, moving to the handle. Katuski still isn’t quite sure he actually can move, but thw small whimper from Eri somehow does the trick of getting his feet moving again, even if they feel like lead at the moment as he follows Aizawa into the room. He keeps his eyes firmly glued to his shoes as they squeak across the linoleum past the doorway, flinching when the door shuts a bit loud behind him. He just lets his feet walk forward, not really looking up at all as he hesitantly makes his way through the room; following Aizawa’s boots out of the corner of his eye. 

DAMNIT! Why are you being such a Coward?! 

He stops as soon as he passes the sheet; he hears a sharp gasp from Eri whistle into his ear, before she begins to wiggle and worm her way out of his arms. Thankfully, he is aware enough to place her on the floor himself instead of having her fall from his arms, but besides that, he is still fighting against himself to look up, the fear of just what he will see and the excitement of finally being able to see his best friend again after so long. 

Finally, after going in circles in his own head, he aggressively shakes his head, and then throws his head up. 

Taking in the pale, tall boy laying on the bed. 

His hair looked limp, and much longer than he expected it to be; he could tell there were a few places that looked matted, but still held the iconic dark green color that always caught the light; he looks thin too, almost too thin, but it does look like he was at least trying to take care of himself, from some of the other homeless he has looked after and met throughout the years, he has seen some people be just skin and bone, so it eased some of the worry that always clinged to the back of his mind. The slow and even rise and fall of his chest eased out the tension that had wormed its way into his shoulders with each breath he watched. He can’t tell if Izuku is a bit shorter than him or taller than him, the multiple thick sheets laying on top of him making it hard to tell his exact height, but he is definitely not the little kid he used to be….somehow, seeing him older really puts into perspective just how long Izuku has been gone from his life. Seeing the actual results of those years passing, slapping him right in the face. That's when he looked closer, seeing one arm out of the sheet, IV drip, and a primitive one at that, hooked up to him with probably some pain meds as well, and the other arm……the other arm was……

It was gone.

All that was left as a stump stopping a few inches past his shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~

It was gone. Izu’s arm wasn’t where it was when she had left.

She should have just done what Chisaki said; she should have given herself up. Then Izu would still be okay and have both arms….he wouldn’t be in this place that reminds her too much of Chisaki’s work room, with all of these people that bring back all the bad memories. 

She wants to say this to him; she wants to tell him that Chisaki was right all along; she was cursed, she hurts everyone around her. She shouldn’t be here with him. 

But she can’t bring herself to say it, because even these thoughts don’t feel as though they are the truth….if she is being completely honest, she just wants him to wake up and hold her and tell her that everything will be alright, that she isn’t the reason that he got hurt; she just wants to know he’ll be okay…that they’ll both be okay. She stays close by Kacchan, watching Izu sleeping on the bed soundly, a tube leading to his arm taped there. She doesn’t remember seeing something like that when Chisaki did ‘work’ on her.

There is also another man in the room, not the nice older blonde or Kacchan, or even the Hero that saved Izu, he is in a pink pajama shirt and pants and a mask on, as well as some kind of cloth tyed around his head, hiding his hair. She peeks at him every few moments, scared that he might do something to Izu like Chisaki and his men used to do to her. Izu can’t protect himself right now, so it's up to her, Kacchan, and the tired Hero to make sure that nothing happens. 

The mystery man is continously watching Izu too; but soon looks to her, spooking her into hiding behind Kacchan’s leg at the sudden eye contact. A small chuckle comes from the pink clothed man, his voice kind but deep, and shows a bit of his age with how gravely it sounded. Then the man speaks, “Don’t worry little lady, your friend is going to be just fine. He’s a fighter, I can tell.” 

Peaking back out from behind the pants leg she was currently holding onto, she looks back at the man. “Fighter?” she asks quietly, not sure if she can really trust this old man yet, but too curious not to ask. 

“Yup; he held on while the doctors were working on fixing up his arm, he gave everyone a few scares during the surgery, but it was quite obvious that he was fighting to stay with us. Like he was doing everything he could to stay with us and get back to you and your friends.” the old man says, removing his mask and hat now, revealing his black hair, speckled with white and grey hairs throughout and alot of wrinkles that made his face look much kinder than she was expecting.

Izuku is a fighter; he fought Chisaki and Chronos at the same time, he fought to save her. “Yes, Izu is a fighter. He’s a Hero.” she says confidently; she can hear Kacchan stifle some kind of cough at her proclamation, but he reaches down and ruffles her hair before muttering something about how he definitely is a hero.  Eri looked back at the old man, and asked the next question that came to her, “If Izu is going to be okay, why are you here?” she asks, giving him the best stink eye that she could muster, trying to remember how Jin explained it and showed her. 

The old man seemed to take her stare in stride, not reacting to the suspicious glare and went ahead to answer her. “Because of your friend’s quirk, almost all of our equipment that we would use to track his vitals would break or go haywire if we got them too close to him. However my quirk, Vital Signs, works perfectly fine. So I can keep an eye on him easily and make sure that he is just fine and keep track of his vitals to make sure that there are no issues while he heals.” the old man explains calmly, giving her a small smile.

“Vitals?” Eri asks, leaning further towards the old man a bit more, but still staying close to Kacchan, just in case. 

“Vitals are the basic things that we keep track of on a person when they are sick or are healing from an injury or surgery. Vitals would be their breathing, their heart rhythm and the strength of their pulse, and body temperature. My quirk lets me track all of these on a single person, as well as a few other things, like brain function and a few other minor things as well. Normally, we have machines that are able to easily track these kinds of things, but we had to go a bit outside of the normal. I’m here to make sure that if anything changes in his vitals, we can quickly work to get them back to normal and make sure your friend is healing.” 

Eri nods along to the explanation, before looking back up to Kacchan and the tired Hero that has been watching the exchange. She tugs on Kacchan’s pants leg, getting him to let out a grumble before kneeling down to her height. She leans over and quietly asks him, “do you think we can trust him?” Kacchan gives her a weird look before looking over to the old man and then back to her. “Yeah we can trust him, he’s a Nurse.”

“A Nurse? What’s that?” she asks, curious about the title that has been placed on the old man. 

This time, it's the tired hero who kneels down to her level, and explains, “A Nurse is someone who has promised and trained to help heal people. The same with someone who is a Doctor; everyone here with the white fabric and paper masks are Doctors and Nurses, they all work here to help every sick and injured person that comes in and make sure that they heal properly. We can trust them, none of them are like the man that hurt Izuku.” Eri nods along slowly, trying to understand everything. She looks back to the Nurse, who gives her a weird kind of a smile, one she’s seen Izu make a few times when he first took her in, like it's a little sad but full of hope too. She gives a quick nod to him and nods to the tired Hero as well before looking back to the bed that Izu was still asleep in. 

It’s good that they can (probably) trust the Nurse, but she would still feel a lot better if Izuku was awake to tell her these things too. It would just make this kind of stuff sit better in her mind if he said it too. She turns back to the Nurse, and asks “will he wake up soon?” 

“It’s probably going to be a bit before he wakes up; however, if you would like you can sit with him. Just as long as you leave the IV alone, you should be just fine.” the Nurse recommends, seeming to understand what she really wanted to ask. 

Eri turns to Kacchan, expectantly looking at him with the same unasked question. He grumbles under his breath again, but doesn’t hesitate to scoop her up from the floor and places her on the bed, inbetween Izuku’s arm and his chest. “Don’t go messin’ with that tube kid, you got it?” he warns before letting go. She gives a strong affirmative nod before turning towards Izuku. She shifts around a bit before laying down, her head laying on his shoulder just enough to where she can feel the rise and fall of his breaths.Eri just wanted to feel his breathing, to make sure that he was really alive and with her; She doesn’t realize how tired she still is, but within moments of laying her head, she is fast asleep again. Knowing that now that they are both safe, the weight of the entire night and the restless sleep on the drive here hitting her all at once. 

There are still alot of things they will have to deal with once Izuku is awake and aware, and sooner or later they are gonna need to somehow reach Jin and let him know what’s happened. However, at this moment, all that matters is that they are both finally safe.

Chapter Text

The second time Izuku woke up, it was much easier than the first. His mind was clearer and he floated gently from his dream and straight into reality. He didn’t want to open his eyes just yet, just embracing the warmth surrounding him and the weight of the blanket that laid atop of him. It wasn’t very soft, a bit scarchy where it meets his skin, but it was thick and held a slight weight to it. He could hear voices around him, snippets of conversations around him that he doesn’t recognize. He can’t help but fear as the unknown voices continue around him, and he hears one of them say something about “heartrate is picking up…” and izuku doesn’t know what who or what they are talking about. 

Izuku opens his eyes quickly when he hears the voices getting closer to him, but the blinding white lights around him immediately have him shutting them tight again, a groan from the sudden pain slipping past his throat, and making him realize how raw his throat is. It feels as though he tried to eat sandpaper and then downed a bottle of sriracha with it. What the hell happened to him?! Then… he remembers last night. Their little hideaway destroyed, Chisaki found them…found Eri…..he wanted to take her back…. Eri running away to safety….their fight…..his…..oh god is that why his……the pain…..so much PAIN!!!! It felt so hard to breath, he couldn’t get a solid breath in, every single inhale making the burning raw pain in his throat flare up, which only reminds him of how much he screamed last night in the ungodly pain of feeling….feeling….feeling his arm be taken from him slowly, bit by bit. His body literally became undone inches at a time as Chisaki tried to get him to confess where Eri went. 

A sudden extra weight is then placed onto the bed,although Izuku is definitely not paying attention to it as he spirals into his choppy memories of everything that happened, and starts to move closer and closer to him. He doesn’t even realize its actually there until a small, gentle hand lightly touches his cheek. He blindly reacts, jerking his head away from the touch, squinting his eyes open to try and get an idea of who was there with him. Everything was still blurry, and the lights still felt like they burned as he tried to focus in on his surroundings. His body slow to move, as though his limbs themselves were still asleep. A small voice calls out; “Izu?” 

And everything stops. 

Izuku looks back to the weight that sat next to him, he can’t make them out clearly, but he doesn’t need to. Their white hair, the sweet little horn that rested on the side of their head. He could tell who it was without needing to see her sweet red eyes or the severely oversized jacket that he had put her in just hours ago. He struggles to lift himself up, and he can hear older voices chiding him about getting up, and hesitant hands seem to try and force him back down. But he doesn’t care; he shakes them off and continues to slowly and clumsily sit up, which is much harder to do with just one arm and his limbs still lagging behind what he actually wants them to do…however he eventually does get up to a sitting position, or as close to sitting as he can with half of his body leaning against the lifted section of the bed (when did the bed go to an upright position anyway?) and with a shaking hand he takes hold of Eri’s hand in his own; he can hear her hiccuping out sobs and unexpectedly she rams herself into his chest, knocking some of the air out of him as she clutches onto the hospital gown and cries into him. 

His vision has finally started to clear up only for it to become blurry all over again, although this time it was due to his own tears as they silently fell. With his one arm he curls it around Eri, holding her close as she continues to cry, cradling her head. It doesn’t matter who else is there or where they are or what is going to happen next. All that mattered in this momen is that Eri is safe with him. Feeling her weight against him, knowing that she was here, she was real and right there, it lifted a weight off of his heart. 

After a few minutes he feels Eri slump further into him, her breathing finally seeming to even out. He checks to see that she fell asleep against him, her fist still holding onto his gown. He knows that whoever else that is in the room was giving them that moment, and that he would have to face whatever came next for them, but he at least didn’t want her to walk up sore because of how she was laying against him. It takes a couple of tries, but it seems like she was exhausted, as she didn’t wake up once as he struggled to adjust her into a much more comfortable position, trying to move her with only one arm proving to be a much more difficult challenge. Once he was sure that she was comfortable, he finally looks up and takes in the rest of the room and its inhabitants. 

The first person he sees is a pretty average looking man, with a long white scarf and in some kind of black jumper. He seemed scruffy and seemed to not care about how he looks, like some of the homeless he has seen in passing, but it's very obvious to him, after the years of living on the street, that while he may not care about how he portrays himself and looks similar to others Izuku has seen from the homeless community, he definitely is not homeless himself. He could see others possibly mistaking him for those that live on the streets, but its the small things that really point out that he is far from homeless; while his clothes are loose, they are definitely made specifically to fit him, his boots were scuffed and wellworn but they were made of some high end material, his hair was long and a quite messy, but his hair itself was healthy and strong. Izuku swears that the guy looks familiar to him, but he can’t quite remember where he has seen him before; it was definitely pretty recently but he can’t pinpoint exactly when. 

The next person was a much older man who was sitting on a chair near the door; his salt and pepper hair was pushed back slightly, wrinkles peaking out around his eyes and mouth as he gave Izuku a small smile and wave before going back to a tablet in his lap. His Hosipital uniform was a pale pink and from the little that Izuku could make out from his angle, it looks like he was writing down numbers into some kind of system on the tablet? He must be a nurse or doctor, only further confirming that they were in some kind of hospital. Good, it’ll be harder for Chisaki to find them in such a huge place with so many people. 

The last two people were both blonde and looked younger than both men, maybe around Izuku’s age, maybe a bit older? One was definitely taller than the other, and seemed to be a year or so older. His eyes were cartoonish compared to everyone else (maybe a mutation? Could the difference be due to their quirk, or maybe just a genetic mutation?) and he had a constant smile, but it didn’t look forced at all, and somehow that smile helped lift a bit of his nervousness that Izuku had. His hair was shorter than his counterpart, spiked up in the front and while a bit ruffled, looked very well maintained. The other blonde though….. He felt far too familiar. The spikey golden hair, the way his face seemed to have a permanent scowl yet it didn’t feel like the scowl held any malice or was directed at him, but more at the situation itself. His eyes were sharp, yet they also held some kind of softness hidden beneath the glare. But most of all, he didn’t really look angry or frustrated like how his features would suggest he normally looked; this one looked scared and yet….hopeful? What was up with this guy? Why does he feel so familiar? The answer was right on the tip of his tongue, yet it was just out of reach.

The scruffy scarf man speaks up first, “glad to see you awake kid, had us worried there a few times.” he doesn’t raise his voice, keeping his tone even and soft. Izuku knows what he is trying to do, and he can’t say he doesn’t appreciate the effort he is putting in. Izuku opens his mouth to try and reply, but all that comes out is some hacking coughs. 

Right….. His throat is completely toast at the moment. 

Thankfully, the older teenager already grabbed a glass of water from a small table nearby and handed him the cup. Izuku did his best to drink slowly; but the cool water was a much needed balm and soon enough, he was carefully handing the empty glass back. “Th-thank you.” it was barely a whisper, and it was raspy and three octaves lower than it was supposed to be, but its better than nothing. 

Scarf man continues once it seems like Izuku’s coughing fit is over; “my name is Shouta Aizawa, I’m a Pro Hero, who with the help of one of my students, was able to escape with you and bring you to a hospital. How are you feeling? Any pain anywhere? Anything feeling off?” with a quick shake of his head, the man accepts his response. “Alright, if anything changes you let either me or Mr.Kawamura know immediately, got it?” how he said it so sternly felt as though he was almost scolding him, so Izuku meekly nods in agreement. This guy is odd, but not in a bad way…. He kind of reminds him of Jin in a way. “Good. Mirio, Bakugou, keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn’t pull another disappearing act on us. I’m going to go call my contact in the Police and see if they can come by.” he says before walking to the door, waving to the nurse who was sitting by the door, his hand going to dig through his pocket as he opens the door and leaves the room.

However, Izuku wasn’t even looking his way anymore.

Bakugou…..

Izuku looks to both blondes, easily writing off the taller one as not being the one he was desperately looking for, and instantly settling on the younger of the two; he could obviously tell that Izuku was looking at him, and now that Izuku actually was looking, its so obvious that this is Bakugou…. the Bakugou….. his Bakugou. He had the same crazy hair, spiked every which way to look like it was bed head and yet Izuku remembers watching him as a kid making sure that his hair was always precisely “The right kind of messy!” as he always said. He lost alot of the baby fat and gained a strong jawline and still just as sharp eyes, still the same permanent frown, but now Izuku can see the full meaning behind the down turned eyebrows and scared look that was peaking through every few moments. 

Izuku thought he would never see him again, thought it would be too late for him to ever try and reach out to him. Afterall, Izuku turned away from them….he left and ran to the streets instead of going to them; it is one of the few things that he regrets more than anything…. Not running away and in some ways he doesn’t even regret staying away from them, since without having been on the streets he never would have met Eri…….but he did wish that he said goodbye to them. He was sure that Kacchan had forgotten him by now, afterall it has been years, and Kacchan was always meant for so much more; at one point Izuku had hoped to be right beside him the whole way…..that feels like a distant dream now though, still glimmering in some part of him, but so small that its hard to find it sometimes. Katsuki wasn’t even looking at him, trying very hard to look at the door….or the floor….or the wall; but it didn’t matter that he wasn’t fully looking at him, Izuku could barely even believe that this was reality. 

Maybe that’s it…..Maybe he’s still dreaming….maybe if he closes his eyes and opens them again he’ll wake up in the hospital room, all alone….or maybe even wake up to the little tin hut on the beat up mattress, Eri curled into his side and Jin knocking on the door calling loudly for them to get up. Izuku scrunches his eyes close, and opens them back up…..Kacchan is still there…..this is really real. This is actually happening right now.

“Ka….Kacchan…” it was barely a whisper, but it felt like a hammer crashing through the tense silence that had settled in the room.

Kacchan flinched, harshly, jerking his head to him, locking eyes with him for the first time since Izuku woke up. Its as if there are so many things happening all at once, the emotions shifting from one emotion to another so quickly that he can’t figure out what’s going through his mind. Izuku used to be so good at that……when did it become so much harder to figure out what Kacchan was actually thinking….when was the last time that Izuku actually saw his childhood best friend look so utterly lost for words? He looks so much like he used to and yet so different too…..what if….what if Kacchan doesn’t remember him afterall?

With every passing second without any kind of response, the more Izuku worries that Katsuki doesn’t remember him at all. Izuku knows in his mind, somewhere, that there is no way that he Katsuki forgot him; the unshed tears in Katsuki’s eyes, the way his lip shakes just a bit, Izuku knows those tells so well. and yet, the rest of him is screaming, crying out in fear and agony that while he held onto his memories of their time growing up close to his heart, Katsuki had let go of them and moved on from him, from every moment of camping out in the backyard, from sleepovers where they stayed up way too late imagining themselves as heroes. He can feel the tears building up, can feel the sting in his eyes from not blinking, because he can’t look away right now, not for a single second. He needs…he needs….Izuku doesn’t know what exactly it is that he’s looking for, only that he knows that without it he won’t be able to move on from this moment. Katsuki could tell him he missed him, or hates him, hell he could even say that he never wanted to see him again! Just as long as he does actually remember him. 

Just when Izuku was about to choke out something else, he’s not sure what, anything to fill this consuming stare off, Kacchan finally mutters, voice rough and low, so much different then what he remembers from all those years ago…..

“Izuku…” 

~~~~~~~~

He doesn’t know what to say… how is it that after years of searching, of thinking and dreaming this moment, he doesn’t know what to fucking say?! He’s had so many things planned to say when he saw Izuku; some of them filled with anger for being put through the ringer trying to find his stupid ass, others filled with so much relief and happiness that he would only say them to him when it was just the two of them alone, so that no one else would hear him cry tears of happiness or the sappy things he wanted to say. But everything completely flies out of his mind the moment he hears his voice, hears him call him Kacchan again. It felt like it lifted off a weight that has settled on his chest for far too long. He knows that the pipsqueak said that Izuku talked about him all the time to her and still thought of him, but to hear him call him that dumb old nickname from so long ago, that was what fully made him realize that Izuku never forgot him. His voice was a bit different now, a bit lower but still but still held that light wonder in it that always shined through when he was truly captivated by something. When they were kids, that was usually a cool quirk or heroes, but in this moment, hearing that same tone when just speaking that old nickname, it felt like the best thing in the entire world. 

Katsuki doesn’t know how long he is just standing there looking at him; he can feel the tears building up on his eyelid, but he refuses to let them fall, he can’t let anything mess with what he is seeing right now. 

“Izuku.”

Katuski doesn’t even remember speaking it, but he hears his voice say it anyway. It seems to spark something into Izuku because soon enough he’s crying; it isn’t over the top or hiccuping sobs, Katsuki has seen all sorts of different types of crying from Izuku and they all seem to have some kind of meaning, an unspoken language that Katsuki has had years figuring out. This one is silent, the tears sliding down his cheeks as though he hasn’t even realized they are falling at all. A small, broken yet still very real, smile pulls at his cheeks as he croaks out, “I missed you.” 

Katsuki takes a few steps to the bed, not like there is much room to begin with, and standing at his bedside, seeing Izuku up close just makes it feel all the more real.  He’s still pale, probably from being out in the cold for so long, and he can tell that even with the effort that the surgeons put in to clean him up, that there was still a fine layer of dirt and sand that was covering up his freckles, his eyes are still just as bright though, shining in the fluorescent lights of the hospital room. Carefully, as though just a single touch might shatter this reality around them, he takes hold of Izuku’s hand while making sure not to move it too much from the Pipsqeauk still curled into his side, sound asleep. Izuku latches onto his hand just as much as Katsuki grips his, the tight hold seeming to help solidify it fully for both of them. 

It feels like nothing else matters but them in that moment……that is until stupid cartoon face loudly blows his nose into a tissue, and pulling them back to the fact that they were in fact not alone in the room. The older teen fake wipes a tear from his eye, annoying saying “ that was such a touching moment! Truly a rare sight to see! Two friends finally reuniting after years of being apart!” Katuski really wants to punch the guy in his stupid face, espically cause he can tell that through the overdramatic spiel and nose blowing, that the fucker has that same stupid smile on his face. 

He seems to knock off the theatrics though and walks over to them, taking up the position at the end of the bed. “Although it looks like you need these tissues more than I do.” he says, a kind smile directed at Izu as he holds out the box of tissues to him. Izuku nods quietly, lifting up his stump, flinching at the pain and what must be the stark reminder that he was down to one hand now. Hesitating for a moment, Izu lets go of Katsuki’s hand and tries to reach for the tissue, only to stop again when Eri shifts against him, most likely being distrubed from his arm moving. Izuku freezes once again, arm raised a few inches out from himself. Katsuki scoffs at the ridiculous situation. 

“Goddammit Izu, you’re being such an idiot right now.” Katsuki groans, before snatching the box from Cartoon Face’s hand and pulling out a few sheets before smashing them into his cheek for him, maybe it was a bit aggressive, but Izuku doesn’t seem to mind much, chuckling at the situation, and god damn, just hearing that laugh again made Katsuki feel way more fucking happy then it needs to be. Once the tears seem to have finally stopped, the shitty upperclassman decides to open his mouth again. 

~~~~~~

“I Haven’t had the chance to introduce myself! I’m Togata Mirio, 2nd year student at U.A!” stupid bright ass Cartoon fucker, and he can already tell that Izuku is totally enraptured. “I helped Aizawa Sensei with rescuing you. You really had us scared there for a second, you know!” Mirio says, catching Izuku’s attention away from Kacchan. This guy seems to just have a very easy going aititude and his smile was calming in a way, it really helped to lift some of the tension that has been floating around him since he woke up. 

“Thank you for your he-help; I-I’m sorry for the Tr-Trouble.” Izuku says, giving a tiny bow from his bed, being cautious of the sleeping child in his lap as well as the dull pull of pain from his….his missing arm…..this isn’t the time to be freaking out about the stump…..he can’t break down in front of Kacchan…and definitely not Eri…shove it down…deal with it later. A light smack shocks him out from his spiraling thoughts, and turning to the offending hand, Izuku sees Kacchan. 

“Whats with the fucking stuttering, huh?! And don’t go Apologizing for that shit! If you need to apoligize for anything, it’s deciding to run off and live on the streets for years! Apologize for making us worry and look for your ass that entire time! There are alot of things you are going to apologize for, but this shit,” Katsuki motions to his arm and to the general room, “this shit you didn’t just choose out of nowhere to get attacked! You were protecting pipsqueak and did what you had to, even when you knew that you were in over your head, that’s something you have always done, even when we were kids you always did the stupid heoric thing without thinking. Don’t waste your breath apologizing for this.” 

Its silent for a moment in the hospital room, Katuski was trying to catch his breath again, and all Izuku can do is stare at him as a roller coaster of emotions from it all just hit him all at once. He understands why Kacchan is upset, he understands why he is mad and everything he said….is true. He should apologize to Kacchan, and to the Bakugou’s too. Even though he doesn’t regret his decision, it still hurt people, people who are so close and dear to him, and he needs to face the fact that he needs to face the choice he made so long ago and the consequences connected to it. It will take time and patience, but he knows that he will do anything and everything to try and get back the relationship he had with them, even if its only a sliver of what it was before. 

“You’re r-right. I do owe you and your parent’s an apology, for everything, and I will…….I swear it. I have put you all through so much and-” Izuku says, set firm in his choice; only to be hit on the top of the head again by Kacchan. “Aaah! Kacchan, why-”

“Idiot, only paying attention to only one point! You do owe them an apology! But don’t apologize for getting hurt when you were trying to protect the squirt. What you did was be a fucking hero, so don’t you ever apologize to me for doing what you have always done best!” Kacchan says, huffing before turning slightly away from the bed, obviously not wanting Izuku to see any kind of embarrassed blush that painted his cheeks. Izuku can’t help but chuckle a bit at the childish display. Kacchan, you haven’t changed as much as I thought.

I’m glad I still know you, even after all this time.

~~~~~~~~~

The next half hour was mostly filled with idle chit-chat from the three of them; Mirio and Kacchan settling down onto the end of the bed and bickering playfully between topics. At some point, their conversation turns into a “21 questions” kind of game,  Kacchan asking questions about what he has been up to since they were kids, how he survived, and Mirio filling in any tense gaps with lighthearted jokes or questions of his own, usually something pretty basic like “what’s your favorite color?” or “what was your favorite hobby?” to help keep things moving along. Even Izuku asked questions; about what Katsuki has learned so far at UA and if there was anything big that has happened since Izuku left. That was how he learned about the arrest and detainment of his parents after he left, as well as some of the “extras” that Kacchan has befriended while at the Hero school. Eri had decided to stay curled up next to Izuku for the majority of it, waking up a little over halfway into the conversation and playing along to Mirio’s questions full-heartedly as well. 

Finally, the door opens again to reveal Aizawa again, this time with some man in a well made trenchcoat and hat. Eri curled into his side a bit further, hiding behind his arm as much as she could when seeing the new person walk in. Izuku was immediately on guard, watching the new man like a hawk while he seemed to be taking off his hat and coat and draping them across the empty chair that Mirio had been occupying before. It was obvious that he was doing everything slowly and non-chalantly, taking the empty seat and shifting himself to look at him on the bed. 

“Hopefully you three haven’t been causing any trouble.” Aizawa says, although this time Izuku was sure he heard some kind of sarcasm in the monotone voice. The nurse that had stayed quite this entire time, honestly Izuku forgot he was there to begin with, speaks up, his voice reminestant of some of the older men that lived on the streets that were stern but always had the kindest hearts, gentle, yetheld some gravity to it, and the years definitely showed in the roughness of his voice. 

“No trouble at all; a bit of yelling, but I think that is normal for that one. Izuku’s vitals have also been stable since waking up, although we should give him some more pain medication and some food soon as well.” the man says before standing up and excusing himself out of the room, giving a wave to Eri who timidly waves back from her spot squished between his arm and side. 

Aizawa nods at the man’s exit, and turns back to the four on the bed. “Togata, Bakugou, why don’t you head over to the vending machines and grab something quick for Midoriya to eat. Mr.Kawamura will be back soon with the hospital food, and that stuff is never good.” Aizawa turns to Izuku and Eri, “I figured you would at least want something that tasted decent at least before eating the bland food here.” Mirio immediately jumps up from the bed, giving a playful salute to Aizawa before loping his arm around Kacchan and starts pulling him along to the door.

“Gotcha Aizawa Sensei! We’ll be back in a jiffy; we’ll grab the best snacks we can find.”

“The hell?! Why the fu-frick would I-” Kacchan stops though once he looks at Aizawa, they seem to be having some kind of conversation without even saying a single word. Izuku has never seen anyone else besides Kacchan’s Dad and Izuku himself to have those kinds of moments of a silent argument or conversation with him, and seeing this going on with someone Izuku barely even knows…..it really puts some things into perspective for him. but it looks like whatever argument it was, Aizawa won it as Katuski huffed and dragged his arm away from the upperclassmen’s grip, but didn't fight leaving with him anymore. Before Katsuki does leave, he turns around and glares at Izuku, “you better be in the bed when I get back, or else I will track you down all over again and drag you back by your fracking toes!” before shoving the larger teen through the now open door and slams it behind them. 

After a few moments, most likely to make sure that Kacchan wasn’t hanging by the door to try and listen in on whatever was about to happen, Aizawa turned back to the two of them still on the bed. 

However instead of Aizawa speaking up, the strange man from before goes first; “ Hello you two; I am sure you both have a lot of questions right now, and there is a lot we will have to figure out along the way as well, but I want you both to know that I am here to help. My name is Naomasa Tsukauchi, I am a detective that works with the police. If you both don’t mind, I would like to ask you some questions about the people that attacked you.” he explains, and that actually does make a lot of sense now; of course Aizawa would call the police after finding the yazuka attacking and interrogating a homeless teenager. Eri pulls on his hospital gown, catching Izuku’s attention (not fully at least; years of being on the streets made him learn to be wary of cops. until he could tell if this was someone to keep an eye on or to trust, he’s definitely keeping track of him out of the corner of his eye.) she leans up a bit and fails to whisper into his ear.

“ what’s a De-Detest…Detect-” 

“Detective?”

“Yeah, that. What’s a Detective?”

“A Detective is someone whose job is to look into crimes and investigate to catch criminals and bad guys. Sometimes that means asking questions from people who may know the situation more than I do so I can solve cases and put the bad guys behind bars.” Tsukauchi answers leaning a bit more in his seat, before pulling out a notepad from somewhere Izuku couldn’t see. 

“I have also been handling Izuku’s missing person case for years now, so I can’t help to say that its an honor to finally meet you face to face, Izuku Midoriya.” wait, really? He didn’t know that there was a case open on him at all; he figured that the Bakugou’s would look for him for a while, maybe a year at most before assuming he was dead…….then again, that was quickly proven wrong within the first few minutes of waking up today, so honestly Izuku isn’t sure what to expect anymore about all this. 

“I think we can help answer some questions, but first…….can I ask for something?” Izuku says after some contemplation on the whole scenario they are in. 

Tsukauchi and Aizawa share a lot before Aizawa answers “what exactly are you asking for? If its nothing too crazy and in our capabilities, I don’t think it will be a problem.” 

Izuku digs carefully reahces into the jacket pocket of the coat that Eri was still wearing, being cautious of the IV still connected to him. It takes a few tries but he manages to pull out the small, worn tear of paper with a phone number on it. “Can I borrow a phone? I need to call someone.”

Chapter Text

Katsuki sits outside of the room for what feels like hours; hearing the muffled conversation going on just behind the wall that he was sitting up against. He catches a few words here and there, but nothing that actually puts together any kind of narrative or explanation of what is actually going on inside of the hospital room. However, even without knowing what was being said, Katsuki could make a fairly responding guess to what it was about, after all, that Detective guy came in with Aizawa when he was trying to shoo both students out of the room. They’re getting a report put in about the attack, and maybe even asking questions about Izuku’s dissappearance too. 

Just thinking about it, Katsuki still is having trouble wrapping his brain fully around the fact that Izuku is finally back in his life. 

It feels a bit like he is still dreaming; granted that could be the fact that he’s only grabbed maybe an hour of sleep in the last 24 hours, let alone the crazy late nights he has been doing the weeks leading up to this very moment, the exhaustion finally hitting him full force. He still has so much to say, he wants to scream and yell, but also sob and cry in relief. He wants to tell Izuku about everything that he’s done and learned about at UA, he wants……..he truly wants to see Izuku be there, at UA, with him. as a student. As a Hero in training. He wants to see Izuku become the person that Katsuki knows he can become. 

But that is definitely going to be a tough road to get to. Izuku hasn’t been in school for years, let alone the fact that he probably has almost no muscle and a full basket of health and Nutrition issues that they are going have work on first before they can even see about having him apply, and by then who knows if he’ll pass or if he’ll even be allowed to apply?! 

A light but firm chop to his head breaks him out of his spiralling thoughts; he immediately jerks his head up, ready to blow up on whoever it was that decided to fuck with him, only to see Cartoon Face standing above him, drinks cradled in his arm, the other he uses to help easily guide himself down onto the floor beside Katsuki…..wait when did he even end up on the floor? 

“What the fuck was that for?!” Katsuki seethes, trying to shift away from the older teen, only for the stupid fucker to scooch along with him. 

“You looked like you were needing something to help break up whatever you were thinking about. You looked like you were facing the end of the world or something.” Cartoon Face says, the stupid smile still right there on his face, care free and somehow always finding something to be happy about. Katsuki scowls at him and turns away, trying very hard to ignore him. That backfired though, as he suddenly felt something ice cold on the back of his neck. He jumps up, smacking the spot and turns back around with a pointed glare at his Senpai, a can of some kind of soda in hand that was obviously the culprit. 

“Here, I got a couple extra ones.” he says in the same upbeat tone, holding out the drink to him. Katsuki glares at him for a few moments, before roughly snatching it out of his hands. 

Popping the tab, he immediately guzzles half the can before finally breaking off with a gasp of air.

The two of them sit in silence for minutes; Katsuki trying with all his might to listen through the wall into the conversation that was still going on behind closed doors, and taking leisurely sips from the soda in hand, passing the can from one hand to the other to try and do something, anything.

The older teen lets the silence stay, thankfully. 

They just sit together on the floor of the Hospital, obviously in the way of some passing doctors and nurses, but no one really sticks around long enough to scold them for it either. 

Somehow…..this silence felt lighter. Not like everything that was weighing down on him before was just gone, but rather…..it was easier to hold it now that there was someone else that was sharing the weight with him. 

Minutes go by, and neither one of them speak, but Katsuki got the message loud and clear. 

“You’re not alone in this. I am here if you want to talk…. And I’m here if you don’t. Either way, I’ll carry this weight with you.” 

Katsuki watches the time tick by on his phone, blatantly ignoring the dozen of messages Kirishima and Mina have sent him since last night. 

He rest his head back against the wall and whispers under his breath “They better not take him away for some kind of protection bullshit. I just got him back……It’ll be pretty stupid if he disappears all over again.”

~~~~~~~~

“Thank you for lending me your phone.” Izuku says, handing back the cell phone to Detective Tsukauchi, who slides it back into his pocket and reaches for the file that he has had tucked against his side since coming into the room. 

“It’s no problem at all, although if you don’t mind my asking, who exactly were you calling?” 

“Oh, his name is Jin. He is someone who has been kind of helping us out here and there when he can for the last few months.” Izuku replies, trying to keep his answer a bit vague, since there was the not so important fact that Jin is a wanted criminal for theft. It probably isn’t best to bring up everything all at once. 

“I see….and are they coming here?”

“He said he would be here as soon as possible. So he may be here in a few hours depending on if he’s working or not.”

Izuku watches as the Detective nods long, his mind obviously preoccupied with something else as he fishes out a recording device along with a pad and pencil. 

