- one month ago -

The man looked up as the door swung open.

Elija Woods tried to be an honest man, a good husband and a loving father, so he could barely figure why he was sitting in a shabby, dark underground building, known for its less than lawful dealings. He could barely stand the place, but where else could he go? Who he was meeting was his last hope for his wife.

His eyes widened as the imposing figure stepped inside the small room. Woods was unsure whether he should stand or remain seated as Stain's Apprentice crossed the threshold.

Though told to be barely older than a boy, being 15 or 16 years old, The Apprentice easily matched Woods in height. His masked face and cloaked figure made him appear older in the shady lighting. The boy turned, tossing a small bag of money at the greedy 'businessman'.

"Leave us."

The man scuttled away, fully aware of the power the boy held, even though he was less than half of his own age.

The boy turned back to Elija. His steps sounded heavy as he walked slowly to the table. He pulled out the empty chair and sat across from Woods.

"Alright. You've gone through all of this work to talk to me." Izuku Midoriya set his hands on the table in a business like fashion. "Let's hear what you have to say."

- later -

Izuku and Elijah walked briskly through the city, street lamps illuminating their figures. Izuku had his red backpack slung over his shoulders and carried a Health textbook under one arm. Seemingly very little for a life or death situation, but Izuku always had back-up plans B through Z.

Soon, the odd pair stood outside of Elija's house. As Elija rummaged for his keys, Izuku put his hand on the older man's arm.

"Did you leave the kitchen light on?"

Elija looked up, and shook his head. "No, I put Mathew to sleep and turned off all the lights."

Izuku nodded, removing his hand and setting it on the handle of one of his knives. As the door opened, Izuku crept in first, setting his books and bag on the floor without a sound. He walked into the kitchen, Elija following behind.

The 'intruder' was a small kid, maybe seven or eight, holding a glass of water and looking timidly up at the two.

"Mathew? What are you doing up?" Elija asked of his only son.

Mathew shifted, tail inbetween his legs. Literally.

His American heritage was plain to see. He had fluffy ears sprouting from his head, and a shaggy tail flicking from side to side. His nose and mouth turned into a point slightly and he had large golden brown eyes.

His quirk left him with the ears, nose, and tail of a coyote. Izuku stared at the boy as Mathew shifted in his place.

"Mom was coughing again. She needed a drink." The boy lifted a hand to point at Izuku. "Is he a doctor?"

Izuku chuckled lightly, squatting down to be eye level with the boy, and pulled his goggles off.

"Of a sort. I'm a specialist you might say." He held out his hand and Mathew tentatively shook it. "I am here to do my best to help your mother." Izuku took the glass of water from the child, ruffling his hair. "Run along now."

Mathew meekly complied, scurrying away. Izuku huffed, smiling underneath his mask.

"When you said you and your family were American, I didn't think you meant THAT American."

Elija smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "He took after his grandparents and mother. I don't think he has even a hint of myself in him."

Soon all mirth fell away as Izuku stood in the master bedroom, looking at the frail woman before him.

She was deathly pale, taking in shallow breaths. Her strong brown hair laid tangled and dirty around her face, her cheeks sunken in and her eyes closed. Her relation to her son was obvious. What ever her quirk was, it left her with the same added looks as Mathew only silvery grey and with not quite as pointed a nose. Combined with her clear Asian roots, made her quite beautiful, even near death. Her appearance however, didn't look intimidating anymore, only pathetic.

Izuku stepped forward quietly, sitting next to her on the bed. He held one delicate hand, feeling her pulse rate. It was dangerously low, and she didn't even stir as he respectfully examined her.

Izuku clicked off his mask, allowing himself to breathe. It had suddenly felt very cramped in there as images of his own mother flashed before his eyes. He pulled rubbed his temples through his ski mask. Another headache was growing.

"If you don't mind, I need some painkillers and something simple to eat." Izuku asked politely. "I can't focus, and I'm running on an empty stomach."

Elija nodded, walking off to do as he was asked.

