Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Dad, I want to go to U.A.”

All motion around the table came to a screeching halt at Izuku’s declaration, his dad’s eyes going as wide as dinner plates behind his newspaper and his older brother Tomura’s spoon falling out of his mouth with a loud clunk .

“Izuku,” his father started carefully, tone wavering slightly, “Have I done something to upset you? You know that I can’t let you have katsudon for every meal, your mother would kill me if I didn’t give you a balanced diet.”

“No, dad, that’s not it-”

“Is it my fault, baby brother?” Tomura whispered, hands shaking under the table, “Are you mad because I accidentally decayed your favorite controller? Or because I won’t let you play Princess Peach in Mario Kart?”

“I’m not mad!” Izuku shouted, waving his hands frantically, “It’s nothing bad at all, let me explain!”

Izuku swallowed nervously, noticing the way his father and brother had tensed up - they were clearly still convinced that his desire to go to U.A. was an act of revenge against them.

“I know that you guys don’t like heroes,” he began, ignoring their mutters of agreement, “But I also know that it’s ‘cause you don’t like how heroes act and how they treat people.”

“And how they hold little brothers’ quirks hostage,” his dad grumbled, earning a soft jab to his side from the green haired boy.

“Anyway, I know that you don’t exactly do things that heroes and the Commission like,” Izuku continued carefully, “And I’m going to U.A. so I can help.”

Tomura’s breath was ragged, eyes filling with unshed tears. “Baby brother…how angry did I make you? I told you I didn’t mean to overwrite your save files!”

Izuku huffed, scooping up a spoonful of Tomura’s cereal and shoving it in his brother’s mouth to shut him up.

“Nii-chan, let me finish explaining! I know that society is way too obsessed with heroes and the industry is corrupt just as much as you do, and I want to go to U.A. because a proper revolution and upheaval of power needs support from all fronts to succeed! Dad’s on the side of the government, Nii-chan on the side of the villains and anti-hero sympathizers, and I’ll be with the heroes! If the public sees people from all aspects of life agreeing, they’re more likely to also agree with us!”

The two men stared at Izuku, processing his outburst at an agonizingly slow pace, nervous sweat forming on Izuku’s neck as he waited. He had just so happened to not mention that being a hero would quickly fulfill his wish to help people as much as possible and his desire to get an up close look at all those pro hero quirks, and having to sit patiently under his father’s intense gaze almost felt like he was doing interrogation training. Finally, his dad began to move, eyes locked on his youngest son.

“You want to attend U.A.,” he began, “To become a hero and further encourage a revolution on all fronts.”  

Izuku nodded eagerly, pleased that his dad seemed to understand; he turned to his brother expectantly, as he had finally come back to the conversation at hand.

“It’s not a bad game strategy,” Tomura said, scratching his neck lightly, “With a rogue player on the heroes side, they’ll think that it was their idea to make changes.”

“And will therefore be willing to accept a government official proposing more radical changes,” their father concluded, nodding in thought while reaching over to push Tomura’s hand away from his neck, “Izuku, I think that could be a good idea. I do have some reservations about sending you to a school surrounded by heroes, but I’m sure that you have plenty of ideas to ease my mind.”

“I did! I wrote them in my notebook - I’ll go grab it!” Izuku had already sprinted out of the dining room, leaving his father and brother alone to discuss.

“Dad, is it really a good idea to send baby brother to those…heroes?” Tomura practically spat out the end of his sentence, tone laced in disgust. “Who knows what awful things they’ll do to him?”

The older man placed a hand on Tomura’s head, making his son look into his eyes.

“I agree that the idea of Izuku surrounded by heroes makes me uneasy,” he started, “But having an agent on the side of the heroes would be extremely beneficial. Besides, we all know that if anyone could be a perfect hero, it would be your brother.”

Tomura nodded sagely, a proud grin on his face. “Baby brother would be the only good hero. We have to destroy everything to keep him clean.”

Hisashi smiled, gently ruffling Tomura’s light blue hair, pride practically radiating off of him as Izuku came back to the table.

“Is it headpat time? Can I have headpats too?” 

“Let’s hear your plan first, and then we’ll decide if you get a headpat.” Hisashi turned to Izuku, his attention completely on his youngest son.

Izuku agreed, knowing full and well that his dad would still play with his hair no matter what, and cracked open one of his many notebooks.

“The big thing is my quirk.” Izuku turned his notebook around, displaying the page to his family, “I know that I can’t go telling people I can take quirks, but I’ve done some research since I’m registered with a borrowing quirk. Since quirk evolutions tend to happen around puberty, it wouldn’t be too weird for us to update my quirk registry to say that I can extract a quirk from any piece of DNA. So, I could keep strands of hair in my pocket, claim they’re from family members, and say I’m borrowing their quirks when I use something not from my classmates!”

“That is a good idea,” Hisashi said, hand on his chin as he thought, “Since you’re 13 now, it would be completely normal for you to start training more intensely for the UA entrance exams, and would justify a quirk evolution like that. We could say those quirks are from elderly family members who gave you permission to use them at all times since they can’t.”

“You guys talk too much,” Tomura mumbled, resuming shoveling cereal down his throat - it was no secret who Izuku had inherited his rambling from - and his warning went completely unheard as his brother and father continued chattering away about the plan and backup plan and backup backup plan. His cereal was finished off far too soon for his liking, and after a moment of consideration, he slipped away from the table to refill his bowl. 

Dad was too busy scheming with baby brother to prevent him from pouring a second heaping serving of sugary goodness, and being a legal adult did not mean Tomura was too old to have marshmallows in his cereal - no matter what baby brother said. Besides, he was in charge of an entire criminal organization, he deserved more cereal just for dealing with the stress that came along with villainy. 

Maybe baby brother and Dad needed marshmallows in their cereal too. Sending his baby brother to a hero school was definitely going to be stressful for them all. 

Chapter Text

The decision to go to U.A. had not come out of nowhere. Izuku had long learned the importance of making and executing plans after spending far too long gathering information to simply throw it all away on a whim. 

The thing was, he also knew that plans could change all because of one singular event. 

That event came when Izuku had been walking around the city for his research, observing people and noting their quirks in his notebook. He had gained the privilege of walking around for hours unattended after several reminders of “Don’t use more than one visible quirk outside, avoid talking to the heroes and police, if someone attacks you just steal their quirk and remember their name for your father or brother to make them disappear later!” While not outright supporting his decision to get so close to hero fights - his parents were protective worrywarts to a fault - they would never prevent him from doing so, knowing that there was some intrinsic need for him to study quirks in action.

But, Izuku also had the intrinsic need to help people whenever he could. Eventually, his research walks had gone from purely observing and annotating quirks to helping kids cross the street, carrying groceries for the elderly, breaking up the occasional gang of school kids beating a classmate up, and climbing trees to rescue cats. 

He had just taken a rather large detour - a little old lady had been struggling to walk to her doctor’s appointment - and was walking through an unfamiliar tunnel when he felt the telltale pulsing of a quirk beneath his feet. Before he even had the chance to ponder why it was under him, an enormous mass of slime came bursting out of the sewer grate, turning its massive beady eyes on Izuku and smiling wickedly. 

“A medium-sized invisibility cloak…”

Izuku felt a cold sweat build on his skin, instincts screaming at him to run, run, use a quirk, run, press your panic button, RUN! But it was no use, for as soon as he turned to hightail it out of there, the mass descended on him and began forcing its way down his throat. 

“Don’t worry, I’m just going to take over your body,” the slime said over Izuku’s muffled screams, “Calm down.” 

How am I supposed to be calm when you’re killing me?! Izuku screamed in his head, panic clouding his attempts to think of an escape plan. 

I gotta use a quirk! But which one? I should just take this quirk…no wait, Mom’s got a rule against taking quirks that smell bad! 

“It’ll only hurt for about 45 seconds,” the slime laughed, and Izuku felt his eyes streaming with tears at the pain, “You’ll feel better soon.”

I can’t breathe! Was all the boy could think as his hand reached up in an attempt to pull the slime away from his mouth and nose, his lungs burning at the horrible sensation of being filled with something so viscous. 

“You can’t grab me,” the slime said gleefully, ignoring Izuku’s clawing hands, “I’m made of liquid!

Use a quirk…gotta use a quirk!

“Thanks for your help.” The villain said, further in the body’s respiratory system than seemed possible, “You’re my hero.”

Izuku’s vision began to fill with black spots, and his brain felt fuzzy from lack of oxygen. 

Combine…telekinesis…with water…liquid manipulation…it hurts…

Izuku vaguely registered the villain saying, “I didn’t think that had come to this city,” but it didn’t matter - he could feel his body begin to give out, the desperate clawing hands weakening and sliding further down. 

He tried activating a quirk, even finally attempted to use All For One to get rid of the slime taking over him, but he was too weak and in too much pain. 

I’m dying , he thought, his hands falling to his side and body going limp, am I dying?

He could feel his tears streaming down his cheeks, lungs beginning to desperately inhale for something other than sludge, his eyes falling to the notebook that had been dropped on the ground. 

I’m dying….somebody…somebody help me!

The edges of his sight began to blur, his body filling with so much slime he felt close to bursting. 

Somebody , his mind screamed, Dad, Nii-chan, anybody - HELP ME!

The sudden sound of the manhole cover being thrown against the tunnel halted the villain’s assault, and Izuku’s mind cleared just enough to sense the overwhelming presence of another quirk. 

“It’s all right now, young man,” a voice that sounded unnervingly familiar said, “I AM HERE!”

Izuku’s eyes fluttered closed, his mind beginning to drift into unconsciousness, the voice shouting “TEXAS SMASH” sounding distant and quiet, and the sudden rush of wind nothing but a breeze as he finally slipped into the darkness. 

Somewhere deep inside his subconscious mind, he felt the presence of something that felt like his Dad, something that radiated warm and safe and I’ll protect you. 

It was comforting to pass out with a presence so similar to his Dad with him.

“HEY! HEY! HEY!”

Something was rapidly and repeatedly slapping Izuku’s face. He cracked his eyes open, wincing at the bright sunlight and other thing filling his vision. Something huge and muscle-y and yellow…

“Oh good!” All Might laughed, and Izuku suddenly felt his heart drop straight out of his anus. 

What is All Might doing here?! Am I dead- wait, ALL MIGHT?!

Izuku promptly screamed and scuttled away from the Number One Hero, the man who nearly killed his dad a few years ago and would surely Texas Smash Izuku into oblivion just for being his son. 

“I’m glad you’re okay!” The hero’s voice rang out like it came straight from Izuku’s worst nightmares, “Sorry about getting you caught up in my villain fighting. I don’t usually make mistakes like this, but I was in high spirits on my day off in a new place.”

All Might laughed, totally oblivious to the trembling child in front of him. 

“But, you were a big help. Thanks! I captured him safely!”

All Might proudly brandished two plastic bottles, stuffed to the brim with sludge, but Izuku could hardly pay attention to that, his mind split between relief at finally being able to breathe and the overwhelming urge to run from the Number One Hero, something that definitely wouldn’t be suspicious. 

But then, as he sat on the ground, leaning away from the man that had nearly destroyed his family, something happened to Izuku that hadn’t occurred for several years - he felt his self-control slip away at the call of a quirk. 

All Might’s quirk orb, large and massive, shone in his chest like a beacon, practically calling Izuku to come closer, take a look, you want to take it . 

Izuku had seen plenty of beautiful quirks in his years, but All Might’s quirk was downright intoxicating . Eight colors, all shifting and mixing and swirling in the orb-like pools of water gave way to a bright white, radiating warm and safe and power and here look come closer it’s safe it’s strong it’s yours!

He had never seen a quirk he wanted so badly in his life. 

“A fan, I see!” All Might’s booming voice broke Izuku out of his hazy thoughts, pushing him away slightly with his notebook, opened to a page signed by the hero- since when did All Might take his notebook?! And why on earth would he sign it when Izuku didn’t ask for it?!!

“Well, I need to take this guy to the police. See you again on the other side of the screen!”

“W-wait,” Izuku croaked, unable to take his eyes off the white orb that was flashing with seven other colors, the urge to reach out, it’s okay, come here, come home completely filling his mind.

But All Might paid him no attention, squatting down and leaping away with a shout of “I’m counting on your continued support!” 

“Don’t go,” Izuku whispered at the retreating form of the hero, the bright white of his quirk orb blending in with the light of the sun high overhead, rendering Izuku unable to see it as the sunlight formed dark spots in his eyes. 

His eyes fell to the ground, staring blankly at his red shoes and worn-out notebook opened to the pages with All Might’s autograph. 

All Might.

The man had become Izuku’s biggest fear since that fateful night 5 years ago, when Dad had come home in a rush, ignoring his major injuries as he ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, shouting for their Mom and Kurogiri. Izuku, only nine years old, had run out of his room, sleep-addled brain responding to the sound of his Dad’s panic shouts by bursting into tears; his Nii-chan, already 15, had stumbled out of his room, fumbling to put his gloves on, and quickly assessed the situation at hand. Upon noticing Izuku’s rapidly rising panic, he had swiftly pulled his baby brother in his arms and covered the little boy’s ears to drown out the sounds of Dad in distress.

Later that night, after being comforted by his big brother while their parents frantically scrambled around doing who knows what, they would learn that their father had been caught off guard by All Might and, in the ensuing fight, had nearly been gravely injured. In that brief moment when he dodged the certainly fatal attack, a singular goal had come to mind - return home alive to his family again. 

It wasn’t a difficult task to fake his own death, just one that needed to be done quickly and perfectly. Time was of the essence as he shouted for Kurogiri to bring him to the lab and for Mom to monitor everything from hacked security cameras; but by the end of the night, the deed had been done. All For One was officially declared dead, defeated at the hands of All Might, and Japan celebrated the end of an evil they hadn’t known existed.

The Shigaraki-Midoriya family, on the other hand, was much less carefree and joyful. Their father, now the former villain All For One, scrambled to cover up his tracks, getting all of his affairs in order and convincing those outside of his innermost circle that he was indeed dead. Their mother worked nonstop, crafting a paper trail of her husband’s perfectly legitimate business endeavors, making sure that the Shigaraki name could not be linked to the presumed dead villain. Their sons stayed in the house as the storm passed through, waiting for their parents to tell them everything was okay, hiding away in the comfort that only the brothers could provide each other. 

After those extraordinarily stressful weeks, the household breathed a sigh of relief as their final affairs had been put in order. Shigaraki Hisashi was merely a philanthropic businessman turned politician after some encouragement from his wife, the revered lawyer Midoriya Inko who had faced corrupt individuals and taken them down with ease. Their two sons were perfectly normal children; Shigaraki Tomura (who now legally existed after some rather difficult paperwork that was forged and backdated nearly a decade), a teenager who preferred staying indoors due to a traumatic home life before his adoption and a quirk that was seen as villainous, and Midoriya Izuku, a cheerful and intelligent little boy who had been homeschooled since facing discrimination from his peers and teachers for simply not developing a quirk fast enough. 

The family soon adjusted to what would be their new normal, but the fear (and for some, hatred) of All Might had been woven into their minds, especially after Doctor Garaki had revealed what the damage would have been if their father had stayed to fight.

( “Your face would have been completely destroyed,” Garaki had said, “Your eyes would not be able to be saved, and you would certainly have been required to stay on life-support equipment and breathing machines.” )

Izuku’s initial fear of coming face to face with All Might was perfectly rational. It was decidedly not rational for him to have been so entranced by the man’s quirk. He had never felt a quirk that reacted that way, nor had he ever felt a pull that strong, not even when his own quirk first manifested and he would trudge towards quirks with the single-minded goal of take. It had been years since he last fell into a quirk-fueled hypnotic state, and he should have felt ashamed for acting like a child with no control again.

But there was just something in him that said he wouldn’t have been able to resist that quirk. Izuku knew that he could ask his father, should ask his father about his reaction to it, but that would mean admitting to his father that, not only had he been attacked but he had also come within 5 feet of the man that would gladly slaughter their family with no hesitation. A stunt like that would get Izuku grounded for at least a year, if not forever, and would send the family back to hiding within their home until the threat of All Might in their city had died down.

It was all too easy to immediately decide not to tell his family about being saved by their worst enemy. Of course he wouldn’t be able to hide being attacked, what with smelling like a sewer and having globs of sludge in his hair, but it would be too easy to say he hadn’t seen who saved him, he had only woken up on the sidewalk with no one in sight. 

(“Are you sure you can’t remember,” Dad asked later that day, still checking Izuku all over for any injuries they might have missed, “I don’t care if it was a hero, I just want to know who saved my little boy.”

“I’m not little anymore,” Izuku grumbled, lightly hitting his brother when he started laughing at his protests.

“You’re small, baby brother, but that’s okay! It’s very good to be small.”

“Tomura is right,” Dad said, finally satisfied to have found nothing wrong with the boy, “But please tell us you remember what the man that attacked you looked like. Your brother and I would simply like to have a talk with them.”

Izuku rolled his eyes, knowing perfectly well that there would be very little talking, but gave the description of the sludge villain nonetheless, knowing full well that his family would no doubt see the news broadcast later and threaten to bubble wrap him while Mom prepared to have him thrown in jail forever.

It was a “total coincidence'' when the sludge villain turned up dead in his prison cell a few weeks later. Prisoners don’t take kindly to those who hurt children, after all.)

Hiding the identity of his savior would be easy, although finding out exactly why the man was in Musutafu would prove slightly more difficult. Wasn’t he stationed in the capitol? Why on earth would he come to this city? The only thing of note around here would be…U.A. 

Izuku gulped at that realization, unconsciously standing and beginning to walk around the city, since walking had always helped him think. It had to be U.A., there was no other reason for All Might to be here. Crime was at an all-time low (Dad still had plenty of connections to make sure that the city was deemed safe enough for his family), the hero agencies were staffed with perfectly capable heroes, and Dad had just managed to get some new regulations passed that made the city even safer than before. 

Logically, that meant that All Might would be teaching at U.A., but that only brought up even more questions than before. He knew that All Might wasn’t exactly the smartest hero, his dad reminded everyone of that fact at every opportunity, so why was he suddenly going to be a teacher? Did he even have a teaching license? Did All Might even go to college? Did U.A. require their teachers to have degrees? Izuku certainly hoped they did, he knew the importance of a college education more than anyone.

The more he thought and walked though, he realized that he didn’t exactly care why All Might was suddenly going to be a teacher, he just wanted to get a closer look at the man’s quirk, to do some research and find out why he felt so drawn to it. And so the seeds of a plan were planted into the boy’s mind. If he wanted to get closer to All Might’s quirk, he needed to attend U.A., and most likely the hero course (the Number One hero probably wouldn’t teach anything not related to heroics, and he really couldn’t imagine the man teaching mathematics to a bunch of high schoolers). But…would it be right to attend a hero school for such a selfish reason? Was he even the kind of person who could be a hero? What exactly made someone heroic?

Lost in his thoughts, Izuku barely noticed the increase in people talking around him, didn’t notice the sirens quickly approaching the scene, only coming out of his thoughts when the overwhelming smell of sewage caused him to stumble into someone. He slapped his hands over his mouth at the sight in front of him: the villain that had just attacked him, that All Might had supposedly captured, was attempting to take over someone’s body a second time. But this time, the victim wasn’t alone - a crowd of civilians and heroes were just sitting there watching them struggle.

Izuku’s legs shook as he pushed himself to stand on the tips of his toes, needing to see if the victim was okay, if anyone was helping them, if they were still alive , but he felt his breath hitch when the person being attacked opened their eyes, tears spilling down their cheeks from the choking liquid that Izuku was all too familiar with.

But those eyes…

They looked directly at Izuku, and before he knew it, he was pushing past the crowd, ducking under the barrier set up by the heroes, and running towards the villain that had nearly killed him.

Those eyes, the same red as Nii-chan’s eyes, looked like they needed help.

He didn’t think, didn’t have time to think, as he ripped his backpack off, throwing it at the eyes of the sludge villain. He quickly found a water manipulation quirk and a telekinesis quirk, wasting no time in activating them at the same time to pull the sludge away from the person’s face and out of their airways. The victim looked to be a boy around Izuku’s age, with spiky blonde hair, bright red eyes, and an angry look on his face that rivaled Nii-chan’s face when he got angry at his video games.

“Who are you?!” The boy shouted angrily, gasping for air while Izuku struggled to keep the sludge away from his mouth and nose, “Why are you here?!”

“I- I don’t know!” Izuku grunted, darting away from a tendril of slime that attempted to smack him away, “My legs just moved on their own!” 

The boy’s red eyes bored into Izuku’s green ones, and for a brief moment, he saw his older brother in the boy’s place, his eyes watery from being strangled and sludge clinging to the dryer patches of his skin.

“You looked like you were asking for help!”

“Don’t get in my way!” The sludge villain bellowed, gathering a massive limb and swinging it down at Izuku. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to avoid it, the effort of keeping the sludge away from the victim using too much energy to make running away possible, instead Izuku dug through his collection of quirks, searching for a durability quirk that wouldn’t use much energy, bracing himself for the impact - one that never came.

Izuku cracked his eyes open ever so slightly and his jaw promptly dropped at the sight of All Might in front of him, holding back the attack from the villain. 

“DETROIT SMASH!”

The force of All Might’s punch was incredible, and the only reason Izuku didn’t get blown away was the fact that the hero was holding onto his arm, along with the boy that had been rescued. The wind pressure was insane ! It was so strong that just moments later, clouds covered the previously clear skies, and rain began pouring down, putting out the fires that Izuku hadn’t even realized were raging all around the site of the attack. But past the chaos and overwhelming displays of power, that warm feeling spread through Izuku’s arm, starting at the place where All Might was holding onto his arm.

You’re safe now, I protected you.

He didn’t have long to wonder what exactly that feeling was, because all too soon, he was being scolded by the heroes while the other boy was being interviewed by the media (was that really necessary? The boy just went through something traumatic! Ugh, no wonder his mom hated reporters so much). They admonished him for running in and ignoring the safety protocols in place but commended him for his clever use of his liquid manipulation quirk. All the while though, Izuku felt the eyes of the other boy burning holes into the back of his head, but he didn’t want to stay around long enough to find out why. Not with the way All Might was also constantly looking back at him.

And so Izuku ignored the feeling telling him to stay near the hero, slipping away from the scene as fast as he could while calling Kurogiri for a warp back home. The warper appeared instantly, his yellow orbs narrowing at the sight of the teen.

“Izuku-san, your clothes are filthy.”

“I know, but thanks anyway, Kurogiri.” Izuku shrugged his backpack on, cringing at the dampness clinging to his back.

“And you’re soaking wet.”

“Oh really?” Izuku teased, rolling his eyes lightly, “I had no idea!”

He slipped off his wet shoes, suppressing a gag at the smell clinging to them, but quickly realized that the warper was still behind him and was too quiet.

“Uh…Kurogiri…?”

“Do not worry, Izuku-san, I merely contacted your parents and brother to let them know that you might get sick from the rain.”

Izuku’s face paled, lunging for Kurogiri’s phone just a moment too late - the door flung open and his older brother ran in, taking one look at the teen and screeching in shock.

“Baby brother! What happened?!! You’re soaking wet and smell like a gas station bathroom!”

The blue-haired boy practically tackled Izuku, frantically checking him all over for injuries, gasping when he saw a scratch on his arm.

“KUROGIRI! TELL DAD THAT BABY BROTHER IS HURT!” Tomura shouted, cradling his younger brother like he was still a baby, ignoring Izuku’s protests of “I’m fine, I swear! Don’t get Dad, he’s going to bubble wrap me again!”

“I’m not going to just keep this secret! What if it gets infected? What if you’ve got brain-eating bacteria in there?” Tomura gulped nervously, “What if you still smell bad when Mom gets home?”

Izuku froze, his attempts to break free pausing as Nii-chan’s words sunk in. Dad being overprotective was one thing, but Mom when they broke the rules about no bad-smelling things in the house…

Maybe Dad had some kind of cleaning quirk…

“Izuku! Kurogiri said you’re injured- why do you smell like sewage?! Your mother is going to have us clean the entire house if she finds out!”

“Tocchan, you want to go to U.A., right?” Izuku found himself asking his best friend one day when they were relaxing on the beach after school had let out. If anyone could help him work through the confusing storm of feelings in his gut, it would definitely be his childhood friend, Monoma Neito.

“Well, it’s because I want to prove people wrong,” the blonde stated as if the answer was simple, looking out at the horizon while he spoke, “Everyone has always said that my quirk is useless and not good for anything, but I want to show them that they’re all wrong. What better way to do that than by becoming a hero?”

“So you don’t really want to be a hero?”

The blonde hummed thoughtfully. “Actually, I think I do want to be a hero. It feels nice to help people out, and I think I’d like it if a kid like me had a hero to look up to, you know? But why do you ask?” 

Izuku looked down, his finger drawing shapes in the sand.

“I…a few days ago, I thought that maybe I want to be a hero, and maybe go to UA. But I don’t know if it’s okay to do that if my reason is selfish.”

“I mean, everyone that goes to U.A. is a bit selfish. It’s not like you have to go there to be a hero, it just looks way better for your popularity if you do. A totally unselfish hero probably wouldn’t even want to go to U.A., since they’d be taking advantage of that popularity boost.”

Neito turned to his friend, eyes glimmering with unspoken excitement.

“Why’d you decide you want to be a hero? I thought your family was all against that. Heck, I totally thought you were going to go into law like them too.”

It was Izuku’s turn to gaze upon the horizon, pondering the answer to that question. He supposed he could lie and give a standard answer, but Tocchan would be able to see through that right away.

“I guess…well, you know I like helping people.”

“Oh trust me,” the blonde said, “I’ve seen you fall out of trees to save cats. You’d help anything if it looked like it might need it. And don’t think I didn’t see you on the news trying to save that kid from that sludge guy.”

“Shut up,” Izuku squeaked, cheeks red at the playful jabbing, “I just thought…well, there are lots of problems with the way heroes work and how people think about them. If I could be a good hero, like an actually good one that really cares about people, then maybe I could show everyone that heroes don’t have to work this way. Maybe…things could change for the better, for everyone, even people that heroes usually ignore, you know?”

Monoma stared at his green-haired friend, an amused smile on his face.

“Izuchan, you’re the only person I know that could have a selfless goal like that and still call it selfish.”

“T-tocchan!”

“If you wanna be a hero, you gotta learn how to take a compliment.”

“I can take compliments just fine!”

“Sure you can, strawberry,” Monoma laughed, poking Izuku’s deep red cheeks, “You know, if we went to U.A. together, we’d show everyone just how superior people with weak quirks like ours can be.”

“I’ve told you like a thousand times that your quirk isn’t weak, Tocchan! It’s super versatile and one of the strongest quirks I’ve ever seen! But maybe being a hero and an activist would be super effective…”

“Then it’s settled,” Neito said, nudging his shoulder against Izuku’s, “We’ve got ten months to train for the U.A. entrance exam, then I can be a hero to prove people wrong and you can do your changing society thing.”

Ten months. Ten months to try and get into the hero course. Ten months to convince himself that he was only interested in seeing all of the different quirks the school had to offer. 

Ten months to convince his family to not freak out about his sudden desire to be a hero.

…they were going to be so dramatic about it.

Chapter Text

Izuku thanked whatever gods may be for his family’s unexpected but totally welcome reactions to his big announcement, even though it had taken a fair bit of convincing for Mom to be on board with it.

(“But what if you get hurt?” she asked after making Izuku sit through a 2-hour long presentation of every reason why heroics wasn’t a viable long-term career, wringing her hands as she always did when she worried, “Being a hero is dangerous! All kinds of awful people could try to go after you!”

“Mom, you remember that Dad used to be, like, the most dangerous person ever, right?”

“I still am,” his dad grumbled dejectedly, “Besides, my protection order from when he was young is still in effect. Anyone who’s anyone in the underworld will know to stay away from him.”

“Don’t forget about me,” Nii-chan whined, “I’m dangerous too! I’m in charge of Dad’s criminal stuff while he’s taking over the government! I'll decay anyone that goes after baby brother!”)

He felt a bit bad for concealing such a major reason as to why he wanted to go, but telling his family that he wanted to study All Might’s quirk would’ve likely caused a “sudden and totally unexpected explosion” to rock through Musutafu, decimating any building where All Might spent significant amounts of time. It wasn’t like that was his only reason though, because the more he thought about it, he really did want to be a hero to help people! For years, his dad had taught them all about the failures of hero society, so really, Izuku knew better than anyone how to be the best hero possible! If he thought he was doing anything wrong, he could just ask his dad for advice!

But this…

“Tomura, I want you to help Izuku train his combat skills for the entrance exam.”

…this was so unexpected it felt like he had crossed the street and gotten hit by an airplane.

“WHAT?” Tomura shouted, practically launching himself out of his chair, “Why do I have to train him for that?! I’m a villain! Why would I teach a hero how to fight?!”

“I would do it myself,” Dad said, “But I can’t just change my schedule at the last minute with the Prime Minister elections coming up so soon. Besides, I’m not as young as I used to be, I think one wrong move would throw my back out of alignment for weeks!”

“Dad, you literally fought crazy strong heroes for centuries and won every time.”

“All the more reason for why I’m too old to do this!”

Tomura threw his hands up in frustration, “Mom, please tell Dad that this is a bad idea.”

“I’m sorry sweetie, but I think your father is right. You’re the only person that can really help Izuku train right, since you know everything about his quirk and can tell when something isn’t quite working out for him. And we can trust you to not push him too hard!”

“But-”

“Think about it this way,” Hisashi interrupted his blue-haired son, “Your brother is obviously going to be one of the top heroes, so if you train him and he beats all kinds of heroes in fights, that technically means you’re stronger than all of those heroes.”

Tomura opened his mouth to argue, but Izuku quickly jumped in with his counterargument.

“You know, Nii-chan, if you don’t train me now, that just means I’ll have to have extra lessons at school with the pro heroes to help me catch up. Extra hours at school, coming home super late, no time for playing games at all, lots and lots of time around heroes…”

Now that had an effect on the young man, who now had a fire behind his eyes and clenched his fist in determination.

“Alright, I’ll do it. I’ll teach baby brother how to fight. I’m the only one that can teach him how to win!”

Hisashi smiled at his oldest son. “I knew you would agree. Oh, and if little Neito wants to train as well, you can help him too.”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I GOTTA DEAL WITH BLONDIE NOW?!”

“Nii-chan, you literally try to fight Tocchan every time you see him. Now you actually have permission to do it!”

“...you make a compelling argument. Fine, Blondie can join in too.”

“Excellent. Now, Izuku, why don’t you show us your exercise plan for the next few months? Your mother and I would like to look over it to give some recommendations if you need them.”

“Izuchan,” Monoma’s face was riddled with mild exasperation, “When you said we would be doing some training for the exams, I thought you meant combat training, not walking your…monster.”

Izuku gasped dramatically, standing on his tiptoes to cover his pet’s ears.

“Tocchan! Stitches is not a monster, it's a perfectly normal dog that likes going on walks!”

“No matter how many times you say it, I will never believe that something the size of a horse is a dog. It barely looks like one!”

“Come on, Tocchan! You’ve known Stitches for years! It’s a special breed of dog that’s just a little bit big!”

That statement wasn’t exactly true - Stitches was actually a special variety of Nomu designed by his father specifically to be a pet dog for Izuku and Tomura, and it barely looked like something that could be reasonably seen as a dog, being made from a combination of dogs and other large animals (with just enough human parts to use quirks). The Nomu came equipped with an illusion quirk that helped the average passerby to think it was just a big dog, but the longer someone spent around it, the more obvious its true nature became.

“You cannot convince me it is anything except a genetic experiment,” Monoma deadpanned while rolling his eyes, “But it's whatever, I just want to know how taking it for walks counts as training.”

Izuku grinned while climbing onto the Nomu’s back to scratch it’s head.

“Because, Tocchan, Stitches can run super fast for a really long time and is really strong. Dad said if we can manage to control Stitches while on a run, we’ll be faster than everybody that doesn’t have speed quirks!”

The blonde eyed Izuku suspiciously, obviously still doubtful of the situation at hand.

“It’s either walk the dog or do combat training with Nii-chan.”

Monoma blanched at the thought of fighting the older boy. “You know what, walking your dog sounds wonderful. Have I ever told you what a good dog it is? Because it’s definitely a dog and not a monster your dad created for you.”

“Hypocrite,” Izuku laughed as he pulled forward a speed enhancement quirk, extending a hand to his friend in the familiar gesture he did when he wanted the blonde to copy one of his quirks, “It’s a speed enhancer, so we can see just how fast Stitches can run. That way we know what our end goal will be.”

“...I’m going to regret agreeing to this, aren’t I?”

Izuku didn’t even give his friend time to think before he was grinning wickedly and commanding the Nomu to run , the sheer speed and power of the creature practically making him sail behind it in the split second it took to activate his speed quirk.

“See what I mean?” Izuku shouted, hoping his friend could hear over the wind in their ears, “Gotta get strong enough to walk the dog!”

Monoma didn’t respond, or at least Izuku didn’t hear him respond, as they continued to attempt to wrangle the hulking beast that was dragging them down the empty streets. They had chosen to go on their “walks” when people tended to not be out - namely in the evenings and early mornings, to ensure that the sight of the enormous “dog” didn’t scare people to death - which thankfully meant that there were minimal people to avoid crashing into. 

Unfortunately, Izuku had seriously underestimated Stitches’ running capability and totally failed in guiding it along the desired path. It was hard to speak with the wind constantly pushing air back into his lungs, but eventually, he was able to scream out, “STITCHES, STOP!”

He had also forgotten that an object in motion would stay in motion and found himself sailing through the air when the Nomu immediately froze in place at Izuku’s command, crashing into an uncomfortably lumpy pile of sand that smelled awful .

“IZUKU!” Monoma ran up to his friend, hunching over and panting as the green-haired boy spat out sand, “Are you okay? This is the worst landing spot ever, your parents will kill me if you get tetanus from this!”

“What do you mean by tetanus,” Izuku groaned, finally sitting straight up to look at his surroundings.

“I mean, you just landed in a trash heap poorly disguised as a sand dune. This place is a dump! ”

Izuku finally recognized where his dog had taken them: Takoba beach, once home to beautiful sandy shores, now covered in piles of illegally dumped garbage. It was a real shame he had never been able to see it when it was clean - Dad had once told him about the time he had taken Mom on a date here when they began dating, and the way he told the story made the beach sound absolutely magical. Too bad no one could do anything about it.

The sound of wood breaking startled Izuku out of his thoughts, making Monoma jump as they both whirled around towards the source of the noise. The sight had Izuku doubling over in laughter and Monoma sputtering incredulously: Stitches had picked up an entire couch and was using it as a chew toy, thoroughly tearing it apart before proceeding to do the same with a refrigerator. Watching his dog move around the heavy trash was so absurd it was hilarious !

And then Izuku was struck with an idea, one so crazy it just might work.

“Tocchan, we’re trying to run as fast as Stitches, right?” Izuku was staring intensely at the blond, observing every single move his friend made, noting his confused expression and hesitant nod.

“Well, what if we get as strong as Stitches too?”

Monoma blinked slowly as he looked between Izuku and the Nomu, closing his eyes and groaning in despair when he finally realized what his friend was implying.

“I completely regret agreeing to this.”

Izuku had to run his idea past his parents first, but they were incredibly supportive of his idea to clean the beach! Mom said that it would be a good way to build muscle while doing community service, and Dad had a far-off, dreamy look on his face at the idea of taking Mom back there for an anniversary date. Izuku was allowed to clean the beach every day, as long as his brother or their Nomu tagged along to help with items that were too big. 

And it was working way better than anticipated! He and Monoma had built up a good amount of muscle, their stamina increased since they walked to the beach every day, Nii-chan occasionally got some sunlight, and they could keep up with Stitches running at half speed now! Not to mention, the view of the beach was getting prettier as the weeks went by, and neither of them had gotten tetanus yet! Sure, it was hard work and sometimes the occasional straggler would watch the boys as they cleaned (especially this one weird old guy that looked like he had a foot in the grave already), and yes it could be a struggle when Stitches would try to use particularly large items as toys, but they had managed to clear the entire beach of all the trash just a few weeks before the exam!

The physical training had also helped with their combat and quirk training - both boys could stay standing for a solid 5 minutes during spars with Tomura and had nearly mastered six of Izuku’s quirks - and before they knew it, it was time for the U.A. entrance exam.

“I know it’s just a building,” Monoma said, completely awestruck just from seeing the gate, “But I don’t think I’ve been this nervous since the first play I did in junior high.”

“No kidding,” Izuku mumbled, “This place just feels intimidating. Maybe it’s just all that state-of-the-art defense technology giving it that vibe.”

Izuku didn’t move, too captivated by the exterior, not reacting to his friend trying to get his attention. Monoma rolled his eyes and grabbed Izuku's arm, pulling him past the massive gate.

“Come on, Izuchan, we won’t get any closer to that test if we just stand out here all day.”

“H-hey, wait! Tocchan, I can walk on my own!” Izuku protested while stumbling to catch up with his friend.

“No you can’t!”

“Yes I can! I do it all the time!”

“You’d stay here if I didn’t make you walk. I bet you were a leash child.”

“Excuse you! I didn’t have a leash, I had a tracker and a panic button!”

“That’s just a wireless leash!”

The green-haired boy whined in protest while the blonde laughed at him, only letting go once they reached the front desk to receive their seat assignments.

“Aw man,” Monoma groaned in frustration, “We’re on completely opposite sides of the room. That’s so lame!”

“At least we’re in the same physical exam area,” Izuku posed the statement like a question, smiling sheepishly at his childhood friend, “That way you can copy some of my borrowed quirks?”

“We’re obviously going to help each other out,” Monoma scoffed, no malice behind it, “We’ve been practicing together for years now, it would be foolish to not take advantage of the opportunity they just handed to us!”

Izuku nodded sharply, hands tightened into determined fists. The two wished each other good luck and made their way to their assigned seats, and Izuku was disappointed that he couldn’t see his cousin from his seat. Sliding behind some other test takers to get to his spot, Izuku noticed that his seat neighbor was a particularly angry-looking blonde, one who was glaring at Izuku like he wanted to kill him. Izuku briefly considered saying hi, but he quickly decided that this boy was going to be a real headache - he just radiated “I think I’m better than everyone else but I don’t know I’m wrong” energy, and that was something Izuku had absolutely no time for. After all, he had an exam to stress over and hopefully pass.

Izuku knew that being homeschooled was very different from regular school, but the full force of that difference hit him when Present Mic walked on stage to introduce the physical exam. He really wished that the physical was after the written exam, because what if he got injured during the physical? What if he broke both of his hands and couldn’t write? What if he got a concussion and couldn’t remember anything? What if he did fine in the physical but totally forgot everything he had studied and flunked the test and didn’t get in and left Tocchan all alone and didn’t make his family proud-

“And you there, with the curly hair!” A loud voice not coming from Present Mic drew Izuku’s attention to a burly boy that had stood up. The boy glared at Izuku in a way that irritated him like nothing ever had before. 

“You’ve been muttering this whole time. It’s distracting. If you’re here on a pleasure trip, you should leave immediately!”

Let it be known that Izuku had never quite understood his older brother’s homicidal urges. But in that moment right there, with this boy doing something that was clearly an attempt to publicly humiliate and intimidate Izuku, he felt raw, indignant rage flare up inside him. 

“I’m going to crush him like a cheap, rotting grape,” Izuku seethed, earning a clipped bark of laughter from the spiky-haired blonde, cut off right as Present Mic calmed the rude boy down and explained the zero-pointers used in the exam. Izuku barely paid attention to the hero’s words, mind racing with several plans to swiftly and effectively take down the insolent brat that had tried to shame him- oh  gosh, Izuku thought as he shook his head, I’m really starting to sound like Dad!

He had only managed to come up with twelve schemes by the time he was standing in front of the gates to his testing location, and Izuku slapped himself out of his scheming in order to look for his best friend. It took a few minutes (and some quirk-enhanced jumping, no thanks to his short height) but eventually, the familiar head of blonde hair came into view, causing Izuku to sigh in relief and begin to make his way over to the boy. 

And then a heavy hand slammed on his shoulder, forcing Izuku to stop moving. 

“That girl is trying to focus.” The rude boy from earlier glared down at Izuku, “What are you doing here? Are you taking the entrance exam to interfere with everyone else?”

Izuku felt his eye twitch as the rage from earlier rose up once again, and he wasted no time in scoffing and using a strength quirk to throw the boy’s hand off of his shoulder. 

“I don’t know what girl you’re talking about, my cousin is up there and I wanted to ask if he wants to team up since we’ve trained together forever.” Izuku scanned the rude boy and took pride in the shocked look on his face before deciding that it would feel incredibly cathartic to push things just a little further. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t assume things so quickly, or else you’ll make people think you’re an idiot and a jerk. Geez, I’ve been homeschooled my entire life and even I know how to not be as rude and presumptuous as you. You must be one of those rich brats that think they’re better and smarter than everyone else just because Mommy and Daddy threw a little bit of money at people.”

Izuku smirked as the rude boy’s mouth began to flap uselessly, strangled sounds of indignation the only thing to come out of it.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go meet up with my cousin,” Izuku said as he walked towards Monoma, turning to cast a glare over his shoulder at the floundering boy, “You know, if you’re only taking the entrance exam to interfere with me, you should really just go. It’s unbecoming of a potential hero to be so rude and disrespectful.”

Izuku could hear the crowd around him burst into hushed whispers, all amazed and shocked at the state he had left the taller boy in, but Izuku didn’t care - he needed to get to Monoma before the exam started. He pushed past the crowds of people and barely had time to let the blonde copy his favorite quirks when Present Mic suddenly shouted, “OKAY, START!”

Izuku didn’t hesitate to run, leaving the crowd of stunned examinees behind him. His dad had trained him for years to be prepared for anything at the drop of a hat, and his older brother would never let Izuku get the advantage, which meant the teen had to be ready to go at all times. Plus, having a giant corpse creature that chased cars like they were mice as a pet helped him figure out how to run top speed instantly, and before he knew it, Izuku was coming face to face with the army of robots. The boy smirked, making a point to shove his hand in his pocket as he activated some mild strength enhancers, and launched himself towards the robots’ weak spots.

He was smashing robots like he was playing one of his video games in real life! Nii-chan was going to be so jealous!

“Any interesting candidates this year?” Nezu asked the room full of teachers, his smile all sharp teeth as his eyes darted rapidly across the screens displayed before them. There had been a few to catch his eye, but he always loved hearing feedback from his staff.

“This kid right here,” Vlad King pointed to the screen following the child in question, “He’s related to Ingenium from what I can see. He’s a shoo-in for the hero course, although I’m a bit surprised he didn’t take the recommendation exam.”

“Well, I think this listener is interesting!” Present Mic said enthusiastically, “Got some kind of laser quirk going on, he’s lined up a bunch of ‘bots and taken them all out in one shot!”

“What about this one? I think her anti-gravity quirk would be wonderful for rescue work,” Thirteen chimed in, earning some murmurs of agreement from the other teachers.

Nezu hummed, fixing his beady eyes on one teacher in particular.

“And you, Eraserhead? Have you seen any students with potential?”

The black-haired man grunted, gaze flickering between two screens.

“These two right here, they both appear to be using multiple quirks.”

The room exploded with questions and noises of shock - how on earth could anyone possess more than one quirk? - completely missing the look of horror that flashed across All Might's face.

Nezu grinned as he increased the size of their displays, showing that, sure enough, both boys were using a multitude of quirks.

“Ah, yes! Monoma and Midoriya, the former has a copy quirk and the latter has a borrowing quirk! They both seem to be skilled with several quirks!”

Eraserhead’s eyes narrowed as he glared at the boys in question. “And it looks like they already know each other - Midoriya just ran up to Monoma and they look like they’re planning something.”

“What?” Vlad King barked, “Are they from the same middle school? How did we miss that?!”

“This is why,” Nezu chirped, pulling up the green-haired teenager’s profile, “Midoriya was homeschooled!”

“And that means they could've trained with each other for years,” Eraserhead sighed, “They look like troublemakers. Vlad can have them.”

The principal grinned as they continued to observe the exam, noticing that their newest staff member had his eyes locked on Midoriya’s camera.

“All Might, you seem to be intrigued by Midoriya!”

The emaciated hero jumped, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as he tore his eyes away from the screens.

“Yes, his borrowing quirk is rather interesting. He moves around like he’s been trained a lot as well.”

The principal seemed to be satisfied with his answer, but All Might found himself unable to look away from the green-haired teenager. He remembered this boy from a few months ago, when All Might had watched he ran to save another child from a sludge villain, and the boy’s heroic spirit had given him the boost he needed to power up for a few more minutes to save the day. He knew right then that the green-haired boy would be the perfect successor, but had somehow failed to track him down after escaping from the media. It had been months since then and All Might had nearly given up on finding the green-haired boy, but seeing him at the entrance exam felt like the universe was lining things up perfectly to make this boy his successor. 

It had been a nasty shock to watch the boy use multiple quirks, sirens going off in his brain that the boy might somehow be linked to All For One, but he nearly sighed in relief when Nezu revealed him to have a borrowing quirk, casting a silent offering of thanks that All For One didn't have a secret successor of his own. Besides, he knew that he was just being paranoid - the villain had died nearly six years ago, a fact that had been confirmed by dozens of people! 

(Izuku fought against the urge to sneeze, shaking his head before chasing down a two-pointer, making a show of shoving his hand in his pocket before activating his fire-breathing quirk - he still had to pretend he was using strands of hair to borrow quirks, after all.)

As All Might watched Midoriya boy breathe fire on a row of robots, he began to feel a warm sensation building in his chest, almost like One For All was telling him that this boy was meant to be his successor, that the quirk would be most effective in his hands. His borrowing quirk would be the perfect cover as well - he could simply play it off as another quirk he borrowed without attracting the attention of any villains that remained loyal to All For One - and the boy would certainly want a quirk stronger than his inherently weak borrowing!

(Izuku stumbled suddenly at the sudden sensation of disgust spreading through his mouth and throat. Either someone was talking trash about him, or his Nii-chan had rage-decayed Izuku’s favorite controller again.

It was probably the second one. He was so going to make Nii-chan buy him another one.)

“It’s time to release the Zero-Pointers,” Nezu practically cackled, slamming the buttons and releasing the massive robots into the battle centers. 

All of the teachers, All Might included, leaned forward in their seats, each looking to see if anyone did anything special this year. They knew there was no explicit benefit to approaching the Zero-Pointer, but the massive machines always brought forward the opportunity to rack up rescue points by causing so much debris to fly over the battle centers. Although, it seemed that this year would be the same as usual, with most of the students instantly running away while a select few sized up the robots before deciding it wasn’t worth it.

“LOOK AT BATTLE CENTER B!” Present Mic shouted, prompting Nezu to make a certain camera cover half of the screen.

“What is Midoriya doing?”

“There’s a girl trapped under some rubble, I think he’s going to save her!”

“No,” All Might whispered, watching the boy shove his hand in his pocket before wind began to kick up around his feet. “He’s going to fight it.”

“He’s going to get himself killed,” Eraserhead’s voice was cold and calculated, a far cry from the intrigued gleam in his eyes, “It’s a good thing Recovery Girl is already on standby down there.”

No one dared make a noise as Midoriya dashed forward, taking two small hops before launching himself in the air, his right arm glowing a bright red while his left hand moved in a clearly deliberate way - the metal of the Zero-Pointer began to warp inward, making the heroes assume he was using some kind of telekinesis or metal manipulation quirk. The boy pulled back his arm, the red glow spreading all over his arm, and punched the head of the Zero-Pointer so hard that it actually got blown backward! Several jaws dropped in shock, but then the smoke cleared and the boy was hurtling to the ground, arm flapping around bonelessly and his face scrunched up in a mixture of pain and fear.

All Might heard one of the heroes shout, “ Someone get out there and break his fall! ” but he couldn’t pay any mind to who said it as panic flooded his system, the overwhelming need to rush out there and save his boy -

The girl trapped under the rubble floated up on a piece of rubble, slapping the boy’s face and causing him to float as well, safely lowering them both to the ground before promptly vomiting profusely. All Might sank into his seat with a relieved sigh, beyond happy that the green-haired boy was alright - it wouldn’t do any good if his chosen successor had gotten himself seriously injured before All Might could approach him. That warm feeling flooded the hero’s chest again, bringing a smile to his face; he just knew that this was One For All telling him that Midoriya was worthy of inheriting his quirk.

Izuku trudged out of U.A. feeling positively drained, but he supposed that accidentally breaking your arm and then taking a three-hour long test would do that to you. That angry-looking blonde boy had tried to approach him after the written exam, but Izuku put all of his stealth training to good use to avoid him - his vibes were absolutely rancid , and Izuku was way too tired to even consider getting anywhere near that. All he wanted to do was get food with Tocchan, go home, and get Dad to use one of his pain relief quirks on the arm he broke before settling down to play some games with Nii-chan.

Izuku stopped in his tracks, face paling at the realization that he would have to tell his parents he broke his arm during the exam.

…they were absolutely going to bubble wrap him.

Izuku shuddered at the thought of being bubble wrapped again and quickly brushed off that thought as Monoma finally exited the building. They couldn't bubble wrap him if they never found out he broke his arm, right?

(They absolutely found out. Recovery Girl had contacted them after treating him, and his parents immediately checked him for injuries the minute he arrived at home, threatening to sue the school for unsafe exam conditions. It took a solid hour of intense debate and negotiation for them to agree to back off.

But at least dad gave him a new minor regeneration quirk afterward! Izuku considered that a win in his book!) 

Chapter Text

Tomura was a good big brother. He knew it was true because from the moment his baby brother was born, his Dad and Mom told him so, and they continued to tell him every time he did something good. Like the time when he helped baby brother say his first word (it was Nii-chan , and Tomura would carry the title of being his first word with him to his grave), or when he did his best to teach Izuku all about Pokémon, or the time when he found out Izuku was being bullied at school and helped dad burn it to the ground before Mom sued the school for discrimination and insurance fraud. He did everything in his power to be the absolute best big brother anyone could ever want, and that meant he could always tell what his baby brother was feeling. 

That meant that Tomura absolutely knew that his baby brother had been hiding something for the past 10 months, and Tomura was furious that he continued to hide his reason for suddenly wanting to go to hero school. There was no way the teen would just decide to be a hero out of nowhere like that, and Tomura was not falling for the story the boy had given their dad. Tomura was already in a bad mood at the sudden revelation that his brother wouldn’t be around all the time anymore, but the fact that Izuku thought he could lie to his big brother? That just wasn’t going to fly in Tomura’s book. 

Contrary to popular belief (or rather, according to his two internet friends), Tomura was not stupid. He had received the same tactics lessons as Izuku his entire life (even more than him really, because Tomura always knew villainy was for him), so he knew how to gather intelligence and play the waiting game better than anyone. He had silently observed baby brother for ten whole months to try and get any clue as to the teen’s intentions, but the boy was too good at covering his tracks.

(Tomura didn’t know if he should be angry or proud of that. He decided that being proud was better, because obviously his baby brother would never do anything to make Tomura angry.) 

But Tomura’s patience had run thin. Izuku had just taken the U.A. entrance exam and was waiting for his results, breaking Tomura’s final hope that his brother would change his mind about being a hero. But enough was enough. Tomura was going to get some answers from baby brother as to why he suddenly wanted to go to hero school, and he was going to get them now.

“Hey, baby brother,” Tomura poked his head into the teen’s room, noting that Izuku was watching quirk videos on his laptop and taking notes. The green-haired boy perked up at Tomura’s appearance and paused his video, turning to his brother with a smile.

“What’s up, Nii-chan?”

Tomura grinned and held up his console, “Come visit my Animal Crossing island. I just did some remodeling and want your opinions.”

Izuku’s eyes shone in excitement as he shut his laptop and scrambled to his feet. “I wanna see what you did! Ooh, I can bring over some gifts too!”

“Gifts, yeah right,” Tomura snorted, collapsing on the teen’s bed, lovingly shoving the boy onto the ground, “You just want to bury your trash on my island.”

“You can’t prove anything,” Izuku quipped, although the smirk on his face gave away his true intentions. In just a few short minutes, the brothers were running around Tomura’s island, leisurely walking around (running around and bonking each other on the head with their nets), calmly fishing (betting on who could catch the biggest fish first), and digging up treasure (Izuku running from Tomura as the elder spat curses upon finding the first piece of trash). 

It was all so nice that Tomura almost felt bad for what he was about to do.

“Baby brother,” Tomura started, right as Izuku began bullying Tomura’s least favorite villager, “What’s the real reason you want to go to hero school?”

The teen’s thumb slipped, breaking his rhythm of smacking villagers. “Wha- what do you mean?” he laughed all too nervously and suspiciously, “I said I’m doing it to strengthen the rev-”

“You know you can’t trick me, baby brother. Come on, I promise I won’t tell Mom or Dad.”

“You swear you won’t tell?” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, chancing a glance up at his brother. 

“I swear on my game collection.”

“...I met All Might.”

“...”

“Nii-chan?”

“...I am calm, cool, and collected,” Tomura exhaled, pressing his hands together in front of his chin, “Baby brother, WHAT do you MEAN?!”

“Don’t freak out!”

“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO NOT FREAK OUT?!” Tomura screeched, his shouts muffled by Izuku’s hand suddenly covering his mouth.

“Nii-chan, let me explain!” Izuku had a wild look in his eyes as he began to speak. “All Might saved me from that sludge guy and I wanted to know what he was doing in town, so I did some digging and thinking and I came to the conclusion that he’s going to be teaching at U.A.!”

Gulping audibly, Izuku removed his hand from the blue-haired boy’s mouth.

“A-and, well, I think it’s kind of suspicious that All Might is going to be a teacher, ‘cause Dad always says All Might is so dumb he’d forget to breathe if it wasn’t instinctual, so I came to the conclusion that he’s probably getting weaker! But I don’t know for sure, s-so I thought it might be a good idea to do some in-person spying!”

Izuku chuckled nervously, hands unconsciously wringing together.

“And, uh, I really do want to help people. Everyone always looks to the heroes first for help, even though they can’t do all that much except punch people, so I should see what they’re all taught so I know what not to do!”

Tomura stared at his baby brother, in the way he knew made the younger feel all nervous, like he was one of the characters from Dad’s pre-quirk movies that could shoot lasers from their eyes. He didn’t blink, only narrowed his eyes to make him seem more intimidating, suppressing the urge to grin when his brother began to squirm around in discomfort. 

“Uh, Nii-chan…?”

“Baby brother,” Tomura’s voice was strained, prompting him to take deep breaths before continuing, “You have to swear you’ll be careful.”

“I swear I will.”

“Swear it on your stupid Charmander plushie!”

“Nii-chan!” Izuku gasped, his hand moving up to clutch his chest, “Charmander isn’t stupid! It was the first gift you ever gave me!”

“It was a mistake,” Tomura grumbled, “You weren’t supposed to pick Charmander, and I’ve been waiting to decay it for fourteen years! That’s why you gotta swear on it - I get to decay it if you break your promise!”

“Ugh, fine! I swear it on my Charmander plushie!”

“I’m glad we came to an agreement,” Tomura said smugly, returning to his console as though nothing had happened at all, “Now, let’s play a racing game. I got some new tricks to show you.”

Izuku ran into the house, a thick envelope held high in his grip as he slid across the sleek floors. He rounded a corner and locked his eyes on his target, launching himself across the room to tackle his blue-haired brother, knocking the wind out of both of them as they came crashing to the floor.

“Baby brother-”

“MY LETTER IS HERE,” Izuku screamed, eyes bugged out and hands trembling, silently asking the question “ will you stay with me while I open it? ”

Truthfully speaking, Tomura didn’t want to be there when he opened the letter. He didn’t want his baby brother to open the letter at all , because that would suddenly make everything real - baby brother leaving Tomura alone every day, putting himself in danger with that hero trash, reducing himself to the level of the NPCs around him, and worst of all, getting dangerously close to All Might.

But…Tomura wanted to be the best big brother more than anything, and he found himself nodding while maneuvering into a seated position, slinging a grounding arm around the younger’s shoulders to help calm the shaking. After an agonizing minute of struggling with the seal, Izuku huffed in annoyance and ripped the envelope clean in half, jumping when a heavy metal disk smacked against the floor.

“Did…did U.A. send you a bomb?” Tomura wondered out loud, finding himself pleased at the laugh his question pulled from the green teenager.

And then the disk was projecting a hologram in the air, and both boys screamed in shock and horror at the sudden appearance of All Might hovering in their living room.

“I AM HERE, AS A PROJECTION!”

