Hey guys! Here is the next chapter! I am already a bit into chapter 12 and will hopefully have it up by the end of the week. Chapter 13 will be the last one, and it will probably be a week or two before I get to it because I may be getting married this weekend. So that's cool.

Enjoy! Please comment and let me know what you think!

Chapter 11-

His eyes fluttered open slowly, he couldn't remember where he was or how he had gotten there. Head pounding and body weak, Izuku tried to take in his surroundings. The room was familiar with pale green walls and school health posters.

But why was he in Recovery Girl's office?

The night came flooding back to him. Facing the league, Urakaka's face, blood….

Uraraka…

He sat straight up only to be met with more pounding in his head.

"Oh good, you're awake," Recovery Girl rolled over to him in her computer chair. "Try not to make too much noise now, you are sharing the room."

She smiled at him, nodding her head towards the other side of the room. He glanced to the bed on his left to find Uraraka, sleeping peacefully. He could feel himself relax, knowing she was safe, but he still couldn't remember how they had gotten there. The chair beside her bed was occupied by another sleeping form, and it took him a bit to recognize the tuft of blonde hair.

"Kacchan?"

"Ah yes, Mr. Bakugou brought you two here, and despite me insisting, I couldn't convince him to leave." She began to poke and prod at him, touching a tender spot on his neck. He instinctively reached his hand up to find bandages. Confusion must have been visible on his face, because she continued to explain. "You know, you kids keep me very busy. The hospital didn't deem it safe to hold you there considering the circumstances so they sent you to me. Apparently you almost bled to death, and you've been out for almost a day now. Luckily someone was handy with bandages, or you likely wouldn't be sitting here right now."

He glanced over to where Uraraka slept, she was hooked up to a bag, but seemed stable.

"Miss Uraraka will be fine. She has been in and out of sleep most of the evening. She had some bad bruises and burns and was pretty malnourished, but I predict her largest problems will be less… physical than your own." She smiled comfortingly, patting him on the cheek. "She's a strong girl, and she has good friends."

She hopped down from her chair, and scurried over to the other side of the room, drawing the curtain around the other bed. "Now that you are conscious, it's better to give you both a bit of privacy. And Mr. Midoriya?" She sat on the side of his bed and flicked his forehead hard enough that it smarted a bit.

"I'm glad you are all okay, but if you keep doing wildly stupid things like this I will stop taking care of you lot."

She muttered under her breath as she hit the lights and left them alone in the room. Based on the darkness outside the window, it was getting late, and the school building was likely closing for the night. He glanced over at Recovery Girl's desk, the simple paper calendar read Friday the first of December. The last he remembered, it had been Wednesday night, and the disconnect was disorienting. He reached for a hand mirror that was sitting on the stand beside the bed to examine his neck. The bandages covered most of it. He remembered being held at knife point by Toga, but not much after that. Waiting a few minutes to ensure Recovery Girl would not be returning, he slowly unwrapped the bandages. The sight caused him to cringe. He had about 20 stitches spanning across his neck horizontally, with another few on the side vertically. The skin around it was red and swollen, but it had started to heal together, and there was no blood that he could see. He set the mirror back on the stand, clumsily rewrapping his neck and lying down into his bed.

If they had planned to kill him, then they had failed, but they had come closer than they ever had before. He stared silently at the ceiling, trying to will sleep to come to him instead of thinking of how badly he had failed. They had set a trap for him and he had fallen straight into it like some sort of idiot. If it hadn't been for Kacchan and the others, both he and Uraraka would have been dead. A real hero like All Might wouldn't have needed backup…

The sound of movement in the bed next to him was a welcome distraction. He thought about calling out to see if either of them were awake, but the idea of facing his failure felt like too much for him right now. His eyes begin to well with tears as he pulled the blanket closer to his face. The thought of what he was going to tell his mother was looming over him.

"Bakugou?" The sound of Uraraka's quiet voice floated through the room.

"Oye, Round Face, you're finally awake. You've been in and out of it all fucking night."