 “Now, There is definitely a lot we will need to go over about both your and Eri’s situation so we can see what we need to help keep you safe. Since quite a bit of your past is not related to the current case with Eri, would it be alright if we started with Eri first? Once we have a good idea on the current situation, we can speak further on your Missing Person case, Izuku.” the Detective said kindly, and it loosened some of the tension that was knotting up in Izuku’s shoulders. It was obvious that he wanted to help both of them, and wanted to give them the choice on what they were comfortable with, but also not sugar coating anything or make it seem like everything was rainbows and sunshine now that they were safe. 

They were far from out of the woods, and everyone in the room knew it. 

Izuku could feel just how much more work they would need to truly be out of danger and past the pain it has left behind in the phantom pains in his arm…….or well, where his arm was. Each dull throb is just another reminder that they have gone through so much and have only just hit the halfway point of being okay again.

Izuku looks down to Eri, who had sat up and was sitting in his lap on the bed by now, Hero tightly held in her arms, as she looks between the sheets, the bunny, and quick glances at Izuku. She looks to also be contemplating which option would be best. Izuku knows from experience that for Eri, talking about her time at the hands of Chisaki is difficult. Bringing up all of the pain and torture she had to endure for years, shes only fully talked about it from beginning to end with Izuku once, and they had to pause halfway through because her quirk activated due to her emotional state and that in itself is its own can of worms. She has been doing alot better about her quirk and how she views it, but Izuku can tell that some days those old thoughts come back and make it hard for her to feel comfortable with her quirk. 

“If you don’t mind, actually, I would like to go over my Missing Persons case first.  It will probably be easier to go over everything anyway, not like there’s much to talk about….” Izuku offers instead, his voice getting quieter at the end as the Detective looks over to Aizawa and back to him as he trails off his sentence. He can feel Eri slowly relax in his lap, the fear and tension of having to speak about her own past so quickly easing out of her small frame; if he can give her a few extra minutes to calm herself and collect her thoughts, he would happily give that to her. 

“Alright, we can do that. Are you alright with Eri being here for this interview?” 

Izuku squeezes her to him with his arm, “Absolutely.” 

“Okay. Now, we will want to record this interview for our notes on the case, as well as if there is any further evidence we may need for any further cases against your parents. Are you alright with this?” 

“ yes.” 

The Detective nods and turns on the recorder, starting off with saying his full name and his Badge ID and introducing Izuku, along with some other numbers ( probably his case number if he had to guess) and explaining his quirk to them, Lie Detector, and how it worked. If Izuku was honest, he wanted to ask all sorts of questions about the Detective’s quirk and how it worked, so many ideas running through the back of his mind. But those questions can wait til after the interviews and the silent question that has been hanging in the forefront of his mind…. What happens next?

“While we do have some information about what led you to running away, it would be helpful if we could hear the story from you as well, to ensure we have some details correct and make sure we didn’t miss anything in the investigation. Just tell us what you can, and if needed, I'll ask you more detailed questions, but if there is anything you don’t want to elaborate further just let us know. You can start whenever you are ready.” 

He takes in a calming breath; then another……and he starts.

He speaks about his homelife; the abuse from his father every day, whether small things such as missed meals to the beatings and razor sharp words. How his mother at first ignored him and the abuse, most likely to keep his father’s aim off of herself, and overtime how the neglect soon turn into her own punches, thrown objects, destruction of clothes and items that he held dear. He explained how when things would turn physically violent and after waiting hours after the beatings, when he was sure the coast was clear, he would sneak out and go to the Bakugou’s house to patch himself up and feel safe enough to fall asleep at night. 

He explained how during a particularly nasty beating, his quirk manifested and that after that point the beatings and abuse became worse. They had caught on to the fact that he was going to the Bakugou’s house more often then he was going home, and tried to dissuade him from going over anymore. At first, it was trying to make him think he was a burden on them, when that didn’t work, they tried hurting him to the point where he didn’t have the strength to leave the house for days. Finally, they threatened that they would call the Police on the family, claim that the abuse came from them, or that they were trying to kidnap him and claim even worse things about the only family that ever truly felt like home to him. 

Quickly soon after, Izuku ran away from home, but the fears of his parent’s calling the cops on the Bakugou’s if he went there drove him to the streets instead. 

He continued on, explaining the years he has spent on the streets loosely, not wanting to talk about some instances, while most of it became a broken routine of finding food, shelter, water, trying to stay alive and out of trouble throughout the years. He tells of how after the first few years, he discovered Dagobah Beach, and with a bit of work he was able to scare off the few others that had tried to claim his beach and built a small hut out of the trash, and created the small clearing in it that he had made his own. There were a few times that the Detective would ask him to elaborate on some things, both when he lived at his Parent’s house, and during his time on the streets. Most of it Izuku didn;t mind explaining more, although there were a few questions that he refused to answer……not that he didn’t want to speak of it, or that he didn’t trust the Detective (well…maybe those were part of the reasons) but mostly because Eri was there, and he didn’t want to try and explain to her some of things he has witnessed during his years on the run. 

Finally, after what felt like hours of interviewing, Izuku had caught up to when he first met Eri. 

At that point, Eri became very animated, taking over telling the story about how he had rescued her and took her to their little hut by the ocean in their beach of trash. She spoke about her favorite moments as well; when he would help to calm her down when she would wake up from nightmares, how she found Hero and Izuku had ‘saved’ him too, about their first trips anywhere, whether it was doing laundry or going to the shelter. She spoke about how they met Jin and saved him too (Izuku did have to take over at that point, as it seemed like she was becoming a bit overly imaginative at some of the points that she wasn’t awake for). It was good seeing her so energetic, ever since hewoke up it seemed like she was more subdued and nervous. 

“Thank you both for that. I think this will do for our investigation into your Missing Person case, Izuku. We still need to do our interview for your case Eri, but I think after all that, we could go for a small break, yeah? I’m sure that those boys should be back with some snacks, right Aizawa?” 

Aizawa nods with a hum, before fishing out his phone and tapped it a few times before slipping it back into his pocket, “ they should be here any m-”

“Oi! Don’t go draggin me?!” 

“WE HAVE RETURNED WITH SNACKS!” 

Abruptly, the door is kicked open, Mirio standing bright and sunny in the doorway. One hand is filled to the brim with snack bags and cans of drinks, while the other is holding Kacchan in an under-the-arm carry. 

Izuku couldn’t help but scoff and chuckle at the sight; Kachan being held like some kind of unruly tiny dog and Mirio carrying an obscene aount of junk food alongside him. It was honestly surreal seeing the whole thing, Mirio making light talk with both the Hero and Detective while still holding Kacchen completely off the ground with only one arm. Aizawa gave an exasperated sigh and seemed to completely ignore the situation, which only made it funnier in Izuku’s opinion. He had to remove his hand from Eri’s grip to cover his mouth before he loudly cackled at the outlandish scene before him. He knew that if he laughed out loud, then Katsuki would only get more irritated and yell at him about how “it isn’t funny Izu!” or something and that would only make him laugh even more.

Finally, Mirio set down both the treasure trove of snacks, as well as Kacchan, back onto the bed before claiming his seat once more beside the hospital bed, grabbing multiple bags and offering them to Eri to choose; not even missing a beat when she would ask him to explain some of the snacks and flavors offered. Kacchan didn’t even ask him, immediately grabbing a random bag from the pile and opening it up before handing it over to Izuku; only once the bag was sitting in his lap did he realize it was a brand that was once his favorite years ago, it even still had the same knock-off All Might design on the front of the bag and everything. 

Reaching into the bag, he pulls out the puff chip and takes a bite of it; the obviously manufactured flavoring hitting his taste buds all at once, he takes his time savoring the chip before slowly reaching into the bag for another bite. All of it kicks up the memories of camping trips, movie nights, times where Kacchan and He would try and stall as much as they could going home by running to the convenience store and ‘decide’ on a snack for the walk home, only for them to pick the same thing time and time again. memories of many nights spent limping to the Bakugou’s house, of bruises and cuts aching and pulling with each movement, and the only thing on his mind being that he was going somewhere safe and warm, where he can rest and finally have comfort. He remembers how Auntie Mitsuki would try and complain about how bad these chips were for kids, but she always had them on hand. 

Always. 

“Izu?”

Izuku snaps out of his daze and looks to Eri, who had turned around in his lap to where she was facing him. She reaches up and wipes something wet from his cheek. 

Tears.

God, how ridiculous is he? 

Crying over a stupid bag of chips. 

He reaches up and lightly takes hold of her hand; “It’s alright. I-I think i’m still a bit tired from the surgery and everything.” Izuku knows its a weak excuse, and he is sure that everyone else knows it too. Gratefully, no one calls him out on it and the conversation picks back up again onto other topics, mostly about Kacchan’s classmates and what he has been learning so far; Aizawa even interrupting from time to time as well. It sounds wonderful, and Izuku hopes that maybe one day….he can meet the friends that Kacchan has made within his class. They sound like good people, if a little weird. 

Finally, after most of the snacks have been eaten through and the cans of sodas, and coffee that Aizawa and the Dectective held practically hostage, the Hero had asked the two to wait outside once more under the excuse of keeping an eye out for either Jin or Kacchan’s parents, and it was time for Eri to tell her story.

It was obvious that getting her to start from the very beginning would be quite difficult; the few times she did try, she would only get a few sentences in before going quiet and shaking from the memories of her time with Chisaki. Instead, Izuku suggested that she start off where she met him, and once they get a bit more comfortable about some of it, she can try backtracking to where the Detective needed the most information about. The Detective, thankfully, agreed to this and so Eri started with her escape instead, how she had noticed that her guards had become used to the station in front of her door being an “easy job” and had begun to slack off, forgetting to lock the door if they left their post for a few minutes, or sometimes taking longer breaks. She used this and when they had left for a break and forgot to lock the door behind them, she snuck out of her ‘room’ and quietly made her way upstairs to the ground floor and raced out of Chisaki’s house and past the main gate. She told of her constantly running, hoping to find someone, something, anything that could save her. She told of how she had run into Izuku and of his ‘Heroic plan’ or hiding her in his bag and avoiding the unwanted attention of the man who had taken Izuku’s arm. She excited told about how Izuku took her to his little alcove in the trash beach and of their small adventures together, how she had found Hero and Izuku had made his arm, she even told about how they met Jin and how Izuku had saved him too and explaining about how soon after JIn would help out as much as he could around their little hut as well. 

The Detective had asked a few questions about Jin, such as why he did not offer to let them live with him if he had his own place, or why he only visited and helped bring supplies and not get the police. Izuku did take some initiative on this and explained that while Jin did have his own place, from the few ties Jin described it, it could barely hold him let alone two kids, and the fact that they did live out in the middle of a secluded and completely desolate dump made it much harder for people to find them instead of somewhere with an address. Izuku also gave a bit of insight into how when they first met, Jin’s mental state was not exactly….stable; and it was safer for them to stay where they were instead of risking Eri’s safety. Izuku didn’t answer the second question though, since he knew of Jin’s past crimes and didn’t really want to try and work around the Detective’s quirk, the exhaustion from everything they have talked about and gone through finally starting to catch up with him, although from the odd glance he got back, it looks like lies of omission can also be caught by his quirk, although he is sure it just lets him know something was up with his answer rather then saying it was a full out lie. 

Eri picks back up and talks abit more about some of their days and how they went; before she finally started to explain how she ended up with Chisaki in the first place. How her mother had droppedher off at her grandfather’s after her quirk activated for the first time, and indirectly the death of her father. She explained that while she didn’t remember much of her time with her grandfather, as it was soon after she arrived that he fell ill and then slipped into a coma, that he was always kind to her and played with her whenever she asked. However, after he fell into his coma, Chisaki, who worked for her grandfather, took over the ‘business’ and started to use her hatred for her quirk against her.

She held tightly onto Izuku’s arm as she continued on, talking about the experiments and how her room moved from being upstairs to somewhere underground, she told of how he would often bring her close fainting or worse during the experiments and would use his quirk to unmake and then remake her. How that also soon became a punishment if she did not do as he said. She spoke of his verbal and physical abuse that would happen outside of the experiments too, calling her a murderer and cursed, beating her and leaving her without food or treatment. Izuku knew she was mostly skipping from one random eent to another, whatever she felt was comfortable enough to speak about; she has spoken about most of this before, after nightmares would wake them both up, granted, Izuku would only get one or two explanations, usually related to the nightmare in question, so most of it he had to piece together on his own. But he knows that whether all at once, or broken up, speaking about this still hurts to hear. To know that she has gone through so much. 

But in some small corner of his heart, he can’t help but also feel proud of her. 

He can only think about how much she has grown since the first day they met, how she has become more confident in herself and how brave she is now, speaking about her experiences even though they still scare her, she doesn’t hide from the fear anymore. He can’t help but to think about the quirk pratice they have been able to do, the growth she has been able to achieve, even if it is only turning an Apple Core back into an Apple. He is proud how she has been working to break the mental chains that Chisaki had placed on her. He was glad that one small choice, something that he didn’t even think about, his body just moved on its own,  gave him a sister that he would give the world to if he could. 

When Eri started to go quite again, Izuku took up from where she left off before and explained how that final night on the beach went. How he had woken up to one of his hand made security warnings going off and had woken up Eri, to how he used  the trash and their own hut to try and keep Chisaki far enough away to get Eri a chance to get back up to the main road so she could run. He explained how he held them off for some time before eventually losing the battle and……well from there it does get a bit blurry in his mind. He doesn’t go into too much detail, both because it washard to remember them, as well as to keep Eri from hearing the more graphic things. It felt like hours have gone by, but Izuku wrapped up his story by telling how he slightly remember Mirio and Aizawa coming in and saving him before blacking out on the way to the hospital.

After a few more questions, mostly to elaborate on a few things, Detective Naomasa finally turned off the recorder and put the notepad back into his coat pocket. 

“Thank you both for talking with me about this, I will get things finished up on your case Midoriya, and I will also get a case opened for you, Eri, and I will reach out to a couple of Heroes I know that have been recently looking into the Yakuza Group that Chisaki is running. I can’t say there won’t be other times where we may reach out to you two for further information and we will also keep you both in the loop when we have a solid case going on the Shie Hassaikai group and on Chisaki as well.” the Detective says, bowing to them formally. 

“Thanks for keeping us in the loop….” Izuku replies hesitantly, preparing himself for the answer that he has been waiting for since he woke up. “Wh-What is going to happen now?” 

Detective Naomasa and Aizawa look at each other and seem to have some kind of silent conversation between them…. maybe they have already talked about this with each other? And turned back to them and were about to reply, when the door burst open unexpectedly. 

The sudden intrusion startles almost all of them, Eri letting out a squeak and Izuku and Naomasa jolting (the sudden jump causing a spike of pain to come through the small part that was left of his arm.)  

Standing in the doorway is Auntie Mitsuki, breathing uneven as if she ran through the hospital, Uncle Masaru right behind her, along with that nurse from before as well. Izuku can even hear Kacchan yelling at her as well, although he sounds quite far from where his mother is at the door of their room. He watches her eyes scan through the room before settling on his form. He sees her shoulders shudder before relaxing for a moment, as if a physical weight was moved from them, before she barrels through the Detective and Aizawa and pulls him into a hug. 

It was warm…..a kind of warm that he used to miss when he first started to live on the streets. One that he would dream about when the winters would get blisteringly cold. Her hold is gentle, almost like if she holds him harder that he’ll break apart and fall out of her grip once more. He misses the vice grip bear hugs she would always give him, but with his injuries  fresh and still healing plus the pain medicine wearing off, he appreciates the gentle touch.

 He can feel another hand, this one a tad bigger and slightly caloused running through his hair; Uncle Masaru. Kind and steady, always there no matter what, a silent but impenetrable wall that could never fall. 

He missed them. 

Terribly so.

Izuku can say that he is surprised that he still has any tears left to shed, he barely even feels them trailing down his cheeks at just the feeling of these two incredible people holding him again after years of only memories of these touches to hold onto. 

None of them move for a few good minutes; Izuku isn’t even sure when Kacchan gets dragged into the awkward group hug, but by the time they all let go, he can see a few tear tracks and red cheeks on the two adults. Aunt Mitsuki takes a few calming breaths before finally speaking again, lightly grabbing onto his earlob and giving it a few teasing pulls; “You are in so much trouble, you know that Squirt?” Izuku can’t help the laugh that sputtered out of him, the familiarity and joking tone catching him a bit offguard. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it left him feeling weightless that they still felt that they could joke with him, even after……everything. 

He knows that there is still alot they are going to need to talk about; and probably alot of tears and yelling and some serious explanations, but to know that they can still look at him as he is now, and make jokes and laugh with him, it feels like there is stil a chance to get back what he thought he had lost forever. 

“Y-yeah Auntie, I know….” Izuku replies, getting a snicker out of her as she lets go of his ear. Her eyes immediately go to Eri, and he can see the questioning gaze shoot right back to him. “Um, Auntie Mitsuki, Uncle Masaru, this is Eri. Eri, this is Mitsuki and Masaru Bakugou, these are Kacchan’s Parents.” Izuku Introduces,  Eri leaning against his chest sleepily, looking as though she is struggling to keep her eyes open, but she manages a shy wave to the two of them before tucking her head into his chest once more. He can tell that Mitsuki has more questions about Eri, but Izuku quietly whispers “I’ll explain later.” to her and thankfully gets a nod in agreement to pushing her own interrogation to a later time. 

Izuku turns his attention back to Naomasa, who has been quite patient for them to finish their small reunion; “I-I’m sorry for the wait.” Izuku mumbles out, only for the Detective to wave it off with a smile. 

“Don’t worry about it, I have become quite familiar with the Bakugou’s since your disappearance, and I wouldn’t want to intrupt your reunion no matter what. Plus, Mitsuki may ban me from Family Game Night, and I would hate to miss out on those.” Naomasa says, chuckling to himself at the shocked look on Izuku’s face. They knew each other? “However, now that we do have them here with us, lets go over that question.” 

Everyone sobers up quickly; all attention on the Detective and the Hero. 

Naomasa starts the explanation first; “First off, with everything that we heard from you Izuku, and with the fact that both of your birth parents are incarcerated for abuse, neglect, and a few other smaller charges that we discovered during our investigation, we can say with absolute certainty that you will not be going back into your parent’s care.” Izuku knew that he wouldn’t, however still hearing the actual words lets some of the tension that has been sitting in his gut loosen up. “Originally, the plan was to have you stay with the Bakugou’s once you were found since they have proven to be both financially capable and would be willing to take you in and give you a good home……” Izuku can hear the quiet and sass filled ‘willing?” from Kacchan that brings a small smile to his face. “However, the situation has changed.” that does catch the Bakugou trio's attention.

Aizawa takes over from here; “Izuku has now become involved and a witness in an active case that has been opened and involves very dangerous individuals that we are not at liberty to speak about openly at this time. Because of this, we will need to put both Izuku and Eri under protection until we can detain this group and insure that they will be safe. Normally, they would go into Protective Custody and would possibly even be separated to ensure that both are as safe as possible…..” Izuku glares at the Hero and police officer, wrapping himself more around the barely awake girl as much as he could with his body screaming to him to relax. “However there is another option available, which is they stay at U.A, as there will be multiple Heroes on site, as well as the top security systems and defenses in place. Their medical health would also be looked over by Recovery Girl, one of the top doctors and medical Heroes in the country to ensure that they both are able to heal properly and ensure that Izuku gets the best care we can. Not to mention getting Izuku back on track with schooling and getting him caught up to where he should be at his age. Even if you do decide to go with the Protective Custody, we would ensure you both get the best medical treatment and support with both your mental health and schooling as well.” Aizawa continues on. 

Auntie Asks a couple of further questions about both options; about visits, possible plans for schooling, Izuku tunes a bit of it out, forcing himself to relax against the bed again, his body feeling heavier and the pain growing a bit more with each movement. He can tell that the Nurse from before has some kind of medical bag, probably has the pain meds too. He must be waiting until after this discussion, considering that Izuku would most likely need to give them a solid answer before being under the effects of those medications again. 

“Who will stay with them, though? I don’t give a damn if Izuku has technically been able to take care of himself for years now, he is still a teenager and I refuse the thought of leaving them to take care of themselves if they do stay at U.A.” Mitsuki says, bringing Izuku’s attention back to the conversation. 

“I would.” Aizawa says resolutely. No hesitation whatsoever. It honestly shocks Izuku a bit……why would he take in two kids that have a lot of obvious issues (not even taking into account the fact that a yakuza group is after them) that he barely knows? Its Mitsuki’s laughter that startles him and confuses him even more on the whole situation. Is….there something he’s missing here? 

After her small outburst calms down, she shakes her head with a smile, “of course you would, that’s so…. you, Shouta!” She exclaims, clapping the tired looking Hero on the back, getting a disgruntled yet accepting look from the man. “Well, I guess it goes down to you, Izuku.” she says, turning back to him as everyone looks to him for his decision. 

He could try and ponder over both options…….but, if he was being completely honest with himself, he knew which one he would pick the moment he heard it. Call him selfish, but this has always been his dream, even if he isn't actually attending the school, it will feel like he might be that much closer to it. and to make sure that Eri stays by his side and safe, it was pretty much the only option to him.

“I….I would like us both to stay at U.A with Aizawa.”

Chapter Text

It's been a hectic last few hours for Aizawa; listening to both Izuku’s and Eri’s past along with Naomasa, having to keep his face as neutral as possible so that he didn’t scare either kid with the anger that was bubbling up inside of him at the fact that these two kids have gone through so much at such young times in their lives. He already knew some of what Izuku had gone through from hearing the story from the Bakugou’s throughout the years, but actually hearing it from Izuku himself made it hit him ten times harder than anytime before. 

Once he got Izuku’s reply, he could tell that Mr. Dreyar was only holding off from giving Izuku his next IV bag and more pain medication until they were done with their questions. Shouta bows to the old nurse in thanks before letting the others in the room know that he would walk Naomasa out of the hospital and finish any last minute needed forms. Izuku eases back onto the bed with a nod. Shouta couldn’t imagine the amount of stress to make a teen, someone who should be full of life and and energy that would match Hizashi’s boisterous personality, look so tired, so weighed down from what the world has thrown at him time and time again. 

They should have been able to live carefree and happy, doing everything that any other child should do. 

They should have been playing Heroes and make believe; have warm food and a roof over their heads. They both should have had loving parents.

And yet in the end, they both got handed a bad hand when it came to family. 

Eri’s mother sending her away because of a terrible accident with her quirk and then the ones she thought she could trust turning against her and abusing her and using her quirk for their own gain. 

Izuku, on the other hand; having a negligent (at the best of times) mother and an abusive father who only saw his child as a punching bag or a means of some kind of sick entertainment of just how far he can go to hurt a child. At least with Izuku, he had the Bakugou’s there for him when it became too much…..but even in the end, his love for the only family that cared about him was turned into a weapon to hurt him, forcing him to make that final decision to try and protect the only ones who cared about him while also trying to protect himself. 

God……he really wishes he could go into whatever Prison has Midoriya Hisashi and kick the absolute shit out of that bastard. 

The walk back to the car garage is mostly quiet between the two men, Naomasa knowing quite well that Shouta is not one who enjoys small talk. Granted, he is pretty sure after everything they just heard from those two kids, small talk doesn’t feel appropriate. Any kind of conversation is more case related, signing statements and paperwork, recommendations on who to add to the team for the investigation, as well as getting started on some of the paperwork that Naomasa had on hand to get the ball rolling with getting those two kids under his care legally.

They both know that this is only the beginning, but if they can get things going quickly, the more likely they can keep the investigation under wraps and be able to get the drop on the Shie Hassaikai. This Yakuza group will most likely have some ties into many different departments, if they have been able to keep their group out of their radars for so long, so they have to do this carefully. 

Let alone the fact that he doesn’t want to drag Eri and Izuku into the cameras or into the situation as much as he can. They have already been through so much for how young they are, and they need as much time as they can get to be able to feel safe again and be able to heal from everything that has happened. 

He watches as Naomasa drives out of the garage, most likely heading to the police station to get started on the work that lays ahead of them. 

I should make sure to bring him some coffee in the morning, it’s going to be a long night. 

Shouta makes another mental note to himself to get in touch with Inui in the morning as well to get both kids in for some much needed appointments as soon as Izuku is cleared from the Hospital, which from the sounds of it may be a couple of days, as the Doctors were wanted to keep an eye on Izuku’s stump and also to run various tests to see where exactly he is at health wise and catch him up to speed on alot of the vaccines that he has most definitely missed while being on the streets. Those two have been through so much, and now that they are safe, they can finally start on the next step of healing…..therapy.

although…he can see some of that carefree and endless wonder in Eri’s eyes. The pain and scars are still there, but when she looks at Izuku, the only thing Shouta could see was trust, safety, and admiration. Izuku seems to not have been a hero once, for his own student, but twice as it loks like he has already made leaps and bounds with saving Eri as well. Who knows just how many people he might have saved throughout the years on the street, there was obviously some things that Izuku was omitting when he was telling them about his time on the streets, but he is sure that there have been more than a handful of times that so many people on the streets have been positively affected by that Bean Sprout.

“hmmm……It’ll be a long shot; nearly impossible….but…..I get the feeling that the word ‘impossible’ doesn’t exist for a kid like him….” It will be hellish with the physical therapy, and not to mention having him catch up on everything that he has missed in his studies….but if he is able to complete it in time, Izuku might have a shot at joining his class by the beginning of their next semester. Even then, if he doesn’t he could absolutely see Izuku trying out in the entrance exams for the hero course and just be a year behind Bakugou (although, he can tell that there would be no way that Katsuki would let that happen.)

Who knows…..it might just be an even busier winter than he ever thought before.

Its going to be such a pain to deal with it all……he can’t wait.

~~~~~~~~

Its been a couple of hours since the nice old man came back and gave Izuku some more medicine and wrote down some numbers that she didn’t understand on some paper before taking his spot back in the same chair as before. It wasn’t long before Izuku had fallen back asleep, the kind that is really hard to wake up from. 

At first she was concerned at the fact that Izu wasn’t waking up, but Kacchan explained that it was the medicine that was making sure he didn’t feel any pain that made him really sleepy. Eri nods along to the explanation, but also made sure that she could always feel the steady and strong rise and fall of his chest. 

Mirio, Mr. and Mrs.Bakugou, and Kacchan helped a bit with keeping her mind off of all the stuff they talked about earlier, either asking questions about her (that, thankfully, didn’t touch on Chisaki or her family) or filling the silence with jokes and stories. Mrs.Bakugou, which she asked her to call her auntie Mitsuki, asked  her what her  favorite animal was, obviously a bunny rabbit, as well as other questions as well about herself; at some point she also asks and starts to play with her hair, brushing it out and plaiting it before letting it fall undone and start again. Eri almost falls asleep to the comforting and familiar feeling, the memories of how Izuku would do this whenever she woke up from a nightmare and was struggling to fall back asleep. It makes her want to reach out to him, wake him up and be told that everything was going to be alright. Mr.Bakugou asked about Hero, her bunny, which Eri doesn’t hesitate to spill all about finding Hero, even though she already told the story to Mirio and Kacchan, it helps get some of the anxieties floating around in her mind to disappear for a time as she recounts the discovery of her stuffed bunny. 

They went back and forth for some time, Eri asking questions about Izu when he was growing up, or about small things they would mention that she wasn’t familiar with, and her laughing along to funny moments from camping trips and Mirio’s stories about his own struggles with his quirk when she mentioned that her quirk was very hard to control. She didn’t mention what exactly her quirk was, the small pit of fear that nestled in her chest and lungs that always came from trying to tell new people about her quirk, but hearing some of the struggles that both Kacchan and Mirio went through when growing up with their quirks. 

Soon enough, another Nurse, this time a woman with pretty long white hair, came in and told everyone that visiting hours were over and they had to leave. Eri grasps onto Izuku’s relaxed hand, worried that she would have to leave too, but Mr.Aizawa came back into the room and let her know that the both of them were allowed to stay the night with Izuku since they would be considered family. He pulls out some kind of big, soft bag and worms his way inside of it, zipping himself up and laying down on the floor. She almost wanted to point out that the floor probably wasn’t going to be comfortable, but he seemed to be completely asleep before she could say anything at all. The new Nurse gave her an extra pillow and blanket and helped her get tucked in next to Izuku, making sure that his IV was secure and replacing the almost empty bag with a new one. The first Nurse, who has been dutifully staying by, passes some papers to the new one to take with them on the way out. 

“I’ll keep an eye out on Izuku here, but if you think anything is wrong just let me know.” he says softly before turning the lights low. They weren’t completely off, but just dim enough that she could easily fall asleep still with them on.

Shuffling a bit closer to Izuku’s still sleeping form, Eri tries to get comfortable on the small mattress. Once she felt comfortable,squished against his side and her cheek pressed against his chest, both sheets were slightly scratchy but were thick and helped to hold in the heat she tries to match izuku’s breaths, but found it difficult to fall back asleep again. 

Instead, she looks up to Izuku. He was halo-ed by one of the dim lights on the roof, his hair, while still limp and greasy, shining with that same comforting green that made all of her worries drift away. The soft and slow in and out of his chest reminding her that he was going to be alright….well….almost alright. She takes a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, before carefully looking at the stump that was left of his other arm, as though if she looked at it too hard the lump that was left would fall off too. 

His right arm; The one that always held her just that little bit tighter, that he would always use to write, or draw, or help her color in her pictures…..the one that would rub circles on her back after she would wake up from nightmares, and the hand he would always use to give her head pats when she did a good joob on writing her kanji….. The one he would always use more when practicing his quirk, that he would use to sew up old and new holes in their clothes, the arm that he used to cook. The hand that was covered in well worn callusses, and would always hold hers when she was scared…..

It is gone now.

All that was left was a small part, maybe only half at most, of his upper arm was left. Wrapped in gauze and pillowed, but she can make out a bit of the redness from the top of the white cloth, she could only imagine how bad it might actually be, what scars may lay underneath the starch white bindings that hid what was left of his arm. 

The arm, the hand that would always reach out to her, that saved her……..it was gone. 

She wishes that she could do something….. She wishes that she could give Izuku his arm back. 

But she knows that she can’t……

Her control over her quirk isn’t strong enough. 

She might be able to bring an apple core back to being an apple successfully a quarter of the time she has been able to practice, however that is nothing compared to trying to go back hours and hours to before Chisaki attacked them…..from the handful of times that they worked on actual plants (most of the having been thrown away dead already) when she was stuck inside of the hut due to the weather, she could only control her quirk to go back a couple of minutes or so at best, before her control on it would slip and she would send it back rapidly, sometimes to being a sapling, or a seed….or back to nothing at all.  She doesn’t want to take that chance on Izuku. She can’t lose him to her own quirk (not like Daddy), she doesn’t know if she would ever be able to live with herself if she hurt Izuku because of her quirk. She isn’t strong enough, just like when Chisaki was about to attack them, the unrelenting grip of helplessness and uselessness makes it hard to breathe. Eri can feel her breaths getting shorter and the sting of tears in her eyes make it hard to keep looking at the stump. She tries to remember the breathing pattern that Izu would walk her through when she would have nightmares or her memories from before became too much. It took a few minutes of trying, but she manages to match back to Izu’s deep and calm breaths, his strong heartbeat beating against her cheek helping as well. 

Maybe Eri can’t do anything to help him right now.  But….if she gets stronger, gets better control of her quirk….she could try some day to heal Izuku. 

It’ll be hard; and something inside her tells her that she can’t do it, that it won’t work, or she could make things worse….. But its something deep down that she wants to do. Even if its a crazy dream;  She wants to be able to save others from the same kind of pain and hardships that Izuku has gone through….and will have to go through. She wants to make Izuku proud, and repay him for everything that he has done for her; even if he always says he doesn’t need anything in return. 

She wants to be a Hero…..just like Izuku.

She isn’t sure how she is still so tired, after all she’s napped alot today, but the yawn that forces itself from her, and the weight on her eyelids tell her that she isn’t going to be awake much longer. 

Quietly, with the last bit of consciousness that she clings to as the warmth from the blanket and from Izuku, she whispers in the quiet room to the sleeping form of her Hero, she promises “I’ll do my best….and maybe one day…..I’ll be able to save you too, Izu.” 

Unbeknowst to her, both men that were still in the room, one laying on the floor near the door and the other sitting in the chair and nursing a cup of coffee, can’t help but smile at her proclamation, both of them wishing her the best to succeed at making her wish come true.

Chapter Text

Izuku slept through the whole night without a dream insight, something that he honestly was grateful for; he was sure after talking about his past as well as Chisaki’s attack, the memories would have haunted him throughout the night. By the time he woke up again, the sun was far past the horizon and Eri and Aizawa were both already eating breakfast. 

“Looks like I slept in a bit, huh?” Izuku mumbles, trying to shift himself into a sitting position, only to flop back down onto the bed when he tried to put weight on his right arm, his dream laden mind forgetting that there was nothing there anymore.

Eri turns around at hearing him fall back onto the bed, her worried look replacing the small smile she had only moments before. Aizawa stands up from his seat and walks up to his bed, grabbing a remote of some sort, pushing the button and making the bed lift him up to a sitting position for him. “Save your strength, alright. Don’t go pushing yourself too hard, you got a long road ahead to you, so take advantage of the time you have to rest.” Aizawa says, placing the bed’s remote within reach for him and pulling the rolling table with a third meal on it over to his bedside. “Eat up while it's hot.” 

Izuku nods, pulling the tabletop over the bed and more in reach of his single arm. Eri tries to squirm back over to him from the small table she and Aizawa were eating at, but Izuku shakes his head. “Finish up your food first, okay?” he says, making sure to show her that he was also eating his miso soup to try and get her to finish her own food. He was honestly happy that she was eating on her own accord, and around strangers even. She used to wait until Izuku was also eating before she would even take a bite, so to see that she was greatly enjoying her food without prompting from Izuku warmed his heart. 

It felt good to see her grow. 

Aizawa takes his seat once again and goes back to his food as well, letting the silence of everyone eating envelop the room for some time as everyone enjoys the simple breakfast. The quiet hustle and bustle just outside of their room door was but a soft murmur in the moment. 

Once all three of them had had their fill, Aizawa turned his attention back to Izuku. 

“Now then, I know that there was a lot going on yesterday so we didn’t really talk about what will happen now. The next few days will be hectic, but I think taking some time to go over what to expect over the next few days will help. If either of you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask, alright?” Eri and Izuku nod along in agreement. Eri had immediately took back the spot by his side once she was finished with her food, Hero held snuggly against her. 

They speak about the tests and scans that the doctors want to do while he is in the hospital to get an idea on where he was overall healthwise, as well as get him up to date on some much needed vaccines. They also wanted to check over Eri too, and from the shaking he could feel coming from her, she was not a fan of the idea of it at all. Aizawa also seemed to catch onto her discomfort about it, and clarified that he already spoke to the hospital staff and that her check up wil be done at U.A. with the doctor there at a later time. Izuku knows that Aizawa must have pulled alot of strings to get the nurses and doctors here to allow that, and he also knows that Eri would need to be checked over by a doctor at some point anyways, to make sure that she was doing alright physically and get an idea on where she was vaccine wise and what Chisaki had done to her. It didn’t make him feel any less worried about her though, the unshed tears and shake in her grip on his hospital gown. 

“I know that you will most likely not enjoy the idea of it, but we want to make sure we know if there are any issues that have been left untreated and help us with filling in some information on the investigation on the Chisaki and his yakuza group.” Aizawa explains, leaning forward in his seat across from them to try and get more on level with Eri. “I can also promise you, the doctor at U.A is very good at her job and will do her best to make you comfortable through the whole thing.” Aizawa says, his eyes, while definitely tired, held no lies or deception at all. Eri takes a couple of deep breathes, before looking Aizawa in the eyes and asks with a whisper of a voice, “can Izu be with me?” Aizawa seems almost taken back by the simple request, before a small, relieved smile crawls onto his face. “Of course, Izuku and even Hero can be with you during your exam, but thats still a few days out, so don’t worry to much about it right now, okay?” Eri nods to him, her grip on Izuku’s thin gown loosening up slightly. 

Aizawa goes back into explaining the kinds of exams to expect throughout the next few days; multiple blood tests, x-rays, a general overall physical exam, he apparently would also be speaking to a Therapist, Physical Therapist, and a Nutritionist to get some kind of basic information to pass on to the doctor at U.A. and have plans put in place for his recovery. This is only the start of it all too; Izuku is not looking forward to all the tests, and he’ll need to figure out something to keep Eri busy and out of the room when he’s getting his blood drawn, he knows that will end terribly if she was there with all of those needles.

Izuku can already feel the exhaustion of how much will be going on, but he appreciates that Aizawa was talking them through it all, it would have been overwhelming if they were blindly thrown into every exam and test with little to no warning. 

From the sound of it, his first round of vaccines and tests would start at noon, so they had a bit of time before then. During that time though, they spoke casually for the most part. It seemed that Aizawa wanted to actually get to know them, asking simple questions about favorite animals and colors, as well as hobbies they may have liked before ending up on the streets. He also pulled up photos of the housing arrangement that the three of them will be staying in at U.A. campus, as well as photos of other teachers that will be seen often on the grounds, and who will be teaching them while they stay there. Some of the heroes were ones that Izuku used to remember watching when he was much younger, starry eyes glued to the screen along with Kacchan. Dreams from years before that he buried deep in his mind have bubbled up to the surface of his mind, but he quickly shoves those thoughts back down. While he may be staying at the school he has dreamed about attending, he is not an actual student of the school. He can’t let his hopes and dreams get the best of him.

He needs to stay realistic. 

Shooting a glance down to his absent arm, it reaffirms that his childhood dream, one he thought he could never achieve when he left home, is still far out of reach of his grasp. 

“Izuku?” 

Startled out of his thoughts, Izuku looked over to the nurse that had just entered the room, clipboard in hand and most likely a cart of instruments that they were going to use for his first exams was sitting just outside of the room too. 

“R-right, um….” Izuku looks back to Eri, and can tell that her nerves were back at full force.

Thankfully though, it looks like the nurse wasn’t the only one that arrived.

“Oi! Cartoon face! Let me go!” 

“Good Afternoon Izuku and Eri! And good afternoon to you too, Mr.Aizawa!” 

Kacchan and Mirio came in, ignoring the odd look the nurse gave them. Which with the position that they were in, he couldn’t fault the odd look; Kacchan was for some reason being held completely off the ground in some kind of under-arm carry, with Katsuki flailing about, one hand trying to remove the offending arm around his waist, and the other being jammed into Mirio’s face, although he doesn’t look like he is bothered at all by it. Izuku almost wanted to laugh at the sight of the two of them, but was able to subdue any kind of laughter that tickled his throat. 

“Go-Good afternoon, Mirio. Hi K-kacchan. You guys seemed to arrive at the right time.” Izuku looks down to Eri, who was looking at the two, “I’m about to get a couple of tests done, but I think Eri might not be up to watching it. Could you two, maybe uh, walk her around for a bit while these get done? I-if that’s alright to do?” Izuku asks, quickly switching his attention to Aizawa, the thought that they may want to keep them in the room as some kind of safety measure popping into his mind halfway through asking.  

“As long as Mirio and Bakugou stay with her, and they don’t go too far from here, it should be fine.” Aizawa answers nonchalantly. He must have a lot of faith in Mirio and Kacchan to be able to trust them to watch over Eri for however long these tests will take. “I’ll text you once his tests are done.” he tacts on, before shoo-ing the two teens, and Eri out of the room. He kneels down and seems to hand something to Eri, calmly saying, “stick close to them okay? Mirio gets lost easy, so he’ll need your help getting back here.'' The determined look on Eri’s face only shows that she didn’t get he was joking, but it only made Izuku want to laugh even more at the comment. While Izuku can’t see him anymore, he can hear Mirio playing along, whining out about being called out about it. He was able to hold back full out laughing at the situation, but a stifled chuckle does escape him, only making his stitches pull and bruises pulse in pain. 

Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow! Okay, laughing definitely hurts.

Eri sends one last look to Izuku, concern painted across her face. 

“It’ll be alright Eri, I’ll be just fine.” he says, a gentle smile easing whatever second thoughts she had left. He sends the trio off with a wave, and he can barely make out Mirio’s excited tone, and Kacchan yelling something right back at him. It feels like the two of them are some comedy duo. But it's nice to see that Kacchan was able to make other friends while he was gone. 

If he already has so many other friends……why does he need you? 

Izuku shakes his head, not wanting such negative thoughts to run through his head. He knows that its not like that,  yesterday only proved that. But it's not so easy to keep such thoughts from popping up. 

Right now isn’t the time though; he’ll have plenty of time to work on that at a later time. Right now, he had to focus on the physical exam…..

And the entire tray of shots that were waiting for him.

How could he forget that he wasn’t really fond of needles or shots……

This was going to be rough.