“And I think I just peed a little,” Tomura murmured, pulling yet another laugh from his baby brother.

“You might be wondering why I’m doing these videos, but that is because I actually came to this town to work at U.A.!”

“I was right,” Izuku breathed out, eyes never moving from the hologram in front of him, waiting with bated breath for the words that would make the past few months of training worth it.

“Midoriya Izuku, you passed the written exam with flying colors, earning a 93 percent!”

“HAH! My baby brother is so smart!”

“Nii-chan, shush!”

“As for the practical exam, you earned 42 villain points, which is enough to gain admittance into the hero course on its own. However! Being a hero is more than just defeating villains, and so we also score the exam based on rescue points! You earned 39 rescue points, bringing your total to 81 points - making you the top scorer for the exam!”

Izuku felt himself gasp - 81 points? Top scorer?! Him?!!

“Congratulations, Young Midoriya, you have been accepted into Class 1-A! Welcome to your hero academia!”

The hologram promptly ended and the brothers slowly turned to face each other, both looking like they could hardly believe what had just occurred.

“Nii-chan…” Izuku stammered out, gulping down a lump in his throat.

“Baby brother,” Tomura met the younger’s gaze, nodding absentmindedly, “If All Might notices you stalking him or gets suspicious, tell me and I’ll put rat poison in his coffee.”

“That’s too noticeable, you should hire a sniper to take him out on the way to work.”

“As if! That’s way too easy to trace, and hired assassins are nothing but lying snakes!”

“Come on, Nii-chan!” Izuku laughed, playfully shoving his brother, “I just got my acceptance letter, let me do a little recon before we decide how we’ll end All Might! Who knows, maybe I can take his quirk!”

Tomura opened his mouth to argue, but a wicked grin cut his words off.

“Baby brother, if you somehow manage to take All Might’s quirk, I’ll get you three whole Charmander plushies.”

Izuku whirled around, “No take backs! You can’t take back a quest or my quest rewards!”

“Your quest is to take All Might’s quirk,” Tomura said, holding up his pinkie finger and linking it with the teen’s, “And mine is to kill All Might.”

“You’re on!”

Kurogiri was a silent observer, meant to watch over the Master’s children and provide transportation when needed. He quietly stood by when Tomura was put in charge of the Master’s bar, making sure that he was able to keep up with the workload, and kept guard when the young man took up the helm of villainy. He was always on guard, taking careful note of every change in his ward’s moods, always reporting his concerns back to his Master.

As Kurogiri busied himself cleaning the bar’s glasses, it became abundantly clear that he was going to have to give the Master a report on his eldest son’s somber mood.

“Tomura-san,” Kurogiri said when the young man began decaying glasses while heavily sulking, “What seems to be troubling you?”

The blue-haired man sighed as if he was carrying the weight of the world, picking up another glass with just four fingers.

“Kurogiri, how can I convince baby brother to not go to school?”

Ah, this was because of Izuku-san then. Master had warned Kurogiri that this might happen.

“Tomura-san, Izuku-san’s education is very important. The Master feels that enrolling him in a more traditional school will be beneficial for the development of his social skills.”

“But he doesn’t need school for social stuff! He learns how to talk to people when we play visual novels! And he’s got Blondie, and sometimes he plays with my online friends!”

Oh, how Kurogiri wanted to sigh and pull out the nice whiskey he’s been saving for himself.

“Do not let this dampen your mood. Izuku-san will return every afternoon with plenty of time to play games with you, and if he decides that school is not for him, your father will remove him at once.”

“Don’t call dad ‘Father’,” Tomura hissed, casting a dirty glance at his disembodied hands laying on the countertop, “And I don’t care that baby brother will come back, I want him to stay here like always!

Kurogiri had long theorized that allowing the brothers to spend a decade together would lead to attachment issues later on, but this seemed a bit extreme to him. Maybe a distraction would be better, Kurogiri wasn’t a therapist after all.

“Tomura-san, perhaps you should use this increase in free time to begin making plans for your League.”

“It won’t be the same,” Tomura sighed forlornly, looking more dejected than ever, “If baby brother isn’t even here to tell me how cool my plans are, what’s the point?”

The situation was even worse than the Master had implied. He would most certainly need to be made aware of his eldest son’s misery.

“Think of it this way,” Kurogiri began, gently removing the still-whole glass from Tomura’s hands, “You are attempting to build a…party, correct? And you need party members? Perhaps you must find those members and level up to unlock Izuku-san as a player.”

The warper nearly heaved a sigh of relief when Tomura perked up, mulling the idea over in his head and nodding along with his own thoughts.

“That idea doesn’t totally suck. Maybe baby brother will see how cool my party is and leave the heroes to finally join me! Kurogiri, I didn’t know you had more ideas than just cocktail recipes!”

Kurogiri didn’t verbally respond to Tomura’s backhanded compliment, instead opting to briefly vanish into a back room to gather some files he had been collecting at the Master’s request. 

“Your...dad...has asked me to go through his old contacts and note any potential colleagues that interest you. I have also taken the liberty of hiring a trusted broker to alert us as to any potential recruits.”

Silently turning his attention to the warper, Tomura fixed his gaze on the spread of character profiles being placed on the bar. Thankfully their stats had already been listed, which was one less thing for Tomura to do, and he could focus on determining which players would be good for his guild. He already knew the exact kind of players he needed: they had to have strong quirks that baby brother wouldn’t be able to resist, they needed to hate heroes, and they had to swear to protect Tomura’s baby brother with their lives.

Flipping through the stack of papers, Tomura was already able to pick out some potential candidates - players like Toxic Chainsaw had the quirks and power to help destroy heroes - but he could also tell who wouldn’t be good at all, like Muscular and Moonfish, with the first frequently killing children for fun and the latter being a deranged cannibal who wouldn’t be able to resist baby brother.

“Kurogiri, I want to set up some encounters with the powerful NPCs,” Tomura shoved the papers away, stretching out his back and reaching for his disembodied hands.

“Of course, Tomura-san. Would you like the meetings to be for later today?”

Tomura glared at the warper like he had suddenly grown a second head, scoffing at his suggestion.

“Kurogiri, are you stupid? It’s almost four o’clock, I play games with NoHeat and SmallZilla then and I’m not missing it for anything.”

“Ah, yes, your internet friends. I apologize for the mistake.”

“Don’t do it again. Game time with my friends is almost as important as gaming with baby brother.”

Biting back a sigh, Kurogiri opened a warp gate for Tomura to stalk through. The blue-haired young man had made his two internet friends several years ago and they were the only source of social interaction the young man had outside of his family. None of the three had shared much personal information with each other, as all that Kurogiri knew about his friends was that NoHeat hated his abusive hero father and SmallZilla faced severe discrimination for his mutant quirk, even from some heroes…

“Tomura-san,” Kurogiri said, following the young man into his game room, “It might not be a bad idea to introduce your ideals to your online friends, as they have spoken about holding resentment towards heroes in the past.”

Tomura didn’t respond as he was busy setting up his console, but the suggestion did stick with him. NoHeat and SmallZilla had said they weren’t too fond of heroes; although,  NoHeat did say that everyone except his father seemed okay while  SmallZilla was much more prone to joining in on Tomura’s hate-filled rants about hero society. Eventually, Kurogiri left the room, but Tomura’s thoughts were still on the possibility of his friends joining his party, leaving him distracted until the ping of an incoming message pulled him from his mind.

NoHeatAllCheats>> what’s up, Dusty? 

Tomura couldn’t hide the smile he got from seeing that nickname. After they had accidentally discovered that the brothers shared their gaming account (by swearing profusely in the chat when baby brother had destroyed them both at every single game and then spending thirty minutes apologizing when Tomura returned to a crying baby brother) they had taken to calling him Dusty.  

DustBunny<<: Eh, not much. Having a crisis cause my baby brother is going off to high school and it makes me feel old. What about you?  

NoHeatAllCheats>>: I always forget Bunny is the same age as my little brother, he’s going to high school this year too. I’m not super close with him, but I’m still worried that he’s not gonna make any friends since he’s kind of shy.

Tomura couldn’t imagine not being close with his baby brother, but NoHeat’s father apparently kept the young boy completely isolated from his siblings and forced him to train to be a hero. The idea of a hero being so awful to a little kid made Tomura’s blood boil, but NoHeat had brushed Tomura’s offer to murder their father as a joke.

DustBunny<<: baby brother’s been homeschooled for forever, but I’ve been playing visual novels with him lately so he’ll know how to talk to school NPCs.

NoHeatAllCheats>>: that’s definitely an idea, but my little bro doesn’t play games, especially not dating sims

DustBunny<<: It’s not dating sims! It’s visual novels! You can totally ignore the romance route!

SmallZilla is online!

SmallZilla<<: why are you two talking about dating sims

DustBunny>>: not dating sims! Baby brother is going to real school for the first time and I taught him how to make friends by playing visual novels with him

NoHeatAllCheats<<: and I told Dusty that my little brother doesn’t play games, and he doesn’t even understand people enough to be decent at dating sims

SmallZilla<<: they’ll both be fine, Bunny seems like a cool kid

SmallZilla<<: And no offense Heat, but your brother doesn’t even sound like he enjoys talking to people

SmallZilla<<: Anyway, I saw some talk online about DustBunny setting another world record. Got anything to say for yourself, Dusty?

DustBunny>>: I don’t know why everyone freaks out about it. I just wanted to show baby brother a new trick I found out.

NoHeatAllCheats<<: i still think it’s the funniest thing that you literally broke like 20 records when you were a kid but had no idea you did

SmallZilla<<: yeah you made me feel like the crazy one for asking if you were *that* DustBunny but then turns out I was right all along!!

NoHeatAllCheats<<: yeah Dusty, you could totally start a streaming channel to show off your speedruns if you wanted to!

DustBunny>>:  if baby brother wants me to, I’ll do it. Right now I’m happy just showing my tricks to baby brother

DustBunny>>: anyway, you two up for some games? I need to blow off some steam

As Tomura watched his online friends eagerly agree to play, he couldn’t help the warm feeling in his chest from spreading all through his limbs. Even though he had never met them in person, he knew that they were just as important to him as Blondie was to baby brother.

He wouldn’t ask them to join his League today, but maybe he would work up the courage to do that someday.

Chapter Text

“Izuku!” Mom’s voice drifted into the teen’s bedroom, “It’s almost time to go, sweetie!”

“Coming!” he shouted in response, buttoning up his uniform and struggling with his tie before deciding to give up on the blasted thing. It had been far too long since he had worn a school uniform - well over a decade - and he was already mourning the loss of his comfortable t-shirts and cargo shorts. He snatched up his backpack and made his way into the dining room, where his parents and brother were already eating their breakfasts - fish and rice for his parents, overly sugary cereal with marshmallows for Tomura - and plopped himself down in his seat.

“Baby brother,” Tomura wheezed, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter, “You murdered your own tie!”

“It’s too hard,” Izuku whined, turning big doe eyes on his father, “Dad, can you help me with it?”

“I’m sorry, bunny,” Hisashi was apologetic, gesturing to the lack of tie around his own neck, “But I never figured out how to do ties either. Besides, I think I looked more rugged and handsome this way!”

“Dang it. Mom can you- Mom, quit looking at Dad like that right in front of me- can you help me?”

Inko blushed at being caught ogling her husband, finding herself unable to look in her youngest son’s eyes. “Sorry, sweetie, I don’t know how either. But I think your tie looks just fine!”

Tomura nodded sagely, “If anyone makes fun of you for your tie, use it to strangle them.”

“You got it, Nii-chan! Always use the tools available to you, right?”

Hisashi smiled but suddenly choked on his coffee after a jab to the ribs from Inko. “You’re right about using everything available to you, but maybe don’t strangle your classmates or teachers.”

“Oh,” Izuku’s face turned a bright red, making the green of his eyes and hair stand out even more, “I guess strangling people isn’t something people do in school.”

“Well, the teachers might allow it during a spar, but it’s generally frowned upon,” Hisashi mumbled, looking at his watch and putting down his coffee, “I’ve got to get going, Parliament is in session today and we’re debating regulations that I’ve been pushing against the Hero Commission. Izuku, would you like Kurogiri to drop you off a few streets away from the school?”

Nodding in agreement, Izuku finished his juice, running upstairs to quickly brush his teeth before running back down to his dad’s side. After several tears from Inko, hugs from Tomura, and at least a dozen photos from Hisashi, Izuku was walking out of Kurogiri’s warp gate and into a secluded alley not too far from U.A. He was vibrating as he made his way down the sidewalk, equally nervous and excited for his first day of school, his excitement only growing when he spotted a familiar head of blonde hair waiting outside the gate.

“TOCCHAN!” Izuku lunged for the blonde, nearly sending them both crashing on the sidewalk, “Are you excited for school? I hardly slept last night! The only reason I’m not super mad about being awake right now is because I was so nervous I woke up at 5 in the morning! Did you sl-“

“Izuchan,” Monoma said, halting Izuku's nervous rambling by covering his mouth, “It’s way too early for all that energy- EW, IZUKU THAT’S GROSS!”

Monoma’s hand pulled away like he had been shocked, digging out hand sanitizer while a devious grin spread across Izuku’s face. 

“If you didn’t want me to lick your hand, you shouldn’t have put it near my mouth! Besides, I have so many questions! Nii-chan and I played lots of games set in schools so I would be ready, but everyone ends up dead in all of them! And they always skip over the beginning parts so I don’t know what to do when I go inside!”

“Izuchan,” Monoma placed his hands on Izuku’s shoulders, holding the bouncing boy still and looking directly at him, “Don’t freak yourself out, just follow me and I’ll tell you what to do.”

“Tocchan, you’re the best cousin-friend I could ask for!” Izuku beamed as he followed the blonde through the gates, although his smile dropped as they approached the shoe lockers and changed into their indoor shoes, “I’m really sad we’re not in the same class though. How am I supposed to know how school works if you’re not with me?”

“Oh trust me, I’m furious that you can’t be in 1-B with me. If we were together, 1-B would clearly be the superior class! Although, this does mean you can act as a spy for 1-B and feed us information about the quirks in 1-A!”

“That’s such a good idea!” Izuku bounced on his feet, secretly feeling reassured that his best friend wasn’t planning on finding better friends and leaving him behind, “I’ll definitely tell you about all the cool quirks I see, you gotta know the best ones to copy!”

“Speaking of quirks, do you got your hairs with you? If you do any quirk stuff today, you might need them to borrow those quirks.”

“Right here!” Izuku exclaimed, patting his pocket for emphasis.

Monoma smiled at his friend, halting in front of a massive door. “Good. And this is my classroom, so yours should be right down there. Remember your seat number from your letter, and find the desk number that matches it. Just be nice to your classmates and you’ll make friends in no time!”

“Okay! Thanks, Tocchan!” Izuku felt a small seed of discomfort plant itself in his heart as the blonde turned towards the door to 1-B, “Uh, are we still going to hang out after school today?”

Looking over his shoulder at the green teen, Monoma gave him a lazy grin.

“Of course we are. We have to discuss the quirks we see, after all!”

“A-alright! Bye, Tocchan!” 

Without waiting for a response, Izuku turned on his heel and started walking towards his classroom. He really did hope that the people in his class were nice, hopefully not people like the spiky-haired blonde he sat next to at the exam or the rude boy that tried to embarrass Izuku. All too soon, he found himself standing in front of a door with 1-A written on it and, after gathering his courage, pulled the door open.

“Don’t put your feet on the desk!” A horrifically familiar voice shouted, immediately making Izuku’s hair stand on edge.

“HUH?” A second, also too familiar voice retorted, and Izuku suddenly found himself wanting to turn around and force his way into 1-B with Monoma.

“It’s rude to the U.A. upperclassmen and the people who made the desk! 

“That’s stupid. What junior high did you go to, extra?”

“I attended Somei Private Academy!”

Izuku suppressed the urge to roll his eyes - of course the rude boy went to a private school, all the shows he had watched said that private school kids were totally stuck up and rude! He was totally going to do everything he could to avoid talking to either of these loud boys.

And Izuku’s plans were promptly put through a paper shredder when they both turned and looked at him, recognition flashing across their faces. 

“You!” The rude boy said, quickly walking towards Izuku, blocking his path before he was able to sneak around to his seat, “Good morning! My name is Iida Tenya and I-”

“That’s cool,” Izuku cut him off before he could start making a speech, taking note of the eyes of his other classmates watching the interaction, “I’m Midoriya Izuku and I want to find my seat.”

“Oh- of course! Although I must say, you realized there was something more to the practical exam, didn’t you?”

What. “Huh? What are you talking about, I just smashed robots and saved people from the rubble like any decent person would.”

“Like any decent person would…” Iida’s shoulders hunched in shame, his face shifting into something that Izuku thought looked like he was sucking on a lemon, “I severely misjudged you! I hate to admit it, but you just might be better than me.”

“Tch, no kidding you misjudged me. You purposely tried to embarrass me in front of a room full of people, and then you accused me of sabotaging the exam when I was just trying to talk with my cousin!”

Okay, so Izuku was still holding a grudge against the boy, but he kind of deserved it for being such a jerk! Besides, Dad always taught him that grudges fan the flames of unquestioned success!

“I- and for that, I must apologize! I did not think of my actions in the moment, and I must ask for your forgiveness!”

“Hmm…” Izuku tapped his chin, sizing up the threat level and capability of the Iida boy, “Well, maybe I can forgive you if you help me find my seat-”

“Hey, it’s you! The plain-looking boy that saved me!”

“Plain-looking?” Izuku felt his eye twitch, the instinct to immediately fight whoever gave that backhanded compliment flaring up. He slowly turned around, facing a girl that…honestly didn’t look so different from himself. “Isn’t that…kind of rude to say? I mean, you don’t see me calling you plain-looking, and you don’t look all that different from me.”

“O-oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that!” The girl panicked, waving her hands in front of her, “Really, I swear! I guess since we share similar features, they just look so similar to mine that I just see them as ordinary!”

The girl was sweating now, and Izuku considered telling her it was alright - except it wasn’t, and his Mom taught him to never be a liar.

“I j-just wanted to thank you f-for saving me at the exam!” The girl stammered out, “You uh- you looked super cool punching down the robot, a-and I really hoped you would get in so I could thank you properly!”

Izuku was just about to put her out of her misery, having gotten his fill of retribution for the day, when a sudden voice from the floor broke through the girl’s disjointed rambling.

“Go somewhere else if you want to play at being friends. This is the hero course.”

There, laying on the floor in a garishly yellow sleeping bag, looked to be a homeless man. Except this wasn’t any homeless man, Izuku knew this homeless man and could recognize him anywhere thanks to his Nii-chan’s not-so-secret shrine dedicated to the underground hero…

“Eraserhead!” Izuku squealed, voice so high pitched it sounded childish, but he didn’t even care if he embarrassed himself in front of his classmates - the only hero he actually liked was laying on the floor in front of him!

The underground hero paused with a jelly pack halfway to his mouth, taking a glance at Izuku and raising his eyebrow in question.

“How do you know that name?”

Izuku’s breaths came out rapid and jagged as he used every ounce of strength within him to not scream and cry in front of everyone.

“Y-you’re Eraserhead! You saved me once when I was a kid- I got kidnapped and you helped my Nii-chan find me! He’s been a huge fan ever since, and we always watch any videos of your fights we can find!”

“...alright then,” the hero sighed, standing up and unzipping the sleeping bag (Izuku considered stealing it to give to Nii-chan as a gift - an authentic Eraserhead’s crusty unwashed sleeping bag!), “It took you eight seconds to quiet down. Time is limited. It’s not rational to waste so much time talking about unimportant things.”

Izuku opened his mouth to argue - anything Eraserhead-related was clearly not unimportant, but the pro hero pulled something out of the yellow sleeping bag and held it out while taking a look at all the students.

“I’m your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. Put these on and go out to the field.”

With trembling hands, Izuku reached out and gingerly took the jumpsuit out of the hero's hands, waiting for the other students to start walking before following after them in a daze.

(Eraserhead is his homeroom teacher! Izuku knew his name! Izuku’s jumpsuit had been in Eraserhead’s sleeping bag!

He totally could sell this jumpsuit to his Nii-chan for a ton of money. But he wouldn’t because Eraserhead gave it to him, not his Nii-chan.)

Izuku pulled himself out of his Eraserhead-centric thoughts when he noticed his classmates turning around a corner, noticing the rude boy Iida and that brown-haired girl from earlier hovering noticeably closer to Izuku. At first, he thought that they were going to try being rude again - maybe try to trip him or put gum in his hair - but the real answer hit him like a shock: they weren’t hostile NPCs, this was a visual novel! All of his classmates are relationship options! Those two are like the characters you meet at the beginning to get used to the gameplay before being introduced to the cooler and arguably more interesting NPCs!

Dang it, he really wished he could go back to a save point already! He wouldn’t be able to get  100% of the achievements at the rate he’s going!

“A quirk assessment test?”

Izuku felt a brief tinge of regret - did all schools do quirk assessment tests? Had he really been missing out on something so amazing and informative this entire time?

“But what about the entrance ceremony!” The brown-haired girl - Uraraka , Izuku’s brain supplied helpfully - wailed, “The orientation!”

Izuku didn’t really care about those events, he just wanted to hurry up and scope out his classmates’ abilities!

“If you’re going to become a hero, you don’t have time for leisurely events.” Eraserhead drawled, and Izuku found himself agreeing - those things sounded stupid anyway! “U.A. is most known for its unrestricted education style - which is also how the teachers run their classes. You’ve been doing things like these since junior high, right? Physical fitness tests where you can’t use your quirk.”

All the students (bar Izuku) were nodding ever so slightly, and he suddenly found himself wishing for Monoma to be by his side again, guiding him through what was normal for real school.

“The country still uses averages taken during these quirkless physical tests, but that is not rational.” The Erasure hero paused, casting an exhausted glance at Izuku.

“Midoriya, you placed first in the practical exam. What was your best result in junior high for the softball throw?”

Well, this was awkward. Izuku gulped nervously, already feeling the stares of his classmates on him. 

“Uh, I don’t know? I was homeschooled, and I don’t think I’ve ever done a softball throw?”

The tired man sighed heavily, “Right, forgot about that. Bakugou, you were second, so you’ll be Midoriya’s example. What was your best throw?”

“67 meters,” Bakugou - the spiky-haired blonde with the rancid vibes! - grumbled, taking the ball from their teacher’s outstretched hand.

“Try throwing it with your quirk. You can do whatever you want as long as you stay in the circle. Hurry up and give it all you’ve got.”

The blonde nodded, and Izuku activated his own quirk a little, just to observe what kind of quirk such a feral child had. Right away, Izuku could see an orange glow pulsing around his hands, the orb on the boy’s chest filled with bursts of yellow and red. If Izuku had to guess, he’d say this Bakugo boy had-

“DIE! ” Bakugou screamed, firing a massive explosion from his hands as he threw the ball, propelling it at what looked like mach speed. Izuku stared in awe at the raw power this boy held, wondering exactly how his quirk worked, and he could see traces of the orange glow fading on his palms, disappearing completely when he wiped his hands on his pants.

“You have to know your own maximum first,” Eraserhead - no, Aizawa-sensei - said as the ball hit the ground, turning around to show a handheld device that displayed-

“705.2 meters?!” The class shouted, absolutely flabbergasted at the incredible power Bakugou had just displayed. Izuku couldn’t speak, his mind already racing with ways he could use his quirks to get a higher score, but his classmates all seemed to have the opposite idea.

“This is going to be so much fun!”

“We can use our quirks all we want! Heck yeah, hero course!”

“Fun?” Aizawa-sensei’s voice sent chills up Izuku’s spine, reminding the boy of the rare times he would walk in on his dad interrogating people, “You think this is all fun and games, huh? All right. Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and will be expelled.”

“HUH?!” 

“YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” 

“IT’S NOT FAIR!”

“Incorrect,” Aizawa’s low voice managed to cut through the panicked shouts, a creepy smile on his face that reminded Izuku even more of his father, “We’re free to do what we want about the circumstances of our students. Welcome to U.A.’s hero course!”

Despite his earlier excitement, Izuku couldn’t help the coil of anxiety settling in his gut, something that only worsened when Aizawa-sensei’s gaze fixed itself yet again on the green-haired boy.

“Midoriya. Throw the ball without a quirk first, then throw it with your quirk.”

Nodding absently, Izuku steeled his nerves and walked towards the circle, channeling every bit of his Nii-chan’s bravado to manage to not shake himself out of his iconic red high-tops. While he had never done a standardized physical assessment like this one, his father had made sure that Tomura and he had plenty of fitness classes in their education. Both boys had learned how to move extremely fast, and each had soon discovered their preferred fighting style. His older brother liked to stay low to the ground, hands constantly open and ready to deliver a decaying strike; Izuku, however, had taken a shine to mixed martial arts and kickboxing. 

To make a long story short, Izuku wasn’t just some scrawny little (green) beanpole, despite what his initial appearance might suggest.

Izuku tossed the ball in his hand, getting a feel for its weight and size, before rearing back and throwing it with all his might, wincing when it landed much closer to the circle than Bakugou’s explosion-powered throw had.

“61 meters. Now throw it with your quirk.”

“Yes, sir!” Izuku caught the second softball his teacher tossed at him, tossing it a few times while getting into a throwing stance. He needed to find some quirks that would be good for throwing, and he wanted to do better than the explosive blonde at least; maybe…yes, he would use strength enhancement, muscle-augmentation, and Air Cannon. He could’ve used his quirk that made his limbs recoil like springs, but the time he used that with muscle augmentation during the entrance exam caused his arms to break - something he was very eager to not repeat.

Feeling the flow of quirks enter his arm, Izuku launched the ball, smiling as it flew away from his hand with a resounding crack , basking in the sounds of shock coming from the cluster of students behind him.

“706 meters,” Aizawa drawled, and Izuku clenched his fist in delight. He had beaten Bakugou! Granted, it was only by a little, but still! Maybe next time he should mix in a wind resistance quirk, it would most likely help it be propelled just a little bit further-

“DEKU!” A loud scream made Izuku turn around, eyes widening at the sight of the explosive blonde lunging towards him, orange energy gathering in the palms of his hands. Izuku braced himself for impact, activating durability and fire resistance. Bakugou’s screaming was unbearably loud, his hand almost close enough for Izuku to activate All For One to pull the explosion quirk away, but right before they made contact, the white cloth of Eraserhead’s scarf wrapped around Bakugo, binding his arms against his torso and preventing him from moving any closer to Izuku.

“Bakugou, attacking another student unprovoked is unacceptable. This is your only warning.”

The fanboy side of Izuku wanted to squeal at getting to see Eraserhead’s scarf in action (he used it to save Izuku! Nii-chan was going to be so jealous), but the stronger, pettier side of Izuku took control, moving him to speak without thinking.

“Wow, sore loser, much? I bet you were a leash child - oh, maybe your parents should have put you in aggressive dog training too!”

Alright, Izuku knew that he had been spending far too much time around Nii-chan and Tocchan, but it was so cathartic to snap back at people that deserved it!

“Midoriya, please don’t provoke him,” Aizawa sighed, pulling the restrained blonde to his side with ease, “Alright, next one up. And make it quick.”

Quirks were Izuku’s everything. He breathed, lived, ate, slept quirks - they were such an integral part of his life that he derived so much enjoyment from. The feeling of activating his original quirk, seeing the colorful energy contained in those marbles was just so intoxicating, and he could never get enough of seeing new quirks. He loved observing quirks, pondering every aspect of them, wondering how he could blend them with other quirks he had, and thinking of every single way he could use them. 

Which was why he felt pure excitement and wonder as he watched his classmates during the assessment test.

Most of the students made fantastic use of their quirks; finding creative ways to apply them to each exercise, and sure, they could’ve been a little more experimental, but he also understood that this test had a lot riding on it! After all, most people wouldn’t want to test out a new application of their quirk during such an important test. Like the boy who could make his arms turn into more body parts, or the girl who could literally print anything from her body , or the boy with a living shadow, or the boy with white and red hair who made incredible ice formations.

But this purple kid was just…disappointing. 

From what Izuku had gathered, the growths on his head could be removed and, once they were plucked from his head, would be very sticky to everyone except the purple boy. Izuku had seen him throw one on the ground and kick it - the ball stuck to the ground but made his foot spring back - and immediately Izuku knew of several ways he could use his quirk to do really well in the exam! The most obvious one would be to use them as a sort of springboard during the 50-meter dash, the long jump, and the side-step, but the kid didn’t even do that! In fact, the only thing he had used his quirk for was to attach himself to people during the long-distance run! He could’ve even removed one of the balls, reattached it to his head, and then used that to repeatedly propel himself forward for the sit-ups, but no! He just sat there, loudly whining and complaining that “this is too hard! I didn’t come to hero school for stupid exercises, I came here to scope out the hot babes and feel up some boobs-”

Nope, Izuku was done listening. This guy was seriously gross - definitely the pervert character in the games that everyone (players included) hates - and Izuku could only hope that he would get to fight him during classes. Dad had said he couldn’t strangle anyone, but he didn’t say that Izuku couldn’t dropkick this kid back into the cretaceous period!

“Alright, I’ll tell you the results,” Aizawa-sensei drawled after the last test was done, sounding even more exhausted despite having done no physical activity himself. “Your total is just the points you got from each test. It’s a waste of time to explain verbally, so I’ll just show the results all at once.”

A hologram of the scores popped up midair (seriously, U.A.’s hologram tech was incredible - Dad had spent two days dismantling, trying, and failing to recreate his acceptance hologram) and Izuku was pleased to see his name at a solid spot number 4, very safe from the expulsion punishment.

The unlucky last-place student though…

“Mineta, you’re expelled. You can stop by the principal’s office for your paperwork to transfer to a different hero school.”

“Y-you can’t be serious!” the Mineta kid shouted, gross tears and snot streaming down his face, shoving an accusatory finger towards Aizawa-sensei, “This is so unfair!”

“But it’s the best strategy to remove weak party members that drag down the reputation of the guild,” Izuku mumbled to himself, not noticing the glances he was receiving from the people around him, “Reputation points matter just as much as skill points and hp.”

“Shut up,” Mineta’s voice was laced with anger, “No one asked for your opinion! And you can’t actually expel me! I haven’t gotten the chance to check out any hot chicks or see any boobs!”

Aizawa-sensei stared blankly at the boy before activating his quirk, red glare boring deep into Mineta’s soul.

“Not only did you demonstrate having zero potential, but that attitude is neither heroic nor professional and will get you nowhere in life except on a registry. I suggest you get out of my sight before I have you removed from the premises and blacklisted from all hero courses in the country.”

Mineta (very wisely) turned on his heel and ran off the field, loud wailing echoing as he took his leave, and Izuku silently mourned the loss of a perfect target to practice his kicks on - based on the way the girls were glaring at his minuscule retreating form, he got the sense that they were feeling about the same way as he did about their now ex-classmate.

“Let this be an example to you,” Aizawa-sensei said, his scarf and hair floating back to their places, “Hero work is not for anyone who isn’t serious about the job. If I determine you to have zero potential at any point in the year, I will not hesitate to act accordingly. Now, you’re all dismissed.”

The hero walked away without another word, leaving a stunned class in his wake, confirming a fact that Izuku had known for years now.

Eraserhead is so cool.

“Tocchan,” Izuku whined, having finally seen his best friend in the cafeteria, promptly running over to him and collapsing in the empty chair next to the blonde, “Are the hallways always super scary to walk through? I felt like I was gonna get eaten alive!”

Monoma merely huffed out a laugh at his friend’s dramatics, “It’ll get easier when you’re more familiar with the school. I always thought I was going to be trampled before the older theater kids showed me all the tricks to survive.”

Izuku groaned, letting his head fall on the cold table with a resounding smack .

“Real school is exhausting. I think I’m gonna sleep for eternity after today.”

“Izuchan, no, that’s called a coma.”

“Yeah, dude!” A new, loud, enthusiastic voice right next to Izuku made him yelp, instinctively leaning next to his -practically hissing- best friend, “It would suck for you to miss out on that good class bonding!”

It seemed that a group of his classmates had followed Izuku to the table with Tocchan, all of them taking seats close to Izuku - Iida, Uraraka, and Kaminari, his brain supplied helpfully.

“I agree! It is imperative to your education that you attend every lesson as long as your health allows you to do so!” Iida said, moving his arm in a strange chopping fashion - did his engine quirk have a secondary effect of robotic joints?

“Who are you all and what are you doing here,” Monoma hissed, already glaring daggers at them, “Izuchan, do you know them?”

“We’re his classmates!” Uraraka chirped, “We want to get to know him more - you were really cool during the quirk assessment, by the way!”

“You did a quirk assessment,” Monoma asked incredulously, his voice taking on a haughty tone that Izuku knew was to cover his raging inferiority complex, “Of course Class 1-A would brag about breaking school traditions already-”

“It’s alright, Tocchan! It was really useful for me to see everyone’s quirks! I can tell you all about them when you come over today!” Izuku chirped, fully playing into the "spy on Class A for Class B" angle that his best friend had spoken of earlier.

“So do you guys, like, know each other already?” Kaminari asked through a mouthful of food, briefly reminding Izuku of his Nii-chan’s messy eating habits, but Izuku brightened considerably at the question.

“Yeah! Tocchan is my cousin! And we’ve been friends for pretty much forever!”

“We aren’t actually cousins,” Monoma interjected with a playful jab to Izuku’s side, “Izuchan just thought we were cousins when we met as kids since our quirks are really similar.”

“Yeah, my dad did a DNA test that said we aren’t really related, but he’s still my honorary cousin!”

“That’s so sweet!” Uraraka beamed at the two, making Izuku blush in embarrassment, “Oh, I was wondering about something! I heard you say that ‘real school’ is tiring, but what do you mean by that?”

“Oh- I’ve been homeschooled my whole life,” Izuku said easily, scarfing down the bento lovingly prepared by his mom (she made katsudon for his first day of school!), “So this is my first time going to a real school. My Nii-chan helped me train for school!”

“What he means,” Monoma jumped in, barely concealing a laugh, “Is that his brother - who is also homeschooled by the way - decided that he needed some practice talking to people who aren’t me, and they played a bunch of dating sims to learn how.”

“They’re not dating sims, Tocchan, they’re visual novels!”

“Midoriya,” Iida sounded pained, “As an apology for my rude actions to you during the entrance exam, please feel free to approach me with any questions you might have regarding traditional education! I will explain everything to the best of my ability!”

Izuku was about to thank the large boy for his offer, but the electric blonde looked like he was about to explode, the air around him buzzing with static.

“So, you play video games? That’s super cool! I play all kinds of games! Hey, wanna swap user IDs so we can play after school? I think it would be super cool to get to know each other!”

“Oh- yeah! That would be so amazing! Me and Nii-chan have practically every game on earth, so we can play anything!” Izuku spoke quickly, too excited at the prospect of having his own gaming friends to notice Monoma coughing something that sounded like “ nerd!”

“Cool! My username is Chargebolt - that’s also my prototype hero name!”

“Chargebolt, the gamer hero,” Izuku mumbled, giving a blinding smile to Kaminari, “I like it! Mine is DustBunny! That’s- er, my username is, not my hero name, I actually don’t know what my hero name’s gonna be yet.”

Izuku trailed off with a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck as he noticed Kaminari’s own smile fade into a look of…shock? Disbelief? Horror? Something that definitely didn’t make Izuku feel confident in himself, that’s what it was.

“You-” Kaminari was interrupted by a coughing fit, quickly downing the cup of water Uraraka passed to him, “You can’t mean…are you that DustBunny? As in the record-holding Mario Kart speedrunner DustBunny?”

“Ah, I mean, technically, yeah!” Izuku laughed - not awkwardly, thank goodness, “It’s the same account, but Nii-chan is the one that sets all those records. We’ve just shared the account since we were kids!”

Kaminari looked like he was about to pass out, failing to say any actual words and looking like Izuku as though the green-haired boy was a ghost while mumbling something that sounded like, "I'm going to be playing with the DustBunny - Jesus, take the wheel!" It was almost concerning, but thankfully the sound of the bell ringing snapped the electric boy out of his panic. Izuku, however, wanted to rip the stupid bell out of the wall for ending his time with Tocchan - it was so hard not getting to be with his best friend all the time!

…was this how Nii-chan felt with Izuku gone at school all day? He would definitely have to give the older boy lots of hugs and several hours of game time to make up for being gone so long.

I know I came here to stalk All Might , Izuku thought to himself as he pulled on his combat suit, but I didn’t think he would be one of my teachers! He’s supposed to be with the older kids so he won’t recognize me when I’m watching him, not right here with his quirk all tempting like that!

It had taken every ounce of self-control for Izuku to not scream in horror when the Number One Hero burst through the door of his classroom, loudly instructing everyone to suit up and head out to Gym Beta for a battle trial. Personally, Izuku thought it was rather foolish to already be doing a battle trial before anyone could have any proper combat lessons, but Dad had said that All Might was too idiotic to be a decent instructor. 

But all clouds had a silver lining, and Izuku had to admit he was looking forward to seeing everyone use their quirks outside of the confines of the assessment tests. And soon enough, his eyes were locked on the screens in front of him, openly admiring the quirks of his classmates. Somehow this was even better than the assessment, and Izuku just couldn’t wait for his turn! Uraraka was his teammate, and although he didn’t know the brunette that well, he was still happy to have someone he was slightly familiar with.

And when they learned they would be going up against Iida and Bakugou? Well, Izuku would consider one last act of petty vengeance for Iida's initial rudeness, and as far as Bakugou went, Izuku was going to give him a vibe check straight from the universe itself.

When their turn finally came around, Izuku was so full of energy that he just had to hop a little in place to keep himself from bursting.

“So,” Uraraka began, eyes following him as he bounced up and down, “Do you think we should make a plan to take them down?”

“Y-yeah! Um, your quirk removes gravity, right?”

“Uh-huh! Zero Gravity! When I touch something with all five fingers, it negates the effects of gravity on the object! Although, if I go over my limit, I get super nauseous.”

“A five-point contact quirk? Then how did it work on me during the exam…wait, I had deactivated that one to conserve energy, or at least I think I did…”

“Hey, Midoriya? Wanna fill me in on whatever you’re muttering about?”

“Wha- oh! Sorry, speaking my thoughts out loud helps me stay organized. So, my quirk is a borrowing quirk - if I touch someone, I basically copy their quirk, and they can’t use it until I deactivate my quirk.”

Uraraka’s eyes widened as Izuku gave a heavily-altered and rehearsed description of his quirk.

“Woah, that’s such a cool quirk! Is that how you did so well during the assessment?”

“Mhm! And the thing I was muttering about earlier, I have a quirk that negates any quirks that require contact to be used, so you can’t use Zero Gravity on me unless I turn it off. I always keep that quirk active, ‘cause my Nii-chan has a destructive five-point contact quirk, and he gets nervous about physical affection if it’s not on.”

“Aww, that’s actually really sweet! You know, you come off as kind of intimidating and blunt at first, but you’re really a big softie!”

Izuku spluttered at her declaration, protests dying on his tongue when All Might’s voice crackled over the speakers, warning them that five minutes remained until the exercise began. Taking a breath to calm himself down, Izuku turned to his teammate with a fire in his eyes.

They were going to crush this and get every achievement.

“Iida is on the top floor,” Izuku whispered as they entered the building, Zero Gravity applied to their shoes to hopefully dull the noise while using his quirk to detect the energy of the opponents, “And Bakugou is coming down pretty fast. I think Iida is staying with the bomb, and Bakugou is trying to intercept us before we get close.”

“So what’s the move then?” Uraraka replied, peering around a corner, “Stay together or split up?”

Izuku opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by an explosion followed up by a shout of “I’LL KILL YOU!”

“That answers that question,” Izuku grabbed his teammate’s wrist, running away from the rapidly approaching Bakugou, “I can hold him off, so you should run up and try to capture the bomb. It’s likely that Iida already removed loose objects from the room, so pick up any stray rubble you find along the way.”

Uraraka nodded, sprinting up the stairs without another word, and Izuku immediately dashed away in the opposite direction, making his footsteps purposefully loud so that Bakugou would follow him instead of Uraraka. No matter what path he took, no matter what quirks he used, he knew that the only direction this could go would be a physical confrontation. 

“DEKU,” Bakugou screamed while Izuku wondered who exactly he was talking to, his footsteps even closer, “COME OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME!”

“Well if a fight is what you want,” Izuku shouted as he stopped in the middle of an open room, quirks at the ready, “THEN COME AND GET IT!”

And just like that, Bakugou was leaping around the corner, explosions already firing from his palms, an expression on his face that was probably meant to be intimidating. Unfortunately for Bakugou, however, Izuku had been through years worth of sparring and training with his actually feral older brother, and he knew exactly how to deal with people like that.

“DEKU! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”

“Who are you talking about?!!!”

“YOU, OBVIOUSLY!”

“NO YOU ARE NOT!” Izuku was fed up with this rabid teenager insisting he was someone else, bending his knees to lower his center of gravity as the blonde rushed at him, right arm pulled back to launch an explosion-fueled punch. Right when he was within range, Izuku lunged forward, firmly grabbing Bakugou’s arm and pivoting around, flipping him over and slamming the blonde onto the ground hard .

“I DON’T KNOW WHO THIS DEKU IS! I’M MIDORIYA IZUKU!”

Bakugou gasped for air at the impact, although he quickly regained his bearings and leaped to his feet.

“DON’T ACT LIKE YOU DON’T KNOW WHO I AM, DEKU!” Bakugo threw another punch, one that Izuku easily dodged, his frustration quickly turning into the familiar burn of gamer rage.

“DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?! DO YOU GOT AIRPODS IN OR SOMETHING?! I JUST SAID MY NAME ISN’T DEKU - I HAVE NEVER SEEN YOU BEFORE IN MY LIFE!”

Bakugou howled in anger, managing to make Izuku stumble back with rapid punches, placing a hand one of the weird grenades on his forearms.

“Fine!” The blonde spat, his manic grin making him look like a sewer rat, “If you say you can’t remember me, I’LL MAKE YOU REMEMBER, YOU EXTRA!”

“ EXTRA?!” Izuku screeched, “I’LL SHOW YOU WHO THE EXTRA IS!”

“My quirk is called Explosion, and it lets me secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from my palms that I can make explode!” Bakugou snarled, aiming the grenade-thing towards Izuku and looking positively murderous as he moved back the large handle on it. “And guess what these do? THEY LET ME STORE IT ALL UP!”

“YOUNG BAKUGOU,” All Might’s voice rang out over the loudspeakers, sounding a bit panicked, “STOP! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL HIM?!”

“IF HE DODGES, HE WON’T DIE!”

And then Bakugou pulled the pin, a massive explosion ripping through the room and destroying everything in its wake, engulfing the stationary Izuku in the flames and making the building shake.

“YOUNG MIDORIYA! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!”

“See that, Deku?” Bakugou sounded smug, a hint of crazed laughter accentuating his words, “I’m the main character, and you’re just a USELESS EXTRA!”

“You think you’re the main character?” Izuku’s voice echoed around the room, shocking both Bakugou and those in the viewing room as the small figure of the green-haired boy casually walked through the flames completely unharmed, a gleam in his eye that looked absolutely freezing and deadly.

“Tell me, Bakugou,” Izuku was standing within arms reach of the shocked-frozen blonde, standing on his tiptoes to be whisper directly in his ear, one hand lightly touching his exposed shoulder, “If you’re supposed to be the main character, then why are you so irrelevant to my quest?”

In one swift movement, Izuku removed his hand and the explosion quirk from the blonde, firing a small blast next to Bakugou’s head and pivoting on his back leg to kick him directly in the gut before lifting both of his hands towards the ceiling.

“I am the player, and you are NOTHING but an NPC!” Izuku roared, setting off an enormous explosion that ripped through the ceiling and the levels above it, promptly releasing the quirk from his grasp and thrusting it back into its owner, shoulders now aching from using such a massive attack.

“Improvised special move,” Izuku heard Uraraka shout, now audible with the holes torn all the way up to the roof, “Comet Home Run!”

Bakugou had barely begun to stumble to his feet when the speakers crackled to life once again, All Might’s shaking voice announcing, “HERO TEAM WINS! PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY BACK TO THE WAITING AREA!”

“Do you understand now, Bakugou?” Izuku chirped, his intimidating aura slipping back into his typical, happy self, “You just aren’t cut out to be a player character. But maybe if you’re strong enough, I’ll add your attacks to my arsenal! After all, I could always use a berserker in my guild.”

Izuku promptly turned around, walking outside the building with a confident swagger in his step, happily congratulating Uraraka on the win once she caught up with him, and not paying a lick of attention to the dumbstruck boy behind him. Izuku only had room for one blonde with a big personality in his life, and Tocchan would happily maintain that position until hell froze over. 

Izuku smiled to himself, pleased to now know that real school wouldn’t be totally boring - especially if he got to crush arrogant NPCs like that all the time. 

Maybe Nii-chan was onto something with all of those first-person battle royale games - it was so much fun to totally decimate the competition!

"Nii-chan!! You'll never guess who my homeroom teacher is!"

"For the love of Minecraft, please don't say All Might."

"Even better! It's ERASERHEAD! I got to see his used sleeping bag up close, and he even used it to store our gym uniforms!"

"...baby brother, if you steal that sleeping bag for me, I'll give you four Charmander plushies."

Chapter Text

After his rather eventful first day, Izuku soon found himself actually enjoying school! He had some really interesting classes, he got to see and play with all kinds of quirks, he had a new gaming buddy, and he even got to reject a position of authority - all in one week!

(“Me? Class representative?” Izuku stammered, eyes wide when his name had the most votes next to it. “Guys, I was homeschooled! I don’t even know what a class representative does!”

“Allow me to explain,” the vice representative Yaoyorozu cleared her throat, “Class representatives hold weekly meetings to discuss the quality of our education and the facilities. For example, if the textbooks for a certain class were outdated or inaccurate, the class representatives have the duty to ensure the issue is brought to the faculty’s attention.”

“Ohhh, it’s like the government!”

Yaoyorozu smiled kindly, “Exactly-”

“So the representatives exploit the other students for their own personal gain! That makes so much sense now! Thanks for explaining to me!”

“M-Midoriya!” Iida sounded distressed, “That is not what class representatives or government officials do!”

“Yes it is. My dad works in the government, and he says everyone does it all the time!” Izuku beamed as he turned to face the rest of his classmates. “Thank you all very much for voting for me, but I’m not really a fan of politics or staying behind after school. But I gotta say, Iida seemed like he really wanted it, so remember him during the re-vote!”)

And now that he had finally gotten used to the layout of the school, Izuku had time at last to execute his main objective: stalking All Might! 

Not to brag or anything, but Izuku was pretty good at stalking people for someone without a stealth quirk. His dad had started his stealth lessons at a pretty young age - initially solely lessons on how to hide from “bad guys” - and once he was old enough, started learning how to secretly observe an adversary to memorize their daily routine and habits before subjecting them to mild psychological torture by moving everything in their house two inches to the left!

But he wasn’t here to psychologically torture All Might this time, he just wanted to get a closer look at his quirk! He observed All Might a little bit during the rare moment of rest during heroics lessons, but it was never long enough for the boy to really get a good look at his quirk. That warm sensation Izuku had felt in the presence of All Might just wasn’t there when the hero was teaching, and the teen was getting antsy, desperate to feel it again. After hypothesizing every reason why the feeling was gone, Izuku came to his answer: the combined energy of his classmates’ quirks was drowning out any chance of pinpointing All Might’s own quirk! So, logically, the solution to this problem was simply to All Might when he was alone, therefore meaning that Izuku now had a reason to be sneaking around the school, ducking behind corners and into empty classrooms for a glimpse of the Number One Hero. 

Except this quest was turning out to be anything but simple! It was nearly impossible to hunt down All Might, which made absolutely no sense! Seriously, All Might was big, tall, loud, brash, obnoxiously colorful, and unbearably stupid to boot, so how on earth could he constantly slip away undetected?! Izuku was getting frustrated with the difficulty of the quest, and he hated to admit it, but it was causing him to make mistakes that only a noob would make.

Case in point, it had been a week and he had barely noticed that he was being stalked himself. At first, he had simply brushed off the feeling of being watched as simply him not being used to crowds of people, but he had adjusted fairly well and yet still felt like there were eyes constantly boring in the back of his head! 

At first, Izuku couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to stalk him of all people. For all he knew, he was a pretty average student - not overly friendly to the point of popularity, not overly aggressive to the point of being disliked - and he didn’t do much to intentionally make himself stand out. But then the answer came to him after an embarrassingly long time through one of the high school games his Nii-chan had played with him to get ready for school. It was so obvious, Izuku had wanted to slap himself for not realizing it sooner! He was an unaware love rival!

It made so much sense - in the game, the love rivals never knew they were love rivals and would be stalked by the main character for a solid week! Which meant that Izuku either needed to prove he was not a love rival or find the main character and take them down. After all, he couldn’t have someone be a witness to his stalking of All Might!

Toshinori had been pleased to learn that he would be teaching the first years’ heroics lessons two days a week and even more pleased when he saw young Midoriya in the class. He had hoped that the boy would be accepted into U.A. after his incredibly heroic performance during the entrance exam, his duty to find a successor heightened by that warmth he felt when he was around the boy. It was like his quirk was resonating with young Midoriya, and Toshinori couldn’t deny the fact that he felt drawn to him.

(“Why are you so obsessed with this boy?”

“...you’re not going to like my answer.”

“Try me.”)

He had nearly had a heart attack on the first day during that disastrous battle trial, but watching Midoriya walk through the flames stirred a feeling of something like pride in him. And wasn’t that something! He was already so attached to this boy, and he hadn’t managed to have a proper conversation with him! How was he supposed to ask this boy to be his successor if he couldn’t even talk to him?

(“Well, it just…it feels like my One for All is connected to him.”

“Can you…explain that? What do you mean by your One for All?”)

Which led the Number One Hero to this point, hiding in an empty classroom and watching Midoriya pass by while chatting with his friends. Sure, it was a bit shameful to hide around corners to catch glimpses of the boy, but he didn’t want to draw attention to the child too early. He fully believed that he was meant to carry on the torch of One for All, and it would be safe to do so with All For One long dead. And to be frank, Toshinori felt like he was around his family when that warmth filled his chest.

(“We each have remnants of the quirk within us, and we have all left our mark on it as we passed it on. And the way that I got the quirk to begin with…well, it’s like there’s a connection between me and him.”

“What exactly are you implying?”

“I’m saying that Midoriya Izuku is related to me, and I’m pretty sure he’s my nephew.”)

Toshinori sighed as the boy turned the corner, his chest now cold and his opportunity to talk with the boy wasted.

But it wasn’t over yet! He had plenty of opportunities to approach the boy! He just needed to wait for the right moment.

Izuku shuddered involuntarily as he turned down the hallway, knowing that he was being watched again. He glanced over his shoulder but saw nothing there - which was good because it meant his stalker wasn’t underestimating his skills, but also bad because he couldn’t discover who the love interest was meant to be without seeing his rival. 

Currently, though, he was too preoccupied with his own stalking to worry about whoever was watching him. He had yet again lost sight of All Might and was considering activating All For One to look for him…if he didn’t get totally hypnotized by the hero’s quirk every time, that is. It was very frustrating not being able to rely on his quirk sensing to locate the hero, but he supposed this was his insistence that he would always be able to detect people with his quirk rather than using old-fashioned methods.

Although…no one ever said he couldn’t locate the love rival with his quirk!

Izuku grinned to himself, activating his quirk and beginning to search for nearby quirk energy. Normally, it showed every quirk within a 200-meter radius, but if he concentrated he could narrow that down to about 20 meters and- 

There, right there! A trace of a quirk! Very blue, almost had a glittery quality to it, and as bright as a lightsaber to the retina. It was kind of mesmerizing to look at, like a disco ball and a snowglobe had a wild night that resulted in a sparkly, watery lovechild, and Izuku couldn’t shake the feeling that it was familiar. It was kind of frustrating, actually, because if he didn’t activate All For One while watching someone use their quirk, he wouldn’t know exactly what quirk he was looking at later on. Sure, he could guess what the quirk was, but he’s in a school with, like, at least one hundred students! Any number of people could have a sparkly blue quirk! Slowly turning towards the source of the quirk, Izuku swore he saw a flash of something yellow and began slowly approaching the possible love rival-

“Heya, Midoriya!” Kaminari’s excited form came running down the hallway, “ Lunch started like 10 minutes ago, did you not bring lunch today? I promise that Lunch Rush makes really great food!”

“Hi, Kaminari,” Izuku matched the blonde’s energy, smiling at his gaming friend, “I didn’t mean to skip lunch, I just wanted…to find the library and got a little lost! You’d think they’d put maps up for the poor first-years like me.”

“Nah, dude, I totally get it! I used to get lost super easy, and the only reason it hasn't happened here is because my sister made a map back when she went here!” Kaminari grabbed Izuku’s hand, pulling him toward the cafeteria and away from the blue quirk, “If you need it, I can totally make a copy of the map for you! It’s super effective!”

“You know what? That would be super helpful! Oh, and nice Pokémon reference!”

Kaminari beamed at Izuku, slinging his arm around the shorter’s shoulders. 

“See man, this is why I love you. You always get my game jokes!”

Love…?

Izuku’s face blanched, his shoulders burning where the electric blonde’s arm was resting on them. Maybe the love interest wasn’t Tocchan after all…

Toshinori hadn’t meant to watch young Midoriya interact with young Kaminari, honest! He just sort of happened to stumble upon the scene while walking towards…huh, how bizarre. He couldn’t remember where he was going! Oh well, that sort of thing was common enough - far too many times had he entered a room only to immediately forget what he was doing.

(“First, what are you doing? Why did you make Eighth go this way?”

“What? I just heard Midoriya and wanted to see what the kid was up to!”

“First, did you seriously have to push Eighth to watch the kid? It’s bad enough that he thinks it’s a sign to pass the quirk onto the boy!

“But he’s making friends! It’s sweet to see him come out of his shell!”)

No matter, the teacher’s lounge was just up ahead, and he had already spent too much time in his muscle form as it was. He still needed to be All Might to teach heroics to the first years later! Popping into his natural, deflated form was like releasing a breath that had been held for far too long, the sigh that escaped his lungs completely involuntary. When the need to cough arose, Toshinori staggered over to his cubicle, blood spotting his handkerchief as he hacked his remaining lung out. Once the tickle in his throat subsided, Toshinori’s eyes fell on the computer in front of him. He hadn’t really bothered much with it before, but maybe…

(“First! You can’t just take control of Eighth like this!”

“Watch me! I’m gonna prove that the kid is my family!”)

His hands moved faster than he thought was possible, opening the school’s database and typing in young Midoriya’s name. Thankfully, his file wasn’t locked behind passwords, and Toshinori opened it at once, scrolling through his information. It detailed his quirk (borrow, copies and negates the quirk of another, his prior education (homeschooling, has credits for several advanced courses), and his parents.

And what he saw shocked the emaciated hero so badly, he hacked up yet another mouthful of blood. His mother, Midoriya Inko, a cunning lawyer infamous among heroes for bringing scathing lawsuits against those who cause unnecessary property damage and danger to civilians; and his father, Shigaraki Hisashi, formerly the owner of well-known quirk analysis companies, now a politician pushing for heavy reform of the Hero Commission and laws surrounding quirk usage. How on earth could such a sweet, innocent, passionate boy have absolutely ruthless  parents ?!

(“HA! SEE THAT?! SHIGARAKI HISASHI IS HIS DAD! I’M HIS UNCLE!”

“Please tell us you’re joking. Please tell us that monster doesn’t actually have a son!”

“READ IT AND WEEP, LOSERS! I HAVE THE CUTEST NEPHEW IN THE WORLD!”

“No wonder he’s been so rude to that poor explosion kid, look at his parents!”

“Hey, that was COMPLETELY justified! Explosion boy tried to kill him on his first day!”)

On the other hand…the fact that young Midoriya showed true heroic potential despite being raised by such conniving individuals only proved to Toshinori that the boy had an unbreakable spirit!

(“Please don’t tell me he actually thinks that. Please tell me it’s just First planting those thoughts in his head.”

“Hey, don’t go blaming me for this! He’s only seeing just how smart and kind my nephew is!”

“What about that boy is kind?! He’s clearly devious and trying to be a villain!”

“Oh, so you’re gonna judge him for the uncontrollable circumstance of his birth? Wooooow, that’s a new low, even for you.”

“You know full and well I didn’t mean-”

“Uh uh uh! I think it’s time for you to go in the timeout box!”)