"What time is it? How's Deku?" She sounded so concerned, making him feel even guiltier. The light of a phone lit up the curtain momentarily, casting shadows of the two across the room.

"Friday night. The old hag said he was looking better and should be awake soon. Typical Shitty nerd, being fucking weak."

"So it's been a full week since I've been back here…" He could hear the sadness in her voice.

"Yeah and it was fucking boring as shit without you to beat up on. Why do you think we came after you?"

Kacchan was being… playful?

"Did I miss much?" Her reply was much more upbeat.

The dynamics of this conversation were incredibly confusing to him.

"How the fuck would I know? I pretty much spent all of the week in that fucking hell hole they claim is a hospital. I was only back one day before we came to find you. That's how fucking boring it was."

Uraraka actually giggled. "Shh! Bakugo, Deku is sleeping!"

"If you ask me, it's 'bout time that shitty nerd got up, he's been out for fucking ever."

He heard the sound of shuffling before Uraraka gasped loudly.

"My hair! Where did it go?!"

"Yeah… It got pretty fucking rank so they cut it. Turns out rolling in dirt and blood and not showering for a week causes some hygiene problems." He laughed loudly before the faint sound of a slap stopped him short. "Hey! I never said it looked bad! You women are all so fucking sensitive."

"Ugh, it took so long to grow it out. How are the others?"

"Well don't start crying on me! And I don't know shit, I've been in this chair for fucking ever."

"I should've known, it smells like you've not showered in weeks."

Izuku's confusion was growing. This was not the way he and Uraraka talked. She was always so gentle and kindhearted…

"I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE JUST LEFT YOU TO DIE YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE-"

"Shh!" She was giggling again. He had never really noted it before, but other than Kirishima, Uraraka had always been less scared of Kacchan than the rest of their class. She had chewed him out once for bullying him, and hearing them joke around like that made them sound like… Friends?

"Seriously though, thank you for staying. I don't think I'm ready to be alone just yet."

Hearing her say that tore his heart. She had been through so much in the last week, and he wasn't even be there for her when she needed someone most. But she had Kacchan…

He could hear him grumble an embarrassed response.

"Well, my hands feel better, but I can't say the same for how they look… These scars on my palms don't look like they plan on fading any time soon…"

"Well, you did slam your burnt hands onto fucking concrete, so I'm not surprised. I'd make fun of you for it, but it was pretty fucking badass."

"You were watching me during that fight?" Izuku could almost hear her face turn red in embarrassment.

"Hard fucking not to. You were running around half naked and laughing like a fucking mad woman." There was a pause and an audible shuffle where he was certain Uraraka was hiding herself under the blankets. "But hey, I guess we match now."

"Your hands are so rough…"

"I do basically blow shit up with them for a fucking living."

Something hit deep in Izuku's stomach. This was more than Bakugo being friendly for once… This was him flirting… He felt his face get hot as his body filled with confusing emotions. Part of him was happy for Kacchan to be taking another step out of his angry shell, but the other part was confused, hurt, sad, and maybe even a little jealous.

He had gone his entire life desperately wanting to be a hero, but he had never really felt jealous before. But it wasn't a hard emotion to identify, and it made him feel incredibly guilty. He knew logically that he and Uraraka weren't in a relationship, but it didn't stop the gnawing feeling that Kacchan was trying to take something that was his.

Just acknowledging the feeling made him feel even guiltier.

He realized that he was mumbling audibly, and tried to hide listening in on their conversation with a large yawn.

"Sounds like Sleeping Fuckwad is finally awake."

"Deku!" The curtain between them was almost ripped off its hooks by the force of her excited pulling. Turning his head towards them slowly to avoid anymore headaches, he saw her sitting on the edge of her own bed. She was in a hospital gown, bruises faded down to patchy yellow and brown on her skin. Long tendrils of chocolate hair fell around her teary eyes, but it had been haphazardly cut in the back, falling jaggedly around her shoulders. Her hands were what caught his attention, the backs looked almost normal with just a bit of redness, but her palms were ripped, red and scarred where there had once been smooth, white skin. "I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried!"