~~~~~~~

Eri wasn’t sure what she was expecting when Mirio had said he would show her around the hospital, she wasn’t really paying attention to what the Hospital looked like when they were coming into it. 

Now however, she sat atop Mirio’s shoulders, she could see the white and grey walls clearly, as well as wave at all of the nurses and doctors shyly from her perch. Mirio all the while was smiling up a storm, leading the way as they made their way through the slightly crowded halls, Kacchan was right behind them, grumpily stomping along and grumbling about something that Eri couldn’t quite catch. 

The Hospital itself was pretty boring, after looking through the first few hallways, and seeing nothing really changing, she figured the rest of the place looked exactly the same. But seeing everything from up so high, it was exciting! She’s pretty used to shoulder rides, Izuku would carry her like this alot, but he isn’t as tall as Mirio! She's only been this high when Jin would give her shoulder rides, and even then, they only ever did it back on the beach, so the view never felt so different. But in the Hospital, she was sure that if she tried, she could touch the roof! And everyone looks so tiny up here too! 

It's amazing being so tall! Maybe one day she’ll grow this tall too! 

“M-Mirio, d-do you think i’ll grow this tall one day too?” she asks excitedly, patting his head to get his attention. 

“Maybe you can one day! You’ll have to make sure you eat well to be able to grow tall. And you gotta make sure to eat your vegetables too.” he says, taking another turn down another boringly plain hall. She can hear Kacchan mumbling something behind them, but she doesn’t really hear what he says. “OH! Bakugou! Race to the vending machines! Just try and beat Eri and I.” Mirio suddenly proclaims, jumping into a runner’s starting stance, giggles tumbling out of her as she watches Kacchan yells at Mirio about how its too crowded, but still gets into a similar stance as well, a competitive and feral grin spreading on his face. 

“Alright. 3…..”

“2…..”

“1…..”

“ERI!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Suddenly, she is scooped off of Mirio’s shoulders and hugged to the person’s chest, his jacket was still holding onto the cold from outside, and from the protective arms thrown around her, she could see bits of snow that hadn’t quite melted yet. She could hear Bakuogu and Mirio both yelling and trying to get the man to let her go, but she knew she was just fine. She knew just from his voice who was holding her. 

“Jin!” she says, returning the hug and seemingly quieting the two teens who were trying to get Jin to let her go.

“You know this clown?!” Kacchan asks bluntly, glaring at Jin who apparently was glaring right back. 

“Yeah! Izu saved him, and he would visit alot, he would bring all sorts of fun foods and stuff to help us get ready for winter! He even stayed with me when Izu had to go to a different city for a bit! Jin is someone good.” she says, worming her way out of Jin’s hold and back onto the floor, grabbing onto his pants leg. “You were gone for a while! Is your job finished now?” she asks, turning her attention to the masked man.

She guesses that Mirio and Kacchan took her word, as they didn’t look as on edge as before, although Kacchan is still glaring daggers at Jin, who in turn still looks nervously at the two. Maybe Kacchan just glares at everyone? No, he doesn’t glare at her or Izuku, or at Mr. Aizawa either…….maybe he’s shy and glaring is how he shows it? “Kacchan, it’s okay, you don’t have to be shy. Jin is a little funny sometimes, but he is good here.” she says, patting her heart. That seems to get some kind of response from Kacchan, although she wasn’t expecting the slack jaw look that turned her way. She hears Mirio bursting into laughter at the look on Kacchan’s face, he even having to go to his knees from how hard he was laughing. 

Kacchan immediately snaps out of the stupor he was in, and turns to the still curled over form of Mirio “STOP LAUGHING YOU CARTOON FACE PUNK! AND YOU!” he immediately turns back to her, “I AM NOT SHY, PIPSQUEAK!” She could tell that he was trying to hold himself back from yelling too much at her, but his attention immediately went to the last person in their little group. “AND YOU! I’M KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON YOU! I don’t care how you met them, honestly it would be a huge red flag if Izuku hadn’t met you cause he was being a heroic idiot, if you do anything that might hurt Izuku or Eri, i’ll fu- freaking kill you, you got that?!” Then, Kacchan kneels down and offers up his arms to her. She doesn’t hesitate to go to him, slightly thankful that he was giving her the choice to be held by him. She’s used to Izuku and Jin picking her up and carrying her around, but for other people it's still terrifying. That’s why she likes Kacchan and Mirio, they ask her first; either verbally, or through obvious choices of if she wants to be held by someone. They didn’t even hear her past, and yet they are so kind to always give her the choice. 

She hopes that these two will come visit both of them for a long time. 

Once she was situated in Kacchan’s arms and he was standing back up, she turned to Jin, who looked really nervous still, not having moved an inch, unsure about if he could trust these two. “Jin, this is Kacchan and Mirio! They are good people too! Mirio helped Mr. Aizawa save Izu, and Kacchan protected me while they were saving Izu. Oh! Oh! Kacchan, Kacchan, you’re best friends with Izu too!” Eri introduces the two, hopping up and down in Kacchan’s arms in excitement. 

“Oh! Why didn’t you say so! Thank you both so much for saving Izu and Eri! My name is Jin! You don’t need to know who I am! And the same goes for you, prick! You even blink in the wrong way and I’ll squash ya!” Jin says back, seeming to switch back and forth between his two halves. She honestly hasn’t seen the two contradict each other so much in awhile, so its a bit funny watching him go from being grateful to gruff. It's even funnier watching Mirio and Kacchan be so confused by his quirky personalities. 

Jin does look more relaxed though, so Eri doesn’t think there will be any issues. 

“Where’s Izuku then? I got his call, but he didn’t say a room number. Just what did those bird-stards do to little Izu?!” Jin asks, looking back and around the empty hall to see if there was a hint of Izuku anywhere. Mirio, finally done with his laughing fit, stands back up to his full height, and answers happily. 

“Izuku is getting some tests done to see where he is overall health wise. While we can tell you the room, it probably isn’t the best time to barge in. how about you join us instead! We are showing Eri around the hospital until his tests are done for the day. We were actually about to go to the vending machines to grab some snacks.” Eri perks up and digs into the pocket of pants, pulling out the couple of dollars that Mr. Aizawa had given her, before showing it to Jin.

“I was even given a few dollars to get whatever I wanted from them. Do you want to help me pick?” she asks, and that seems to pull Jin’s attention back to their current little group.

Their group of three, has now turned into a group of 4. 

~~~~~~

It's been an hour now since the boys took Eri for a walk, as well as an hour since Izuku has been doing test after test with the nurses and doctors, and he can tell that the kid is getting exhausted. 

For one, when getting his blood drawn and catching up on his vaccines, he refused to even look at the arm they were using, and instead looked to actively be trying to keep his mind busy. Shouta tried to help a bit by talking to the kid, hoping that maybe a conversation could keep his mind occupied long enough for all of it to be done. The fact that all of the vaccines were having to be done on only one arm too, Aizawa could figure that moving his arm afterwards was going to be challenging. 

Then there was getting all of his basic information updated, like his weight and height, but they also did a thorough physical exam, one which they had asked him to step out for. Shouta knew that they were going to be doing an extensive exam, and he made sure Izuku was aware of it too, but that still didn’t mean that he liked it. The kid obviously had some trust issues, not that he can blame him. Aizawa won’t downplay the fact that Izuku took a huge step forward by trusting him and agreeing to be under his care at U.A. 

Now he was having to be examined from head to toe by a bunch of random doctors and nurses, invading a personal space that he probably hasn’t had in years. Aizawa figured at least he would give the kid as much privacy as he could on this matter, even if he’ll be looking over the reports later with Recovery Girl, its still best to give Izuku this much at least. And once it's done, they shouldn’t have to go through such a thorough exam again. It will probably be much harder on Eri when she has to be examined by Recovery Girl, but he’s hoping that with Chiyo doing the exam herself, it will be a bit more comfortable for her. It won’t be easy, but these are necessary for the both of them to get the help they need.  

While he was waiting outside the door, Naomasa arrived back at the room, a stack of papers in hand as well as a few files. It was half an hour later that they were allowed back into the room, Izuku seemed alright for the most part, he was definitely tired and an embarrassed flush was still clinging to his cheeks. There didn’t look to be any contempt or distrust in his eyes, which eased some of Shouta’s worries, with cases like these, the smallest thing could make any small level of trust break in an instant, even if it's something that wouldn’t normally be seen as a break in trust at all. Shouta knew that in order to get a solid bond of trust with both of these kids, he was going to have to be hyper aware of these kinds of things; it's not the first time he has had to go through this, afterall he’s had students that had bad homes in the past. Now he can only hope that all of his experience from helping those kids will be able to help him give these two kids the chance to live the lives they want. 

The three of them talk a little, Izuku didn’t contribute much, although Shouta could tell that he was paying attention to the conversation, about the guardianship papers and going over some of the papers and forms within the large pile that he had brought with him. He will definitely have to get Naomasa some of his favorite coffee in order to repay him from the long night he must have gone through to get all of these forms so quickly for them.

There was a small knock on the door, much too quiet for it to be any doctor or nurse or any adult really, so he wasn’t surprised when Eri’s face popped into the room shyly, probably to check and make sure that there were no more doctors or tests to be done. 

What he wasn’t expecting was for a fourth person to be loitering in the doorway once the kids got in, Bakugou was definitely giving the guy a glare, but he didn’t seem on edge or hyper aware of his every move. Aizawa gives Mirio and Katsuki a look to try and get some kind of response about the stranger, hands on his capture weapon and ready to get the guy as far away as possible from the kids, but Izuku seems to answer the question immediately upon seeing the guy.

“Jin, you made it.” 

Aizawa immediately relaxes a bit, remembering the call that Izuku had with the guy. Izuku did speak to him a bit more about Jin and a few of his….excentrities, but the mask was definitely still a bit jarring to see on an average person. Its not as though he hasn’t seen support items used for the everyday person in his line of work, but this looks to be a simple cloth mask, nothing added to it to support or help manage a quirk. 

What he wasn’t expecting though was for Jin to apparently pull off his mask and start bawling, sobbing out “IzuKu!!!” as he runs into the room and immediately trips over his own feet, collapsing halfway onto the floor, and the other half landing on the hospital bed. Jin had face planted into the sheets, but he didn’t move, rather he just balled up the sheets in reach and continued to sob into the mattress itself, muffled sobs of ‘Izuku’ and ‘Eri’ could barely be understood from him. All Izuku could really do was reach out and sympathetically pat his hand that was closest to him. 

Aizawa could already tell that this guy was going to a handful.

Chapter Text

It took some time to get Jin to calm enough to actually talk a full breath, and getting him to let go of Izuku was an even harder task, but they had finally managed to get him to sit down on the edge of the bed at least. He is now however scolding Izuku for the last ten minutes, his mask forgot on the corner of the bed; at some point during his ranting, Aizawa and Naomasa had entered the room and took the only two chairs in the room, leaving Mirio and Kacchan to stand by the entrance. 

“When I got your call earlier I was terrified! I raced out of my job in Osaka as soon as it ended! What the hell were you thinking?! I nearly had a heart attack after your call!!!”  Jin complains, tears still clinging to his eyes as he scolds him. He could see just out of the corner of his eye the confused look the Detective was giving Jin, and the narrowed look that Aizawa was sending as well. 

Izuku looks down to his stump, avoiding Jin’s teary glare, “It’s not like I went out looking for trouble, I just did my best to make sure they wouldn’t find Eri.” he said, trying to get them to let the conversation go before Jin broke down crying again. Eri had crawled up onto the bed at some point during the rants as well and was happily munching on some apple slices, leaning into Jin’s side. Jin finally looks away from Izuku and down to Eri, seeming to have calmed down fully now as he ruffled her hair gently, getting a giggle out of her as she tried to swat away his hand playfully. 

“Well then, now that you seemed to have calmed down, would you mind introducing yourself?” Naomasa asks, taking the opportunity that was given to change the subject and help fill in some questions he most likely had. Izuku nods in agreement, although he could tell that Jin stiffened up once Naomasa introduced himself as a detective. Izuku watches Jin carefully, unsure of what he is thinking of doing right now. He had told him that there would be a hero and most likely the police as well at the Hospital to keep them safe, and Izuku knows that Jin used to be a criminal of some sort, he had never gone into specifics but it sounded like robbery of some sort. Then his quirk accident happened and he didn’t do much of anything for a while, just trying to keep his personality and own mind intact. Over the last couple of months that they have known Jin, he has been making leaps and bounds, and while he can’t take a fully legal job due to his criminal history, he said that he has been doing under-the-table jobs that weren’t too bad. 

But he is still a criminal, and most likely wanted to some extent by the police. 

“My name is Jin….Jin Bubaigawara.” Izuku can see the Detective’s eye widen at his name, obviously recognizing the name; thankfully though it seems like he is giving Jin the chance to explain a bit more before trying to arrest him right on the spot. Jin takes his time speaking, choosing his words carefully and most likely trying to keep his personalities in line while having such a stressful talk. “I am sure you know my name, Dectective Naomasa. But, I’m not doing that kinda stuff anymore! I’ve been doing everything I could to get back to somekind of normal life since Izuku and Eri found and helped me! Heck, Izuku saved me! I wasn’t going to waste the gift that this kid gave me.” Izuku can’t help but feel a bit put out by Jin loudly proclaiming that he saved his life….. It was just a couple of stitches. 

“While it is good to hear that you are no longer actively commiting crimes, and if it was just some petty robberies, we could maybe get you off nearly scotch free……but you still stole dozens of artworks and many of them have yet to be recovered yet, I can’t just let you off with a slap on the wrist.” Jin looks to shrink at the look that Naomasa was sending him, it wasn’t hate or anger or even untrusting… It was a look of sympathy and duty. Naomasa probably doesn’t want to lock up the only adult Izuku and Eri openly trust, but he was still a police officer and he had to do his job. 

Eri pats his leg, getting his attention; “what does Naomasa mean? Is he going to take away Jin? But Jin is good?” she asks, obviously distraught at the thought of Jin having to leave them.  Izuku isn’t sure what to say at the moment, not wanting to hurt either Eri or Jin, but also not wanting to step on any toes with the Detective and with Aizawa. He doesn’t want to make a wrong step and end up having Aizawa regret taking them in, or worse, have him back out of his offer and send them off to safe houses, probably separated and completely alone. 

Jin, however, seemed to know exactly what to say. He stood up from the bed and kneeled down to where he was at the same height as Eri was, still sitting on the bed and her apple slices forgotten in her lap, and did his best to explain. 

“I wasnt always good though, Eri. I used to make a lot of bad choices, and those choices ended up with me doing some bad things and taking things that didn’t belong to me. I was heading down a really dark path when you two came across me, and you all helped me to be good again. But that doesn’t mean that the bad things that I did in my past have gone away, I have to own up to what I did and atone for my crimes with the law.” he says patiently, wanting to make sure she understood what he was saying and why. “I don’t want to leave you two, especially after what has happened….but before I can truly take advantage of this second chance you and Izuku have given me, and be there for you both, I need to clean up the mess that I left behind. I want to be just like the hero who saved me, so I need to do my best to do it right.” Izuku looks away embarrassed at that last statement, because he can feel the obvious stare he was getting from everyone in the room. 

Huh, who would have thought that the wall was so interesting.

Thankfully, Jin gets back to the matter at hand and looks back towards the Naomasa, “If I go with you willingly, a-and give you info on who I sold the art to, would I be able to get a deal? Lessen my time? Maybe minimum security or something? C-can I still see these two from time to time?” he asks. Naomasa looks him over, and it looks like he doesn’t detect any lies from Jin, as he heaves a sigh and sinks further into the uncomfortable looking plastic chair. 

“I am not the Detective currently working on your case, so I can’t promise you anything, but we can speak with them as well as some lawyers to see what options we can do since you would be turning yourself in willingly. If you also help with your case as well, we may be able to work some things out in your favour.” he finally says, looking far more tired than what should be possible. Although, he could probably guess that he looked just as tired and worn out; all of those tests from the day and the roller coaster that is Jin Bubaigawara,along with his meds too, he was exhausted. “We’ll take you to the Precinct in the morning, and I will be having an Officer take you home and stand guard to make sure that you don’t pull any disappearing acts. For now….. Just enjoy your time together until visiting hours are over.” he says, slowly getting up and making his way toward the door. “I….I just step out for a moment to make a few calls.” he says before leaving the room. 

Izuku flops back onto his raised bed, the tension that had entered the room since Jin entered had finally broken, Jin playfully talking along with Eri and Mirio playing along as well, Kacchan had taken the empty chair, watching all of them quietly While Aizawa turned back to his stack of papers that he and Naomasa had brought with them, but he probably was still keeping an eye on Jin just in case. Izuku can’t exactly blame them, he was also very suspicious and on edge with Jin around at first, especially with his mix of personalities, but he’s sure that once they get to know Jin more, they’ll be able to trust him more. 

Izuku tries to relax into the propped up bed a bit, being mindful of how his skin pulls on his right…..stump now and being thankful for the pain meds he is on. He can feel his eyes drooping the more that he listens to the upbeat voices nearby, Eri obviously having a fun time with both Jin and Mirio. Maybe……he might be able to take a quick nap, he doesn’t want to sleep for too long, but closing his eyes for a moment wouldn’t hurt. This is the safest he has felt in a long time…… he wants to take advantage of it as much as he can.

And once he wakes up, he wants to be able to spend as much time as he can with Jin….it might be awhile til they see him again, but he knows that a while……isn’t forever. They’ll have Jin back with them being his boisterous self as usual. 

~~~~~~~

Eri and Kacchan were on another quest to the vending machines today. Izu had just finished up his last few tests and they were finishing up last minute paperwork before they went to the U.A. place that they would be staying at now. Eri was quite nervous, but also excited to be able to get out of this hospital. She knows that Izu and Kacchan and Mirio have been doing their best to keep her distracted, especially when Izu had to get tests done…..but she will be honest that she is very glad that they can leave this place. The smell of it reminded her of Chisaki and his experiment room, the white coats making her flinch unconsciously, and looking at the tools always made her stomach drop. She knows that this place isn’t like Chisaki’s experiement room, and none of these doctors are like him, afterall there’s that really nice nurse man that checks in on Izuku every few hours and make sure his vitals were good, he would sneak her lollipops that always tasted so sweet and a different flavor every time! 

But it didn’t mean that she felt comfortable in this place. It just felt a little too much like that room……when she is in Izuku’s room, she can ignore the panic, because Izuku is there with her, and she knows he wouldn’t let anything hurt her, but that doesn’t always work when there's a new nurse or doctor coming in every few hours doing one thing or another. And with them finishing up all they had to do to leave the hospital, she was starting to panic a bit.  

Kacchan had suggested they get a few snacks for the drive back, and Eri had asked if she could come too, wanting some kind of change of scenery and not wanting to get in the way of the doctors that were double checking Izuku’s stitches and talking to Mr.Aizawa about lab results and a bunch of other things she didn’t understand, or just brought up unpleasant memories. 

They were now walking hand in hand down the white hallways, which were thankfully empty, Eri was humming a little tune to herself and swinging their hands back and forth as they walked to the vending machines.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about, pipsqueak?” Kacchan asks, not looking at her but she can feel his grip squeeze her hand, not hard or forceful, to get her attention. 

She doesn’t say anything at first, and Kacchan doesn’t push for her to answer either. “I know that…. These people helped save Izu…..and this place is supposed to save and heal people but….it brings up bad memories. I can’t wait for us to leave.” she finally says, her voice soft and unsure as she tells him. She feels him squeeze her hand again, before saying “Can’t exactly blame ya for not wanting to be here.” He doesn't elaborate further, but it felt like there was more he wanted to say,  and Eri doesn’t ask either. 

Once they get to the vending machines, Eri does perk up a bit more, skipping from machine to machine to see what they had, asking Kacchan about certain snacks or drinks she didn’t know, trying to decide which one to get for her and for Izuku. She wishes that Jin could be there with them, but he’s with Naomasa right now, working on fixing up his mistakes. She knows that he will have to be put in jail, since he stole some pretty important stuff….she just hopes that it won’t be bad for him. He’s done alot to heal himself, and she doesn’t want jail to make him regress in his healing. 

She also hopes it won’t be like the jail that Naomasa and Aizawa say that Chisaki will go to when they get him. 

She doesn’t want Jin to get hurt by him at all. 

Eri just hopes with all her heart that even if he is in jail, they will be able to visit him.

She decides on a bag of apple slices for herself and a KitKat bar for Izu. The flavor on the package looked like a fluffy kind of cake, which Kacchan called it cheesecake. She almost wanted to ask Izu for a bite of it later, she’s never had cheesecake before…..or normal cake. Maybe that's something they can try now once they get to this U.A. place. She spins around to Kacchan who had already picked his snack and was waiting just behind her when she caught sight of something.

A flash of pink.

It was just behind a corner abit further away from there but she definitely saw it. 

She cocks her head to the side, curious to the flash of pink she saw. Kacchan seems to have also caught sight of it too, because he Immediately was on edge, standing in front of Eri protectively and watching the exact same corner. It wasn’t long before that pink blob poked out from behind the corner again, and this time she could clearly see who it was. 

Kacchan also recognizes them, because he immediately relaxes his body as he groans in annoyance at the bright pink hair and yellow horns that were poking out from the corner. 

“Mina!” she calls out excitedly, seeming to startle the pink skinned girl to hide behind the corner again. Eri skips over to the corner and happily calls out her name again, noticing that it wasn’t just Mina here, but also Kirishima too! And two other people that she hasn’t seen before. 

“The vending machines must not be as safe as we thought, since we keep running into a bunch of weirdos here whenever we do.” Kacchan gruffly states, obviously he was joking because they only ran into Jin before, and Jin isn’t a weirdo, he’s just a little different. 

“Hiya Eri! How have you been doing? It’s been a few days since we last saw you.” Mina says cheerfully, also ignoring the fiery glare that Kacchan was sending them. 

“What’s up Eri! Glad to see you doing okay.” Kirishima adds in, kneeling down to her level and giving her his sharp smile. She nods to them both, smiling back to them, before giving a questioning glance to the other two she didn’t know. “Oh!” Kirishima seems to catch on “you haven’t met these two yet. This is Denki Kaminari and Sero Hanta. They are close friends of ours and of Bakugou from school. We were wanting to check in on you guys since we haven’t heard anything, and I’m sure Bakubro blocked our numbers too since he’s been ignoring our texts and calls.” Kirishima says, chuckling at how Kacchan was being stubborn. She giggles along with him before tugging on Kacchan’s pants leg.

“Can we introduce them to Izu?” she asks, excited to show off Izu to them, and be able to maybe avoid thinking about being in the Hosiptal for however long the paperwork takes. She also wants these nice people that helped her to be able to meet Izu and make more friends too, after all, her big br- Izu! She meant that Izu deserves to make lots of friends, and if they go to U.A. too, then that just means they’ll have more fun once they get there. 

Unfortunately, Kacchan shakes his head no. 

“Right now, we can’t just bring anyone that hasn’t already been vetted by Naomasa and Aizawa into the room right now, Crazy Face was only able to go into the room cause Izu had called him and already told Aizawa and Lie Detector that he was coming.” Kacchan states bluntly. Eri looks down to the ground sadly, nodding along. She had hoped to get to introduce them.

“Ah, come on Bakugou! We already met Eri, and it’s Mr. Aizawa! He knows us! We just want to see this Izu guy that means so much to you!” Mina says, leaning close and making some kind of pleading face to him, Denki also mimics the face as well right behind her. Kirishima and Sero just watch the two of them foundly, not playing along, but not stopping them either. 

“No fu-freaking way.” he straightforwardly says, not showing any sign of their pleading faces to have any affect on him. The two of them whine a bit more, trying to get Kacchan to let them see Izu, but he doesn’t move on the subject at all. Meanwhile Eri talks to Kirishima and Sero quietly to the side of their….Argument? She finds that Sero is very easy to talk to, he’s relaxed and has an easy smile that makes him fun to talk to. Plus, he complimented her new dress too! The nurse she first met had given it to her, saying that it was once his granddaughter’s, but it didn’t fit her anymore, so he thought it would be good to give it to her, especially since the clothes she was wearing were stuff that they found as rough hand me downs in the homeless shelter. They were still good clothes, but Eri was kind of glad she was able to change into something new. It was a striped long sleeve dress, switching from red and white stripes, with her sleeves being fully white. She showed it off once she changed into it, Izuku saying that it really suited her and thanking the kind old nurse as well. 

It wasn’t too long before Kirishima looked at his phone and told the small group of friends that they would have to go soon to get onto the next train. Eri said goodbye to all of them, waving happily as the small group of four walked back down the hallway with their own waves of goodbye and promises to try and see them again. 

Kacchan take her hand again and starts walking them back to Izuku’s room. 

Eri guesses that he could tell that she was a bit down that they could introduce Izu to the group of rowdy friends, since he says “it’s not like they aren’t going to meet him ever. You guys are going to be staying at the same school that they go to. You’ll be able to introduce Izuku to them sooner than you think.” it was honestly very kind of him to say, and Eri smiles and nods to him. 

She hopes that when they do meet Izuku, they’ll become fast friends!

~~~~~~~

The car ride was long, Izuku could feel the constant dull ache in his stump as the car lightly shook down the road. It wasn’t too bad, but to have the constant movement hitting his still healing stitches and tender stump, even with the pain meds he was on, it was making the pain that much more obvious to him. Izuku can’t help but be grateful to the medications he was on, as he didn’t even realize how little his arm has hurt until it was actively always hurting. 

But he can ignore the ache and slight pain for now, because there was something far more important right now. 

He could see the building growing closer to them as they made their way down the busy streets and his excitement was growing more and more each minute.

There, just a few blocks from them was something he thought he would never get to see, never get to enter…..

U.A.

He could tell Eri was also looking at the impressively tall school as well, the high wall that lined the sidewalk only giving them a glimpse of some of the trees that were on the insanely large property. They bore no leaves at the time, and rather were holding up snow covered branches, but still, the school itself looked just as he would imagine it. 

He can see the piles of snow that must have been recently plowed in the last few days piled up against the wall, almost blocking the sidewalk, giving the world outside of the warm car a completely different kind of feel. Abandoned wouldn’t be the right word to use, but seeing the empty streets, even during the middle of the day, how it all seemed quiet, almost like it was left alone to be preserved in all its glory, that's the best way to describe it. They pass the main gate that the student’s most likely take and take a turn at the next corner, reaching another gate that had more obvious security measures at it. Aizawa, who was driving, stopped at the gate and pulled out a badge from his coat pocket, showing it to a scanner for a moment before it let out a high pitched beep. That was when the gate started to open for them, splitting in half and allowing their car entry into what looked like the employee parking lot. 

Aizawa quickly parked and got out, opening the backdoor for them. Eri got out first, waiting right behind Aizawa’s leg as he helped Izuku out of the car. It wasn’t like Izuku thought he needed help, but as they figured out, the meds that he was currently taking was causing him some dizziness, and with how much snow is still on the ground, and with his unsteady footing, he didn’t deny the help that Aizawa was giving him. His balance was also slightly off, he noticed, now that one side of him didn’t have the weight of an arm on it. Izuku is honestly surprised that he hasn’t freaked out about not having an arm anymore…..maybe there’s just been too much going on, and once things start to calm down, that’s when he’ll have a breakdown…….he hopes not, he really just wanted to try and move past it as fast as possible. He knows he should probably address it, but the thought of having to confront himself about the fact that he no longer has an arm and what that will really mean for him…..he would like to push that off for as long as possible. 

They make they’re way through the school grounds, stopping every once in a while to show certain buildings to the two of them; since it was a Sunday, no one was on the school grounds, meaning they basically had the whole place to themselves. There might have been a few teachers who were there doing some grading or working on lesson plans, but outside in the untouched snow on the yard, it was only the three of them.

When they were passing by the main school building, Izuku did ask to stop for a minute. 

He looks down the corridor of bare trees, obviously marking the main path to the building, and slowly took in the entire school from the ground up. 

He’s actually here……he’s standing on U.A. grounds, looking at one of the most prestigious and best schools in the entire country, the one that he has always dreamed about attending ever since he knew what a Hero was…..maybe he is not a student of the hero course like he was in his dreams…..but he is here on his own two feet. 

“You good there, kid?” Aizawa asks, having let Izuku stand on his own as he looked over the building for a moment.

“Y-yeah, I think I’m okay. I just never thought I would have a chance to even be here.” Izuku says, trying to hold back a few tears that he could feel were peaking out at the edge of his eye. 

Aizawa gently but firmly takes hold of Izuku’s shoulder, making sure that he was looking at him before he said “I am sure that you are going to have so many more chances to do all of the things you have always wanted to and dreamed of doing. All I ask of you while you are with me…and this goes for both of you kids….don’t give up on your dreams. Always keep trying to move forward and keep doing your best to reach them, whether they are big or small, even if it will be hard or feels impossible to achieve. It’s only when you give up on yourself that those dreams become truly impossible.” Izuku can only look at the honest expresson on Aizawa’s face, no sign of any hidden messages or threats, he wants them to get better and to keep growing…..he just wants the best for them.

“We promise…. right, Eri?”

“Yeah!”

Aizawa nods, before taking up Izuku’s arm in one of his arms and retaking Eri’s hand, leading them further down a small path that wrapped around the school’s main building before coming across another building that was out of the way of where the student’s would normally go to other buildings, but also not so far to where the walk was strenuous.  The building looks to be slightly hidden by the trees, probably more so when its spring and summer, but during winter the building stands out a bit more without the foliage. It looks to be four or five stories tall, and well maintained as well. 

“This is the teacher’s apartment building. A few teachers stay here, either for security or just because they find that it's easier to stay on campus. It's only a couple of us staying here at the moment, so it should be easy to introduce you to them. This is where we will be staying. We’ll have one of the larger apartments on the top floor, and tomorrow we’ll get you both keys for the apartment as well.” Aizawa explains as they walk towards the building, letting go of Izuku for a moment to open the door and let the three of them in from the cold winter air and into the heated lobby of the apartment complex. Izuku looked to the staircase to his left, worried that they would have to walk up all 5 floors  before taking a moment to relax as he immediately found the elevator just on the over side of the lobby. He does not trust himself walking up all those flights. 

The ride up was quite quick and soon enough they were standing in front of one of the few doors on the top floor, the apartment numbers a shiny brass just next to it. 

“Are you two ready to see your new home?” Aizawa asks nonchalantly as he digs out the keys from his pocket. 

Home……Izuku could say for certain that he was quite ready to have a nice place to call home. The trash dump of a beach he could guess was a home, more so when Eri came into his life, but it wasn’t something that he would call a true home. His parent’s place was never a home. It was the house they owned and the one he had to endure for the first nine years of this life. He guesses that the place that fit what a true home would be to him was the Bakugou’s house. That was a place he would easily call a home. And now….he was going to have his very own place to call home too.

Yeah, he was absolutely ready to see what his home is like. what their home is like.

Chapter Text

The last few days have been….eventful, to say the least.

Shouta knew that it was going to be quite a change having to care for two kids, let alone the luggage of trauma that they both carry. Aizawa himself has his own issues that he has taken years to work on and routines and habits that he wasn’t even aware of until there were suddenly two sets of eyes watching him move about the apartment that they live in now. 

They actually did fairly well, there being enough space for all three of them without it feeling too empty. And with it being slightly hidden off of one of the paths leading to the school, it was a quick five minute walk to main school building (and Shouta was absolutely never going to give up the extra time for sleep this gives him) and the rest of the path led to on of the training compounds on the property so they could go there without being seen by the students. 

But that doesn’t make some of the issues that have been popping up any easier. 

Eri has actually been doing quite well overall; she seems to be excited about every small thing, which makes sense when Shouta reminds himself of what she has missed out on for the first six years of her life. she has been estatic about trying new dishes and foods, which isn’t much of a problem as his friends thought it would be; while he may rely a bit too heavily on the jelly pouches througout the day, he does actuslly know how to cook, he’s never going to be able to beat Lunch Rush, but he knows the basics, and its not like he can’t follow a cookbook when he needs to. Eri has also been doing fairly well with her lessons as well, eager to learn and while it is a struggle to get her to feel comfortable asking questions, she has been doing a bit better with certain individuals on that front. The one thing Shouta knew was going to make things bad was when they eventually did go to Recovery Girl to get Eri’s Physical done, and to check over any damage that they may want to be aware of. With Eri’s obvious unease in medical areas or around doctors, he knew they were going to be in for a long visit. Izuku being there did help ease some of her nerves, but the visit still took 2 hours. Chiyo definitely handled it better than some doctors that he had seen before, always kind and taking the time to explain each process of what they were doing and why, letting Eri try out a few of the tools herself to help make her feel more comfortable; if that didn’t work, she would watch Izuku do a test first before even attempting to step into or on certain machines. When it came time to take some blood or do the vaccine shots, Eri was shaking so much and could barely breathe with how much she was hyperventilating that Shouta almost pulled them out of the office and try again a different day. However, after almost half an hour of getting to Eri to calm down and Chiyo explaining to a nearly impossible to understand level, and with Izuku also volunteering to get the exact same shots and labwork done, they were able to get Eri to stay calm enough to where they could get it all down. She didn’t look at her arm once during the entire thing, and Shouta took up the spot beside her, letting her bury her head into his side and holding her other hand in one of his, his free hand rubbing circles into her back. He could still feel her trembling as she held his fingers in a death grip.

Once that was over, Eri clung to either his or IZuku’s side the rest of the day, refusing to talk to anyone. Shouta was sure that they probably crossed a line and set her recovery back; but the next day, while not as energetic as he has seen her, she was definitely more like herself. 

The one that Shouta has been struggling with is Izuku, actually. 

Izuku apparently has a lot more anxiety than Shouta had intially thought; the fact that he was living with an adult seems to be a bit more stress on him, and from the many….many talks that they have had to do, Izuku seems to be having issues knowing what may or may not be rules, and the anxiety of possibly breaking one and getting ‘punished’ has been the biggest hurdle they are trying to pass at the moment, there have been multiple panic and anxiety attacks because of this, and each time Shouta wants to be there for him, but knows that if he is walking into a mindfield each time, as any movement or word could make the matter worse. Each time that he and Izuku talk about what caused the attack and talking over what would or woud not be considered a rule in the house, let alone what would be considered punishment for it, it makes Shouta want to go to the prison that Izuku’s parents are currently in and personally…..speak with them. 

In a secluded room.

With no cameras. 

But that’s not where he is truly needed, and Shouta knows it. He has to be logical about this. 

Once everything has calmed down and the kids are making progress and have become situated……

Then he’ll pay the Midoriya’s a little visit.