In fact, this only made the hero more certain that One for All was telling him that Midoriya should be his successor!

(“First, no!”

“First, yes!”)

Izuku wanted to bash his head against a wall. Usually, he was good at stealth missions, but All Might was more slippery than an oiled pig! How did he always disappear right when Izuku almost got close enough to spy on him?! And now he had to deal with the possibility that his own stalker wasn’t in love with Tocchan, but rather Kaminari! Like come on, how is that fair? It would’ve been so much easier if the rival was in love with Tocchan because it would’ve been an easy fix: tell the stalker that Tocchan is his cousin, Izuku isn’t into cousins, and he can even give them the chance to talk with Tocchan. See? Simple problems require simple solutions.

But if it was Kaminari…then it might not be that simple. Kaminari was the first person Izuku had willingly bonded with in the past nine years - the last one being Monoma, of course - and his quirk wasn’t nearly similar enough to possibly be Izuku’s secret cousin. Without the assurance that Kaminari was a cousin and therefore wasn’t the love interest…Izuku didn’t know how to ward off the love rival.

And that was another thing entirely! Was Izuku even a love rival if he wasn’t in love with Kaminari? I mean, he had only known the boy for a week! Sure, they had traded their game IDs and had played games together online after school, but that didn’t mean Izuku loved him! He barely even knew him! Just because Kaminari talked to him between classes and made really funny jokes and liked to talk about games-

“Hey,” a deep voice grunted as Izuku collided with a solid object, “Watch where you’re going.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” Izuku mumbled, suddenly realizing that maybe this wasn’t an accident, maybe this person was the love rival!

“Just watch where you’re going,” the voice said, stepping backward right as Izuku activated his quirk, causing the green-haired boy to gasp. This kid’s quirk was so…purple!

“A purple quirk! Purple looks so nice in a skill tree, and with that last purple guy gone, we need a better one to take his place. Let me see…power centered around the mouth, throat, and head - no, not head, the brain. That must mean it’s some kind of a mental quirk - probably something to do with speech!”

“Uhh,” the purple kid tried to pull his arm out of Izuku’s grip (when had he grabbed them?), “No offense, but who are you and what are you doing?”

“Oh, sorry! Kinda got stuck in my head for a minute there, it happens sometimes when I see a good quirk, and yours is so purple! Just couldn’t help myself!” Izuku took a deep breath, shoving his hand toward the tired-looking kid, “By the way, my name is Midoriya Izuku. What’s yours?”

“...Shinsou. What do you mean by my ‘quirk is purple’? You do realize my hair isn’t my quirk, right? If it was, I’d have to assume your quirk is green.”

“That’s a good one,” Izuku laughed, “You know what they say - it ain’t easy being green! Anyway, my quirk kind of lets me see the areas where someone’s quirk energy is strongest and they all have colors! Yours is really purple, and I theorize it’s a voice-activated quirk with mental effects, right?”

Shinsou’s eyes widened in shock, taking a slow and careful step back.

“O…kay, that’s scarily accurate, but yeah, it’s brainwashing, voice activated. And before you tell me, yeah I know it’s a villain’s quirk-”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Izuku shouted, grabbing the taller boy’s arms and pulling him closer, “That quirk is SO useful! You could diffuse volatile scenarios, you could practically end a hostage situation in less than a minute, and- oh my gosh, I could totally use it to get Nii-chan to leave my Charmander alone!” Izuku took a breath, his face mere inches away from Shinsou’s. “Are you a first-year? My teacher expelled some gross perv and we need a purple guy in the hero course! I think you’d fit right in for hero training!”

“I wanted to get into the hero course,” Shinsou snapped, ripping his arms out of Izuku’s hold, “But my quirk was useless against those robots and I got sent to General Studies.”

Izuku tilted his head, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“So just move to the hero course then? There’s room and you clearly want it, so won’t they let you in?”

Shinsou’s hands were twitching, looking increasingly angry with Izuku and his questioning.

“Are you actually stupid? You can’t just move to the hero course!” 

“But-”

Izuku’s response was cut off as a hand slapped itself over his mouth.

“Please excuse my cousin,” Monoma said quickly and a little too loudly, “He’s been homeschooled his entire life and doesn’t know how traditional school works yet. I swear he didn’t mean to offend you, he really does have innocent intentions.”

“Yeah, dude!” Kaminari’s voice rang out from the other side of Izuku’s head, “Midoriya just gets really excited about quirks! I mean, I’ve only known him for a week, and he’s already written like 20 pages about mine!”

Izuku huffed indignantly and, with a lick of Monoma’s hand, finally had his mouth free to speak with the stunned purple-haired boy.

“I just think your brainwashing quirk is super cool, and I’m gonna talk to my teacher to get you into the hero course,” he declared, fully intending to march over to Aizawa-sensei right then and there.

“Oh no you don’t,” Monoma snatched Izuku’s arm, “Kaminari, hold his other side and watch out for his legs. Izuchan, there’s a process to these things!”

“It’s uh- it’s fine,” Shinsou sounded and looked awkward, “If I do well in the Sports Festival, I’ll have the chance to transfer into the hero course. I was going to try that method.”

“The Sports Festival?” Izuku racked his mind for memories of an event like that, gasping when it finally came to him, “Oh, right! Dad had me watch it every year for analysis lessons! What’s your fighting style like?”

“Fighting…style?”

“Don’t tell me you were going to just rely on your quirk,” Izuku was dead serious, “My dad always says the top reason heroes fail is when they only rely on their quirks, because then they end up in situations where their quirks won’t work and end up dead.”

“Well…what am I supposed to do? The Sports Festival is just over a month away, I can’t become the next All Might by then.”

“Hmm…” Izuku tapped his chin, eyes scanning over Shinsou’s lanky physique, “Your build isn’t suited for bodybuilding, it’s more like Tocchan’s, legs seem pretty strong…maybe work on gymnastics and martial arts…but he has to build more muscle first…oh, oh that could work!”

“So, Tocchan,” Izuku grinned, moving his manic gaze from Shinsou to Monoma, causing the taller blonde to gulp nervously, “Do you think Shinsou could help walk my dog?”

“…Shinsou,” Monoma said after a tense pause, looking at him with a haunted stare, “I am so sorry for what he’s going to put you through. His dog is a menace.”

“Stitches is not a menace! It follows orders perfectly and loves being cuddled! You know this!”

“You mean I’ve been nearly crushed because a nightmare dog that weighs a ton decided to sit on me during movie night.”

“It’s not my fault that Stitches has good taste in movies! Shrek was on and Stitches forgets how big it is sometimes!”

“You have a dog?” Kaminari interrupted their petty squabble with his excited question while Shinsou slowly raised his hand.

“I’m more of a cat person, but how is waking a dog going to get me ready for the Sports Festival?”

With a smile that sent shivers down Shinsou’s spine, Izuku happily answered the boy’s request.

“If you’re strong enough to walk Stitches, you’re strong enough to crush everyone in the sports festival without a quirk.”

“Besides,” Izuku chirped, wiggling his way out of his blonde friends’ arms and casually walking backward, “There’s probably some cat in Stitches, so you’ll be fine!”

“Izuchan,” Monoma sounded stressed, “Are you confirming that your pet monster is a genetic experiment?”

“Tocchan, it’s not a monster! Stitches is a totally normal dog!” Izuku countered innocently, ignoring Monoma’s spluttering and Kaminari’s confused expression in favor of taking another glance at Shinsou’s quirk orb, the deep purple swirling around like a galaxy…or Kurogiri’s warp gates. Maybe they were related? Kurogiri is kind of like an uncle to Izuku, so would that make Shinsou his cousin? Not wanting to get lost in that rabbit hole yet, Izuku turned around to walk away, but a blue, sparkling quirk captured his attention, with a head of blonde hair ducking behind a corner and the sounds of footsteps running away accompanying it.

“Tocchan, Kaminari! Give Shinsou my contact information - I just remembered…I have homework I forgot to do!” Izuku shouted, promptly chasing after his mystery stalker. He had finally caught a glimpse of the supposed love rival, and Izuku needed to know if the love interest was Monoma or Kaminari so he could finally put an end to this! 

The blonde figure zipped down a hallway, but Izuku was faster, tackling the stalker into an empty classroom. 

“I finally caught you!” Izuku declared triumphantly, looking down to see, “Aoyama? With the stomach laser?”

“Navel laser,” Aoyama wheezed, “Please remove yourself from my chest, mon ami. It is quite difficult to breathe like this.”

“Only if you answer my questions!”

“ Oui, I will!” Aoyama replied instantly, inhaling a deep breath when Izuku sat next to him.

“Okay, so who’s your love interest?”

Aoyama choked on air and began coughing. “W-what? Love interest? I do not know what you mean?”

“You’ve been watching me since the first day of school,” Izuku said, noting that Aoyama cringed at his admission, “And the games said that people in schools stalk each other when they’re love rivals. So, are you in love with Tocchan?”

“What? Non, non, non!”

“I see…Kaminari?”

“Mon ami!” Aoyama stuttered, his face completely red and his eyes looking anywhere except Izuku, “I promise, there is no love story!”

Izuku was stumped, slumping down while he processed the new information.

“No love rival? But then why else would you be watching me? It’s not like I’m important or anything…wait a minute - Aoyama!”

The blonde flinched at Izuku’s sudden increase in volume and closeness, suddenly contained in place by Izuku’s iron grip.

“I have a theory, and you’re going to tell me if I’m right or not, got it?”

Aoyama nodded, looking a bit startled as words flew out of Izuku’s mouth.

“When you were a kid, you were diagnosed as quirkless, and your parents were so desperate for you to not be mistreated that they managed to contact a very powerful figure in the underground who promised they could give you a quirk! This shadow man did give you a quirk, but it had a weakness that you’ve had to deal with since your body wasn’t made to handle it, which would explain why you seem to experience extreme stomach pain. Anyway, the price of the quirk was you and your family being indebted to the boogeyman, and you could be contracted into fulfilling some kind of request at any point in time!” 

Izuku paused to gauge Aoyama’s reaction, grinning at his rapidly paling face and terrified expression.

“I bet that around a year ago, your family was contacted to cash in on their half of the deal, and it was that you had to attend UA as part of the heroics course! You probably thought it was a strange request, but once you actually got into the course, you were instructed to keep a close eye on a green-haired boy with some type of copy quirk! You have to make weekly - if not daily - reports on me, how our classmates and teachers interact with me, the progress I’ve made with my quirks, and if I seem happy at school!”

Aoyama’s eyes bulged, his mouth trembling and breaths heavy - and Izuku knew right then that his theory was completely correct.

“I knew it!” He cheered, pumping his fist to celebrate, “Also, don’t worry about me snitching or anything, cause I know who put you up to this! It’s my dad, and he’s probably just nervous that something will happen since this is my first time in public school. If it helps, we can be friends! It’s way easier for you to send stalker reports to dad if we’re friends!”

“I- you- uh-” Aoyama was struggling to form words, but eventually gained enough coherency to choke out, “ Oui , I would like to be friends.”

“Awesome!” Izuku beamed, pulling his new friend to his feet, “Oh, and since we’re friends now, I can fix your quirk so it won’t hurt you anymore!”

“ Quoi ? You can…fix it?”

Izuku nodded vigorously, “I can! You gotta keep this secret, but my quirk is actually like my dad’s - except I can take quirks apart and put them together in different ways! If you let me borrow yours, I’ll be able to fix whatever’s missing or wrong!”

“But what will the cost be?”

“Cost? Uh…the cost is…you have to eat lunch with me and my friends from now on!”

Aoyama looked suspicious but nodded nonetheless. Izuku smiled and held his hand out for a handshake, promptly removing the boy’s quirk once their skin touched.

“Alright, let me just- okay, ouch,” Izuku winced, clutching his stomach, “Geez, you live like this? No wonder your stomach hurts all the time.”

Pushing past the pain and closing his eyes, Izuku focused on the sparkling blue orb that was Aoyama’s quirk. Despite being able to break apart quirks as a child, it had taken years of practice to be able to identify what each individual “piece” represented. A navel laser was a particularly fascinating quirk, and Izuku knew it was obvious that something within the stomach was likely not designed for the quirk. He dug deeper into the quirk, observing each element that went into making it, looking for whatever was causing the problem, yelping when he finally came to his conclusion.

“Aoyama, your navel laser is fascinating! It takes your stomach acid and somehow converts it into a laser beam. However, because your stomach acid is constantly being expelled from your body, your acid levels are way lower than they need to be! I think that you should see a doctor and get something prescribed to increase your acid production!”

Izuku tapped Aoyama’s hand, returning the quirk and snapping the boy out of his frozen state. 

“Well, now that that’s taken care of, want to go hang out a bit before class starts? You can tell me about French stuff if you want! I only really know about that French story The Three Musketeers , but that’s because it’s my dad’s favorite story!”

As Izuku dragged the boy into the hallway, Aoyama found himself smiling at the back of his new friend.

“I would like that very much, mon ami. As a way to thank you for helping me, I will bring my finest selection of cheeses tomorrow.”

“Hey, fancy cheese sounds nice! Tocchan likes cheese too, so I think he’d enjoy it- speaking of Tocchan,” Izuku paused, turning towards Aoyama, “Why did you act so offended when I asked if Tocchan was your love interest?”

“Oh, Tocchan is your name for Monoma Neito, non? ”

“Yeah, he’s my best friend!”

“Ah, you see, Neito is my cousin.”

Izuku stopped dead in his tracks, his green eyes wide and practically bulging out of his skull.

“Are you for real? You’re not joking?”

“ Oui, Neito’s mother is my aunt, and our grandmother lives in France.”

“Holy smokes,” Izuku whispered, “Aoyama, do you know what this means?!”

The blonde shook his head, and Izuku responded by clutching his shoulders tightly.

“Aoyama, I thought Tocchan was my cousin when we first met, and since he’s still my cousin, that means we’re practically cousins too!”

“I do not believe that is how it works.”

“Details, details,” Izuku dismissed with a wave of his hand, “Ooh, when school is done, we should take a cousins picture together with Tocchan! I know he’ll say yes, he always loves getting his picture taken!”

“Yes, that is something Neito does,” Aoyama laughed, his heart feeling warm at the prospect of having a friend of his own, “He is very dramatic at times, but a family that twinkles like ours is born to be fabulous!”

“And this is a picture I took with my new friends!” Izuku exclaimed, showing his phone to his parents and brother during dinner, “This one right here is Kaminari, he’s my game friend. And this one is Aoyama, and guess what? He’s Tocchan’s real cousin! So that means he’s my cousin by default!”

“How…wonderful, bunny,” Hisashi stammered, face pale from the sudden discovery that the boy he hired to monitor his son is related to his best friend. Inko, knowing full and well that her husband had yet again made a dumb mistake, smiled and playfully ruffled her youngest son’s hair.

“Sweetie, I’m so happy that you’re making lots of friends! You’ll have to invite them over sometime, right, Hisashi? ”

Hisashi gulped, sweating at his wife’s steely gaze, “R-right. We would love to meet your friends!”

“I don’t wanna meet them,” Tomura grumbled, stabbing his dinner like it had insulted his mother and called his games stupid, “They look like headaches.”

“What about them looks like headaches,” Izuku retorted, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Baby brother,” Tomura said, totally exasperated, “It’s bad enough dealing with one Blondie, but now you have three of them! Are you just trying to collect blondes to make it hard for me?!”

Izuku blinked slowly, suddenly bursting into laughter.

“I- I didn’t even notice!” He gasped for air, abdomen beginning to hurt, “I swear, I didn’t realize I was collecting blondes!”

“I think you’re collecting them like they’re Pokémon,” Tomura quipped, “But as long as none of them are fire-types, you can keep your blondes.”

“No fire-types here! Kaminari has an electricity quirk, and Aoyama has a laser that shoots from his belly button!” 

Tomura nodded wisely. “So I’ll call them Blondie, Electric Blondie, and Laser Blondie.”

“Nii-chan! Is it that hard to learn their names?”

“Hey, they're lucky I call them Blondie and not Target Practice.”

"Nii-chan, my friends aren't my Charmander, you can't threaten to decay them!"

Chapter Text

“Class 1-A, gather round!” Iida shouted after blowing a whistle, “Form two lines by your student numbers in order to make boarding the bus go smoothly!”

“Iida’s really into this whole class representative thing,” Kaminari commented, stifling his laughter at their very eager classmate.

Izuku nodded, his head tracking Iida’s robotic arm movements, “Good for him! I’m just super hyped for the field trip!”

“It’s your first one, right?” Kaminari asked while fiddling with the antenna on his headpiece, “I totally wouldn’t be able to focus if it was my first field trip.”

“I'm so excited, I couldn't sleep at all last night!” Izuku bounced around while he answered (not paying attention to Iida’s shouts of everyone, please stand in line!),  "I'm only awake because I stole some of my Nii-chan's energy drinks!"

“I am also excited,” Aoyama said as he stood on Izuku’s other side, “I spent hours polishing my costume to make it twinkle even brighter!”

“Now that you mention it,” Kaminari said while squinting from the sunlight reflecting off of Aoyama’s costume, “It does look super shiny. You could signal a plane with it!”

“ Merci , Kaminari. But my fabulous navel laser can signal planes as well!”

“Speaking of your laser,” Izuku piped up, “How did your doctor’s appointment go?”

Aoyama beamed, positively twinkling all over in delight. “It was fantastique! The doctor confirmed your theory and has approved both medication and new support gear! I cannot thank you enough, mon ami!”

Izuku blushed at his friend’s praise, which only worsened as Kaminari began poking his cheeks to tease him.

“Kaminari! You’re almost as bad as Tocchan!”

“No way, Monoma’s got a whole decade of practice under his belt!” Kaminari held his chin, flashing a smirk at Izuku, “Maybe I could get him to give me lessons on how to get you all embarrassed.”

“Why are you two ganging up on me,” Izuku whined jokingly, “I haven’t done anything wrong, ever!”

“Consider this payback for torturing Shinso with your dog - that thing is huge! I’m pretty sure Shinso flew like a kite!”

“Is this the dog that cousin Neito has complained about for years,” Aoyama asked, having suffered through several family reunions with his cousin’s infamous rants, “He claims that there is a monster his friend believes is a dog, but I know how my cousin can exaggerate things.”

“Tocchan’s just scared of Stitches ‘cause he doesn’t like being smaller than Stitches,” Izuku said, rolling his eyes, “And trust me, Tocchan can complain for hours. Like today, he was saying that it’s blatant favoritism for 1-A to have our field trip in the morning while 1-B has to wait for the afternoon.”

“He’s still pretty cool though,” Kaminari mumbled, scuffing his foot while failing to hide the slight redness of his ears, something that Izuku was quick to notice. His gamer senses were practically screaming at him, all because Kaminari suddenly resembled the scene where a character has a cru-

“Midoriya! Kaminari! Aoyama!” Iida said sternly, chopping his arm at an impossibly fast pace, “Please stand in the lines! We must board the bus in an orderly and timely manner!”

With an excited squeak, Izuku dashed to the back of the line, completely forgetting whatever he had just thought of as the thrill of his first field trip came back full force. His mood didn’t even die down once everyone entered the bus and realized Iida’s seating plan was useless due to the layout or even when he didn’t get to sit right next to his friends - which was fine, because they sat across the aisle from him! Everyone was having so much fun chatting and talking, and Izuku was vibrating like one of his dad’s ancient cell phones in anticipation.

“Midoriya,” Asui, the girl sitting next to Izuku, said out of practically nowhere, interrupting one of Kaminari’s jokes, “I say whatever comes to mind.” 

“No filter? Me neither! It gets me in trouble sometimes, but my family always taught me and my brother to speak our minds!”

“Your quirk is very strange,” Asui said, her voice flat and neutral, “It seems like you use a different one every time.”

The boy on Asui’s other side - Kirishima - nodded, knocking his fists together. “Yeah, Midoriya! I’m pretty sure I saw you use Bakugou’s quirk during the battle trial, but it looked super manly!”

“Ah, my quirk is borrowing!” Izuku chirped, adjusting his posture and looking at his blonde friends for encouragement, “I can copy the quirk of anyone I have contact with and it disables their ability to use it until I drop the borrowing!”

“I see,” Asui said, tilting her head and placing a finger on her chin, “Then how are you able to use quirks that no one in our class has?”

“Because my quirk works on any piece of DNA,” Izuku replied while pulling out a bag of hairs from his pocket, “These are hairs from elderly relatives and some people in nursing homes. Lots of older people can’t use their quirks, and in some cases, their quirks actually lower their quality of life! All of them assured me they would be happier if I put their quirks to good use!”

“Wow, Midoriya, that’s super manly of you!” Kirishima said in awe, only making Izuku feel a little bit guilty for lying. In reality, most of his quirks were gifts from his dad, but the ones he took himself were all from incidents where he was attacked or kidnapped by random low-tier villain wannabe’s.

“I wish my quirk was as cool and versatile as yours,” Kirishima continued, lifting his arm and making it harden, “Mine is just too simple to get noticed.”

“That’s not true at all!” Izuku exclaimed, “If I had your hardening, I wouldn’t have broken any bones all those times when I tried to jump off the playground to see if I could fly!”

“Yeah, but you think every quirk is amazing,” Kaminari laughed, “You’ve gotta have a favorite quirk. Tell us what it is!”

Izuku felt his cheeks flush, rubbing the back of his neck as he avoided the eyes of his classmates.

“Well…it sounds cheesy, but it’s a quirk that negates all touch-based quirks. It’s my favorite because…my Nii-chan has a very destructive five-point contact quirk, so he doesn’t really get to fully feel anything anymore. When I use this quirk…he doesn’t have to worry about hurting me.”

The silence in the bus was suffocating, and Izuku was suddenly filled with the urge to call Kurogiri to escape the awkward silence.

“Bro,” Kirishima said softly, “That is so…MANLY!” 

Izuku’s head jerked up, eyes widening in shock at the sight of tears in the redhead’s eyes, and soon the bus was filled with his classmates saying how much of a softie he really was. Clutching his hands in front of his chest, Izuku got the sense that today was going to be a great day, especially with so many potential friends around him.

Tomura was not having a good day. 

First of all, Mom had gotten sick because she was so tired from work, and she wouldn’t even let Tomura decay her stupid clients. Then, when he went to pick up her medicine, the stupid doctors didn’t have it ready fast enough, so he didn’t even get to tell baby brother goodbye before his field trip. Even worse, the stupid healers tried to make him stay even longer, claiming that the scratches on his skin “looked bad”, even though they looked so much better than they had before Mom got him really nice skin creams. 

Lastly, he had tried to have a professional meeting with a potential party member earlier in the week, but the stupid NPC didn’t like his rule that no one can ever hurt baby brother. Tomura responded by immediately telling him he wasn’t cut out for his League and he should leave before he got angry, but that idiot NPC tried to attack Stitches! Tomura had brought the dog along for moral support and extra intimidation factor, but attacking his dog was a hard no. He might be a villain, but attacking animals for no reason was just despicable. Tomura hadn’t hesitated to decay the reject’s stupid chainsaw and have Kurogiri kick him out of the bar.

All of that had built up into today, which was turning out to be a really trashy day. Thankfully, Mom was asleep when he came back with her medicine, but Tomura still felt irritated and stressed from everything that had happened. Usually, he would play games with his internet friends to calm down, but NoHeat was in medical school or whatever and SmallZilla had a part-time job that he hated, so he couldn’t even talk with them to pass the time.  

Tomura unknowingly scratched his neck as he wandered around the house, looking for something to do. Something about today was really making him miss baby brother, miss the times just a few months ago when he was still homeschooled and they could spend all day together with no distractions. Now that he was gone at stupid hero school every day and making lots of stupid blonde friends, Tomura felt the urgency of recruiting party members even more. He just knew that if he got the right players in his guild, baby brother would realize that Tomura is still the best and would finally leave the heroes to take his spot in Tomura’s League!

“Maybe I’ll feel better if I decay some stuff,” Tomura said to himself, eyeing a particularly ugly vase that Dad got as a bribe from one of his lame government friends, but something caught his eye - something that definitely was not supposed to be here.

It was baby brother’s lunch, filled with the food Tomura had lovingly put in the microwave before carefully dumping it into the bento box. He had put in so much hard work since Mom was too sick to do it and Dad’s cooking was a biohazard, so Tomura knew that baby brother hadn’t meant to leave the bento behind. He had probably just forgotten it in his rush to get to school on time! Especially since he was so anxious about that field trip today! 

Besides, Tomura knew that baby brother tended to be more forgetful when he got excited, and without himself or Mom or Dad to see him off this morning, he definitely would’ve been far too focused on getting to school to remember to bring his lunch. While his younger brother technically could eat lunch from the school cafeteria, Tomura hated the thought of what kind of things the rotten heroes could slip into his baby brother's food - sleeping pills, quirk suppressants, or worst of all - cough medicine.

Naturally, there was only one suitable option to fix this problem, one that Tomura would gladly handle himself.

“Kurogiri!” Tomura shouted, carefully picking up the bento and stalking towards the shoe rack, jamming his feet into his red shoes.

“Yes, Tomura-san?”

“We’re going to see baby brother. He forgot his lunch.”

“...Tomura-san, I do not think that is a wise idea.”

“Sometimes I wonder why we keep you around,” Tomura sighed, “Baby brother has that field trip this morning. He’s going to use tons of energy showing the hero brats that he’s stronger, so he’ll be super hungry.”

“Tomura-san, may I remind you that he is still on school property?”

“I know that!” Tomura snapped, fixing a murderous glare on Kurogiri, “But I don’t care! I’m just popping in to drop off his lunch. No one will even see me. Now shut up and take me to baby brother!”

The movies lied. 

They all said that field trips were the best thing ever, with lots of time to have fun with friends and plenty of opportunities to learn.

The movies most certainly did not warn him that less than 5 minutes after they entered the USJ, a pack of villains would literally come crashing through the roof. Normally Izuku wouldn’t have blinked twice in the face of a villain, too accustomed to his father’s less-than-legal business, but a crowd of hostile individuals led by Toxic Chainsaw clearly intending to kill students managed to strike fear in his heart.

The fear only intensified when Toxic Chainsaw’s gaze fell on Izuku, and something akin to recognition flashed in his eyes.

“You,” the villain whispered, toxic waste dripping from his hair in thick globs with a massive chainsaw ready at his side, “You’re that brat that got me thrown out of the bar like a dog.”

Izuku wanted to deny the claim, to scream that he had no idea what he was talking about, but the mob of villains descended on the students before he could even formulate a response, forcing Eraserhead and Thirteen to defend them all. Far too soon though, Thirteen was injured by an attack from behind, and Eraserhead was too overwhelmed by the sheer numbers to hold off the remaining villains from approaching the students.

And so Izuku did the only thing he knew to do.

He pressed his panic button.

But something was horribly wrong, because Dad didn’t burst into the facility and Nii-chan didn’t leap through one of Kurogiri’s portals while screaming threats against the first person he saw.

“Can anyone contact the school?” Izuku shouted, pulling out his phone to see that he had no signal.

“None of us have a signal!” Uraraka shouted, “They must have a quirk that’s blocking it!”

Izuku bit his lip, ducking a punch from a weak thug while ripping away their quirk, aiming a kick at their temple and instantly knocking them out, eyes scanning the area around him while he formed a plan.

“Kaminari, try to see if you can create a dome of electricity to bypass the signal blocker, and Yaoyorozu, make some antenna’s and other equipment to help him. Iida, Kirishima, Bakugou, and Hagakure, you four head towards the main entrance - Iida’s going to attempt to run back to the school to alert the teachers, the other three are going to fight off the thugs in the way to create an opening for him.”

The six students nodded, although Iida hesitated for a split second before running off after his group. With a satisfied nod, Izuku turned to those remaining.

“The rest of you, try to protect Thirteen and make your way towards the exits. Periodically check your phones to see if you get a signal. Todoroki and Tokoyami, you’re on defense. Stay vigilant, create barriers to keep each other safe. Got it?. ”

“Right!” The group of hero students shouted, immediately moving into their positions. Izuku, however, did not follow his classmates, turning instead towards where Toxic Chainsaw was fighting Eraserhead. The underground hero had incapacitated all of the low-level thugs, but he was sporting nasty wounds from the higher-level villain’s quirk and chainsaw.

And, without a moment of hesitation, Izuku ran down the steps and into the throng of villains.

“HEY, UGLY,” he shouted, succeeding in gaining Toxic Chainsaw’s attention, “PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR CHEEKS BEAT LIKE A DRUM!”

“Problem child!” Eraserhead barked, jumping towards Izuku while flinging the end of his scarf at the hand holding the chainsaw, “Go away!”

“Not a chance! This is a multiplayer level!”

“Come on, kid,” Toxic Chainsaw bellowed, lifting his chainsaw with a crazed grin, “Don’t you know that you should respect your elders?”

“Oh yeah? If you cared so much about respecting elders, you wouldn’t bring your sewer-smelling self anywhere near them! You're a walking biohazard!”

“You’ve got a mouth on you, brat!” The villain hissed, rushing forward to clash with Eraserhead, “Makes me wonder why he even put a protection order on you!”

Izuku scoffed and sensed a group sneaking up behind him; he whirled around and, with three consecutive kicks, brought them to the group, swiftly slapping their faces to remove their quirks.

“That old thing? It’s been in effect since I was like seven! I can take care of myself!”

“Seven?” Toxic Chainsaw repeated, slicing through Eraserhead’s scarf with his chainsaw and flinging a glob of toxic sludge towards his eyes, “I find it hard to believe that you were seven a couple days ago.”

Now it was Izuku’s turn to be confused, blinking rapidly while trying to remember if his dad had renewed that order.

“So it was your daddy that put that order out,” shoot, did Izuku say that out loud? “Oh wait, I think I know just who you mean! Well, it’s my lucky day, because your immunity died with him!”

At the villain’s proclamation of his father’s (supposed) death, Eraserhead made a fatal mistake - he took his eyes off of his opponent for one second, but that one second was all that Toxic Chainsaw needed to grab the hero’s head and begin smashing it on the ground.

“LET HIM GO,” Izuku shrieked, leaping forward and launching Air Cannon at the villain, but the damage was already done - Eraserhead’s face was caked in blood, his eyes closed and breathing ragged. 

“I’ve got a bone to pick with Shigaraki.” Toxic Chainsaw smiled cruelly, tossing the limp body of Izuku’s teacher aside like it was a broken doll, pointing his chainsaw towards the teenager. “And since he seems to like you, I think I’ll fix it by sending you to him in a hundred tiny envelopes!”

“Woah, hold on now!” Izuku shrieked, barely dodging the swing of the chainsaw in time, hissing at the sheer speed and strength of the villain, “What did he even do to you?!” 

The villain didn’t respond, only threw sludge at the boy and swiped at him with the chainsaw, drawing a hiss of pain from Izuku when it cut a nasty gash in his arm and rendered the limb useless. For a brief moment, he considered stealing his toxic waste quirk, but his fear of going against his mother’s rule to not bring in foul-smelling quirks completely overrode the logical responses. Instead, he activated his speed to dodge attacks and look for an opening to attack; a healing quirk also kicked in, but it seemed that the globs of toxic waste in the wound were impeding the healing and making his movements sluggish and sloppy.

“You’re getting tired, little hero,” Toxic Chainsaw crooned, mocking laughter echoing in the boy’s ears, “I’ll treat you real nice - maybe I’ll cut your hands off to add to that freak’s collection!”

Izuku hissed in rage, the thought of being lumped in with his Nii-chan’s horrible ex-family making his blood boil, but another cut to his leg sent him crashing to the ground. Biting back a pained sob, Izuku struggled to lift his arm, eventually managing to get his hand on his panic button in one last-ditch effort to contact someone, despite knowing that these were most likely his last moments on earth, wishing to see his family one last time.

“Baby brother?” A raspy voice said, and Izuku managed to find the smallest comfort in the hallucination of his Nii-chan calling for him. But then familiar dry hands were grabbing his shoulder and lifting his head, and Izuku suddenly realized that this was real, the red eyes and scarred skin was real and here.

“Nii-chan…help me, please,” the boy croaked, tears of relief slipping out unbidden, the world swiftly falling to darkness around him.

Of all the things Tomura had expected to see when he walked through the portal, seeing his baby brother on the ground bleeding out  wasn’t even on his list of guesses.

“Baby brother?” Tomura stumbled forward, darting towards the boy on the ground, pushing him out of reach of the villain towering over him. Tomura’s eyes scanned over the green-haired boy, biting back curses when he saw the nasty gashes on his arm and leg. He carefully lifted his brother’s head to check for more injuries, but his breath hitched when green, tear-filled eyes took in Tomura’s form above them.

“Nii-chan…” his voice was barely above a whisper, flinching as though it hurt to say a single word, “You came to save me.”

“I did,” Tomura said, gently laying his brother on the ground, doing his best to not aggravate the injuries, hissing when he noticed the toxic waste preventing the healing quirks.

“Kurogiri,” Tomura said, voice cold and firm, “Watch baby brother.” 

“Of course, Tomura-san. And what will you do?”

Tomura shrugged, tossing his gloves to the side and fixing his murderous glare on the miniboss in front of him.

“What I do best. And, baby brother? Don’t look.”

Without waiting any longer, Tomura charged at Toxic Chainsaw, skin itching with the desire to decay him to ashes and then decay those ashes again.

“You couldn’t handle getting rejected from my party, so you went after baby brother?” Tomura growled, landing a five-fingered hit on the chainsaw and instantly decaying the motor, “You’re a bigger idiot than I thought you were. Probably the kind of enemy that drops trash loot.”

“Hah?! I don’t speak whatever that is!” The hulking man sneered at his chainsaw, breaking off the decayed motor and swinging the blade like a sword, “But you really pissed me off! I’m gonna have so much fun slicing you up!”

Tomura was about to make a snippy retort, but his opponent laughed loudly, his next words making the blue-haired man shake in rage.

“And when I’m done cutting you up, I’ll hack that green brat into little pieces!”

“That’s it,” Tomura growled, noticing something move in the corner of his vision, “I’m skipping this cutscene!”

In a swift movement, Tomura kicked the broken blade out of the villain’s hands and latched his hands on the sides of Toxic Chainsaw’s hands, giggling maniacally when his head turned to dust and his body lifelessly collapsed to the ground.

“And that’s why you’re not cut out to be in my League,” Tomura whispered, wiping the sludge from his hands and standing upright, noticing that the movement he had seen were three of the hero brats, gawking from behind a rock with eyes blown wide in shock. The sight made Tomura want to laugh, but he had more pressing matters to attend to - namely, his baby brother, cradled in Kurogiri’s arms.

“Is he okay?” Tomura asked, noticing that the teen’s wounds still had yet to begin healing.

“Izuku-san has lost consciousness,” Kurogiri replied, allowing Tomura to take the boy into his arms, “I believe that he is suffering from quirk exhaustion, as several of the thugs seem to be missing their quirks.”

“That’s not good.” Tomura hissed, “Kurogiri, take me and baby brother to dad, and then secretly transport all of the NPCs that are missing quirks to the Doctor’s labs. We gotta ask them questions without the police getting nosey.”

“Tomura-san, perhaps we should leave Izuku-san with the teachers-”

“Kurogiri, I know your brain is made of fog, but even you should know I’m not going to let baby brother stay hurt when dad can literally fix the problem!”

If Kurogiri had eyes to roll, he would’ve done so. “As you wish, Tomura-san. Although it may be wise to inform these students that we are not kidnapping Izuku-san.”

“Oh right, the brats,” Tomura spun on his heel, locking eyes with three boys who looked ready to attack, “Listen up, noobs. I’m taking baby brother to our family healer, they know how to work best with his quirk. Don’t freak out or whatever, I’ll bring him back when I’m done.”

Tomura put one foot through the portal, but abruptly stopped and looked over his shoulder.

“And keep your mouths shut about me and ‘Giri showing up. It’ll look bad for my reputation.”

Without another word, the boys disappeared through the portal, which popped out of existence right as the doors to the USJ busted open and All Might ran in, his look of fury quickly turning to one of confusion at the situation that was seemingly handled just fine. Well, at least everyone was alright! That feeling of panic in his chest was probably just fear for his students, but they were strong enough to defeat these villains!

But All Might felt his blood run cold at the sight of someone who was undoubtedly Toxic Chainsaw, a villain who had given him a fierce fight years ago, laying in a pool of toxic waste and blood, his head completely removed from his neck and a pile of ashes on the ground next to him. 

Who on earth had taken such a dangerous villain down? And...where on earth was Young Midoriya?!

Class 1-A were silent as they exited the bus, the weight of their first villain attack heavy on their shoulders. Both of their teachers were incapacitated, leaving the children to save themselves, and one of their own was not only severely injured but had been whisked away by someone claiming to be his brother. It felt wrong to be back on campus when the school was already empty, the other classes having been sent home as a result of the attack, especially when a certain blonde was barreling towards them with fury in his eyes.

“Where’s Izuku,” Monoma demanded, standing right in front of Kaminari, “Everyone got off the bus except for him, where is he?!”

“Monoma…” Kaminari’s voice was soft but rough, “I don’t know. He disappeared when the villains got taken down.”

Monoma blinked, a glower settling on his face. “What do you mean, he disappeared? How come no one looked for him?!”

“Hey, woah now,” Kirishima came running in, putting himself between the blondes, “Don’t take this out on Kaminari, he wasn’t there to see what happened.”

“You better start explaining stuff fast then, Red, preferably before I get grey hairs!”

“Listen,” Kirishima sighed, tugging at his spiky hair, “Me, Bakugou, and Todoroki went back when we noticed Midoriya stayed behind, but by the time we got there, he was about to…”

“About to what?!” Monoma’s voice was shrill, his panic seeping through in waves.

“He was immobile due to his injuries and about to be killed by the villain,” Todoroki said, causing the small group to jump in surprise at his sudden arrival. “Toxic Chainsaw was about to kill him with the chainsaw, and we would not have been able to save him if it wasn’t for those two showing up.”

“And by those two,” Kirishima quickly continued, cutting off another snide remark from Monoma, “He means that these two random dudes showed up literally out of nowhere! One of them saw Midoriya, kind of freaked out, and then took down the villain like it was nothing! Then they just picked Midoriya up and…left through a portal.”

“They claimed to be related to Midoriya,” Todoroki finished, and Monoma would’ve strangled the bi-colored boy for his neutral tone if the situation wasn’t so dire.

“What did they look like?” Monoma asked, “Did one of them look like a man made of clouds? Did one of them have light blue hair and look like he needed to take a bath in moisturizer?”

“Uh…y-yeah,” Kirishima stammered, causing the group to suddenly look at Monoma in suspicion, “How…how did you know?

Oh, Monoma felt like he could cry, he was so relieved. “There’s nothing to worry about then. The blue-haired man is Izuku’s older brother, and he’s fiercely protective when it comes to Izuku. The cloud guy is…their butler? I don’t think he has an official title other than ‘keep Tomura from doing whatever he wants all the time’, but that doesn’t matter. They probably took Izuku to their dad to get healed.”

“Are you sure he’ll be alright?” Kaminari asked quietly, “Shouldn’t Midoriya have stayed to get healed by Recovery Girl?”

“How did Midoriya’s brother know where to find him?” Todoroki chimed in, “Or rather, how did he know that Midoriya needed help at that moment?”

“They’ve got a family doctor with healing quirks, so he’s probably already fixed up,” Monoma sighed, reciting what Izuku had once told him about their so-called healer, “And I don’t really know the whole story of why, but Izuku’s got a panic button that he keeps on himself at all times that also functions as a tracker. He probably used it to send an alert to his brother that he needed help.”

“Are his parents really that overprotective?” Kirishima looked vaguely shocked, but Monoma shook his head in response.

“Not really, but I know Izuku got kidnapped a couple of times when he was younger, and his dad is a pretty important government figure, so the tracker is probably just in case something like this happens.”

“But-”

“Look,” Monoma held up a hand, effectively silencing any further protests while pulling out his phone, “I’ll just call them so you can see he’s okay for yourselves.”

Without further ado, Monoma held the phone up to his ear, the volume low enough that the others couldn’t hear it.

“Hey, crusty- use your moisturizer and I won’t have to call you that. Listen, Izuchan’s friends are kind of freaking out, is he at least awake to make an appearance? I already told them that! ...you shut your unwashed mouth this instant! Just bring Izuku for five minutes!”

Monoma pulled the phone away from his ear, jabbing the end call button with a huff. Mere moments later, a purple portal appeared right behind the boy, startling those of the class who noticed it; loud gasps of shock and relief were heard when a familiar head of green hair walked out of it, the boy walking on his feet despite the bandages wrapped around his limbs.

“Hey,” Izuku said sheepishly, shrinking under the astonished gazes of his classmates, “Uh…how’s it going, gamers?”

All at once, laughter burst out from the students, all of them rushing to form a circle around their classmate (and Monoma, who had attached himself to Izuku’s side).

“Midoriya,” Todorki’s flat voice stood out among the joyful chatter, drawing everyone’s attention, “You…Monoma said you had a tracker, but electronic communication was not functional. How did your brother know to show up when he did?”

Izuku’s cheeks felt like they were on fire, and he knew that his blush was extended to his ears and down his neck.

“You’re gonna think it’s stupid, but…I forgot my lunch at home, and Nii-chan wouldn’t wait to bring it to me. He said his big brother senses told him not to wait.”

The ensuing silence was soon broken by Monoma’s cackling, the blonde bent over and gasping for breath as Izuku spluttered beside him.

“Izuchan,” Monoma gasped between breaths, “I mean this in the best possible way, but your brother is kind of a psycho.”

With a smile that shone like the sun, locking his classmates in its warmth, Izuku turned to gaze at the awaiting warp gate, a familiar mop of blue hair poking through like a child hiding behind the door.

“Yeah, Nii-chan’s the best.”

“…then I decayed the NPC and brought baby brother to you,” Tomura said, finishing his retelling of events (with just a little embellishment to up his cool factor) while refusing to let go of Izuku’s arm, his red eyes fixed on Hisashi and clearly awaiting praise.

Hisashi sighed deeply, rubbing the line in his forehead with his fingers, "So the only reason you discovered that Izuku was in danger is that..."

"He forgot his lunch at home," Tomura nodded, filling in the rest of the sentence. 

"And Izuku, your tracker didn't work because...?"

"One of the low-level NPCs had a quirk that created an electromagnetic field that blocked all electronic signals in and out," Izuku paused, poking his index fingers together, "I think I took that quirk too."

"Well, at the very least I'm glad that you're safe, and I'm very proud of Tomura for helping you when he needed to," Hisashi emphasized this by pulling his sons in for a hug, "And Izuku, this is a new record for you. You took over 25 quirks in less than 15 minutes!"

"Yeah, new high score!" Tomura cheered, high-fiving Izuku and grinning wide. "I'll make Kurogiri cook katsudon tonight to celebrate!"

"Before you do that, I want to add an update to Izuku's tracker," Hisashi huffed in amusement at his youngest son's groan of faux annoyance, "Hear me out. I just want to be notified if your tracker goes offline randomly. What if you get attacked and they destroy your tracker so we can't find you?"

"Alright," Izuku conceded, "That does make sense. But can we still have katsudon tonight?"

"Of course we can. Oh, and by the way, Tomura, I've seen some articles about the USJ incident talking about the mysterious vigilante that saved the students. Any thoughts on that?"

"Vigilante?!," Tomura shrieked, "I'm a villain! Tell me who called me that, I'll go decay them right now!"

"Don't act too rashly," Hisashi interrupted Tomura's ranting, "Who knows, being considered a vigilante might be good for bringing in more allies?"

"Yeah, and it's against the rules to skip katsudon night!" 

Chapter Text

Izuku trudged into class 1-A the Monday after the attack on the USJ after being intercepted by Monoma’s thorough inspection to make sure he still wasn’t injured along with Shinsou catching him in the hallways and asking if he was alright after what had happened. He had hoped to just sit down at his desk without making a huge deal of it, but a series of loud gasps dashed his hope for a quiet morning.

“MIDORIYA,” Uraraka squealed, rocketing out of her seat and bounding over to him, “Are you okay? We were super freaked out when you went missing! Were you hurt really bad? You looked okay when you came out of that weird fog thing, but you can’t ever be sure, you know?”

“I’m fine, I promise!” Izuku shook his hands in front of him, a sheepish smile on his face, “Like I said, my Nii-chan found out I was in trouble and took me back home to our doctor, so I was healed really fast!”

“Your brother is a real mystery,” Kirishima said, “Like I’m pretty sure I saw him during the USJ, but I can’t actually remember what he looks like. Bakugou, Todoroki, do you guys remember him?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Bakugou snapped, turned away from where the rest of the students were gathered. Todoroki, on the other hand, blinked a few times before shaking his head exactly once.

“I do not remember him. Midoriya, are you sure that your brother had pure intentions at the USJ? Was he part of the attack?”

“What? No, not at all! I swear, it was just a coincidence that he showed up, and he’s…not very memorable?” Izuku laughed nervously, purposefully ignoring the fact that his dad had secretly used a memory-altering quirk on the three that had seen his brother’s face, “He’s also super shy and doesn’t do well talking to new people, so he probably had a hoodie on to hide his face!”

“Man, who would ever think that the DustBunny was just an average socially awkward guy?” Kaminari whistled, and Izuku spontaneously decided to keep it a secret that the electric blonde had actually played games with his icon that same weekend (Izuku had been far too close to losing and passed the controller off to Tomura, relishing in the swift and utter demolition that was delivered upon his friend).

“Everyone! Morning homeroom is about to start!” Iida announced from the teacher’s podium, “I too am pleased to see that Midoriya is alright, but I must ask that you stop talking and take your seats!”

“Who’s gonna teach homeroom today?” Ashido wondered out loud, leaning her chair back to rest on Asui’s desk, and Izuku was glad to hear that he was not the only one curious about their replacement teacher. Maybe it would be Present Mic, he was pretty cool; or maybe it would be one of Ectoplasm’s clones, or-

“Morning.” A quiet, gruff voice said as the door to the classroom slid open, and the class erupted at the sight of their teacher wrapped in a plethora of bandages.

“AIZAWA-SENSEI, YOU’RE BACK TOO SOON!” The entire class shrieked as their mummified teacher limped into the classroom, resolutely ignoring the concerned comments from some of the students.

“S-sensei,” Izuku stammered, shaking like a leaf, “A-are you okay? Last time I saw you, you were hurt really bad, a-and Toxic Chainsaw’s…chainsaw…is no joke! I mean, I had to get the toxic waste removed from my cuts before they could even be healed and-”

“Midoriya,” Kaminari’s hushed whisper cut off his stream of words, “You gotta give sensei the chance to answer.”

“O-oh! Right, sorry,” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, pretending that the blush on his cheeks wasn’t there.

“The hospital allowed me to be discharged,” Aizawa grunted, “It would be illogical to allow me to leave if I wasn’t fine.”

“But I heard that you usually force them to discharge you-”

“Problem child,” Aizawa sighed, putting an end to Izuku’s statement, “You have no room to talk. The reports I received told me that you were so injured you were immediately removed for medical treatment.”

“Is that what they’re calling kidnapping these days?” Kirishima stage whispered, causing muffled giggles to ripple through the class.

“Enough.” Aizawa sounded stern, and would likely activate his quirk for emphasis if not for the bandages covering his eyes, “My well-being doesn’t matter, and the fight isn’t over yet. The U.A. Sports Festival is almost here.”

“Wait a minute!” Jirou’s voice rang out over the excited cheers that erupted (mostly from Kirishima, Izuku noticed), “Is it okay to have the sports festival so soon after an attack?”

“Yeah, doesn’t this give them a chance to attack again?” Ojiro piped up, earning yet another sigh from their homeroom teacher.

“Apparently, holding the festival will show that the school’s crisis management system is rock solid, and security will be strengthened to show they are taking the attack seriously.” Izuku could practically hear the eyeroll in the teacher’s tone, but he carried on nonetheless. “From a practical standpoint, our sports festival is a huge chance for you. Not only is the festival considered the Olympics of Japan, but the event will be your first and most significant opportunity to get noticed by the public and pro heroes. If you want to be a limelight hero, make yourself seen by everyone. You should understand the severity of the event then.”

Aizawa promptly dismissed the class and jovial chatter filled the silence, but Izuku felt frozen in his seat. He wasn’t too keen on the eyes of millions being fixed on him, but if he wanted to be the kind of hero that could spread a message, he would need to be well-known and popular with the public. Going further than just his own objectives for the Sports Festival mission, he had a side quest to complete during the event: this was Shinsou’s chance to get into the hero course. The purple-haired boy had made good progress during their training, graduating from walking Stitches to basic combat - not with his Nii-chan though, for some reason Tocchan had been insistent that neither Shinsou nor Kaminari were emotionally prepared to meet him yet - and Shinsou had already started to form his own fighting style! Izuku was certain that his friend had what it takes to be a fantastic hero, so the thought that one mistake would prevent that from happening had sent Izuku into several anxiety-fueled gaming sessions. 

“Psst, Midoriya,” Kaminari whispered, poking Izuku’s shoulder, “Can you check over my math homework? I tried really hard, promise, but halfway through it felt like the numbers were floating off the page!”

With a smile, Izuku nodded, pushing his notebooks aside for Kaminari to spread out his worksheet. He just had to have faith in the abilities of his friends, and everything would turn out fine.

Toshinori had been on edge ever since the attack at the USJ, especially since he had been unable to confirm young Midoriya’s whereabouts or safety.

(“I’m freaking out!”

“First, calm down.”

“I’m totally freaking out! My nephew is missing and there’s a crazed maniac dead on the ground- what if my nephew got unalived?!”

“What does that even mean?”

“Hey, First, those kids just said that someone came out of a portal and took the kid with them.”

“WHAT?!”)

Selfishly, he was grateful for the mysterious vigilante that had been there to save the students, but Toshinori felt searing guilt since he wasn’t there and had left the safety of children to a random vigilante. He hadn’t seen any sign of the vigilante beyond the severed head of Toxic Chainsaw - truthfully, he didn’t even know a vigilante had been there until three of the students came forward with eyewitness testimony of the mysterious savior. But when he learned that a student was able to confirm that Midoriya had managed to contact his family and was immediately taken to a doctor for treatment, the wave of relief practically sent him crashing to his knees.

(“His…brother? Did that kid just say his brother was the one that took little green?”

“...”

“Uh…you guys? Is First breathing?”

“...”

“I don’t think he’s breathing- how do you do CPR on a spirit?”

“...his brother saved him?”

“Thank god you’re okay, First! You really scared us for a minute there.”

“My nephew has a brother?!”

“Yeah, that’s what that blonde kid said-”

“I HAVE ANOTHER NEPHEW!! I NEED TO MEET MY OTHER NEPHEW!”

“NO- somebody stop First from taking control of Eighth’s body again!”)

Once Midoriya had given his report to the police and revealed that he had managed to fight off several villains - including holding Toxic Chainsaw back by himself - until passing out right when the vigilante arrived, pride flooded Toshinori’s system, and he was more certain than ever that this young man was meant to wield One for All.

(“My nephew is so talented and brave!”

“First, are you…crying?”

“Shut up, it’s liquid pride!”

“You can’t seriously intend to give our quirk to that monster’s offspring!”

“Ah, ah, ah! What did we say about saying rude things about my precious nephew?”

“You- but- he’s-”

“Uh-oh! Sounds like someone wants to go back in the timeout box!”)

Toshinori wanted– no, needed to talk to Midoriya about becoming the next wielder of his quirk, and he needed to do it as soon as possible. However, it was like the universe was actively working against him on that front, for every time he tried to seek out young Midoriya, he was either surrounded by his friends or would mysteriously vanish without a trace!

(“Hey- Seventh! Get your hands off the wheel! I’m taking us to my nephew whether you like it or not!”)

It was so incredibly frustrating, but Toshinori was too stubborn to give up. He had the perfect opportunity right in front of him, and he just knew it would work out perfectly in his favor. The Sports Festival was just two days away, and All Might would be handing out the medals to the first years. He had complete confidence that Midoriya would place among the top three, and since the young man wouldn’t be able to disappear with the entire stadium watching, Toshinori would finally be able to ask to speak privately with him! It was a foolproof plan!

(“Okay, even I know that’s a stupid plan. Seventh, what on earth did you teach that boy?”

“That isn’t my fault, you can blame Torino. He kicked the poor boy in the head so much, it had to have caused permanent brain damage.”)

Yes , Toshinori thought to himself, standing straighter as he walked confidently down the hallway, completely missing the head of green hair ducking around a corner, Midoriya won’t be able to refuse such a wonderful offer. Who wouldn’t want to receive such a powerful quirk? After all, it’s much better to have a strong quirk that’s active all the time rather than a weak one that relies on others to work.

(“Yeesh, that’s some toxic thinking. You really weren’t kidding about the brain damage.”

“I swear if he says something that hurts my nephew’s feelings, I’m taking the controls and making him slap himself on national television.”

“And for once, I won’t stop you. Who on earth let him believe such an awful idea? Doesn’t he know all of our original quirks were considered weak?”)

Izuku heaved a sigh of relief as All Might passed by him and into the staff room, finally able to run out of the school to meet up with his friends. Despite his eagerness to carefully observe the hero to investigate his quirk, Izuku still felt childish fear when he would catch the man watching him back, paranoid that he somehow knew who Izuku’s father was and would do anything to catch the boy alone and interrogate him. Although, he supposed that could just be some kind of trauma since All Might was responsible for his dad’s almost-death. 

His paranoia about the number one hero could wait though, because today was meant to be a happy day. It was the final day of Shinsou’s “training” before the Sports Festival, and they were teaching him the importance of personal time off by taking him to a cat cafe - one that Monoma had chosen specifically after discovering Shinsou’s love for cats and Kaminari had heavily vouched for. Running towards the entrance to change out of his school shoes, Izuku perked up at the sight of Aoyama lounging by the doors.

“Aoyama-kun! You look extra sparkly today!”

“Merci, mon ami,” Aoyama flipped his hair, twinkling stars shining around his head, “I was able to find the perfect haircare to make my natural sparkle even more radiant.”

“It definitely works!” Izuku said, placing his shoes in the locker and making sure it shut properly, “Are you coming with us to the cat cafe today? I don’t think I saw you respond in our group chat.”

“Non, I’m afraid that cats and I do not get along. Their fur dampens my sparkle and makes my eyes water too much.”

“Oh, you’re allergic,” Izuku grimaced sympathetically, “I totally get it. My dad is allergic too, so he never goes to any cat cafes.”

“Exactly. But do not be sad for me, my maman and papa have arranged for a cheese tasting today, so I am very excited to sample the cheeses!”

 “And besides,” Aoyama continued with a playful twinkle in his eyes, quickly glancing over to where Monoma was standing and chatting with Shinsou, “I believe that my cousin will make the afternoon interesting enough to make up for my absence.”

“Our cousin,” Izuku corrected, “And I totally get it. Tocchan always gets even more over the top when Shinsou and Kaminari are around!”

“Oui, our cousin does enjoy spending time with them,” Aoyama said with a mirthful smile, “Although, I have to wonder if that feeling goes further than friendship.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You’ll see. It’s time for me to leave - the cheeses will not wait forever! Au revoir!”  

Izuku waved at Aoyama’s back, feeling dazed as he pondered his words. More than friends? What could possibly be stronger than friends? 

“Heya, Midoriya!” Kaminari’s hands landed on Izuku’s shoulders, making the shorter boy jump from the blonde’s sudden appearance, “Ready for the cat cafe? I spent a solid 2 hours looking at the pictures on their tag, and I’m totally ready to pet them!”

“Oh, totally!” Izuku chirped, opting to wait next to the electric blonde, but Aoyama’s words were ringing in his mind.

“Hey, Kaminari,” he began cautiously, mulling the question around, “Do you- how do you- do you like Tocchan?”

“Wha- uh, yeah?” Kaminari squeaked, a sudden redness to his face, “I mean, Monoma is a pretty cool guy when you get past all the ‘I hate 1-A’ stuff, a-and he’s really funny and nice! He’s…one of my best friends!”

Of course! Best friends was more than just regular friends - that must be what Aoyama was talking about, right?

“That’s great! Tocchan is the most amazing best friend I’ve ever had! I’m sure he would love to be one of your best friends!”

“You think so?” Kaminari whispered, and Izuku nodded eagerly, grabbing the blonde’s arm to walk them over to their other friends.

“Of course! I have super high relationship points with Tocchan, I can usually guess what he thinks! He talks about you and Shinsou a lot too!”

“Who talks about me?” Shinsou asked in his usual tired drawl, casting a lazy grin at Izuku and Kaminari, “Hopefully all good things.”