Izuku pulled off his ski mask, the cloth suddenly feeling scratchy and hot. He whipped his hood back and returned to his new patient after he took a deep calming breath. He started flipping through his Health textbook and personal notes.

From his backpack Izuku pulled out a board, folded in half. He snapped it open and swiftly attatched extendable legs, setting it to stand as waist height. He set his laptop on the flat surface and instantly pulled up Google search, setting it to search automatically for rare diseases. He wondered, as he quickly wrote notes, how he had gotten himself in this situation. He himself was barely fit to be out and about, let alone tending to someone even more sick than he was. His anxiety had been a constant demon for him, and he often was absentminded about small things.

As he measured Mrs Woods' breathing, he reflexively reached for a cup of tea that sat on his desk. Elija's eyes widened as the teen before him gulped down the scalding tea he had just sat down on the desk that hadn't been there when he's left. The child continued murmuring, jumping from topic to topic and back again. The reports were right as Stain's Apprentice was truly just a 16 year old boy. And a sick looking one at that. He had bags and spots under his eyes and his skin was pale. His emerald eyes had lost some of their shine, and his hair had started growing out in a disheveled, tangled manor.

Elija cleared his throat, and Izuku whipped his head to look at the older man, clearly having fogotten that he was there.

"Oh. Thank you." He took the plate and swallowed the pills dry before taking a bite if a sandwich. His eyes widened. "Oh." He reached a hand up and touched his bare chin, realizing that his identity was open for the older man to see.

Woods smiled in a fatherly way. "It's ok lad. I promise I won't tell."

Izuku knew that he couldn't do anything more and nodded, pulling his mouth into a line, and turned back to the dying woman and mother.

"This whole disease is completely strange." Izuku scratched his scalp with his pencil while he scrolled through Google. "On the surface it seems just to be a really bad cold, or maybe the flu, but her internal organs are failing, her heartbeat and breathing beyond dangerous." He tilted his head, a thought occurring to him. "What's her quirk?"

Elija waved a hand to his wife's features. "Minor super strength. I can create barriers that break if I'm distracted, but we haven't found an certain strength that will break it yet. Mathew, despite how he looks, inherited a quirk related to his grandmother. He can heal certain amounts, depending on how much he has eaten."

Izuku turned his head sharply, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "Have you...?"

The sad look in Elija's eyes made him stop mid question. "I didn't ask him to, but he did try to heal his mother while I was out asking a hero corporation for help. She reacted badly to it, though I don't know why."

Izuku held his chin, deep in thought.

Finally he sighed and stood.

"I can only think of one thing that might work. I have only tested it a few times however, and on nothing as severe as this." Izuku looked Elija in the eyes, grim. "I cannot promise that it will work."

Elija grabbed Izuku's hand, holding onto it tightly. "But there is a chance, yes?"

Izuku nodded slowly, resisting the urge to pull his hand away. "It's our last chance."

Elija nodded sharply. "I'll take that chance, and deal with any consequences."

Izuku nodded, gently removing his hand. "Very well. We'll need to carry her back to my place. I'll get your son, pick her up."

Izuku collapsed his desk and packed it all into his backpack with deft quickness as Elija picked his wife up gently. Slinging his backpack over his shoulders Izuku quickly stepped through the household, calling for little Mathew. They hopped into the car, Izuku in the passenger seat as Mathew held his dying mother in the back seats as Elija drove away according to Izuku's instructions. The drive was short and full of tension.

Quicker than it felt, they pulled up outside a dilapidated apartment building. Izuku swung the front doors open, steeping through as if he owned the place. He might as well have.

Izuku walked in, slapping a small stack of money on the counter which housed an oily and bitter looking man.

"They'll be staying with me. I'll tell you later for how long."

The man eyed the stack of cash. "You know I wouldn't be able to stop you even if I wanted, yeah?"

"Yes. Are you going to refuse money?"

The small band rushed up the stairs, passing mold spots and holes in the walls. Elija didn't speak it, but his face showed that he didn't believe this was the right place to heal someone already in the brink of death.