She rose from her bed to jump onto his and he noticed her feet were bandaged as well. She gave him a crushing embrace, carefully avoiding his neck.

"You do know there's no backs on those fucking gowns, right?" Kacchan was bright pink, averting his gaze out the window.

Uraraka turned the deepest shade of red he had ever seen before crawling back into her own bed and wrapping the blankets around herself tightly. Her embarrassment was palpable as he desperately looked to change the subject.

"What happened to your feet?" He pointed at the bandages covering up to her mid shin.

"Well, I carried you out of the building and I was so concerned about running away I forgot that I didn't have any shoes!" She scratched the back of her head, still sporting a soft shade of pink. "Turns out you can get minor frost bite running barefoot in the snow, but I'm just fine now! Got to keep all my toes and everything!"

"You carried me…?" He couldn't recall any of her story and he felt even guiltier for causing her more pain.

"Yeah, you ran in there like a stupid asshole and got your quirk fucking sapped and we had to save your ass. Then you went and got your fucking throat slit by that crazy bitch. Luckily our crazy bitch here beat the shit out of her and saved your goddamn life." Kacchan was lazily tipping his chair back, remaining unusually calm.

"It's all my fault." She had her eyes focused on her own hands, gripping the blankets forcefully. "I went and got myself captured. You were doing really well until they threatened to hurt me. I'm sorry, Deku."

"No, no, no!" He waved his hands frantically. "I'm just upset that I couldn't do more to help you!"

"Well, I'm back now, right?" She smiled sweetly at him and he felt his heart melt.

A knock at the door pulled his attention to the front of the room. It was too late for anyone to be on campus, and the looming figure outside was much too tall for recovery girl. The other two apparently had come to the same conclusion, looking prepared to pounce.

The door creaked open slowly, allowing the hall lights to illuminate the tall, thin, figure of All Might.

"Do you have to be so fucking sneaky? I could have fucking blasted you." Kacchan eased slowly back into his seat.

"My apologies, young Bakugo, I just meant to have a conversation with young Midoriya here about the events of the last few days. I was not expecting the room to be so full." He flicked on the lights and glanced around with his deep set eyes, landing on Uraraka. "Miss Uraraka, I apologize for the intrusion and we can have this conversation at some other time."

"Well, no use in fucking leaving now, she knows about One for All somehow."

A memory flashed through Izuku's head of the three of them back in the warehouse. The cold knife against his neck, and looking into Uraraka's eyes as she yelled at Kacchan to save him and let her die. He glanced over at her to see her smiling apologetically. The look she had given him that night told him she really was prepared to die for him. Would he have been able to say the same for himself?

"I pieced it together from listening to them. They talked about Deku being quirkless, and inheriting One for All from All Might. And it kind of made sense with him having all these new powers and the relationship you two have…" She was fidgeting with the blanket as if she was being admonished for knowing. All Might walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, I'm sure you understand this is a secret we would like to keep well protected. Besides young Bakugo here, very few other people know about this, and it's important to keep it that way. It does worry me how much they know about the quirk thouhgh."

He strode back towards the door and coughed into his hand, trying to hide the blood that covered his palm. It always made Izuku cringe to see him like that.

"You can have young Midoriya explain the details to you later, but we have a more pressing matter now. This was a trap laid for you, Izuku. So what happened that night? They must know enough to understand the quirk can't be passed unwillingly, so their motives are hard to understand."

Between the three of them, they were able to piece together the entire night. Uraraka had learned that they specifically wanted his blood, and apparently they were able to get a decent amount of it.

"Their goal has always been to destabilize hero culture, but I don't see what they gain from this." He looked down at his own hands, clenching them into fists. "None of it makes any sense."

"The only time we've seen the enemies use blood was with Eri…" Uraraka sat on the edge on her bed with the blanket wrapped around her tightly. "But it wasn't really the League's science that created it, we don't really know much of what they are capable."