“Insomnia acting up?” Izuku inquired, realizing that Shinsou’s dark circles featured a bit more prominently than normal. “Or was it just another case of ‘one more episode and then I’m done’?”

“Those big eyes never miss anything, do they,” Shinsou sighed lightheartedly, walking forward with the small group surrounding him, “And just regular insomnia. My brain would not shut up last night.

“That sucks, Shinsou. And I’ve got years of training to look for all kinds of secret details - it’s the only way to find the shortcuts and cool treasures!”

“And here I thought you were finally admitting something about your super secret spy training,” Monoma laughed, nudging his elbow into Izuku’s arm, “But alas, it was just a video game.”

“Tocchan!” Izuku sputtered indignantly, “How can you say that? They’re not just video games, they’re practically the foundation for teaching valuable life skills! Kaminari, you agree with me, right?”

“Sorry, dude. I never really thought about games all deep like that, I just play through levels as fast as I can.”

“Kaminari, you wound me! I thought we had gamer solidarity!” Izuku gasped, throwing his arm across his forehead like he had seen Monoma do during several of his plays, “I don’t know if I can bring myself to be seen with heretics like you!”

“Fine by me,” Monoma laughed, linking his arms with Kaminari and Shinsou’s arms, “The three of us will have a great time at the cat cafe while you go play with your nightmare dog.”

“Absolutely not,” Izuku demanded, latching himself to Monoma’s back, “Aoyama said I gotta watch you three really closely to figure out some big secret, and I always complete a quest.”

Kaminari and Shinsou suddenly burst into coughing fits, sounding like they were choking on something, and despite Monoma’s seemingly calm exterior, Izuku noticed that his best friend’s ears seemed to be suspiciously red.

“Hey Izuchan,” Monoma said, his voice noticeably higher pitched like it got when he was trying to hide something, “What’s uh, what’s your favorite quirk in 1-A?”

“Where do I even start?” Izuku chirped, “There are so many amazing quirks! Like Kaminari’s is just incredible, there’s so much potential with electricity. Or Tokoyami - he’s got that sentient shadow-bird that does some serious damage. Yaoyorozu is also incredible because she could literally destroy the economy by flooding the market with perfect replicas of items, but thankfully she’s really nice. And the guy with all the arms that can turn into eyes and stuff, Shoji, he’s really amazing too! And don’t even get me started on Todoroki - his quirk seems so straightforward, but I’ve always thought there was beauty in the simple things - I want to play with his quirk the most!”

Izuku paused to take a breath, but he hesitated to continue when he noticed the smirks on his three friends’ faces. “What are you guys smiling at? Did I say something weird?”

“Oh, nothing weird,” Monoma said, reaching out to sling an arm around Izuku’s shoulders and ruffle his hair, “But go ahead and tell me how beautiful Todoroki is.”

“I- I didn’t say that!” Izuku squeaked, “I said his quirk is beautiful! That’s totally different!”

“But is it really?” Shinsou added, “A quirk is really just an extension of a person, after all.”

“So if Todoroki’s quirk is pretty, then that means Todoroki is pretty,” Kaminari said, a teasing lilt in his tone, “Midoriya, I think you like Todoroki~”

“Of course I like him, I like his quirk after all!” Izuku protested, ignoring the feeling of eyes on his back as the cat cafe finally came into view, “It wouldn’t make sense for me to hate them but like his quirk.”

“Not that kind of like,” Kaminari said, “I mean like like. You know, when a boy thinks another boy is hot and wants to hang out all the time and wants to ki- mmph!”

“What he means is,” Monoma hissed, cutting Kaminari off by placing a hand over his mouth, “Izuchan…I can’t believe I’m about to say this…do you want to choose Todoroki’s route in this romance visual novel?”

“A romance visual novel is a dating sim,” Izuku corrected, “Todoroki as a dateable character would definitely be an interesting route! He’s got the mysterious aura that entices the players, a hidden backstory to uncover as the relationship progresses, and he’s definitely got the visuals for it- like he seriously has the looks to be the most popular character…oh...oh no…”

Izuku froze, not even budging when his friends walked right into his back, too busy focusing on the sudden realization that Todoroki was potentially a romanceable option. But that definitely wasn’t true! Sure, Izuku had played tons of visual novels to get ready for school (not dating sims!), and sure, it would be pretty nice to play with Todoroki’s quirk and then show him all of his favorite games and let him play with Stitches-

“Shinsou,” Izuku said abruptly, turning around and gripping the purple-haired boy’s shoulders tightly, “Let’s do some last-minute practice for the Sports Festival. Brainwash me and make me forget the last five minutes.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m so sure-” Izuku’s eyes went blank as Shinsou took hold of his mind, much to the surprise and shock of the blondes next to him.

“Don’t make him forget!” Monoma insisted, “This is the first time he’s ever admitted that another human is attractive! He’s only had crushes on game characters before this, it’ll be good for him to have a crush!”

“I’m not gonna make him forget completely,” Shinsou replied, guiding Izuku to walk to the door of the cafe, “Midoriya, forget the last 10 minutes until we exit the cat cafe today.”

“Woah, can you do that?” Kaminari asked, looking completely enthralled by the brainwasher.

“Sure. Midoriya found out that my brainwashing is pretty much just instant hypnotism, and I saw lots of hypnotists do commands like that during one of my all-night video binges. This is just practicing a delayed response.”

The blondes gaped at Shinsou before breaking out into simultaneous prideful grins, taking hold of his hands (while also guiding a still-brainwashed Izuku) and leading him into the cafe.

“Shinsou, you’re definitely going to smash the Sports Festival and get into the hero course,” Kaminari said earnestly, with Monoma nodding in agreement.

“Absolutely. And if the arrogance and prejudice of the administrators somehow prevent them from recognizing your incredible skill, I’ll let Izuchan follow his original plan to probably threaten them to let you in.”

"Somehow I highly doubt that Midoriya could possibly be that scary," Shinsou chuckled, but Monoma leveled a serious glare at him.

"You haven't met his father. That man will do absolutely anything for Izuku if he even hinted at it, and he is absolutely terrifying." Monoma shuddered, grimacing at the memories that flashed through his mind. "If Izuchan tells Uncle Hisashi that the school unfairly denied your transfer application, he'll find a way to buy U.A. and get you into the hero course right away. I'm pretty sure that's how he got some kids expelled that made fun of Izuku one time at the park."

"That's gotta be a joke," Shinsou said, but a shake of Monoma's head had him swallowing his protests.

"You've seen his dog, what makes you think his dad is any less terrifying? Seriously, if he wanted to, he could pay off everyone in the school to make sure you'll win the Sports Festival."

"But he wouldn't!" Kaminari piped up, pinching Izuku's arm to snap him out of the brainwashing, "Midoriya absolutely hates when people use cheats in multiplayer games, and I'm pretty sure he thinks the same about sports, right dude?"

"Huh? Oh, totally," Izuku mumbled, shaking off the daze left behind by the brainwashing, "I don't really like real sports, though. But that was some really good brainwashing! I can't really remember why you put me under, but you're totally ready to crush the competition at the Sports Festival!"

"Thanks, guys," Shinsou said, picking up a cat to hide the redness creeping up his neck, "Now let's shut up about my future and pet some cats, they might start biting your ankles if we don't."

Chapter Text

Anyone who knew Shigaraki Tomura knew that he despised two things above all else: going outside and being surrounded by people. Not only was it risky as a villain to be frequently seen by civilians, but his sensitive skin was prone to sunburns and he always felt extreme discomfort when he felt cornered by strangers. There were only two things he would brave the outdoors for, the first being trips to his favorite game store, and the second being at the request of his baby brother. 

Seeing that the U.A. Sports Festival was an unholy combination of the two things he hated the most, Tomura fully intended on supporting his baby brother from the comfort of his home, completely unsupervised, sprawled on the couch, with the biggest bowl of cereal he could possibly make, watching the event on the TV to scream at the hero brats in peace, and ignoring the festival to play some games when baby brother wasn’t on screen. It was a completely flawless plan, really, one that he was all too eager to see through. 

Practically skipping over to the cabinet where he hid his favorite cereal - the kind loaded with extra marshmallows that mom always said was bad for his teeth - Tomura was already daydreaming about how much fun his games would be today.

(“Midoriya,” Todoroki came out of nowhere, not minding the awkward air immediately falling around the class, “Objectively speaking, I think I’m stronger than you. All Might has his eye on you for some reason. That doesn’t matter though, because I’m going to beat you.”)

Tomura’s muscles spasmed so hard he dropped his box of cereal, a shiver barreling through his body like he had been electrocuted. 

(“Todoroki,” Izuku replied, eyes narrowing at the challenge being presented to him, “I don’t intend to let you win so easily. It’s like the top gaming sin to throw a match, and I hate losing.”)

Normally, he would ignore things like that, but on a day like today, it could only mean one thing - it was his Izuku Sense going haywire.

“I’m sorry,” Tomura said to his cereal, casting a longing glance at the box, “But you’ll have to wait for me to come back. My baby brother is going to get himself in trouble, I can feel it in my bones. Kurogiri!”

“Yes, Tomura-san?” Kurogiri responded dutifully, appearing in the kitchen immediately as his ward ran into his room and came back out with his favorite hoodie. 

“Something is going to happen to baby brother, so I need you to let me into the Sports Festival without being seen.”

“Of course. But, Tomura-san, you do remember that the school sent two tickets for his family to attend, correct?”

“I know that! But mom and dad said they couldn’t get out of work today to watch, and I don’t want to talk to any annoying NPCs today!”

“As you wish,” Kurogiri sighed, still producing one of the aforementioned tickets and placing it in Tomura’s hand, “I will place you in one of the upper levels of the stadium, away from where the heroes tend to sit. Please contain your feelings about heroes while at the Festival, it would be suspicious of you to be outspoken against them so soon after the attack.”

“I know how to keep my mouth shut,” Tomura rolled his eyes, raising his hood and walking through the portal, finding himself in a hallway that presumably led to the civilian seating area. The noise of the crowd was already making his skin crawl, and he scratched his neck without thinking, wishing that his big brother senses hadn’t forced him to leave the comfort of home. Ducking his head to hide his scowl, Tomura made his way over to a spot that seemed quieter than the others, one right in front of the railing that had a pretty good view of the arena. Plopping himself into his seat and wishing that the stupid festival would start already, Tomura found himself mourning the loss of his cereal, and had just begun contemplating having Kurogiri drop in a bowl when an obnoxiously loud voice boomed through the speakers. 

“HEY HEY HEY, AUDIENCE! IT’S ABOUT TIME FOR OUR FUN TO START! EVERYBODY, ARE YOU READY?!”

Tomura attempted to sink further into his hoodie as the crowd erupted into excited screams, but the sudden feeling of someone sitting themselves down in the seat right next to his had his instincts practically begging to start decaying everything around him. 

“Man, I didn’t miss anything good, did I?” The new voice asked, making Tomura bristle at the unwanted interaction. “I kind of decided to show up last minute, but I’d hate it if I missed something important.”

“IT’S TIME FOR OUR FIRST YEAR STUDENTS TO ENTER THE STAGE,” Present Mic shouted through the speakers, something that Tomura thought was very unnecessary. 

“Yes! Right on time!” Tomura’s annoying neighbor cheered quietly, making Tomura slouch even more in an attempt to ignore them. 

“THESE ARE THE ONES YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE A-MA-ZING NEW STARS THAT HAVE ALREADY GONE TOE-TO-TOE WITH VILLAINS AND COME OUT ON TOP! GIVE IT UP FOR THE HERO COURSE, CLASS 1-A!”

The crowd roared as the class walked into the stadium, and Tomura felt his heart rate relax when he spotted his baby brother nervously bouncing next to Electric Blondie and French Blondie. The annoying seat neighbor leaned forward to get a closer look at the hero brats, and Tomura was able to get a glimpse of them as they did so. They looked masculine, with white hair, a strong jawline, and rather broad shoulders. 

“THEY HAVEN’T GOTTEN AS MUCH ATTENTION, BUT THIS CLASS IS ALSO FULL OF TALENT! HERO COURSE, CLASS 1-B!”

The cheering for them wasn’t nearly as loud, but Tomura found himself rooting for Original Blondie despite their constant petty squabbles. How unfair was this, really? Pitting the classes against each other, praising one class while practically ignoring the other; placing all of the attention on one class that had been thrust into the spotlight unwillingly while almost berating the other for not being attacked by villains. It made Tomura’s skin crawl, but perhaps this could work in his favor - after all, if class B was continuously pushed aside like this, it just might breed enough hatred and resentment to make them want to become villains. He had already witnessed how much Blondie seemed to hate almost everyone in Class A, claiming that they found themselves superior for no reason. Maybe Blondie would like to join his League and destroy society for baby brother…

“NEXT UP IS GENERAL STUDIES, CLASSES C, D, AND E! SUPPORT COURSE F, G, AND H ARE HERE TOO! AND BUSINESS COURSE I, J, AND K!”

“That’s unfair,” Tomura mumbled, unable to contain his opinions any longer, “The more they parade the hero brats around, the more the other courses will resent them for hogging all the attention.”

He didn’t expect anyone to hear or care about his quiet rambling, but he nearly jumped out of his skin when the white-haired NPC started talking to him. 

“You know, I kind of agree with you. I’m not trashing the hero course, my little brother is in that class and I’m trying to be supportive, but it is really disheartening when I tell anyone my career path and they don’t care because I’m not in heroics.”

Tomura was gobsmacked. White-hair wasn’t completely blinded by heroes? Maybe they weren’t so annoying after all…

“AND NOW IT’S TIME FOR OUR PLAYER PLEDGE! MIDNIGHT, TAKE IT AWAY!”

Tomura wanted to roll his eyes as yet another hero sashayed onto the playing field, and he did once he heard the herd of NPCs gushing over Midnight’s apparent attractiveness - he didn’t think she looked all that hot, and he was more concerned that her whole gimmick was not appropriate for children at all. 

“Quiet, everyone!” Midnight shouted while cracking her whip, “Representing the students is our top scorer on the entrance exam, Midoriya Izuku!”

If Tomura had been drinking something, he would have spat it all out. Since he wasn’t, he simply cackled at the sight of his baby brother’s stage fright taking full control of him - maybe this was what set his big brother senses off. 

(“Why me?” Izuku cried out, Aoyama and Kaminari practically having to shove him forward to make him start walking. “Public speaking is my weakest stat! They’re trying to sabotage me!”)

(“Did you hear that?! My nephew is giving the speech!”

“First…I think he’s going to throw up.”

“He’s gonna be fine! He’s just a little nervous, that’s all!)

The young boy practically staggered to the podium, and Tomura barely contained his laughter when he could hear his brother’s short breaths over the speakers. He was gripping the microphone stand so tight it looked like it might snap in half, and Tomura thought that he might pass out if he wasn’t holding onto it like a lifeline.

“L-let’s go, g-gamers,” Izuku finally stammered out after the longest moment of silence ever, only to be met by silence from the crowd - something that Tomura was not going to stand for. 

“THAT’S MY BABY BROTHER!” He shouted, louder than even he thought was possible, cringing at the feeling of too many NPCs suddenly staring at him…but it was all worth it when baby brother’s whipped around to look in his direction and smiled brighter than ever when he saw Tomura leaning over the railing. 

(“WAS THAT MY OTHER NEPHEW?!”

“First, we literally cannot leave right now! It’ll be too suspicious if we just leave the teacher’s section before the event even starts!”

“SHUT UP LOSERS, YOU’RE TOTALLY RUINING MY VIBES. LET ME GO SEE MY NEPHEW!”

“DON’T JUST STAND THERE LIKE STATUES, ALL OF YOU HELP ME KEEP FIRST’S HANDS OFF THE WHEEL!”)

“You didn’t say that you’re here for your little brother too,” White-hair said over the sudden cheering of the crowd, and Tomura thought White-hair looked…almost happy? “We could’ve bonded over being big brothers!”

“No we can’t,” Tomura blurted out, not used to all of this attention focused on him, “My baby brother is too perfect and cute, all the other little brothers don’t even come close to him.”

“Cute, huh,” White-hair mused, and Tomura backed away slightly when the larger boy leaned closer to him with a weird smirk on his face, “Well, I can definitely see the family resemblance.”

Tomura was about to ask the boy what he meant - he didn’t look like baby brother since he was adopted, despite wishing for his hair to turn green for at least 3 birthdays in a row - but Midnight began speaking again and all ears were focused on her voice. 

“Let’s get started right away! The first game is the qualifier round that eliminates most of our competitors, leaving them to drink their own tears!“ The heroine shouted as a giant spinning wheel popped up behind her, the words on it a blur until it landed on…

“This year it’s an obstacle course race!”

“That’s dumb,” White-hair snorted, “The event was totally planned in advance. There’s no way they just had everything on standby like that!”

Tomura nodded in agreement, that wheel was definitely just for show - it wasn’t even a real wheel!

“All 11 classes will participate in the race around the stadium, at a total of four kilometers! Not only will there be obstacles to avoid, but since U.A.’s selling point is our freedom of education, the competitors will also be permitted to fully use their quirks! As long as you stay on course, anything is allowed!”

“This’ll be over fast,” Tomura laughed, his confidence seeping into his posture, “Baby brother’s quirk is too OP. He’s going to win the whole race right away.”

“Don’t be too sure of that,” White-hair replied, looking smug, “My little brother got a pretty overpowered quirk of his own. He could probably take everyone out of the race the instant it starts.”

(“Shinsou!” Izuku bounded towards his friend, with two of his blondes trailing right behind him, “This is perfect! The training with Stitches will definitely pay off!”

“It is perfect. Almost a little too perfect,” Shinsou said with a mischievous grin, “You wouldn’t have happened to somehow find out about the events ahead of time? Or maybe know someone with lots of money and influence to rig the match?”

“Shinsou, I told you I don’t like using cheats with outside players! I only use cheats when I’m playing with Nii-chan and want to win for once!”

“So does your dad know we’re trying to help Shinsou into the hero course?” Monoma asked, but Izuku just looked even more confused. 

“I mean, yeah he does since he saw us running with Stitches on his surveillance cameras and he really likes to hear about the friends I’ve made, but you know he doesn’t like heroes! There’s no way he would’ve rigged the match to help make him a hero!”

Monoma stared at his friend in disbelief but eventually shrugged it away. As they rounded up in front of the starting line, Izuku held his hand out toward his cousin, the all-too-familiar speed quirk ready to be copied. 

“Kaminari, Shinsou, Tocchan, you guys got this!” Izuku cheered, eyes sparkling with determination, “But I’m not hanging around for the race, I’m here to win! I’ll see you all at the finish line!”)

“Oh please,” Tomura rolled his eyes, not noticing how close White-hair had gotten, “What quirk could he even have that’s so strong? It’s nothing compared to my baby brother, I can promise you that.”

“It’s kind of like two quirks actually, but he’s fed up with our douchebag of a father and refusing to use half of it just to spite him.”

“If he’s that bad, why don’t you just kill him? Then your brother won’t have any reason to not use his whole quirk.”

White-hair laughed, shaking his head ever so slightly. “You sound just like one of my friends, he’s always offering to kill my dad too.”

“Your friend sounds like he’s smart,” Tomura said, instantly liking this mysterious friend, “If getting rid of someone fixes your problems, then I say do it!”

“ALRIGHT, EVERYONE!” Present Mic’s voice suddenly boomed over the speakers, making Tomura jolt as it caught him off guard, “LET’S GET THIS SHOW STARTED! RACERS, ON YOUR MARK!”

Tomura shifted forward in his seat, scanning the display screens for any sight of curly green hair.

“GET SET!”

(Izuku took a calming breath, the adrenaline of competition beginning to flood his system.)

“AND…”

All Might’s eyes narrowed on young Midoriya’s face, hoping that the boy would display the tenacity and strength the hero was looking for.

(“Come on, nephew! Make me proud!)

“GO!”

The sea of students rushed forward, only to be stopped by the bottleneck of the small gate in front of them. A few managed to leap over students - likely with jumping or flying quirks - but Tomura quickly recognized the obstacle already being presented to them.

“It’s not just about being a muscle head,” he murmured, making White-hair perk up, “The door is making them use their brains. If they can’t figure out how to get past a tiny crowd, they don’t deserve the win.”

“Woah,” White-hair said under his breath, “I didn’t even notice that. You’re really clever to pick up on that so fast!”

Tomura opened his mouth to say that obviously he's smart, but the obnoxiously loud sound of the Voice Hero speaking had him biting his tongue. 

“COMING AT YOU WITH THE PLAY-BY-PLAY! YOU READY TO LAY DOWN SOME SICK COMMENTARY, MUMMY MAN?”

“You’re the one who forced me to come,” a tired voice drawled in response, one that sounded familiar enough to make Tomura freeze in place and his mouth to suddenly dry out.

“Alright! Check that out!” White-hair cheered, bumping Tomura’s shoulder and pointing to the screen displaying the hallway suddenly being covered with ice, “That’s my little brother for ya!”

Tomura watched as a boy with red and white hair burst out of the exit, ice spreading all over the ground and everywhere he stepped, skating past the now-stuck mob with ease. If he squinted, he could see the resemblance with White-hair - at least on the white half of his head. However, White-hair’s victorious shouts were cut short when mere seconds later, several racers leaped forward using explosions, a vaulting pole, and French Blondie with his stomach laser thing.

“He just put down another obstacle, that’s all,” Tomura grunted, jerking his hand to point out his baby brother leaping on top of the other NPC’s heads, “If they were half as smart as baby brother, they could catch up easily.”

“That looks like a scene from a movie!” White-hair laughed, a deep rumbling that reminded Tomura of Stitches when it was being babied by the family, “Does your little brother’s quirk make him jump really high? Or maybe something like weightlessness?”

“Actually, it’s- BABY BROTHER, WATCH OUT!” Tomura shrieked, a massive metal arm swinging right for his brother’s head, making the young man pale when he noticed the enormous robot it was attached to. What on earth were the idiot heroes thinking?! That thing could’ve hurt baby brother!

“OBSTACLES INCOMING!” Present Mic shouted, “STARTING WITH THE FIRST CHALLENGE: ROBO INFERNO!”

White-hair sighed, his posture relaxed and open, “This is too easy. It’s almost embarrassing how overpowered Shouto’s skills are for this.” 

His point was proven almost immediately, with the same split-haired kid touching a hand to the ground, ice rushing to cover and completely immobilize the robots in a split second. Tomura hated to admit it, but this kid had skills - and the type of quirk that was nearly irresistible to his baby brother. 

(“This is so unfair!” Izuku thought to himself as he ducked around the frozen robots, stifling a laugh at the way Kirishima and a silver Kirishima broke through their metal hulls, “Todoroki’s just too amazing! I want his quirk so bad!”)

“OFFENSE AND DEFENSE IN ONE HIT! HE’S THE FIRST ONE THROUGH THE INFERNO - IT’S, LIKE, PRACTICALLY UNFAIR HOW EASY IT WAS!”

“His actions are logical and strategic,” the bored voice said, driving Tomura insane with how familiar it was.

“AS EXPECTED OF SOMEONE WHO GOT IN THROUGH RECOMMENDATIONS! IT’S HIS FIRST TIME FACING THEM, AND HE TOOK THEM DOWN LIKE A PRO!”

“Recommendations?” Tomura whirled around, ignoring how embarrassed White-hair seemed, “You got hero parents or something?”

“I barely consider that man a hero, much less a father,” White-hair grumbled, brushing off his change in mood as quickly as it came, laughing quietly as the displays shifted to show Izuku darting around the horde of robots with ease, “Your brother is so fast! It’s like the only thing on his mind is the race!”

(“Movin’ at the speed of sound! Quickest hedgehog around! Got ourselves a situation, stuck in a new location, with-out a-ny ex-pla-na-tion, no time for relaxation!” Izuku hummed along to the song in his head, breezing by with the assistance of his speed quirks. “Gotta go fast! gotta go faster, faster, faster faster – SONIC X!”)

“Yeah…but I want to know what he’s going to do with that hunk of metal,” Tomura wondered out loud as the course’s landscape changed yet again.

“THAT FIRST BARRIER WAS A PIECE OF CAKE! BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SECOND? WELCOME TO ‘THE FALL’ - IF YOU FALL, YOU’RE OUT! WILL YOU PLAY IT SAFE AND CRAWL, OR WILL YOU MOVE FAST AND RISK IT ALL?”

“Since when did they dig a massive pit?!” White-hair practically shrieked in disbelief, “There’s gotta be a net or something at the bottom, right?”

“I wouldn’t put it past those heroes to just let the brats fall to their death,” Tomura hissed as the crowd of students came to a stop at the edge of the chasm, “Heroes don’t actually care what happens to anyone at all - they’d probably be happy to have fewer students to steal their spotlight.”

“Geez, you really sound like my friend with that viewpoint,” White-hair shook his head with a small laugh, “He can’t stand heroes at all.”

Tomura liked this guy’s friend the more he talked about them, and the thought that White-hair was okay with someone who hated heroes made Tomura’s stomach feel all fuzzy.

“Hey, your brother just skated across that wire like it was nothing,” Tomura scoffed, feeling annoyed that he was winning with no effort, “Is the other part of his quirk freaky good balance or something? There’s no way anyone can do that without slipping.”

“God I wish it was balance,” White-hair groaned, eyes widening at the sudden appearance of someone with dozens of gadgets strapped to themselves, “Check them out! They must be in the support course with that much gear - are those hover boots?!”

“They have so many items equipped,” Tomura sighed dreamily, “I wish I had a player with that many legendary weapons.”

White-hair turned to Tomura with an eyebrow raised. “Do you…play video games?”

“I love video games,” Tomura answered swiftly and honestly. His body tensed when Izuku grabbed the wire and slung himself upside down, crawling like a sloth with that heavy sheet of metal hanging from his back. “He’s gonna fall, he’s gonna fall, there’s no way he can keep hanging on!”

(“Oh no, I hope I don’t fall,” Izuku giggled to himself as he shimmied down the line, “Maybe dad will show me more of those old internet videos if I win something today - they’re super funny for being so short!”)

“Hey, hey, don’t worry,” White-hair spoke softly yet firmly, scooting closer to Tomura and placing a surprisingly cold hand on his shoulder, “He’s going to be fine, he got first place in the entrance exam for a reason, right? He can make it past this little rope!”

Tomura’s concern only multiplied when the screens switched cameras, focusing on Ice boy as he reached the next section of the course, not noticing when he leaned further into White-hair’s hand that had moved to his upper back.

“WE’RE AT THE FINAL BARRIER NOW!” Present Mic yelled, “AND IT’S A MINEFIELD! ONE WRONG STEP AND BOOM! KEEP YOUR PEEPERS PEELED AND TREAD LIGHTLY! PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MINES ARE NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO CAUSE INJURY, ONLY ENOUGH TO SPOOK YA! ”

“I’m glad they’re not real mines. Although, this does put everyone in the lead at a disadvantage since they’ll have to avoid more mines than the ones in the back. Since Ice boy isn’t skating across like usual, they must be sensitive enough to react to at least the combined weight of the ice plus his skating. It’s obviously meant to challenge the agility and awareness skills, but players can attempt to use intuition if they’re willing to risk it.”

Rumbling laughter from White-hair pulled Tomura out of his thoughts, and suddenly the hand on his back felt burning hot. “Anyone ever tell you that you ramble a bit?”

“It’s a bad habit,” Tomura mumbled, his cheeks practically on fire, “Don’t say it’s weird or I’ll kill you because baby brother does it too and he’s not weird.”

“Hey, no judgment here,” White-hair replied, that stupid grin returning to grace his features, “Actually, I was going to say it’s cute. You looked adorable talking about the race like it was an RPG.”

Tomura swallowed, trying to relieve the strange dryness in his mouth. “You…you don’t think it’s weird?”

“Nah, I’ve seen weirder things in college. Oh, look! Your brother just got to the minefield!”

Sure enough, he was standing at the edge of the minefield, hunched over with his hands on his knees while he caught his breath. If Tomura  had to guess, he’d say that baby brother would use Springlike limbs to leap across the field, hopefully not landing on any mines, and continue to jump across carefully while avoiding the attacking NPCs in the air. 

“LOOKS LIKE IT'S TODOROKI AND BAKUGOU OF CLASS A IN THE LEAD! SINCE THEY’RE YOUR STUDENTS, GO AHEAD AND TELL US THEIR STRATEGY, ERASERHEAD!”

“ERASERHEAD?!” Tomura felt lightheaded and he reached out to grab something to keep himself stabilized, not even hearing what Eraserhead was saying as a mixture of elation and panic clouded his mind. 

“-hey! Hey! Are you okay dude? Are you even breathing? C’mon, think! I’m studying medicine for crying out loud, I should know how to help him! Does he need mouth to mouth? No, I should take him out to dinner first-”

“Eraserhead,” Tomura gasped out after he managed to take a breath, “He’s my favorite hero and he’s here and I don’t know what to do! I mean I knew he’s baby brother’s homeroom teacher, but I didn’t actually expect him to be here!” 

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay,” White-hair sighed, “But I thought you didn’t like heroes. What's up with that?”

“I hate heroes,” Tomura affirmed, closing his eyes to calm himself down, “But Eraserhead is the only good hero. He’s the only one that ever helped me when I needed it, and he’s been nice to baby brother, so he’s my favorite.” Flexing his hands instinctively, Tomura paused when he realized he was holding something. Cracking one eye open and looking down, Tomura yelped when he saw that he had White-hair’s hand firmly grasped in his own and attempted to let go, but White-hair only held on tighter.

“You don’t have to,” he said with an air of confidence in his voice, “I think your hand is really nice to hold, not to mention that it fits perfectly in mine.”

“Uh,” Tomura said intelligently, and White-hair laughed airily, gently letting go of Tomura’s hand.

“No worries, I’ll try not to push too fast. But just let me know if you want me to hold your hand again, alright?”

At a loss for what he should do, Tomura nodded numbly. What’s this guy’s deal? Why is Tomura’s heart racing and why does he feel warm…is White-hair’s quirk a fever-inducer?

“WHAT’S MIDORIYA DOING? IS HE TRYING TO TUNNEL UNDER THE MINES OR SOMETHING?”

Tomura inhaled harshly as the screens shifted to show his brother using that chunk of metal to dig in the ground, not caring as others ran right past him.

“What is he doing?” White-hair echoed the loud hero, “Does he know that the mines are probably buried too deep?”

(“Hey universe, it’s me, ya boi,” Izuku thought, sweat dripping down his back as he piled on more mines, “I know I don’t talk to you much, but I’ve got a big favor I need to ask. Please don’t let my parents see this and freak out, and please keep Nii-chan from storming the field. Oh, and maybe let this work right. Okay, thanks!”)

And then, after taking quick steps back before jumping forward, an absolutely humongous explosion sent the green teen soaring through the air, right over the minefield.

“BABY BROTHER!” Tomura screamed, grabbing White-hair’s arm and squeezing the life out of it, “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING, YOU IDIOT?! THAT’S SO DANGEROUS! YOU’RE GONNA BE GROUNDED FOR LIFE!”

(“WHAT IS MY NEPHEW THINKING?! HIS FATHER HAD BETTER GROUND HIM FOR LIFE!”

“Didn’t his dad lock you in a vault? I don’t think grounding him for life is such an outlandish idea, and you really shouldn’t tempt fate…”

“IT’S A FIGURE OF SPEECH! AT LEAST I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING SO RECKLESS!”

“Gotta say, the kid’s got spunk! Maybe he’s not so bad after all!”

“THIS IS NOT THE MOMENT FOR YOU TO FINALLY LIKE MY NEPHEW! SEVENTH, LET ME GO, I’M TAKING EIGHTH DOWN THERE RIGHT NOW TO HAVE A CHAT WITH HIM!”

“Absolutely not! Fifth, Second, help me out over here!”)

“CLASS A’S MIDORIYA IS IN HOT PURSUIT WITH THAT BLAST - NO, WAIT, HE’S TAKEN THE LEAD!”

“He can’t slow that thing down! He’s going to crash!” Tomura screamed, attempting to leap across the railing to run onto the course and scold his brother, but White-hair held him down in his seat. “Let me go, you meathead! I’ve gotta go tell him he’s being an idiot!”

“Hang on a second!” White-hair fussed, “You can’t just storm the field, you’ll get kicked out!”

Tomura clenched his jaw as Izuku began plunging towards the ground, his hands twitching as dread built up inside of him; things only got worse when White-hair’s brother and an angry blonde ran right underneath baby brother, who then flipped midair, planting his feet on the other two’s backs and smashing his metal slab onto the ground, triggering yet another explosion that launched him out of the minefield.

“White-hair,” Tomura keened, his eyes blown wide open as Izuku crashed down, rolling over a few times before jumping to his feet and running ahead, “I think I just had a heart attack. Tell my family that I love them and give my passwords to my gaming friends.”

“White-hair? Oh, wait, that’s me! Sorry, I must have totally forgotten to give you my name.” White-hair rubbed the back of his neck, but Tomura’s eyes were locked on the screen as the two brats behind his brother started catching up to him. 

(Izuku felt a tingling sensation on the back of his neck, yelping when he briefly glanced backward and saw both Bakugou and Todoroki. Without thinking twice, he activated a speed quirk mixed with muscle enhancement and wind resistance, gritting his teeth as he pushed himself even further.)

Tomura’s hand shot to the side, grabbing White-hair’s arm, the adrenaline rush that came with the last stretch of a race making him feel like he could combust on the spot, the finish line coming closer with every step the young boy took.

Leaning closer to his ear, Tomura felt himself shiver when the young man next to him whispered softly, right as his brother crossed the finish line.

“My name is Natsuo.”

“THE WINNER OF THE FIRST STAGE OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL, THE ONE THAT NOBODY SAW COMING, IS NONE OTHER THAN MIDORIYA IZUKU!”

“So,” Natsuo began once Tomura had finally ended his screams of “ that’s my baby brother, he beat all of you second-rate losers!” , “What did you think of the race?”

“Baby brother won, and that’s the most important part,” Tomura said, proud of his brother’s rank, “But I guess your brother wasn’t so bad. He could’ve done worse than second place.”

“I’m proud of him!” Natsuo chirped, “Although I feel kind of bad for little Green. It’s gonna be hard to build a team with ten million points!”

“I’m surprised he isn’t teaming up with his blondes, considering they’re attached at the hip.”

“His blondes?” Natsuo tilted his head slightly in a way that made Tomura’s heart race again (stupid fever quirk). 

“All of his friends are blondes. It’s like he’s collecting them or something.” Pausing when the speakers announced that only 3 minutes remained, Tomura’s eyes scanned the crowd of competitors to scope out the team baby brother had chosen. It was a group of people he didn’t recognize - thankfully with no blondes, though - who didn’t have the most obvious quirks in the world, although the pink item carrier was in the group and equipping them with armor. “Look, baby brother’s using items this round. What’s your brother got?”

“Uhhhh…there he is,” Natsuo said, pointing out the group, “That girl with the black hair, he’s been sort of acquainted with her for a long time, she can like make anything from her body. That tall guy with the glasses has engines in his legs, and that blonde guy…I don’t actually know him.”

“I do,” Tomura groaned, “That’s one of baby brother’s blondes - he’s Electric Blondie.”

“Huh. I wonder why he teamed up with Shouto instead of your brother?”

(“Hey, Midoriya~” Kaminari sang teasingly, “I’m gonna team up with Todoroki. You know, to scope out his super pretty quirk for you! Maybe I’ll put in a good word for you, and he can ask you out on a totally-not-a-date.”

“Kaminari. I suggest you stay alert during the game because every second you’re not running, I’m only getting closer.”

“Come on, man! I’m just helping to push the dating sim plot along!”

“It’s not a dating sim! It’s a visual novel!”)

Tomura shrugged. “No clue. I hope it means he’s not talking to Electric Blondie anymore and won’t try bringing him to the house - he’s too loud on calls, and I think he’s worse in real life.”

“So you don’t like loud people,” Natsuo mused, “Well, my brother’s pretty quiet. Maybe he’d make a good friend for yours!”

Tomura considered this briefly. It would be good for baby brother to have quiet friends, and this one wasn’t a blonde! That would bring his not-blonde count up to two, and an ice-type would be good for keeping away any nasty fire-types.

“Does he play video games?” Tomura asked after thinking hard but frowned when Natsuo shook his head.

“No. Our dad only lets him train his quirk and read. He thinks anything else is a waste of time since Shouto is his ‘masterpiece’ or whatever, but it was totally fine for me to have games ‘cause it kept me far away so I couldn’t taint the chosen one.”

Natsuo’s voice turned bitter, and Tomura suddenly felt the urge to decay their father. Maybe Natsuo would like to have his hands as a memento? That would be a good idea. Tomura liked having Father around to get angry at, and it was fun to keep the hands around to make them see how great his real family is. 

“Time is up!” Midnight shouted as a buzzer went off. “Let’s begin the event!”

“Wake up Eraser! AFTER FIFTEEN MINUTES TO TEAM UP AND TALK STRATEGY, TWELVE CAVALRY TEAMS ARE LINED UP ON THE FIELD!”

“The teams are interesting,” Eraserhead drawled, and Tomura managed to hold back a yelp, grabbing Natsuo’s arm to keep himself grounded.

“THEN LET’S COUNT DOWN TO THE BLOODY BATTLE! THREE! TWO! ONE!”

“Start!” At Midnight’s shout, the teams were off, immediately chasing after Izuku’s team.

“It’s basically just a battle for the ten million. I feel bad for Midoriya,” Natsuo was sympathetic, but Tomura laughed at his sentiments.

“They won’t even get the chance. No one knows enough about baby brother’s quirk to take him down.”

Natsuo clearly wanted to ask for more details, but at that moment, the jetpack on Izuku’s back activated, and the group was soaring through the air, guarded from attacks by the massive bird-like shadow coming from a teammate. While the team soared across the field, Tomura took a minute to glance over the rest of the players. Blondie’s strategy wasn’t half bad, snatching away headbands while everyone was focused on the ten million, and French Blondie was just carrying baby brother’s purple friend along, but Electric Blondie and Natsuo’s brother continued to hunt for the ten million points. 

After touching down briefly and becoming surrounded by opponents, Izuku’s team took to the skies once again, only to be followed by a rather explosive blonde, one that Tomura instantly decided they needed to stay far away from. Although something about him was sort of familiar…

Firing explosions from his hands at the team only to be intercepted by the bird-shadow, Tomura winced when one of the hover shoes was damaged in the attack, and the team quickly retreated to the ground, likely unable to remain in the air with broken items.

“IT’S BEEN SEVEN MINUTES, SO LET’S CHECK OUT THE POINTS! THEY- what?”

Matching Present Mic’s confusion, murmurs erupted throughout the crowd as the scores were displayed on the screen, but Tomura felt nothing but pride as Team Monoma’s score increased by yet another 600 points.

“OTHER THAN MIDORIYA, CLASS A ISN’T DOING TOO HOT. NOT WHAT EVERYONE WAS EXPECTING FROM THE CLASS THAT FACED REAL VILLAINS!”

(“Class A is too simple-minded,” Monoma laughed, ripping the headband from Bakugou’s head and touching his forearm, “Class B knew better than to show out in the first round, and with help from our spy, we already know all about the quirks of the arrogant Class A!”

“Spy?!” Bakugou shouted, explosions popping from his hands, “I’ll kill them! And then I’ll take back my points and kill you too!”

“That false confidence will get you nowhere,” Monoma chided with a wicked grin, “Oh, but while I’m at it, don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did to my cousin.”

“HAH?! I DON’T KNOW ANY COUSINS!”

“Ah, ah, ah, I know it’s been a while, but that’s no good of you to forget so easily.” Monoma’s team easily dodged around Bakugou’s thanks to his copied quirks. “Of course, he’s been suppressing the memories since we were little, but I know the real reason he left school.”

“WHAT ARE YOU-”

“I know exactly who you are. Someone like you isn’t cut out for being a decent hero. ” 

“Monoma,” one of his teammates said, “Don’t provoke him! You’ll be the same as him!”

“Oh, how true! That wouldn't be very heroic of me to behave like him!

“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” Bakugou shouted, moving his team to rush for Monoma, but they easily dodged to the side one more time, with Monoma raising his hand towards the volatile blonde’s face.

“Izuchan hasn’t thought of Kacchan for years,” Monoma said lowly, spitting out Bakugou’s long-forgotten nickname like it was poison, “He’s got me, his childhood best friend, his Tocchan to support him through everything. You are nothing to him.”

And without another word, Monoma fired the copied quirk in Bakugou’s own face.)

“Good job, Blondie!” Tomura cheered, “Come on, baby brother! Don’t let the ice kid corner you!”

“His name is Shouto,” Natsuo reminded him, “But let’s go, Shouto! Make a move or get going!”

Almost on cue, Iida activated his engines and Yaoyorozu began making a grounding spike, tossing an insulation blanket over the team while Kaminari began to emit sparks of electricity. Tomura began picking at the edges of his gloves as other groups began rushing towards them as well, his stress only increasing when Kaminari launched his full attack. The shock was blocked by the living shadow, who began to wail in pain, but it also had the adverse effect of electrocuting the approaching teams as well.

Taking hold of the grounding spike, Todoroki sent ice spreading across the ground, rendering the other teams immobile while also snatching away their headbands, creating a massive wall of ice that separated Izuku’s team from all the others. The two teams played a tense game of cat and mouse, the minutes ticking by without any progress made, and Tomura’s hands twitched with the desire to decay something, just to relieve the tension.

“ONE MINUTE LEFT! TODOROKI HAS BOXED MIDORIYA OFF FROM THE REST OF THE ARENA, LEAVING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR HIM TO SNATCH AWAY THE TEN MILLION AT ANY MOMENT!”

“Why hasn’t he escaped yet,” Tomura whined, pulling at loose threads on his gloves, “He could use fire breathing to melt the ice wall, but why isn’t he doing it?”

“Actually, I think that there’s something up with that shadow thing,” Natsuo said, slinging an arm across Tomura’s shoulders and gesturing towards the field, “It was attacking pretty viciously, but after that electric kid shocked it, it’s almost been timid, like it’s afraid of getting close again.”

“The light,” Tomura gasped, “Its weakness is light, that’s why they’re not using fire breath.”

“So fire breathing is your brother’s quirk?”

“Not quite,” Tomura began, but gasped when Iida began charging up his engines, “What’s that kid doing?”

Natsuo didn’t even get the chance to respond when team Todoroki tore across the field, faster than anything Tomura had ever seen before, ripping away the ten million points in the blink of an eye.

“WHA- TEAM TODOROKI HAS TAKEN THE TEN MILLION, LEAVING TEAM MIDORIYA WITH ZERO POINTS! THE TABLES HAVE BEEN TURNED!”

(Izuku screamed in rage, turning towards Todoroki with fire in his eyes, “WE ARE GOING TO GET IT BACK! WE DON’T KNOW HOW THE OTHER POINTS WERE SPLIT UP, SO OUR ONLY CHANCE IS TEN MILLION!”

“Then let’s go for it!” Uraraka shouted, and the team started running towards Todoroki. Izuku yelled as he pulled back his arm, sending in muscle augmentation, extended limbs, and iron fist, swinging right towards Todoroki. But suddenly, Todoroki’s left arm burst into flames, swinging his arm next to Izuku’s face. It didn’t matter though, because Izuku quickly switched to a wind manipulation quirk, extinguishing Todoroki’s flames in one swift movement, ripping away a single headband as they ran past.)

“Woah!” Natsuo jumped in his seat, “Did you just see that?!”

“I did,” Tomura’s eyes narrowed at Todoroki, wondering if that was his baby brother’s fire breathing quirk, “Baby brother stole his points back.”

But that wasn’t the case. Tomura choked and coughed when Present Mic announced that his baby brother had only stolen 70 points, and the arena quickly turned into a hot mess. Bakugou exploded through the ice wall with his team running under him right as Izuku approached Todoroki again, Dark Shadow attacking and being stopped by Kaminari’s lightning yet again. Tomura gripped the edge of his seat, the plastic cracking right as Izuku reached out, fingertips brushing the fabric of the headbands-

“TIME’S UP!” Present Mic announced abruptly, and Tomura felt like he had just been punched in the face from the way it interrupted the flow of the game. “THAT’S THE END OF THE SECOND ROUND! NOW, LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THOSE SCORES RIGHT AWAY!”

(Izuku’s head hung low in shame, attempting to hide  the wetness building behind his eyes. He had lost, had gotten his team eliminated; even worse, he had failed in front of his Nii-chan, who hated leaving the house more than anything, who had come just to support Izuku in the festival.)

“IN FIRST PLACE, TEAM TODOROKI!”

“SECOND PLACE, TEAM BAKUGOU!”

(“I’m sorry,” Izuku mumbled to his teammates, having managed to pull himself to his feet, “I messed up. I grabbed the wrong headband.”

Uraraka and Mei looked at him strangely, but smiles quickly overtook their confusion.)

“IN THIRD PLACE, TEAM TESTU- WAIT, NO, IT’S TEAM SHINSOU! WHERE DID THEY COME FROM!”

(“Todoroki was shaken by your attack,” Tokoyami explained, “I hoped to get the ten million, but rarely does life grant us our desires.”

Izuku’s heart stuttered as Dark Shadow slowly came out from behind Tokoyami with a headband in his beak.

“I took the one on his head where his guard was the weakest. But it was only possible thanks to the opening you created.” Tokoyami insisted as Dark Shadow gave Izuku a thumbs up.)

“IN FOURTH PLACE, TEAM MIDORIYA!”

Izuku immediately burst into tears, crying so hard that the ground underneath him cracked, and Tomura jumped straight out of his seat, grabbing Natsuo by the shoulder and shaking him as he celebrated.

“THAT’S MY BABY BROTHER! HE DID IT! HE SHOWED ALL OF YOU SECOND-RATE NPC’S!!”

“THESE FOUR TEAMS WILL ADVANCE TO THE FINAL ROUND!”

(“THAT’S MY NEPHEW! HE DID IT! HE’S GOING TO THE FINALS!”

“Way to go, Green!”

“SEVENTH, PLEASE LET ME GO HUG MY NEPHEW!”

“Absolutely not! How would Eighth explain why he’s hugging a random student?!”

“Seventh! You’re being so mean! I just wanna hug my nephew!”)

Tomura sniffled quietly and put his hands over his eyes to hide the tears threatening to escape; he might not be a biological Midoriya, but he had somehow managed to gain their ability to cry waterfalls. Raising his head just enough to see his baby brother get tackled into hugs with his friends, Tomura felt his heart swell with too many emotions.

“I’m so proud of him.”

"Do you want to go get some snacks with me?" Natsuo asked casually once the intermission had been announced 

“Sure,” Tomura agreed easily, “I didn’t get to have my cereal this morning, so I’m really hungry too.”

Natsuo smiled at Tomura, standing to his feet and offering a hand to help the blue-haired boy stand. “I’m feeling yakisoba, does that sound good to you?”

Taking Natsuo’s hand and being pulled out of his seat, Tomura felt that odd fuzzy warmth return but decided to ignore it for the time being. It was rather nice walking with Natsuo, especially since his big frame was able to part the crowd easily, and Tomura knew that he wouldn’t have handled the number of people so well if he was alone. The only part Tomura didn’t like was how increasingly jumpy the larger boy got the farther along they walked. He would pause at odd times, jolt when people passed them from behind, and it was starting to really annoy Tomura. 

(“Midoriya,” Todoroki said, startling Izuku just as he had begun to walk away with his friends, “I need to talk to you privately.)

He was about to snap and demand to know what was going on when Natsuo froze midstep, looking over his shoulder and inhaling sharply, grabbing Tomura’s hand and yanking him down a hallway.

“Wha-” Natsuo cut off Tomura’s demands by covering his mouth with his hand, pulling Tomura closer and keeping him quiet as a scorching hot figure lumbered past them. Tomura stayed quiet and observed Natsuo’s expressions while they hid; the large boy looked almost afraid, something that Tomura found looked out of place on him, but there was a trace of anger in those eyes, replicated in the way his hands were shaking on Tomura’s back. It took a few minutes, but eventually Natsuo sighed heavily, the tension dropping from his shoulders when he did.

(Izuku’s fidgeting increased as Todoroki continued to stare at him. Was this a cutscene? Was Todoroki about to make his role as the love interest?

“So, uh, what did you want to talk about?”)

“I’m sorry,” Natsuo said softly, “I just couldn’t let him see me.”

Tomura frowned. “What do you mean? Who was that?”

“My father.”

(“I was overpowered,” Todoroki muttered, “So much so that I broke my pledge.”

“Pledge? As in…your left side?”

“None of the others felt it,” Todoroki ignored Izuku’s question, but Izuku got the sense that his guess was right, “And in that last moment, I was the only one who was overpowered. I was the only one of that group who had experienced the power in the USJ, when you fought off the villains and when that vigilante finished them off.”)

“I’m kind of pathetic,” Natsuo sighed weakly, his arms still wrapped around Tomura, “I came here specifically to spite him, but I’m still too scared to face him.”  

“Explain.” Tomura demanded, “What’s your reason for coming here, why are you so scared of your dad, explain it all.”

“Pushy, aren’t we?” Natsuo laughed, but it quickly fizzled out, “It’s not a happy story.”

“You haven’t unlocked my complete backstory either. I’m adopted, I know a thing or two about unhappy families.”

“Oh,” Natsuo sounded surprised, “Uh, yeah, I’ll tell you about it.”

(“And for some reason, I’ve seen All Might observing you closely. So, I have to wonder…are you All Might’s secret love child or something?”

Izuku’s jaw dropped open, the urge to gag building up within him.

“No, absolutely not, no way. I’m definitely my father’s son, I’m not even related to All Might! He's probably an incel or something!”)

“I told you that my father is a hero, but he’s not just any hero. He’s Endeavor, and he’s not a good man.”

Tomura scrunched his nose in disgust. “I hate Endeavor. He was sent to save baby brother once, but he didn’t care about burning him. He’s the kind of hero I hate the most.”

“Well, that’s something we agree on,” Natsuo chuckled, “My father…all he wanted was to become stronger than All Might, but he was never able to do it himself. He’s been stuck as the number two hero for forever.”

(“Because my old man never managed to surpass All Might, he moved on to his next plan.”

“Todoroki?” Izuku gulped, “What are you trying to tell me?”

Todoroki leveled his gaze at Izuku, his grey and blue eyes burning into him. “You’ve heard of Quirk marriages, right?”)

“Endeavor had many accomplishments and plenty of money. He used those to charm my mom’s family and set up a marriage, all to get a hold of her quirk.” Natsuo removed a hand from Tomura’s back, holding it between them and letting little ice crystals fall from his fingertips. “She’s got a pretty strong ice quirk, and Endeavor wanted to use that to have a child that would withstand even hotter flames.”

(“I was created for the single purpose of becoming a hero that would surpass All Might. It’s so annoying,” Todoroki growled, “I refuse to be a tool for scum like that. Because of him, my mother was always crying. Because of him, my mother found my left side so unsightly she poured boiling water on me.”)

“He’s truly disgusting,” Natsuo was seething, and Tomura clenched his jaw to keep himself from interrupting, “He kept making our mother have children until he got one with the right quirk. My older brother’s fire wasn’t right, my sister wasn’t the strong boy he wanted, I had an ice quirk instead of the flames he wanted. When Shouto was born, Endeavor took one look at his hair and decided that he had the right quirk. He separated him from us, never let him play like a normal kid, he treated a tiny little kid like he was nothing but a weapon!”

(“I picked a fight with you to show him what I can do, to show him that I can be strong without using his quirk. I’m going to reject him by becoming a hero with just my right side.”)

“I used to resent Shouto. I didn’t understand what was really happening, I was jealous that Shouto got all of our father’s attention and blamed him for it unfairly. If it wasn’t for one of my friends, I never would’ve realized that I was wrong to do that.” Natsuo paused, smiling fondly at Tomura. “He kind of reminds me of you, actually. He’s got a little brother that he loves more than anything, and the way he talks about his brother really made me want to actually bond with Shouto.”

Tomura just stared at Natsuo, observing him silently and processing everything he had said. No matter how he thought of it, he only came to one conclusion every time.

(“Todoroki,” Izuku began, grabbing him right as he turned to walk away, “Do you want me to kill your dad?”

“What?”

“I said, do you want me to kill your dad?”

“Oh, I see. You’re using exaggeration as a form of humor to lessen the gravity of the situation. That was a very good joke, Midoriya,” Todoroki said seriously, and Izuku wanted to slap himself on the forehead.)

“Are you sure you don’t want your dad dead?” Tomura asked, but Natsuo just laughed in response (it was strange for him to laugh so deeply while holding onto Tomura; Natsuo’s shoulders shook and jostled Tomura with each laugh).

“You really are something special, you know that, right?”

(“But what if I wasn’t joking? What if I could tell someone and they’d get rid of Endeavor for you?”

“...I feel as though I legally shouldn’t answer that.”

“Shoot, you’re right. Mom said she won’t defend any of us in court if we do something that stupid. But…do you want to be friends, at least?”

“Friends?”

“Y-yeah! I think you’re pretty cool – uh, no pun intended – and my brother keeps telling me I need less loud and blonde friends.”)

Tomura couldn’t come up with an answer, not with the way his heart was pounding and his face felt warm. He didn’t know why he felt this way - Natsuo had shown him his ice quirk, it shouldn’t have raised Tomura’s body temperature like this! Unless…his brother apparently had two quirks, and his father had a fire quirk, so was it really such a strange thought that part of Natsuo’s quirk was raising the body temperature of people he touched?

“C’mon,” Natsuo said after his laughter died down, finally releasing Tomura from his grip, “Let’s go get that yakisoba. I’m pretty sure that Endeavor is long gone, and all that emotional stuff made me even hungrier.” 

Tomura took a step back, giving Natsuo room to move, feeling like he was more connected with him than they had been just a few minutes earlier. Was this what it was like to have a real-life friend? Maybe he could get Natsuo’s game ID and introduce him to NoHeat and SmallZilla - Tomura had a feeling they would get along really well. Maybe he and SmallZilla could convince Natsuo and NoHeat that it’s okay to kill their fathers!

“HEY, EVERYONE!” Present Mic shouted once the festival resumed after the lunch break, “ARE YOU READY!”

The audience roared in excitement, eager for the last round of the Sports Festival - Tomura included, who had really started to enjoy Natsuo’s presence, even if his fever quirk made him feel like his heart was going to beat out of his chest.

“THE SIXTEEN WHO MADE IT TO THE FINAL ROUND WILL DUKE IT OUT TOURNAMENT STYLE, ONE-ON-ONE! OUR FIRST MATCH - MIDORIYA VERSUS SHIOZAKI!” 

“A grass type,” Tomura mumbled once Shiozaki came into view, huffing in amusement, “This’ll be over quickly.”

“Hmm?” Natsuo leaned forward to get a better look at the two green-haired students in the ring, “Am I finally going to get to see his mysterious quirk?”

“Just watch,” Tomura grinned, unable to resist the appeal of surprising the larger boy.

“FROM CLASS B, A ROSE WITH PLENTY OF THORNS, SHIOZAKI IBARA! VERSUS, SOMEONE WHOSE QUIRK IS A BIT MYSTERIOUS, MIDORIYA IZUKU OF CLASS A!”

The two teens bowed respectfully (baby brother was always attached to fighters’ etiquette, something that Tomura thought was a stupid waste of time), getting into fighting stances.

“BATTLE: START!” Midnight shouted, and immediately Shiozaki turned her back towards Izuku, clasping her hands in front of her chest as the vines on her head plunged into the ground. Izuku jumped to the side, avoiding a pillar of vines that had surely meant to capture him, and Tomura could see the mischievous smirk on his brother’s face.

Tomura leaned towards Natsuo. “Have you ever played Pokémon?” 

“Eh? Y-yeah, but why are you asking that now?”

“Because,” Tomura began as Izuku inhaled as deeply as he could, “Everyone knows you should never play a grass type against a fire type.”

Izuku opened his mouth, flames spewing from his throat as if he was a dragon, the fire reducing the vines around him to ash. Shiozaki yelped and turned around, gasping at the sight before her, and sent more vines traveling through the ground. Izuku maneuvered around the attack, but he ended up surrounded by a ring of vines that slowly began to close around him.

(“Keep your eyes open, Nii-chan,” Izuku thought as he took another deep breath, bending his knees and twisting as he jumped into the air, “I’ll show you why Charmander is better!”)

Tomura roared as his brother spun around in the air, a tornado of flames spiraling around him, blazing so hot that Shiozaki’s vines never stood a chance; the girl looked at the inferno in horror, stepping backward to prevent the flames from getting too close to her head.