~~~~~~~

Its been a little over a week now since both he and Eri have moved into U.A., finally off of the streets and living in protective custody at the school while the heroes and police work on catching and sentencing the Shie Hassakai. It has been almost a dream come true….despite some small bumps that have been making it a bit rocky for Izuku to get used to. 

After living so long without being under an Adult’s care, being back under that kind of supervision has made some old…..habits come back.

Before, when he was living with his parents, they used to get angry at him at the tiniest thing, making a mess when eating when he was barely even four, not getting the laundry done when he just came into the house from school, for being too loud, too quiet, for just being in the room or when he would stay at the Bakugou’s for day. They would yell at him as they beat him that he deserved it, that he broke the rules of the house so he had to be punished. When he was living on his own, the rules of his little shack were his own rules, and there was no one there to say otherwise. It was all his, even if it was made out of garbage. Now that he is back to living under a roof with an adult who was in charge of them, those old memories surface up more and more. 

Izuku knows that Aizawa is not like his parents, he knows that what they did was not “punishments for breaking the rules’ it was just excuses and lies to probably make themselves feel justified in beating and abusing their son. He knows this, and yet, when he struggles to use left arm for mundane tasks, or when it feels like everything is going well, or even if the house gets too loud or too quiet….. it ‘s as though there is a rule that is going to beat him down into the place he is supposed to be, on the ground begging for forgiveness…. Stop it Izuku, you’re going too far into the past.  This is the present, and its not like back then. He knows that, and Aizawa seems to understand that Izuku logically doesn’t think that it will happen…its just what he had to expect when he was living with adults. 

Izuku takes in a deep breath, holding it for a couple of counts, before releasing it slowly. Trying to calm his thoughts as he looks over the sun filled living room, Eri is happily watching some kind of learning show about letters and numbers, while Izuku takes a peak out of the large balcony door, the sheet of white snow still gleaming and dancing in its winter wonderland, while the both of them are quite warm and cozy in the apartment. He can hear Aizawa in the kitchen, putting together some kind of snack for them to munch on. It reminds him a bit of when he would stay with the Bakugous….it was the closest he has ever truly felt at home. 

This place is nothing like before, and Izuku would like to keep it that way. 

Eri is happy, and she is smiling and laughing and fully enjoying herself here. There is so much warmth, and food, and just….peace overall and Izuku wants to fully bask in it just as Eri is, but there's something deep in him that is gnarled and dark,something born after so long being under the boot of someone else constantly, having to always watch his back that is waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

“Izu! The bunny looks like mine!” Eri exclaims excitedly, hopping in place as she turns to him pointing at the screen. Izuku gives her a smile and looks at the screen. The bunny on it was much more animated than the stuffed one by Eri’s side, and his coloring was a bright blue instead of the worn down green, but Izuku can see what she means, after all it looks like the bunny is dressed in some kind of hero outfit. 

“Yeah Eri, he looks like a hero, just like yours.” he says happily, getting a bigger grin from Eri as she nods, before turning back to the screen. Aizawa takes that time to bring out a plate of Tayaki into the living room, settling into his normal spot on the couch and ruffling Izuku’s hair a bit before grabbing some papers off of the coffee table and begin looking them over with an exasperated sigh. Looks like it was some kind of school work then, Izuku has quickly gotten used to telling what that kind of sigh meant after hearing it so many times when he looks over his student’s work. 

Izuku reaches for one of the taiyaki, hesitating for a moment when he unconsciously tries to use his right arm first, before grabbing it with his left hand instead. 

That was something else Izuku was struggling a bit with. 

He didn’t realize how much he actually used his right hand….he knew that it was his dominant hand, but the amount of time he lifts his stump to grab something without thinking about how his arm isn’t there anymore, its more times than he would like to admit. He’s started doing physical therapy with Ms. Chiyo and with Ectoplasm a few days ago and has been working with them every single day for an hour or so at a time, trying to build up the muscle in his left arm, and he can feel the deep-seated exhaustion that makes his arm shake as he holds onto the taiyaki in his hand. Its not just about getting his muscles used to being used more often, but also to give him ample chance to engrain basic and common movement into his nondominant hand. Izuku has become increasingly frustrated at trying to do the simplest of tasks, like eating or putting on his own clothes. Izuku wants to get angry, he wants to be mad and scream because while he doesn’t regret doing what he did in the slightest…..it didn’t make having to live without his arm any easier. However, instead of stewing in his emotions, he is using it to push himself forward with his physical therapy and tutoring lessons. He’s done the whole ‘stewing in my emotions’ thing when he was living on his own on the streets…..and it was probably some of the darkest times he had to face. He met alot of people that were toeing the line with the law and some even stepping right over it and blazing a trail of villianly along with them. He doesn’t want to fall back into that kind of mindset ever again. 

He has Eri to look after now.

He won’t let this stop him, its just going to be a hard battle to win.

“Izuku …”

Izuku looks up to Aizawa, seeing that he is no longer looking over his student’s work and was waiting patiently for him to respond.

“Uh…y-yeah?”

“Don’t worry too much, its nothing bad.” Aizawa said, seeming to catch onto the tenseness in Izuku’s shoulders….or maybe it was his stutter that tipped him off.

“R-right.” damnit, he was really trying not to stutter that time. Taking a deep breath, he slowly relaxes his shoulders as he breathes out. Once he was sure he wasn’t holding onto any other tension, he turns his eyes back to Aizawa, who IZuku was grateful to for letting him have a moment to recenter himself. 

“Since you have started your physical therapy, I wanted to go ahead and speak with you about a few things to expect as we continue forward with it.” oh, so there's going to be more than just physical therapy? “You already know that within the next few days, both you and Eri will be seeing Hound Dog for therapy, and Eri will also begin having tutoring sessions with the teachers here for her own academic studies, we do also plan on adding in some physical training to help get your muscle mass back. We won’t start for a while, not until we are confident in your use of your left arm; however once we have got your physical therapy to a good point, we’ll slowly start to add in some other exercises and tasks into your therapy.” 

Izuku nods along, not having any objections to the plan. In fact, the thought of doing physical training seems to light a small spark back into a dream that Izuku hasn’t felt since meeting Eri and Jin. 

With this….could I start on the path of being a Hero?

Izuku almost wants to shake his head to tune out the small voice, that small wish that feels far too out of reach. 

Maybe if he had started training when he was younger, or had stayed in school…. Or if he had a right arm. 

“When we get to that point where we start incorporating physical training into your schedule, we’ll also go meet with Power Loader, who teaches and oversees the support course students.” Aizawa continues on.

“Uhm…do you mind if I ask why we would go meet him?” Izuku asks cautiously.

“We’ll be getting measurements and looking over and fleshing out some blueprints for a prosthetic arm for you.” Aizawa explains further. At that Izuku stops halfway into going for a bite of his fish shaped treat. They….were going to make him an arm……”why would you go to the trouble of doing something like that?” Izuku unintentionally asks outloud, biting his bottom lip when he realized that the words had actually been spoken.

Aizawa doesn’t hesitate though, “because we care about you Izuku; we want you to be able to heal and grow from your experiences. We wouldn’t just leave you without an arm when we have the possibility of helping you. Your wellbeing, and Eri’s wellbeing, are always important to us. Always.” Izuku isn’t sure what to say, he can feel the pressure of tears just behind his eyes, buthe’s able to keep them back for the most part, although he is sure he looks like he is ready to cry at any moment. He opens his mouth to try and say something, make some kind of refute maybe, but nothing comes out. He feels choked up with the emotion that he wants to try and express, nothing will come out of his mouth, so he snaps it shut and gives a small nod in understanding to their guardian. Aizawa gives him a small smile as he leans over to pat Izuku’s knee. “I know its tough trying to understand it all and trying to accept it. Just know that no matter how many times you ask that question, the answer will always be the same; we care about you. You both deserve to be happy, healthy, and have the futures you want.” 

Izuku merely nodded again, trying to avoid the fact that his tears were no longer being held back and were now sliding down his cheeks in silence. 

Aizawa, thankfully, doesn't bring it up.

Izuku isn’t really sure when Eri climbs up into his lap and hugs him, but he gratefully receives the hug and doesn’t let go until Eri is trying to tickle him, her giggles and laughter as he retaliates warming his heart even further. 

~~~~~

Its been two weeks now since they started staying at U.A. 

Izuku and Eri have both started taking tutoring lessons with the teachers to get caught up in their academic lessons, and they both had their first visit with Hound Dog earlier that day. Izuku’s physical therapy that day had not even been that bad; there were some days where afterwards his left arm wouldn’t stop shaking and his entire torso was sore from praticing his balance and core muscles to make sure that he wouldn’t lose his balance due to the missing arm. 

Overall, today has been pretty good.

The only thing that was really odd was the fact that Aizawa hasn’t come back yet. 

This last week classes had started back up again; since the first week that they were there was technically the last of winter break for the school, and Aizawa had been staying back to help anyone who might have questions after school hours, help with training with those who wanted to use the training gyms, and to get some of the grading and paperwork done. But Aizawa has never stayed at the school this late before.

Was there some kind of accident or something?

Eri also seemed a bit anxious at the fact that the gloomy man hasn’t come through the front door yet as she tries to color in a coloring page, although she isn’t really paying that much attention to her task as she is currently coloring in the grass as purple, and her eyes haven’t stayed on the page for more than a few seconds at a time. 

Just as Izuku was about to get up and grab his phone from the kitchen table to try calling Aizawa, there was a muffled sound and a couple of thumps at the front door. He looks over to Eri who also heard the sound, she immediately gets up from sitting at the coffee table and books it over to Izuku, who has stood up from the couch and now faced the door. He wasn’t sure what to expect, maybe Aizawa was just tired and too lazy to try and open the door, maybe….its something else. Eri was grasping onto his pants leg as they heard multiple voices outside the door, all of them too muffled to hear clearly, but it definitely doesn’t sound like its just Aizawa at the door. 

Suddenly the door swings open and what bursts through the door was definitely not what Izuku was expecting.

Aunt Mitsuki was the first through the door, in her hands a large pot that smelled of so many spices that it almost made IZuku’s mouth water from smell alone. She calls out with a bright and cheery “SURPRISE!” as she kicks off her shoes and makes her way straight to the kitchen, most likely to set down the pot on the stove. The next people in is an exasperated Aizawa and Uncle Masaru giving him a sympathetic look. Last is Kacchan who immediately makes his way over to Izuku and haphazardly dumps the stack of board game boxes that he was carrying onto the coffee table before dragging Izuku in for a hug. Izuku is honestly surprised to see Detective Naomasa trailing in as well, carrying a couple of bottles of soda. He notices Izuku staring at him curiously, and gives him an awkward wave, what with both hands busy holding two liters. 

Eri, no longer scared and now just curious about what exactly is going on, cautiously goes up to Aizawa and tugs on his pants leg, getting the taller man to kneel down to her level, to which she asks in a loud whisper “what’s going on Mr.Aizawa?” 

Aunt Mitsuki seems to hear her just fine in the kitchen though, as she loudly proclaims “its a family game night!” 

Eri seems to only get more confused and looks back to Aizawa. He smiles and pats her head as he explains, “this is something the Bakugous have been doing for a while now all of us get together and share a big meal together, then we play games together for fun.” Izuku doesn’t really remember having a designated game night when he would stay over at the Bakugou’s before, but he does remember some nights, when he would sneak over late to their house after a nasty beating, Auntie would always make the best spicy katsudon, and they would lay card games and a couple board games until Izuku and Katsuki were too tired to keep their eyes open. Those nights always made things seem okay, like he could forget his homelife for a while. 

“And you can bet your butt that I made Spicy Katsudon!” Aunt Mistuki yells from the kitchen, and that certainly gets his attention. That spicy Katsudon has been something Izuku has missed far too many times. 

“I’m not so sure Mistuki, Izuku and Eri are both on some pretty strict diets right now because of all of the vitamin deficiencies they have. I don’t think Katsudon will fit into that.” Aizawa says, although Izuku can tell that he’s only half trying to convince her. It seems like Aizawa is quite aware of how stubborn Mitsuki can be when she sets her mind to something. 

“Oh come on now Aizawa, every diet has some leeway for a cheat day, and today is that day! A warm meal and a table full of friends and family, that's what tonight is all about.” she says proudly, laughing as Aizawa sighs and doesn’t try and fight the matter further. 

The table was not big enough for everyone to sit around, so they moved their dinner into the living room, the Detective, Aizawa and Uncle Masaru took up the floor while Izuku, Eri and Katsuki took up the couch, Mitsuki had claimed the reading chair that was usually in the corner, and had pulled it close to the coffee table to ensure that everyone was happily eating away at their bowls. 

That firat bite of Katsudon, the heat bursting through his mouth and bringing with it a warmth he has missed for so long. He’s sure he’s crying, but no one brings it up thankfully. Once he has his emotions a bit more under control, and half of his katsudon is gone, he asks “It’s not as spicy as you used to make it, did you change the recipe?” 

“Ah, well, I did make it much less spicy this time around since I didn’t want the heavy spices to give you or Eri a stomachache, I know you always liked it extra spicy, but it's been a long time since you have had anything that hot.” Auntie says, giving a playful smug look to Aizawa “I wouldn’t just make something so willy nilly to my favorite nephew and niece without taking into account nutrition and what they may or may not be able to handle.” Aizawa glares right back, shovelling another bite of pork into his mouth without breaking eye contact. Eri seems to like the spice, although it doesn’t look like she is able to handle alot of it at once as she had to take multiple breaks from eating to let her mouth cool down. 

Once everyone had their fill, that was when the board games fully took over the living room; they started off with something simple for Eri to learn; Uno. 

Something that Izuku completely forgot about though…..how competitive Kacchan and his mother is. They was so busy trying to “catch” the other cheating or making up rules to try and get the other to pick up more cards, that Izuku is quite sure they only confused Eri even more. He’ll have to play again with her to help teach her the actual rules. Naomasa also seemed to get quite heated at times throughout the multides of games, getting very into some of the more strategy types of games, only to get so wrapped up in the Strategy, that he would end up losing becausehe took too long getting whatever plan he had set up. 

Izuku could only laugh happily as Masaru owned everyone in Trivia Pursuit though, although Izuku isn’t all that surprised, Uncle almost never lost in this game. Or in Pictionary, but he had his years of art and design school under his belt for that one. 

The whole night was filled with laughter, shouting, and flying cards and game pieces. At some point Eri had fallen asleep against Izuku, Katsuki talking up his other side on the couch and keeping his voice down. After hours of games, and quite a few heated losses that only made Izuku want to laugh harder at the pout that Naomasa had on his face after another loss to Aizawa in another card game, Aunt Mitsuki, Uncle Masaru and Naomasa picked up the games and the leftover food, leaving the two teens on the couch with Eri still happily sleeping away against Izuku’s side. 

It almost feels like its too soon that he is having to say goodbye to them, although Katsuki seems to surprise everyone when he asks if he could stay the night. Aizawa looks to Izuku for his own opinion, to which he give Aizawa a silent nod in agreement. 

“Alright, you can stay. Just don’t stay up too late. Just because you don’t have school tomorrow doesn’t mean that you have a free pass to goof off until midnight.” Katsuki smirks and agrees, and they  say goodbye to Auntie, Uncle and the Detective. Izuku looks to Eri who is still asleep on the couch, trying to figure out how he might be able to move her to her room, when Kacchan wordlessly picks her up and looks to Izuku, giving him a look like he was being a dumbass for not asking for help. Izuku leads him to Eri’s room, which while pretty bare, has had a few new additions of stuffed animals and some of her drawings tacked up to the walls. 

Once she was put to bed, the both of them showered and changed into some of Izuku’s pajamas, since Katsuki didn’t bring any. Aizawa soon after brought in an extra futon for Katsuki to use and a thick blanket as well. With that, they both got into bed and turned off the lights, neither really saying anything for some time as they let the silence settle between them. 

Finally, after what felt like forever with neither of them falling asleep, Katsuki finally speaks.

“I know now isn’t the time, and its probably not going to be the time for awhile…..but I do have questions, and don’t think you’re going to just get out of all of the fucking shit i’ve been wanting to say to you for years, just…let me know when you’re ready to give some answers.” 

“Of course Kacchan……I don’t know when I will be ready to talk about everything, but You will be the first person to know when I am.” Izuku promises, turning his head to look in the direction that he knows Katsuki is in, the room being too dark for him to fully see him. 

The silence settles once again for a few minutes before Izuku whispers out into the darkness. 

“I never thought I would get to see you again. I-I’m so glad that I did…..I missed you Katsuki.” 

“If you ever do something as stupid as running away again, I’ll drag you back myself and make you regret it.”

Izuku chuckles at the threat, knowing that Katsuki absolutely means it, but not as a threat of pain. Its a threat of never giving up on him. The silence settles once more, and soon enough, Izuku is completely passed out in his bed, the heavy and warm blankets pulling him away from reality. 

Maybe if he had stayed awake for just a bit longer, he would have heard Katsuki say into the dead silent room “I missed you too, Izuku.” before the other teen fell asleep as well, tucked up in the warm futon as it gently snowed just out side of the window.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t long before classes started up again at U.A., and Izuku realized just how many people actually went to this school. He knew that the school hosted multiple types of courses, but seeing the waves of students walking through the gates every day put into reality just how many students actually are in the school itself. Thankfully, their apartment wasn’t by any of the more common footpaths, so they didn’t have to deal with the daily crowd of students coming and going from the school grounds, but just from going to his physical therapy and working with Hound Dog, he caught glimpses of the overwhelming amount of students that would flood the halls. 

It made him all the more aware that he was actually staying at his dream school; although not a part of the actual student body that is enrolled. Izuku felt much more out of place walking around in jeans and a hoodie while everyone else was proudly wearing their uniforms. It only made that growing want, the desire to be among these students like he always wanted, push him further during his studies, asking Kacchan and even Mirio to help him when he was struggling with his homework and workbooks, and even helping Eri with her homework as well. He didn’t want her to be left behind either, they both were going to grow and become stronger, smarter, and healthy together. 

Thankfully, besides Kacchan and Mirio, who would stay out in the halls for as long as possible to wish him luck on whatever lesson, therapy session, or appointment with Recovery Girl, it doesn’t seem like most of the student body is aware of Izuku or Eri being on campus. He usually tried to pass through the halls during class, avoiding the windows into classrooms to make sure he wouldn’t disturb their lessons. 

Eri has also been growing more and more, blooming into a much more energetic and happy child, and taking to her studies with a burning desire. It made Izuku happy to see her truly find herself and grow into the child she actually should be. She doesn’t come to the school as much as Izuku does, as her lessons are usually done at their home when the teachers have a free period or so, but he is hoping that once she’s caught up to other’s her age and they handle Chisaki, they may be able to get her into a school and she can start making more friends.  

While things have been looking up alot more these last few weeks, it doesn’t mean its all been smooth sailing either, Izuku can tell that the sudden increase of toys and stuffed animals are all from them as well, not that he can complain about it as he knows that if he had the means, he would also dote on her alot as well. At first, she didn’t take too kindly to the toys, always seeming put off by receiving them from the teaching staff, and it took a bit of time for her to confide to him and Aizawa that they would bombard her with expensive toys back at the Shie Hassakai whenever they wanted something from her, or if Chisaki was wanting to do a lot of ‘work’ on her. That night was hard, trying to explain that no one wanted her to do anything she didn’t want to do, and that these toys weren’t brides but the hopes of the teachers to know and play with her. There are times when receiving  big gifts seem to make her uneasy, but she does seem to understand that there isn’t some other shoe that is going to drop if she does accept them. 

( It has been a bit funny watching Aizawa get on Present Mic about the issue and that all the big and extravagant toys that he keeps getting her are making her uncomfortable. It always cracks him up watching the two of them bicker and be over dramatic with one another. Thankfully, he did take the hint and stopped doing it, but watching him overact whenever he brings it up is quite funny.)

Its hard to imagine that the weeks were flying by and soon enough the spring buds were starting to appear on the trees lining the main walk path, the wind still holding onto some remnants of an icy chill, but the sprouts of new growth to everyone that it would begin to warm up soon. Izuku has been doing his physical therapy for some months now, and after starting some basic physical training into his routine now as well, he can really see alot of the work starting to pay off. No longer was he skin and bone, but now at a healthy weight  with some muscles starting to peak through on his arm, and he’s been able to lift more, run more, and Aizawa even mentions doing some balancing and core exercises now! 

But the thing that Izuku was most excited about, the thing he has been waiting for, for months, was that he was finally getting looked at for a prosthetic arm! Izuku was practically jumping down the empty hall with his excitement. Aizawa walked beside him, exuding the same cold and tired personality, looking even more tired to Izuku’s high energy; coffee cup in hand and leading them towards the support course classes, where they were to meet Power Loader who would take measurements of his arm and stump and talk over some of the blueprints that they have for it. 

Izuku couldn’t wait to see what Power Loader had drawn up, and with it being after school, the hallways were bare of life.

“Are you sure you’re not needed with your class? I thought you said that they were doing hero training right now?” Izuku asks, turning around to walk backwards to look at his guardian. 

“They will be just fine with their normal Hero class instructor, even if he’s scatterbrained sometimes and makes some idiotic calls….they know better though, and if i have to be called over to fix a situation, all of them will have to do extra lessons with me…..and i’m sure none of them want to have to spend an extra 3 hours doing drills with me.” he says, that freaky smile that he does when thinking up punishments spreading across his face. Izuku can’t hide the shiver that goes down his spine. Izuku thankfully hasn’t been threatened with those kinds of punishments (probably because Aizawa doesn’t think he is physically up to par to actually survive them) but he has seen him make that smile before when planning out those kinds of extra lessons, and just from reading over his shoulder and catching small bits of those plans, Izuku hopes he never has to. His ‘lessons’  would probably make even All Might sweat in fear. Izuku nods before turning back around, deciding to change the conversation before Aizawa starts thinking up plans for extra lessons. 

“Have you seen the blueprints for the arm yet? Does it look cool? Or is it like one of those claw looking ones? I looked up a couple of the basic designs that most people get for prosthetic hands and arms, and those all look kinda clunky and they have like a pincher or a claw thing for the hand…of course if that is what you decided i should have i won’t disagreeafteralljustgettingaprostheticcancostalotand youallhavealreadybeensowelcom-”

“Izuku, take a breath.” 

Aizawa interrupts him, reminding him to breathe, which Izuku gratefully takes in a gasp. 

“And to maybe help answer a couple of your questions, I haven’t seen the blueprints; Apparently, Maijima had tasked a handful of his students to come up with blueprints for your arm as extra credit, so we’ll be looking over a couple of blueprints and see which one you like best, or if needed, pick out what you like or don’t like and have the students work together to make a more refined blueprint.” Aizawa says as they make another turn, some of the walls seem to have echoes of soot around one of the doors. They must have made it to the Support course hall. 

“His students? But aren’t they learning how to make support items for heroes? Isn’t it a waste of their skills to make an arm for just someone like me?” Izuku asks, stopping as Aizawa stands in front of the door with scorch marks surrounding it, and the door honestly looks like it’s had better days. 

“Support items aren’t just for heroes and heroes in training; there are many support companies that make items for the average person, usually it is something they need to help live an average life, either due to accidents, or how they were born, or their quirks making it harder for them to live an average life.”

Aizawa looks at Izuku, his eyes never wavering, locked onto his own eyes.

“Heroes aren’t the only ones that need support; everyone needs support at some point in our lives. That is what we teach our Support Course students. This is a great chance for his students to truly see that motto come to fruition.” Aizawa pats his head, ruffling his hair into an even bigger mess. “You are absolutely worth the effort.” Izuku can feel the tears pooling in his eyes at Aizawa’s statement, Izuku knows Aizawa has said this before, so has Auntie Mitsuki, Bakugou, Uncle Masaru….and yet hearing it every time makes it set in that he really is loved and cared for. He rubs at the few tears that pricked up, as he doesn’t want to go into the room with puffy red eyes. 

“Ready?” Aizawa asks as he places his hand onto the door handle.

With one last wipe, he nods excitedly. 

“Ready!” 

With that Aizawa opens the door to the support course classroom; this is actually the first time Izuku is seeing it, since he never had the chance to check out the different classrooms before the second half of the school year started. There were workstations lined up and facing towards the large white board at the front of the room, tools lined up on the walls, along with containers of sorts of miscellaneous pieces that Izuku is sure are very important for the work that they do, there’s even some hooks and a large space in the back of the classroom, probably for bigger items to be worked on and kept in the class. There were a handful of students sitting and waiting, and one who was standing over some papers with a very exacerbated Power Loader. They look like they are having some kind of conversation.

To the sound of the door squeaking open, Power Loader looks away from the still arguing student and turns his attention to the two of them, along with the rest of the students as well. Having so many eyes on him, Izuku can’t help taking a step behind Aizawa, letting him do the talking, and just focusing on the people around them. Its been awhile since so many strangers are actually looking at him. Living on the streets for so long has made him more used to being invisible and ignored, but being the center of attention is offputting.  He sees a few that look to be in their first year, including the one who is leaning over her own blueprints and scribbling away, while the others look to be second or third years. 

“Ah, Aizawa, Izuku, come on in. We were just going over some of the final blueprints that my students brought in today.” he says, his voice a bit muffled by the helmet on his head, but still very clear, most likely due to always yelling over the clanging and banging that goes on in the room every day. “If you would like, come on over and we can do some greetings and look over the designs they brought today. Don’t stay quiet if they are being pushy though, it's not just the hero course that gets its fair share of oddballs. HAHAHAHA!” he proudly laughs, and some of the students chuckle along with him, some of them obviously looking at one person, the one first year student that was still working on her blueprints. She seems to have pink dreadlocks, pulled back into a ponytail, keeping the thick strands out of her face as she ignores everything else around her. Seems like she’s one of those oddballs, although he can’t say that the others arent either. He isn’t sure about the hero course students, since he only really knows Kacchan and Mirio, but from what he hears from Aizawa, the jab isn’t that far off. 

Aizawa looks at him and Izuku nods back and finally comes forward and joins the small group of students, his guardian right behind him. 

“Hello, my name is Midoriya Izuku.Thank you for all the work you put into helping me.” he says, a bit quitely but proud he didn’t even stutter under all their gazes. 

He gets warm greetings and the names of the four students, the pink haired one still oblivious to the others as she continues to work on the blueprints, but no one else seems too concerned about it. 

They each pull out their blueprints, some simplistic in design while others are a bit more out there, but overall they all seem to be very passionate about what they are presenting. It took a couple of minutes for them to even realize that he had no clue what they were talking about when explaining the insides. Looking over each one, they all looked very intricate, some having gears and a more clockwork design, while others are far more technological, wires and cords. One of them, he thinks it's a design by one of the third years, had blueprints not just for a replacement arm, but some kind of port that it would connect to that would be connected to his stump. All of them just felt too….too much. He knows that for most people, these kinds of mechanisms and tech are needed to move the arm as needed and be as life like as possible, but….for Izuku, it feels like he would break them with just trying to use his own quirk

“AHA!” The girl with pink dreadlocks jumps up from her seat, startling Izuku out of his  thoughts as she quickly throws whatever she had been working on into Power Loader’s face. “How about this! You have to accept these blueprints! This baby will surely be the winner when whoever is getting it looks at it!” she boasts, still seeming to be completely oblivious to the fact that ‘whoever is getting it’ is already in the room.

Power loader glances through the papers before clenching the papers in his hands, before slamming the papers down onto the table. “Mei! Did you even listen to any of my notes on your previous designs?!” he scolded, and Mei didn’t seem bothered by it at all. Izuku glances over to the slightly crumpled blueprints, the design looks outright streampunk, pipes sticking out of the side, what would have been his elbow was a gear hinge, and… “is that supposed to be a grappling hook in this compartment?” he mutters out, seeming to finally catch the girl’s attention, her intense eyes focusing on him. 

“Yeah! The wire is made out of a nylon metal weave, so its hardy but still very easy to wrap it if needed. And it will make it easier to grab things from far away, or get yourself to a destination quicker! My beautiful baby will be the best arm!” she continues to boast, Power loader still grumbling at the table in defeat at how she completely ignored him. 

“Well, it is quite an interesting idea…..all of these blueprints are. But….” Izuku stops for a moment, looking back over the piles of papers in front of him, all of the support students, Power Loader and Aizawa’s eyes on him as they wait for his feedback, as well as his choice. “but…..I don’t think I can accept any of these designs. I-I’m sorry.” he says, not wanting to look up at the students who put in so much work on these. And if it was anyone else, these designs would be perfect. 

“Well, what are we missing exactly? Is it the design?  Are there parts that you do like from the blueprints? tell us what you do, and we can work from there.” one of the third years, a girl with short hair and some scales that dot around her cheeks. He looks up at her, surprised that she isn’t mad that he refused all of their designs. 

“A-aren’t you guys mad?”

“What? Why would we be mad?” she asked, pulling out a notebook of somesort, the others following suite, rummaging in backpacks for papers and pencil. 

“Well, you all put in so much effort in these designs, and I told you no to all of them….” Izuku mumbles out, feeling a bit embarrassed as he tries to explain, although he doesn’t think he did all that well.

This time one of the second years chuckles at his mumbled response, flipping open his notebook, “we aren’t new to rejection to an idea or a blueprint; we’ve all had to scrap ideas and plans, or Power Loader vetoing our designs and ideas. That’s because as we work on the item we realize that what we had first thought wouldn’t work, or that there’s a better way of getting the result that we want. Getting feedback about what you are needing will help us get one step closer to finding the right design. so , what exactly did you like, and what was it about the designs you saw that didn’t work for you.” he asks, the other students leaning in and looking pumped to start designing again. 

“O-okay….um,” Izuku looked back over  the designs spread out before him, before grabbing the one that looked more streamline design that he saw  “I did like the style of this one a bit more, I don’t want anything bulky or super flashy, something simple and more natural looking. The real issue that I had with all of the designs was the internal aspect of them all.” At that, he does get some confused looks from the students. Aizawa picks up the blueprints and looks them over, his eyes widening when he most likely realizes the problem as well. 

“Ah, I think I see what you mean, Izuku. Power Loader, did you explain Izuku’s Quirk to your students?” Aizawa asks, turning his attention to the other teacher.

“You didn’t tell me his quirk, you must have been barely awake when putting in the request for the prosthetic arm, cause you missed that important section, as well as a few others in the request form. I had them working under the impression that the consumer was quirkless, or had a mental or weaker quirk.” Power Loader complains, most likely giving Aizawa an exacerbated look underneath his metal headgear. Aizawa looks away, obviously wanting to  ignore the fact that the issue came from him messing up the paperwork for the replacement. It takes so much to keep from laughing at the slight pout that he can make out from under Aizawa’s capture scarf.  

“so , what is your quirk then? Is it some type of transformation quirk? That could explain why some of the internal designs wouldn’t work.” the third year asks.

Izuku looks to Aizawa, the silent question of ‘can I use it?’ being sent his way. Aizawa looks over the room, probably to make sure Izuku’s quirk wouldn’t mess with any technology or student’s work in the room, before giving him a nod. 

Izuku stands up, stretching out his hand and lifting his stump, he grabs hold of multiple small scraps of metal, bolts, screws and wires, some thin pieces of metal, that was about the size of his forearm, and pulls them to him with his quirk, he can’t help the small thrill of finally getting to use his quirk again after months of only physical therapy. He has the metal orbit around him for a moment, before redirecting some of the bolts and washes to slip onto the pencils of the Support students; the larger peices of scrap metal moving toward his stump, hovering in place just under one another until they make the semblance of a stick figure arm, the bolts and screws he had left over making up a mock of fingers. He looks to the students to see them slack jawed, they definitely weren’t expecting something like that. 

“I call it magnatism manipulation, I can control and manipulate any metal due to my own natural magnetic field.” Izuku explains simply, having the metal stick hand move up and wave at them. It was a bit difficult, he could feel some of the bolts acting as knuckles slip out of the alignment, but he thought it was still pretty funny. “That’s why having gears, or electronics like what you guys wrote out wouldn’t really work. My natural magnetic field messes with fine tuned electronics, so the prosthetics with receptors and computer chips would get fried because of that. And I'm worried that if I were to use my quirk with the clockwork-like internal design with cogs and gears, I would unintentionally move something out of place and make the arm useless. The work to keep any of these designs would be more work than it's worth if you’re constantly fixing it due to my own quirk.” 

It was silent after that, Izuku taking the moment to send back his makeshift stick arm and place them back to where they were before, working the bolts and washes on their pencils off again and sending them back to their respective bins. 

“That’s….”

“AMAZING!”

“Such a quirk would be amazing to have in the support item field! Let alone what you may be able to actually accomplish with such a quirk!”

“You’re not wrong that it would make alot of the more advanced and updated prosthetics that we could make useless though, i understand your reservations about it.” 

“Aizawa……you seriously need to keep me in the loop about things like this.” 

Everyone is talking at once now, the students writing like crazy in their notebooks, either ideas or he caught the word ‘test’ on a couple of lines. The pink haired girl, Mei, pipes up, her eyes literally shining with anticipation. “So what you really need, since your quirk could actually replace the need for receptors, gears, and wires, is a strong shell of a prosthetic arm and base for it to attach to with the necessary joints! You could use your quirk to move the arm naturally all on your own with your quirk!” she says leaning closer and closer with each word til she was practically caging him in with the chair that he was in a moment ago, their noses just centimeters apart. He tries to lean back even more, and nearly falls over the back of his chair. The second year boy grabbed the back of her shirt and reels her back into her own chair, but that slightly crazy grin was still on her face. 

“Your quirk definitely changes up how we will want to go forward with this; lets first see if there is a way we can take your natural magnetic field into account with some of our machines, and measure how much output you can actually push. If needed though, we can go the route that Mei suggested and see about getting you an everyday-quirk-use license. This does mean that it will take a bit longer on your new arm.” Power Loader says, and his students look just as excited as Mei does at the idea of learning more about his quirk.

honestly……Izuku is actually really excited to.

He used to love analyzing quirks before he ran away and started living on the streets. He used to try and do it when he was living on them too….but he learned the hard way how dangerous it was to be seen doing that. When people are living for survival, they don’t really take kindly to kids trailing them around and asking questions about quirks and writing them down. 

Maybe…..maybe he could start writing them again. He’ll talk with Kacchan about it, afterall, if he was going to start writing new quirk analysis, his first entry would have to be Kacchan. 

He looks to mr. Aizawa, and when he gets that small smile, the one that he always sends Eri’s way when she shows him what she’s working on, or when she takes a big step towards recovering, he smiles right back, a smile so big that it hurts his cheeks, he turns back to Power Loader and his students and nods excitedly. 

“That’s fine! I want to learn more about my quirk too!”