Atleast the highest floor was free of mold spots. Some of the walls had been broken through, causing some areas on the floor to be slightly dusty, but there was no rubble lying around. Izuku pulled out a key, biting it and pulling off the fake teeth, revealing a simple pin. He stuck this in the lock of his door with a resulting beep and click. Izuku ushered them inside, throwing his head gear and bags on the nearby couch.

"Stay in here Mathew, please."

The little coyote grabbed his father's arm, pulling him to a stop. Mathew looked to his father with wide and fearful eyes.

"What if this doesn't work Dad?"

Elija swallowed. What could he say? Even Izuku didn't know if it would work. He knelt down by his only child.

"I don't know buddy. But no matter what, I'll be here for you. I promise." He kissed the top of his son's head and stood once more.

"I was being honest when I said I'd do everything in my power to save your mother." Izuku didn't smile, only looked neutrally to them both. "Come Elija. In here."

The father followed, and the door snapped shut.

The room was large, slightly bigger than a medium bedroom, with shelves, tables, and desks filled with journals and inventions. One shelf was filled entirely with tools and tool boxes, some open and some scattered about the desks. It clearly hadn't been getting much attention cleaning wise, but considering what the boy must have been going through, Elija couldn't really blame him.

Elija gently laid his wife on the strange contraption that The Apprentice gestured too, which was the only surface free of clutter. Izuku sped around the room, flipping buttons and connecting wires. He bumped into Woods more than omce, unaccustomed to having another person in the room with him. After the third time, Izuku stopped and took a deep breath, eyebrows knit.

"I'll, leave."

Izuku looked embarrassed that his irritation had shown. "You don't have to, it's alright."

Woods waved his hand, smiling sadly and walking to the door. "No. I can tell I'm in your way." He cast a worried look to his wife. "Just, make sure to come and tell us."

Izuku nodded, promising to do as the worried father asked, and was left to himself.

He took a deep breath, and continued about his work. He hit the on switch and watched, wide eyed, at the power of his creation. Mechanical rings, glowing with light, shone in the room as they moved up and down Mrs Woods' frail frame, gaining speed. An optimistic hum filled the room as a surge of color filled her cheeks. He walked away, stepping to the window, to watch as blocks of light went out in the city's night sky.

Izuku chewed his lip. He stepped over to his console, adjusting the settings to make sure that the machine supplying her with new life wouldn't run out of energy prematurely.

- meanwhile -

In the living room, Elija and Mathew were forced to try and entertain themselves how they could in the bare living space. Elija was currently wandering about the kitchen as Mathew watched animal shows on the small television screen.

Elija picked up a delicately framed picture. It showed Izuku, covered in flour and icing, grinning next to his laughing mother. They were both smiling and looked like they were perfectly happy. Elija picked up another picture, this one without a frame, and looked at it too in curiosity. This one showed a rather exasperated looking Chizome staring at his beaming pupil, clearly unappreciative of being caught in a selfie.

The only thing that connected the two radically different adults, was the carefree fifteen year old in both. This version looked the exact opposite of the teen Woods had just left to care for his wife. This Izuku had everything he had ever wanted. He had a healthy complexion and his eyes sparkled with vigour. His hair was well kept and his clothes orderly. He had no bags under his eyes and his skin was well tanned.

Elija could almost hear the happy laughter that seemed to emanate from the satisfying pictures, and it seemed cruel that the boy had been broken to where he was now.

Elija shook his head, setting the prized pictures down respectfully. He moved into the kitchen, remembering how Izuku had said that he had shown up on an empty stomach. His jaw dropped as he looked into the fridge.

It was almost completely empty. There was half of a jug of milk, a package of cheese, a few small apples and fruits, two eggs, and half of a box of rice. Checking the cupboards he found the same scene. A box of crackers and dry cereal along with some stored cash and was all. The only thing he had plenty of was bottles of pain killers, other general medication, and sleeping pills.