“SHIOZAKI IS OUT OF BOUNDS! MIDORIYA ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND!”

“See what I mean?” Tomura shouted over the cheering of the crowd, “Finished faster than one of my speedruns!”

“That was crazy!” Natsuo said, “His control with his quirk is insane!”

“And that’s only a small part of his quirk.” Tomura beamed, unable to resist the opportunity to brag a little. “Bet your brother can’t do anything that cool.”

“I mean…he definitely does cool stuff, cause you know, ice quirk.”

“I hate you,” Tomura groaned at Natsuo’s pun, but there was no malice in his tone - based on Natsuo’s stupid smile, he knew that Tomura hadn’t meant it seriously.

“SINCE THAT ROUND WAS SO FAST, LET’S GET STARTED WITH THE SECOND ROUND! TODOROKI VERSUS SERO!”

Tomura expected Natsuo to join in on the audience’s shouts of excitement, but the moment his brother entered the arena, the white-haired boy’s back went ramrod straight.

“This is bad,” Natsuo said under his breath, “It’s definitely Endeavor’s fault.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Shouto’s angry,” Natsuo’s voice was low, “And when he’s upset, he had a harder time controlling his quirk.”

“It can’t be that bad ri-”

Tomura’s words were caught in his throat the moment a massive glacier enveloped Shouto’s opponent, the temperature of the stadium dropping instantly and making Tomura shiver violently.

“Sero, can you move?” Midnight asked through chattering teeth, to which the boy stammered out that he could not, “Sero is immobilized! Todoroki advances to the second round!”

“I-isn’t that a b-bit much?” Tomura asked, his hands tucked into his hoodie sleeves in a poor attempt to warm up, “And h-how come you’re not c-cold?”

“Ice quirk, remember? I’m better at handling cold temperatures than most people.” Natsuo shrugged, casting a glance at Tomura before wrapping his arm around the blue-haired boy and pulling his shivering form flush against his torso. “Hope you don’t mind. I’ve been told that I'm great for hugging when it’s cold, and you looked a little chilly.”

Tomura wanted to say something snarky, but he was too cold to think and Natsuo’s body heat did no favors for his mushy brain. Part of Tomura thought it was stupid of him to be so casual with a random stranger (he’s a villian, for crying out loud! He shouldn't be cozying up to a hero’s son like this!), but the other part said that Natsuo really was nice to be next to while people worked to melt the glacier.

It was just because Natsuo’s fever-inducing side-quirk was good for counteracting the freezing temperatures. Definitely not because he liked being close to the boy. 

Once the ice had been cleared out, the Sports Festival continued in its full glory, and Tomura found himself enjoying it much more than the years prior when his dad and baby brother used it to perform hours of quirk analysis. He got to see French Blondie get knocked out by Pinky, Bird Boy take down Printer, Explosion and Floaty’s epic fight, Item Carrier use Fast Kid as a live advertisement - but the best moment so far was watching Purple Kid beat Electric Blondie without throwing a single punch.

(“Sorry, Shinsou,” Kaminari began, stretching his arms and definitely not trying to show off his athletic frame, “But I’m giving it my all, even if I have to take you down! But if you’d like, we can grab a bite to eat and you can cry on my shoulder after!”

“Thanks for the offer, Kaminari, but I don’t think I’ll be the one crying today,” Shinsou smirked, his posture relaxed even as Midnight called for the fight to begin, “Hey, Kaminari, if I win, will you give me a kiss?”

“A what?!” Kaminari squeaked, his face flushing red while his eyes glazed over.

“Thanks for the response, hot stuff. Kaminari, turn around and walk out of bounds.”)

Tomura hadn’t laughed this hard in ages. The only thing that would’ve made it better is if stupid Cousin Blondie got completely decimated in a fight too. Since everything was going so well this far, it only made sense that Tomura would feel his Izuku sense go off right before baby brother’s match with Natsuo’s brother.

(Izuku yelped as he nearly ran into someone coming around the corner, almost screaming in shock when he recognized the man as Endeavor.

“There you are,” Endeavor said, stepping towards Izuku and not noticing the way the boy backed away.)

“Everything okay?” Natsuo asked, having felt Tomura tense up, but Tomura didn’t quite know the answer for that.

“Something’s wrong with baby brother, I can feel it.”

(“I watched your fight. Your fire quirk is incredible, and it will be perfect to encourage Shouto to finally accept his purpose. It is his duty to surpass All Might, so please don’t disgrace yourself during the match.”)

“Eh? Are you sure? His match is starting in 5 minutes!”

“Trust me,” Tomura closed his eyes to focus on his Izuku Sense, “Baby brother can get in trouble at any moment. I can tell when he’s in trouble.”

(“Endeavor, I wish I had an ounce of the sheer audacity you have,” Izuku hissed, doing everything he could to suppress his homicidal urges, “And let me tell you something. Shouto can do whatever he wants. If he wants to be a better hero than you with just his ice, then he’s going to do it. At least he doesn’t have to hope his kids are stronger than he is just to win a pissing contest he’s playing by himself!”

“You insolent brat-!”

“Oh, is that the sound of an irrelevant flop talking? I can see the headlines now: ‘Endeavor attacks son of popular Prime Minister candidate unprovoked, hero license suspended!’ Gotta say, that’s certainly one way to help my dad win the race!”)

“IT’S THE MOMENT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!” Present Mic hollered, “THE FIRST MATCH OF THE SECOND ROUND, AND WE’VE GOT TWO HEAVY HITTERS!”

“I’ve got to find baby brother,” Tomura said, but Natsuo’s grip on his arm held him back.

“THE MAN WHO’S BEEN CONSISTENTLY ON TOP OF THE GAME AND LITERALLY LEFT THE AUDIENCE FROZEN, TODOROKI SHOUTO!”

“He’ll be fine!” Natsuo insisted, “He probably just…needed to use the bathroom or something!”

“AND ON THE OTHER SIDE, HE SOARED THROUGH THE AIR IN THE FIRST ROUND, BARELY PASSED THE SECOND, AND LIT THINGS UP IN THE THIRD, MIDORIYA IZUKU!”

“It’s not the bathroom, something wasn’t right! Let me go-”

“Sorry I’m late!” Izuku shouted as he ran into the ring, “I got kind of lost, that’s all!”

“See? He’s here, and he looks alright to me.”

“He’s okay now,” Tomura grumbled, crossing his arms and slumping in his seat, “But I wasn’t wrong. Something definitely happened.”

“TWO OF THE STRONGEST FIGHTERS FACING OFF IN A DUEL OF FIRE AND ICE, THE FATED RIVALS MEETING AT LAST! MIDORIYA VERSUS TODOROKI - START!”

Without hesitation, Todoroki shifted his right foot, sending a massive wave of ice rushing towards Izuku. Izuku quickly breathed in, waiting for the right moment to send out a concentrated stream of fire that melted the glacier. But Todoroki was relentless, sending another ice wall before Izuku could ready his superheated breath, and the green-haired boy barely managed to melt a gap large enough for him to pass through.

“Shouto’s ice is moving too fast,” Natsuo commented, “He’s making it faster than Midoriya can breathe, and it’s too cold for him to keep melting it completely.”

Tomura merely scoffed at his observation. “You’ve pigeonholed him to be the most obvious thing, but my baby brother has more than one skill maxed out.”

Yet another wall of ice was thrust at Izuku, but he was ready this time; channeling Muscle Boost, Wind Manipulation, Heatwave, and several strength enhancers into his arm, he punched the wall of ice right as it came in front of him, the entire thing shattering to pieces with the strength of the blow.

“What was that?” Natsuo screeched, but Tomura had his focus locked on his baby brother. He had trained with the teen his entire life, and he knew that a combination of quirks that strong was likely too much for his body to handle. 

“MIDORIYA, WHAT WAS THAT ATTACK?! HE DESTROYED TODOROKI’S ICE WITH A SINGLE PUNCH! WHAT KIND OF QUIRK DOES THIS GUY HAVE?!”

“It’s irrational to judge someone’s ability based on a single instance,” Eraserhead drawled, “Just because he breathed fire before doesn’t mean that’s his true quirk.”

“It’s Borrowing,” Tomura said softly, the rehearsed lie coming out so easily it might as well be true, “He can borrow the quirks of anyone he touches, including any pieces of their DNA. He keeps hairs in his pocket to always have quirks on hand, and he has complete mastery of those quirks.”

( “Holy crow that hurts,” Izuku grit his teeth as he launched another punch, “I won’t be able to keep this up forever, my durability isn’t high enough!” )

“Seriously? That is so overpowered!” Natsuo groaned, “He could have any quirk he wanted, just like that?!”

“It’s not that simple,” Tomura corrected, wincing when one more glacier was blown to pieces, “Sure, he can take a quirk from anyone, but that doesn’t mean he can use it perfectly right away. He’s spent years training with quirks to get where he is today.”

( “My right hand is definitely out of commission!” Izuku could taste metal on his tongue, his healing quirks unable to heal the damage fast enough, but Todoroki changed tactics, running at him instead of sending another ice wall. The change shocked Izuku enough that he launched a quirk-powered punch with his right hand, but Todoroki easily jumped over the attack.)

Izuku narrowly dodged Todoroki’s downward strike, but his foot got caught in the ice crystals that rapidly grew from the area of impact. He didn’t punch his way out of it this time, blowing a stream of fire on it instead that unfortunately turned his shoe to ashes.

“This is bad,” Tomura grimaced, “He doesn’t have lots of quirks that work with feet, and now his foot is going to get cold!”

( “Great, now my feet are gonna end up on the internet! And why do I have so many fire resistance quirks, but not a single ice resistant one?! My toes are freezing!”

Ruthless as ever, Todoroki sent more massive shards of ice at Izuku, who instinctively used the excessively strong punch to completely destroy it yet again - however, the attack had pain overtaking Izuku’s senses, and he was vaguely aware of the fact that the arm was broken.

“That attack was much more powerful than before,” Todoroki’s voice was flat, pushing aside the pillar of ice keeping him in the ring, “Are you trying to tell me to stay away? That isn’t making a good case for your offer of friendship.”

Izuku clenched his jaw, forcing himself to focus despite the overwhelming pain, shakily lifting his head to glare at Todoroki.

“Are you that injured from just defending and dodging?” Todoroki taunted, but Izuku’s eyes latched onto patches of frost building up on his right side. Briefly activating All For One, Izuku could see Todoroki’s quirk orb, a red and white marble, with licks of flame on the left side and waves of frost on the right. Most importantly, however, was the fact that the ice was turning dark blue - the same color as frostbitten appendages - and slowly encroaching on the red side.

“I apologize for making you hurt yourself,” Todoroki continued, “But thanks. That man’s face looks pissed off, and it’s all thanks to you. With your arm injured like that, you can’t fight anymore, so let’s end this now.”)

“TODOROKI KEEPS ATTACKING WITH OVERWHELMING POWER! HERE COMES THE FINISHING ICE ATTACK!”

The spears of ice were absolutely enormous and should have been the finishing move, but Tomura screeched in horror when baby brother flicked his fingers on his broken arm, destroying the ice along with his already mangled fingers and sending Todoroki flying towards the boundary line only to be stopped by a small ice wall.

(“Why are you going so far? Why are you destroying your body like this?” Todoroki demanded, but Izuku cast a raving glare at him.

“You’re trembling, Todoroki. You’re being hypocritical, saying I’m destroying my body when you’re hurting yours too. There’s a limit to how cold you can get, but you can fix it with a little bit of fire - that’s how your quirk is meant to work!”)

Izuku’s arms were a deep purple, likely from internal bleeding, and Tomura was scratching his neck vigorously as his panic increased. 

(“Everyone’s fighting with all they’ve got, but you’re not even giving them the decency of giving all your effort! You haven’t even put a single scratch on me, every injury I got is something I did myself! So come at me with everything you’ve got!”

Todoroki glared at Izuku, scowling as his annoyance increased.

“Midoriya, what are you trying? Did my old man buy you off or something? That’s the real reason you were late, isn’t it? Now I’m really pissed off!” Todoroki growled, darting for Izuku, but Izuku lowered his stance, punching Todoroki in the stomach despite his injuries.)

“Baby brother,” Tomura wailed, blood coating his neck and fingers, “Stop it! I know I always tell you to win, but it’s okay to lose too! It’s okay to run away and level up before fighting a boss!”

“This is way too brutal,” Natsuo squirmed in his seat, his hand twitching near the fingers gouging into Tomura’s neck, “Shouldn’t they stop the match?!”

“IT’S YOUR POWER,” Izuku screamed, loud enough to be picked up by the microphones, “NO ONE ELSE’S BUT YOURS! YOU DECIDE HOW TO USE IT - YOU DECIDE IF YOU HELP OR HURT PEOPLE WITH IT! NO ONE CAN DO IT FOR YOU!”

And just like that, the arena erupted into flames, completely surrounding both of the boys, but this time they weren’t coming from Izuku - they were Shouto’s flames, massive, bright, unrestrained, and (in Izuku’s eyes) absolutely breathtaking.

“He did it,” Natsuo gasped, eyes wide with wonder, “He got Shouto to use his fire.”

(“Why are you smiling?” Todoroki asked, “With those injuries, in this situation…you’re crazy. Don’t blame me for what happens next.”

And with a slight shifting of his right foot, ice rose to match the flames on his left - a terrifying sight for most people, but…

To Izuku, the boy surrounded by objectively terrifying people, he had never seen a sight more beautiful in his life.)

Izuku launched himself in the air as the concrete of the arena began to shift, narrowly avoiding the barrage of ice while Todoroki gathered his flames. Tomura braced himself, reaching for his phone to call Kurogiri to transport them to the Doctor immediately, but the arena practically exploded without warning, the wind nearly sending people flying out of their seats and steam obscuring the view of the ring.

“What was that just now?” Present Mic asked weakly, “Eraser, what’s wrong with your class?”

“The air that had been cooled was suddenly heated up and expanded, resulting in an explosion of steam.”

“How hot was that? And I can’t see a thing? Who won the match?!”

Tomura strained to see through the steam, clutching Natsuo’s arm tightly as he attempted to spot his baby brother. The sight that greeted him once the air cleared, though, was not one he ever wanted to see - his baby brother, unconscious on the ground, his arms a sickening color.

“M-Midoriya is out of bounds,” Midnight said, pointing her whip towards the one still standing, “Todoroki wins!”

As the crowd began to cheer for the shellshocked winner, the stress finally became too much for Tomura, resulting in him ripping off one of his gloves, reaching to the side, and decaying the empty seat next to him.

He should’ve known a fire-type would do this to his baby brother.

“I hate this school,” Tomura growled, still upset that the idiot heroes hadn’t let him into the infirmary to see his brother, “I’m having a serious talk with baby brother to convince him to leave and come back home.”

“On the bright side, at least he’s okay!” Natsuo said weakly, trying to calm down the seething villain (not that he knew it) at his side, “Recovery Girl’s the best of the best, and he didn’t need surgery!”

Tomura scoffed but said nothing, decaying a trash can as he walked past it, pretending that it was a hero instead (he would’ve decayed the heroes that kept him away from baby brother, but he didn’t want to do it in front of Natsuo - he might not like that as much as Tomura would).

“The whole Sports Festival is stupid. They should’ve stopped the match when baby brother ruined his arms!”

“...you got me there. I really don’t see why hero schools push the students so far. It’s important for heroes to know restraint, too.”

“Purple kid didn’t even win,” Tomura continued to complain, “Baby brother went through all the trouble of having him walk the dog, and he got knocked out by your stupid, lying, fire-type brother. He’s as bad as the Blondies!”

“I’ll politely ignore what you said about Shouto because I know you’re a little stressed out,” Natsuo said, guiding Tomura down the hallway leading to the exit, “So, you have a dog?”

“Tch, don’t know how, but yeah, it’s a dog. Its name is Stitches, it’s literally as big as a horse, and it’s the ugliest dog I’ve ever had the misfortune of laying my eyes on.”

“So…you don’t like the dog?”

“Are you kidding? Stitches is my dog, I love it- hey!” Tomura said indignantly as someone bumped into his shoulder hard, “What gives? I’m walking-”

Tomura’s eyes widened as the man who ran into him began coughing up blood, panic overtaking him and leaving him unable to say anything of use.

“Sir? Are you alright?” Natsuo jumped in, “I can guide you to the infirmary if you need it, or I can do first aid! I’m a medical student!”

“That’s quite alright, my boy,” the man coughed, “It’s chronic, I’m afraid, but it’s nothing I can’t handle!”

Tomura squinted at the man, feeling like he recognized him from somewhere. He had blonde, scraggly hair, eyes so sunken into his face they were shrouded in shadows, and he was so thin that a mild breeze could probably blow him over. Really, it looked like he was home- oh.

“Sorry,” Tomura mumbled, pulling out a wrinkled dollar bill from his pocket, “I hope this can help you for a little while.”

“Ah! I, um- thank you, my boy!” The man stammered, and after a few more tense seconds of staring, Natsuo grabbed Tomura’s arm and pulled him away.

“What was that all about?” Natsuo whispered once they were out of earshot, making Tomura shrug in response.

“He looked homeless, probably  snuck in to steal food from some merchants, so I gave him a dollar.”

Natsuo blinked a few times, erupting in incredulous laughter.

“I can’t- you seriously-” he gasped for air between laughs, “Tomura, you are the funniest guy I’ve ever met. We have got to hang out again!”

“How is giving a homeless guy a dollar funny?”

“I really want to keep talking with you,” Natsuo carried on, ignoring Tomura’s question, “How about we trade our game account IDs? I could use someone like you to play with.”

Tomura nodded before he realized he was doing it, but he was more shocked that he actually meant it. Was making real life friends really this easy, or was it just something about Natsuo?

“I’d like that a lot,” he answered, taking Natsuo’s phone from his outstretched hand to type in his information. “My name is DustBunny on all my accounts, but I share it with baby brother. To make sure people know who’s who, everyone calls me Dusty and baby brother Bunny.”

Tomura lifted his head to hand back the phone, but Natsuo was gaping at him with his mouth hanging open. It was kind of freaking Tomura out.

“Uh…Natsuo? Are you-”

“Do you play games with SmallZilla and NoHeatAllCheats?”

Now it was Tomura’s turn to gawk at Natsuo. “How do you know those names? They’re my gaming friends.”

“Wow,” Natsuo laughed, running a hand through his hair, “This is actually insane!”

“If you don’t start explaining in three seconds, I’m running away.”

“I think a reintroduction is in order,” Natsuo stepped towards Tomura, smiling at him in the way that made Tomura’s face feel uncomfortably warm, “Especially now that I know that the DustBunny is so cute. So, what’s up, Dusty? You can call me NoHeat.”

(“That was my other nephew!! He gave us a dollar!! He’s so sweet and kind! I wanna hug him!"

“Seventh? You look like you’ve seen a ghost? What’s wrong?”

“…you’re gonna think I’m crazy.”

“Last time one of us said that, it was First swearing that Midoriya was his nephew. I’m sure it can’t be that wild!”

“…I’m pretty sure that boy is my grandson.”

“…First, did you put something in Seventh’s water?”

“I’m over here trying not to cry over my other cute nephew and you’re accusing me of drugging someone?! We’re literally spirits, we can’t even drink water!”

“Seventh, didn’t your son’s family all die in an accident? How can you be so sure that’s your grandson?”

“Think about it. The house was clearly affected by a quirk, the attack came out of nowhere, and the youngest son was conveniently missing? Now we stumble upon a boy who’s the right age for my missing grandson, he even looks like me if my hair was white, and he had half-gloves on to counteract a quirk?! It’s too convenient!”

“But Seventh, you do realize that means your grandson…All For One took your grandson and probably raised him to be a villain.”

“...First, am I allowed to kill your brother yet?”

“No way! Hisashi raised such sweet nephews for me! And how dare you say my nephew is a villain? He just gave us a dollar, he’s just a kind and caring boy!”

“He’s not even biologically related to you! He’s my grandson!”

“Woooooow, you’re invalidating the familial bonds of an adopted child with their adoptive family? That’s low, Seventh.”

“Stop twisting my words around! We’re going to see my grandson!”

“Nuh uh! You wouldn’t let me see my nephews, now it’s your turn to suffer!”

“Is it just me, or is First a real brat sometimes?”

“He’s literally the youngest child, he was spoiled too much.”

“I am not spoiled! And I’m not a brat!”

“Sounds like something a spoiled brat would say.”

“Since when is it bully First day?! I just wanted to see my nephews!”)

Chapter Text

Things were a bit…strange…after the Sports Festival.

It wasn’t like everything was suddenly different. Of course, Inko and Hisashi had immediately descended on Izuku, armed with bubble wrap and a 2-hour lecture demanding to know what in the world was he thinking to destroy his arms like that?! Did he need to retake his lessons on knowing when it was wiser to back down from a fight?! They have half a mind to press charges against the school for letting that Todoroki boy go so far…but since he’s Izuku’s new friend, they’ll be more than happy to just settle for grounding Izuku for the week!

No, the strange part was Tomura . Ever since he met Izuku at the entrance to the stadium with Kurogiri, Tomura had been acting…weird. His face was all red, he was jumpy, but later he would stare at nothing for minutes at a time and sigh after long silences for no reason - he didn’t even notice the concerned looks his family had been giving him all throughout dinner and barely reacted when Izuku told them all about Shinsou getting approached with joining the hero course! Tomura never wasted an opportunity to say how much he hated the hero course!

Izuku knew that something had happened at the Sports Festival, and he was determined to figure out what that was. No matter how much his Nii-chan avoided the topic or made lame excuses, Izuku would win in the end; after all, he was a master at playing games in the long run. Obviously, his brother would be the most defensive about the incident in the days after it happened, but if he waited a few weeks to catch him off guard, Tomura would be singing like a canary.  

And, if he was being honest, Izuku was much too preoccupied to even attempt to uncover Tomura’s secret. The Blondes had claimed a large portion of Izuku’s time - gaming with Kaminari, discussing French cuisine with Aoyama, suffering through Tocchan’s lighthearted teasing - and they had all met up with Shinsou at his favorite cat cafe to celebrate his transfer to the hero course (which quickly turned into debating which of the hero classes he would thrive in). 

In a less jovial light, however, was the odd numbness in his chest after learning of the attack on Iida’s brother by the Hero Killer. Izuku had already known of Stain - Dad and Nii-chan kept tabs on all the prominent villains nowadays - and he was familiar with his MO. He understood where the villain was coming from, he really did, but he could easily imagine himself in Iida’s shoes - his Nii-chan attacked and paralyzed, having to resign from his dream job and his lifestyle permanently altered. Because of this, it didn’t surprise Izuku at all that his messages of support and concern to Iida went largely ignored.

The real surprise would come Monday morning after he had walked out of Kurogiri’s warp gate to head to school, fully expecting to meet up with his friends by the shoe lockers instead of the front gate due to the rain. He had shaken off some raindrops clinging to his eyelashes when he noticed someone standing in front of the school gates, but with their back turned to it as though they were waiting for someone. 

And gosh, Izuku thought once the mystery person’s umbrella shifted slightly, since when a scene from a romance anime jump out of the screen and land in front of me?

The ground was a bit misty from the downpour, the sound of cars driving past and splashing into puddles made the atmosphere feel a bit mysterious; raindrops rolling down the sides of the black umbrella and dripping in front of Izuku’s eyes should’ve obscured his vision but instead served as a dreamlike filter for the world around him, all making the sight of Todoroki's slightly damp red-and-white hair clinging to his face look heart-stoppingly beautiful.

“H-hi, Todoroki,” he forced himself to say when Todoroki turned around and his eyes landed on Izuku, making him suddenly realize he had been staring like a total creep. He wasn’t expecting a response, since Todoroki hadn’t exactly been open to small talk earlier in the year, but it seemed like the weekend’s surprises had not yet come to an end.

“Hello, Midoriya. I was waiting for you to show up.”

“Uh, m-me?”

“Yes, you.”

“Oh. But…why?”

“I didn’t see you again,” Todoroki began, eyes glancing down at Izuku’s raincoat-covered arms, “After I hurt you, that is. I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Ah- that makes sense!” Izuku moved to pull his sleeves up but was stopped by Todoroki placing a hand on his. Izuku looked up slightly to ask what he was doing, but Todoroki merely pointed up at the sky.

“It’s raining.” Todoroki’s simple answer made Izuku feel like an idiot, but he was pulled from his self-deprecating spiral by Todoroki moving closer and angling the umbrella to cover the both of them. “This should keep you dry.”

“That’s really thoughtful of you,” Izuku felt his face go red, and he began pulling his sleeves up to have an excuse to not look at Todoroki’s too-close face, “See? I’m totally fine! I just kind of crashed after I got healed, so my Nii-chan took me home to rest.”

Todoroki hummed thoughtfully after staring at Izuku’s uninjured arms, “That’s good. I would hate it if I had permanently injured you…or worse, scarred you.”

“Todoroki,” Izuku said softly, “I wouldn’t hate you if I got hurt. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with scars.”

“I know how much a scar can change your appearance,” Todoroki said, lifting a hand to touch his scar, “I often wonder…what I would look like without this ugly scar-”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Izuku demanded, gently squishing Todoroki’s face, “Scars don’t make anyone ugly, and I don’t care what you say!”

“But mine-”

“No buts! Your scar isn’t ugly at all - I think it makes you look like Prince Zuko, and he’s like everyone’s cartoon crush, especially in season three! Besides, Prince Zuko was voted hottest character with a scar and tragic backstory for a solid 100 years!”

Izuku ended his rant by staring directly into Todoroki’s eyes, looking for any hint that he might try to object again.

“I’m like Prince Zuko?” Todoroki blinked, tilting his head slightly, “So I’m…hot?”

Izuku retracted his hands like they had been burned, waving them in front of his face in protest. “I mean, objectively speaking, you’re hot - not that I’m saying that, but I mean, anyone can see that you’re hot! I sound stupid, I’m so-”

“I always thought I would be lukewarm, seeing that I’m half hot, half cold. It’s impossible for me to be completely hot when my left side is cold.”

“I- oh, Todoroki,” Izuku smiled with a sigh, “You sweet summer child.”

“I’m not a summer child?” Todoroki sounded confused, “I was born in January.”

“Oh my gosh,” you’re so adorably dumb, “You’re so behind on iconic media and common slang terms! That’s not good at all!” Izuku paused to take a breath, steeling his nerves before continuing, “If you’d like, you can come over to my house sometime so I can show you Avatar! That way you’ll understand what I mean when I say you’re like Zuko!”

Izuku stared at Todoroki hopefully, but the boy was either trying to be intimidating on purpose or eerily good at making himself look that way naturally. After a few tense moments of silence, Izuku nearly cried in relief when a hum from Todoroki broke it.

“I would like to do that with you,” he began, but the frown on his face told Izuku that he wasn’t done yet, “But I don’t know if I’ll be able to. My training schedule doesn’t allow for much free time.”

Oh, right. Izuku was so caught up in asking his question, he nearly forgot about the man unfortunately known as Todoroki’s father.

“You know, Todoroki, it would be super easy for some kind of misfortune to befall Endeavor that would suddenly clear up your training schedule.” Izuku casually mentioned while he and Todoroki finally began their trek inside the school grounds.

“I thought your mother had diverted you from all thoughts of attempted homicide.”

“What- no! I’m not gonna kill him!” Izuku insisted, “I was thinking more like dumping water on him, or spreading baby oil on the ground outside his agency! He looks about as old as my dad, and dad’s always complaining that one wrong fall will have his hip out of place for weeks!”

Yes, it was a subtle insult at Endeavor, but to be fair, Izuku’s dad looked really good for being nearly 200 years old! And his dad did in fact look younger than Endeavor - he had a great skincare routine! 

“Well,” Todoroki replied as they entered the building and he lowered his umbrella, “If some kind of accident were to happen that cancels my training, you’ll be the first to know.” The taller boy reached into his bag, pulled out his phone, and handed it to Izuku, “I will need your phone number though so I can tell you. And I would like to continue talking with you when I have free time.”

Izuku took a shaky breath and nodded once, trying not to freak out while putting his number in. He couldn’t believe Todoroki had seriously asked for his phone number! The situation was just too much!

“Thank you,” Todoroki said once his phone was returned, “Your friends want to talk to you, so I’ll see you in class.”

And he was off, giving a short nod to Izuku before walking away; Izuku didn’t even have time to think before Kaminari and Monoma lunged for him, with Shinsou observing behind them with a lazy grin.

“Izuchan, what was that about?! Did Todoroki apologize for hurting you?!” Monoma interrogated while Kaminari asked, “Did you get Todoroki’s number? Did he ask you out?!”

“Slow down you two,” Shinsou chuckled, peeling the blondes off of their shellshocked friend, “He can’t answer if you’re talking over him. Midoriya, care to tell us what just happened?”

“H-he wanted to make sure my arms were okay,” Izuku said quickly, trembling slightly while his heart pounded away, “A-and he said that he didn’t want me to have scars as ugly as his, but then I said scars aren’t ugly, his scar looks like Prince Zuko’s, and then I invited him to watch the show with me sometime since he’s never seen it! And he said that he’d like to, but since he doesn’t know when he won’t have to train, he wanted my number so he could let me know!”

“Zuko’s that character you had a crush on when we were kids, right? The one that had a fire quirk and a scar on his eye?” Monoma asked, grinning roguishly when Izuku turned beet red and nodded, “Izuchan, you naughty boy! I didn’t know you were so rebellious, going after a fire type like that! What would your brother say, I wonder?”

“T-tocchan! You can’t tell him, ever! He’d kill me if he knew I was friends with a fire type!”

“C’mon, Midoriya,” Kaminari laughed, “I think you want to be a little more than friends at least.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Izuku asked defensively, making Kaminari shrug in response. 

“You know, you look at him like…gah, how do I explain,” Kaminari scratched his head in thought before suddenly snapping his fingers, “You look at Todoroki the way that Aoyama looks at himself in the mirror!”

Izuku’s brow furrowed, displaying his confusion. “But that doesn’t mean anything! I mean, you, Shinsou, and Tocchan all look at each other like that!”

For some reason, the three boys all jolted at Izuku’s declaration. Kaminari began spluttering incoherently, Shinsou went completely still, and Monoma attempted to cover his beet red cheeks while firmly gripping Izuku’s shoulder.

“Izuchan,” Monoma coughed, “Sometimes I don’t know if you’re incredibly oblivious, or just a master of manipulation.”

“I mean, strategic manipulation was part of my curriculum-”

“Look at the time!” Monoma practically squeaked, turning Izuku around and shoving him towards Kaminari, “You two should get going to class! Don’t wanna be late!”

“But-”

“And Shinsou! You haven’t received your new placement! Your homeroom teacher will probably want to see you early to finalize the transfer!”

“Tocchan-!”

“Time is money, and we’re all broke!” Monoma declared, “Can’t afford to waste a second!”

“He’s right,” Shinsou muttered, having finally broken out of his daze, “I don’t know if I’m going to class A or B yet, so I better check in to find out.”

“See?” Monoma thrust his arms to the side as the purple-haired teen turned on his heel and walked away, “He gets it! Izuchan, Denki, I think I see Aizawa headed towards 1-A! Better get there soon if you don't want to get expelled! Bye!”

And without another word, Monoma dashed away, leaving the two class A students behind in a daze.

“What…just happened?” Izuku asked out loud while turning to look at Kaminari, but the electric blonde was staring in the direction Monoma had run off to with a dopey smile on his face.

“He…he called me Denki.”

 Izuku rolled his eyes so hard it made his head hurt, not even looking back as he grabbed Kaminari’s arm and dragged him towards their classroom, all the while wondering why his friends were so weird. Maybe Nii-chan was right - something was just wrong with blondes.

Class A was nothing but excited chatter, all recounting how they had been noticed by the public throughout the weekend. Of course, a few classmates expressed concern for Izuku’s injury and Iida’s brother, but those matters took a backseat to the much happier topic of their newfound fame. Izuku had just taken his seat (after avoiding Todoroki’s eyes that seemed to be locked on him) when the door was flung open and Aizawa-sensei walked in.

“Morning,” the man mumbled, sounding tired as ever, to which the class dutifully replied in unison with, “Good morning!”

“We have important business today,” Aizawa began, “First, you’re picking code names today. This is because the offers for internships have been graciously extended to you all. Normally these offers are only given to second or third-years who already have experience, so for you first-years to receive offers shows that they are interested in your future potential. If you don’t prove yourself in the meantime, these offers can and will be retracted. These are the totals for those with offers.”

With the click of a button, the board lit up with the number of offers from greatest to least. Bakugou had the most offers - over four thousand of them - and Todoroki was second with over three thousand. Tokoyami and Iida were next, but the dropoff was severe, as they only had just over three hundred internship offers. The numbers continued to fall from there, with the final number on screen being Sero’s 14 offers.

“In other years, it’s been more spread out, but all eyes were on the finalists this year.”

“There’s such a big difference!” Kaminari wailed while throwing his head back, and Izuku felt inclined to agree.

“Todoroki got the most and Bakugou was second?” Jirou wondered out loud, “But that’s the opposite of how they placed!”

“Yeah, and why is Iida in fourth? I mean, that purple-haired kid got fourth place with Tokoyami, but his name isn’t on the list!” Sero pointed out, and murmurs of agreement filled the class.

“That brings me to the second announcement,” Aizawa said, “Shinsou Hitoshi will be joining class A. Since he is moving in from General Studies, he will be doing supplemental classes instead of an internship.”

Izuku gasped in delight - Shinsou was going to join the hero course! From the corner of his eye, he could see that Kaminari and Aoyama looked happy that their friend was transferring into their class. 

“It’s crazy that Midoriya didn’t get any offers,” Uraraka’s observation sent a pang of jealousy and shame through Izuku, “He made it to the top eight, and he was so strong!”

“Yeah, but it’s probably because he looked kind of scary fighting like that,” Sero replied, “I mean, breathing fire isn’t so bad, but punching so hard he destroyed his arms? If I were a pro, I wouldn’t know what to do!”

“Keeping these results in mind,” Aizawa raised his voice, glaring at the students with his quirk to silence them, “You’ll all be participating in internships with pros. Those who did not get offers will choose from a list of 40 pros provided by the school. In order to do the internships though-”

“You’ll have to choose a hero name!” A voice shouted while throwing the door open, revealing none other than Midnight, “A lot of hero names used by students become recognized by society and they end up becoming professional hero names!”

“Unfortunately, many pros are stuck with a name they’d prefer to change,” Aizawa grumbled like he had personal experience with the situation, “So Midnight will be making sure your names are okay. Names reflect your image, so choose something that represents what you want to become.”

Aizawa finished his statement by pulling out his sleeping bag, and Midnight began passing out whiteboards, giving the students 15 minutes to think about what they wanted their names to be. Nearly everyone instantly began writing on their boards, but Izuku just stared at the blank space while biting nervously on the end of his marker. Most kids in hero schools would have had a name they’ve been working on for years, but heroics wasn’t even part of Izuku’s plan until a year ago! 

What even was something that reflected his image? He couldn’t just come out and say, “My name is Menace to Society because my family and I are actively working to cause a revolution that destroys society as we know it,” because that would be the total opposite of stealthy! Maybe he could choose something related to games, like Player One…no, that won’t work either, since Nii-chan is always player one. Would an actual video game reference work? No, that would just be asking for a copyright infringement lawsuit. Ugh, this was so frustrating! What’s something so intertwined with his very being that he could use as a name?! It’s not like he could just do what his Dad did and use his quirk name as his alter ego…or maybe…

(“Daddy, I got a question,” Izuku, no older than 5, said while attempting to climb on his father’s lap. Hisashi cracked a smile at his youngest son, bending down slightly to help him climb up.

“What is it, bunny?”

Izuku wiggled around a little bit to get comfortable, eventually settling down and leaning against Hisashi’s chest.

“Why’s our quirk called ‘All For One’? Mommy and Nii-chan’s quirks are called what they do, but what does ours mean?”

Hisashi wrapped his arms around his son, looking down and smiling when the little boy began to chew on his fingers while waiting.

“Well, when I was younger, there was a story I loved so much, I read it over and over again. It was about a man who wanted to become one of the royal knights, but after he meets his three friends, they learn that they are the strongest when they work together as friends. The most famous line from the story reflects this - ‘All for one and one for all; united we stand, divided we fall.’”

“But how’s that like our quirk?” Izuku asked around his fingers.

“Because,” Hisashi said, bouncing the little boy just enough to make him giggle, “When we take in a quirk, it’s the power of many helping one become strong. As long as all of our quirks remain united, there’s no way we can be defeated.”

“All for one,” Izuku mumbled before turning his blinding smile on Hisashi, “Daddy, can you read me the story?”

“Oh- er, I don’t know about that, bunny. It’s got themes that are…less than appropriate for children. But,” Hisashi added quickly once Izuku’s smile turned into a sad pout, “There are some animated movie adaptations that I think you would like!”

“Can we watch them with Mommy and Nii-chan?”

It was impossible to resist a smile so cute, and Hisashi lifted his tiny son to place a kiss on his green curls.

“Of course we can, bunny.”)

Izuku smiled softly at the memory, writing down his chosen name on his board; and when it was his turn, he stood in front of the class, proudly announcing his hero name.

“The United Hero: Musketeer.”

Izuku practically skipped over to the table where Monoma and Shinsou were already sitting, talking quietly between themselves, pausing their conversation once Izuku sat down.

“You look happy,” Shinsou laughed, “Let me guess…you have katsudon for lunch?”

“No idea!” Izuku chirped, “I’m happy ‘cause I picked out a really good hero name!”

“And because you’re joining class A,” Kaminari added, sliding into the seat next to Shinsou’s, “Congrats, by the way!” 

“Thanks,” Shinsou mumbled, cheeks tinted pink, rolling his eyes slightly when Monoma scoffed.

“It’s biased, if you ask me,” Monoma complained, “Class B would clearly be better suited for his quirk, and our egos aren’t so big that they’ll completely overshadow him!”

“They said if there wasn’t an empty spot in class A, it would’ve been up to the teachers. But since there was a free space, the choice was already made,” Shinsou said with a shrug.

“At least you have time to think of your codename while you’re doing remedial lessons!” Kaminari added, waving Aoyama over to the table, “We picked out some pretty sick names, if you ask me!”

“Oh, really?” Shinsou smirked and laced his hands together, placing his elbows on the table and leaning closer to Kaminari, “Wanna tell me what I’ll be calling you?”

Kaminari immediately started choking on his drink and coughing furiously into his sleeve, gesturing for someone else to start talking, an opportunity which Aoyama gladly took.

“My name is as shining as I am, Can’t Stop Twinkling!” he said, waving his arm with a flourish.

“I don’t know what else I expected from you,” Monoma said playfully, “What about you, Izuku?”

“Mine’s Musketeer!”

“Is that based on that ancient book your dad likes?” Monoma asked, laughing silently when Izuku blushed and nodded, “You’re such a sap.”

“Hey! You’re the one that cries over romcoms, not me!” Izuku scoffed, “I bet you picked a super sappy name too!”

“Yeah, Monoma,” Shinsou chimed in, “What name did you pick?”

“I-” the blonde squeaked, hiding his reddening face with a perfectly poised hand, “It’s a bit of a tribute, I suppose. Izuku, do you remember when we were little and used to play pirates?”

“Of course I do! I was Captain Green Thief, and you were Captain Phantom!” Izuku gasped, eyes widening in realization, “Tocchan, you didn’t!”

“W-well,” Monoma said, tugging at his shirt collar, “I wanted to remember the first person to ever tell me that my quirk wasn’t useless, so my hero name is Phantom Thief.”

“Tocchan…” Izuku’s eyes began to water, only to be interrupted by Kaminari and Shinsou’s stifled laughter.

“Monoma, I had no idea you were so sentimental,” Kaminari cooed, while Shinsou laughed out, “You named yourself after imaginary pirates?”

“That’s enough out of you three,” Monoma hissed, pointing a spoon towards them like it was a weapon, “See if I let you experience my immaculate taste in movies if you keep bullying me! Yuga! Back me up!”

“I must agree,” Aoyama said, “My cousin does have an affinity for all things entertainment. Our grandmother especially loved seeing his middle school plays - he positively twinkled in all of them!”

“YUGA, THAT’S THE OPPOSITE OF HELPING!”

“Yeah! He’s our cousin!”

“NOT HELPING EITHER, IZUKU!”

Tomura had been out of it since the Sports Festival. No, not really since the festival, since meeting Natsuo. Not only was he beyond shocked to learn that the guy he had spent hours talking with was one of his internet friends, but the way Natsuo talked to him had his brain malfunctioning with every word out of his mouth. It was no help whatsoever that Natsuo had proceeded to message him as NoHeat and say all kinds of things that could be easily be misinterpreted as romantic dialogue options - even worse when he asked if he and Tomura could use voice chat for the first time ever, claiming that, “Your voice is super hot, and I’d love to hear you talk to me all day long.” What was that supposed to mean?!

It was making Tomura feel like he had the flu. He felt overheated, his skin was clammy, his stomach felt like it was doing backflips, and his heart seemed to think he was playing a super intense horror game. He couldn’t focus on anything, he would zone out randomly, and his thoughts were always going back to talking with Natsuo, holding Natsuo’s arm, Natsuo pulling him close in that hallway-

“Stop it,” Tomura said out loud to himself, slapping his face to snap out of it, “Don’t be stupid. You have important stuff to do.”

He really did have things to do. After lots of research and deliberation, Kurogiri and Sensei had managed to arrange a meeting with Stain, and Tomura had just a few days to decide how to approach the situation. Stain’s basic ideology was simple but admirable - the concept of false heroes was one that Tomura had long known to be true, and Stain was taking the simple approach of killing them one by one. 

It made Tomura sick to know that people masqueraded as heroes while hiding that they were monsters behind the scenes; heroes like Endeavor, who pretended to care about saving people while torturing his family, forcing children to train like they were adults, driving his wife to have a mental breakdown, acting like his other children didn’t even exist. Tomura was tempted to plant the idea of targeting Endeavor in Stain’s mind, permanently freeing the world from trash like that. The idea made Tomura grin maniacally; killing Endeavor would show the world his power, and maybe Natsuo would be so grateful he’d hold Tomura like he did before-

“NO,” Tomura shouted, shooting out of his seat and stalking away, scratching at his neck. His fever had come back again, and he was sick and tired of feeling this way! There was really only one person who knew how to keep Tomura’s fevers at bay - and luckily enough, she had the day off from work.

“Mom?” Tomura called while walking around the house, making a beeline for her upon hearing her response from the living room. Inko, having heard him enter the room, marked her place in her book and set it down on the coffee table while she turned to look at him.

“Tomura? Is something the matter, sweetie?” Inko asked, patting the space next to her for him to sit.

“I think I’m getting sick,” he grumbled, “I can’t focus on anything and I feel too warm.”

“That’s no good. Does your throat hurt? Do you feel nauseous?” Inko pressed the back of her hand against her eldest son’s forehead, “You don’t feel very warm to me. Do you want me to get the thermometer? I think your father has about ten of them stowed away.”

Tomura shrugged, “I dunno. It’s not all the time, but it happens when I think about something.”

“When you think about something?” Inko repeated, brows furrowed in confusion, “Is it something specific that makes you feel bad?”

“It’s stupid Natsuo’s fault,” Tomura hissed, “His stupid fever quirk makes me feel sick when I think about him, and I hate it! I want it to stop!”

“Natsuo…you mean that nice boy you met at the Sports Festival? The one you play games with?” Tomura’s sharp nod was enough of an answer for Inko, and a knowing grin spread across her face, “Let’s see…when you think about Natsuo, does your stomach feel weird?”

“Like I’m going down a rollercoaster.”

“Hmm, and does your heart start to race?” Tomura nodded vigorously, glad that his mom was able to understand his plight. “And do you think about him all the time, even when you shouldn’t be?”

“Yes!” Tomura exclaimed, placing his hands on the sides of his head, “I can’t even focus on games without thinking about him! He makes my throat feel dry and my skin all gross and sweaty, and I don’t know how to make it stop! I didn’t even know quirks can last this long!”

Inko sighed in amusement, resting her cheek in her hand while taking a look at the young man her son had become. It felt like only yesterday when Hisashi brought him home, horribly traumatized from the accident that killed his family (a family that Inko wished she could have killed herself, after learning how they had treated little Tomura), eager to receive all the love that Inko and Hisashi had to give him. 

“Sweetie, not everything happens because of a quirk,” Inko reminded him, giggling to herself when he scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“If it’s not a quirk, then what is it? Why does thinking about him make me sick? Is this a sign that I’m supposed to kill him?”

“Do you want to kill him?”

“No!” Tomura shouted, exasperation seeping into his tone, “I don’t want to kill him, but I don’t know what I want! I want to spend time with him but the thought of being near him makes me want to scream, and I want to talk with him but also tell him to shut up! I hate it!”

“You know,” Inko hummed, running her thumb on Tomura’s forehead to smooth out the deep crease, “I felt the same way when I first met your dad. I had never met anyone that frustrated me more, and yet I just couldn’t get him out of my mind!”

“Really?” Tomura was intrigued, “Why was it happening? How’d you make it stop?”

“Well, I made it stop by marrying him,” Inko laughed, “And as for why it happened…that’s something you’ll have to figure out by yourself. I don’t want to put any thoughts in your head that you didn’t think of on your own.”

“Mom,” Tomura whined, “Just tell me, I promise I won’t think anything weird!”

“Nope! It’s a mystery that you have to solve yourself!” Inko’s eyes twinkled mischievously as she rose from her place on the couch, “Now, how about we make some lunch, hm? I’m thinking onigiri would be light enough on your stomach.”

The prospect of lunch had Tomura standing to his feet instantly, all thoughts of white-haired boys pushed aside. He had always liked helping his mom in the kitchen unlike his first family, they never let him help, only protesting a little bit when she had playfully dubbed him “Mommy’s little helper.” 

“Will you get the rice, please?” Inko asked, holding out a bowl that Tomura accepted readily, a job so simple that not even he could mess it up. He wasn’t all that great at cooking, but it just felt nice to spend time making something with someone that loved him - even if all his tasks were as simple as “grab this” or “stir that”, it was the simple act of being included that made it fun. Maybe he could even cook together with Natsuo-

Tomura groaned as images of the smiling white-haired man flooded his mind yet again and he fought the urge to slam his head against the countertop. He couldn’t even fill a bowl with rice without thinking of Natsuo?! What’s the deal with this stupid not-a-quirk?!

The bell signaling the end of the school day rang, and Izuku quickly packed his things into his bag, eager to go home and tell his family his hero name.

“Midoriya,” Aizawa’s tired voice was somehow louder than the chatter of his classmates, “Come speak with me.”

Izuku glanced nervously at his friends, nodding and waiting for everyone to leave before approaching the front of the room.

“D-did I do something wrong?” he asked, “I swear I turned in all of my homework!”

“You’re not in trouble,” Aizawa sighed, holding out a single piece of paper, “This came in late, but you’ve been offered an internship. If you still want to pick from the ones offered by the school, that’s fine. You have until the end of the week to decide.”

Izuku took the paper in his hands, reading the information on it. He knew quite a lot about heroes since he studied their quirks under his dad’s guidance, but the name Gran Torino didn’t ring any bells.

“Sensei? Do you know who Gran Torino is?”

“Not really. All I know is that All Might’s the one that handed the form over to me, but he seemed terrified of the guy.”

Huh, Izuku thought to himself as he stared at the internship offer, maybe this Torino guy has some good dirt on All Might.

Besides, if the old man gets a little too suspicious about my quirk or family history, it'll be super easy to fake a heart attack!

Chapter Text

“Izuku! Are you awake yet?”

“Yeah, Mom!” Izuku shouted in response while zipping his backpack shut.

“Do you have your toothbrush?”

“Yeah!”

“Your phone charger?”

“Yeah, I do!”

“Clean underwear?”

“Mom!” Izuku ran out of his room, his bags clutched tightly in his grasp, “I promise I have everything!”

“I know,” Inko sniffed, her eyes glistening with unshed tears and her handkerchief at the ready, “I just don’t want you to forget anything important!”

“Are you sure you have to stay the whole week?” Hisashi added weakly, his eyes just as wet as his wife’s, “Kurogiri can bring you home at night! And take you back each morning!”

Izuku fought the urge to lovingly roll his eyes at his parents’ dramatics, allowing himself to be pulled into a group hug.

“Mom, Dad, I’ll be okay for a week. Think of it like summer camp!”

“But you never went to summer camp!” Hisashi blubbered as he began to cry, “This is the longest you’ve ever been away from home! How am I not supposed to be a little nervous?”

“We’re very proud of you,” Inko sobbed into her handkerchief, “Our baby boy is growing up right before our eyes!”

Izuku swallowed the lump in his throat, burying his head between his parents’ shoulders. Truthfully, he was nervous about being gone for so long; as a child, it had taken dozens of attempts for him to handle a sleepover with Monoma without crying and begging to go home due to missing his family. He hoped there would be enough work at the internship to make him too tired to be homesick, but knew that if he really wanted to go home, Kurogiri was a phone call away.

“Baby brother,” Tomura’s voice sounded raspier than usual, and Izuku pulled himself out of his parents’ hold to look at his brother, “If that old guy gets too suspicious, promise you’ll call us to handle it.”

“I promise, Nii-chan.”

“And…” Tomura’s arms twitched, likely fidgeting with whatever he was holding behind his back, “It’s dangerous to go alone, so take this.”

Izuku barely caught a glimpse of red and orange in Tomura’s hands before tears burst from his eyes, leaping forward and crying into his brother’s shoulder, his well-worn Charmander plush pressing softly against his back when Tomura returned his hug.

“Master, forgive me for interrupting,” Kurogiri said over the family’s sobs, “But it is almost time for Izuku-san to meet his classmates at the train station.”

“Call us every night!” Inko insisted, pulling out new handkerchiefs to replace her and Hisashi’s soaked ones.

“And if you want to come home for any reason at all,” Hisashi said after wiping away his tears, “If that hero doesn’t treat you well or begins to suspect that your quirk is more than you said, then call me right away, okay?”

“I will,” Izuku promised, doing his best to not get all choked up.

“Master,” Kurogiri urged gently, “It’s time to go.”

“Oh, Izuku!” Inko cried, wrapping her son up in her arms, sobbing harder when Hisashi and Tomura joined in on the group hug, “I’m going to miss you so much!”

“W-we love you s-so m-much,” Hisashi stammered between sobs, the volume of which only increased once the family reluctantly let Izuku go. 

“Izuku-san,” Kurogiri said, and Izuku swallowed harshly, nodding in response.

“Bye Mom, bye Dad, bye Nii-chan,” Izuku said, his voice sounding rough with emotion, “Love you, and I’ll see you in a week.”

“Bye, Izuku!”

“Goodbye, bunny.”

“Bye, baby brother.”

“We love you too!” His family said in unison, and Izuku turned tail and stepped through the warp gate before he started crying, his chest feeling oddly empty as he wiped his eyes and walked toward the train platform. It was going to be strange to be away from his family for so long, and he could only hope that Gran Torino would be able to keep his mind away from his homesickness.

“MIDORIYA!” Kaminari’s shout had Izuku snapping to attention, eyes searching until he found Kaminari waving vigorously while standing next to Aoyama, “You made it! We were starting to get worried!”

“Hey, guys,” Izuku said, hoping that his exaggerated cheer could cover the cracks in his voice, “I had some last minute packing to do, you know? Are you guys ready for the internships?”

“I’m so hyped!” Kaminari cheered, pumping his fist excitedly, “I’m interning with a hero that’s got a lightning quirk, so I hope she can teach me about using long-range attacks more efficiently!”

“That’s great!” Izuku smiled, barely managing to contain a jolt of shock when he noticed the way Aoyama was staring at him, “I, uh, couldn’t really find much information about this Gran Torino guy, but I’d like it if he could show me some of the administrative side of heroics.”

Kaminari hummed thoughtfully, “That sounds…kind of boring, actually. But sitting still to do paperwork is something I’ll have to get used to…or maybe I could hire someone to do it for me! What about you, Aoyama? What’re you wanting to get out of this?”

“I would like my natural twinkle to shine for all eyes to see!” Aoyama declared, “My twinkle is a deterrent for evil-doers and a beacon of joy for all civilians!” 

“So the public relations and image part, that’s really fitting for you!” Kaminari said, perking up when his train’s departure was announced over the intercom, “It’s time for me to go! You guys better keep me updated on your internships - I wanna hear everything!”

Izuku and Aoyama bid Kaminari goodbye, waving until he boarded the train. Izuku hoped that Aoyama would just want to talk about their usual topics, but there was something about that look in the French blonde’s eye that had him sweating.

“Mon ami, you have been crying.”

“What,” Izuku’s voice was pitched higher than usual at being called out so directly, “No, you’re just seeing things-”

“Midoriya,” Aoyama sighed, “The Master ordered me to report back on your emotional state, and you know I can’t lie. It would be easier for everyone if you told the truth, or else the Master might try and follow you to your internship.”

Aoyama was right, and Izuku couldn’t even try to deny it. His shoulders slumped in defeat, sighing and hanging his head to try and hide the quivering of his lip.

“This is the first time I’ll be away from home for so long, and I’m really scared that I’ll get really homesick. I just…I just want to be able to stick it out like everyone else. You can tell my dad that if you want - oh, and don’t call him Master to me, it sounds weird when people call him that.”

“I don’t think I have the courage to do that,” Aoyama joked, making Izuku laugh just a little, but the blonde closed his eyes to think. After what felt like forever, Aoyama opened one eye and snapped his fingers. “I know what will make you feel better, mon ami. Come along!”

Without hesitation, Aoyama grabbed Izuku’s hand, dragging him across the platform towards a large group of their classmates. 

“Aoyama, what are you-”

“Todoroki!” Aoyama shouted, immediately sending Izuku’s brain into overdrive, “We need your assistance!”

“No, no, no, no we don’t!” Izuku protested feebly but promptly shut his mouth when Todoroki turned around and looked at them.

“Midoriya, Aoyama,” Todoroki greeted with a small nod, “What do you need help with?”

“You see, my dear friend Midoriya is a bit nervous to leave his family for the week, and he is in desperate need of comfort!” Aoyama declared with a twinkling halo framing his face, “And the only way to do that is to give him a hug!”

“A…hug?” Todoroki asked, his head slightly tilted as he looked at Izuku, “Are hugs…comforting?”

“Mon dieu, this situation is dire,” Aoyama muttered under his breath before shaking himself back into his typical glittery self, “A hug works wonders, trust me! Go on, try it yourself!”

The blonde promptly shoved Izuku towards Todoroki, forcing Todoroki to catch Izuku in his arms in a rough approximation of a hug.

“Oh, my train is here!” Aoyama chirped, “Well, I’ll see you later. Adieu!”

Izuku groaned as his friend ran off, but when he instinctively hung his head, it landed on Todoroki’s shoulder instead, immediately making Izuku aware that the other boy still had him locked in his arms.

“S-sorry!” Izuku yelped, standing straight as a board, “I don’t know what got into him. You don’t actually have to hug me.”

“It’s okay,” Todoroki replied, “I don’t mind.”

“But still, I don’t want to make you feel like you have to!”

“I said I don’t mind,” Todorki insisted, tightening his grip on Izuku, “It’s…nice to hug someone. I don’t know when I last got one.”

“Oh.” Izuku’s heart was jackhammering in his chest, making him desperately hope that his and Todoroki’s school uniforms were enough to dampen the harsh thumping. Todoroki was just so close to him! He could see every bit of color in those eyes, feel each breath on his skin, and it was sending his brain into overdrive. “W-well, you’re really good at hugging for being out of practice.”

“Thank you. I like hugging you as well. You’re warm and soft.” Todoroki paused at the sound of the intercom crackling to life, listening intently to the announcement of the upcoming departures. “My train is here. Good luck with your internship.”

“Right,” Izuku said, his heart dropping when Todoroki broke the hug, “Good luck on yours as well. I’ll see you when school starts again!”

“Thank you,” Todoroki paused, thinking deeply before speaking again, “I would like to hug more in the future, if that’s alright with you.”

“S-sure!” Izuku squeaked in response, his face undoubtedly firetruck red, “I don’t mind hugging you!”

Todoroki nodded, turning to walk towards his train. “Good. I look forward to seeing you again.”

“Bye, Todoroki,” Izuku said, taking a deep breath once those blue and grey eyes were finally facing away from him. The shock of the whole situation had successfully taken his mind off of his homesickness, but he wasn’t sure if he should strangle Aoyama or send him a fancy wheel of cheese as a thank you.