"That's a good point, miss Uraraka. I think it may be beneficial to take a look at the blood ourselves, to see if we can pinpoint any features of One for All I may not have known before. There is so much to the quirk that young Midoriya has newly discovered, that it's possible we haven't even scratched the surface of it's potential. Let's just hope that whatever they are planning, it's something the pros can handle. You all have been through too much already." He opened the door quietly. "Now it's almost midnight, so you all need sleep. And I'm sure they would prefer you back in your own room young Bakugo, I know classes were canceled, but you still are a student. I can escort you if you'd like."

"Fuck that. I don't need a fucking chaperone."

"Whatever you say, be safe you three." He hit the lights before leaving them alone in the dark room.

Kacchan made no effort to leave as they sat in silence. Uraraka laid back down into bed, and Izuku followed suit. They all had a lot to think about after the talk with All Might, and his mind was racing a mile a minute.

What did they need his blood for? Did they mean for him to live? What if it helped them hurt people? What kind of hero would that make him?

After what felt like hours of silently gazing at the ceiling, he glanced to his left to see the other two had fallen asleep. He closed his eyes to try and follow suit.

Images of Shigaraki filled his brain.

There were bodies and blood everywhere. Smoke rose from the burnt city as Shigaraki stood laughing in the center.

"What have you done!" He could feel the tears running down his cheeks.

"What have I done? I didn't do any of this Izuku Midoriya, it was all you. You caused all this pain."

"That's not true!" He tried to run towards him but his body refused to move. There was crying in the distance.

"Now which one of us is the real villain?" He disappeared into a cloud of smoke, blending in to the burning rubbing.

His body began to stand despite his attempts to resist. He looked down to find dark strings connected to him, forcing him to move forward against his own will. He followed the dark strings to find All for One, controlling his every action. His body walked on it's own up to one of the buildings still standing. He felt power build in his arm as his fist struck hard, demolishing the building into rubble. People cried out to him for help as they fell into the fires below.

"Now, would the Symbol of Peace really do this? See how much power we have together?"

He heard a woman screaming as he fell into a pit of darkness.

He jerked awake in his bed to the continued sound of yelling coming from the room. Sitting up straight he turned his whole body towards the sound to find Uraraka writhing in her bed, tears streaming down her face. He was at a loss for what to do as he watched her thrash in her bed. A hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder softly. She softened at the contact, silencing her night terrors. His eyes met the red glare of Kacchan, an unspoken death wish communicated between the two of them. Bakugo did not do comfort, and it was obvious he did not want this moment to escape the room.

Izuku broke eye contact first, sliding back down into his bed. This was likely what Recovery Girl meant by less physical problems, and he had no idea how to fix it for her, but somehow Kacchan did. The boy who had once told him to kill himself was able to help Uraraka better than he could himself. He turned towards the door and pulled the blanket over his head. The entire situation made him feel like a mopey child. The symbol of peace would be able to help everyone on his own, and he definitely wouldn't get jealous over a girl.

Sleep didn't come easy to him, and when he awoke, he was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Light was streaming through the window and the clock on the wall read eight in the morning. He glanced over to find Uraraka and Kacchan still asleep, although the latter had wet hair and a new set of clothes. Izuku was surprised he was able to get out and back in without waking anyone. Maybe he was more tired than he had originally thought.

The morning also brought visiting hours. Recovery Girl was back to check on them at half past eight, and their classmates came around nine.

"I can't believe you decided to disobey all the rules to run out again. More importantly, not telling anyone was incredibly irresponsible!" Iida was one of the more vocal of his peers present.

"Sorry, Iida. I was scared if I told any heroes, they would hurt Uraraka." He rubbed the back of his head apologetically.

"Uraraka… I am very glad to see you are okay. We've been worried sick about you." He walked over and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Bakugo." Iida was very curt, and had obviously not forgiven him. "I'm not sure why you are here, but if you touch her agai-"

"Back the fuck off Four Eyes." Bakugo walked over and got close to his face, likely knowing it would rile him up.