Though he was never able to pinpoint exactly when he felt the need to care for Izuku, Elija would always suspect it was when he saw how bad the boy's life truly was at that point. He was living on less than the bare essentials on a daily basis, pushing himself still and often making headlines for his continued attacks.

All of that, while sick and underfed.

Elija's shocked reverie was broken by the sound of the door opening and Izuku rushing out. He dashed into the bathroom and was suddenly and violently sick from stress again.

Elija was frozen, unsure whether to rush to Izuku's side or to abandon everything and barge into the other room to see his wife.

He was saved by Izuku returning from the bathroom, wiping bile from his chin. "Sorry." He managed a weak smile.

Woods nodded, understandingly. "My wife?"

Izuku's smile widened, and he jerked his thumb to the open door. "I told you I'd do everything in my power for her. And I have."

Elija wasted no more time, rushing to his wife's side in a second, Mathew right behind him. He unashamedly cried when he saw the change that had come over her.

Her skin was colorful once again, her cheeks no longer sunken in. Her breaths were strong and deep as is fitting of one's who is deeply asleep, and the monitor showed a constant and healthy heartbeat. She held onto his hand in her sleep and smiled as she heard their voices, though unable to wake up and hold her family. Mathew looked up at his father, holding his mother's other hand.

"Her hands aren't cold anymore Dad!" The child smiled, the little doctor in him knowing that his mother had gone through a miracle.

Elija Woods cried harder, leaning over and kissing his sleeping, healthy, wonderful wife. He looked behind himself as Izuku leaned in the doorway, still looking quite pale, but pleased with himself.

"I'm afraid it may take her some time to wake. Possibly the whole night, but regardless, your wife should live." Any further progression of the doctor's analysis was cut short as Woods rushed Izuku and wrapped the startled teen in his arms, regardless of bile on his shirt and his overwhelming fatigue.

"I can never repay you. You have done so much. Bless you child!"

Izuku didn't know how to respond, simply standing there as a worn but rejoicing father cried into his shoulder, little Mathew laying his head on his mother's hand and falling asleep.

- Later -

Izuku stood in front of the fridge.

He and Elija had worked out a plan, once the father had composed himself. He, his wife, and his son, would stay on the top floor of the apartment building with Izuku, so he could monitor Mrs Woods and make sure no problems occurred. He told Woods over and over again that he did not consider them to be indebted to him. He had simply done what was the right and kind thing to do when no one else would.

Elija's coworkers and superiors at his job wouldn't spare him a second glance, let alone spend thousands of dollars on a seemingly hopeless case. Hero corporations wouldn't work without a hefty fee, despite the desperate situation.

Part of the reason Izuku had helped, which he also explained to Woods, was the irony of the whole situation. He, a murderous anti-hero with a shocking record for one so young, was the only one to show kindness to and immigrant family from America with a dying mother.

But beyond that, and his gentle nature of helping those in need, he remembered how Stain had shown him mercy and kindness when everyone else had failed him and turned their backs aside from his own mother. While he wasn't planning on turning this loving family into a crowd of loving murderers, he couldn't resist following Akaguro's example, and helping those he could.

But now, with his new friends out his way again and sleeping in an adjacent apartment, he found himself looking at his master in the picture. Izuku's thumb covered his own face, but Chizome was unobscured and clear.

The happy scene should have made him smile.

He choked out a sob and sunk to his knees instead.

"Am I doing the right thing?" He whispered quietly to the picture. He rubbed a tear off of the photo before it could mar. "I'm so lost Master." He fell to the side, feeling hopelessly alone.

He gasped as he jostled his right side, and groaned in despair. He pulled his shirt back and observed the cut which wouldn't heal for anything. He had forgotten about it in his rush to save Mrs Woods and now the pain was back to remind him. He sighed and chose to ignore it, too depressed for common sense.

He slowly got up, carrying the photo with him, and sunk into his/Chizome's bed.

"You wanted me to go home, but you are all I have." He continued whispering to the man frozen in the picture, voicing his worries and afflictions to something that could not help him. "How can I call back there 'home', when you're the only one who has ever believed in me?"