Before he could start researching luxury cheeses, however, he saw Iida waiting from the corner of his eye. They weren’t nearly as close as he and the Blondes were, but he was acquainted with Iida enough to know that he had been in a rough spot ever since his brother’s attack. He had been acting very out of character, and Izuku knew from countless survival horror games that a sudden change in a side character’s behavior usually meant they were going to get killed off. Fortunately for Iida, Izuku was the main character in this game, and he decided to use the power of the Player to prevent Iida’s death.

“Hey, Iida!” Izuku shouted, skidding to a stop in front of the taller boy, “Where are you going for your internship?”

“Hello, Midoriya!” Iida said in his usual stiff manner, “I am interning with Manual, the Normal Hero!”

“That’s pretty cool,” Izuku said, tapping a finger to his chin, “He’s in Hosu, right? Isn’t that where the Hero Killer is currently at?”

Iida’s eyes narrowed at Izuku’s pointed question. “Midoriya, what are you implying?”

“Iida, I’m not implying anything. I’m saying that just because you can fight a level 50 boss when you’re at level 2 doesn’t mean that you should.”

“What…does that mean?”

“Look,” Izuku said sternly, “I know what it’s like to love your big brother. I know that if my Nii-chan ever got hurt, the last thing he would want is me throwing myself in danger in the name of vengeance. Just…if you need someone to talk to that would understand, you have my phone number. Don’t just let it sit there collecting cobwebs.”

“I…Thank you, Midoriya, but I assure you that I’m fine!” Iida was insistent, but Izuku found it hard to believe him. “I must be going now, my train is about to arrive!”

“Alright. Just remember what I said, okay?”

Iida nodded firmly, running off to catch his train right as the arrival of Izuku’s own train was announced. Izuku was still concerned for the taller boy, but right now, he had an internship to worry about. He just hoped that everything would work out in the end.

“This can’t be right,” Izuku mumbled to himself. After an uneventful train ride, Izuku had made his way down the streets towards the address he was given, which eventually led him to a rather run-down building. “Did I get the wrong address? Or maybe I’m in the wrong town?”

Izuku took a moment to activate All For One, just to see if there was anyone inside to give him directions - but the sight of a singular quirk had him even more confused. Swallowing down his fear and shutting off his quirk, Izuku placed his hand on the door and felt a shiver down his spine when it opened easily.

“Hello? M-my name’s Midoriya Izuku, and I’m from U.A.,” he said, blinking while his eyes adjusted to the room’s lighting, “I’m looking for someone named Gran Torino…”

His words trailed off as his eyes began to see red all over the room, splatters of it all over the wall, a massive pool of it on the floor that seemed to originate from the tiny body of an old man.

Izuku let out a blood-curdling scream, rushing inside in his panic. He nearly fell to his knees to check the body, but his years of lessons about how to not leave incriminating evidence at a crime scene. He pulled out his phone, debating whether he should call the police or his dad to handle the situation, muttering the entire time, “Oh god oh god he’s dead! He’s dead and I’m the only witness!”

“I’m alive!” The body suddenly said, his head jerking upwards.

“He’s alive!” Izuku screamed, slumping down as he suddenly felt faint, “You’re alive…thank goodness. W-what happened?!”

“Aw man,” the old man sighed, “I was carrying some sausages and ketchup, but I fell!”

“I’m happy you're alive,” Izuku stammered out, his knees still trembling, “But do you need to go to the hospital? You might have fractured something when you fell!”

“You callin’ me old?” The man glared at Izuku, “Who are you?”

“I’m Midoriya Izuku from U.A.!”

“What?” The man put a hand up to his ear, prompting Izuku to shout, “I'M MIDORIYA IZUKU FROM U.A.!”

The man stared at Izuku, his whole body shaking slightly as he leaned on his cane, wavering forward just enough to get a better look at Izuku’s face.

“Who are you?”

Oh no, Izuku thought to himself, this guy isn’t in his right mind! How am I supposed to get info on All Might if his short-term memory is broken?!

“N-no offense, sir,” Izuku began, “But are you Gran Torino?”

“How do you know my name?” The man demanded, and Izuku calmly reminded himself that it was morally reprehensible to strangle the elderly.

“I’m from U.A., and you sent me an offer for an internship!”

“Internship, huh?” Gran Torino mused, dropping to the floor abruptly, “I wanna eat something.”

“Eat?!”

“Toshinori, go get me some taiyaki.”

Izuku grimaced at the old man’s use of the wrong name, pulling out his phone and turning towards the door, “Excuse me, sir, but I need to make a call.”

He had just opened up his contacts, finger hovering over his dad’s number when he heard something click behind him. Hesitantly lowering his phone, Izuku nearly screeched at the sight of Gran Torino digging through his hero costume case.

“S-sir! Please don’t touch that-”

“Fire off One For All at me.”

Izuku froze at the name of his quirk, or rather, a name that sounded far too close to his quirk to be coincidental. Was…was the old man pretending to be senile on purpose? Was he trying to see if Izuku would correct the true name of his quirk? Did All Might suspect Izuku and recommend this internship just to try and get him to slip up and mention his dad’s secret identity?!

“Um, Mr. Gran Torino, sir-”

“Did you not hear me, Toshinori?! I said fire off One For All at me!”

“Okay, first of all, my name isn’t Toshinori,” Izuku said, unable to keep the irritation out of his tone, “And second, I don’t even know what a One For All is! How am I supposed to fire it if I’ve never heard of it?!” 

“You don’t know the name of your own quirk?” Gran Torino said sharply, and Izuku nearly snapped back with “It’s called All For One!” before catching himself, forcing several deep breaths into his lungs before speaking.

“My quirk is called Borrowing,” Izuku said slowly and clearly, “I can copy the quirk of anyone I touch and prohibit them from using it until I release my copy. I’ve never heard of any quirk called One For All, and I am heavily inclined to call the paramedics to take you to a nursing home that can care for you properly.”

The two of them stared at each other for several tense moments, but just as Izuku’s hand began moving to unlock his phone, Gran Torino began speaking in a low voice.

“You mean to tell me that you don’t have One For All?”

“That’s what I said, sir,” Izuku said through a clenched jaw.

“Toshinori didn’t say anything about it to you?”

Izuku could feel his hands shaking as his aggravation began to build up, the desire to ditch this internship in favor of pouring out his anger through a video game growing stronger with each passing second. “I don’t know anyone named Toshinori, I’ve never heard of One For All, and I’m starting to think you didn’t mean to send an internship request to me.”

“Then what was that power you broke your arms with during the Sports Festival?” Gran Torino asked, standing at his full height (it wasn’t that high, actually, something that Izuku filed away for later provocation if needed).

“That was a bad quirk combo,” Izuku cringed at the memory, “I used too many quirks at once, and they were too much for my body to handle. I normally have better control than that, but Todoroki’s attacks were so strong that I panicked.”

Gran Torino didn’t respond as he once again stared at Izuku, finally laughing tensely and shaking his head.

“There’s been a small communication error. I’ll train you, boy, but I’ll need a few moments to adjust the plan for the week. Go put your things in the upstairs room and get some training clothes on - I’ve got a phone call to make in the meantime.”

Never one to waste an opportunity to escape an awkward situation, Izuku immediately grabbed his bags and ran for the stairs, the door shutting right as Gran Torino shouted, “TOSHINORI, YOU IMBECILE!”

Forget faking a heart attack in the old man - with the way things went in just 15 minutes, Izuku figured he might be the one with a stress-induced heart attack by the end of the week.

The past couple of days had been nothing but torture for Tomura. He had thought that school taking away his brother for a few hours was bad enough, but him having to stay away for a whole week had to be some sort of divine punishment against Tomura. He had been absolutely miserable ever since the first day of Izuku’s internship, so much so that even Kurogiri had grown tired of Tomura’s despair, leaving him in the bar while he left to find Stain.

“At least you won’t leave me,” Tomura mumbled to Stitches, his face buried in the Nomu’s side, “I don’t even want to meet that Hero Killer, but Kurogiri won’t stop blabbing about how social interaction is good for me or something. I don’t need social interaction, I have baby brother, Natsuo, and SmallZilla! That’s more than enough!”

Stitches rumbled, the noise sending tremors through its entire body that made Tomura shake.

“I know!” Tomura huffed, interpreting the dog’s actions however he wanted, “Honestly, if Kurogiri wasn’t so good at transportation and making drinks, I’d ask Dad to take his quirk and give it to baby brother.”

Stitches shifted its back half, moving a leg up to scratch behind its ear.

“Fine,” Tomura rolled his eyes, peeling himself from its side, “Kurogiri isn’t all that bad. He’s nice to talk to sometimes - kind of like the weird uncle character that tries to give good advice. I guess I’d be sad if he did die or whatever. But that doesn’t change anything - I just want baby brother to come back already! What am I supposed to do without baby brother here?!”

Tomura watched as Stitches’ mouth opened, its tongue flopping out of the side of its mouth, pointing directly at one of his several game controllers laying around the bar.

“No, Stitches, I can’t play games right now.”

The Nomu stared vacantly at Tomura, but eventually closed its eyes and shook its massive head, its ears making a strange noise as they smacked the side of Stitches’ face.

“What do you mean, no?!” Tomura demanded, “I just said that I have to meet that Stain NPC, I don’t have time to play a game right now!”

The dog looked down - likely thinking about how to respond, Tomura decided - and opened its mouth, leaning down and slowly closing its jaw around the controller.

“Stitches, no!” Tomura shouted, diving for the controller and snatching it away right as Stitches’ mouth closed, “You can’t eat that! It was expensive!”

But Stitches paid Tomura no mind, its vacant gaze now locked on the TV hanging from the wall that was proudly displaying the most recent chat log between Tomura and his gaming friends. Natsuo had asked for opinions on a new game release, and SmallZilla was eager to give his opinions, talking in-depth about the insanely difficult final battle that involved fighting dozens of the game’s strongest bosses and NPCs while attempting to put out fires raging around the city. It was driving players crazy, as they had to choose between fighting the bosses and letting the city burn or letting the bosses go but save the city.

“Stitches,” Tomura gasped, “I didn’t know you had intelligence programmed in you! Setting a city on fire is the perfect distraction for me!”

The Nomu’s tongue flopped out of its mouth again, breathing heavily while its tail wagged vigorously. 

“This is going to be great,” Tomura muttered eagerly, taking a quick glance at the time, “It’s almost time for Stain to arrive. Stitches, are you ready?”

A series of loud thumps courtesy of its tail was all the answer that Tomura needed.

“Good. Stitches, sit! And put your tongue in your mouth!”

The Nomu obeyed the commands instantly, already looking ten times more intimidating.

“Good dog. Sit just like that for the whole meeting. Oh, and when I wave my hand like this, growl.”

Tomura waved his hand, smiling gleefully when Stitches immediately growled - something that would’ve been scary if Tomura hadn’t spent nearly a decade with the Nomu as a pet.

“Very good, Stitches! You're perfectly intimidating for my recruitment pitches!” Tomura sat on the barstool, making sure that his posture screamed “I’m relaxed because I’m stronger than you” while attaching Father’s hand to his face.

“Shigaraki Tomura,” Kurogiri said as he appeared inside the bar, “Stain is ready to see you now.”

“Bring him in, Kurogiri,” Shigaraki said, removing his gloves and tossing them behind the bar. 

Kurogiri nodded and created a warp gate that the Hero Killer walked through just moments later, his swords strapped to his sides and eyes blazing with something akin to malice.

“Hello, Stain,” Shigaraki said, “Glad you could make it. I have a proposition for you.”

Stain’s eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of the young man. “So this is the one taking up All For One’s mantle…I hope that this isn’t a waste of my time.”

“Don’t jump to your conclusions so fast,” Shigaraki scowled behind the hand on his face, “I want you to join my party.”

“Your party,” Stain deadpanned, “Why do you need me in your party? Surely you must have a reason to seek me out.”

“You’re a strong villain with the reputation we need to propel us into the public eye,” Shigaraki shrugged, “We have worked behind the scenes for years, but it’s time to make us and our desire known to the world. You have the eyes of the nation on you already.”

“I see,” Stain said, “You’re the successor to All For One, you’re the vigilante who interfered with the attack on U.A., and you want to add me to your numbers.”

“I’m not a vigilante!” Shigaraki’s voice was nearly an indignant screech, but he managed to compose himself, clearing his throat to continue, “How do you know about me being at the USJ?”

“Villains talk. You killed a rather notorious villain quite easily, and nearly eliminated all traces of your presence at the attack. Seems rather ironic that a supposed villain would jump in to save heroes-in-training.”

“Look, do you want to join or not?” Shigaraki growled, scratching at his neck, “You’ve got way more experience as a villain, and it won’t hurt you to join.”

“Depends. What are you after?”

“For now,” Shigaraki said, “I want to break everything I don’t like, and I don’t like heroes. I want to destroy everything that makes heroes who they are, and I want to kill the heroes too.” Shigaraki reached for a pile of papers on the bar, grinning to himself when he picked up a photo of Izuku right as he crossed the finish line during the Sports Festival obstacle race.

“I was foolish to be interested.” Stain’s words had Shigaraki’s eyes widening in surprise, “You’re the type of person I hate the most. This is nothing but a childish tantrum to you. What meaning is there in killing without conviction?”

“Hah? Who said I don’t have conviction?” Shigaraki scoffed, flipping the photo of Izuku around, “I have so much conviction. I’m destroying everything for him because he’s my conviction - I have to destroy hero society before it breaks him.”

“That boy…he is the one who destroyed his arms at the Sports Festival,” Stain snorted incredulously, “I do not believe you. You are not the kind of person who can truly see the reason why death is necessary; it is nothing but a minor inconvenience for you.”

“Excuse me?” Shigaraki’s voice was low yet sharp, “I know exactly why I’m doing this, it’s your fault if you don’t want to believe me.”

“Childish and immature. You lack conviction and therefore attempt to claim it is all for the sake of one person.” Stain spoke while unsheathing two short swords, shifting his stance to be ready to strike at any moment. 

“Kurogiri,” Shigaraki began, “Did he just say I’m lying about baby brother?”

“Shigaraki Tomura, he did not say you were lying-”

“I think he said I’m lying,” Shigaraki insisted, waving his hand to prompt a growl from the Nomu at his side, “He doesn’t believe that baby brother is too good for heroes.”

“Shigaraki Tomura, he said no such thing-”

“This society which is overgrown with fake heroes, where the word itself has lost its true meaning, and the criminals who wave their power around idly should all be purged.” Stain rebuked him, making Shigaraki’s scratching increase, “You, who only wants to destroy, have attempted to shift my focus onto a young one, one who has the chance to be a true hero.”

“Kurogiri, is he accusing baby brother of being a fake?”

“Shigaraki Tomura, please-”

Stain shifted his grip on his swords. “No matter what you want to accomplish, it is necessary to have conviction and desire. The weak ones without it will be weeded out. It’s only natural.”

“Weak? Me, weak? Hey, why don’t we duke it out? Then I’ll show you who the weak one is-” Shigaraki’s movement and ranting was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing, a specific ringtone that only went off for one caller, “Hold on, I have to take this.”

“Death waits for no one!” Stain roared, his swords pointed at Shigaraki while the other carefully pulled out his phone, “You will be cut down-!”

“Baby brother?” Tomura answered the phone, putting it on speaker so he could hear without holding it, “Is something wrong?”

“Nii-chan! This internship is insane! This old guy is totally losing his mind!”

“You mean the hero you’re interning with?” Tomura asked, seeing Stain drop his fighting stance as confusion took over, “What’s the matter with him?”

“Nii-chan, he’s almost senile, I just know it. First, when I got to this abandoned building he’s staying in, I found him lying in a puddle of ketchup pretending to be dead! Then he kept thinking I was someone named Toshinori and couldn’t remember my name no matter how many times I told him. And THEN he thought I had a quirk that’s definitely not mine, but even after I cleared up the misunderstanding he keeps saying that he’s helping me get my body ready for it!”

“That sounds extremely suspicious,” Tomura inhaled sharply, “Is he trying to get you to reveal your whole quirk? Or is it some weird cult thing?”

“I dunno, but it’s weirding me out. I can’t even think straight because all we’ve eaten is frozen taiyaki! And only the sweet kind! The dentist is going to hate me!”

“Baby brother, that’s not healthy! That goes against everything Mom says about a balanced diet!”

“I know! I’m gonna get scurvy or something! And he sent me to a store that’s a solid 20-minute walk away just to get a super specific kind of taiyaki, but I think I’m going to die if I don’t eat real food!”

“Not on my watch. I have some ramen in the fridge that I didn’t eat for lunch, it’s from that ramen place we like. You want Kurogiri to drop you a portal so you can come eat real fast?”

“PLEASE! It would literally give me the strength to keep going! Also, I’m super touch starved right now and need a hug real bad, okay bye-bye!”

Tomura’s phone beeped, signaling that Izuku had hung up right after spitting out his last sentence, and it made the older boy chuckle to himself. 

“Hey, Kurogiri,” Tomura locked his eyes on the warper, red eyes contrasted by the grey hand on his face, “Go get baby brother, and then put that ramen on the stove.”

“Of course,” Kurogiri sighed, knowing there was no point in trying to remind Tomura that Stain was still present, swiftly creating a warp gate that a green blur zoomed out of almost immediately, barreling directly into Tomura’s torso.

“Nii-chan!” Izuku sounded absolutely delighted to be attached to Tomura’s side, “I can’t believe I- ew, take Father off of your face, I don’t want to talk to him – I missed you and Mom and Dad so much! If every internship is like this, then I don’t wanna do one ever again!”

“We miss you too,” Tomura assured the green-haired boy, completely ignoring Stain’s gawking in favor of talking to his brother, “Is the old guy really that bad? Do I need to do a bit of…cleaning?”

“Nii-chan, he totally believed that someone let me take their quirk, and I was supposed to be interning with him to train it. He thought that quirk was what wrecked my arms so bad at the Sports Festival!”

“Hold on,” Tomura said, squinting suspiciously at the shorter boy, “He wanted you to have a quirk that hurts you that much?”

“I know! It’s totally stupid! Why would I take a quirk that hurts me like that?” Izuku groaned, dropping his forehead on Tomura’s shoulder, “I’m grateful that All Might set up this internship for me, but I really wish that he would’ve at least asked if I had that quirk or visited the Torino guy first! I’m telling you, this old guy is so confused and is hallucinating! He keeps calling me Toshinori and asked when I dyed my hair green or got so short - I keep trying to remind him that’s not me, but he never remembers!”

Tomura was listening intently to Izuku’s words, not noticing when Stain perked up at the mention of All Might, nodding and responding at the appropriate moments.

“-and then he just starts bouncing off the walls like he didn’t just have me help him walk up the stairs! I think he’s constantly on a sugar high from all that taiyaki. Seriously, I’ve tried every day to get him to eat something different, but he refuses! Is this what it’s like to be a healthcare provider? Should I call the paramedics and have them assess his mental health and physical capability? There’s no way it’s okay to just leave him at the end of the week when he’s like this!”

“I don’t know about that kind of stuff,” Tomura said after Izuku finished rambling, “But I think you should be careful. He might be acting like this on purpose to try and wear you down to get information from you.”

“I hope not. It’s illegal to interrogate a minor without a legal guardian present, and I’d hate for this guy to end up being one of those heroes that does illegal things on purpose.”

“If he is, just tell me and I’ll kill him,” Tomura replied, spotting Kurogiri finishing up his brother’s food, “Looks like your food’s ready. How long do you have before you gotta get back?”

“Like 15 or 20 minutes,” Izuku beamed as Kurogiri set the bowl in front of him, “Thank you, Kurogiri, and thanks, Nii-chan!”

“You’re welcome, Izuku-san,” Kurogiri said, keeping a careful watch over the boy as he began to inhale the contents of the bowl, “Please do not choke.”

“Hey,” Tomura piped up after a few minutes, “You’re staying in Kuroudo for the week, right?”

“Yeah, why?” Izuku mumbled through a final mouthful of soup, already looking like he had been revitalized.

“There’s going to be some trouble in a few days, and I wanted to make sure it stays away from your area.”

“Okay!” Izuku said, groaning audibly when his phone chimed, “I gotta go now, I’m afraid that Gran Torino will get upset if I’m gone any longer. Thank you for letting me come see you, and for feeding me!”

“Anything for you,” Tomura assured him, giving Izuku one last hug before letting him go, “Be safe and don’t let the old geezer drive you crazy, alright?”

“I won’t! Bye, Nii-chan! Bye, Kurogiri! Bye, Stitches!” Izuku gave a playful salute as he walked through the warp gate, leaving Tomura smiling fondly at the spot where his brother had last been. The way his baby brother always improved his mood never failed to amaze him, and he already felt loads better than he had just a couple hours ago.

“Care to explain what that was?”

Oh, right. He had totally forgotten that Stain was here.

“That was my conviction.” Shigaraki said, reattaching his disembodied hand to his face, “My baby brother wants to be a hero that helps everyone, no matter who they are or if it has any benefit to him. He hates the heroes that hurt people and only act when the media is watching. It’s my job to protect his goal, to destroy the heroics industry before it gets the chance to corrupt his goal. Anyone who gets in my way or tries to taint him will be destroyed by my own hands.” A sharp red eye peered past the grey fingers, making direct eye contact with Stain. “So, how’s that for conviction?”

“I believe we can come to an understanding,” Stain smirked, sheathing his swords, “I act alone, but a temporary alliance is acceptable.”

“Perfect. Since we’re allies now, I have a target I’d like you to look into. He’s the epitome of a false hero in every sense of the word.”

“Oh?” Stain sounded intrigued, “And which hero have you deemed unworthy?”

Shigaraki’s maniacal grin was barely visible behind Father’s hand, but menacing nonetheless.

“How do you feel about Endeavor?”

Chapter Text

A yellow blur darted past Izuku’s head for at least the hundredth time that day, but unlike the times before, Izuku was ready. Activating speed quirks and a quirk that made his bones extremely bendy, Izuku held his hands close to his body, waiting for the blur to get close before striking like a viper. In the split second that his hand made contact with Gran Torino’s head, Izuku managed to take his quirk, whooping in success before yelping as he was propelled into the ceiling by Air Jet.

“Not bad, you zygote!” Gran Torino barked, nearly crashing into the wall as his speed dropped exponentially, “Let’s stop now. If you keep fighting me, you might pick up some weird habits.”

“We’re already done?” Izuku asked, wiping the dirt from his shirt, “But it’s so early!”

“Who said we’re done for the day?” Torino quipped, “Get your costume on and return my quirk. We’re going to fight some villains!”

“For real?! Isn’t that technically vigilantism?”

“Not if I give you permission! Now shut your trap and hurry up, or else it’s nothing but cleaning and taiyaki for tonight!”

Eager to avoid another bite of taiyaki, Izuku wasted no time in pulling on his hero costume. He considered bringing his backpack with him, but opted against it, deciding it would only get in the way if they encountered any villains. After following the elderly man to the train station and listening to him lecture about the high crime rates in densely populated areas, Izuku and Gran Torino settled into their seats on the bullet train headed for Shibuya.

“This train won’t arrive until late at night,” Izuku whispered, mindful of his volume to not disturb other passengers, “Is that alright?”

“That’s why it’s good!” Torino asserted, “There’ll be more skirmishes then, so it’s more fun!”

Izuku didn’t really agree with that statement, but he didn’t want to say so out loud. Instead, he looked out the window, taking in the view of night falling across Hosu, his mind drifting to thoughts of Iida as they passed by the city. He had sent a text to the boy when they first boarded the train, asking how his internship was going, but Iida had read his message without replying. Normally that wouldn’t be so strange, especially since he wasn’t as close to Iida when compared to Monoma or Kaminari, but something about the situation just seemed off.

“Hey, look at that!” A man exclaimed, breaking the comfortable silence of the train car, “A building just exploded!”

“What’s going on,” Gran Torino muttered under the rising panic of the passengers, “Could it be a fire?”

Izuku stood up to get a better look out of the windows, spotting a plume of smoke rising into the air; what really caught his attention, however, was a familiar shape flying through the air, making direct eye contact with him before changing course and heading directly for the train.

“Passengers, please hold onto your seats,” a voice announced over the intercom, but it was no use - the train shook violently as the flying thing collided with it, a hero crashing into the cabin as a second, larger form grabbed their head and smashed it into the ground.

“What is that thing?!” A panicked voice screeched when the dust settled, but Izuku gasped as a familiar Nomu locked eyes with him, peeling the side of the train cabin away to enter inside, shrieking and crushing empty seats as it approached him. Izuku leaped across the aisle, leading the Nomu away from some civilians cowering on the floor.

“Kid, it’s locked on you for some reason!” Gran shouted, “Use your quirk and get out of here! Avoid civilians and try to take that thing down!”

Izuku nodded sharply and jumped out of the hole in the train, freefalling for just a few seconds when the Nomu screeched, diving after him and wrapping its massive arms around him to break their fall - just like Izuku had planned for it to do. Izuku was very familiar with the creature - experiment 247, one that he had nicknamed Mr. Fluffy - and knew exactly why it had attacked the train. Tomura spent more time with the functional Nomus than Izuku did, and, thanks to Tomura singing Izuku's praises and showing photos of the green-haired boy to the Nomus so they wouldn't attack him on accident, the Nomus had a tendency to be a little obsessive when it came to protecting him, always grabbing Izuku to bring him to Tomura the minute they saw him.

“Mr. Fluffy,” Izuku wheezed once they hit the ground, the Nomu already tucking Izuku tightly under its arm and running to where Izuku assumed Tomura was, ignoring the inferno raging around the city, “Let me go!”

The Nomu dropped Izuku the minute the command left his mouth, screeching while patting his head with its massive hand. 

“Go back to Nii-chan! I’ve gotta find my mentor and- oh no,” Izuku’s mouth dried up when he realized exactly where he was, “Iida’s in Hosu, and Stain is in Hosu - he’s trying to hunt down Stain! He ignored my warning!”

The Nomu growled, running in one direction while Izuku ran towards the fire, his mind racing with all of the possible ways the night’s events could play out. He pulled civilians out of the path of the fire as he ran, moving crashed cars out of the way to let other cars continue on their way, all while keeping an eye out for the silver shine of Iida’s costume, eventually coming to the center of all the chaos.

“TENYA!” A man shouted, sounding panicked as he ran from a giant fire, “TENYA, WHERE ARE YOU?!!” 

Izuku barely got a look at the man when a car came flying his way, exploding as it crashed on the ground and making him scream as he hunched behind the guard rail, more relieved than ever to have so many fire resistance quirks. The man that had been shouting for Iida ran past with another hero, ripping open a fire hydrant as the first man used his quirk to redirect the water onto the fires, revealing a winged Nomu perched on top of the flaming vehicle.

“Hey!” The man shouted, and Izuku suddenly recognized him as Iida’s mentor, Manual, “Get out of here, kid! The fire’s only gonna get worse now that Endeavor is here!”

Manual’s shouts had the unfortunate effect of getting the attention of the winged Nomu, who howled upon seeing Izuku on the ground and immediately rushed for him; Izuku instinctively reached for his panic button, but his heart dropped when he didn’t feel it on his wrist.

“It’s in my backpack,” he said under his breath, the image of him slipping it into his bag in his haste to slip on his costume totally clear in his mind’s eye, causing him to instantly rethink his plan. Leaping to his feet, Izuku jumped away from the Nomu right as it reached his previous hiding space, bouncing off its back to land on a nearby rooftop.

“Pyro!” The Nomu’s head snapped in his direction at the sound of its nickname, “Come here!”

Roaring as it avoided a jet of water, the Nomu was quick to fly after Izuku, who had run away from the cluster of heroes, grabbing the boy in its arms and soaring through the skies. 

“Pyro, record!” Izuku shouted, twisting around in the Nomu’s grip to see the city beneath him, his eyes searching for Iida’s robotic suit. The Nomu screeched in response, a whirring noise emanating from the gas mask acting as its mouth as the quirk activated. 

“Nii-chan, it’s me! The old guy wanted us to go to Shibuya, but Mr. Fluffy kind of crashed my train when we were passing by Hosu! I think one of my classmates is trying to hunt down the Hero Killer, so I’m going to try and find him! And, uh, I kind of forgot my tracker in my backpack? Please don’t tell dad! Just letting you know in case I have to borrow some Nomus to not die! Pyro, end recording!”

A growl from the Nomu signaled that the message had been recorded, and Izuku held a hand above his eyes to keep the wind from drying them out. Thinking through Iida’s possible route and Stain’s typical MO, Izuku guided Pyro to fly towards a series of dark alleys on the edge of the pandemonium, gasping when he heard a strangled cry and saw light reflecting off of metal. 

“Pyro! Drop me here and deliver the message to Nii-chan!”

And then Izuku was falling, positioning his legs and using durability quirks to prevent fall damage, swinging his foot directly against the side of Stain’s head right as the villain attempted to drive a sword into Iida’s back.

“Gotcha, sucker!”

Tomura giggled in pure delight as he watched the fires spreading across Hosu, laughing at the sight of the heroes scrambling to quench the flames while struggling with the Nomus. He was beyond ecstatic to have teamed up with the Hero Killer, and was completely satisfied with providing the main event so that Stain could draw out Endeavor and attack him. The Nomus he had been training were doing so well against the heroes, even though Mr. Fluffy had come back to him for some reason, and Tomura was so happy with Stitches for putting the idea in his head. The only thing that could possibly make this better would be a comfy place to sit, some snacks, and Natsuo watching the brightness of the fires contrasting with the night sky-

“Kurogiri,” Shigaraki snarled, embarrassed at getting distracted by thoughts of Natsuo yet again , “What’s everything look like out there? Is Stain done yet?”

“No, Shigaraki Tomura, Endeavor is currently fighting against the Nomu, and Stain has remained among the shadows.”

“He better not forget my request,” Shigaraki growled, his eyes narrowing at something approaching rapidly, “Hey, Kurogiri is that…Pyro?”

“Yes, it is a Nomu,” Kurogiri confirmed, not flinching when the Nomu landed right in front of him and shrieked.

“Pyro, what gives?” Shigaraki began, pausing when the Nomu whirled around and a telltale buzzing noise indicated a recording about to play.

“Nii-chan, it’s me! The old guy wanted us to go to Shibuya, but Mr. Fluffy kind of crashed my train when we were passing by Hosu! I think one of my classmates is trying to hunt down the Hero Killer, so I’m going to try and find him! And, uh, I kind of forgot my tracker in my backpack? Please don’t tell dad! Just letting you know in case I have to borrow some Nomus to not die! Pyro, end recording!”

“Shigaraki Tomura…” Kurogiri began, turning around slowly to face his ward, only wincing slightly when the blue-haired man let out an unearthly scream.

“WHY IS BABY BROTHER IN HOSU?! HE’S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!” Shigaraki shouted, “PYRO! GO FIND BABY BROTHER AND BRING HIM TO ME!”

The Nomu grunted, flying off in an instant, and Shigaraki was left with Kurogiri on the rooftop.

“Kurogiri, take me to baby brother!” He demanded, twitching angrily when the warper made no move.

“I cannot do that, Shigaraki Tomura. He does not have his tracker with him, and warping to an unknown location may put us in the line of fire or in a hero’s sights.”

“I hate it when you’re right,” Tomura hissed, “Looks like I’m doing this the old-fashioned way. Kurogiri! Keep an eye out for baby brother! I’m going to look for him!”

“Don’t worry, Iida!” Izuku said, taking deep breaths while Stain was being held down by a telekinesis quirk, “I sent my location to my brother while he wasn’t looking - we just gotta fend Stain off until he gets here!”

“Midoriya, this is all my fault,” Iida lamented, “Get out of here while you still can! You shouldn’t die for my mistakes!”

“Iida, I literally just said I’m staying!” Izuku retorted, grunting at the feeling of the telekinesis breaking, “It’s not right to just leave someone when they need help!”

“Those are big words,” Stain laughed, on his feet before Izuku could reactivate telekinesis, “But can you back them up?”

Gritting his teeth and pushing past the dizziness brought on by telekinesis, Izuku rushed forward, getting close to the villain and ducking under his legs right as he pulled out a knife. Izuku breathed out a stream of fire, but the way it caused his head to swim made him realize that his strongest long-range attack would be off the table.

Suddenly, Izuku felt his body seize up, leaving everything below his head paralyzed.

(Tomura jolted, the action nearly making him trip as he leaped across rooftops, dread washing over him as he thought of his brother in danger.

“Hang on, baby brother! I’m coming to save you!”)

“What happened? Did he scratch me?!” Izuku began to panic as Stain sauntered over to Iida’s frozen body, “S-stop it! Leave him alone!”

“Your attacks were clever, but you just weren’t strong enough.” Stain began to monologue, picking up his sword and continuing on his path, “You’re unlike the others who are all talk - you’re worth keeping alive. This one, however, must be culled. His weakness demands it.”

“Stop it!” Izuku screamed, straining under the effect of Stain’s quirk, “Don’t hurt him!”

“Nature removes that which is weak,” Stain lifted the sword, holding it directly above Iida’s temple, “I am merely an agent of nature, sent to cleanse society of its impurities.”

Izuku’s heart rate skyrocketed, pleading for Stain to stop when a jet of fire shot directly towards the villain.

“One after another…” Stain grumbled, having managed to avoid being burned, “There are too many people getting in my way tonight.”

“Midoriya,” a deep voice said, one that made Izuku feel like he was the one surrounded by fire, “This is not what I expected to see when I received your location. But I’m glad I wasn’t late.”

“Todoroki!” Izuku squeaked, “What are you doing here? And…you’re using your fire!”

“I’m here because you sent me your location. I was hoping it was something else, but I’m more than ready to help you now. The pros should be arriving shortly as well.”

Izuku wished he could look behind him, wanting to see Todoroki’s face for himself, but he was also embarrassed that he had sent the message to Todoroki instead of his brother.

He just hoped that Todoroki could keep the Hero Killer at bay until help arrived.

“I don’t see him anywhere!” Tomura shouted into his phone, frustration building the longer it took him to find his brother, “Kurogiri! Have any of the Nomus returned with him?”

“I’m afraid not,” Kurogiri replied, “Although- Tomura-san, I have just seen an attack similar to Izuku-san’s fire breathing. It is directly east of your location, in an area away from the center of the city.”

“On it! If any of the Nomus come close to you, send them that way!”

“Of course, Tomura-san.”

Tomura ended the call, shoving his phone into his pocket as he sprinted to the area where the fire had been; he just knew that the fire was his baby brother’s, since Endeavor was still at the center of the battle, and wasted no time rushing towards that area. He had to occasionally stop to pull idiot NPCs out of the way or deflect attacks from the heroes that had gone off-target, but he never stopped his quest to move toward the spot where baby brother’s fire had been, despite the area being on the complete opposite side of the city.

“Don’t worry, baby brother! Help is on the way!”

“I can move again!” Izuku surged upwards, delivering a powerful strike to Stain’s jaw, “I don’t know why, but I can!”

“How is that possible?” Iida questioned, still frozen in place, “You were the last to be affected!”

Izuku came skidding back down on an ice spike, standing next to Todorki. “It’s got some kind of a time limit, but I’m not sure what the criteria are…Iida, what’s your blood type?”

“Me? I’m type A.”

“I’m type O,” Todoroki offered, attempting once again to cover Stain in ice.

“And I’m type O as well,” Izuku nodded to himself, “I think it’s blood type! Type O must be the one least affected by his quirk!”

“Then it’s up to us to protect the two still trapped,” Todoroki said, and Izuku nodded in agreement.

“Why are you two doing this?” Iida cried, “It’s my responsibility to avenge my brother!”

“I already told you I know a thing or two about brothers!” Izuku shouted, letting out stuttering, wet gasps as his abdomen was pierced by a sword, “If it’s your responsibility, then stand up and fight!”

“Midoriya!” Todoroki shouted, attempting to run over to him but getting intercepted by a swipe of Stain’s swords. Izuku could only watch in horror as Todoroki was left to fight alone, his attacks slowing down as he carried on, Stain coming closer and closer to slashing at his limbs again. He wanted to close his eyes, to apologize for accidentally bringing Todoroki here, for not being able to save Iida, for forgetting to bring his panic button, but he could not. He could only watch in horror, unable to bring himself to look away from Todoroki’s inevitable defeat and death.

“RECIPRO BURST!” Iida shouted, appearing as a blue blur tearing down the alley, shoving one leg in front of the knife about to connect with Todoroki’s face while slamming his other into Stain’s head.

“You’re up!” Izuku cried in relief - then in pain as his healing quirks began slowly attempting to patch up his major injuries.

“I’m sorry for bringing you both into this!” Iida said, voice loud and unwavering, “This had nothing to do with you, and I apologize! I can’t allow you to bleed any more!”

“It’s no use,” Stain growled, throwing a broken blade into the ground, “It’s no use trying to be reformed for appearance’s sake. No one can change their essence so easily, and you’ll never be anything but a fake who prioritizes his own selfish desires! You are a cancer to the society that waters down the meaning of a hero!”

“Iida, don’t listen to him,” Todoroki said, “A murderer’s logic is anything but sound.”

“I don’t know about you guys,” Izuku shouted, his leg buckling from the stab wounds he had suffered, “But I’m sick of hearing this guy talk! Iida, Todoroki, let’s attack together!”

Iida glanced over at Izuku, nodding sharply and bending his knees. “Todoroki!” he exclaimed, “Freeze my legs without plugging up the exhaust!”

Todoroki did as he requested, and soon the blue flames of Iida’s engines were turning white as he gathered power; Izuku, gathering all of his strength and combining his most powerful short range attack quirks, leapt in the air the moment Iida left the ground, bouncing off of the massive ice structures to fly towards Stain. His limbs ached and his injuries were burning in pain, but that didn’t stop either of them from kicking Stain as hard as they could, Iida aiming for his side and Izuku for his temple, a blast of fire from Todoroki knocking him against the wall while a pillar of ice caught the two in the air, sending them safely to the ground.

“Is he…is he knocked out?” Izuku said quietly, not wanting to accidentally jinx it as he was truly unable to move with so many injuries. Todoroki and Iida approached the villain cautiously, eyes wide as they confirmed that yes, Stain was indeed unconscious.

“T-take his weapons,” Native said, making Izuku suddenly remember the pro that had been present for the entire altercation, “And find something to restrain him with! I can move my fingers and toes again, so I should be able to help you once I’ve regained my mobility.”

“Will we get in trouble for using our quirks?” Izuku asked cautiously, “I don’t want to cause any problems…”

The pro hero laughed, shakily standing to his feet. “No, I’m retroactively giving you all permission to use your quirks to fight Stain. After all, it was you three that did something countless pros couldn’t.” Native nodded in approval at the ropes Iida and Todoroki tied around Stain’s arms, walking over to where Izuku was collapsed on the ground, “You’ve hurt your legs pretty badly. Let me carry you, it’s the least I can do.”

“Thank you,” Izuku mumbled, exhaustion washing over him as the healing quirk kicked into overdrive, “Has anyone ever told you basing your entire hero persona on a caricature of indigenous Americans is kind of messed up?” He continued to mutter under his breath, not registering the screeching noise coming from the sky, “If you were Native American…the argument could be made that…that it was an act of displaying cultural pride, but evidence has shown that you’re fully Japanese–”

Izuku’s rambling was cut off when something closed around his torso, knocking the wind out of him and pulling him into the air, revealing several approaching heroes suddenly panicking at the sight of his abduction, the shouts of his classmates ringing in his ears along with the familiar screeching.

“Pyro!” Izuku gasped, wincing at how it aggravated his injuries, “Did you send my message to Nii-chan? Where even is he- EEP!” Izuku shrieked as a ball of fire shot towards him, barely avoiding hitting them thanks to the Nomu’s evasive maneuvers. 

“What was- Endeavor?!” Izuku gasped at the sight of the blazing Number Two Hero, “What’s he doing here-”

“BABY BROTHER!”

“NII-CHAN!” Izuku responded instantly to Tomura’s shout, eyes searching all over for blue hair or red eyes.

“PYRO, BRING HIM TO ME!” Tomura’s voice was music to Izuku’s ears, but just as he caught sight of Tomura’s Father-obscured face, something heavy landed on Pyro’s back, sending Izuku and the Nomu plummeting to the ground as the winged creature wailed in pain.

Groaning in agony at the feeling of his wounds being aggravated yet again, Izuku froze in shock and horror at the sight of Stain perched atop the Nomu, a knife plunged deep into its brain.

“You fakes who do nothing at the sight of a child being abducted,” Stain growled, a mixture of blood and sweat dripping down his face onto Pyro’s brain, “Those who wave their power around idly without paying any mind to those they are sworn to protect should all be purged. This is all to create a more just society.”

(“WHY DID HE DO THAT?!” Tomura screamed, scratching furiously at his neck, “I ALMOST HAD HIM! AND HE KILLED A PERFECTLY GOOD NOMU! WHY WON’T THINGS GO THE WAY I WANT?!”)

“Let me, g-go!” Izuku struggled beneath Stain’s hold, “Nii-chan was here to save me!”

But Stain paid Izuku no mind, looking behind him as an orange source of light approached the scene, his eyes taking on a murderous glint at the appearance of Endeavor.

“Why aren’t any of you doing anything!” Endeavor shouted, flames wrapping around his fist as he prepared to strike.

“Endeavor, don’t!” Izuku heard Gran Torino shout, “He’s got a hostage! You’ll kill the boy!”

(“NO! STAY AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!” Tomura bellowed, scrambling to get down from the roof before Izuku was roasted alive.)

“You fake,” Stain snarled, whilrling around to glare at Endeavor, “You do not deserve the title of hero! Someone must die tonight, and I must take back what it means to be a hero!” Stain took a step forward, looking like a creature from a nightmare with the wild look in his eye and the moonlight drowning his face in shadows, “Try and get me, you fakes! The only one I’ll let kill me is the true hero, All Might!”

And, out of nowhere, a knife embedded itself in Stain’s back, making the Hero Killer freeze while still upright, the silence following his outburst absolutely suffocating. 

“What…just happened?” Todoroki’s quiet voice asked the question that everyone wanted to know, but the broken tension caused the heroes to jump into action, immediately descending on the three teenagers to provide first aid, waiting for the ambulance while their mentors reprimanded them for running off.

(“Kurogiri, let me go!” Tomura grunted, straining to escape the warper’s hold, “Let me see baby brother right now!”

“Tomura-san, I understand that you are concerned for Izuku-san, but it would be unwise to approach him at the moment, especially since your fingerprints are on that knife you threw.”

“I’ll show you unwise in the moment,” Tomura hissed, hands swatting the air blindly, “At least let me get Pyro’s body for the Doctor!”

“I will collect the body once the heroes have dispersed. Do not struggle, or else I will have to resort to drastic measures.”

Tomura scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah right. What could you even do?”

“I can hand you over to your mother.”

Tomura’s pupils dilated in fear, the mere implication of his Mom’s wrath enough to scare him into obedience. His Dad would’ve been easy enough to handle, but any intelligent person would live in fear of Midoriya Inko. She was able to tame the Symbol of Evil for a reason, after all.)

“Can someone unlock my phone, please?” Izuku asked weakly, his arms and legs bandaged tightly while the paramedics fretted over him, carefully loading the three teens into the ambulances.

“Yes, I can,” Todoroki’s response was immediate, “But may I ask why?”

“I have a feeling we’re gonna get in a bit of legal trouble,” he said quietly, relaxing exponentially when Todoroki’s warm left side pressed against him, “And I really just want to see my mom.”

“So,” Midoriya Inko said later that night, throwing open the door to her son’s hospital room, malice radiating from her in waves, “Would anyone like to explain why the Chief of Police is interrogating a minor without a lawyer present? Or better yet, why you’re interrogating my baby without bothering to let his parents know that he had been ATTACKED BY A SERIAL KILLER?”

”Midoriya,” Todoroki’s monotone voice was somehow able to be heard over Inko berating the police chief, “Your mother is a bit…”

”Intense?” Izuku provided, grinning when Todoroki nodded in approval at the word choice, “Yeah, I know. Just wait until she’s done ripping him a new one.”

”And you!” Inko said abruptly, whirling around to point an accusatory finger at Izuku, her look of anger rapidly being replaced by a fountain of tears, “What on earth were you thinking?”

”Sorry, Mom,” Izuku grinned sheepishly, only wheezing slightly as his mother rushed over to wrap him in a tight hug, “I didn’t really expect to fight Stain though.”

“You scared me half to death!” Inko sobbed, “Don’t you ever do that again, you hear me?”

Izuku nodded softly, refusing to speak as a lump had formed in his throat, closing his eyes to let himself feel safe and secure in his mom’s arms. 

“I’m just so glad you’re safe,” she whispered, pulling back slightly to kiss her son’s forehead, “But don’t think you’re getting out of this scot-free. Your father is at home throwing a fit because I won’t let him deal with that murderer and the police himself.”

Izuku swallowed nervously, turning to look at Todoroki with wide eyes, his pupils shaking in dread at the inevitable lecture in store. 

Todoroki blinked slowly, looking back and forth between both Midoriyas before settling his gaze on Izuku, staring inquisitively for several moments before opening his mouth. 

“Is this a bad time to ask if we can hug again?”

Chapter Text

“Toshinori, are you sure now is a good time to bring this up to the kid? He’s barely healed from that altercation with Stain, and I’d like to avoid making his mother any angrier than she already is - she is absolutely terrifying.”

“I can’t wait any longer,” Toshinori replied, staring at his deflated form in the mirror, “It’s precisely because of that fight that I’m certain he’s the one meant to carry on One For All. He went out of his way to save young Iida, sticking by his side even when he had the chance to run away.”

“Toshinori,” Gran Torino sighed, the noise crackling over the phone, “Have you considered that maybe it’s best to not pass on One For All?”

“Did…did you not approve of young Midoriya? I understand that running off to confront Stain was a rash decision to make, but I believed that he was perfectly suited for the quirk!”

“Don’t jump to conclusions, you zygote. Honestly, what’s wrong with your generation? What I mean is that One For All has served its purpose and All For One has been dead for years. It’s only a matter of time before someone else discovers the secret of One For All and begins rallying villains together to try and take it.”

Toshinori swallowed harshly, attempting unsuccessfully to ease the shakiness in his voice. “I…I don’t think I can do that. This torch has been passed down through seven generations, and I cannot imagine myself to be the one to extinguish that flame, even if its original purpose has been fulfilled.”

“How can you be sure that anyone else could handle the quirk? You know full and well that it could blow the brat’s limbs off if he’s not strong enough! It’s gathering strength as it goes on and might end up killing someone just by inheriting it.”

“I know that but I have this…this feeling that Midoriya is the one meant to carry on this quirk,” Toshinori sighed as thoughts of a dark-haired woman filled his mind’s eye, “I’m…too attached to the quirk - it would feel like I’m removing the last traces of Nana from the world.” Toshinori briefly paused to push down the lump in his throat, speaking before the elderly hero could start again, “I’ve already sent a request to Nezu to schedule a meeting with young Midoriya today since he has been dismissed from his internship early. I’ll tell him about the quirk and offer it to him afterward.”

The line was silent for long enough that Toshinori nearly checked the phone to see if the call had ended, but a deep sigh from the other end cut that idea down in an instant.

“You’re stubborn as a mule, so I know I can’t change your mind. But if for any reason during your conversation you get the feeling that maybe you shouldn’t pass it on to the kid, you pivot away from that topic and don’t give it to him. You hear me?”

“I do. Thank you for taking on Midoriya as an intern, even though things went…”

“Down the drain? Eh, it wasn't so bad. The kid really does have talent being able to control so many quirks that well, and I could tell he genuinely wants to help people under all that sass. I guess if you had to pick anyone, he’s not such a bad choice. Could’ve picked worse.”

“That…means a lot,” Toshinori smiled at his old teacher’s way of showing fondness, “Thank you, Gran.”

“If you were really thankful, you’d send letters more often! It took you two years to send me a letter and it’s just to ask for a favor! The nerve you young people have, I oughta kick you square in the head for that!”

The fight with Stain had easily been the scariest thing Izuku had ever been through, and that was including the time he got kidnapped as a kid and the USJ incident. He had never enjoyed hearing his parents’ lectures before, but upon suddenly realizing that if the fight had not gone nearly so well if Shouto hadn’t shown up when he did, Izuku wouldn’t be alive to hear another lecture ever again. The sudden awareness of the situation he had been in hit Izuku like a ton of bricks, resulting in him bursting into tears mid-lecture, confessing his newfound fear to his very concerned yet understanding parents.

And Shouto…that was an entirely different matter altogether.

The most obvious development came on the second day of their hospital stay when Iida had been out of the room for a physical therapy session. Izuku had been unable to avoid Shouto’s gaze any longer and found a string of apologies pouring from his lips, saying that he hadn’t meant to contact Shouto, how sorry he was for bringing the other into danger, and how his guilt made him feel responsible for Shouto’s injuries. He had just begun begging for his friend’s forgiveness when he felt the bed dip down, an oddly cold presence at his side jerking him out of his jumbled apologies.

“Midoriya,” Todoroki’s deep voice sent shivers down Izuku’s side, something he attributed to the fact that his cold half was pressed against Izuku’s thin hospital clothes, “I said it earlier, but I’ll say it again. I’m glad that I arrived when I did and not a moment later.”

“But you got hurt-!”

“You didn’t cause these injuries, much like you claim I didn’t cause the injuries you received at the Sports Festival.”

“Still,” Izuku mumbled, tucking his legs in front of his chest, “There’s no way you were happy to essentially get invited to an almost-murder scene.”

Todoroki laughed - more like a quiet huffing noise really - and placed a cold hand on Izuku’s knee. “No, I would’ve preferred an invitation to…well, anything else really. But I would never be upset to be the one to save your life.”

“I really can’t thank you enough for that,” Izuku chuckled nervously, looking up at Todoroki through wisps of green hair, “Tell me how I can repay you for it, I’ll do just about anything you ask for.”

“Anything?” Todoroki asked, eyebrows raised in intrigue, “Anything I want at all?”

“Yeah! Like if you want a new computer, or a lifetime supply of soba, o-or a genetically engineered dog, I can make it happen!”

“While a life of free soba is tempting, there is something I’d really like to have,” Todoroki said, a small smirk gracing his features that made Izuku’s insides feel like they were doing an award-winning gymnastics routine.

“What could you possibly want more than soba?” Izuku joked half-heartedly, genuinely curious to know how he could show his gratitude to the boy.

“I want you to call me Shouto.”

Izuku gaped stupidly at the other boy, staring as if this was a vision that would fade away the instant he blinked. “This…I gotta be whacked out on pain meds right now, there’s no way this is actually happening. This is too similar to something from that one visual novel…”

“I hope this isn’t just a medication-induced hallucination. I really do want you to call me Shouto.”

“Oh- oh this is real,” Izuku laughed breathlessly, tugging on the roots of his hair to ensure it wasn’t a dream, “You really want me to call you Shouto? That’s all you want?”

Todoroki– no, Shouto hummed, smoothly grabbing Izuku’s hand and pulling it away from his poor scalp, “Actually, no. I want you to call me Shouto, and I’d like to call you Izuku.”

“Todo- Shouto!” Izuku stammered, feeling his face turn red from Shouto’s unwavering attention, “Y-you can’t be serious! That’s definitely not a fair exchange!”

“But it’s what I want,” Shouto pouted, something that shouldn’t have made Izuku’s heart flutter the way it did, “You said I could have whatever I want, and what I want is for you to call me Shouto and I call you Izuku.”

Izuku’s brain went blank, mumbling out lackluster protests when Shouto sighed, putting a hand on Izuku’s shoulder to make the green-haired boy look at him.

“Izuku,” he began, and Izuku deftly resolved to ignore the way his name sounded in Shouto’s voice, “That’s really all I want. But if it would make you feel better, you can also take me to get soba sometime.”

Needless to say, he had not anticipated leaving that hospital with a newly-forged bond with Shouto, much less with several instances of Shouto asking him for hugs under the pretense of making sure Izuku was completely healed. Honestly, suddenly hearing Shouto call him by his first name was so overwhelming that Izuku was almost relieved to be taken home and chewed out for forgetting his tracker. Sure, it was kind of embarrassing to be dismissed from his internship early due to the incident and his injuries, left to deal with his classmates making a group chat and expressing their concern for him, but at least he wasn’t the sole focus of their worry this time! Iida was receiving most of the concern for being the main target of the attack (they all elected to keep his bout of vigilantism a secret) and Shouto was being praised for his quick thinking and skills, so Izuku really didn’t have it all that bad! 

Besides, he was more than happy to be with his family after the incident, and finally being free of Gran Torino’s senile old man act was certainly a benefit he hadn’t realized he wanted so badly. He was more than happy to spend the last couple of days before school at home, playing games with his Nii-chan, chatting with his Mom and Dad, and researching the best soba restaurants to make good on his promise to Shouto.

He was knee-deep in his soba research, sifting through countless reviews to find the absolute best cold soba in all of Japan when he was startled by a knock on his bedroom door.

“Izuku, can I come in?” His dad asked, voice muffled by the door but still able to be heard clearly.

“Yeah, come in!” Izuku responded, quickly closing the tabs on his laptop and setting the device aside as his dad pushed the door open.

“I just got a call from your school,” Hisashi began to explain, sitting on the edge of his son’s bed, “They’d like for you to come in this afternoon to discuss your internship since it’s been cut short.”

Izuku nodded. It made sense for a discussion to be had about his internship, maybe a crash course of what he should have learned or an assignment to make up for missing a few days, but the grim expression on his dad’s face didn’t match the presumed situation at hand.

“Am…I in trouble for getting sent home?” Izuku asked, brows furrowed in confusion, “It’s not like I asked to get stabbed several times in one night.”

“No, no, they’re not mad at you,” Hisashi said, sighing and rubbing the tension out of his forehead, “I’m just a little stressed because of who they’re sending to meet with you. They…well, they want you to speak with All Might.”

“Oh.”

“I should’ve expected it, really. I couldn’t remember at the time, but a quick look through my files showed that he was All Might’s mentor after…uh…”

“Let me guess,” Izuku said, laughing quietly at the look on his dad’s face, “You had something to do with the reason Gran Torino was his mentor.”

Hisashi smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as his face turned red, “You’re too smart for your own good, bunny. I don’t mind telling you what happened, but…it’s related to a secret All Might’s been carrying, the kind of secret that garners a big reaction from people. I don’t want to tell you right now in case the blonde buffoon is suspicious of us and tries asking you questions - if you know more than you should, he’s incredibly likely to jump to dangerous conclusions.”

“I get it,” Izuku replied, scooting over to lean against his father’s large frame, “I promise I’ll be careful, and I’ll be sure to have my panic button in case something happens.”

“That’s good,” Hisashi smiled, wrapping an arm around Izuku’s shoulders, “I won’t go with you, just in case anyone suspects anything about me, but I’m going to be at the ready with Kurogiri if you need a quick escape.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Izuku said, “What time is the meeting supposed to be?”

“At 2 this afternoon. Do you think you’ll need a distraction to keep yourself from thinking into a nervous ball of energy?”

Izuku’s face flushed but he nodded nonetheless; he knew if he was left to himself, he’d overthink things so badly he wouldn’t be able to stand without his knees shaking uncontrollably. Hisashi ruffled Izuku’s hair, pushing himself to his feet with a slight huff.

“Well, I’m not nearly as good of a cook as your mother, but I think I can manage to scrape something together for lunch. How about you tell me all about the lore and your theories for that game you like in the meantime - Two Nights at Tiffany’s, was it?”

“Haha, very funny, Dad,” Izuku deadpanned, rolling his eyes playfully at the joke, “What would the underworld say if they saw the biggest, baddest villain ever cracking lame dad jokes?”

“They wouldn’t say a thing!” Hisashi chirped, leading the way to the kitchen, “I’d still be able to kill them in 200 different ways while making all of the very good and funny jokes I want!” He glanced over his shoulder, a nostalgic twinkle in his eye that Izuku knew all too well. “You know, when you were just a tiny toddler, I once held you and your brother in my arms during a business meeting, all wrapped up in the most adorable onesies and blankets, letting you sleep off your colds while I discussed ways to destroy a measly little gang that started thinking they were real bigshots. I still managed to scare a man so badly he nearly passed out cold, even while carrying the two cutest boys in the world!”

“Dad,” Izuku whined, his ears turning red from embarrassment, “I can’t believe you let us wear baby onesies while talking about murder!”

“Well, what was I supposed to do? Make you wear three-piece suits?” Hisashi scoffed, digging through the refrigerator that was far too small for his height, “If my sons want to wear dinosaur onesies to an organized crime meeting, then you’ll do just that. After all, a man who’s comfortable in his clothes is a man that can easily tear his enemies down to atoms!”