~~~~~~~

“Izuku,” Izuku stops on the path back to their house, turning back to him who was following behind the kid a couple of steps.

“Yeah?” 

“You have been doing very well for the last month now with your physical therapy and training, we’ll probably start adding more on to your physical training, so if you would like, we can also start seeing about training your quirk.” he says, catching Izuku’s gaze, surprise painted all over his face. Shouta almost wants to pull him in and hug the kid with the look that he’s getting. But he holds back, he doesn’t think Izuku wants that kind of affection right now, nor has he been able to get that close to Izuku yet, while he has made great improvements, he is still wary about affectionate touch from adults, the most that Izuku accpets at the moment is ruffling his hair, so a hug is completely out of the question. Right now, the kid needs him to be completely honest with this, because Shouta can see it in his eyes. the one thing that makes him push forward in his question.

A glimmer of hope shining in his eyes.

“You don't have to accept the offer if you don’t want to; I'm not going to force you to do anything you don’t want. But I'm going to be completely honest…..back there, when you were showing them your quirk, and talking about it, the only times I have seen you that happy and carefree has been with Eri and Bakugou.”

Izuku doesn’t move for a moment, and Shouta can’t help but worry that he might have pushed too soon. That’s when he sees tears falling down his kids cheeks, but the wobbly grin is unmistakeable.  To Izuku, and in some ways for Shouta, this offer isn’t just about learning how to use his quirk or how to control it…..this is him offering to help him train Izuku, both physically and with his quirk. Just like he does his students. This is shouta offering to help train Izuku to start reaching his dream of being a hero.  Shouta knows how important this is, its why he wants to handle this carefully, this kid could easily be a hero, he has the heart for it, and from the years of listening to Bakugou, he knows this has always been Izuku’s dream. But it’s a dream that Izuku had to give up for 5 years. It’s going to take time and patience to build up his self confidence, and reignite the dream. And this is one of the first big steps towards doing that. 

“D-don’t you have to help Eri with her quirk though?” Izuku quietly asks, his voice shaky.

“I can keep helping Eri control and learn about her quirk at the same time as help you with yours. And I’m sure the other teachers would be thrilled to help you train it as well if I am needed elsewhere.” Aizawa counters the weak excuse, keeping his posture loose and relaxed, but never once looking away from him. 

Shouta lets him take his time to think it over, the silence was not oppressive, but still holding tension for whatever reply he would get from Izuku. 

His reply was quiet, just barely above a whisper, but to Shouta it was a resolute cheer. 

“Yes. please, I want to train my quirk.”

With that, he reaches over and ruffles Izuku’s hair, “alright kid, I’ll help you out. We can talk about a new training regime over dinner. Now let's get going, I’m sure Eri is waiting for us.” 

Izuku was still wiping at a few stray tears, his wobbly smile growing even further. 

“Yeah! You’re right, we should get going!” he laughs out, running ahead and seeming to furiously wipe at his eyes still. Shouta lets a small smile slip, feeling relief that Izuku was accepting his help, and doesn’t seem like he has given up on his dream completely. He knows it will still take time and patience, but to see some of that hard work pay off, and see his kid so happy, Shouta basks in the warmth that fills him at seeing Izuku act as other kids his age should.

Care-free.

~~~~~~~

Iida has quite a few regrets.

He regrets how he handled the news of his brother’s injury. he regrets not speaking with Ochako about his frustrations, and how he pushed her away when she tried to help. He regrets using Manual in order to be closer to Stain. He regrets trying to take revenge for his brother, and losing sight of what really mattered. He regrets putting both Mr.Aizawa and Manual in trouble for his actions, and nearly getting that other hero killed. And he regrets that he couldn’t find out who that kid was….that he couldn’t help him after he saved Iida.

Not just from Stain, but from himself too. 

The things that he said will still cycle through his mind, those events repeating in dreams….in nightmares they twist and turn and make him jolt out of bed, fearing having to close his eyes and seeing the see of red that would await him back in those haunting dreams. 

Something he remembered, recently, was that the boy had struggled to move him due to the weight of his armor ( although Tenya can’t say for sure on that since the boy had moved him using his own quirk), but tenya also knows that he has been noticing his speed being slower due to the added weight and size of his armor. He had not wanted to change his original costume because of its semblance with his family’s history, but after Hosu….. He has spoken with Mr.Aizawa, Hound Dog, and with his brother as well (and that had been a very long, nagging talk. Tenya knows he can be…blunt and direct when it comes to addressing and  correcting mistakes, as well as pointing out such things to others, but he at least hopes he doesn’t nag others like his brother does when he gets heated about something. He can still feel his ears ringing from all of it.)  about his thoughts and decisions during that time, and trying to correct them and learn from them. One of the points was the weight of carrying on the Ingeninum name; his brother and Aizawa had mentioned that taking on the name does not mean to be a carbon copy of those before him, but rather to take what those before him have done and shape them into what he wants to embody, what works best for him. 

He’s not sure if changing his suit is the right step….but if he truly wishes to stand tall with the name ingeninum, then he must be sure that he can be his absolute best when carrying the name. 

He wrote down a few notes on what he may want to change or update on his suit, nothing really concrete since he doesn’t want to lose too much of the original design, when Ochako lightly raps her knuckles on the corner of his desk, pulling him from his thoughts and getting his attention. 

“Hey Iida! I was wondering, during our free period, would you want to go down to the Support Department with me? I have a couple of changes to my costume I was thinking of mentioning to the support student in charge of my costume, but it’s always a bit crazy there, and I didn’t want to go alone.” she asks, holding up a costume change form, halfway filled out. 

“Sure Ochako, I was actually thinking of making a few updates to my design as well, so this would be a great chance for us both to do so.”  she smiles at him, it shines in a way that reminds him of green hair hidden by dirt and grime and eyes that shone with so much emotion and determination.

Just as she hands him an extra form that she had grabbed, their next teacher, Present Mic comes in, and those who had been out of their seats quickly get back to them and all eyes are on the lesson.

The hours quickly turn as they near their free period; teachers coming and going and Iida trying to stay on task, even if Kaminari keeps trying to get Bakugou’s attention about something that was making it a bit hard to focus, since Kaminari has a habit of bringing others into his shennianigans. Mr. Echoplasm didn’t particularly enjoy the distraction though; he’ll have to make sure to offer his help with the extra work that his classmate ended up with, and maybe write some notes that Kaminari can easily look over and get the concept of the equations. 

Finally, the bell rang and it was their free period, and soon he and his friend were walking down the halls, Ochako excitedly talking about some of the changes she was hoping to make. Iida watches on, commenting here and there about her ideas, and he smiles at the care-free nature she has, how she doesn’t hold his actions against him, and how she easily forgave him when he apologized to her for how he acted. He wishes he could forgive himself as easily as she did. 

They come to the door, hints of some kind of explosion had gone off recently and its ashes framed the door, and Iida was reminded of the Sports Festival and Hatsume. She seems like a person who would always have something blowing up in her face before getting things just right. 

“It sounds like they’re all still working, so we hopefully shouldn’t be bothering them too much with their free time.” Ochako says, grabbing onto the door handle and opening it, calling out a greeting to the classroom. Iida steps in behind her and something catches his eye. 

Green.

A boy with dark green hair, only really showing the green where the light catches onto the ends of his hair. He isn’t wearing a school uniform, or the school’s track suit either, instead just normal street wear, a jacket over his shoulders. His back was turned to them, talking adamantly with a few students that were jotting down things onto notebooks as they talked. but that wild curly hair…..it looks just like that boy, a bit more perkier, and the color showing far better with it being clean. It…couldn’t be….could it? 

“Ah! Hi there! Sorry if we missed your greeting, We were going over some tests with Izuku here. Mei, Daichi, why don’t you two handle these two hero students; Izuku, if you’re alright with it, let's get measurements for your arm done.” the older student greets them, sending the other two, younger, support course students (wait, did he say mei?!) 

And then, the mystery person, Izuku, turns around as he shrugs off his coat. 

Its him.

That boy from that night in Hosu.

He looks to be doing so much better, while a bit on on the thin side, Iida can only guess just how much weight he must have gained. His hair is so much more bouncy and lively, the underside of his head now being evenly shaved to a green fuzz while the top half of his hair was still a bit long and looked far more healthier, than it did that night with it covered in dirt, mud and grime. His eyes still hold such a bright spark, but they are no longer encompassed in dark circles and caked on grime. Iida couldn’t stop looking, one of his wishes, the true hero that had saved him from his own vengeance, is right in front of him again. 

“It’s you.” he manages to whisper, catching Izuku’s attention (his name is Izuku….he never got the chance to get his name.) he watches the recognition come to him as his eyes seem to widen even more than they already are. 

“Oh h-hey! I remember you, from Hosu, right?” Iida can tell he’s dancing around the actual question of Hosu, which he appreciates as the news was only told that Mr.Aizawa was the one that saved Native from Stain, taking down the Hero Killer; both of their involvment was covered up and swept under the rug by the police and the heroes. The unsure look on his face hits Tenya hard, as if he’s asking if he should even acknowledge they know each other. Iida could never turn his back on the person that has helped him so much more then this boy could ever know. 

“Iida, do you know him?” Ochako asks, smiling at him as she looks at Izuku with curiousity. 

“Yes, I had met him once in Hosu while doing my internship with Manual; we had-um” Iida stutters out, not sure if Izuku would like the fact that he is homeless (or maybe the right verbage would he, ‘was homeless?’)

“I was homeless when we met in Hosu, he had helped direct me to one of the shelters nearby when he was patrolling with Manual.” Izuku finishes, not hesitating to pick up where Iida left off. 

“Oh wow! I’m sorry to ask about a difficult time.” Ochako apologizes, giving him a bow. He waves it off, msiling to her with a light “don’t worry about it” but that movement is what makes his jacket fall off his shoulders, where it had been resting, leaving his arms free of their sleeves. But Iida was mistaken. The jacket falls off his shoulders, only showing one arm waving at them. The other just ends a few inches below his shoulder.

Did…..did he lose his arm because of what happened in Hosu?! Did he lose it because of him?! H-he doesn’t recall….wait…he was hit in that arm multiple times by Stain, he remembers watching helplessly as the homeless teen took two daggers straight into his right arm….the arm that isn’t there anymore. Oh god…..he…..he was the reason that Izuku lost his arm, wasn’t he?! How could he have just let him get hurt like this, to be crippled due to his own revenge. Izuku….Tenya could never forgive himself for this. 

“Ii….Iida……Iida!” 

He startles out of his spiraling thoughts, focusing on Ochako who was now in front of him, giving him that same concerned look that she had before their internships, Izuku having the same one, although his has some kind of mix of shame or embarrassment in it, his hand now cradling the stump. 

“M-my apologies for staring Izuku…..its just t-that….you-um” its not like Tenya to be stuttering over himself, but the thoughts of how….how he might of lost it….the weight of the possibility of it being his fault weighs his tongue down and makes the words so hard to ask. “You had both of…..did you lose it when……I…..”

Some realization of what Iida was trying to ask dawns on Izuku. “I didn’t l-lose my arm back in Hosu…..although i’m more surprised I got out of there when those crazy monsters came out of nowhere and started destroying everything! I-I lost it back during that huge snowstorm.” Izuku explains, rubbing at the scarred shoulder, avoiding any kind of eye contact with him, but Izuku doesn’t seem like the type to lie, but he could at least tell that there was more to the story then Izuku was letting on. 

Iida wishes to ask more, but he can tell that it’s best to let this lie for now. 

“Oh, so you were still in the city when the Nomu’s attacked it? That must have been crazy terrifying. When those villains and the Nomu attacked us back at the USJ, it was like something walked out of those old time scary movies, and watching Mr. Aizawa fight that thing was horrifying. I’m glad that you were able to get out of there alright with all of those Nomu’s around. Oh! I’m so sorry, I haven’t introduced myself! I’m Uraraka Ochako, Iida and I are in the same class. We’re really sorry if we interrupted you guys.” Ochako, bubbly as ever, takes over the conversation a bit, Iida taking the moment to calm himself down. 

“Yes, we are both quite lucky. I was worried about you, so I am glad to see you are doing far better than when we last met. I would like to ask how you are onto U.A. Campus, but we have already taken up more than a fair share of your time, and it seems like you are still quite busy at the moment.” Iida says, not wanting to have the conversation end yet, after all this has been something he has been wishing for for months, but he also knows that they are on a short time frame with their free period almost up, and Iida and Ochako still need to speak with the first year support course students about the changes they wanted. He has to be smart about this. 

“Oh, its no problem, I’m glad we could meet again! Iida, if you’re not busy, we can try meeting up again after the school day ends, I’ll still be around then. Ah……s-sorry Ochako, I-I didn’t mean to leave you out or anything! I-it’s just-”

“Hahahaha, it’s alright. I can tell that you guys want some time together to talk, I can just tease Iida later that he was hiding the fact he had a new friend. Plus, I have plans with Hagakure and Mina after school anyways.” Ochako says, giving Iida a look that says that she will absolutely ask him all about their conversation tomorrow. Iida can only sigh, but be grateful that even if he has to wait a bit longer, he can truly thank Izuku for all he has done for him in just a few hours. 

“I have no plans, so I would be happy to meet with you after classes have ended. I can meet you in the front courtyard, if that is alright with you.”

“Great! I’ll try not to take up too much of your time!” 

“I hope I get to see you more too!” Ochako chimes in, looping her arm around Iida’s and pulling him over to the two students who were still waiting for them. Izuku nods, and seems to recall something, “oh, right. You introduced yourself, but I didn't; my name is Izuku Midoriya, its nice to meet you two.” he says, smiling easily as they wave goodbye to them before following Mei and the other Support student back into the hallway and to another room that was across the hall. This must be their actual classroom, and the other being the workshop. 

Iida easily follows along and sits down, handing his updated form for his costume to the boy, Daichi, and tries to get his mind back on track to the moment at hand, mentioning what some of the changes he had in mind were and making note of the options and opinions Daichi was giving him. Iida can’t help the small smile on his face as they start to wrap things up and head back to their class before the free period ends, anxious for the school day to end even just a moment faster.

He can’t help but be excited to see his hero.

Chapter Text

Iida felt a tad off as he watched the throng of students pass him by down the stairs and on to the front gate. the final bell rang out across the school grounds and Iida had excitedly jumped out of his seat and had to stop himself from running to the front door, but now as he watches the waves of students leave, and the longer he waits, some of his anxieties about meeting Izuku again are starting to bubble up within his stomach.

Ochako walks by him, bookbag draped off one of her shoulders. He can only guess the look he is making, since she sends him a wink and two thumbs up and tells him excitedly “it’ll go great! Have fun meeting up with your friend Iida!” before hopping down the stairs and out through the gate herself. Iida shook off the anxiety and stood tall, not wanting this to go wrong at all. He had even texted his brother during lunch to let him know that he would be getting home late, so that he wouldn’t worry his family of his irregular absence.

As the minutes ticked by, the students leaving school grounds thinned out until he watched what was probably the last student besides him walk out of the gates 30 minutes after school had ended. And the anxiety he thought he had shaken off reared itself once again as the time still ticked on by with no sign of the green haired teen. 

Maybe……Izuku decided that he did not actually wish to meet up with him again after all. 

Iida couldn’t help the thought crossing his mind more then once as the minutes still passed by.

That is until Izuku ran around the corner of the school building and began sprinting straight to him down the path. “Iida!” Izuku joyfully yells, seeming to perk up as he notices that Iida had stayed behind. He nearly tripped overself as he forced himself to stop abruptly infront of the stairs leading to the door, Iida could only be caught off guarded by the sweaty one-armed teen.

“Iida! I-” Izuku gasps as he leans down and tries to get a deep breath in “I am…. sorry for being late; I don’t really want the whole student body knowing that I’m on campus, and….. well….I got a bit side tracked with…” Izuku staggers through his sentence, taking in deep breaths every couple of words. Iida was about to suggest that he sit down to catch his breath when the sound of explosions came from the very same walking path that Izuku had appeared from that went around the side of the school. Iida was not expecting to see Bakugou of all people shooting out from the corner.

“Bakugou?”

“Hauh?!”

His abrasive classmate skids to a stop just beside Izuku and Iida, looking quickly from one of them to the other, before settling on Izuku, who had finally seemed to have calmed down. 

“What the hell Izu! This is why you were trying to ditch me?!” he yells into Izuku’s face. 

Iida was ready to admonish the language and how he was speaking to someone the same age as them, that was until Izuku gave a fond sigh and replied with an easy smile on his face. 

“I’m not ditching you Kacchan, I told you I was meeting up with Iida since we met before, and then we could still do movie night like we promised.” 

Does Izuku know Bakugou? It seems like Izuku is full of mysteries that leave Iida speechless. As of right now, Izuku was easily handling one of the most temperamental people Iida has ever met. Even with Bakugou actively popping off small firecracker-like explosions in the palm of his hands, Izuku doesn’t  seem fazed at all from them, or shy away from them. He just give that calming smile and lightly converses with him until it seems like Bakugou has finally calmed down as well. 

One he was sure that Bakugou seemed far more calm, and less like to blow up again at him, Iida spoke up. 

“I apologize if my last minute request has interrupted your plans, i did not mean to cause any kind of friction between you two.” 

Izuku turns back to him, a slight look of surprise painted across his face. “Oh! You don’t have to apologize Iida; I was the one that accepted afterall, and besides, Kacchan is staying over tonight anyways so it’s not like we had a set time for us to go watch the movie anyways. He’s just mad that I didn’t tell him that I already have met you.” Izuku quickly explains, and by the glare that Bakugou was sending him, Iida can only guess how much he doesn’t like that Izuku had, as Mina would say, ‘called him out’. Iida had not been sure what she had meant when she tried to explain the term, but now that he was seeing it with his own eyes, it makes much more sense to him.

“still….I apologize for intruding on your time. I just, wished to….” Iida tries to continue on with his explanation, but the words that he was thinking of at first, now feel…childish when rethinking them. It’s hard enough trying to make new friends, especially ones that mean so much to him and his growth as a hero in training….but to admit that he wanted to get to know him better feels like something you would say on the playground, and not to a teenager in front of U.A.  the heavy silence that was left made every second that Iida did not pick up where he left off feel even more and more awkward. In another shocking feat, it was Bakugou that broke the silence, scoffing outloud before grabbing both Izuku’s and his own hand before dragging the both of them toward the school. 

“K-kacchan?”

“If four eyes wants to talk to you, I don't give a damn; but standing around ain’t going to get you guys anywhere. and I know you skipped lunch, you idiot.  Lunch Rush is still on campus for a while, and we can guilt him into making something for you. Might as well get something tasty while you two do whatever hell kinda awkward conversation you wanted.” Bakugou states loudly, still dragging them behind him brashly.

“You don’t have to drag us Kacchan! You could have just said it before. And you know that we don’t have to guilt Lunch Rush either, he’s always happy to make us something after school. Hahaha, I'm pretty such he’s taken it as a challenge to make something that will fit your spice level anyways.” Izuku claims, chuckling to himself as he tries to get his arm free from Bakugou’s grip, granted the grip he hasn’t isn’t exactly a harsh one, so Iida is quite sure that he’s doing it more for the fun of it than to actually let Bakugou go. The two of them must truely know each other a great deal, and perhaps for far longer than Iida could imagine for the two of them to be so casual and comfortable with one another. This is also one of the few times that Iida has seen Bakugou give such blatant care and thought to another. It’s not as though he has not done so before, when Iida himself was having to handle his brother’s injury, Bakugou was one of the few people that both gave him space, not crowding him with placating words or shoving news articles in his face, but also showed a small amount of respect and care towards him during that time. Even back after the USJ attack, that was probably the only time that Iida could say that Bakugou showed honest care and concern to his classmates. but this is the first he was seeing him be so open about it, and for something as small as simply changing where they were going to speak and getting some food.

It seems that Iida will need to apologize to Bakugou sometime in the near future for his misgivings about him. 

~~~~~~

This wans’t exactly how he thought his meetup with Iida would go, the three of them sitting at one of the many empty tables in the cafeteria, multiple plates of snacks and bowls of ramen scattered between them, Kacchan’s bowl having a far more red hue then his or Iida’s. Izuku didn’t hesitate, giving quick thanks before digging into the steaming bowl, and gulping down what he could as quickly as possible. He didn;t want to admit it, but Kacchan was right about him missing lunch, he just didn’t realize how hungry he actually was until the smell of it hit him. 

Izuku can think back to just a few months ago, barely eating enough for something to be even considered a meal, half of it rotten or already eaten from and molding. 

It still surprises him sometimes, waking up in an actual house, instead of the damp wooden planks and rusted metal roof of his hut back on the beach. How quickly everything can change.

“Slow the fuck down, Izu.”

“While I do not agree with the language Bakugou has chosen, I do agree that slowing down would be best.” 

Izuku almost wants to laugh, but he’s sure that if he does, he actually would choke on the large mouthful of vegetables and noodles that he has crammed into his mouth. The two of them are pretty much polar opposites of each other, that it makes it even funnier when the both of them agree on something. Izuku nods, taking the time to finish up his mouth-full and shows them the much smaller bite he has grabbed with his chopsticks. Kacchan just scoffs at him, Iida did give him an approving nod before moving to start eating his own….that is until Kacchan ‘accidentally’ knocks his elbow into Iida’s, making him drop his food back into the bowl. Izuku has to stop himself from choking on the food still currently in his mouth at the look that Iida sent to Katsuki. If he had a phone, he would have taken a photo of it, even Kacchan looked like he was struggling to hold back his laughter at the look. 

It was nice to see that Iida also had such a fun side to him once he loosened up. 

Talking with each other, even with Iida and Kacchan bickering constantly, was actually fun and uplifting, and Izuku enjoyed himself immensely. They spoke about how he and Iida first met, Iida seeming to try and hide the fact that he tried to hunt down that killer, but Katsuki basically called him out on it and they explained the whole thing. Kacchan was definitely not happy at hearing that Izuku threw himself into the middle of that fight, but Izuku could see the pride on his face as clear as day. Izuku explained how he and Katsuki grew up together for a number of years before he ended up on the streets, he could tell they both wanted to know more about that specific time of his life, but he didn’t want to even touch on the subject of it; although he did tell Iida about Eri in case they meet in the near future. 

Before the three of them knew it, plates and bowls were emptied and the three of them sat with full stomachs and still they talked, well, Izuku and Iida mostly talked, Kacchan would butt into the conversation at times but he never really led the conversation, seeming to be content with letting them lead it on. 

Eventually, Izuku was finally able to ask about something he has been itching to know.

“So what has your school year been like? Being a part of the hero course has to be one of the best things ever, we would talk about going to school here every chance we got when we were younger, and now you both are here! I’ve been wanting to ask you both what it’s been like.” he asks, nearly bouncing out of his seat with excitement. However he wasn’t expecting the nervous looks that he got from both of them. He gives Katsuki a questioning look, trying to figure out why the both of them looked so…..hesitant? He’s not really sure what may have happened to get such looks from both of them. 

“Have you…I understand that it must have been hard to keep up to date on events when you were homeless…..but did you not see anything about U.A. this past year?” Iida stumbles through his question. 

“Well, after taking in Eri, I didn't really try to look for newspapers and stuff, and I was basically trying to stay under the radar as best as I could. The only thing that I really saw anything for was a small bit about the Sports festival, and I didn’t stop to watch it.” 

Kacchan heaves a sigh, before standing up and taking his and Izuku's dishes. “Come on, this is going to take awhile to catch you up on….everything.” Izuku could tell that it was serious.

“K-Kacchan?” 

He hands the dishes back to Lunch Rush, Iida stands up as well, placing a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “Alot has happened this year, some bad, some good. It is quite a long story though, and I fear that I will have to leave soon as well if I want to get home before it gets too dark. Maybe…if you would prefer that is..” Iida starts to try and rephrase himself, seeming to try and find the right words. Izuku almost cut him off and agree that he would be happy to meet up again at a later time to hear about it, but Kacchan beats him to it first.

“Like hell; just call them up and tell them you're staying over. This is gonna take a hell of a long time, and there’s no fucking way I’m going to have to field the nerd’s questions all on my own. You can even have them talk to Aizawa if you’re a fucking coward.” 

Iida looked both appalled and also a bit relieved as well, most likely not appreciating Kacchan’s ‘unique’ verbiage, but at least understanding the sentiment behind them. Katsuki, without even breaking stride, loops his arm within the crook of Izuku’s, turning around and letting Iida lag behind as he tries to fish his phone out of his pocket to try and call his family about the change in plans. If Izuku had his arm free, he would also text Aizawa to let him know about the extra company that would be staying with them, but there’s not much he can do with Kacchan holding it so tightly as they make their way over to the hidden apartment.  the halls are empty as they make their way back outside, the sun already starting to set against the high wall that mark the school grounds, even with the cold sneaking it's way past his collar and stinging his cheeks, it doesn't even begin to touch the warmth that has settled in his chest. 

by the look on Kacchan's face, he can tell that Iida wasn't kidding about it being a lot, whatever it was that has happened during the first half of their school year.  They will definitely be in for a long night.

But even with that promise hanging over their heads; Izuku can't help the smile on his face as he see's out of the corner of his eye, Iida bringing up the rear, a bright and honest smile on his face as he is talking to someone on the phone. and the way that Kacchan's shoulders seem to loosen at the fact that he won't have to be telling this all on his own. Izuku knows the feeling of that weight, he can still feel some of it weighing him down as there is still much of his past that he hasn't told Kacchan yet.

maybe...maybe not tonight, but next time....he'll tell him everything.

as they get closer and closer to the building, he can see the lights on and that warmth reignite even brighter in his heart. 

it may be a long night ahead of them, but he can't wait even a second more. 

Chapter Text

Aizwa was quite aware of Izuku meeting with Iida after school had ended, Izuku having told him when he had met with him in the teacher lounge for lunch, and even if his charge hadn’t told him, Shouta would have found out anyways, with how much Iida had been absorbed into his thoughts for the rest of the day, he would have pulled him aside to check in with him and found out that way.

But he is glad that Izuku seems to be trusting him far more easily than when Shouta first became his guardian. 

He knows that his connection and closeness to the Bakugou’s had been a very big key to Izuku trusting him; and he is nowhere near as bad as some of the children that he has had under his care before, usually for a short time because of a case, and he would never blame them for the trauma response they had. But he can also tell that when it came to Eri, Izuku would always try to do things himself first before trusting Aizawa to handle a situation. He would help her with anything, even when it might be a detriment to himself…there were quite a number of nightmare-filled nights when they first arrived on U.A., from both of them, but Izuku wouldn’t voice the fact that he was getting barely any sleep at all, either from his own nightmares, or helping Eri with hers. He would always make sure Eri had her fill of food, barely eating enough of his own plate before his food would go cold. 

There was even the time that he tried to cut both of their hair…..that was when Shouta finally had to put his foot down on the matter, by the time he found them in the bathroom, Izuku had managed to cut off a good chunk of the matted hair that had been hanging around his shoulders, and they hadn’t started on Eri’s yet; but Izuku trying to use scissors with his non dominant hand, it was shaking so much, had been a very terrifying thing to imagine him cutting too far and clipping himself with them. Although when he finally got a look of the mess of Izuku’s hair that was left, he can’t help but chuckle at the memory of it now. Nemuri was thankfully on campus at the time and was more than happy to come over and fix up the mess that was Izuku’s hair, and give Eri a quite needed trim to her hair. Her hair now rests a few inches below her shoulders, while Izuku had to have a bit more of a drastic cut, mostly due to alot of the matting in his hair than from his impromptu hair cut. He now has a high undercut, the top half of his hair now quite shorter as well, the top part of his hair,with it’s loose curls,  stopping just shy of his eyes and ears.

After that incident, Aizawa had sat down with Izuku, after ensuring that Nemuri would look over Eri for a bit outside of the apartment,  and the two of them had a long heart to heart; there were a lot of tears, and quite a few things came to light about Izuku’s time on the streets, things that he definitely did not bring up when questioned by Naomasa back in the hospital. Shouta thanked all of his time working in the underground to keep a calm and open face to Izuku, because the amount of fury that was in his veins that night would have made the situation so much worse if it had shown on his face. 

He had definitely sent quite a few texts to Naomasa about certain individuals to keep an eye out for and to look further into a few ‘charity’ organizations that Izuku had mentioned.

It eases his heart though as it seems like that night truly started to help Izuku with trusting him far more over the past few months; this is one of the biggest step by far. Izuku was going out and meeting up with friends (granted, going out just means meeting him at the school a few steps away) but this is the first time that he has probably left Eri alone with another person to go have fun and relax, from what Eri and Izuku spoke of before, the only time he left Eri alone with Jin was when he went to Hosu for supplies, so seeing him put his interests first made Shouta’s heart warm with pride.

 speaking of, Eri was currently sitting on the living room floor, a blanket fort crafted around her as she watches some kids show, he could hear her happily humming along with the tune of the intro from where he was in the kitchen, trying to follow a new recipe that Hizashi had sent him to try. It wasn’t that Shouta didn’t know how to cook, he understood some of the basics and has a few recipes that he knows how to make off the top of his head, but those are all very simple meals that he would make plenty of and then save the rest for lunches throughout the week. He knows how much Eri seems to love trying new foods, so Hisashi has been helping him with finding new recipes to try out for them. 

……..he was getting way too soft, maybe he should up his student’s next practical training, would All Might be alright with him talking over one of the foundational heroic classes? It’s not like he doesn’t already come to him to double check his course work every week. His kids have been getting a bit relaxed as of late as well, which wasn’t bad, he’s glad they seem to be doing well with everything that’s happened within just the first half of the school year, but he shouldn’t let them get too comfortable. 

Just then, his musing about lesson plans was interrupted as the front door burst open with three bodies toppling over one another to get into the warmth of the apartment, trying to escape the biting cold. 

“Izu! Kacchan!” Eri excitedly calls out, scurrying out of her blanket and cushion cave and run over to the front entrance, stopping just at the entrance as she realized that there were three bodies insteady of two.

Izuku, who seemed to have got the short end of the stick by being at the bottom of the dogpile, worms his way out of the group with quite a few colorful words from Bakugou and Iida chiding the blond’s language as well and kneels down, arm open wide for a hug. She doesn’t hesitate long, crashing into him and complaining that he was still wearing his coat. Aizawa hid his smile from the loud group, calling out in his usual indifferent tone, “Don’t leave the door open.” Shouta could hear Katsuki reply, although the words were lost to him to the slamming of the front door. 

Thankfully, they had settled down after that, they were most likely removing shoes and coats, Shouta had turned his attention back to the task at hand, seeing what he had on hand for dinner. He already knew that Bakugou was staying over, but by the fact that Iida was also brought along, Shouta can only assume that they intended for both Bakugou and Iida to stay the night. Aizawa makes note that if it’s not brought up to reach out to Tensei and let him know. 

“Mr.Aizawa.”

Shouta turns his attention back to the doorway, where Iida stood at attention, before bowing to him. 

“My deepest apologies for the sudden intrusion into your home. May I ask, if it is not too much trouble, to be allowed to stay for the night with you?” Iida doesn’t stand back up from his bow; it reminds him of how Iids used to act when the school year had started, honorific and stilted. It wasn’t until after Hosu that Iida seemed to finally start to learn how to relax, even if his classmates do joke with him about how he is robotic at times, they all have accepted him either way and have worked with him on growing. seeing him now only shows just how far he has grown in such a short amount of time. 