He fell into a fitful and restless sleep, frequently waking up from having moved his side too much, or to rush to the bathroom again.

The week passed by with remarkable results from Mrs. Lily Woods. She was up and walking in a day's time, albeit, a little shakily. She and her husband butted heads over his actions to save her, but they were soon dissolved when Izuku returned and again reassured them that they were not indebted to him at all. The two quieted, and the little family grew close to Izuku in that week. He would miss them greatly when they left from their 'vacation' but overall didn't think much of it.

Therefore, the end of the week brought an unusual and unexpected surprise for Izuku.

Elija, as long as Izuku was in this line of business, to repay the debt he still felt, promised that he could be called upon by Izuku whenever the boy had need of him, under the condition that he would not be ordered to kill.

Izuku tried to refuse, he didn't want this for the family, but Mrs. Lily and Mathew both stood behind Elija, supporting him and Izuku found he couldn't say no. And so, preparation to move the family into the top floor of the Apartment building began. Izuku strenuously cleaned and remodeled the apartment they had chosen, lightly cleaning the rest of the top floor as well. His cut grew worse, but for some reason the he himself couldn't pin down, he didn't tell them. Perhaps he could go out to the mall or someplace for some fresh air when they finished settling in the new tenants.

The Woods returned to their home and began to cut ties with the very few neighbors and friends who cared for the little family. Packing their belongings and visiting Izuku frequently, they had almost as busy a week that he did.

It took the rest of the month for things to settle down, and Izuku was beyond ready for a calming walk through the mall. His cut however, had grown dangerously infected and the Woods began to suspect that something was awry, but he simply told them it was continued stress and hard work and that a walk would freshen him up.

When he came back, true to his word, he looked significantly better, though of course they couldn't tell why. Meeting an old friend and having said friend spend time to patch up your own sorry self, is something you don't tend to share with others.

Izuku found he had a new purpose, a new foundation on which to stand for the time being. If he failed, so be it. If he succeeded, well, he pitied anyone who would get in his way.

But visions of grandeur aside, he had to deal with another adventure first, then All Might.

Training camp.

Now if he could just stop throwing up every morning from nerves, that'd be ideal.

A/N

So, I should probably stop telling you guys when I break my previous word count record. Otherwise, that'll get really old, really fast.

Any way HEY HEY HEY! You're back again, so hard off to you! Did ya miss me? Admit it, you missed me! So, no library visit, but I will probably be going soon, so I may not be posting chapters quite as often. But, library or no library, I promised chapter one in a week, so here you are!

Next chapter jumps straight to the camp arc (finally). Heads up, chap 3 is REALLY violence heavy. I was going to combine ch 2 and 3, but that would be far too long and I'm not going to split a fight scene in half, so ch 3 is probably going to be rather long as well as violent and probably gory. Since its basically all fighting, it may take me a while to get it out.

While I'm here, since I didn't fully explain it in the chapter, I'll fill you lot in on my oc family right now. This is rather long so buckle up or leave. So the Woods are immigrants from good old Murica, Mrs Lily's parents being immigrants from Japan. They married, had Mathew, and moved to Japan when their son was 6. Soon, she fell ill with this mystery disease. Elija couldn't get his co-workers and superiors at his job (he's a policeman, using his quirk to keep civilians away from villain attacks) to help him, due to how shortly he had been working there and how he had been struggling with his Japanese, so they all brushed him off and didn't listen to him. He couldn't work with any hospitals or hero corps due to the heavy price and their lack of ability to pay (they JUST moved to a diff country, they wouldn't have much mulah). When Izu's fight and challenge the night of the alleyway throwdown went live across the country, he (just like the rest of Japan) saw just how smart and inventive Izuku was, so he started heading down to underground criminal hotspots, asking around to meet with Stain's Apprentice. And now, here we are!

WOOOO! Chapter one my dears, hope you enjoy! What is my boi going to do eh?

So long Lovies!