(“Does my hair look okay?”

“First…why does it matter what your hair looks like?”

“Because the meeting today is important! I want to make a good impression on my nephew!”

“I don’t know how to get this through your head- he can’t even see you! Or your hair!”

“Just rain on my parade, why don’t you? What if I want my hair to look good as a confidence booster?”

“You ain’t even the one doing the talking, dunno why you’d be needing confidence to do nothing.”

“Fifth, your sass levels are through the roof right now. Can’t a guy try to make a good first impression when his nephew might be inheriting his quirk?”

“Alright, first of all, let’s all promise to not interfere with Eighth during the meeting. He should speak for himself - First, Seventh, I’m talking especially to you two.”

“Wha- me?! You’re accusing me of trying to take over Eighth’s body just to talk to my adorable nephew?”

“And what do I have to do with this? The kid isn’t even my nephew!”

“First, we share the same spirit world-thing, we could hear you muttering your ‘master plan’ to talk with the kid yourself. And Seventh, we know that you’re still hung up on the kid’s brother being your grandson, but do not try to question him out of nowhere!”

“Also, how dare you consider one of my nephews your grandson but not the other? Face it Seventh, they’re a package deal! You’re their grandma, and I’m their uncle- oh god, does this make me your son? Son-in-law?”

“Okay, let’s move on before First has a crisis. What does everyone think about little Green getting our quirk? I personally think he’s not such a bad choice, maybe a little reckless, but Eighth could’ve done worse.”

“Gotta admit, the kid’s got spunk!”

“He fights good.”

“I’m a bit wary of him since this might be part of an elaborate plot by All For One, but I will not interfere with Eighth’s choices.”

“Well I can’t wait for my nephew to have my quirk, he’s going to be so- mmph!”

“Alright, I’m keeping this brat quiet for now, and one of you better keep an eye on Seventh - it’s time for the meeting.”)

Taking a deep breath as he approached the school gates, Izuku suddenly felt as nervous as he had been on the very first day of school. Part of him wanted to turn around and walk right back through Kurogiri’s portal, but the more responsible side of him knew that he couldn’t just skip this meeting because he was nervous. He wished he could’ve talked to his friends about his worries, but that would mean having to explain the truth about his quirk and family to them - something that absolutely could not happen if his family wanted to keep living their “average civilian” lives. But still, Izuku thought to himself as he pushed open the large door, steps echoing down the eerily empty hallway, having just a little bit of support would go a long way.

“Midoriya? What are you doing here - weren’t you just in the hospital?”

Izuku jumped at the voice that came out of nowhere, twisting around and heaving a sigh of relief when he saw Shinsou walking towards him, sweat stains on his shirt and a vaguely familiar loop of fabric around his shoulders.

“Shinsou, hi!” He said, squeaking in shock when the other boy rushed up to him, patting his head and arms as if checking for injuries, “I got cleared to leave the day before yesterday! A-and I got called in for a meeting today since I’m missing out on half of my internship, so it’s probably just having to write an essay or something.”

“Oh, good,” Shinsou sighed, closing his eyes and taking a calming breath before smacking Izuku’s head.

“OW! What was that for?!”

“That was from your cousin,” Shinsou scolded, “He’s been worried sick, even if he won’t actually admit it. Neito told me and Denki that whoever sees you first has to smack you for being stupid and reckless. I think he said he was going to kill you and ‘go all Hamlet on your stupid green skull’ before resurrecting you to kill you again.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Izuku grumbled, gingerly rubbing the stinging spot on his scalp, “I’ve already gotten yelled at enough to last a lifetime - it feels like I’ve done three years of college with the number of lectures I’ve had to sit through.”

“I’m not saying you deserve it, but you did fight a serial killer and barely live - at least according to the news and what Neito was screaming about until you called him.”

Izuku opened his mouth to protest, but the memory of waking up to 24 consecutive calls and over 99 messages from Monoma had him shutting his jaw with an audible click of his teeth.

“Okay…maybe I should’ve texted Tocchan sooner. But in my defense, I was on pain medication and it was easy to forget things! I literally got stabbed! And grabbed!”

“You’re lucky that vigilante threw that knife at Sta-” Shinsou was abruptly cut off, his mouth covered by familiar white fabric that continued to loop around his torso and legs, knocking over the purple-haired boy and revealing Aizawa standing behind him in the hallway.

“S-sensei!”

“Break’s over,” Aizawa said, raising an eyebrow when he looked at Izuku, “You’re supposed to be heading over to the teacher’s lounge. Don’t know why Nezu wants you to talk with All Might of all people, but I’m not paid or caffeinated enough to ask.”

“Right! Thanks, Sensei! Bye, Shinsou!”

Shinsou mumbled something completely unintelligible beneath the layers of the Eraserhead Capture Scarf (one that Izuku still planned to steal as a future Nii-chan Bribe), wiggling his fingers in his best attempt at a wave, leaving the green-haired boy to wander towards the teacher’s lounge, the inkling that something was different about his conversation with Shinsou getting shoved to the back of his mind as his destination came into view.

Gathering every ounce of courage in his body, Izuku took a deep breath and pushed the door open, his heart trembling at the sight of All Might sitting on a couch in front of a table.

“Ah! Young Midoriya, please come in!” All Might smiled, gesturing at the other couch on the opposite side of the table, “Have a seat! Would you like anything to drink? Maybe water or tea?”

“Water, please,” Izuku’s voice was strained, trying to reign in the conflicting feelings of horror and intrigue battling within himself, giving the hero a wobbly smile as he sat down.

(“My nephew is okay! Stain didn’t stand a chance against him!”

“First, remember what we said about staying calm, or else you’re getting the spray bottle.”

“I am calm! Don’t you dare treat me like a dog- actually, how did you even get a spray bottle in the spirit realm? Oh that doesn’t matter, we’ve got a sales pitch to listen to!”)

“So, you’re probably wondering why you’ve been called here today,” All Might said, his smile never fading from his face as he spoke.

“It’s because of my internship, right?” Izuku asked, his hands picking at the ends of his shirt sleeves, “I didn’t finish it, so I have to do an assignment or something to make up for it?”

All Might laughed…timidly? Was it possible for such an imposing figure to be timid?

“That’s a good assumption to make. I suppose in a way it is related to your internship, or rather, something I’ve been wanting to discuss with you for a while that caused me to mention you to Gran Torino.”

The mention of the old man sent Izuku reeling, memories of all the strange things he had said to the boy during the internship playing like a tier list video, with the S-tier strangest thing being-

“Toshinori?” Izuku said tentatively, inhaling slightly when All Might’s eyes widened, “The guy he called an imbecile over the phone?”

All Might winced, “To be fair, I never told him that I had already approached you about One For All, he just made that assumption himself.”

“Back it up,” Izuku interjected, rotating his hands in a backward motion, “That One For All thing, he kept talking about it too. What even is it, and why did he think I had it?”

“Right,” the hero nodded, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket, “It will probably be easier if I just show you.”

A puff of steam erupted around the hero and the man began to cough violently. Izuku’s nose scrunched as he tried to wave away the steam in his face, but his mild annoyance quickly turned into a scream of shock when a very sickly man had taken All Might’s place.

“WHO ARE YOU?!” Izuku shouted, leaping to his feet and calling up several quirks, “WHO SENT YOU AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH ALL MIGHT?!”

“Young Midoriya,” the body snatcher said between coughs in a voice identical to All Might’s, “I assure you, it’s still me!”

Izuku snarled in response, eyes blazing as he fired up All for One to take a look at the doppelganger’s quirk, knowing that whatever he saw would prove this imposter wasn’t the same hero he had stalked for weeks. 

Except, the hypnotic quirk orb belonging to All Might was right there, all bright light and shifting colors, proving that this man was none other than the Number One Hero.

“All…Might?” Izuku asked tentatively, his throat going dry when the…dehydrated hero nodded.

“This is my true form, at least it is without my quirk active.” The hero said, wiping traces of blood from his chin. “It’s kind of like the guys you see flexing at the pool.”

Izuku wanted to argue that it was clearly not like people flexing at the pool, because they didn’t start coughing up blood when they stopped holding their breath, but he decided to hold his tongue for the moment. Besides, with his sunken face and ill-fitting clothes, Izuku couldn’t help but try to remember if he had any spare change in his wallet - it looked like All Might needed all the financial assistance he could get if he couldn’t even afford clothes that looked good.

“You’re probably wondering what could’ve made me like this,” All Might carried on, lifting up his shirt to reveal a nasty-looking injury, “It’s because of an injury I got in a villain attack six years ago. Half of my respiratory organs were destroyed, and I lost my entire stomach. Repeated surgeries and the aftereffects of the injuries have resulted in me becoming like this, only able to use my quirk for around 3 hours a day.”

Gasping softly as he examined the harsh lines etched into the man’s bony torso muddled with deep red scars, Izuku knew that he was looking at the injury his own father had caused on the night when he “retired”, coming home concussed and limping and telling his sons that things were going to be a little different from then on. Their family had always wondered if Hisashi’s attacks had left All Might impeded in any way, but Izuku never imagined that the hero would willingly tell him the answer to the unasked question.

“I made sure that the fight wasn’t made known to the public. The Symbol of Peace must be a pillar for society, someone that never falters in the face of evil. If they had seen my state after that fight, surely society would have nearly collapsed.”

Masking the scoff he nearly let out as a cough and gasp that the hero likely expected from that statement, Izuku found that particular point one of society’s biggest failings. His father’s history lesson had stressed that most nations began to collapse once they place all authority and trust in a singular figure rather than a body of highly educated individuals, and All Might was the quintessential example of that phenomenon. How the public put all their trust in the Number One Hero was something Izuku never understood - he wasn’t even a proper politician or a prominent lawmaker, and he definitely was too stupid to learn how if Izuku’s father was correct about the blonde hero’s intelligence stats. 

“I really do feel bad for you,” Izuku lied, making sure that he looked more empathetic than scornful just in case All Might was trying to see if he had any information about that fight, “But why are you telling me this? It’s not like I can heal you or anything - I couldn’t even do it if I borrowed Recovery Girl’s quirk.”

“Young Midoriya, you truly are everything I hoped you would be,” All Might laughed softly, the loudness of his voice disappearing with the rest of his body mass, “Even now that you’ve seen something likely to cause the downfall of society, your first thought is how you could attempt to heal me.”

(“That’s really not what he said at all, though.”

“Shh, be quiet! I’m trying to fill out my ‘How this Meeting Will Go’ bingo sheet!”

“Your what?!”)

“This might sound a bit odd,” the hero said, scratching the side of his face with a rather bony finger, “But I’ve had my eye on you for over a year now- not in a bad way!” All Might shouted in alarm as Izuku felt cold panic encapsulate him and nearly smashed his panic button in his haste to eliminate the hero, “I haven’t been stalking you or anything, I swear!”

“You better start explaining real fast, because the direct line to the police station is looking mighty attractive right now,” Izuku muttered, hand still discreetly hovering over the panic button on his wrist.

“R-right, of course,” All Might said, coughing briefly into his handkerchief, “What I mean is, I noticed you a year ago when a slime villain attacked two young boys in one day, the first being you. After I had saved you, my time ran out while I was mid-jump, and the bottle containing the villain slipped out of my pocket and fell. I was wandering around, hoping to find the bottle before anyone else did, but that was when I stumbled across the second boy to be caught up in the attack. Since I was out of time, I merely stood by and watched as the heroes struggled, but I had no intention of trying to help until you jumped in. Your quick wit and call to action inspired me, letting me muster up just enough strength to defeat the villain. I wanted to speak with you after then about being my successor, but it was like you had disappeared.” 

All Might paused, taking a sip of his tea and looking into the cup with a small smile. “I had nearly convinced myself that you weren’t real and I had imagined the whole thing, but then I saw you again at the Entrance Exam, and you were spectacular! The way you rushed in to save that girl from the zero-pointer, even when everyone else was running away, showed that you possessed a quality fundamental to being a hero - something that your actions at the USJ and during your internship make abundantly clear to me.”

“What quality?” Izuku snorted, “Being reckless and jumping into action without thinking?”

“A person’s true motivation is demonstrated in high-stress situations, and truly heroic people often find that when someone is in trouble, their bodies move to help without even thinking about it. You, young Midoriya, are the prime example of that quality.” All Might’s piercing blue eyes moved up, staring directly into Izuku’s own eyes.

“I would like you to inherit my quirk.”

The silence in the room was deafening, and Izuku swore he could hear a pin drop on the other side of the school.

“I-Inherit…your…quirk?” Izuku managed to say, mangling each word as his breathing got faster, dread seeping into his bones, “Hah- that’s n-not possible! I already said my quirk is just b-borrowing, there’s no way I could keep a quirk forever! T-that’s not even a real quirk!”

“I wish it wasn’t,” All Might mumbled, and Izuku’s finger twitched over his panic button again, “But fortunately, the only man that could do that is dead. No, my quirk is a very special one, one that can be transferred from one person to another. I am the eighth person to possess this quirk, and I am looking for someone to take up the torch now that I am unable to continue on.” Holding out a massive hand towards Izuku, it almost looked like All Might’s eyes began to glow an even brighter blue, suddenly looking less like he might collapse at any moment.

“I ask that you become my successor to take up the mantle as the ninth holder of One For All.”

Izuku felt like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs. This had to be an elaborate ploy, there was no way his dad’s biggest enemy just happened to have a quirk that’s just a slightly different name - it even finished the rest of the quote his quirk was named after!

“Let me get this straight,” Izuku squeaked, “You, All Might, have a quirk that was…given to you? And you saw me do some heroic stuff and want to give it…to me?”

“Yes, I knew you would understand!” All Might said eagerly, “Your quirk is already nearly perfect for it as well! It could easily be played off as just another quirk you borrowed and would be much more powerful than your quite frankly weak borrowing!”

Izuku couldn’t breathe, his mind moving too fast to even be offended by the hero’s statement, and it felt like the room was spinning around him, a heavy beat thumping in his ears that he realized was his own heartbeat.

“So, what do you say?” All Might continued, oblivious to the panicking child in front of him, “Will you be the next holder of One For All?”

“I-” Izuku stammered, his voice betraying his panic as he shot up to his feet, “I need to talk to my dad!”

And without another word, Izuku ran out of the room as fast as he could, ignoring the confused shouts of the hero behind him, sprinting out of the school and into the familiar alleyway, pulling out his phone and sending a message for Kurogiri to pick him up.

“Izuku?” The boy’s heart lurched at the sound of his dad’s worried voice, “Izuku, are you okay?”

Izuku shook his head rapidly, trying to focus on the feeling of his dad’s presence instead of the things he had just discovered. He felt himself get scooped up into strong arms, not even minding being carried like he was a child, just wanting to get away from here to think about…everything, really.

“Izuku, bunny, what happened?” Hisashi asked, carefully depositing the green-haired boy on their living room couch, “What did All Might say to you? Did he accuse you of anything? Do we need to contact a trusted hitman?”

“Dad,” Izuku croaked out, “All Might, he- his quirk…did you know he can transfer quirks like we can?”

Hisashi’s eyes widened, placing a hand on Izuku’s shoulder as the boy’s shoulders began to tremble.

“Izuku…what did he tell you about that quirk?”

“Not much. He just said that it’s transferable, he’s the eighth person to have it, it's called One For All and- and he wants to give it to me.”

Hisashi stiffened at the mention of the quirk, but Izuku laughed wetly, wiping at his eyes.

“I’m being stupid, right? Like this can’t be real, he’s just trying to get me to slip up and tell him he’s saying my quirk wrong. This is just a big trick to expose us and I made myself look super suspicious by running out like this-”

“No,” Hisashi interrupted Izuku’s oncoming spiral, “No, he’s…he’s probably not trying to trick you, especially not if he offered you the quirk. He should know not to give it to just anyone, so this means he really does think you’re the best to carry it.”

“Why does it sound like you already knew about the quirk?” Izuku asked suspiciously, making his father sigh and his shoulders droop.

“What do you remember from your lessons about the dawn of quirks?” 

Izuku raised an eyebrow at the seemingly random question, but he answered it nonetheless.

“When quirks first came around, it caused an uproar among the majority quirkless population, spawning rampant discrimination and segregation against the quirked that was supported by the government. People with quirks or traits that could be related to them were constantly harassed and threatened, with many of them being attacked by quirkless vigilante groups that sought to prevent the “disease” from spreading. They didn’t know at the time that quirks were a natural evolution that would eventually be possessed by the majority of the population.”

“That’s right, bunny. And do you know what role I played at that time?”

The green-haired boy nodded, peering up at his dad through strands of his hair.

“You found out you could take quirks, so you started an underground trade, of sorts. People with quirks who didn’t want them would contact you, and after paying a fee, you would take the quirk away. And for those who wanted a quirk, they could also pay to receive one of your choice. You secretly gave bigoted politicians and the leaders of anti-metahuman groups quirks, causing upheaval and discord among them, and people who had sworn loyalty to you quickly swooped in and snatched up their offices, passing laws that led to quirk discrimination acts being passed and normalizing metahumans in society.”

“You’re such a smart boy,” Hisashi said, ruffling Izuku’s hair in approval, “That’s all correct, although you forgot to include that I was technically considered a domestic terrorist and became a villain after I continued hunting down those against metahumans and killed a few heroes to make better use of their quirks than they ever could. But there was a reason I was so obsessed with taking powerful quirks.”

“Because power is addictive?” Izuku guessed, grumbling slightly when his father pinched his cheek.

“Yes, it is addicting, but I did it because of my little brother. You see, when my little brother was born, he was very sick and frail. Our parents weren’t very good people, and they didn’t really care about us at all. They would leave us alone all the time, and one day when they left, they didn’t come back. That was around the time I accidentally discovered my quirk, and I realized I could use it to make money for us. I…well, I got greedy, and my greed took control of me. My brother loved comics about heroes that used their powers for justice, and he really didn’t like that I used my power to cause chaos and make money. Our differences in morals caused some…mild disagreements between us, and eventually led to a big argument that nearly drove us apart.” 

Hisashi smiled sadly as he told the story, bitter memories flashing through his mind, “I did some things that I have come to regret, especially after meeting your mother and becoming a father, but my biggest regret was forcing a quirk on him. We thought he was quirkless, and I intended for him to feel indebted to me if the strength-stockpiling quirk I gave him would make his body less weak. I’m sure you could guess that he didn’t like that very much.”

Izuku felt the corners of his mouth quirk up as he thought that if Tomura made him do something he didn’t want to, he would be pretty angry with him as well. 

“My brother and I were both extraordinarily stubborn, and neither of us took the time to have an adult conversation in favor of just punching each other. But his body was still weak…his illness combined with the injuries led to his death.” Hisashi swallowed harshly, his hand on the back of Izuku’s head tightened slightly, “I thought I had lost my brother forever, and I doubled down on my criminal activity to take my mind off of the grief. But I would later come to find that he had never been quirkless at all! He had a quirk that could be given to someone else, useless on its own, but powerful once it combined with the stockpiler I forced on him. He named it One For All, after the same story I took my quirk’s name from, and he passed it down to one of his companions in his fight against me. I was so angry that he had the last remnants of my little brother that I poured all of my time and resources into hunting him down. But the cycle had already started at that point. I would find the holder of the quirk, corner them, and right before they died, they would admit they had already passed it on to someone new.”

“That’s kind of a jerk move,” Izuku said, clutching onto his father’s sleeve, “I mean, why didn’t they just lead with the fact that they already passed it on?”

Hisashi laughed nervously, “Well, I might have not listened to them when they told me that. And they’ve all sworn to never give me the quirk anyway - it’s not one that can be forcefully taken, only willingly given.” Hisashi leaned further into the couch with a sigh, eyes fixed on his small green son, “All I ever wanted was my little brother’s quirk just so it could be back with his family. I’ve grown tired of the same song and dance, and I don’t have the desire for physical confrontations like that, just psychological warfare from now on. I mean, look at me! I haven’t tortured or murdered anyone in at least a few weeks! I think my brother would be proud of me for that!”

Izuku was quiet as he processed the influx of information. He had known since he was a baby that his dad was the most genuine person ever and that no one was as honest or had good intentions like him; he also knew that his father probably did regret his actions, however, and he had truly become the best dad that Izuku could ever have. If he was still intent on revenge and growing his criminal empire, Izuku knew that his dad would have likely never met his mom, or at the very least abandoned her once he discovered her pregnancy. Even knowing this, though, Izuku was still lost as to how he should proceed. 

“Dad,” he said softly, twisting Hisashi’s sleeve around in his hand, “What am I supposed to do?”

“You’re not supposed to do anything,” Hisashi’s voice was gentle yet firm, eyes shining with all the love he had for his son, “If you want the quirk, then you take it. And if you don’t want it, you don’t have to do that either. No one will be upset with you, no matter what choice you make. And if you do say no and that blonde buffoon gets angry, then you know what you have to do.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Izuku said while wrapping his arms around the man for a hug, “I think I know what I’m going to do.”

(“First, please calm down.”

“CALM DOWN?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN WHEN MY NEPHEW JUST RAN OUT AND EIGHTH INSULTED HIM?!”

“I don’t think Eighth intended to do that!”

“Yeah, and if he did, I’d find a way to contact Gran to kick him upside the head. Besides, First, the kid was just a little bit overwhelmed and probably needed to talk through things with someone he trusts. I’m sure one of his parents is waiting outside and they’re having a little talk.”

“That’s actually really smart, Seventh. How do you know all of this stuff about kids and parents?”

“You always forget that I had a whole husband and child once.”

“Oh yeah…you guys ever realize that Seventh is the only one of us that had a stable love life?”

“Please don’t remind me.”

“Man, how crazy is it that my own brother managed to get married and have kids? If you had told me he got laid when I was a teenager, I would’ve thought you swapped out my medicines and I was hearing things.”

“For the love of god, don’t talk about All For One getting laid.”

“Why not? How else is he supposed to have kids? Wait, I totally forgot about test-tube babies- do you think my brother has my nephew’s baby photos?”

“Yeah right, like All For One is a sentimental guy. I’ll eat my goggles if he ends up having a scrapbook or something.”)

“All Might,” Izuku threw the door open, making the emaciated hero jump in his seat. 

“Ah- young Midoriya!” All Might coughed, looking alarmed and shocked, “You came back!”

“I did. Sorry for running off like that, I just needed to talk to my dad about it to get my thoughts in order.”

All Might paled, “Please don’t tell me you told your father-”

“I had to,” Izuku interjected, “My dad was a quirk analyst before he went into politics, and dabbled in quirk counseling and training. He would know if I suddenly got a brand new quirk that he’s never seen me use before, especially if it didn’t seem like a borrowed one.”

“I…I suppose that is correct. I didn’t expect you to tell anyone outside of the conversation, to be honest.”

(“Eighth…seriously, what on earth were you thinking?”

“Oh, Seventh used her disappointed mom voice.”

“Of course I used that voice! How could he just expect to give a child a quirk without letting their parents know?!”)

“Well, that was kind of dumb,” Izuku’s brutal honesty made All Might flinch, “Because you didn’t have me sign any nondisclosure agreements or anything, so I could tell whomever I wanted. But I won’t,” he added on quickly when it looked like the hero was about to faint from stress, “Because I’ll take One For All. It’ll look less suspicious for someone with my quirk to suddenly have a new power since I can just say I got a new DNA sample.”

“That’s wonderful!” All Might exclaimed, his trademark smile looking odd on such a bedraggled face, “And speaking of a DNA sample-” The hero poofed into his muscular form, pulling a strand of hair from his head and holding it towards Izuku.

“Eat this!”

“Do you think the quirk will still work if I throw up,” Izuku asked, his face still a bit green from attempting to choke down All Might’s hair. He had tried to get the hero to let him drink a drop of blood, but the blonde buffoon was as stubborn as they came, absolutely insisting that it must be transferred with a hair.

“I’m not sure, but it’s probably in your best interest to not vomit,” Hisashi replied, making his way over to the refrigerator, “Would you like something to drink to wash down the taste?”

“The taste wasn’t the problem, it was that I could feel the hair,” Izuku shuddered at the phantom tickle in his throat, gagging slightly but holding it down, “Yeah, maybe that would help.”

“Alright, bunny.” Hisashi said as he pulled out a container of juice, filling a cup and bringing it over to where Izuku had flopped onto the couch, “Your mom and brother won’t be back for a few more hours. You’re probably going to feel a bit of fatigue while the quirk settles in, so feel free to take a nap if you need it.”

“Don’t think I will,” Izuku mumbled, but soon found that exhaustion was sinking into his bones, forcing his eyes to shut and sending him into a world of dreams.

Izuku blinked a few times, his eyelids a bit heavier than usual, but the area around him wasn’t the living room he had fallen asleep in. It looked like he was standing on an asteroid, the ground beneath him grey and rocky, with the dark expanse of space surrounding him. Lifting his hands and rubbing his eyes, Izuku saw eight figures made of some kind of smoke, each of them a singular color, that shifted and twisted into something that looked a bit more human, a light grey one the most humanoid of all. Izuku felt something warm in his chest pull him to stand, guiding him towards the grey figure, and Izuku was filled with the sense that this being was familiar.  

Taking a hesitant step forward, the seven other pillars of smoke drifted to the side, forming a direct path towards the grey one that was becoming even more human-like with every step.

“Hello?” Izuku asked, his voice echoing and sounding like it came from some external source, but there were no visible walls for the noise to bounce off of. He turned around to look at the 7 lights, but the tallest one - somewhat feminine in appearance - held out their hand, pointing him towards where the last being was standing. Turning around slowly, somewhat apprehensive but all too curious, Izuku’s eyes widened when he took in the sight of a man of average height, with shoulder-length white hair that reminded Izuku of his own brother’s messy hair. The man smiled, looking eerily familiar once again, and held his arms out towards Izuku, eyes shining with unspoken emotion.

“Hello, nephew,” the man said, making Izuku’s jaw drop as possibilities raced through his mind, “I’ve been waiting to meet you for a long time.”

“Are you cousin Neito’s dad?” Izuku asked, a tiny grin slipping out as the man spluttered in protest.

“What- no! I’m not- I mean, I never had any kids! I died like right after my first ki- that doesn’t matter! I’m your dad’s little brother!”

“I know, I’m just messing with you,” Izuku laughed, “You look just as funny as Nii-chan when he panics!”

The man stared at Izuku with wide eyes before bursting into laughter, his shoulders heaving with each raspy breath.

“Oh, nephew, you’re just as mischievous as I was!” The man laughed, wiping his eyes and laying a hand loosely on Izuku’s shoulder, “I bet you give your dad hell, don’t you?”

“I don’t think so…I’ve only gotten kidnapped like…twice? And I only nearly died two other times, but that was my school’s fault. Dad always says I’m going to give him a heart attack someday.” Izuku basked in the warmth coming from his uncle, but the absurdity of the situation pulled him right out of the happy air surrounding them. “Hey, Uncle? Not to be mean, but what the heck is going on? Why are you in my dream? Why do you sound like Nii-chan when you laugh?”

“I’ll answer your questions out of order!” His uncle said happily, “I don’t know what your brother sounds like, but I have asthma along with a myriad of other health conditions which affect my breathing! And you’re not really dreaming, this is the power of One For All connecting with your mind. It’s a really unique quirk, and it collects both the power and consciousness of all its holders!”

“All its holders…so all those misty people back there are people?” Izuku asked, tilting his head to look up at his uncle, who nodded eagerly.

“Sure thing, little sprout! They’re all the other holders, and they’re just as excited to meet you as I am, right everyone?” the man said, although the last part of his sentence sounded more like a threat than a promise. Nevertheless, voices coming from behind Izuku all chimed in with a chorus of, “Yes, First.”

First turned Izuku around, shocking the boy when six of the seven misty figures became their fully human selves; a few of them looked wary of him, some looked more neutral, but the tall woman looked like she was about to explode if she didn’t get to speak.

Izuku fidgeted nervously at the number of eyes on him, but was comforted by his Uncle's hand laying casually across his shoulders, “Uh, hi everyone?”

“I got a question, kid!” The woman shouted, appearing in front of Izuku before he could even blink, “Tell me about that brother of yours!”

“That’s not a question,” First said, rolling his eyes, “But would you tell us what he’s like, please? I wanna hear about my other nephew! Honestly, I can’t even believe my brother has two whole kids!”

“Oh, uh, well, Nii-chan is adopted ‘cause his biological family was really mean to him and he accidentally killed them all when he got his quirk, and I was born around the same time they adopted him.”

“So he is adopted…what was his birth name?” The woman asked, grabbing Izuku’s arms with a sense of urgency, but Izuku shrugged and shook his head.

“Sorry, but I don’t know Nii-chan’s name. I know he got dad’s last name since they look similar though!” 

The woman released her grip on Izuku, stepping back and muttering curses under her breath.

“What’s her deal?” Izuku whispered to his uncle, “Does she know Nii-chan or something?”

“Or something,” First replied, “She thinks your brother is her biological grandson.”

Izuku gasped, staring unabashedly at the woman who was pacing in circles “No way! I got an uncle and a grandma here?!”

“I know!” His uncle said just as enthusiastically, “Isn't it so exciting to meet your grandma in the spirit realm?

“That’s not how genetics work, First!” A gruff voice shouted from across the plane, making the man turn around and glare at him.

“You shut your filthy, unwashed mouth, Fifth!”

“I have so many questions!” Izuku jumped in before the two started an argument, but the ground began to shake beneath his feet, sending Izuku crashing to the ground, “What’s happening?”

“You’re about to wake up,” First said, squatting down to look Izuku in his eyes, “But don’t worry. You’ll be able to come back anytime you want when you’re asleep.”

“Okay, Uncle.” Izuku lurched forward as the ground shook again but found himself being held steady by his uncle’s arms, a hold that was easy to turn into a hug. “I’m really glad I got to meet you.”

“I am too, nephew,” First looked around, seeing the edges of the little plane begin to fade away as an idea popped into his head, “Hey, want to know something funny about your dad?”

Izuku woke up with a start, sitting straight up and gasping for air, the feeling of arms around him fading away with each breath.

“Izuku?” Hisashi sounded concerned, dropping his work and making his way over to the couch, “Is something wrong? Do you feel sick? Why are you crying?”

Lifting a hand and placing it on his cheek, Izuku was surprised to feel wetness on his fingers, totally unaware that he had even been crying, but the tenderness his dad was showing made the warmth in his chest increase tenfold.

“I’m okay,” Izuku sniffled, cracking a wobbly smile at Hisashi, “Do you still cry every time you watch Rapunzel?”

“HOW DID YOU- I mean, no,” Hisashi attempted to lie, fooling absolutely no one based on the way his voice increased in pitch, “Who told you that? I promise I won’t completely maim them.”

Instead of giving an answer, Izuku threw himself forward, latching onto his dad like a koala and burying his face into a rather broad shoulder.

“My Uncle told me.”

"Your uncle?" Hisashi's eyes widened as he realized what Izuku meant, pulling back to stare directly into his son's bright green eyes, "Izuku, bunny, my most precious little boy, did you somehow speak to your Uncle Yoichi?"

"Yeah, he's living inside of the quirk with everyone else that's had it." Izuku spoke casually, as though the information wasn't life-changing in the slightest. "It's kind of like a spirit world just for them. I bet it's super boring in there."

"That's...certainly something," Hisashi mumbled, shaking his head as his mind began to wonder, "Don't you listen to a word your Uncle tells you, especially not if he's telling any embarrassing stories about me."

"He warned me that you might say that, and he told me to tell you that it's what you deserve for waiting so long to get married and also killing him."

"It's not like I wanted to kill him before I got married," Hisashi nearly whined, "It's just that I had no interest in romance before I met your mother! She had me from the first time she sued me!"

"What?! Mom sued you? How come I've never heard about this?!"

"That's not important right now, what's important is that you know I definitely do not cry when I watch Rapunzel, and it's a total coincidence that it's the only pre-quirk movie we don't have."

"Whatever," Izuku rolled his eyes playfully, but gasped as he recalled something very important, "Dad! I got All Might's quirk!"

"I know-"

"No! This is way more important!" Izuku shouted, eyes glimmering with anticipation, "This means that Nii-chan owes me three new Charmander plushies!"

Chapter Text

Shouto was having a very good day. Such a good day, in fact, that he didn’t even feel a familiar spike of rage at the sight of Endeavor’s house - or maybe that was due to the absence of Endeavor’s car outside. The details didn’t matter, the important part was that Shouto had a good time visiting his mother, a great time messaging with Izuku, and he would have a great time at home now that he knew Endeavor wouldn’t be there. 

Pushing the front door open, Shouto could hear Fuyumi’s muffled voice talking animatedly in a different room; not that it was anything out of the ordinary though, since his sister tended to spend her free time chatting on the phone with her friends. The thought of friends had his thoughts turning towards Izuku once again, visions of green curls and freckles dancing through his mind as he slipped his shoes off and announced, “I’m home.”

“Shouto!” Fuyumi sounded happy, and the big smile on her face as she rushed out of the room confirmed it, “Welcome home! How was your visit with mom?”

“It was fine,” Shouto answered robotically, pausing for a moment before adding on a detail to satiate Fuyumi’s desire for more information, “I told her about my friend. She said he sounds nice.”

“That’s great!” Fuyumi gasped, clasping her hands together in front of her chest, “Oh, I forgot to tell you, we’re having family dinner tonight! I can make cold soba if you’d like it.”

“That’s fine, it’s my favorite anyway. What’s the reason for a family dinner? Is Endeavor coming back tonight?”

Fuyumi’s smile nearly dropped at Shouto’s insistence to not use fatherly terms with Endeavor, but the twitch was so minuscule that it was easily ignored.

“No, dad is going to a different prefecture for work. He’s actually going to be gone for a couple of days, so I asked if-”

“The best Todoroki would grace you with his presence!” Natsuo shouted, popping his head through the doorway with a bright smile on his face, “Hey, little brother! How’s it going?”

“...fine,” Shouto replied, his monotone voice hiding the confusion he felt at Natsuo’s overly chipper attitude, “How have you been?”

“I’ve been great!” Natsuo somehow managed to smile even wider, leading the three of them into the living room, “School is hard as usual, but it’s totally rewarding so it doesn’t feel like torture!”

“You were just telling me about one of your classes,” Fuyumi said, sitting down at the low table in the room, a still-warm pot of tea resting in the middle of it, “What was it again? Some kind of chemistry?”

“Organic chemistry. It’s so hard for no reason! If I wasn’t set on this whole medical school thing, I’d definitely switch majors!”

“You’re going to medical school?” Shouto asked, blinking owlishly at Natsuo, who returned his confused stare before it turned into a scowl.

“Of course, he wouldn’t let you know anything about us,” Natsuo grumbled, taking a deep calming breath, “Yeah, I’m trying to get into medical school. I wanted to do something like a primary care doctor or maybe working in urgent care, but I’ve been pretty interested in dermatology lately.”

“Isn’t that a skin doctor?” Shouto instantly felt idiotic for asking the question in such a stupid way, but the way his brother perked up managed to make him feel less stupid.

“Yeah! Dermatologists deal with the hair, skin, and nails, but are mostly known for skin-related conditions. They do things like remove skin growths, figure out reasons for itching, treat dry skin, and can even treat hair loss!”

“It sounds like you’ve done lots of research into it!” Fuyumi chimed in, “How did you get interested in it?”

Now, Shouto knew that he wasn’t very good at reading emotions or social cues, but even he knew something was up when Natsuo’s face turned a bright pink and he started laughing nervously.

“Well…you see…”

“Why are you so happy?” Shouto asked, his blunt nature obviously startling his siblings, “I don’t remember ever seeing you like this…or maybe that’s just because I haven’t seen you much.”

“I mean, I’ve definitely been a lot happier lately,” Natsuo said with lighthearted laughter, his eyes shining with joy, “I’ve been talking to this guy.”

Fuyumi gasped in delight, leaning forward while resting her face between her hands.

“Oh, Natsu! That’s wonderful! What’s he like? How’d you meet him? Do you want to invite him over for dinner?”

“One question at a time, sis,” Natsuo laughed, his cheeks burning a bright red, “He’s definitely something special. Lots of spunk, never knows how to hide what he’s feeling, but I know he means well underneath his…rough exterior. And as for how we met, it’s actually kind of funny! I saw the guy when I went to the Sports Festival to cheer Shouto on, and he looked like he had chugged expired milk and had been sucking on a lemon ever since, so obviously I went to sit next to him! He was kind of abrasive at first, but he really warmed up to me the more we talked.”

Fuyumi nodded eagerly and Shouto merely blinked - he hadn’t even realized that his brother had come to watch him at the Sports Festival. He could only hope that he hadn’t scared Natsuo with the way he had mangled Izuku during the one-on-one fight.

“I ended up asking for his number, but that’s where things got really funny!” Natsuo said, “You know those guys I’ve been playing video games with since I was like 10?”

Fuyumi nodded again, but Shouto tilted his head in confusion, once again mentally cursing Endeavor for keeping him isolated for so long.

“Well, I asked the guy for his gaming info since he mentioned that he likes games, but that’s when I found out he’s actually one of my long-time gaming friends!” Natsuo was beaming brighter than ever, “So now I don’t feel so awkward when I’m hitting on him.”

“Excuse me,” Shouto instantly bristled at Natsuo’s statement, anger flaring up within him, “You should not be hitting anyone, especially not a civilian or someone you consider a friend.”

The room fell silent as Natsuo blinked at Shouto, hesitantly opening and closing his mouth a few times.

“Shouto,” he eventually said, speaking slowly and carefully, “When I say I’m hitting on someone, what do you think I mean?”

The teen nearly scoffed at his brother’s question, “Isn’t it obvious? You’re hitting him. He could probably have you arrested for battery.”

“Oh, Shouto, you sweet, innocent soul,” Natsuo said between poorly-restrained laughs, “I’m not actually hitting him, I’m flirting with him.”

“...flirting?” Shouto said, his anger dissolving into more confusion, leaving his siblings gaping at him in shock.

“Natsuo,” Fuyumi said softly, “I think it’s time for us to have the talk with Shouto.”

“The talk?” Natsuo paled, “I mean, gosh, if you really think so. Okay, Sho, when two people love each other very much-”

“Not that talk!” Fuyumi hissed, smacking Natsuo in the head, “We’re teaching him about romance before getting anywhere near that! Listen, Shouto, flirting is what you do when you like someone and want them to know you like them, that way they can either return your feelings or politely decline.”

“But why would I talk to someone if they didn’t like me?” Shouto asked, feeling more confused by the second, “Do friends always flirt with each other?”

“No no, flirting isn’t something you do with someone you’re just friends with,” Natsuo tried to explain, “You only do it with someone you really like, you know?”

Shouto’s face must have clearly displayed that no, he didn’t know, because Fuyumi quickly intervened before things got worse.

“Natsuo, why don’t you explain how the guy you’re talking to makes you feel? Maybe that’ll help Shouto understand.”

The older boy’s cheeks instantly flushed, but he eventually agreed to Fuyumi’s request.

“So, uh, I think about him, like, all the time. I could be in class and hear something funny, and I instantly think that I want to tell him about it, or I see something in the store and think that he might like it. I don’t even have to do anything for me to start thinking about him.”

Shouto could relate to that. Izuku was constantly on his mind, and he would often find it hard to focus on his classes in favor of staring at his friend. He already had to stop himself from buying everything he saw for the boy, as he only wanted to get Izuku things he would like.

“And I want to spend time with him, like, all the time. I mean, we’ve played games online basically forever, but it’s not the same as playing together for real. I want to watch movies with him, make him dinner, cuddle with him while he’s screaming at a really hard level, even just sit there and listen to him when he rambles about whatever is annoying him that day.”

Again, all of those were things that Shouto understood. He had never really used his phone for texting until he got Izuku’s number, and it was like he couldn’t stop chatting with the green-haired boy once he did. He even found himself taking pictures of things he would see during his walks to and from school, sending them to Izuku and waiting with bated breath for whatever response his friend would give him. He liked hearing Izuku ramble, whether it be about a quirk, political event, or a video game; now that Natsuo mentioned it, Shouto couldn’t help but think it would be nice to cuddle Izuku while he was playing a game - that was basically just an extended hug, and Shouto already pulled out every excuse he could find to hug Izuku.

“And gosh, I love seeing him smile. He doesn’t do it very often, and sometimes he looks kind of like a creepy movie villain when he does, but it’s just so attractive to me. I’m working through discovering everything that makes him smile, so far the top two things are asking about his family and talking about how much Endeavor annoys me. Oh, and I want to make out with him. A lot. Frequently.”

That was another good point. Even though Izuku tended to smile almost all of the time, it never failed to make Shouto feel like he was about to spontaneously combust - thankfully, Izuku was fireproof, so Shouto didn’t have to worry about accidentally burning him. As for the making out thing…well, he didn’t exactly know what that meant, but it couldn’t be anything bad if Izuku was involved.

“Do you get it, Shouto?” Natsuo asked, pointedly ignoring the knowing smirk and teasing poking Fuyumi was casting his way, “That’s what makes someone more than just a regular friend.”

“But…” Shouto paused, his brows furrowed in confusion, “That's how I feel about Izuku, yet I haven’t done any…flirting with him. He’s very special to me.”

Once again, his siblings fell into a disbelieving silence, sending each other looks that Shouto couldn’t quite get a read on. It was a bit annoying to be out of the loop like this.

“Shouto,” Fuyumi began, thinking each and every word over before it left her mouth, “I think you have a crush on your friend.”

Shouto’s eyes widened in shock, his eyes drifting down to look at his hands, “I’m…crushing him?”

“Lord have mercy- Shouto, you like this kid. As in, you’re falling in love with him.” Natsuo said, sounding more and more defeated once he saw the befuddled look on Shouto’s face, “Sis, take over for a minute. I’m going to get educational materials.”

Natsuo pushed himself to stand, quickly walking in the direction of his old bedroom and leaving his siblings behind.

“Having a crush is a good thing!” Fuyumi said, leaning across the table to put her hand over Shouto’s, “It means that you have a special place in your heart for someone, and their presence in your life can bring all sorts of good things!”

Shouto opened his mouth to ask what kind of things, but Natsuo’s loud footsteps approaching quickly had him pushing back his questions.

“This will help you,” Natsuo proudly announced, holding out one of his older handheld game consoles, “Tomura and his brother played dating sims a lot to learn how to interact with people, so it must work to help you figure out how to flirt!”

Shouto hesitantly took the device, turning it over in his hands to look at it. He had occasionally seen Natsuo fiddling with the thing in the rare moments Endeavor hadn’t immediately dragged him away from observing his siblings, but never quite understood what his brother was doing with it.

Fuyumi gasped, her eyes twinkling as she stood from her seat. “Natsuo, that’s a great idea! I have some old romance manga that will be good for you to read, let me grab them for you!”

“I don’t understand how this works,” Shouto mumbled, setting down the game console, “I don’t know why you’re all trying to help me so much.”

Natsuo sighed, brushing the hair out of his eyes as he took in Shouto’s dazed expression. “Shouto…I know that I haven’t really been a great brother to you, but I would like to change that before it’s too late. I hate that Endeavor kept us away from you for so long, and I hate that I was too scared to do anything about it, but I’m not going to let the fear of him keep me from being a good brother. Besides, Tomura’s been offering to off him for nearly a decade now, so if things really go badly, I got my maybe-future-boyfriend waiting to take care of things!”

Shouto felt the corners of his mouth quirk up at the last statement, the odd warmth flooding his veins compelling him to speak. “Izuku offered to kill Endeavor for me too. I’m pretty sure he’s just joking though.”

“See? We both got some really special friends that have already offered to commit murder for us, we’re gonna be fine!” Natsuo said, tapping a finger against his chin in thought, “Why does the name Izuku sound so familiar…oh! Before I forget, Sho, give me your phone!”

“Why?” Shouto asked, despite already pulling out his phone and handing it to his brother.

“I don’t think you have my phone number - I mean the second phone I have that isn’t connected to Endeavor - and I want you to be able to contact me if you need to escape from the house…or need me to call in my boy for Operation Extinguish Endeavor.” Natsuo glanced up from Shouto’s phone, a smug grin on his face as he rapidly typed away, “And I’m downloading the finest of otome games to your phone, just in case you like the mobile interface better than a console.”

“Here you go, Shouto!” Fuyumi’s cheerful voice rang through the house, somehow managing to balance a tall tower of books in her hand before setting it down on the table, “I found lots of slice-of-life romance manga for you, although I did throw in a few isekai for some variety. This will help you learn how to flirt in no time!”

“Thank you,” Shouto said softly, head tilted slightly to the side as he observed the stack of books, “You explained what a crush is, but not flirting. I still don’t know what flirting is.”

Fuyumi smacked herself in the forehead, then promptly smacked Natsuo’s shoulder, ignoring his whine of protest. 

“We got so excited about his crush, we forgot to explain flirting! Natsuo, we’re so bad at this!”

“I mean, we didn’t exactly have the best example when it comes to healthy and loving relationships,” Natsuo muttered, glancing away at Fuyumi’s disapproving glare, “C’mon, sis, I don’t think he’s really gonna understand flirting that well. It’s something you learn with experience.”

“Hmm…you might be right…oh! Why don’t you tell us how you behave around your friend, and we’ll tell you how you might change your actions to be flirting?”

Shouto considered the idea briefly, deciding that it would be easier to learn with details like that, nodding and taking a breath to prepare himself to talk.

“After the Sports Festival, I wanted to make sure his hands were healed properly, so I waited outside for him and let him share my umbrella since it was raining. He mentioned that I reminded him of a character from a show he likes and he would like to watch it with me, so I asked for his phone number so I could let him know when I had a free day from training.”

Natsuo and Fuyumi shared a quick glance, communicating silently between themselves as their youngest brother carried on.

“We texted a bit after that, although it was mostly Izuku trying to see what popular media I knew of. He talks to me a lot during school and asks me to eat lunch with his friends. Sometimes he gets caught up in his rambling, so I’ll hold his hands to help him regain his focus. On the first day of the internships, he was nervous about being away from home, so his friend told him to hug me. At first, I didn’t understand why a hug would help, but I really liked it. I asked him if we could hug more often, and he said yes. I hugged him a lot in the hospital too. Oh, and I told him to call me Shouto.”

Shouto finished speaking with no fanfare at all, and it took his siblings a few moments to realize he was done talking.

“Shouto,” Fuyumi began, speaking slowly and full of disbelief, “I can’t believe this, but you’ve been flirting with your friend in nearly all of those interactions.”

What.

Natsuo grinned devilishly, chuckling at the confused teen. “Shouto, you dog! Since when did our socially awkward little brother become such a romantic?”  

“I’m not a dog,” Shouto protested weakly, his mind still reeling from the fact that he had been flirting without even knowing it, “And I’m not romantic.”

“Tell that to all the shoujo tropes you’ve acted out,” Fuyumi said, her voice laced with envy until she managed to compose herself, “Some people are just better at acting romantic, and that’s just how you’re acting! It’s probably because you’re not familiar with social norms like friendship and romance, which also means that you’re not afraid of crossing that boundary.”

“But I’m just doing what I want,” Shouto said, pouting slightly as his mind drifted to the next time he could ask Izuku for a hug, or maybe even a kiss like he saw people do in Fuyumi’s tv dramas, “How can I flirt on purpose? I don’t want to make him uncomfortable by continuing to do it by accident.”

“Are you sure he’s uncomfortable?” Natsuo asked, “How did he react when you did all that?”

“His face turned really red and he had a hard time speaking, but he always let me do it.”

“Then I don’t think you need to worry about making him uncomfortable,” Natsuo replied, relaxing in his seat as he pushed his handheld console across the table, “C’mon, Sho, it’s time for your big bro and big sis to teach you how to woo your little friend!”

“And then you can invite him over for dinner!” Fuyumi said, her eyes shining in excitement, “You too, Natsuo! You can both bring the boys over for dinner, I’m sure we’d all like to meet each other!”

Natsuo and Shouto looked at each other, both of them thinking of a single condition to be met before they even considered bringing their crushes to the family house, giving each other a small nod before speaking in unison.

“Only if Endeavor isn’t here.”

Tomura hit send on the message he had typed out, shaking his head at what Natsuo had asked of him - why did he want to know about dating sims all of a sudden? Was he still making fun of Tomura for playing those with his little brother to train for school? It’s not like it didn’t work in the end, if anything it worked too well, seeing that Izuku had far too many blonde friends now.

“Shigaraki Tomura,” Kurogiri said, succeeding in getting the young man’s attention, “Do you remember the objective of today’s meeting?”

“Duh,” Tomura snapped, shoving his phone away along with all thoughts of white-haired guys with ice quirks, “Scoping out Giran’s finds, convincing them to join my League, and not killing them this time.”

Kurogiri nodded in approval, pleased that his ward understood what he had to do.

“But if they try to hurt baby brother, I’m still gonna kill them,” Tomura growled, his mind going back to Toxic Chainsaw and Stain, one a reject and the other a potential ally that had both hurt his baby brother.

Instantly, Kurogiri’s thoughts went to the collection of alcohol on the shelf behind him, cursing the day he had been placed to work in a bar as a supervisor who could not drink a single drop while handling Tomura’s business. But he was grateful for the Master giving him such an opportunity, especially since he had grown fond of the Master’s children, even though the warper didn’t outwardly show it.

“Perhaps explaining that Izuku-san is off-limits will prevent them from attacking him this time,” Kurogiri suggested, pointedly eyeing the photos of Tomura and Izuku laying atop the bar, “Although if Izuku-san continues to run into dangerous situations, fighting him may be inevitable.”

“He doesn’t run into danger, it just happens to find him,” Tomura said, rolling his eyes at Kurogiri, “Anyway, bring Stitches here. It was really good at raising my intimidation factor.”

“Of course, Shigaraki Tomura,” the warper sighed, bringing the monstrous pet through a portal while he spoke, “Master has asked that I remind you to not let Stitches make too much of a mess if it eats any recruits. It is very difficult to clean those kinds of stains out of the floorboards.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. Stitches, put your tongue in your mouth and sit!”

The door swung open no sooner than the Nomu finished its command, revealing a rather sleazy man holding a lit cigarette.

“Well, if it isn’t little Shigaraki,” Giran chuckled, his gruff voice grating Shigaraki’s ears, “You’re the talk of the town, you know? Have been for a few days now.”

Shigaraki actually did not know that. He had been too preoccupied with his brother’s recovery to even bother checking the news, and he knew that the sight of Stain’s ugly, noseless, brother-stabbing face would set him off. 

“Heard you’re gonna start something big,” Giran tried to continue, but Shigaraki clenched his hand shut, decaying the picture in his hand of Izuku at the Sports Festival, already fed up with the man’s voice.

“I don’t care,” Shigaraki snapped, his irritation increasing at the loss of a good photo, “Just show me the recruits.”

Giran smirked, his cigarette perched in the gap of a missing tooth, and turned his head slightly towards the staircase, shouting “Oi, you two, come on up.” 

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs filled the silence of the bar, and Shigaraki managed to pick out two very different gaits: one sounding heavy and the other almost like skipping.

“So you’re the guy, huh?” A low voice drawled, sounding just as bored as Shigaraki felt, “I saw a picture of you, but you look gross in person.”

Shigaraki scowled at the insult, thankful for Father covering his face as he turned to inspect the surly newcomer, his eyes widening in shock at the appearance of extensive scarring all over his body - clearly, if this guy thought Shigaraki looked gross, he hadn’t looked in a mirror in a long time.

“Wow! You’re the hand guy!” The girl standing next to the half-cooked human cheered, her hands moving in excitement, “Mr. Vigilante that’s friends with the great Stainy! Let me join your League too!”

“I am not a vigilante!” Shigaraki growled, his reaction more habitual than anything, “Who said that? I’ll show them what this ‘vigilante’ can do!”

“The videos online!” the girl said brightly, “They show a really bad picture of you jumping around Hosu with that icky hand on your face, and the gossip people say you’re a vigilante!”

“Kurogiri, is this true?” Shigaraki demanded, his fingers digging into the wood of the bar, “What kind of idiot would even think I’m a vigilante?”

“Cool it, handsy,” the burned man said, “The news and idiots online are the only ones saying you’re a vigilante. All the villain networks know you’re the one that set those monsters loose in Hosu,” The man paused, looking around Shigaraki at the hulking figure of Stitches behind him, “Is that thing one of those monsters?”

“It’s the same species, but for personal use,” Shigaraki replied, the growls of Stitches punctuating his sentence.

“I think it’s a really cute doggy!” The girl said, bubbly as ever, “Can I pet it?”

The eyes of everyone slowly moved to look at her, disbelief and shock written across their faces.

“Seriously,” the burned man said slowly, “What is wrong with you.”

“Lots of things!” she chirped, skipping over to the Nomu and eagerly petting its head, baby-talking the creature as its leg thumped against the floor, causing the bar to shake slightly. 

“Kurogiri, take them away. They’re the embodiment of everything I hate.” Shigaraki sneered, lightly scratching his neck, “A blonde brat and a rude guy.”

“Now now,” Kurogiri said, holding his hands up in a placating manner, “They came all this way to visit, so at least hear them out, Shigaraki Tomura. Besides, a very prominent broker brought them. They’re bound to be valuable assets.”

“I don’t care what you do with them, but make sure I get my commission, Kurogiri,” Giran said, that greasy smirk back on his face, “The Master paid handsomely during his prime, you know. Anyway, let me introduce these two. First, this girl’s on the run as the suspect in a series of deaths by blood loss, even though she’s just a high school student.”

“I’m Toga Himiko!” she said, finally stepping away from the Nomu and subsequently ending the tremors rocking the building, “It’s hard to live! I want the world to become an easier place to live in! I wanna be Mr. Stainy- no, I wanna kill Mr. Stainy! So let me join the League of Villains!”

“She’s so…blonde,” Shigaraki scoffed, “You know blondes are nothing but trouble.”

“People like us are all about trouble,” Giran replied, blowing out a large cloud of smoke and gesturing towards the burned man, “He hasn’t committed any flashy crimes, but he’s a big fan of the hero killer’s ideology.”

“I prefer working alone, but if Stain approves of your group, you must have a decent cause,” the man drawled, casting a judgemental glance at Shigaraki, which irritated the blue-haired man to no end.

“Aren’t you an adult?” Shigaraki jeered, “Give me your name first.”

“I currently go by Dabi.”

“I don’t care about your alter ego, what’s your real name?”

“I’ll tell you when it’s time,” Dabi said with a shrug.

“Right, keep your secrets, then,” Shigaraki rolled his eyes, already fed up with the conversation, “Giran, I’ll give you an answer after I’ve had some time to think about it.”

“C’mon, Shigaraki,” Giran replied, “Didn’t you want to increase your numbers quickly?”

“Two isn’t enough,” Shigaraki snapped, taking a deep breath when he felt his phone buzz, “Bring me more and I’ll pay you double. That goes for all three of you,” he said, pulling out his phone and pointing at Toga and Dabi, “If any of you bring me good recruits, I’ll make it worth your time.” Unlocking his phone and seeing a message from Natsuo, he clicked it without hesitation, ready to talk with someone that didn’t make him want to rip his brains out, but the message on his screen nearly made him choke on oxygen.

Natsuo:>> what if I put my minecraft bed next to yours…and we kissed…and got married...ha ha, just kidding…unless ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

“Shigaraki Tomura, are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” Tomura coughed, once again thankful for Father hiding his red cheeks, “I’m done talking for today. You two will have your answer soon enough.”

(“See that, Shouto?” Natsuo said, playfully nudging his elbow into Shouto’s side, “Now that’s how you flirt with someone!”

“I see…what’s Minecraft?”

“...I have so much to teach you.”)

“Shigaraki Tomura,” Kurogiri sighed, able to recognize when his charge was done for the day, “Tomura-san, what are you going to do?”

“Me?” Tomura asked, staring at Natsuo’s message while trying to come up with an answer, the only thing coming to mind being the implications of Natsuo’s oddly framed request, “...getting married, apparently.”

Kurogiri stared at Tomura in what Tomura assumed was shock - it was hard to tell with a general lack of facial features - although Toga’s loud squealing soon drew everyone’s attention away from Tomura.

“Tomu-kun’s getting married! I just love love! I love becoming the one I love! Hey, are you gonna kill the one you love? It’s easier to become them if you do!”

“I’m not gonna kill him,” Tomura mumbled, the idea of intentionally hurting Natsuo nothing short of ridiculous, “We’re just pushing our beds together.”

“T-Tomura-san,” Kurogiri stammered weakly, “Please don’t rush into a relationship so quickly.”