Shouta stays silent for a moment, before saying “how does hotpot sound for dinner?” 

Iida, ssemingly caught off guard with the response, breaks out of his bow, only for Izuku to practically jump on top of him, knocking the much taller boy off-balance. 

“Hot pot?! Awesome!”

“I-Izuku? But didn’t we just eat?” Iida questions, seeming to be caught off guard by the sudden weight on his back, but surprisingly, he doesn’t chide him on the action itself. 

“Yeah, but we ate hours agooooo.” Izuku whines, he can hear Eri giggling at Izuku’s attitude, that’s probably why he was doing it, that and to show Eri that Iida was someone she could feel comfortable around if she wanted to try and get to know him as well. The only people Izuku would ever be like this with are the Bakugou’s and Eri herself. Izuku may think he is being sneaky about it, but Shouta can see through it. But he does enjoy seeing him act like his age, joking around and being a teenager. 

“Then we can put off the hot pot for a bit, since it will be easy and quick to make. Eri, do you want a snack then to hold you over?” The excited nods from where she was hidden behind Bakugou was enough of an answer for him. 

While Shouta was busy making a snack for the two of them, he watched over the very awkward introduction of Iida to Eri, who was still hiding behind Katsuki’s leg. He wishes he could take photos of Iida trying to introduce himself to her, although the fact that she was peeking out from behind Bakugou, and seemed to find Iida’s robotic movements funny, Shouta is sure it won’t be long before she was comfortable with Iida…..the only question will be how long it will take Iida to relax around her. He looks more stressed out than Eri does. 

Once Introductions were over, Izuku let them know that they’ll be going into his room to talk more and somehow grabbed onto both Iida and Bakugou, dragging them down the hall. It was still amusing to see Katsuki and Iida having to handle one another for the sake of izuku, it feels more like a comedy skit then an actual friendship, but as long as they aren’t blowing anything up, then Shouta would absolutely take in the free entertainment.

Once the bedroom door was shut behind them, the peaceful quiet came back, besides the muffled voices of three teens that would drift down the hall from time to time. Eri, having abandoned her blanket fort for the time being it seems, joins him at the kitchen table and begins to work on some kind of drawing, she must have grabbed the page and crayons from the living room, as he makes a few onigiri for the two of them, both of them seeming to enjoy the silence.  

After the snacks were made and the two of them happily ate away at their food, Aizawa started on grading the homework that his students had brought in that day, Eri still working hard on the drawing. He wasn’t expecting the question she would ask, as she didn’t look away from her papers until the full question was asked.

“Can we see Jin soon?”

~~~~~~~~~

Once the door was closed behind them, Izuku finally released Iida and Kacchan from his grip, letting them go about themselves. Kacchan immediately leaned back on the end of his bed, while Iida seemed to take more time to look around the room, although there isn’t much to look at. A good bed, a bookshelf and a desk, a new laptop sitting on top of it as well as the workbooks that he was currently trying to work through, but not much else for decorations. Since being situated at U.A. they haven’t really had much time to actually go outside of school grounds, and even if they did, it would have to be with Aizawa and another one of the teachers at the school. There are a few old figurines that the Bakugou’s had held on for him from his childhood, and his quirk analysis notebooks fill up one of the shelves on his book shelf, but he didn’t have any posters on his walls, and his sheets were on the plain side. 

He knows that if he mentioned it, Aizawa and Hizashi would put down everything and go shopping with him, or Hizashi would go shopping himself and bring back way more than necessary. And he appreciates them both for how much they care, but he doesn’t need themed sheets, or hero posters on his wall, he’s just fine with what he has right now, and he doesn’t want to seem ungrateful for everything they have given him and Eri so far.

Once Iida had a look over the minimalist room, he took a seat at the desk chair, so Izuku decided that the head of the bed would be where he would settle in. 

“Alright, where would you like us to start?” Iida asks.

“The very beginning! What was the entrance exam like? What were both of your placements? Who are your classmates?” Izuku states excitedly, rambling off questions in hopes of being able to live a bit of his long forgotten dream through their stories. IZuku couldn’t wait to hear all about it! 

* * *

“No way! The Entrance Exam was robots!” Izuku cheers, his eyes taking on a starry and mesmerised look to them. 

“Fuck yeah! There were different types too! And you can bet your ass that I got first place in the exam! The only person who could have beaten me would have been you, you nerd.” Kacchan boasts, much to Iida’s displeasure. 

“It was still quite difficult to pass, I had managed to get to 6th place thanks to a secondary system that was in place, which were rescue points. Those were given for moments where you would help other participants. They had hidden the secondary system, so no one was aware of it during the practical.” Iida explained further after sending Katsuki a glare, most likely for his language; he’s going to be doing that for a long while if he actually thinks that Katsuki cares about watching his mouth. 

The only person Kacchan actually censors himself around is Eri.

“But that does make sense; you wouldn’t want everyone to know about the secondary score system, because then it would be much harder to find out who was doing it of their own free will and with honor, and who were intentionally doing it to try and look good and get extra points. There could even be those who would intentionally put other participants in to danger just to save them in the end and get more points. Its also a great judge of character. I wonder though, what about those who don’t have quirks that work on inanimate objects, or that aren’t good with attack? Were there any kind of secondary system to turn off the robots? Or maybe a weak point that could have been used?...” 

“Does….does he do this often?” Iida asks, having lost the thread of the lecture-like ramblings that were spilling out of Izuku’s mouth.

“Yeah, once he gets on a roll, its hard to get him to shut up.”

“I….I see.”

…

“Bakugou…..Could you…”

“Ugh, Fine!” he leans over and smacks Izuku’s shoulder, startling him out of his muttering. “OI NERD! Don’t you want to keep going?! Or are you going to fucking mutter the whole night!”

“Aah! Sorry! Please, keep going!”

* * *

“-and then at the end of the apprehension test, Mr. Aizawa told us it was all just some logical ruse! Can you believe that Izuku; how is he supposed to expect us to trust him as our teacher for the rest of the year if he starts it off by tricking us!” Iida scolds, to no one in general, but Izuku can feel the disappointment coming off of him in waves. Izuku was tyring his absolute best to keep a straight face, he’s sure that if he was in the same situation, he would also be mad, but hearing it after the fact, it was kind of funny, and Iida’s admonishing complaints to the man that was most likely playing with Eri in her blanket fort at the moment.

It’s not the first time he’s come across that exact scene, although Aizawa never really shows much emotion, which only makes it funnier when he has a princess crown on his head and holding a very tiny plastic tea cup. 

“He wasn’t lying.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“About the expulsion part. If anyone in our class hadn’t shown that they had potential, he would have expelled them on the spot, no matter what placement they got.” Kacchan states, surprisingly serious and his voice was so quiet, like he didn’t want Aizawa to hear it by chance. 

“Really?” Izuku asks, not exactly sure if Kacchan was joking or not.

“I’ve known that man for years; he has the highest number of expulsions in U.A., probably within alot of the school systems in the surrounding districts too. Last school year, he expelled his entire first year class on the first day. He was not joking. The only thing he lied about was if the person in last place would have been expelled; all of our heads were on the chopping block for the hero program during that test. Aizawa doesn’t fuck around.” 

The tense and unsettling silence between the three of them could have been cut with a knife. 

It was a few minutes before Izuku coughs, and tries to get them back on track, but it still takes a while for Iida to get fully back into the conversation itself. 

* * *

“ALL MIGHT IS YOUR HEROICS CLASS TEACHER?!!?!” Izuku nearly screams, kacchan having slammed his hand over his mouth to try and keep his volume down. Izuku turns a wounded look to his best friend. “Why didn’t you tell me that one of your teachers is the number 1 hero of all of Japan?” 

“ ‘cause I knew you would do exactly what you just did, which was bursting my eardrums!” 

Izuku was practically vibrating with so many questions about their lessons, what was their first foundational hero studies class like?! What has he taught them all so far? Is he just as big as he always looked in interviews and videos online? What was he really like in person?! There must have been so many things they have been able to pick up from the best hero in the world and he just had to know everything! He starts to try to ask those exact questions, but before he can even get the first one out, there’s a knock at the door. 

“Foods ready.” 

Izuku has never seen two people move so fast; he’s sure Iida used his quirk too. He tries to reach out to stop them, but they both clear out of the room like bats out of hell.

“Wait!”

“Just forget it, Izu! If you want to know so bad, then fuuuuuuudging get into our class so you can see what it’s like for yourself. Now come on, you better hurry up or else I won't leave anything left for you.”

“Aah! Kacchan don’t! I want hotpot too!”

It wasn’t long before the table was full and everyone was happily enjoying the warm meal before them, the pot sitting on a hotplate to make sure the broth didn’t go cold. Izuku would try and interject some questions about their fundamental Hero studies, which Izuku doesn’t miss the fact that Aizawa chokes on his food when he first tried to ask about the classes, he might have recovered quickly but Izuku will be sure to ask him later. 

Just before he goes in for seconds, he stops just short of the pot. 

“Izuku?”

He turns to Iida and Katsuki, realizing something that he wishes he realized so much sooner. 

“Did you two already get your hero costumes?”

“....”

“Don’t ignore me Kacchan! I wanna see them!”

* * *

It was late into the night now.

The three of them are lying about his bedroom floor, two futons splayed about, blankets strewn between the three of them as they sit in the silence. 

Izuku had helped Eri to bed a few hours ago, and Aizawa had called the Iida’s to double check and let them know that Tenya was in fact with him and was staying the night. The three of them washed up and changed into comfortable night clothes, Iida having to borrow some of Aizawa’s since Izuku was too small for him to lend anything that would possibly fit the taller and broader figure of his new friend.

The lights have been turned off, the only kind of light being from the pale light that peaked through his window. However, the three of them still continued on with telling them about everything they have been through during the first half of their school year.

Everything.

Hearing about what they went through ... .finding out that he was so close to losing his best friend, or possibly not even having the chance to meet Iida. That they went through something so traumatizing, in the one place that they thought they would be safe. He knows that even with them telling him both of their experiences, how Iida ran for help, and his feeling of regrets of leaving his classmates behind even if he knew he was only of the only ones who would have been able to get the other teachers there the fastest. And Kacchan had to fight for his life, and for his classmate that had ended up in the same zone as him, how they fought their way to only see Aizawa…. Aizawa bloody and beaten. It was hard to try and picture the man that had given them a home, given them the feeling of security and safety, someone that seemed impossible to break.

And the thing that had done that to him was apparently called a ‘Nomu’ which Iida had confirmed was the same things that had attacked Hosu. 

And apparently the one they faced off at the USJ was even stronger than those, something about it being made specifically to kill All Might. The fact that someone created those monsters… made them specifically to take down the number one hero. It sent shivers down his spine and made his stump throb, just thinking about those nomu’s back at Hosu, but stronger, faster…. Killing anything in their path because they were made to crush everything and destroy anything on the whims of a guy who had petrified hands all over his body and on his face.

Aizawa went up against something like that alone…..  

It hurt to even try and picture it. The idea that Iida or Kacchan, or any of their classmates, people that he hasn’t even had a chance to meet in the same place…beaten bloody…broken bones…Izuku has absolutely seen similar sights on the streets, watching the homeless fight tooth and nail, and a few times to the death, when trying to survive the winter, or just because someone was drunk or high on one drug or another. 

But putting his best friend, or one of his saviors in that same position…….

Izuku reaches out and Kacchan doesn’t hesitate to take hold of his hand, squeezing it to let him know he was right there.

That he was alive. 

“When you said that there were some bad times…….I was thinking you meant……I thought that…….I didn’t think it was something like that.”  Izuku stumbles out, he knows his voice wavers, and he’s doing what he can to hold back the tears, unsuccessfully as he can feel the rivers streaking down his cheeks. Kacchan and Iida don’t point it out.  Iida actually takes the moment to tell him that after the attack on them at USJ, Principal Nedzu revamped their entire security systems, making sure that nothing like that would ever happen again, so Izuku and Eri were absolutely 100% secure on U.A grounds. It does weirdly make him feel a bit better, knowing that the attack was taken seriously, and not as some fluke, and that he put in the effort to ensure it would never happen again for any of his students.

And it won’t happen to Eri or him either. 

The three of them decide to end it there for the night, all of them feeling exhausted from the conversation, and none of them really knowing how to move forward after it either. Izuku moved up to the bed, Iida spreading out in the extra space that came from Izuku getting off of the extra blankets and both of their futons. Kacchan shifted his futon closer to the bed, letting the taller of them be able to lay out comfortably. None of them really say much of anything, even though the three of them knew the others were still awake for a time after they decided to sleep.

It was certainly a long night for the three of them.

Iida doesn’t say anything when he sees Izuku reach back out for Katsuki’s hand, who doesn’t hesitate to take hold of it.. 

~~~~~~~~~

That next morning, three tired and haggard teenage boys leave Izuku’s room, but all of them seem to have some kind of weight lifted from their shoulders. Shouta almost wants to ask what the three of them were doing so late into the night, but from the look of raw red eyes on Izuku, and dark circles under Iida’s and Bakugou’s, he decides to leave it be for now. No need to bring it up and ruin their morning. The five of them ate in silence,  focusing heavily on the food before them and trying to shake off the last few dregs of sleep that clung to them all. 

Eri had run off soon after finishing her plate to get dressed, the boys still seemed to be shaking off whatever it was that was weighing them down, but all of them were far more awake then before. This is most likely the best time to ask.

“So….should I ask what kept you boys up so late?” 

The three of them look at each other before Bakugou takes the initiative. “Catching Izu up on how our year has gone……we stopped around the USJ attack. Kinda hard to fall asleep after that.” the other two silently nod. Shouta can only sigh; he had a hunch that it was something along those lines, but hearing it be confirmed only made it harder on how to help relieve some of the heaviness that was in the air. There was only one thing he could think of….

“Well, if you stopped there last night, then that means you haven’t talked about the Sports Festival? I have the official cut and uncut recordings from the entire event, and we still have some time before school even opens. We should have enough time to at least watch the first event. We can catch up on the rest during lunch, you two can meet with Izuku in the teacher’s lounge.” Aizawa suggests, and he watches izuku go from the somber look he’s had the entire morning and brighten up like a sunflower when it sees the sun. His perkiness seemed to rub off on the two others a bit as well, both Iida and Bakuogu having their own tired smiles at the idea. 

Izuku practically jumps out of his chair and races over to the bookshelf in the living room, looking over the multide of books and DVD cases to try and find the right one. Shouta lets both Bakugou and Iida know that their uniforms are washed and hanging in the laundry room for them. They both nod and head back down the hall while Aizawa joins Izuku in pulling out the correct disc and setting up the DVD player.

Once the other two teens came back into the living room, Izuku was already jumping in his seat on the couch, obviously waiting for them to come into the room so that he could start the recording. Bakugou drops himself heavily into the seat on the right of Izuku, his jacket unbuttoned and his tie hastily stuffed into his sagging pants pocket. Iida took to the left side of Izuku, his uniform put together, the only thing missing is the tie itself, which he will mostly do while watching along with them, he was sitting ramrod straight, while Bakuogu slouches into the cushions, Izuku an odd mixture of the two, relaxing but still sitting up right. 

Shouta can hear them as they start the video, deciding to pull out his laptop and work on the pair ups for his classes practical final exam for the year. It was still a couple of months off, but they were also having to rethink the entire exam to try and get their kids ready for what was planned after the summer camp and his student’s summer break. Aizawa understood that because of what they have already seen so far, and how U.A. has been made a target by this league of villains, they would need to make sure that their class has everything they need to be able to defend themselves, but he doesn’t like the idea of having to make his students grow up so fast. They are still children after all, and they deserve-

“HAHAHAHAHAHA! Kacchan! What kind of opening speech is that! HAHAHAHA! Did they give you any time to prep for it?!” 

“.....”

“Yes, I must agree that deciding to make every single person on the field our enemy at the moment was…..a very ‘you’ decision to make Bakugou.” Shouta can hear how much he is straining from keeping himself sounding even, whether he is holding back admonishing Bakugou or his own laughter is up in the air. Izuku however is practically bent over laughing, as Shouta can’t see his head above the couch cushions, his laughter still going strong. He can’t see Katsuki’s face, but from how red the tips of his ears are, its obvious to see what he was feeling. 

“SHUT UP! IT WASN’T THAT BAD!”

Shouta pipes in from the kitchen table, not even looking away from his computer, “You had a week to prepare a speech; it was that bad.”

The resounding thump, most likely Izuku has fallen off the couch in his cackling, and Katsuki’s subsequent curses, is all he needs to how the rest of their morning will be going. 

Loud and brash, full of laughter and childish bickering.

Just how a teenager should act. 

Shouta hides his smile with his coffee mug, taking a sip of the steaming drink and enjoying their rowdiness. 

Just as long as they don’t break anything.

~~~~~~~

Izuku was waiting excitedly in the teachers lounge, the video having been paused at just when the second event had ended, and that left the one-on-one fights left, and Izuku couldn’t help being so excited! It wasn’t just the fact that every minute counted closer and closer to lunch and for his two friends to arrive, but also he was keeping an eye out for one very large personality. 

He’s surprised that over the last few months, he hasn’t seen All Might in the Teacher’s Lounge once in all of his times being in the room, either for some of his tutoring lessons, or when meeting with Ectoplasm or Aizawa for his physical therapy training. Izuku wasn’t even aware that he was teaching at the school until Kacchan brought it up the night before; He has’t seen the larger than life figure once during his walks through the halls, so that only makes him even more curious about the number 1 Hero. he would be so happy if Eri could meet All Might, since she wasn’t aware of him at all when he first ran into her (well, it was more that she ran into him that day, but still) so if he could introduce her to one of his favorite heroes ever, and show that nothing could ever hurt them, not as long as they had All Might and Aizawa with them. 

But no matter where he looks, he can’t seem to find him at all. It's surprising how such a large man is hiding so easily, even if the school grounds are overwhelmingly large, Izuku would have thought that he would have to come into the Teacher’s Lounge at some point.

The Bell chimes in the hall, the sound muffled by the walls. Looking back at the clock, Izuku perks up as it now shows that lunch just started, and he watches the door like a hawk. He can hear the noises of students clambering their way through the crowds, loud shouting and laughter echoing through the door. He perks every time the door is opened, only to wilt a bit inside when it’s only one of the teachers who comes in, ready to take their own lunches. 

The sounds from the hallway were pittering out, and most of the teachers had returned, including Aizawa, and still no sign of Katsuki or Iida. Aizawa did let him know that the two of them were grabbing lunches from the line first and then would be coming to the lounge, so they would be there within a few minutes, but it still bothered him that they haven't arrvied yet. 

Finally, he heard Kacchan yelling just down the hall, the scuffing and clap of their shoes on the linoleum tracking their movement as they got closer and closer to the door. 

When the door was finally opened, Izuku wasn’t expecting a third person to be the one to open the door. 

“Oh Hi! We met before, when you ran into Iida yesterday!”

Izuku was especially surprised to see a girl, her burnette hair stopping just above her shoulders, and an easy going and bubbly smile on her face. He takes a glance at Katsuki and Iida, and from the embarrassed and guilty look on Iida, and the irritated scowl on Katsuki, it looks like having her join them was initially the plan. 

“Hello, um, I’m sorry but I don’t remember your name.”

“Oh! It’s alright, my name is Ochako Ururaka! I’m in the same class as Iida and Bakugou. I overheard them talking about your meet up during lunch and I couldn’t help myself. I’m sorry if I’m intruding.” she says, quickly apologizing and bowing to him, careful of the tray of food in hand. 

“Ah- It’s Alright, we were just watching the Sports festival recording since I wasn’t able to watch it live. U-um…” Izuku looks to Aizawa, hoping for a bit more guidance, but only gets a smirk and a shrug from him, before he turns back to his cubicle and is obviously faking work on his computer. Izuku can easily tell that the computer is not on. 

Traitor.

“Um….would you like to watch it with us? I mean, we were about to start the one-on-one fights, so we’re kinda already in the middle of watching it, but, y-you can join us if you like.” Izuku fumbles, much to the enjoyment of the teachers behind him, he can hear their chuckles and snickers, pulling an embarrassed flush to his face.

“Sure! If you don’t mind me joining!”

“YOU CAN’T SAY THAT WHEN YOU’RE THE ONE THAT BEGGED TO COME WITH US!” Kaccahn yells behind her, but still nudging her inside to the free table that Izuku had comandeered for them, his laptop open and the video still paused where they had left off. Iida whispers an apology into Izuku’s ear as he walks by, taking a seat between where Izuku’s boxlunch was and where Ochako had sat herself. Izuku takes his place between Iida and Kacchan, reaching over and pressing play on the video, his nervousness about having a stranger with them pracically disappeared when the first two students stepped up into the ring. 

Ochaco is quite chatty, but in a way that compliments the rest of their group. helping to explain who different people are as they appear on screen; kacchan would just call them extras or by a nickname, and tell him if they are worth his time or not (Izuku definitely did not miss how the only ones that were deemed ‘alright’ were those from their class) and while Iida did help to actually give names to the faces, Izuku would get lost in the flood of information that he would give, and end up still just as confused as before.  Ochako though was able to help clear up questions that he had about people and their abilities, keeping her explanations short but full of emotion and information that made it much easier to understand who everyone was. She also is a great listener as well, excitedly reacting when Izuku started to mutter analysis on the fights that they were watching, his left hand twitching to try and write down his observations and comments. She was surspried and excited to listen to him, giving her own thoughts when she could. 

The first few battles truly were what Izuku expected out of the Sports Festival, so many interesting and unique ways of using their quirks and outthinking their opponents! It was spectacular; although he is a bit concerned about the one that decided that an iceberg that was the size of the stadium itself wasn’t overkill.

Then they got to Iida’s first match.

“Eh?”

“BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“W-what is this edit?! I was not aware that this is what was made!” 

“Psssshahahahahaha!” 

“Hahaha-what exactly was going on-hehehe-with this fight Iidaaaahahahahahahaha!” 

The only thing you could call this fight was a comedy act, with how the editing team handled the footage.  Izuku was trying to hide his laughter, but Kacchan was full on cackling at the video. Ochako had been taking a drink, which had ended up being spit out with her own giggles and laughter. Iida can only watch, horrified at the slapstick sounds coming from the video as he was apparently…..fought?.... Against Mai. which Izuku could understand, after getting to know her a bit, that she most likely tricked him into wearing that….whatever that is. 

The laughter behind the four teens from some of their teachers only make Izuku laugh even harder than before, bending over in his seat to try and get control of his breathing from how much he’s laughing.

This is as close to perfect as he could wish his life to be. Both he and Eri are happy and safe, he has his best friend back in his life, and he’s even started to make more friends as well. Aizawa is the best guardian he could ask for, and with so many of the teachers taking care of them, their little family has grown so much larger than he could have imagined. He has Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru back in his life, and that feeling of warmth settling in his heart has never felt more right.

The only thing that could make this perfect……is he was wearing the same uniform as the other three teens. To be able to be apart of their class. 

If only.

Chapter Text

Training was always something that Izuku looked forward to; even if it meant he had to wake up earlier some days than others to do laps around the campus. He’s just glad that the weather has finally started to shift more towards spring, while the mornings were still crisp with a chilling air, by mid day it was warm and breathed of new life that welcomed all into eating lunch outside rather than huddled in the cramped Lunch room.

It also meant that his usual physical therapy and training were taken outside as well. 

Izuku can say for certain that if he looked at himself back at the beginning of the new year and where he is now, he wouldn’t recognize himself at all. No longer was his hair matted and knotted, long strands of it tickling the nap of his neck, but it was shorter now, healthy and ‘poofy’ as Eri likes to call it. He’s gained weight that he never thought would ever be there, which have now begun to turn into toned muscles and filling out his shirts the way they were meant to, instead of his thin frame that he struggled to feed before. He could stand proud of all of the effort that everyone, including himself, have put into helping him get this far.  Eri always says she is happy that he is getting bigger and stronger, he doesn’t say anything when her gaze settles on the empty sleeve on his right side, or the resolute glint in her eyes when she does. He knows it not that she thinks he is weak without his arm (although, sometimes he worries that it does make him weaker…that it will always hold him back, even with the prosthetic, it will never be the same), but Izuku worries that she might feel some kind of guilt for the loss of his arm. 

With the added muscle and weight though, his training has been growing along with him. At first it would just be Aizawa and him, with Recovery Girl keeping tabs on them. Over time though, more of the teachers would join in and take over training some days, Miss Midnight was teaching him stretches and Gymnastics, alot of which helped tremendously with his balance and core strength, Hound Dog also joined in, helping him with grappling and getting better hold on items and people with only one arm, and with climbing as well, he didn’t realized that Hound Dog was into hiking and rock climbing and taught him alot of tricks on how to do so with only one arm. His favorite teacher though, was Ectoplasm, it was also a wild card on what training with Ectoplasm would be like, and he was always understanding when Izuku would get frustrated, or if it was a bad day. He loved learning from all the teachers, but Ectoplasm just always understood things deeper than the others. 

Today, it was an Ectoplasm training day, and they were working on hand to hand combat with the newest prototype of a prosthetic. Its made of a light weight metal, and they seem to be trying to figure out a way for the arm to attach to his stump when he needs the arm without using his quirk; its rough around the edges, and the harness that he’s wearing for the arm to connect to feels odd on his stump, but the fact that he actually a second arm to move around again is amazing, he thought he would never get to do this again, even if his application of his quirk on it is rudimentary at best. That’s why Ectoplasm is the one helping him train today, Aizawa would have been there as well but apparently both Hero Classes were made aware of finals the other day and he had to help keep an eye on the extra training that many of his students signed up for after hours.

They weren’t doing alot, mostly practicing his movements with a second arm, dodging and blocking hits. Sometimes Ecto would make a second copy of himself and have them take over to keep Izuku on his toes, but for the most part it was a light training session, more focused on him using his quirk on his arm naturally then actually blocking or any kind of counter attacks.

Duck. 

Weave. 

Block the blow, move to get some more space. 

All of it was a dance, a clumsy one that rubbed at him wrong, because he knows this dance well after the last few months of training, and he knows he would be doing so much better, but focusing on his arm, getting used to the extra weight again and having to think about using both arms instead of one, and using his quirk to make the second arm move just as fast, just as natural as his real one, it was making what should natural to him now feel out of place, foreign once again. He’s already had way too many close calls where he reacted later then he was used to because of how focused he was on getting the metal arm to move naturally, and he’s definitely taken some hits that he knows he could have avoided. 

If only he was better….if only he could just get the fucking hang of this arm, maybe…..no, even if he did, there would be no way he could make his dream come true. Its been too long, and without his real arm….but, should that matter? Does that have to matter? Izuku shakes his head, managing to redirect a jab that was way too close. It doesn’t matter, his chance to try and reach his dream is far out of his grasps now. The fact that he is even on U.A. soil and getting any kind of training for physical therapy, is a miracle at work, he shouldn’t look a gifthorse in the mouth, and accept that this will be as far as it goes. (even if it hurts to accept it, deep in his heart.)

Duck.

Weave.

Block the-

The rhythm came to a grinding halt as the punch that was coming at his left shoulder turned out to be a bluff, instead Ectoplasm’s body spun tighter than Izuku thought and instead his legs were swept out from under him, causing him to crash down in a pile of limbs and metal. 

“Lets stop here for now.” Ectoplasm states as one of his doubles comes from seemingly nowhere, holding out a water bottle to the boy. 

“B-but i still haven’t gotten used to the arm yet, and I can keep going! I’m not tired yet!” 

“Physically tired or not, taking this slow is the best way to get the best results. You can’t rush progress like this, or else you run the risk of hurting yourself further. Besides, you may not feel it yet, but you’ve been using your quirk constantly nonstop for a few hours now, and I don’t need Chiyo chewing me out for letting you get quirk exhaustion.” Ectoplasm says frankly, but Izuku’s sure that if he had lips, there would be a knowing smirk there. There have been a few times Recovery Girl has been quite mad at Izuku for overdoing it, and he’s had multiple lectures about pacing himself. 

Begrudingly, he accepts the water bottle and shifts himself into a sitting position on the ground, finally feeling how out of breath he was now that he’s finally stopped moving for a minute. Ectoplasm also joins him on the grass, another bottle in his own hands as the clone melts away, leaving just the two of them again in the empty training field, just far enough out of sight of the other students, but close enough to get back to the main building within a few minutes incase something happens. 

They sit together, enjoying the quiet that was settling between them as they cool off, Izuku left the metal arm detached and laying on the ground between them. Izuku will have to make notes later about the feel of it and some things that could be worked on with it after getting a feel of it in action for the first time. 

Finally, after a few minutes, Ectoplasm says “I could also tell that your mind was elsewhere, and taking a moment to get your thoughts straight is just as important as letting your body rest.” he takes another drink from his bottle, before adding on “ you can also always speak to one of us if you need help with something, even if it’s just needing an ear. You don’t have to speak to me, or to Aizawa, but there are many here who are always willing to help you.” he lets the offer sit in the air, and Izuku is thankful that he isn’t pushing for him to bear his heavy heart right there and now to him. 

He looks down to Ectoplasm’s prosthetic legs, only the end of them peaking out from his cloak. 

If there is anyone who would understand some of the thoughts that are plaguing his mind for months now….Ectoplasm would be the best option. It would be nice to hear a third opinion, outside of Kacchan telling him he’s being dumb and to join him in the Hero course ( but can he really?) or Aizawa blunt but uplifting and accepting nature (what if his attitude changes if he asks the one question, the one thing that has been sitting heavy in his heart since that night years ago he jumped out the window and never looked back.) 

He takes a shakey breath, and mumbles into his water bottle “you won’t tell Aizawa, will you?”

Ectoplasm shakes his head, “no, not unless its something that might hurt you or anyone else.” he answers honestly.

Izuku gives a small nod, letting the quiet settle between them once again as he gets his thoughts put together. He tucks his knees into his chest, grimancing for a moment how tacky his skin felt from the sweat still clinging on, before setting his chin on his knees, his left arm wrapping around his legs. 

“When you…..lost them; how did you……w-wait i can ask this in a better way- um…” Izuku bursts out the question, only to fumble about and try and reword it multiple times, only to get frustrated that he couldn’t really figure out how to say the exact question he did want to ask. Finally, he gives up on it, tucking his head into his knees once again. “What made you think….that you could keep being a Hero?” he grimances, not liking how that question sounded either. 

Etcoplasm seemed to get the jist of it though, chuckling to himself, only making Izuku even more embarrassed, before reaching out with his free hand and ruffling his hair. 

“There were honestly quite a number of people who told me that I should retire when I lost my legs, and many thought I would do just that. And I won’t lie, there was a while that I also thought that it was the end of my career. It took alot of time, and therapy, but I decided that my career wasn’t over until I had tried everything I could to get back on my feet and keep moving forward, even if it was only to save one more life. And if that meant that I would have to relearn everything again, then so be it. You are not your disability Izuku, If you truly have the heart for being a Hero, then reach out for it.” 

Ah…..Izuku can guess that he hasn’t been hiding his dream as well as he thought, if the knowing look that Ectoplasm was giving him was any indication. It was a bit hard to tell that it was a knowing look due to his mask, but Izuku has been around him long enough to see the difference. 

He curls in tighter into himself, “but I can’t be one.”

“Why not?”

He looks up, giving him a look of confusion. “Isn’t it obvious? I was homeless for years!”

“And how would that change your possibilities of getting into a Hero course, or into one of our current Hero courses here at U.A? We do not discriminate about backgrounds or previous living situations, and would support you to make sure you are in a safe and healthy living situation, which you have now.” Ectoplasm rebuffs him quickly, stating everything in such a matter of fact way that reminded him of Aizawa so much, and left no room to be argued. 

“But I’m so far behind on my education!”

“And you have been making leaps and bounds to catch up, and have almost fully caught up to a high school curriculum within just the last few months. Within the next month i am sure you will catch up completely with the current curriculum that our students are on, probably by the time that finals happen.”

“But I haven’t been in an actual school system since I was like, nine!”

“With the curriculum that you have been completing, I am sure Nedzu wouldn’t even blink at your short school record. He is also aware of your circumstances as well so he would be aware of the gap in information as well.” 

“But-”

“Izuku why do you think you can’t do it?”

“Becuase I just can’t!” Izuku yells, his fingers digging into his hair. “I GAVE UP ON THAT DREAM! The moment I ran away! I knew…….I knew that I couldn’t be a Hero…..I wasn’t strong enough to stay to protect the people I love….I wasn’t strong enough to protect myself…. I was scared and I ran! How could I be a Hero for someone else when I couldn’t even go home without being terrified! It would be selfish to even try, to take that chance away from someone else…and after losing my arm, after everything I did while on those streets to try and survive. I can’t.” Izuku stumbles out, tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. 

Ectoplasm doesn’t say anything for a moment, before his hands gently take his own and calmly unwinds his fingers from his hair, and with a small pull, has him collapsing into the Hero’s side, his tears flowing freely now. Izuku was thankful that Ectoplasm let him have those few minutes, just to let him cry and let the wall that held back so much of his fears fall down for those moments. He held him close until finally, the tears pettered out and Izuku finally plled away, feeling the waves of embarrassment about the fact that he had cried his eyes out on the man. 

“Izuku…” Ectoplasm calls out, “I can understand that you buried that want and desire to help others in order to keep yourself safe when you were living on the streets, and you had to tell yourself constantly that you were not enough to become a Hero. But, Izuku, it was not weak of you to leave a situation that was dangerous to you and to others. It was incredibly brave of you to take the chance and save yourself from a situation that would have only gotten worse for you. There have been many times, and it is something that everyone who is becoming a Hero has to learn…..there are times when a fight is too dangerous, where you are outmatched, or have a disadvantage that will put not just other people but yourself in danger. Even i have had to call in backup or another Hero who was better equipped due to a situation; that does not mean that you must turn your back on those who are looking to you to protect them, but its almost idiotic to assume that because you are wanting to become a Hero, that you must handle everything that is thrown at you as though it is nothing.”

“But-”

“Izuku, not even All Might can handle every single fight on his own. There have been many times where he has had to retreat and wait for backup to finish a fight. And we don’t expect him to fight every battle possible, nor do we assume that we can do that either, even I have to know that there is a limit to how much I can do at once.  You were put into a position of danger at far too young of an age, and you survived it for years before reaching your breaking point. And when you were finally faced with it, you made a choice…..a choice that kept you alive and free. No one can ever say that what you did was cowardly or unbecoming of a Hero. Because you aren’t a Hero now, nor were you one when you were nine. You were a child. Any now, as a teenager, you have finally found a place where you can florish once again and have the chance to reach for your dream. No one will be mad at you for going for your dream.” 

Izuku couldn’t say anything for a moment, letting it all sink in. He wants to do it, he wants to become a Hero.

In a much more somber whisper, he asks “what if I ask Aizawa……and he says no?”

At the question, Ectoplasm snorts, which Izuku wasn’t even aware he could make at all. 

“That will never happen; Aizawa has been waiting for you to ask to join the Hero course since you both moved here. That man can always see potential and he would never say no to someone like you, who has so much of it. He has just been waiting for you to ask for it, because in the end; it's your choice.”

They stopped the conversation there, neither of them wanting to break the silence that had settled, and Izuku was deep into his thoughts on the whole conversation, trying to wrap his head around everything that they spoke about. After another ten minutes, Ectoplasm pulls the both of them up off the grass and leads him back to the apartment….his home. 