“Oh please,” Tomura scoffed, rolling his eyes, “This has been in the works for 7 years. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Perhaps you should let Master know of the marriage before cohabiting, at least. He will be upset if you don’t invite him to the wedding.”

“He won’t care, he’s too busy with work to care about something dumb like that,” Tomura shrugged, finding the idea of his dad caring about where he put his Minecraft bed ridiculous, “Besides, it’s really not that serious.”

“This is so fun!” Toga squealed, drawing Tomura’s attention back to the forgotten villains in the bar, “I love forbidden love! It’s more bloody that way!”

“What are you three still doing here?” Shigaraki snarled, pointing toward the exit, “I thought I made it clear that you should leave.”

“And miss out on this trainwreck?” Dabi laughed viciously, “Not a chance.”

“And I wanna help plan the wedding!” Toga shouted enthusiastically, “I’m thinking a Red Wedding would be perfect!”

“Get out of my bar!” Tomura said, looking to Kurogiri for backup and huffing when the warper made no move to help, “Stitches, take them out!”

The Nomu immediately moved towards the villains and the broker, saliva dripping menacingly from its open mouth, likely taking Tomura’s command as an order to kill them instead of dragging them outside; Kurogiri, recognizing the Nomu’s murderous intent, immediately created a warp gate under the trio’s feet that sent them falling onto the pavement.

“Tomura-san,” Kurogiri whirled around, hands held together as though he was begging, “I must ask that you please tell your father about your upcoming marriage. He will not be happy if he discovers you’re in love without giving him the chance to meet the one you love. I am afraid that he would assume he had failed you as a father and would destroy half of the country to express his grief.”

“I’m telling you, it’s not that serious!” Tomura said, stomping his foot like a child having a tantrum, “Dad won’t care about me putting my Minecraft bed next to Natsuo’s, and we’re not even getting married in the game. I don’t even think you can get married in Minecraft!”

Kurogiri blinked, heaving a sigh of relief and sinking down on a stool with shaky legs, opening a small portal in front of his hand and pulling out a bottle of rum, popping the top off and drinking straight from the bottle.

“Please, Tomura-san,” Kurogiri said quietly after chugging half the bottle, “For my health and sanity, clarify when you are talking about a game next time.”

“Like it could be anything but a game,” Tomura scoffed, finally typing out a response to Natsuo, “Why else would he want to kiss me in Minecraft?”

“I don’t know,” Kurogiri replied, already a bit tipsy due to his body being mostly composed of fog and more willing to be short with his words, “Do you want to kiss this boy?”

A strangled noise left Tomura’s mouth, his entire face and neck turning bright red at the thought of kissing Natsuo, being held by Natsuo, even cuddling with Natsuo while they played games.

“D-Don’t be stupid!” Tomura squeaked out in the most accusatory voice he could muster up, “Just take me home before you get too drunk! Stitches, follow me! And don’t you dare tell Dad about any of this!”

Kurogiri waved his hand lazily, a portal materializing that Tomura quickly dragged the dog through, mushing his face into the nearest couch cushion and screaming into it, pouring every ounce of frustration and embarrassment into his screams, only falling silent when he felt something large and wet swipe against the back of his head.

“Hey, Nii-chan,” he heard Izuku ask while eating something, “Why’s Stitches licking your head? Did you not shower or something?”

“I showered,” Tomura protested, lifting his face from the cushion and glaring at his brother, “I’m in emotional distress and Stitches is comforting me.”

“Why are you in distress?” Izuku asked, shoving a handful of chips in his mouth, “Did you have to talk to more annoying NPCs or something?”

“Yeah, they were super annoying,” Tomura mumbled, looking down at the response he had sent to Natsuo and feeling a pit of nerves in his stomach that he didn’t understand.

Tomura:>> there’s no option to kiss in minecraft unless you got a mod

Natsuo:>> and what if I mean the real-life option ;)

“Oh, Nii-chan!” Izuku blurted out, dropping his bag of chips on the table, “You’ll never guess what happened today!”

“Probably not,” Tomura shrugged, deciding to ignore why Natsuo would think it’s okay to joke about kissing him in favor of paying attention to his brother, “What happened?”

Izuku grinned wickedly, sitting on the couch next to Tomura and curling his hands into little excited fists in front of him.

“I got a new quirk today!” Izuku said, his eyes shining in excitement, “And guess who I got it from!”

“I don’t know, some random dude on the streets? Did you at least make sure to dispose of the body?”

Izuku shook his head, his smile never fading, “Didn’t need to! He wanted to give it to me!”

“Seriously?” Tomura laughed, “What kind of trashy quirk were they trying to get rid of?”

“That’s the thing,” Izuku said, bouncing in his seat, “It’s not a trashy quirk, it’s a really good one! It’s All Might’s quirk!”

Tomura’s brain froze, like his computer when he had far too many apps open, the information he received processing at a snail’s pace.

“You’ll have to try harder than that to scam me into getting you plushies,” Tomura said after a few moments, resisting the urge to laugh at his baby brother’s attempts at extortion but appreciating the effort nonetheless.

“I’m not kidding!” Izuku huffed, turning towards the hallway, “Dad! Tell Nii-chan that I’m not lying about having All Might’s quirk!”

“Tomura, he’s not lying!” Hisashi called from a different room, but Tomura wasn’t going to fall for that trick.

“Yeah right! You’re just a Charmander sympathizer!”

“Dad!” Izuku whined loudly, “Nii-chan doesn’t believe me!”

“I’ll believe it when I see you punch a building down,” Tomura snorted, “That’s what All Might does. Just punches stuff.”

“Boys, don’t argue,” Hisashi warned, “Izuku, you just got the quirk today, so give your body time to adjust. If Tomura still doesn’t believe you, then I’ll take you both to a forest next weekend to practice with One For All.”

“One For All?” Tomura repeated, “Is that like a lame knockoff version of All For One?”

“It’s what All Might’s quirk is called,” Izuku retorted, rolling his eyes when Tomura started laughing, “What’s so funny, huh?”

“All Might totally ripped off Dad’s name for his quirk. How unoriginal can that hero get?”

Izuku huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest, “I’ll have you know our uncle named it!”

“What uncle?” Tomura sounded accusatory as he waved Father around in his hand, “The one that Dad doesn’t talk about because they fought all the time? Yeah right, that uncle was dead long before All Might got his quirk.”

(“What does he MEAN Hisashi doesn’t talk about me?!”

“I do not like seeing my grandson call All For One his father…and what’s with that hand he’s got?!”

“Who cares about the hand, Hisashi not talking about me is a way bigger deal! How are my nephews supposed to miss me if they never hear about me?!”)

“Uncle Yoichi is really nice!” Izuku pouted, in defense of the uncle he had met in his dream, “He has lots of stories about Dad, and he would love to meet you if it was possible!”

“Baby brother,” Tomura said slowly, actual concern seeping into his tone, “Are you feeling alright? Are you taking any weird medicine to heal your stab wounds?”

Izuku smacked his hands against his legs, frustration building as it became clear that his brother didn’t believe him about One For All or Uncle Yoichi. It was so aggravating! It’s not his fault the situation sounded so…so…ridiculous! He could feel his entire body tensing as he struggled to think through his irritation, coursing through him like electricity.

“-by brother! Baby brother! Stop it! Dad, something’s wrong with baby brother!”

Izuku was drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of Tomura panicking and their Dad making a noise of shock from the other room. However, his attention was quickly captured by the odd green light shining on Tomura’s face. Izuku’s eyes quickly scanned the room for the source of the light, glossing over Hisashi stopping in his tracks at the entrance, gaping at Izuku and looking awfully stupid while doing so. Izuku glanced down to where the stares were directed, and he yelped at the sight of red vein-like streaks glowing in his arms, green sparks dancing across his skin.

“What is this?” Izuku screeched, the red and green glowing increasing the more he tensed up.

“That’s probably One For All,” Hisashi said, carefully tiptoeing closer to the glowing boy, “Can you figure out what activated it?”

(“It was me! I did it!”

“And it was a stupid idea! Seriously, First, why did you do that?!”

“Little brothers gotta stick together! Nothing is better than proving your older brother wrong!)

“I don’t know! I didn’t do anything!”

“Baby brother,” Tomura said softly, fingers lightly scratching his neck, “You look like me when I get stressed out. Try taking deep breaths or something.”

“Easier said than done!” Izuku snapped, his muscles aching with the strain of an untrained quirk, “How am I supposed to-“

Before he could get another word out, Izuku was interrupted by sudden movement from Stitches, who quickly ran away from where it had previously stood frozen, sticking out its massive tongue and licking the side of Izuku’s face.

“AH- EW,” Izuku complained, wiping the drool away, cringing at the feeling of it on his skin, “Stitches, what was that for?”

The Nomu stared blankly at Izuku, its tongue hanging limply from its mouth as it sat there, darting forward to lick Izuku’s face once again, making his hair stand up straight.

“Well, I’ll be,” Hisashi said under his breath, stepping forward and grabbing Izuku’s arm to inspect it, “Stitches, you’re a very good dog.”

Stitches wagged its tail fiercely, panting heavily as Izuku looked down; the teen exhaled in relief when he noticed a distinct lack of green light, the tension in his body gone just as quickly as it came.

“I think Stitches licking you was such a shock that you snapped out of whatever emotional state you were in,” Hisashi said, dropping Izuku’s arm once he was done with his investigation, “But this does mean that you should begin training One For All as soon as possible. Stitches won’t always be around to help you control it, and I’d rather let a sea slug train you than let All Might force a disastrous workout regimen on you.” 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Izuku sighed, his gaze naturally to where Tomura was standing with an unreadable expression on his face, “Nii-chan, what’s the matter with you? You look like you just saw a huge spoiler.”

“You weren’t kidding,” Tomura muttered softly, “You were supposed to be joking.”

“I told you I was serious!” Izuku laughed, “It’s not my fault you didn’t believe me!”

“And the whole uncle thing…?”

“Uncle Yoichi is sort of…possessing the quirk?” Izuku sounded unsure, but even he didn’t really know how to explain the vestiges, “I can see him when I sleep if I want to, and there are some other people with him- like our grandma!”

“Grandma?” Tomura turned to Hisashi, not noticing the way the man had suddenly begun sweating bullets, “Since when do we have a grandma?”

“I mean, we’re not totally sure she’s actually related to us,” Izuku mused, tapping his chin while he thought about the vestiges, “And she never said her name, so I don’t know if she’s related to Mom or Dad.”

“I can assure you, it wasn’t my mother,” Hisashi promised, “That woman was dead long before Yoichi ever got that quirk.”

“But that doesn’t matter,” Izuku interrupted, grabbing Tomura by the shoulders and staring directly into his eyes, “Because you made a promise that I get three Charmanders when I take All Might’s quirk, so it’s time to pay up! I want one as big as me!”

Tomura groaned to himself as Izuku continued to list his demands for his new plushies, looking to his dad for help and sighing when the man shrugged in response, cursing the day he ever gave his baby brother that first Charmander. He’d give the teen the plushies eventually, but he’d wait as long as he could to buy the things - besides, his baby brother only deserved the best, even if it had to be that particular Pokémon.

(“See that! It all worked out in the end, and now my nephews both know I exist!”

“At least they know you…can’t believe my own grandson doesn’t know me.”

“I mean, what did you expect? All For One to tell stories about the woman he murdered to the kid he adopted? And are you sure he’s related to you?”

“Shut up! I know it in my heart! I’m going to find his name somehow!”

“Seventh, maybe it’s just best to let this go. It’s clear that my oldest nephew is happy with his life, and he’s a fantastic brother! I gotta give Hisashi credit, it seems like he finally figured out how to be a decent big brother!”)

Chapter Text

5 New Messages from: MY COUSIN TOCCHAN!!!!! ヽ(>∀ <☆)ノ

The minute I get my hands on you, I’m going to pop your head off like a lego and scream at you until you stop running off to fight serial killers, capisce?

You can try hiding all you like, but there is no escape. You’re going to face the consequences of making me worry like that

Don’t you dare ignore me

I swear, Izuku, you’re already on thin ice. Trying to run away from your fate is only going to make it worse

This is not a threat. It’s a promise.

Izuku poked his head around the corner hesitantly, hiding in the dropoff alley until he was certain that Monoma was already inside. He knew that his cousin wasn’t kidding at all, and that only made him more eager to avoid his wrath for as long as he could. 

“Izuku-san, is something wrong? It’s been a few minutes and you have yet to move.”

The teen sighed at Kurogiri’s concern, facing the warper with a strained smile.

“I’m okay, Tocchan’s just threatening to lecture me again and I’m trying to avoid him.”

“I see,” Kurogiri nodded, “I assume you are aware that Neito-san will be more irritated if you avoid him, yes?”

“Yeah, I know, but you know that I’ve never missed out on the chance to make a bad decision,” Izuku laughed to himself, falling silent abruptly to look sternly at Kurogiri, “Don’t tell my parents I said that.”

“Of course not, Izuku-san. However, you cannot miss out on your academics, especially after being away for a week. I suggest that you enter the school before you are late.”

Nodding with a sigh, Izuku clutched the straps of his backpack and took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut and stepping out of the alley. He braced himself for Monoma’s telltale shouting, but there was no sound besides the occasional car passing by or birds chirping. Smiling in relief at being momentarily spared from Monoma’s wrath, he finally began walking towards the gate with a spring in his step, until he noticed someone standing by the entrance, seemingly waiting for someone. Slowing his walk just in case it was Monoma waiting to sneak attack him, Izuku huffed in frustration when a group of students passed right in front of him, forcing him to walk on his tiptoes to try and see who was waiting, catching a glimpse of red and white hair- oh.

“Hello, Izuku,” Shouto said politely once the group of students had passed by, those blue and gray eyes making Izuku’s heart thump in his chest, “I was waiting for you.”

“Hi, Shouto,” Izuku managed to say without his voice cracking too much, “I hope you weren’t waiting too long.”

Shouto looked to the side quickly, looking like he was trying to remember something before finally responding with, “For you, the wait will never be too long.”

“Shouto!” Izuku’s heart started racing, his friend’s words bringing up memories of some old dating sims Tomura was fond of playing, “That’s too sweet of you!”

“Sweet?” Shouto tilted his head slightly, “Compared to you, I’m no sweeter than salt.”

Izuku felt his face heat up and instantly moved to cover his cheeks.

“Sh-Shouto! You can’t just say things like that! My heart won’t be able to handle it!”

“Oh. That’s not good,” Shouto frowned, gently grabbing Izuku’s hand and placing two fingers against his wrist to his pulse, “I don’t mean to cause you any heart problems, especially not when you’ve just healed.”

Izuku’s skin felt like it was on fire from Shouto’s gentle touches, and he prayed that his friend somehow wouldn’t be able to feel his accelerated heartbeat in his wrist. 

“I promise I’m okay,” Izuku managed to croak out the words, an embarrassing squeak threatening to rip from his throat when Shouto’s hands moved from checking his pulse to actually holding his hand.

“That’s good,” Shouto hummed in approval, his thumbs rubbing circles on the back of Izuku’s hand, “I’m happy that you healed properly. If you had been in more pain than you deserved, I would’ve…”

Shouto trailed off, and Izuku couldn’t help but giggle at the pensive expression on his face. “What, you were going to find the knife I got stabbed with and freeze an iceberg around it?”

Shouto’s brow furrowed, his grip on Izuku’s hand tightening ever so slightly, “Why would I want to attack the knife when it was Stain that hurt you? I’d much rather break into Tartarus to freeze him as an eternal punishment for causing you harm.”

This time, Izuku didn’t even try to hold back his laughter, his head leaning forward and briefly resting on Shouto’s shoulder as he tried to catch his breath, only stuttering to a stop when Shouto let go of his hand in favor of wrapping his arms around Izuku’s torso.

“I didn’t realize I was being funny,” Shouto said, and Izuku shuddered at just how close the sound was to his ear, “But I really am relieved that you’re okay. If you had been seriously injured…I wouldn’t hesitate to track down Stain to give him what he deserves.”

You’d have to get there before my dad, a small part of Izuku’s mind said, but the majority of his thoughts were occupied with making sure he didn’t pass out from the sudden proximity to Shouto. Thankfully, he had enough presence of mind to return the hug, practically melting into it once he finally managed to relax, somehow managing to not whine in protest when Shouto pulled away and dropped his hold.

“We should probably go to class,” Shouto said softly, his head tilted at the perfect angle that made his eyes light up in the morning sun, “I don’t think Aizawa-sensei would like it if we were late to class after the internships.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Izuku trailed off, eyes drifting over to the school doors and shivering involuntarily at the thought of Monoma waiting for him inside, “I’ve had enough lectures over the weekend to last a lifetime - I’ve already gotta hide from Tocchan, so I think I’ll cry if Aizawa-sensei lectures me about being late.”

Shouto hummed thoughtfully, “Aizawa-sensei is your favorite hero, right? I would be upset if my favorite hero were angry with me as well.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you saw me make a fool of myself fanboying in front of everyone on our first day,” Izuku laughed awkwardly, embarrassed by his past behavior, “You know, I don’t think you’ve ever said who your favorite hero is. Do you even have a favorite?”

“I do,” Shouto’s response was immediate, “He’s very brave and powerful, not to mention inspirational and a little too reckless sometimes. But he’s kind and never hesitates to throw himself into danger if it could help someone.” 

“He sounds like a really good hero,” Izuku said, trying as hard as he could to think of a hero that fit the description but coming up empty-handed, “Um…who is it? I’m not super well-versed on heroes.”

“It’s a bit strange of you to say you don’t know him when he’s you.”

Izuku felt his cheeks turn hot the minute he registered what Shouto had said. “Shouto, that’s- you’re- what do you mean? I’m not a hero! I mean, I’m definitely not brave, considering the way I’m scared of my cousin yelling at me for being impulsive, and that’s totally not hero-material!”

“Even heroes get scared sometimes, and your cousin - Monoma, if I remember correctly - he looks like he’s intimidating when he gets angry. I understand why you want to avoid him,” Shouto paused, looking lost in thought before his hand shot out, intertwining his fingers with Izuku’s, “We should hold hands while we walk to class, that way if I see Monoma, I can pull you away before he notices.”

Izuku jolted at the sudden contact, the familiar feeling of a quirk under Shouto’s skin begging to be taken pulsing along with his heartbeat, but he pushed down the random sensation in favor of walking closely behind Shouto, taking advantage of the situation to admire the taller boy’s features. He looked unfairly handsome, like one of the protagonists in the visual novels he and Nii-chan played to practice for school, something that was only emphasized with the way the corners of his mouth were quirked up in a tiny smile that was practically a huge grin on his normally expressionless face. Maybe it was just leftover adrenaline from the hectic night in Hosu or part of the fantasy that Shouto had been his knight in shining armor sent to rescue him from Stain, but Izuku’s mind began to come up with wild ideas that Shouto possibly felt the same way he did, that the boy’s icy heart was being melted by his warm feelings for Izuku, that maybe Shouto wasn’t just seeking physical contact because he was touch-starved. 

All too soon though, Izuku found himself standing in front of the massive door to their classroom, positioned slightly behind Shouto as he slid the door open, their hands still firmly locked together while Shouto led the both of them inside, met with the loud voices of their classmates chatting excitedly about their internships and the newest addition to their class.

“Midoriya! Todoroki!” Uraraka gasped, alerting the others to their presence, “You’re okay!”

The class immediately descended on them, crowding close to them and speaking all at once. Izuku tensed at the sudden increase in volume and hunched over instinctively, but Shouto gently pulled him closer, squeezing his hand and mouthing, “Are you okay?”

“Hi, everyone,” Izuku said over the noise, squeezing Shouto’s hand in return to communicate that he’s alright, “I’m really sorry for making you all worry, but I promise we’re fine!”

“Man, you really had us all worried sick!” Kaminari exclaimed, “Don’t scare us like that again, I don’t think Neito could survive all that stress one more time!”

“Nah, he’ll be fine,” Shinsou shrugged, wrapping an arm around Kaminari’s shoulders, “He’ll get all that stress out once he finally gets to yell at Izuku.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Izuku shuddered, feeling Shouto’s arm press impossibly closer against his side, “I’ve been freaked out all morning long trying to avoid him!”

Kaminari laughed nervously, “No offense, Midoriya, but you’re only making it worse for yourself in the end. Neito has backup plans for his backup plans in case you try to escape.”

Izuku groaned, burying his face in his free hand. He really should’ve known his cousin would do something drastic like that, but his optimism was backfiring badly.

“It’s okay,” Izuku jumped at Shouto suddenly whispering to him, having let go of his hand in favor of wrapping an arm around Izuku’s waist, “I’ll protect you from him.”

“Am I the only one seeing this?!” Mina shouted, her arms held out and gesturing towards Izuku and Shouto, “Is no one gonna talk about this?!”

“Talk about what?” Shouto asked, making Izuku unsure if his friend’s apparent obliviousness was a blessing or a curse, “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

“You- you can’t be serious! You and Midoriya walking to class while holding hands isn’t normal! And especially not the way you’re holding him right now!”

Shouto merely shrugged, tightening his grip on Izuku’s waist. “I don’t see why it’s important. I’m just doing what I’ve wanted to do with him.”

“Yeah,” Izuku nodded, furiously fighting down the heat rising on his face, “There’s nothing weird about it. Besides, you can’t just call me and Shouto out while Kaminari and Shinsou are doing the same thing right in front of us!”

“Right, about that,” Shinsou drawled, grimacing slightly, “It’s probably a bit different for me and Denki compared to you two. You guys are friends, right?”

“Izuku is a very special friend to me,” Shouto said calmly, but the compliment still made Izuku’s stomach feel like it was doing backflips.

“We’re coming back to your sudden use of first names later, but mine and Denki’s situation is definitely different from yours.”

Izuku had just opened his mouth to demand exactly what made the purple-haired boy’s friendship with Kaminari so much more special than his friendship with Shouto when the door to the classroom slid open, revealing Aizawa looking even more exhausted than usual.

“Just because you’ve been gone for a week doesn’t mean you get to ignore order and structure,” their sensei said as everyone scrambled over to their desks, “Having a romantic relationship should never get in the way of constant vigilance.”

“You better be super vigilant today,” Shinsou whispered from his desk behind Izuku’s, “Because Neito just texted me, and he’s not happy that you tried to escape his wrath.”

Barely containing the urge to slam his head on the desk, Izuku could only wait as the cold sensation of dread began to seep into his gut, knowing that, despite Shouto’s insistence upon being Izuku’s savior, he was thoroughly and utterly screwed.

“-and if you ever do anything like that again, I will take every single game you own and copy your brother’s quirk to decay all of them. Do you understand?”

Monoma punctuated his verbal lashing of Izuku by setting his glass down on the table with a thud, glaring at the green-haired boy and crossing his arms with a huff.

“Yes, Tocchan,” Izuku mumbled, pushing his katsudon around on his plate unenthusiastically.

“Izuchan,” Monoma sighed, “You know I nag at you because I love you. We’re family, so of course I’m gonna freak out when you run off and get yourself in trouble.”

“Yeah, I know,” Izuku smiled softly, knowing that, despite the way he came across sometimes, his best friend really had nothing but his best interests in mind. 

“Now, onto more important business,” Monoma continued, “What is he doing here?”

Shouto blinked owlishly, glancing around the table before pointing at himself, widening his eyes when Monoma nodded sharply. 

“I’m eating soba,” Shouto said plainly, forcing Izuku to contain his laughs at the incredulous look on Monoma’s face. Kaminari, on the other hand, was a much braver man than Izuku and began openly laughing at Shouto’s unintentionally funny statement. Much to Izuku’s surprise, however, Monoma didn’t immediately begin shouting at Kaminari to hide his embarrassment, only rolling his eyes and playfully shoving the electric blonde’s shoulder.

“Alright, I admit it, that could’ve been worded better,” Monoma sighed, leveling his gaze at Shouto, “I want to know why you walked in here holding Izuchan’s hand and pushed your chair closer to his. What are your intentions with my best friend?”

Shouto blinked slowly. “My intentions? I intend to eat lunch with Izuku, if that’s what you mean.”

“I don’t think your shovel talk is working, babe,” Shinsou laughed, but the pet name was enough to finally send Izuku over the edge. 

“Tocchan! Why are you and Kaminari and Shinsou being weird today?! You’re acting like NPCs after completing a matchmaking side quest!”

“Maybe we did complete that side quest,” Monoma said slyly, reaching to either side of him and grabbing Kaminari and Shinsou’s hands, “Did you know freaking out when your idiot cousin fights a serial killer and lands himself in the hospital is a great way to get yourself some boyfriends?”

Izuku’s jaw dropped as he stared at his three friends, all of whom had varying degrees of redness on their faces, completely in shock as he processed what had happened while he was in recovery. 

“Todoroki, be a dear and throw my trash away for me, please?” Monoma asked politely, gesturing towards his empty lunch tray, which Shouto was quick to stand up and grab. 

“How…how did you manage to get two whole boyfriends?” Izuku managed to say once Shouto walked out of earshot, “I can’t handle one crush, much less two!”

“AHA! YOU ADMIT IT!” Monoma was quickly shushed by Kaminari and Shinsou, giving them grateful smiles before continuing at a more acceptable volume, “I knew you had a crush on Todoroki!”

“H-Hey! Who said it’s on Shouto?!”

Monoma, unimpressed with the lie, raised an eyebrow at Izuku. “The both of you using first names is plenty of evidence. And a little birdie told me that you two were awfully cozy when you walked into class together.”

“But that doesn’t mean anything,” Izuku mumbled, looking down at the mess he had made of his lunch, “He’s just touch-starved and doesn’t have much experience with friends. I’m just being dumb and indulging in being the person giving him what he lacks, even if it’s going to hurt when my crush moves on to someone else.”

“Hitoshi,” Monoma sighed, placing a hand against his forehead, “Please use your long arms to smack my adorably stupid friend’s head.”

“Yessir,” Shinsou complied immediately, but he was just slow enough to miss Izuku.

“I don’t think he’s like that,” Kaminari piped up, “Speaking from experience as someone that’s seen you and Todoroki interact for a while, I think he’s just acting out whatever he’s feeling. Aoyama, what do you think?”

“Moi? Well, I believe our dear friend has me to thank for pushing his relationship to the next level!” Aoyama’s smug grin and bright twinkling made Izuku feel like he was under a spotlight, “I was the one who encouraged Todoroki to comfort him before his internship, and it seems like our hot-and-cold classmate enjoys physical affection. And it seems that the two have bonded after saving each other, truly a perfect romance!”

“That can’t possibly be true,” Izuku said, struggling to come up with excuses now, “The perfect romance isn’t even in the best dating sims of all time!”

“Are we talking about dating sims?” Shouto’s sudden reappearance made Izuku jump in his seat, flushing bright red when Shouto placed his hand on the back of Izuku’s seat while he sat down, “My brother made me start playing some. I haven’t gotten very far, it’s taken me a long time to figure out how his game consoles work, and he got distracted when he realized I didn’t know what Minecraft was.”

“Oh, great, you’ve done it now,” Monoma mumbled, going unheard over Izuku’s shriek of shock which immediately turned into Izuku demanding to know what he thought of Minecraft and questioning what games he has heard of, completely ignoring the rest of his friends at the table in favor of talking to Todoroki with this sappy expression that Monoma recognized all too well. But Monoma had known the green-haired boy far too long, understanding that Izuku probably had no idea that Todoroki stared at Izuku like he was the sun, moon, and every star in the night sky.

…his best friend’s obliviousness was going to be a nightmare.

“Yo, Shigaraki, we brought you some newbies, so put your money where your mouth is.”

Tomura’s eye twitched, instantly irritated at Dabi’s callous tone and unexpected entrance, a familiar itching sensation creeping across his skin when Toga skipped in behind him. He didn’t want to see anyone at all today, fully intending to wait until Natsuo would call him after he was done with his classes to ramble about his day, so the sudden intrusion was anything but welcome.

“I brought lots of fun people!” Toga smiled, playing with a knife in her hand, “Oh, can I play with the doggy if you like them? Hey, where’s your gross hand?”

Tomura wanted nothing more than to throw them out of the bar, but that would be hard to do with Kurogiri out running errands at the moment. He reluctantly reached into his hoodie pocket and slipped Father on his face, already knowing that his skin would not react well to wearing the hand longer than usual, lamenting the fact that he was nearly out of his skin creams and had forgotten to let his mom know.

“Stitches isn’t here right now, it’s too big to just hang around the bar,” Shigaraki grumbled, turning around to face the duo, “You better have brought actual good recruits, or I’m not giving you the full amount.”

“It’s not like I know what the full amount even is!” Toga said far too cheerily for someone who could potentially be paid in dust, “Come on in, everyone! Tomu-kun’s gonna let us meet his puppy!”

“I never said it was a puppy, and I never said you’re getting to see it!” Shigaraki shouted, going unheard as a rather large group made their way into the bar. He fell silent as he observed the ragtag group, glaring through Father’s fingers to look extra intimidating, assessing their outward appearances for any sign of their stats or abilities, but the only one who even looked remotely interesting was the one who had a reptilian mutation quirk.

“Let’s get these introductions over with,” Dabi said dryly, “This one is Twice, he can make perfect copies of anyone he’s got the measurements for. He’s got a bit of a split personality thing going on, so just pick the voice that says what you want to hear.”

“Nice to meet you! I hate you and everything you stand for!”

Shigaraki was caught slightly off guard by Twice’s dual nature, but immediately refocused on Dabi once he began introducing the next party member.

“This is Spinner, he’s one of Stain’s followers if you can’t recognize his cosplay. His quirk isn’t anything too flashy, but he’s pretty good with a sword.”

“I’m here because Stain approved of and allied with you. My goal is to carry out Stain’s will.”

It took every ounce of patience Shigaraki had to not snap at Spinner, still thoroughly livid at Stain for breaking the most important rule of his party and attacking his baby brother. If Spinner really wanted a place in the League, Shigaraki would make sure that the rules were followed no matter what.

“My turn!” Toga exclaimed, grabbing the larger of her two companions, “This is Magne! She’s really great! She can do super cool magnet stuff, and her blood looks nice!”

“I can make women polarized north and men polarized south, but my quirk doesn’t work on myself,” Magne explained, “I’m also allergic to dogs, so I’m not sure how well I’ll do with this puppy Toga mentioned.”

“Stitches is hypoallergenic,” Shigaraki mumbled, thinking of different ways the woman’s quirk could be applied while trying to fight off the blonde-induced headache Toga was giving him.

“And this is Mr. Compress!” Toga carried on, yanking the arm of the one with a mask and top hat, “He likes acting, and I know him from plays my cousin used to be in! Oh- he also knows magic tricks! And he likes stealing stuff!”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Compress said jauntily, removing his hat and bowing in one smooth motion, “I can compress anything into marbles, be it humans, weapons, or even items such as fire. This does make theft rather simple, and it is wonderful for special effects onstage.”

Not another theater geek, Shigaraki groaned internally, making a mental note to never let stupid Blondie ever meet this guy.

Dabi cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow at Shigaraki and jerking his head towards the recruits he brought with him. “So, what do you think? Good enough to get me paid?”

“Isn’t it against Stain’s doctrine or whatever to get paid?” Shigaraki countered, gritting his teeth when Dabi chuckled.

“A man’s gotta eat. Pretty sure Stain would approve of a poor villain like myself making enough to support a small-time restaurant.”

“C’mon, Shigaraki!” Toga jutted out her bottom lip, her pouting entirely ineffective thanks to Shigaraki’s lifetime of learning to resist his baby brother’s puppy eyes, “Let us in! We can get all kinds of blood if we team up!”

He considered this briefly, comparing all the pros and cons that he could think of. He hadn’t recognized any of these names or faces from the pile of criminals that were absolutely forbidden from joining his party, they had pretty useful quirks and skills, and they looked like they would be easy enough to dispose of if they ever tried hurting baby brother - good chew toys for Stitches if it came down to it.

“Hold on a minute,” Spinner interjected, glaring at Tomura suspiciously, “I wanna hear this guy’s motivation for myself. I know that Stain agreed with him, but I want to see if it’s something worth following.”

“I agree wholeheartedly,” Mr. Compress declared, “Even villains must have a motivation to be truly revolutionary characters!”

Shigaraki groaned, mentally preparing himself for the disappointment of not getting an extended phone call with Natsuo.

“Fine. I’m not going to repeat anything, so shut up and pay attention. To start, I want to destroy everything I don’t like, and I don’t like heroes…”

Izuku stretched his arms as he left the classroom for the day, finally having an essay to write as make-up work for not completing his internships, his friends already gone to catch their trains and buses home. Izuku’s mind was still reeling from everything he had learned today - the discovery that Monoma was dating two of his friends, and Shouto beginning to learn about video games - not even paying attention to his surroundings as he trudged towards the front entrance on autopilot, only getting stopped when he walked right into a person.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Izuku looked up, nearly screaming at the sight of All Might, but somehow managing to keep quiet.

“Ah, young Midoriya!” All Might said loudly, “Just who I wanted to see! I’ve been meaning to talk to you about you-know-what. Come with me, please!”

Izuku gulped nervously. “Is this something urgent? I kind of wanted to get home.”

“I insist! It won’t take but just a few moments,” All Might placed a large hand on Izuku’s back, pushing the boy into an empty office room and onto a sofa.

“Now that you have One For All,” All Might began either oblivious to or willfully ignorant of Izuku’s discomfort, “It’s imperative that you begin to train your body to use the quirk properly! Clearly, you don’t have too much muscle mass, which will be disastrous when you attempt to use its strength, so I’ve taken the liberty to come up with a workout plan for you! I call it the American Dream Plan! This will have you building muscle in no time!”

The hero smiled as he shoved a paper into Izuku’s hands, detailing an absolutely brutal diet and exercise regimen that would build muscle at an accelerated pace. Perhaps Izuku would have readily accepted this so-called Dream Plan if he hadn’t been knowledgeable on the subject, but unluckily for All Might, Izuku had been taught how to properly exercise for his entire life.

“Not gonna happen,” Izuku scoffed, setting the paper on the table with a resolute thud, much to All Might’s shock.

“Young Midoriya!” he said, coughing in his surprise yet still maintaining his hero form, “You must understand, having your body in peak physical condition is imperative to safely using One For All, this plan is the only way-”

“Incorrect,” Izuku’s firm tone put an immediate stop to the man’s protests, “You’ve created a plan that is more in line with a body builder’s physique, not even considering that my body type is more along the lines of a long-distance runner or a gymnast. Not only that, but this plan assumes that I’ve never exercised a day in my life, and seems to indicate that I - a teenage boy - will be able to perfectly keep up with a strict routine to increase my muscle mass in just…ten months. Building up that much muscle in such a short amount of time is not conducive to maintaining it long-term. However, I have been practicing kickboxing and gymnastics since I was seven, so I already have a good amount of muscle built up.”

All Might looked absolutely baffled at Izuku's words. “B-but, you need the muscle to be able to safely activate One for All!”

“Actually, I don’t. I activated it the day I got it, but all it did was make green lightning around me. My dad is already working on a plan to study and perfect my use of the quirk, so I’ll be working with him nearly every day. We’re also carefully watching to see if it will interfere with my original quirk in any way, which means I’ve already got an expert to help keep me safe.”

“But it’s tradition for the previous holder to personally train their successor,” All Might said in a near shout, sounding like a rather ill-tempered child, “Young Midoriya, I must insist that I take over your training! Your father simply cannot do nearly as well as I would!”

Izuku clenched his jaw, indignation rising at the insult to his dad, fighting the petty urge to reveal his father’s identity and plan to secretly take over all of Japan.

“Look,” he managed to say, his voice low and strained, “I don’t know if you know who my dad is, but he was a literal quirk expert before he decided to get into politics. He’s been studying my borrowing since it manifested, he’s helped me master several of the quirks I use regularly, so he’ll be able to safely monitor my progress with this quirk too. I know you don’t like it,” Izuku continued when All Might tried to interject, holding a hand up to silence the hero, “So what I can do is give you a report every one to two weeks on my progress with the quirk. If you can provide reasonable evidence to show that I’m not developing it fast enough, then I will start your workout plan. Deal?”

“Midoriya,” All Might began, looking and sounding incredibly offended at being rejected, “When you accepted my quirk, you accepted me as your mentor. You must follow my guidance whether you like it or not.”

“I really don’t mean any disrespect, sir, but the only thing I accepted was the quirk. No contracts were signed, you never said I would have to let you train me, and a verbal agreement is not legally binding anyway, especially not when one party is an unsupervised minor,” Izuku grabbed his backpack and stood from his seat, “I’ve seriously got to go, but I’ll still give you updates on my progress when I have them.”

All Might practically leapt up from the couch, a fire in his eyes as he reached out to grab Izuku, who immediately went on the defensive and called forth both speed and strength quirks to escape. Just as the hero was about to pull Izuku back forcefully, a knock at the door had them both startling and backing away from each other.

“Excusez-moi, monsieur Might,” Aoyama said as he walked into the room, seemingly oblivious to the tense atmosphere, “I apologize for interrupting your meeting, but Midoriya must leave now. He has a dentist appointment and needs to leave to catch his train on time.”

“Ah- I see,” All MIght nodded, hunching in on himself as though he was suddenly embarrassed by his behavior, “I’m sorry for keeping you then. I-If we cannot come to an…agreement, then I suppose regular updates will do.”

“Sure, that’s fine,” Izuku mumbled, already standing having dashed across the room to stand next to his friend, “Anyway, thanks for the chat, All Might! See ya!”

And, before giving the hero any chance to respond, Izuku grabbed Aoyama’s arm and ran out of the room, not stopping until they got to the shoe lockers to swap out their things. 

“Thanks for getting me out of there,” Izuku said once he and Aoyama had exited school grounds and begun slowly walking to the alley for Izuku to summon Kurogiri, “How’d you even know where I was?”

“You’re welcome, mon ami. I had received word from the Master to keep a close watch if All Might attempted to pull you away for private talks and intervene if it was needed.”

“Huh,” Izuku said, “I totally forgot that you’re technically one of my dad’s spies. I mean I knew all along, but I just didn’t even think about the espionage.”

“That means I’m doing my job correctly,” Aoyama replied with a jaunty wink, “I feel that I should mention you don’t really have a dentist appointment, it was simply the first excuse I could think of.”

“Yeah, I figured. Usually, I spend all day feeling anxious about it and brush my teeth for at least 20 minutes before my appointment.” Izuku laughed to himself as he came to a stop in front of the alley, jutting a thumb towards the shadowy dead end, “This is my stop. I really can’t thank you enough for what you did back there- maybe I should get you some nice cheeses to show my gratitude.”

Aoyama smiled softly, waving his hands in front of him. “I appreciate the offer, but my mother’s family are all critically acclaimed cheesemakers. No other cheeses can compare to what she creates.”

“That’s so cool! And it makes so much sense…that must be where Tocchan’s always gotten his fancy cheese from!”

“It is! Neito’s family has always been supportive of my mother’s family, even though his mother is from my father’s wine-making side of the family.”

“So your aunt and dad make wine, your mom makes cheese…what’s next, your grandpa makes chocolate?”

“Non non! My grandfather is a prominent clothing designer in a luxury fashion house! He is the one I received my fabulous fashion sense from!”

“…Aoyama, your family’s lore is insane. In a good way, though!”

“…and that’s why I have to completely destroy society in the next 3 years,” Shigaraki finished his long-winded explanation with a sigh, setting down his photo of baby brother on his first day of U.A. along with the disembodied hand he was using as a pointer, “Any questions?”

“Yeah, I got one,” Spinner said, “How are we supposed to believe you’re not lying about that kid?”

“I never lie about baby brother,” Shigaraki hissed, “He’s the only person good enough to be a real hero!”

“I don’t doubt you about that part, word on the street is that Stain approved of the kid when they were fighting. What I mean is how are we supposed to believe that he’s your brother? What kind of hero kid just casually has a villain for a brother?”

“I can prove it!” Shigaraki huffed, “I have lots of pictures of him!”

“Just because you take pictures of the kid when he’s walking to school doesn’t mean that he’s your brother,” Dabi scoffed, only serving to make Shigaraki even more irate, “That just makes you look like a weird stalker.”

“I’m not a stalker-”

“It really looks like you’re just using a hero student as an excuse to wreck stuff,” Spinner said, reaching for the hilt of a sword at his side, “That is not something that Stain would approve of.”

“Can you shut up about Stain for five seconds?!” Shigaraki snapped, scratching his neck as he grew more irritated, “I am not lying about baby brother, and I’ll kill you if you keep saying that.”

“I think you’re telling the truth!” Twice chimed in, “ I think you’re a liar! ”

“He’s really cute,” Toga sighed dreamily, staring at the spot where the photo of him was, “I think his blood is really cute too!”

“No stabbing baby brother!”

“Trying to pin things on a kid is despicable,” Spinner growled, unsheathing his blade, “I don’t know what Stain saw in you, but you’re the worst type of person there is.”

“Alright, that’s it,” Shigaraki stood abruptly from his chair, knocking it over in the process of pulling off his gloves, “If you don’t get out of my bar, I’ll kill you myself.”

“You don’t have what it takes,” Spinner said as he rose to the challenge, but froze and pulled out his phone, “Let me just tell some people I’m gonna be late for a meetup first.”

Shigaraki glanced over at the clock on the wall, cursing internally when he realized he would probably be too busy fighting to make it for his weekly gaming session with Natsuo and SmallZilla. “Hey, let’s make this thing quick. I have things to do today,” he said, typing out a quick message to his friends, “Don’t make too much of a mess, it’s a pain to scrub blood out of the floorboards.”

“Like you’d know anything about cleaning,” Dabi laughed, “You look like you barely know how to use a washing machine, much less how to scrub floors.”

Sorry dad, Tomura thought to himself as he dug his fingernails into his palms, looks like we’re gonna need to get new floorboards when I’m done with them.

“Shigaraki Tomura.”

“WHAT?!” Shigaraki shouted, beyond pissed at this point, whirling around to come face-to-weird-foggy-face with Kurogiri.

“Apologies for intruding on your…very mature and responsible meeting, but Izuku-san has had a stressful day at school and wishes to stay here with you until your parents get back from work.”

Tomura’s eyes went wide, a wicked grin twisting across his face. “Yeah, he can come. It’ll prove to these losers that I’m telling the truth.”

“As you wish,” Kurogiri nodded, turning to face the stunned villains in the room, “Please refrain from fighting in the bar. Scrubbing blood out of the floorboards is a rather arduous task, and seeing excessive violence may upset Izuku-san after a traumatic experience.” 

The confused villains didn’t even get a chance to react before Kurogiri was creating a warp gate and a tired-looking, green-haired high school student trudged through it, his head hanging low as he practically collapsed on the barstool next to Tomura.

“Nii-chan, school is so tiring,” he whined, scrunching his nose in disgust at the disembodied hand on the bartop and pushing it away, resting his forehead on the bar with a thud, “I need some of your energy drinks to survive after everything that went down today.”

“You’re not getting any of them, you know how caffeine makes you extra shaky.”

“But Nii-chan!”

“No buts,” Tomura’s voice was firm, but his expression behind Father was nothing but gleeful as he basked in the utter shock on the NPCs faces, “Hey, baby brother, I got some potential party members I need you to meet.”

“Party members?” Izuku asked, excitement clear in his voice as his head shot up and gasping at the sight of the stunned villains, “Oh my gosh, I didn’t even notice! Nii-chan, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Tomura shrugged in response, “It’s more fun to surprise you like this. Anyway, NPCs, baby brother. Baby brother, NPCs.”

“Hi everyone,” Izuku replied, waving at the villains like the perfect picture of innocence, “I’m Midoriya Izuku! I’m so happy that you all joined Nii-chan’s party! I’m really excited to see what cool things you do with Nii-chan!”

The group of villains stared at Izuku, the shock evident in their expressions.

“You…you’re the kid that fought Stain,” he said slowly, katana dropping at his side, “You’re actually Shigaraki’s brother? Like seriously?!”

“Ever since I was born!” Izuku replied happy, ripping Father off of Tomura’s face and tossing it to the side, “See how similar we look? There’s no way we aren’t brothers!”

Everyone looked skeptical, with only Twice sticking out his arm and giving a thumbs up. “I think you two look identical! Liars! They don’t even look related at all! ”

“I like your suit-thing!” Izuku said to Twice, activating All For One to try and guess his quirk, “Woah, it’s like your quirk is made of clay and multiplying like a cell! Is it some kind of cloning?”

“Wha- baby brother! Stop looking at their quirks, they haven’t even decided if they want to be party members, so they can’t know about yours yet!”

“C’mon, Nii-chan,” Izuku whined, pulling on Tomura’s arm, “How could I not want to? They’re just sitting there with their quirks looking all enticing like that and–”

“I thought you were tired,” Tomura retorted, “You can’t look at quirks if you’re tired.”

Izuku opened his mouth to reply, but a loud squeal from Toga cut him off before he could even make a sound.

“Tomura-kun! He’s just as cute as the pictures! Hey hey, is your blood as cute as you are?”

 The green-haired boy’s eyes widened, but his red cheeks and the way he covered his face with his arms served to make him look more embarrassed than agitated.

“I’m not that cute,” he mumbled behind his arms, but a sudden jab to the side from Tomura earned a shrill shriek of surprise from him, “S-Sorry, Nii-chan! I promise I won’t say it again!”

“You better not. Anyway, do you think these NPCs would be good for my party? I want your opinion since the last two I tried to recruit attacked you.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Izuku huffed, putting his hands on his hips, “You won’t let me look at their quirks, so I can’t tell you if they’re any good!”

“I’ll tell you my quirk!” Toga shouted, pulling out a knife and running over to Izuku, “If I drink your blood, I can turn into you!”

“You stay away from him,” Tomura hissed, grabbing the girl’s arm right as she brought the knife up to Izuku’s face, “The first rule of my league is to never ever attack baby brother!”

“Wait a minute,” Izuku muttered, leaning closer to inspect Toga despite Tomura’s protests, “You look so familiar…have I met you before?”

“Uh, I think I’d remember if someone tried to attack you and drink your blood,” Tomura scoffed, “The only person that tried that besides Stain was-”

“TOCCHAN’S COUSIN!” Izuku shouted, shoving Tomura out of the way to speak to Toga, “You’re Tocchan’s cousin, aren’t you? The one I met when I was little, you came to see his first play and tried to bite me!”

“You remember me!” Toga squealed, tossing her knife aside in favor of throwing her arms around Izuku in a hug, “I didn’t recognize Tomu-kun with that gross hand on his face, but you look the same! I haven’t seen Neito-kun since…I don’t remember!”

“Nii-chan, this is so amazing! You gotta let her in your party!”

“Well now I definitely don’t want her,” Tomura mumbled, going completely unheard over the excitement of his baby brother and Blood Blondie, the latter of which dropped Izuku’s arm, sprinting over to Mr. Compress and dragging him over to the brothers.

“I brought someone really fun too! When he wasn’t robbing rich people, this guy helped out with some community plays Neito-kun was in! He can do magic tricks!”

Tomura buried his head in his hands - the real ones attached to his body - and groaned as the two teens continued yammering about stupid Blondie, already knowing that it would be impossible to kick Toga and Compress out now that Izuku knew of their connection to their “cousin”.

“So, is he always this…” Spinner trailed off after making his way over to where Tomura was standing, seemingly lost for words as Izuku happily rambled about stupid Blondie.

“Excited to talk about his fake cousin?”

Spinner shrugged, “I was going to say completely nonchalant about meeting serial killers and other violent criminals, but since he’s really your brother he must be pretty used to the whole villain thing.”

“Eh, he’s grown up with it, so it’s cool,” Tomura replied, feeling his phone buzz in his pocket the same time that Spinner’s dinged with a notification. Seeing that his recruitment meeting had gone completely off-track, Tomura saw no harm in taking a look at his messages, eyes widening when he realized he had a few new ones from his gaming friends.

SmallZilla<<: gonna have to take a raincheck today too, some loser is making things difficult right now

NoHeatAllCheats<<: aw man, that sucks :(  i really wanted to de-stress with you guys today. Maybe we can play some other time this week? I’ll be free on Friday if that works for you!

“I hate disappointing him,” Tomura muttered under his breath, mentally checking his schedule to plan a call with Natsuo for the evening, “I think I’m free on Friday though.”

“Tch, I’m definitely free,” Spinner grumbled, typing on his phone, “Especially since that scumbag of a boss fired me just to hire someone without a mutation quirk.”

“That’s disgusting. You know, it’s people like him that make me want to destroy everything,” Tomura replied, typing out a private message to Natsuo to ask if they could have a phone call that evening, “One of my friends has a mutation quirk and he’s always being discriminated for it. I really want to destroy everyone that’s made his life harder because of it.

SmallZilla<<: any day works for me now. I got fired so they could hire someone that didn’t have a mutation quirk, so my schedule is painfully free

“Huh,” Tomura mused aloud, “He just said he lost his job ‘cause of his mutation too.”

Spinner’s eyes narrowed, flicking down to look at Tomura’s phone. “Really? What’s your friend’s name - maybe I know him?”

“Dunno. We’ve never shared our real names before, so I only know his gamer tag,” the blue-haired man said with a shrug, but paused at the feeling that he had been through something similar before…and maybe it wouldn’t hurt to see if his hunch was right, “You wouldn’t happen to know anyone that uses the name SmallZilla, do you?”

Spinner’s jaw dropped, sputtering as he struggled to find the words.

“You- but- there’s no way-”

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume I’m right,” Tomura said, “You know, if I had a nickel for every time I discovered that someone I just met is one of my long-time internet friends, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.”

Spinner still stood there with his mouth hanging open, and Tomura would have made fun of him for it if he hadn’t done the same thing when he first met Natsuo.

“So…that brother…that kid is Bunny? And you’re Dusty?”

“In the flesh,” Tomura smirked, “Hey, baby brother, get over here. Someone wants to meet both halves of DustBunny.”

Izuku whirled around, eyes darting between Tomura and Spinner while he walked over to his brother, gasping in shock when realization dawned on him.

“Nii-chan! Is this one of your gaming friends?! Is he NoHeat or SmallZilla?”

“I…I’m SmallZilla,” Spinner croaked, “I can’t believe this is happening - I never thought I’d meet you like this.”

“Yeah, well I didn’t think I’d accidentally meet NoHeat at a Sports Festival of all things, but that’s life I guess.”

“Nii-chan,” Izuku said sharply, sounding incredibly offended, “You never told me you met your other friend! And at my Sports Festival! How could you?”

“Gee, I don’t know,” Tomura rolled his eyes, “Maybe it was because you broke both of your arms and totally wrecked your legs, making me forget everything that wasn’t keeping you healed.”

“Just because you’re right doesn’t mean you have to say it,” Izuku pouted, whining in protest when Tomura ruffled his hair.

“Alright, listen up, NPCs,” Shigaraki said loudly, walking with Izuku to stand in front of the villains, “As you can see, I’m not lying about my baby brother, so it’s time to make your choice. Are you joining my league or not?”

“I’ll join!” Toga said without hesitation, with Spinner and Mr. Compress nodding in silent agreement. Shigaraki raised an eyebrow in the direction of the remaining three, watching them carefully while they considered their answers.

“Well, I don’t see any harm in joining,” Magne spoke up, “So I think I’ll join.”

Twice nodded eagerly and shook his head in vehement denial. “I think your league sounds interesting. This is a horrible idea! ”

Shigaraki hummed in delight, eyes resting on the single person remaining. They stared at each other for several tense moments before Dabi threw his hands up.

“Oh, what the hell. I’ll join, but if this thing starts going downhill, I’m out of here. I got things I need to do, and I’m not letting a group of freaks get in my way.”

“Wow, we're the freaks?” Izuku drawled sarcastically, “Bold words coming from a half-cooked man walking around with his bazoongas out for the world to see. Nii-chan, don’t bars usually have dress codes? Should we give him a shirt that’s all the way there?”

Tomura couldn’t respond, cackling and gasping for air as the villains all stared at the innocent-looking teenager in shock, Dabi himself staring and blinking slowly before grinning wickedly.

“Oh, I like this kid. We’re going to get along real good, I can tell.”

“Perfect,” Shigaraki smirked, taking in the sight of his first completed party, the moment feeling even more special with his baby brother at his side, “Welcome to the League of Villains.”

Chapter Text

Izuku’s eyes shot open at the first sound of his alarm ringing, quick to silence it and jump out of his bed. Fumbling around as he grabbed his clothes, only tripping once while attempting to step into his pants, the boy was buzzing with far too much energy for such an early hour. He didn’t even bother trying to keep quiet as he ran down the hallway, practically leaping down the stairs and barely avoiding crashing into the massive, stationary form of Stitches.

“Good morning, Stitches,” he said cheerfully, greeting the massive creature with a hug, nuzzling his face into its surprisingly soft fur, “I’m so excited for today!”

The animal yawned, its front legs bending down as it stretched out, vigorously shaking its head which resulted in the boy on its side being shaken as well. Laughing at the sensation of being shaken so effortlessly, Izuku was quick to detach himself from the dog, rushing over to the fridge and pulling out a bag of miscellaneous meat scraps with the words “Stitches’ food - don’t ask'' scrawled across the plastic in Tomura’s messy handwriting.  

“Remember how I just got Uncle Yoichi’s quirk last week?” Izuku said while unceremoniously dumping the mystery meat into a bowl and placing it in front of Stitches, “Well, Dad finally has a break from work to help me learn how to make it work! We’re gonna practice with it so I don’t have to train with All Might - and Nii-chan said he might let me look at his party members’ quirks if I do good today!”

“Only if you do good,” Tomura said hoarsely, his morning voice sounding extra rough and scratchy, barely able to keep his eyes open as he stumbled into the kitchen, clumsily bumping into almost everything in his direct path to the cereal, “It should be illegal to be awake this early.”

“Maybe Dad can make that a law when he becomes Prime Minister,” Izuku shrugged, petting Stitches twice before turning to make his own breakfast, “Speaking of Dad, where even is he?”

“If he’s lucky, still asleep. But he probably got woken up when you ran down the stairs-”

“-and is trying to stay in bed as long as possible so he can cuddle with Mom, like the heat-seeking parasite he is,” Izuku finished his brother’s sentence, shaking his head when the elder confirmed it, “He’s such a softie, I swear.”

“Yeah,” Tomura said with a short exhale, pouring his cereal into the bowl and failing to push aside the thought of cuddling with Natsuo, especially on a cold morning when he could have an excuse to get close to his unfairly large and comfortable friend.

“Yeah,” Izuku echoed, turning toward the fridge in a desperate attempt to hide his pink-tinted cheeks from his brother as his mind was filled with thoughts of Shouto and his hot-and-cold hugs, wondering if it would be extra cozy to wake up on a cold morning pressed close to his friend’s fire side, “Uh- can I have some cereal too?”

“Wha- uh, sure,” Tomura jolted out of his thoughts, pushing the box in front of Izuku’s bowl just a little too quickly, “You wanna make their coffee, or am I doing it?”

Izuku considered the question while filling his bowl, “If I make it, I’ll end up drinking it.”

“You don’t need the caffeine today, sweetie,” Inko’s soft voice drew the attention of her sons as she attempted to approach them with her husband attached to her side like a leech, “You know how shaky it makes you, and we don’t want that to backfire and get you hurt while you’re practicing with this new quirk.”

“You should be in peak condition to master One For All quickly,” Hisashi chimed in, although the sound was a bit muffled since his face was buried in Inko’s neck, sighing contentedly when Inko turned her head to kiss his cheek. 

“No canoodling!” Izuku shouted right as Tomura began fake retching, pushing his parents apart despite his father dramatically trying to stay attached to Inko’s side, “We have a strict schedule to maintain! Quirk training first, being mushy second!”

“But how could I possibly resist being mushy?” Hisashi pouted, long arms stretched out towards his wife, “Just look at her! She’s the most beautiful woman in the world, but for some reason she married me!”

“Oh, hush, you. I think I know what’s going on here,” Inko’s eyes twinkled mischievously, her arms darting out to wrap Izuku in a tight hug, “Our babies need a little bit of loving!”

Hisashi didn’t waste a moment, pulling Tomura over to where Inko had Izuku in her arms, taking advantage of his large frame to hug all three of his family members at once.

“Ack- you’re crushing me,” Tomura grumbled, although the tiny smile and the way he made no attempt to escape betrayed his true feelings, especially not when he relaxed into it.

“Oh, hush. I’m not that heavy,” Hisashi laughed, moving one of his hands to ruffle Tomura’s already-messy hair, “I’m still in my prime, you know!”