~~~~~

The prison meeting area was not exactly what she thought it would be. Hizashi has been introducing her and Izu to something called ‘American Classics’? Eri wasn’t really sure what that meant, but Izu seemed to understand them alright. In some of the movies though, they showed prisons to be really cold and full of metal bars, and the meeting areas they showed were split in two and you can talk to someone over a phone and you could only look at them through glass.  But this place is much nicer than that, there were tables scattered about with some being taken by other people in prison clothes and some in normal clothes; it kind of reminded her of the hospital room, as there wasn’t anything on the beige walls besides some old cork boards with worn out papers tacked on them, and tv’s showing different angles of the room they were in were scattered about. Although, there were a lot of guards standing around, so maybe those movies had some credit to them. 

She, Izuku and Aizawa walked up to an empty table and sat down together, she shrugged off her messenger bag, filled with papers of her homework and the most recent test that she completed for Ms. Midnight just the other day, a bright red 89% written in the corner to show her grade and a gold star sticker sat right next to the ink.  She looked through the papers making sure nothing was missing after the guards looked through her bag, and satisfied that nothing was out of place, she took out Hero from the bag, holding him tight as they waited for Jin to join them. 

It wasn’t a long wait as Jin soon popped in from around a corner, he was also wearing the striped clothes as some of the people around the room, but it seems like he is doing really well, he looks bigger, like Izuku has over the past few months, where his arms were skinny enough to where sleeves always seem to hang off of them, they now have more to them, filling out his sleeves more, and his face also looked alot better too, there wasn’t any kind of scratchy shadow on his jaw, and the dark circles that used to take up the space under his eyes were nearly gone now. Eri perks up as he is escorted to their table, his face lighting up with every step closer to their table.

Once he has joined them at the table, she is nearly standing on her seat, and she can see out of the corner of her eye how Izuku is also smiling easily, his shoulders relaxing at the sight of Jin looking so much better. Aizawa and Jin had some small talk as Eri bounced on her toes, leaning against the table as they spoke about his therapy and other things that she didn’t really understand. 

Finally though he turned his smiling towars her and asked her how she has been doing the past few months and she nearly exploded with energy as she talked all about her classes and their teachers, she pulled out every paper she brought, tests and worksheets spilling out along the table, Hero was securely tucked into her arm as she shows off each worksheet for Jin to see, and he looks so happy! He gasps and proclaims at each graded paper, asking her questions about her work and how she is getting along with her teachers too, she even tells him about the quirk training that Aizawa has been teaching her to help her get a better handle on her quirk. She also speaks about Granny Chiyo, as that is what she told her to address her as, and how she was the best doctor in the world. 

She missed being able to tell him about anything and everything, he’s always able to pull everyone into a conversation, even himself! But it looks like he isn’t arguing with himself nearly as much anymore, and if he does start to, he does a couple of deep breaths and closes his eyes for a minute before getting right back into the conversation. 

Before she even realizes it, an hour has almost passed and their meeting time is almost over. Jin is quick to help cheer her up by letting her know that they can visit again in a few weeks, and that she’ll be able to show him how much better she has been getting at math and writing, and Aizawa told her that they can also send him letters too! She can show just how much she has been able to learn with letters. Would they let her put stickers on the letters too? She looks over to Izuku to ask, but it looks like he is thinking about something very different. 

Izu looks over to the two of them and asks, hesitantly, “can I have a minute with Jin? A-Alone?”

Aizawa looks between the two of them, Eri mimicking the action and it seems like JIn is also confused as well, but open to having the conversation, and then Aizawa looks at Eri, seeming to see if she was alright with it too. She nods quickly and scurries off the chair, holding out her hand for him to take. Aizawa turns back to him and says “Sure Izuku, we’ll be over by the vending machines just outside the door.” he says before standing up, easily taking her hand and leading them across the room, past the doors and to the vending machines the sit just opposite of the windows that looked into the visiting room. If she stands on her tippy toes, she can see Izu and Jin talking to each other, although she can’t hear them at all. 

She jumps as something cold is pressed to her arm, startling her to look over to Aizawa who is holding up a cold juice bottle to her. She accepts the beverage and before she can even squeak, she’s scooped up and propped onto his hip, she doesn’t mind though, Aizawa does this sometimes when she wants to help with making meals and she’s too small to reach the counter. She readjusts herself before looking back out the window, towards where Izu and Jin are talking, although it looks like Izu is wiping tears away now, and Jin is giving him that smile that means that he’s both happy and sad, Izu has told her that word before but she can’t recall it at the moment. 

“is Izu-nee okay?”

“Yeah, it looks like he just had something weighing on his mind the last few days and needed some reassurance from Jin about whatever it is. He’ll come to us about what it is when he’s ready, we just have to be there for him when he does.” Aizawa says, watching with her as Izu shoulders finally seem to relax fully and from the looks of it, their conversation turns much lighter in topic as the both of them are laughing a few minutes later before a guard comes up to them, and with one last wave to both Izu and to the two of them, Jin is lead away and Izuku joins them outside the double doors. 

“Are you okay Izu?”

“Yeah……yeah I'm okay Eri, promise.”

~~~~~

It wasn’t long after that Izuku brought it up to him;  it was after Eri had gone to bed and it was just the two of them, Shouta had some lesson plans to work out and Izuku was busy with his homework across the table, books open and spread about him as he fiddled with his pencil, flipping back and forth between his fingers as he reads over a passage, although it seems like he might be more lost in thought than actually working, since he hasn’t left the same page or made any movement to finish his half filled workbook page for half an hour by now. 

“uh-”

Shouta looks up from his lesson plans, giving Izuku his full attention.

 “Yes?”

“I-I’ve been wondering…..I mean, I understand that it may be impossible, and really i’m asking so much from you about this…..that is, I mean-” Aizawa hasn’t seen him this flustered since they first started to live with him, it was almost an uphill battle to try and get Izuku to ask for anything for himself. Before he can devolve even further, Aizawa interrupts him; “Izuku, take a moment to breathe.” 

Izuku, to a point of it being comedic, takes in a large breath, holding it for a few moments and finally releases it, seeming to collapse in on himself as the stress of it all drains from his form, he slowly slumps down into the chair next to Shouta, taking the time to figure out his words. Shouta takes the moment of silence to push aside the papers neatly, making sure to keep track of where he was at in his work, and gives Izuku his full undivided attention.

“Mr. Aizawa, I…all of my life, I have wanted to be a Hero; the type of Hero that saves everyone with a smile, just like All Might. It was after living on the streets that I realized that, while it's definitely still a way to save people, I wanted to be more than just someone who can save someone with a smile, to be more than give peace of mind, because sometimes that not what someone needs. I- for years I told myself that I couldn’t be one anymore because I was weak, because of how I lived, because somewhere inside me….I think all of the words that my parents, my old teacher’s, even my old classmates, they were always in my mind, telling me I couldn’t do it.” 

Izuku takes a shaky breath, but pushes through despite it. 

“But after meeting Eri and Jin, and then meeting you,Mirio, the other teachers here…being able to have Kacchan and Auntie and Uncle back in my life again, having everyone’s support….I want to ask for something so selfish, and I feel guilty for asking for it, when I feel like I don’t deserve it. After everything that I have been through, from my parents, to living on the streets….I want to the kind of person that will always offer a helping hand, i want to not just spread peace, I want to give hope to everyone, even to those who thought they lost any hope of changing, I want to be someone who saves people in body and mind, and sparks the hope inthem to keep moving forward, even if it may be a tough path to take.” Izuku touches the base of his right shoulder, he doesn’t really seem to be aware that he is though.

“I….I want to be a Hero, I wa-want to be apart of U.A. and reach for the type of Hero that I want to be. Is it possible for me to…to be a Hero too?”

Shouta has to actively fight off the warm smile, and hold himself back from hugging the boy, because he isn’t asking his Guardian this question, he’s asking the teacher of the Hero course; he’s asking the professional Hero who has spent years judging who is and isn’t worthy and raised some of the best Heroes that have come from the U.A. program. 

“While that is a very touching speech, how can I be sure you’ll put in the work? I only let those with potential into my class. I’m not sure if someone who gave up on their dream once will have what it takes to reach for it again. ”

Aizawa hates saying it, but it’s needed. He needs to know right here and now what Izuku will do. 

It’s quiet for a moment, Izuku looking surprised and then;

“Wha-what?! I…I put in so much work to be able to stand here and ask you this! I’ve worked like hell to get through losing my arm, and be able to stand tall and actually look at myself and not see a lost cause, but someone who actually matters! I’ve studied endless to be able to catch up to Kacchan and Iida. I've put everything I have, whether its alittle or alot, into my physical therapy and training. I never tried to skip out on therapy, I took everything head on! I have the heart to do this, I can be a Hero! I know it! I have potential! I will always put in the work!” this is honestly the first time Shouta has seen him angry, frustrated he’s seen dozens of times, but not angry. But this is exactly what he needed to see. 

He needed to know that Izuku wouldn’t back down if people say those exact same things to him. Aizawa knew from those first days in the hospital, Izuku had so much potiental to be a Hero, and he knows that the kid still had that hope and dream in him, from stories that the Bakugou’s would tell him, to how he has been taking all of the lessons, training and therapy, he still held onto that dream.

All he really needed, and what Shouta needed to make sure he had….was the self confidence and conviction to hold onto proudly and reach for it.

“Good, looks like we are both on the same page then.” he says, smiling at Izuku’s confused look. Shouta decides to give the kid a bit more explanation, it seems like this whole conversation has already taken a lot out of him. “I’ve always seen potential in you Izuku, I just needed to make sure that you saw that same potential in yourself; a Hero on the field who second guesses himself will get someone else or themselves killed. While we could see about you taking the entrance exam for the next school year in the fall; that may be way too long, and you would be under a different teacher, which while that wouldn’t be as much of an issue with any of our other courses, the Hero students would be going further out more frequently, and with the current situation you and Eri are in, it would be better to have you in my current class and have you close by…..also Katsuki would be such a pain in the ass if you were put in any other Hero course class.” Izuku blows out a laugh, seeming to finally be caught up to Shouta’s own ramblings, but what could he say, he has been waiting for this moment for months now. 

“It would be illogical to try and have you join immediately though; you still have some catching up to do academically before you are on the same current course as they rest of my class, and while you have definitely made leaps and bounds in your physical strength and Quirk use, there still a very large gap from where I would want you to be for the training my class is currently at.”  

Izuku leans forward, while tired, he is still actively listening to everything Shouta is saying. “But we do have something working for us, finals are going to be happening in two months. In two months, I want you to be caught up to where they are currently at and also take the written final exam with them. If you pass it, then I’ll know you are fully ready to join the class for the next semester fully. As a student of the Hero course.” 

“B-but what about the physical exam? And I’m sure that you would have to get permission from Principal Nedzu, to have someone join the Hero course, especially someone that’s not even a student of another course.” 

“We will definitely be upping your physical training; I was not joking around when I said that it’s going to be tough, and even if you are under my care, as one of my students, I’m not going to be making it easy for you.  It will take longer than 2 months of training, because I will be making sure that you don’t push yourself past your limit and ultimately setting yourself back because you went too far.” the pointed glare that he sent Izuku’s way spoke just as much as his words did, if the way Izuku suddenly avoided his gaze said anything, “ and you and Eri will also be coming with my and Kan’s class on our summer training camp as well, so we’ll have more than enough time to get you on the same level as the others by the time the new school year starts.”  

Izuku keeps looking at him expectantly, seeming to wait for Shouta to say something else. 

“Yes Izuku? Do you have any other questions?”

“S-so you really th-think I…..”

He looks so nervous sitting in his seat, tears brimming at his eyes, hopeful, raw, unsure. Shouta can’t hold himself back anymore, reaching out he takes hold of Izuku’s hand and pulls him into a crushing hug, cradling the back of his head as he holds him close, not saying a word about the wet spots that seem tohave appeared on his shoulder. 

“I know that you will become one of the greatest Heroes; and I completely support you in getting into the Hero course; I’ve just been waiting for you to ask for it.”

That night was not the beginning, that happened in a secluded alleyway with a little girl trying to hide from her adusers, but it was the official start to Izuku’s Hero Academia.

Chapter Text

Shouto has never been one to make friends….or socialize at all with others his age; with how he grew up with his father’s constant training and berating, the nights that he would not be able to sleep due to the pain he was in from that days’ ‘training’, how isolated he was because he knew that the only thing everyone only cared about was that his father was the number two Hero in Japan, it was hard to actually connect with anyone. It wasn’t like he could go to his siblings either, his father made sure their relationship was strained at best and non-existant at worst. 

So when he started his first year of high school at U.A. he didn’t think it would be any different, just people who only want to get close to him to be close to his father, not understanding how much Shouto dreads hearing the end of day bell telling everyone they needed to head home, and the ‘training’ that laid in wait for him every day.

This thought was immediately blown far from his mind when on the first day they did a quirk apprehension test with the punishment of expulsion for last place. Shouto was honestly quite used to similar threats from his father, but he didn’t expect to have it also happen on the first day, or for it to be a logical ruse in the end, not that Shouto worried at all, he knew he was powerful with his mother’s quirk, and that’s all he ever planned to use. Shoto swore to himself he would never use his father’s quirk, and he has held tight to that promise for years now, a silly little test wasn’t going to change that. 

It was pretty easy to stay out of conversations that his classmates would try and pull him into, being at the back of the seating chart, he didn’t need to make friends in order to become a hero, and he didn’t need friends to throw everything that his father wants right back in his face when he becomes number one while only using the ice side of his quirk. He will never get the gratifitication of thinking that everything he has put his family through was worth it. 

That was what he thought……

Until they were attacked at the USJ….and he saw just how strong the rest of his classmates are, how earnestly kind they are and how even when they were vastly underprepared for any kind of real fight, most of them took up their fists and quirks and fought for all of their lives. Where even someone as abrasive and bruttish as Bakugou handled the situation with leadership and actions that no one else could fathom that such deep affection and selflessness could come from him. 

Until the Sports Festival…..when once Bakugou came to him before their match, he chewed him out for ‘half-assing’ the competition, telling him off for not giving his all when everyone else in their year, the General Education classes, the Support classes, all of them were reaching for their goals and ambitions with 100% and if he couldn’t give them the respect to even fight them with his all, then he was sh- well, Bakugou used a far worse word for it, but he was stomping on their dreams and goals. It was during that fight, the blistering cold getting to him and making his fingers and toes go numb, Bakugou blowing apart any kind of attack that he sent his way, Bakugou screaming at him still for only using half of his strength.

It was the first time he used his fire in years…..

And he completely forgot about his father. All he cared about….was matching the effort that was being thrown at him.

100%.

He ended up losing the match, the rapid temperature fluctuation as well as the explosion from Bakugou sent both of them flying, only Bakugou had been caught by one of the broken walls of ice that weren’t completely broken in the ring, meanwhile Shoto had tried to catch himself, only for the ice he created was too small, too thin from how overused his ice quirk was, and he went flying out of bounds. 

After the award ceremony was over, and after getting his ears screamed off (although it wasn’t like he could hear him, with how much his ears were still ringing from that last fight) by his father for losing on live television, and with his fire no less, Shoto met some of the kindest and oddest people who quickly broke down the walls that he had created for years, and made him realize…..this is what a loving family is supposed to look like. 

Who would have thought that Bakugou once again would break how he saw the world twice in one day. 

Even when his mother yelled, it was more in excitement, in pride for her son doing her best, not with the expectations that he had to be the best to deserve the boastful remarks and aggressive hugs. While his father was quiet, he congratulated both of them, his smile warm and accepting of Shoto’s confusion. It took some time for them to make it out of the stadium, the sun starting to set and Shoto could easily tell that his father had been gone for quite some time from the area, that was when Bakugou’s mother demanded that Shoto go out to eat with them. 

It was the most delicious food he ever had, even with it being a small Udon place that was only a couple of blocks away, their table was the loudest one there, and it's the most welcomed he’s felt at a dinner table in so long. And doesn’t that just show how crazy it is, that with a table of strangers, he felt more involved and interacted with them than he did at home ...although it's not like he’s ever been able to share a meal with his siblings.

Shoto was then invited to come to their house whenever he would like, and from the looks they gave him…he could tell that they had an inkling of what was really going on in his home; but they thankfully didn’t push the matter. It was enough knowing that if there was another option now, once the school bell rang. Bakugou did have an aggressive but caring heart in him, he would make sure he was eating and would act as a buffer if their classmates were getting overzealous. But it wasn’t just with him that Shoto would see it with, the way he would always yell something before firing a blast, always giving those with sensitive hearing time to prepare for the explosion, how he would berate those that would study with him, but would make sure that they actually understood what they were going over. 

This entire school year, it’s been alot of ups and downs, with so many surprises both from logical ruses from their teacher and with everything that they have all been through, but Shoto is glad that he came to U.A., this has been more freeing than he could have ever imagined.

Speaking of logical ruses though, it seems like Mr. Aizawa has decided to throw another one at them right during the practical portion of their finals….

Because who is this green hair teen and little girl that are standing right beside their teacher as they wait for the practical test to be explained to them?

~~~~~

Aizawa watches over his students who have all lined up outside of the school, he can hear some of them, mostly Denki and MIna excitedly talking about fighting robots for their final and seeming much more relaxed than they should be for finals; meanwhile others have learned from previous moments like these that you shouldn’t get your hopes up on one flimsy piece of rumors from an upper year. 

He was definitely going to have fun crushing those thinking they were going to be able to coast. 

He also watches all of them,  at one moment or and more, glance over to their two guests, Izuku and Eri. he can’t fully blame their curiosity about the additions, and he isn’t going to answer any questioning looks that get thrown his way either. Maybe he can make it as some kind of extra credit, hmmm, he’ll think about it. 

He takes his own glance out of the corner of his eye to look at his wards, pride at seeing the both of them having grown so much in such a short amount of time; Izuku was no longer the thin and hollowed boy he met all those months ago, he has gained muscle and he is finally back to a healthy weight, he even has been cleared to wear a simplified version of the metal arm that the support students have been making for him the last few months. While he doesn’t have it on very often, they have been working on having him get used to using his quirk subconsciously with it in order to both train up his quirk more and have the use of the arm be second nature for him and his quirk. Aizawa is proud of the healthy glow and muscles showing the hard work that Izuku has put in to make his dreams a reality, and that makes his smiles almost radiate with how happy and energetic he is. while he didn’t reach the criteria that he and Recovery Girl had set for him to meet to be able to take the practical test; he didn’t let that get him down, as they already had a plan B of having him test in at the beginning of the year for his practical test, that way he would still have all of Summer and the Summer training camp to be in tip top shape. Currently though he was doing the second half of his written exam, a part that his students aren’t doing this year; Izuku’s arms are filled with files, his notebook sitting at the top of the stack.the first half he finished with flying colors, Nedzu was particularly excited about having Izuku take this part of the test. 

Eri has also regained any lost weight that may have been lost during her few months on the streets as well, the real growth has been with her therapy sessions and her quirk lessons, it seems like she has made the goal for herself to try and have better control on her quirk so that she could one day help Izuku regain his arm, and they have had the issue ( honestly he’s had the same issue with both of these kids) of her pushing herself too far with her quirk and than having to deal with losing control or dealing with the backlash. Something that Aizawa is happy to see though is that Recovery Girl has taken a liking to Eri and Eri has taken a liking to her as well, with how she handled herself in the hospital, Shota had thought that it would take them far longer to work on her fear of medical professionals and medical settings, but it seems like she is doing much better than he thought with Chiyo being the one to teach her about medicine and procedures. So much so that the nurse’s office has become one of Eri’s favorite places to be if she is waiting on the both of them for one reason or another. 

As the last of the participating teachers arrived, it seemed like Powerloader had to deal with another explosion from a certain student, they were finally able to begin. He’s been listening to his students mumble about fighting robots for the final exam for the last week, and he can’t help but enjoy being able to squash the false hope that they had. Its what made waking up early worth it…..well, that and also being able to help Eri do her hair. But Aizawa would take that to the grave before ever saying that.

“Alright, now that we have everyone, we’ll begin with the practical exam. I am sure that you all have heard rumors and garnered information from your seniors that normally the final exams is-”

“Fighting robots!”

“This is going to be a breeze!”

Aizawa couldn’t help the twisted smile that grew on his face, Denki and Ashido joyfully shout out, interupting his explanation. These two…sometimes, he worries about them, but right now, that was just what he was wanting to hear. 

“In Previous years, yes we have done the final exam as students against the robots….” Denki and Ashido were still cheering and boasting, not even noticing how their fellow classmates were becoming sticken with worry at the smile that their teacher was giving them.

“But we decided to change things this year, what with the abundant attacks on U.A and the students.” Nedzu finishes off his sentence, popping out from his scarf in surprise. Izuku thankfully didn’t flinch ( although he did watch as the principal wormed his way into his scarf hours ago, a confused look on his face but he thankfully didn’t mention it at all once the class started to group up in front of them) but Eri did jump in surprise at the sudden and slightly bizarre appearance of the principal. 

His students also jump in surprise, Denki and Ashido seeming to lose all hope once the principal's words register to them. 

“With all of the attacks, as well as with the new school year coming up after the summer break, we decided that we needed to change up the final in order to ensure that you are all prepared for the curriculum next year and to ensure we are doing our best as a Hero School to ensure you have the means and information to keep yourselves safe. So this year, instead of fighting robots…..”

“You’ll be fighting against the teachers.” Aizawa waves towards the teachers that have been standing proudly behind him, and seeing the hope that was an easy A drain from all of his students…….that just made his entire morning. 

~~~~~~~

Izuku wasn’t sure if he should be concerned at how fast Aizawa crushed his student’s dreams of being able to handle the final practical exam as he continued on and explained that the students would be fighting the teachers as duos, and that they would have two options of being able to pass the exam; either they are able to evade and reach the ‘Escape’ Gate, showing that they have escaped the battlefield, or to handcuff and ‘detain’ the teacher. Izuku did breathe a sigh of relief to know that the teachers would be at a disadvantage with weighted cuffs, and that there was at least the option to run. 

That was something Izuku learned very early on when living on the streets; there will also be those who are bigger and stronger than you, and you can always try and get big and strong yourself, but when you’re outmatched, it’s sometimes best to find the first out and run for it. That will save your life more than you can ever know. 

Pairings were called out, and Izuku watched as students paired up one another, while some looked nervous or freaked out, others had that spark; the spark that was (and still is) always in Kacchan’s eye. 

Determination and confidence. 

While Izuku didn’t know the students that Kacchan and Iida were paired up with, he watched as the students settled down after pairing up, waiting anxiously for the next information to be told….who exactly each group was fighting. 

“Good, you all moved quickly. Now then, who you all are matched up to fight are…..

Kirishima and Sato, you two will be against Cementoss in battle area 1.

Tokoyami and Hagakure, you’re opponent is Present Mic in battle area 4.

Yaoyorozu and Todoroki, you’ll be facing off against me in battle area 7.

Shoji and Yuga, you two will be against Snipe in battle ground 6. 

Denki and Ashido, you two will be against Nedzu in battle ground 3.

Tsuyu and Mineta, you are going up against Thirteen in Battle Ground 5. 

Ochako and Sero, you’ll be against Ectoplasm in battle area 2. 

Iida, Koda, and Ojiro, you three will be against Powerloader in Battle ground 9. 

Bakugou and Jiro, you two will be in battle ground 8 and your opponent will be…”

Izuku sees the manical smile on Kacchan grow as he seems to put two and two together, while the girl next to him, Jiro he presumes, seems to lose all the color in her face. Izuku thinks back to all the names that have been called out so far, and tries to think of which teacher hasn’ been assigned yet, only for the answer to walk forward himself, towering over everyone one else in the full red,white, blue and gold glory that is…… All Might. Izuku has only seen him a handleful of times on campus and every time he’s awe struck that he is able to be anywhere close to the number 1 Hero. having him right there in front of him only makes him feel so small in comparison.  

Yeah…….he can understand Jiro’s feelings now. 

“ the start of the tests will be delayed for a certain amount of time from each other, and once you have completed your exam, wheter you pass or fail, you will come back here where you will be looked over by Recovery Girl and be able to view your classmates' exams as well. Any other questions before we begin?”

Izuku watches as multiple hands shoot up, but one of them just yells out, he was the shortest in the class, with purple ball(?) hair and a…diaper(??) as a part of his costume. “Who's the weirdo and the kid?” Izuku unconsciously puts a hand infront of Eri, not liking the rudely blunt question. Izuku was sure that they would wonder who they were, since this is the first time most of them are meeting them, but that was still rude to both of them.  He can see Aizawa glare down at the student, before finally saying “guess you’ll just have to find out. We can make it a bit of….extra credit of sorts. If you can find out who they are by the end of the exams, then we will take that into consideration when grading your exams overall.” Aizawa turns to Izuku and Eri, and Izuku can see the mischief sparking in his eyes “you can answer whatever questions you want, or not answer any at all, that will be up to you.” 

“If there is nothing else, you all get 20 minutes before the first team leaves for their exam, so don’t waste that time. Everyone else, go and head into the main building and use your time wisely. “

~~~~

The viewing room was far more spacious than he thought that it would be; even with every student in the room, there was still ample space for everyone to spread out and talk strategies before they were called to head out to the bus loading station and onward to their exam. Izuku stationed himself towards the back of the room, sitting down on the floor with all of the files spread out about him, some opened, some still closed for the moment, Eri has taken to a coloring book that Izuku snuck in with his supplies, happily humming to herself by his side as she works away at the bunny on the page. as he begins reading over the first couple of files, the first students who were going to be called out to their final exams; Kirishima and Sato. 

Looking over both files, both being purposefully sparse (just like the rest of them) Izuku opened up his notebook and began his final test; analysis of all the Practical exams for the first year hero students. The first ones to go is class 1-A, and class 2-A will begin once everyone from 1-A have completed their exams; Izuku is honestly glad, becuase that means he’ll get to watch his friends and see just how great they are. Kacchan, Iida, even Ochako who has been a new addition to their group, has all helped Izuku with his training and studying the last few months and he’ll finally be able to see them fight without holding back. But he can’t focus on just them, even if he is super excited for it, shaking his head slightly to get back on track, he goes back to writing out his analysis of both their quirks and their personalities from what he able to observe for the few minutes that he could before going forward to writing down possibilites for how they could win, with his thoughts written down he moves onto the next page, leaving the rest of his analysis for when they are actively doing the exam, to which he can compare the tactics the team decided on, and work out better ways they could have preformed, or ways that their plan was different or worked better than his initial thoughts. He begins looking over the next team, mumbling to himself quietly as he reads over report after report, marking down his thoughts and questions, his ideas for how their tests may play out, moving onto the next group without even looking away from each file as he writes. 

God, has he missed being able to deep dive into theorizing and analyzing quirks, thinking up of takedowns and theorical fights, and then taking apart his plans and thoughts and try to make them better. Kacchan and he would do this for hours when he would stay over at their house when….. that  house wasn’t safe or after he was able to escape it for the night. Kacchan would let him go for hours, listening to his theories and suggestions about all of their classmates' quirks, of course the one that always got Kacchan riled up was when he analyzed either of their quirks. Those nights were always some of his favorites to remember when he was on the streets.

 Izuku doesn’t even notice when Kacchan sits down next to him, not until he flicks him on the ear, snapping him out of his thoughts with a ‘ouch!’ he whirls around and glares at Kacchan, his cocky grin only growing at the slight pout Izuku sends his way. 

“Did you have to flick me?”

“Well, you were off in lala-land and didn’t even notice when tails and the purple fucker tried to talk to you.”

“o-oh….I didn’t realize…”

Katsuki tugs on his ear again, getting an annoyed ‘ow!’ from Izuku, “Don’t go apologizing for it. Like Aizawa said, you don’t gotta say shit to them if you don’t want to. Besides, you look like you got your own thing going on over here.”

“Yeah, its part of the testing that they want me to do if I want to be enrolled into your class next year. I’ll be doing the physical test after summer break.”

“Fuck yeah! We’re going to train like crazy during the summer trip to get you ready to kick everyone’s ass!”

“Kacchan…..”

Before Izuku can respond to his friend’s remark, the speaker turns on with a short squeal, before calling out for those in battle ground 1 to board the bus waiting for them. The red haired kid with pointed teeth and the one in a full yellow suit make their way through the door, confidence in each step. Izuku can tell that whatever plan they came up with, the both of them are confident in it and know they’re going to win.

“Idiots.”

Izuku whirls around to look at Kacchan, stunned. “Kacchan!”

“Trust me, if you knew those two like I do, you would be worried too about how their test is going to go. They barely talked about any kind of plan for a few minutes at best. The rest of the tie was just hyping each other up.”  Izuku looks back down to his first analysis of their team, his hypotheses about how they may be able to handle the situation a sign of hope. If he could figure it out, then the two of them may be able to do it. “Well, I believe in them, even if they may not have much of a plan yet, that doesn’t mean that they can’t figure one out in the moment.”  Izuku says back, giving Katsuki the look to try and fight him on it. They stare each other down for a moment before Katsuki huffs out a laugh and decides to change the subject, letting Izuku go back to his notes as they wait for the cameras to start recording and playing within the viewing room.

“How’s the arm been? I know you said it was alot harder using it for smaller and more detailed things.”

“Yeah, its still hard to get the fine motor skills down, although it’s not that the arm and fingers can’t do it, it’s more about getting my quirk to do all of the fine motor skills quickly. If I do it slowly and deliberately, it works, but-”

“Its harder when you’re doing stuff like that super quick and on the fly, right?”

“Yeah. The one that makes me the most frustrated is typing or quick reflex training, I’m still messing up when I try and do that stuff quickly, which defeats the purpose of it being a quick motor skill.” 

Kacchan doesn’t hesitate to laugh at the indignant pout Izuku knows is painted on his face, but Izuku can’t hold it for long seeing how easy going Kacchan is, even with the imminent figure of All Might being his final exam. 

“Why aren’t you over with your partner working out a plan? I mean most of the others seem to still be talking over plans and ideas, although I am concerned about the few that are just lazing around ... .but I know you, you definitely are the type to relax on such a big exam.” Izuku asks, watching the screen as it starts to boot up and showing cementoss entering the training area before the bus is there, most likely situating himself wherever he thinks is best before the exam starts.  

“HA! As if I need to worry about some over complicated plan! The plan is going to be simple! I go in there and beat All Might!” Kacchan yells confidently, cackling to himself as some of his classmates, including his partner, give him a look and stepping a few steps back. Izuku has seen Katsuki be cocky on some levels due to his quirk’s power and his refined use of it, but he also knows when he’s biting off way more than he can chew, even when Katsuki doesn’t see it until its way too late. 

The best way to handle this is- “OW!” Izuku has to hold back his snickering with all his might, as he pulled on one of Kacchan’s Gauntlets with his quirk, making it smack right into Kacchan’s head. “YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE YOU NERD!” 

While he was able to hold back his laughter, he could keep the smirk off of his face as he agrees that he absolutely did it on purpose; “yeah I did. What makes you think someone like you will actually be able to beat All Might as a first year Hero student?!”

“WHAT YOU DON’T THINK I’LL BE ABLE TO SURPASS HIM?!”

“I think you will……” Izuku replies instantly, shutting Katsuki up with how serious Izuku becomes. “Someday, I know that you will beat All Might, that you will become the number 1 hero, because that’s always been your dream and you have never been the type of person to give up. And I hope…..when that day comes I’ll be right beside you. But that day is not today Kacchan. If you want to try and face him and fail your final exam, then go ahead and be my guest, but it won’t just be you on the field, it won’t just be you failing.

 You want to be the best? Then actually think with your brain and not with your pride.” 

Katsuki stares back at him, gobsmacked, and Izuku doesn’t want to look away because he knows that their conversation was definitely not quiet, and he doesn’t want to have to be faced with all the eyes that are staring holes into the both of them.  

Kacchan final breaks eye contact, grumbling under his breath, “Stupid nerd.” before growling out a sigh and swinging back to meet Izuku’s eyes again, “Fine….you’re right, I will beat All Might one day, but I gotta actually make it as a hero first to do that. I’ll find Ears and make a fucking plan to get through the exam and it’s going to be the best exam out of everyone else!” he says, that cocky smile back on at full force, Izuku easily smiles back at him, glad to see that his friend wasn’t going to give up.

“Oh!”

Izuku and Katuski look over to Eri, who was now watching the large screen as the two students have begun their test, walking into the exam with their heads held high and a pep in their steps.

Yeah…..he thinks that they’ll be just fine in their exams.

~~~~~~~~

Izuku wants to smack Kacchan again in the face with his own gauntlet for how he’s nearly rolling on the floor with laughter, but Izuku can only watch gobsmacked at that……awful display of the first exam. 

How can they be that dense!?! 

He knows that they may be confident in their strength, but didn’t they even think about the stamina it would take to continuously break down wall after wall of cement that was thrown in front of them, and the drawbacks to their own quirks?! Honestly?! They didn’t even try to retreat and regroup for a better strategy, they just kept going until they both physically couldn’t go any further. Izuku had hoped that going over the actual exam for analysis would at least have some pros and cons, but he’s fille up an entire two pages on everything they have down wrong! Meanwhile Kacchan is laughing his ass off for totally calling it on how Kirishima and Sato’s test would go. 

Izuku finally snaps out of it and looks back to Kacchan when he slaps him on the back, before standing back up. “That was absolutely worth the time lost for planning! Watching you watch that was the best thing I’ve seen in weeks! Alright, I'm going to grab Ears and figure out a plan, and you better be ready, because we are going to blow your mind!” he says before going off, most likely to try and find his partner. 

Izuku doesn’t have much time to worry about how that conversation might go, as the next team is getting ready to enter into their own training grounds. Looks like the next team to go is Ochako and Sero, from Izuku’s information, they’re up against Ectoplasm. Izuku is rooting for Ochako, who has recently and easily integrated into his small group of friends, she joined in on a few of their study sessions leading up to the final exams and was a bubbly personality that could get along with anyone she meets. She never asked why Izuku was on campus even though he wasn’t a student, nor did she ask what happened to his arm, she just….happily accepted him as he was, and in a way, Izuku appreciated her friendship; he and Kacchan had so much complicated history, and Iida still seems to be trying to figure out a relaxed friendship himself and Izuku can sometimes tell when he is looking at him as some ‘proper hero’ or something; but Ochako just sees him as just another teenager, and she doesn’t judge when Izuku is a bit lost on current trends, she laughs with him and is a nice upbeat attitude for both he and Eri to be around. He really hopes that this round will go much better than the last one. 

He knows how skilled Ectoplasm is, and he knows for a fact that he won’t hold back his full range of ectoplasm clones and what that can mean for Ochako and her partner is they could be easily ambushed if they aren’t on guard, and it will mean the entire building that the test is taking place in wil be filled with Ectoplasm clones, and the real trick is that Ochako and Sero will need to be able to find the right Ectoplasm. Izuku picks back up Sero’s file, filled with only the bare minimum of information; name, age, a copy of their costume designs and support equipment, and a bare bones layout of his quirk. It’s the same for everyone’s files, some may have added information about how the quirk works, or about a draw back, but everything else is left up to Izuku to figure out, even the costume and support items only have a few notes jotted down the explain the bare necessities as to what an added item or material is. 

From the file, Sero has the quirk Tape, where he has a slight mutation in his elbow that create tape that he can shoot out from said elbows. Izuku could easily see how great such a quirk would be for heroics; and with his easy smile, he could see him getting quite some traction when he goes pro, and if he sticks to quick take downs, he could easily get more support due to low property damage. 

The buzzers echoes through the speakers and Ochako and Sero quickly make they’re way into the building. 

“I hope that they do well.”

~~~~~~

Their plan quickly becomes clear, and he can breathe a sigh of relief at how well the execution of the plan is going, and uses the best of both of their abilities seamlessly with one another. Their plan, while simple has been going wonderfully for them so far; they currently are sneaking throughout the building, sticking to shadows and near the roof and rafters thanks to Sero’s tape, which Izuku is glad to see that Sero uses his tape to the best of his capabilities, using something that many would call simple in such a creative way by integrating gymnastics into the use of his quirk and is able to use his tape to pull himself up into the air and use it to swing from up top, even with Ochako’s added weight on him, Sero moves seamlessly through the halls and keeps them out of sight until they are able to get a few of the clones on their own, where Ochako then drops down on top of them, slapping them with her quirk and lets them float up to the roof, where Sero then makes quick work of making sure they are stuck to the nearest object; the roof, the wall, and columns nearby. Its only been a few minutes but the both of them are working seamlessly. While he isn’t able to hear them, he can see them talking to one another, most likely checking in with each other, making sure that one or the other aren’t getting exhausted or needing a break before moving forward once again. 

Izuku can tell that this type of gorilla tacket works very well, especially when they have the advantage of staying out of sight without obscuring their own vision, but with the layout of the building, they’ll soon be entering a lobby like area, with no areas to hide and far more clones in place all throughout, on walkways and the like, and with more eyes to look out for, their hide and trike tactic won’t work with this many in sure a large area, they’ll be spotted eventually.  

However it seems that the two were also aware of needing to change tactics, as just before the entrance to the open area, they use the last door frame to their advantage, Ochako cancels their gravity and swings out from the hallway, flying through the air for a good couple of seconds, before it looks like their gravity is returned ( is there a timer to how long she can cancel gravity? A certain height that the items affected can go before the quirk is no longer active? No that wouldn’t make sense, as some of the clones they trapped to the ceilings were definitely higher.) Izuku makes note to speak more to Ochako about her quirk and the limits for her quirk.  They slam into a large amount of the clones, using fighting techniques to make their way through, Sero using his tape sparingly, while Ochako is using some hand to hand combat as well as using her own quirk sparingly as well, usually using it on small pieces of rubble from their climactic landing. 

They two of them don’t let the large group of clones close in too much, racing through the hoard quickly as they take down any that get too close to one another, as they make their way up, Sero using his tape to take them up to one of the open walkways that lead around the room and onto another hallway, this one with seemingly more clones than the first few halls they went down. It looks like Ectoplasm is making sure to leave an obvious clue to find him for his students; the more clones means that they are getting closer to where the real Ectoplasm is. 

Izuku excitedly takes notes on their efforts, how they change plans easily as the task evolves and changes, while keeping tabs on one another and not using their quirks recklessly, and while some changes could be made, overall they both are doing a fantastic job as he watches the student team make it to the final room where the real Ectoplasm is, as well as the escape exit just a couple of feet away on the opposite end of the room. 

It does get very close to the wire as Ectoplasm uses one of his bigger moves, calling back all of his clones that he can and merging them together into one mass around the students, trapping them in the wall of ectoplasm and knocking their capture cuffs off of Ochako and skid to behind Ectoplasm and far out of their reach; thankfully because of their good work at the beginning of the exam, Ectoplasm doesn’t have access to about a fourth of the clones he sent out, making the mound smaller than what he could do if he had access to all of his clones. And it was just small enough for Sero to be able to pull one of his arms free, and with his tape, he was able to grab hold of the cuffs and retract his tape ( that was definitely left out of his file! How cool!) hitting Ectoplasm on the head, probably by accident, but it distracted him enough to where his control on his quirk slipped slightly (probably on purpose, this is still supposed to be a learning experience after all) which Ochako was able to pull herself out of the muck and apply her zero-gravity to herself, shooting forward at an alarming speed at Ectoplasm, tackling him to the ground in a single moment and taking hold of the cuffs from Sero’s tape to then attach them onto his wrists. 

A clear and concise win. 

Izuku couldn’t be more amazed and proud, it truly was spectacular from start to finish. 

If the other exams go like this, it will be amazing. Izuku can’t help but be pumped for the next exam that will be starting in a few minutes. It will take some time for both the first and second group to get back to the main building, and the fourth team is heading out now. 

“Izu…”

Turning his attention away from the screen he looks over to Eri, who is now standing by him, her hand clasped in his hoodie sleeve and whose eyes haven’t looked away from the screen yet, but theres such an excited energy in her as she is practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. 

“That was so cool!” she says excitedly, looking to him with such a joyful and wide smile, the excitement of the fight still seeming to course through her as she excited recounts part of the fight with the excitement that he knew she probably picked up from him as he has been getting back into analyizing fights over the last few months; he listens with rapt attention as she tells him her favorite parts of the fight, bouncing up and down and swinging her arms with swepeing motions, Hero swinging around in her grip as she asks if there are going to be other cool fights like that. 

“Of course, after all, these students are going to be Heroes when they graduate, and they’re Aizawa’s students nonetheless. They are going to go all the way!”

“Plus Ultra!” She tacks on with a peel of giggles following after. Izuku laughs with her as he says back, “Plus Ultra!”

The buzzer sounds once again and Izuku settles back in, now with a very excited Eri sitting excitedly by his side, brimming with anticipation as they watch the next students, Mina and Denki from the files that he looked over, step into a nearly maze like arena made entirely of metal; their opponent, the ever calm and collected Principal of the school itself, Nedzu.

Chapter Text

While he may have had multiple ideas on how each team could complete their exams, and he did have quite a few with Denki and Mina’s test; especially with the test taking place in such an industrial complex that Denki should have had a much bigger advantage then what many would think, although that would depend on how much control on his output that he would have for his electricity, and mina would have minimal resistance for her acid skating to where they could easily get through the maze…wait, he’s rambling again. 

Izuku hates the fact that Kacchan had called it on how his classmates were going to fail this test, all they have been doing is running blindly through the maze as the Principal has been cornering them and leading them to a dead end the whole time.

Izuku almost feels bad for them with how hard Principal Nedzu is going after them on this exam. Maybe he should ask Aizawa about the……almost manical manner that Nedzu seems to be showing during this exam; Izuku has met the Principal a few times since the Hospital, but he’s never seen this side of the Principal before and it was a bit concerning…for both the students and the Principal. 

Izuku can just imagine the cackles that Kacchan would let out from watching these two run blindly through the maze with no thought as they scream in terror. In fact, Izuku is actively ignoring the corner of the large room that he knows Kacchan is in because if he looks over there it will be like admitting to some kind of defeat….what kind, he’s not really sure, but he is not going to give Katsuki the satisfaction of it.

Izuku’s gaze is pulled away from the screen when Eri tugs on his sleeve, a question seeming to be sitting right at the tip of her tongue as she hesitantly looks to him and out into the crowd of students that was a mix of those who were trying to plan, watching their fellow classmates during their exams, and looking at the two of them. Izuku is definitely going to complain to Aizawa at the fact that he decided to put the two of them right in the spotlight with that ‘extra credit’ he decided to throw in at the last second. 

“What would you like to ask? You can take your time Eri, there’s no rush.”

She perks up at Izuku’s words, ruminating on her question for a few more minutes before finally asking, “Can I go say hi to someone?” Izuku looks back out to the crowd, Surprised that Eri wants to say hi to someone at all. “Is it Iida?” he asks, looking for the tall metal clad boy in the crowd. But Eri shakes her head, she leans in closereaching up to try and whisper into his ear, Izuku glances up at the screen to make sure he hasn’t missed anything for a moment before leaning down to make it easier for her. “She is someone that helped when….on that night.” Izuku understands immediately which night she is speaking to; Eri still has a lot of trouble speaking to that night, and Izuku doesn’t blame her either, while he has been able to accept and be able to talk about his lost arm much more casually thanks to the therapy sessions he has had with Hound Dog, that night  is still something that Izuku can barely speak about what happened that night, nightmares of it still haunting him from time to time. 

“Do you want me to come with?” he asks, his curiosity getting the best of him; if he can, he would be happy to meet one of the people that helped Eri. however, even more surprising is that she shakes her head. “I want to do it on my own. I’ve been getting stronger too!” Izuku can’t help the smile that grows the more that he watches Eri grow more and more, being shy and strong and wanting to do these kinds of things on her own, its nearly impossuble to see that same scared girl that ran into him all of those months ago, shaking like a leaf, she’s left all of that fear behind her now and it warms his heart to see it. “Alright, just know that if you need me, I’m right here.” she lights up with that sweet smile and gives his hand a squeeze before taking a deep breath and heading into the crowd of teens in search of this mystery person. 

He looks back to the screen as Mina and Denki scream in both some version of relief and defeat as their exam ends in failure and the principal finally stops his chase of the two poor kids. Izuku lets out a sign and turns to a new page in his notes, knowing that he’s going to have quite a lot of analysis on the two’s abysmal exam to write in such a short amount of time before the next exam starts. 

From the screen it looks like the principal was leading them to a direct dead end, and it wouldn’t take long for the two of them to realize it. 

~~~~

Eri thankfully doesn’t have to do much to make her way over to the nice girl she had met before, a small “Excuse me” and everyone makes way for her to slip through the crowd. She finally finds the ponytail girl near the door, seeming to try and focus on something and about to head through with a boy with both red and white hair. She is quite nervous speaking to her with someone else right there, but she’s stronger now, and this nice ponytail girl deserves to hear what she has to say.

“Um….” oh NO!!! She can’t remember the ponytail lady’s name?! How is she going to say what she needs to say if she can’t even remem-

“Oh! Eri!” thankfully, the girl noticed her first and immediately goes down to one knee, making it easier to speak with her face to face. “I’m not sure if you remember, my name is Yaoyurozu Momo, but you can just call me Momo. I am glad to see you again, its been quite awhile, hasn’t it?”

“Momo! I do remember!” She says Excitedly, bouncing on the tips of her toes, glad that she didn’t have to ask the girl for her name after she so clearly remembered hers. “I’m happy that I was able to catch you before your test! I wanted to tell you something super important!” Eri leans in close, her hands cupped and held up to make sure no one else could hear her. Momo leans in, and Eri whispers “Thank you for helping me that time, you were really cool and nice. I hope your test is great!”  Eri leans back and and takes hold of the teen’s hand, giving it a good shake before saying “When you’re done with your test, you should say hi to my bro- I mean, to Izu! Good Luck Momo! Good Luck Mr. Peppermint!” she wishes to them both before turning back and heading back to Izuku’s side, a skip in her step as she goes. 

Momo watches as she goes, holding the hand that Eri held close to her chest. 

Somehow, all of the nerves that she had before was gone now, because she knew that she had someone rooting for her. Now she couldn’t disappoint Eri and lose, she will definitely succeed. She stands back up and joins Todoroki again, feeling a bit flustered that she and Eri had a bit of an audience;  as they start to walk through the doors and back through the halls to the bus that will be taking them to their exam sight, Todoroki mumbles out “Mr.Peppermint?” and Momo can’t help the giggles that tumble out of her at his pure confusion at the nickname. 

Somehow, the nervous butterflies she was feeling before have eased, she knows that together, she and Todoroki will do just fine, no matter what Mr. Aizawa throws their way.

~~~~~~

The next few fights seem to pass by in a furious daze for Izuku, Shouto and Yaoyorozu had a successful final, the beginning of their test being a bit rocky at first as Shouto seemed to have a bit of difficulty letting someone else take the lead, but once he realized that Yaoyorozu had a much more thought out plan than running in and trying to over power their opponent, he didn’t hesitate to fall into a follower roll and let his partner shine in the exam. Izuku made sure to make note that Shouto did seem to instinctively think he has to be the leader of a group or team, and that may be due to others taking note of his parentage and letting him take control of a  situation, Izuku isn’t sure if that is still happening in their current class (he knows that Kacchan is not the kind of person to let that happen if they were in the same group) and to have him possibly go through some scenarios that may help him learn both what to do when he may have to be the leader in a situation, as well as work through the ingrained sense of responsibility that others have shoved on to him, and helping him know when it would be best both for a mission, a situation, or for himself to take a step back and let someone else lead instead. ( Izuku may have also put that down pre-eptively into Kacchan’s notes as well; he loves his best friend, but he also knows his best friend.)

The next few don’t go too far astray, they honestly go pretty close to what he expected, with some smaller differences, some taking more time to come to a plan, others running into hiccups along the way, but eventually coming together to succeed and passing the exam. Besides two of the teams, no one else has failed their exam yet, so Izuku is hopefully that they’ll be the only ones who will have to go through the hellish after hour remedial classes that Aizawa had told him about during the summer camp. 

It was hard to focus on it as many of the students seemed to finally be brave enough, or had enough time now that they had some semblance of a plan, to come up and talk to him and Eri. Thankfully, most of them seemed to back off once Eri started to hide behind his back, mostly talking to Izuku for a bit to try and get some information about the two of them for that ‘extra credit’ Aizawa tempted them with, but one or two stuck around to actually talk to him. Kaminari, the one who had failed miserably in his test with Mina, plopped down next to him and was carrying on a conversation with him, although Izuku wasn’t exactly adding much to the conversation. Izuku was surprised that he hadn’t even asked any kind of prying questions, mostly talking about tv shows, how he felt about his exam and complaining about missing the camp, then back to what kind of music Izuku listened to and if heard of certain bands before. He’s pretty sure that Kaminari completely forgot about the ‘extra credit’ that Aizawa had placed on Izuku’s head from the beginning of the exams; and he did feel kind of bad about how poorly their exam went…..maybe he could help the guy out a bit.

Leaning over to his unlikely buddy on the floor, making sure not to move too much as Eri was currently leaning into his other side asleep, he whispers “ by the way, my name is Izuku, Sorry about introducing myself so late. Just don’t tell the others yet, I’m……a  bit shy….” Izuku wasn’t sure how to try and make sure Kaminari didn’t blab his name to the others; he at least wanted to make this as fair as possible, and it wouldn’t really prove Aizawa’s point, or make Aizawa regret, making Izuku be the sudden ‘extra credit’ if everyone learned his name….or maybe it would… Izuku doesn’t really want to think about it too much, he still has a whole boatload of things on his plate already, he doesn’t want to think too hard on how to make Aizawa pay for this. 

That will definitely come up later, maybe during the summer camp. 

The other person that has been trying on and off to gleam some kind of information from him was the smallest of the class, purple balls making up his hair and sitting on the top of his head. He constantly tried to start up conversation with him; but unlike Kaminari, who talks about more common things like comics, games, and tv shows, this kid-Mineta, if Izuku is recalling correctly from the few pages of information that Aizawa gave him about the class- was trying to start up a conversation by talking about how the girls in the class looked, trying to get him to agree on his views, or asking him about any hidden tricks to pass the test. 

It gave him a weird feeling everytime he would try to come over and start a conversation, Kaminari sometimes would join in and tone the line of conversation down, but even Izuku could tell that even Kaminari, who for how little he has known him he could tell that he was a chatty person and always hoped into conversations, was uncomfortable and would call Mineta out on some of the things he said or asked Izuku. 

“Come on, what’s the point of the final if you try and cheat your way through, it would make the entire thing pointless man. Besides you’re almost up dude, you better go find Tsu and get ready.” Kaminari rebuffed Mineta’s attempt again at getting Izuku to spill about the tests in some way. It didn’t take much to have the ballhead mumbling under his breath and stomping away, which Izuku was thankful for. He was not sure what to expect from Mineta’s Exam, but he didn’t have high hopes, he just hoped that it wouldn’t drag Tsu down into failing the exam, from the little information he has been able to gleam off of the sparse information that Aizawa gave him and from what he has seen so far, Tsu seems like a great and versatile student with a calm and welcoming attitude; Izuku knows that she will make a great hero, so maybe she’ll be able to pull through her exam just fine. 

Izuku can only hope. 

~~~~

Hope was always something that we strive to find.

To hold on to.

To grow and fan into a roaring flame. 

It’s hope that lights the way when the world becomes too dark to see where the next step will take us.

It’s hope…….that he will be able to find among these first year students a worthy successor for his quirk. Through out this school year, Toshinori has watched over these classes, keeping his eyes open for the right student that would make that spark in him; the spark of One for All, the spark of hope, reignite from its embers that he can slowly feel burning out within him. So far, the only person that has shown promise is not even within the first year students, but rather the third year that Nighteye had trained. While Toshinori did not approve of Nighteye doing this behind his back and then expecting for everything to go his way; he did have to hand it to him, he picked an excellent young man burning with passion and compassion. But All Might was never a man who would just  ‘go with the flow’. He wanted to make sure that young Togata was truly the best match, and that meant that he would look elsewhere, into the newest class of heroes in training, to see the young and bright burning desire to help their fellow man.

So far there have been quite a few contenders that All Might has had to give thought to; some from class 1-B seemed to be quite level headed, but the innate desire to help, that moment to reach out, to run to help without even realizing they were moving….Yagi hasn’t seen that level of a hero from their class, he is sure that they will be astounding Heroes once they have graduated, but none of them were what he was looking for in his successor. 

Currently he is looking at one student within the 1-A class that seems to have that level of heroism that he is looking for, who is willing to put his life on the line without even realizing it and is ready to always back up his sporadic attacks with power and gusto that no other has been able to match. He is an unparalleled existence to his class, even without being a class representative, his classmates seem to look towards him, try to compete with, match him, and pass him as they throw themselves into their training. The only thing that All Might has truly seen from this student that concerns him is……his personality is quite harsh to others, and he struggles with relying on others or connecting with them. 

That's why he had asked Nedzu to allow All Might to be assigned to Bakugou Katsuki’s Final Exam.

This wasn’t just his final exam. 

This is to see if young Bakugou has what it takes to be the next holder. 

All Might can only hope if this is the right call, as  he knows that his time as the Number 1 Hero is coming to an end sooner than he would like. 

Sooner than the world is ready for. 

~~~~~

Tsuyu is never one to judge people. 

She knows that there is so much more to a person than one can see on the surface. 

She has been judged based on her appearance before; and has had friends be judged just because of their mutations.

So she always likes to give people the benefit of the doubt, to always try and reach out as you may never know just who a person can be until given the chance. And they will always show that the effort is never wasted, that they too are people who want to see the best in others as they always want to show the best of themselves.

Mineta……..isn’t one of those people. 

While he may score well on their written exams, his personality on the inside is somehow even worse than what he shows to people. But Tsuyu won’t let this stop her from trying her best in her final exam, no matter if Mineta hasn’t tried to actually work with her on figuring out a plan before they were called to head out to their designated exam area, or listen to her ideas on the bus ride over. All he says is that it will be easy since they are going up against a Rescue Hero, so Thirteen will be at a disadvantage against them in a fight automatically. And maybe that is true to a degree, but Tsuyu knows that this doesn’t mean they should take this lightly either; Thirteen was there, defending their classmates from the villain who had separated everyone during the USJ attack. While Thirteen may be a Rescue Hero first, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know how to fight, she chooses not to. And after the USJ, Tsuyu is sure that Thirteen has also taken what happened seriously and put the effort into being able to protect and rescue. 

This exam will prove who has grown from there first days at the school, and who hasn’t. 

As the timer ticked down for them to entire their exam area, a building that looked very much like the USJ only a bit smaller in size, she tried one last time to get Mineta to try and work with her and make anything close to a plan. 

“ Kero Mineta, before we go in, we should talk about-”

“Tsuyu, I don’t know why you are freaking out so much. This will be easy! All I have to do is gum up her finger hatches so that her quirk can’t work, then bam! We get an easy pass.” he said, pulling off one of his hair balls as if to prove his theory. 

While the idea itself wasn’t a bad plan, timing would be essential to it. He would have to hit his mark, which was already a small point on the bulking suit that the hero wears, and hit it when the cap has opened but before their quirk is activated; any sooner and it would get stuck on the top of the cap and not stop her from using her quirk, or it would get sucked into the black hole and be useless. And while Mineta has been working on being able to pull more of his sticky hair balls before his scalp became raw, he has not been working as much on his aim and has repeatedly gotten many of their classmates stuck in his attempts during hero training ( although she is sure that many of the…unfortuntate places both he and his sticky hair has ended up on many of their female classmates were very much intentional from the look he would get on his face when he thought no one was watching.) 

Before Tsuyu even had the chance to bring up her thoughts, the buzzer blared through the air, signalling that they time starts now. Mineta looks over his shoulder at her, giving her what she can only guess was supposed to be a confident smirk, but almost looks like a knowing sneer, before running into the building, not even taking the time to check the doors for any kind of trap or trigger that would signal where they were entering from. Tsuyu sighs before regathering herself, determined to make sure she did her best on this test no matter what, and enters the building as well. 

Tsuyu sees that sporadically thrown purple balls sticking all over the ground and walls; none of it showing any kind of thought or path of where their teacher may be…..or if she was even there when Mineta started throwing. She carefully tracks the way the spray of purple hair balls drifts to and fro, trying to track where Mineta went, and if there was any sign of where Thirteen is in the dome building. Taking precaution, Tsuyu crawls up the wall and sticks to the shadows as much as she can while trying to get a better view of the layout and see where both the exit is and where their teacher may be. Once she had a clear view of where their teacher was, she could see if attack or running for the exit would be the best strategy; the most important part of this is to make sure that she isn’t spotted first before she can come up with the best plan. 

Or at least that was the plan.

“TSUYU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?IF YOU WANTED ME TO CHECK YOU OUT, ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS ASK!” Mineta yells out from behind her; startling her into loosing her grip on the wall, making her fall back down to the walkway that loops around the front half of the dome. Mineta walks over, with that same easy smile on his face. “C’mon Tsuyu, we can’t be messing around, lets go finish this up already.” Tsuyu had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something she would regret to say in a middle of a battle. She always considered herself to be blunt and to the point, it helped clear misunderstanding easier, but starting an argument in the middle of a fight is only going to make things harder and distract them. 

Tsuyu picks herself up from the floor and quietly calls out to Mineta as he moves further into the building, following the walk ways that lead into the center, surrounded by the small samples of different terrains and disasters that they would train further in for rescue classes.  Tsuyu keeps her eyes and ears open for any movement, anything to tell them where their teacher is waiting for them to get close enough, with terrain like this, knowing blind spots, sharp corners and turns that would be unseen until you were right on top of it, that would be the best way to get the advantage in such a quick draw situation like what Mineta is planning. 

Although with how he’s holding himself, she doesn’t think he is taking that into consideration. 

Just as they were reaching the center, that’s when it happened, Thirteen rushed them, appearing from a section of one of the walking paths that were hidden completely from view, most likely jumping over the railing that separated two different paths, and aimed her gloved hand right at them, the cap of her index finger popping off and beginning to pull in everything around them, leaving only things that are bolted down in there place, but not without creaking from the strain of the black hole’s incessent pull. Mineta, caught off guard, stumbles and the hair ball that he had in his hand falls to the floor and losing their one shot of hitting the cap of the glove before their teacher's quirk started. 

With barely any time, Tsuyu moves to one of the few item s that was still bolted down; a bench that while creaks and moans, held solid, she quickly grabs Mineta and shoots her tongue to wrap around the iron arm of the bench, doing her best to make sure that she doesn’t lose her grip on either her partner or the one thing keeping them from getting caught. They were caught in the middle of a tug-o-war, not being able to gain any distance from their teacher’s quirk, while their teacher wasn’t able to get them any closer as Tsuyu held on with all of her might onto the bench. minutes felt like hours as they were in this stalemate, all the while Mineta was screaming, begging not to be let go, desperately clinging onto her suit with two of his sticky balls. Tsuyu tries to tell him to make his way towards the bench, but its difficult to get any words out with her tongue being stretched out of her mouth and keeping them from getting pulled away. Finally after what felt like hours, Mineta finally gets the message, using his balls to attach to her suit and slowly climb up her body, he makes his way slowly to her tongue to which he slowly crawls up, complaining about the saliva. Its not exactly like she enjoys feeling someone practically claw their way up her tongue either. Once he finally is at the bench, Mineta scrambles to grab onto the iron frame, grinding his foot into where her tongue is wrapped around the arm rest as he climbs over the backrest and to where he could actually be protected from the constant suction of Thirteen’s quirk. However, from grinding his shoe into her tongue, he causes Tsuyu to lose her grip on the bench; her entire equilibrium thrown off as she began to tumble through the air like a bullet straight to Thirteen, who looked just as shocked as Tsuyu did at the speed at which she was flying straight towards her. 

But this could be her chance.

Thirteen was immediately fumbling with her glove to close the cap and make sure that Tsuyu didn’t get pulled into the actual black hole, and it was this moment that Tsuyu used to her advantage. 

Flinging herself around, she retracts her tongue only to immediately fire it at their teacher’s helmet, latching on and pulling Tsuyu out of the immediate range of the black hole and getting her closer to her teahcer’s body; from there, she used a move that Ochako had been kind enough to teach her after their intern studies. Grabbing hold of their teachers arm in the way Ochako showed her, she used the force of her tongue pulling towards their teacher and slid under their teacher’s arm and judo flipped her into the ground, coughing up the cuffs she had swallowed before the test began and quickly slapped them onto their teacher’s wrist. 

The siren sounded once again, signalling that they did it. 

no.

She did it. she passed the test. 

~~~~~

Izuku looks at the screen frustrated.

Don’t let the frown fool you; he was so happy to see the frog girl, Tsuyu, ace that exam with such quick thinking and a wonderful execution. He had so many questions about her quirk, what she could do and couldn’t do that frogs are able to, if it pertained to a specific type of frog, or if there were certain characteristics that she has that spans across multiple types of frog species. 

The reason for his foul mood is rather the other student who was her partner.

He was jumping around with excitement through the screen, obviously thinking that becuase Tsuyu had passed the exam, that he also passed as well. Izuku takes a glance to Aizawa, who had come in with Yaoyurozu and Todoroki just before the most recent test began and had watched the whole thing. The frown that Izuku had was nothing to the scowl that Aizawa was shooting to the screen. Izuku looked back down to his notes and took the time to write out everything that went right and wrong with Mineta’s and Tsuyu’s battle. He wasn’t going to let the abysmal teamwork due to one person’s actions not be swept under the rug and forgotten. 

It wasn’t long before the scene switched to the next set of cameras; set up throughout what looked like a forested area with Present Mic set up further into the forest setting. Looking back to his files, it looks like Tokoyami, who looks to have a sentient quirk which is so incredibly rare and he had so many questions for both Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, and an Invisible Girl named Hagakure. 

The test went by quite quickly; the two of them struggled at first trying to make any progress as Present Mic would periodically scream out into the forest, pushing them back to where they were just out of range. Izuku could see the thoughts turning through the bird headed teen, trying to come up with a solution. It looks like the two of them came up with an idea after the third time of being pushed back from their teacher’s soundwaves, as Hagakure removes her gloves and shoes-wait, was she even…? That’s not something Izuku really wants to think about right now- and she is no longer able to be tracked by the cameras. Meanwhile Tokoyami ran off to the side, calling out Dark Shadow to crash through trees and foliage, drawing away their teacher’s attention from where he was doing a more wide spread attack to a smaller range, but stronger. It was fascinating watching Tokoyami and Dark Shadow working in tandem; Tokoyami jumping over broken tree limbs, Dark Shadow picking him up to help them move out of a way of a more concentrated sound blast. It was amazing to watch. The camera focused on Present Mic caught the slightest bit of movement, a few leaves of a shrub behind him shifted ever so slightly, catching Izuku’s attention. It was long after that Present Mic went deathly still, the camera was too far away but Izuku is sure that even from the far view that his skin went 3 shades whiter before he screamed shimming and jerking around, trying to reach for something in the back of his costume frantically before Dark Shadow slammed into him, knocking their teacher down and holding him down as Tokoyami rushes in, slapping the cuffs onto their teacher who was…crying? It looked like he was begging for something, but their cameras don’t have microphones and with how he was still crying, it was hard to even try to read his lips. 

A resounding success for the hero students though, and Izuku was impressed with the quick thinking the team was able to accomplish while in the middle of battle that was timed based due to the attacks of their opponent then the timer on the actual test. 

The next team was the only group of three ( or maybe it was the second since Dark Shadow is a sentient quirk, Izuku would have to ask more questions about the full autonomy of Dark Shadow and Tokoyami to make sure that he wouldn’t address the two of them incorrectly) was that of Iida, Koda and Ojiro; a much more physical group then some of the others, especially considering the limit on Koda’s quirk with the type of terrain the group was placed in, he would only be able to rely on his physical strength along with Ojiro. Iida would also be having a tough time as well, while the land is flat without much debre, its their opponent that has made it difficult for Iida to use the full expanse of his speed to finish the test quickly. 

Izuku has never really seen Powerloader out in the field, like with Thirteen, he normally does more rescue situations then battle, and has been pretty much retired and working full time as a teacher for the support course students than in the field. from what Powerloader has told him, he took some pretty serious damage after helping with clearing survivors from a collapsed building, the place he had dug to not being as stable as what was reported, and he got caught up in the unstable space buckling under the weight. The scar he had from it looked pretty serious and pushed him into taking the teching job full time, although from how he’s explained it, he doesn’t hold any resentment, and he honestly seems happy teaching the next support techinicans into reaching their full potential, even if he has to deal with more explosions than he would like. But just because he isn’t in the field as much anymore, doesn’t mean that he’s lacking. During the time that the teacher had to prepare for the test, the teacher had made use of every second and dug into the earth, creating what Izuku could only assume a labyrinth of pitfalls, sinkholes and traps that one wrong move would catch any of them and trap them with only their heads above the ground. 

This would be one of those battles that would be one of the most technically difficult. 

That was until Iida spoke with Koda off to the side, Whispering something to the obviously nervous student, Izuku will make note that Koda could probably do well with some sessions with Inui to see if they could help him work through his anxiety; it was long though that Koda curled into himself, crouching so low that he was nearly sitting on the ground. Iida turns his attention back to Powerloader and seems to be yelling something. Izuku isn’t what he’s saying, but from how Ochako had told him how their first battle class had happened, Izuku could probably guess that Iida has started taking things a bit too seriously and was monologuing. Izuku wasn’t sure if this test would turn out well as he saw how un aligned the group seemed to be, Ojiro and Iida seeming to try and test the area without going too far from the “safe” section, and Koda still curled up in what he could only assu-wait. There was movement. Not from the three students, and the distance the camera had from the group made it difficult to see but…..there. 

Oh this group looked to be more cohesive then they let on. 

It wasn’t that Koda had curled up in fear, he and his teammates only made it look like that to draw Powerloader’s attention away from him, making it seem like Koda wouldn’t do anything to warrant keeping an eye on him. Meanwhile, he was putting his quirk to use and was speaking to something, maybe some worms and other bugs that were naturally in the ground. What they were telling him, Izuku could only hypothesis. Then, Koda gave Ojiro a subtle nod, and all three of them moved as a unit, Koda surprisingly taking the front as Iida and Ojiro took up the back, their movement looked erratic, but from the way the teacher’s posture changed, and how he was suddenly trying to catch up to the group, it looks as though Koda knew the way through the maze. The three of them were making steady progress as well, and the cheers from the students in the viewing room charged the enrgy up for what was probably a very tedious and slow process for the trio. 

And then Powerloader had caught up to them, and had clawed into the ground on either side of the Iida and Ojiro, apparently causing what was most likely a shallow sinkhole to start swallowing up the ground surrounding them, and started to catch Ojiro in the pit as well. The trio didn’t have the time to dig him out safely, not with Powerloader right there, and Izuku could see how that thought seemed to paralyze the group with indecision. But Iida seemed to have decided on the course of action he would take. Before Ojiro was too far from his grip, and too caught up in the quick sand, Iida grabs hold on Ojiros arm and using a blast of speed from his engines, spins Ojiro fast enough to pull him out of the mud and flings him right into Koda, the strength and momentum from the move causing the two of them to be thrown back, and closer to the exit of the maze and closer to the exit. Unfortuntely, that momentum also caused Iida to be caught up in the quick sand that Ojiro was caught in, but Iida yells out to his teammates when they try to get back to him. Whatever he said seemed to resonate with the other two as they quickly turn back to the exit gate and make the last few moves to the exit of the maze and running through the gate. 

The completion of their test was truly a heroic one, to sacrifice yourself to ensure your team could complete the task, although Izuku would rather everyone make it through the gate then losing a team member. Izuku knows that while Iida didn’t cross the gate himself, he absolutely passed the exam just like the other two did.

The second to last test was one with Yuga and Shoji; and that was…….a near disastrous exam. The two of them were up against Snipe, and even though he was using what was effectively paint balls instead of rubber bullets, the amount of paint splattered about was disparaging. The two of them had ended up cornered behind a couple of boxes  stacked on top of one another, the other side a smattering of vibrant colors layered on top of each other from the rounds Snipe had already sent their way, pinning them in with very little time to move to any other cover. Yuga was yelling about something, although it seemed like it wasn’t anything useful from how Shoji was trying to keep an eye on what snipe was doing with one of his appendages; the eyes he created had already been hit a few times, and from how Shoji would flinch, he’s sure he could feel the blatant stinging from the paint hitting one of his eyes. Thankfully that didn’t seem to count the student as out, most likely due to it being an extension of his quirk than it would be if it was one of the eyes on his face. At some point, Yuga kicked up into some kind of fit, what about he isn’t sure, it could have been that one of the paint balls clipped him when he was flailing about before and had many parts of his body outside of their protective cover, or it could have been something else, because Yuga took the next moment, much to Shoji’s surprise, that Snipe had apparently taken to refill, and began to send back fire from his stomach laser, catching Snipe off guard enough to give Shoji the chance to move from their cover without the teacher noticing. From there it was a back and forth fight between Yuga and Snipe, although no one could really call it an even fight, Yuga had multiple splotches of paint decorating his armor from when he would get cocky and clumsily took cover when Snipe would have reloaded, but the distraction was perfect for keeping Snipe’s attention and gave Shoji the openings he needed to work his way closer to where he was able to get behind where their teacher had set up shop.

All it took was waiting for when Snipe was shooting at where Yuga was taking cover for Shoji to capture him, catching the teacher off guard and incase their teacher within his arms, letting him go only once the cuffs were securely on their teacher’s wrists. 

Izuku made sure to state how while the action did help the team in the end, Yuga’s abrasive and uncoordinated attack could have also easily put him out of the exam, especially with the limitation on how long he is able to use his laser. While it worked out this time, it was more due to the efforts of Shoji using the surprise that Yuga had caused that the exam was successful. 

It wasn’t long after the end of the fight that the cameras switched once again. Almost everyone was now back in the viewing room besides Yuga and Shoji who were most likely on their way back now. No one wanted to miss this exam, and for many of them this was a type of moment of truth. 

For All Might.

For Bakugou Katsuki.

For Izuku Midoriya. 

For Jiro Kyoka. 

This was the last battle for their class. 

This was the one that would help determine who All for One would go to.

This was the battle that would show just how far he has come to being a Hero like they always wanted.

This was the fight that would show that they were stronger from everything that have gone through that year, and show just how much more they can grow.

It was time for the battle between All Might and Bakugou and Jiro. 

It’s time to go plus Ultra. 

They were going to need it.