"I don't want any perver-"

"Iida! I'm so glad to see you! I'd get up and hug you if I wasn't in this gown!" She pulled at the gown emphatically. "Sorry I caused so much trouble for you. For everyone." She gestured at the group.

"You didn't cause us any trouble at all!" Kaminari chimed in from somewhere inside the group. "Iida is just mad he wasn't invited along."

"Thank all of you so much for coming to help me. I really didn't think I was going to make it out…" She looked down at her hands with a sad smile.

The crowd got quiet before erupting into apologies and greetings. Uraraka knew how to calm down a room, it was hard to look at her and not want to make her happy.

Izuku could tell the group was tipping towards overwhelming. The room was already overrun with people and flowers when the he saw two adults standing behind the gaggle of teenagers. He had never seen them before, but they were instantly recognizable. Both looked tired beyond their years, but the rosy cheeks and chocolate hair were unmistakable. When they made themselves known, the group immediately made their way to the door, saying their goodbyes as they left to give her privacy. Kacchan remained planted in his chair by the wall.

"Mom… Dad…" Uraraka began to cry at the site of them. "I'm so sorry, I'm sure I've worried you so much! I'm sorry for all the hospital bills and I'm sorry you had to take off work to come see me!"

The flood of apologies flowed with her tears as they held her. He remembered that her family struggled with money, and it seemed like she was apologizing more for being expensive than almost dying.

"No need to apologize, we are just glad you are in one piece." Her mother sat on the bed, hugging her ferociously.

"You must be Izuku Midoriya, we have heard a lot about you. You saved her, right? We owe you so much." Her father had the same kind eyes.

"Well, I tried to save her, but I didn't do a very good job obviously." He reached his hand towards his neck to fiddle with the bandages. Glancing over towards Kacchan, he saw no attempt to correct them or take credit. Adding to his new, unusual character.

"Nonsense! We know how important you are to our daughter! We are just glad she has such a strong friend to come rescue her." He placed his hand onto Izuku's shoulder and smiled.

"Pft." Kacchan had apparently hit his limit.

"And you must be Katsuki Bakugo. The one who beat up our daughter at the sports festival." Uraraka's father demeanor had made a complete shift.

"Dad…"

"I didn't beat her up. She was my opponent, and a damn strong one. Deku is just lucky Uraraka saved his sorry ass when his shitty plan failed."

Izuku felt himself relax. That wasn't as bad as it could have been. The two of them held eye contact for an uncomfortably long period of time, broken only by Uraraka's mother running and enveloping Kacchan in a large hug.

"Did you help save our little Pumpkin too? Thank you so much!"

Izuku couldn't help but laugh. Kacchan obviously had no idea what to do in the situation, and his arms extruded at awkward angles, unable to comprehend where to place them.

"Your welcome…" He muttered it quietly, face so red that it looked almost painful.

"Now now, that's enough excitement in my office for one day." Recovery Girl hopped down from her chair, shooing Uraraka's parents and Kacchan towards the door. "Miss Uraraka, your friend Miss Asui brought you a change of clothes, if you would like you are free to leave and spend a bit more time with you parents." She pulled the curtain, allowing Uraraka to change.

Izuku hid his eyes, even the shadow of her changing brought warmth to his cheeks. He had a hard time around girls when he remembered they were actually girls. After she finished, the Uraraka family said their goodbyes and left together. Kacchan stayed behind, staring him down with a look he couldn't quite comprehend.

"We have one more guest tonight, but I will give you some privacy. I advise Mr. Bakugo to do the same." She opened the door to reveal his mother.

Her eyes immediately began watering when she saw him. Taking in the newly empty room she bowed to Recovery Girl and turned to face Kacchan.

"Katsuki…" She hugged him, barely coming up to his chest. He looked much less uncomfortable than he had before with Uraraka's mother, and even place one arm awkwardly around her. But then again, his mother brought out the best in people. She nodded at both of them as they took their leave. Turning to face him, she pulled Recovery Girl's chair towards the bed and sat down next to him, taking his hand in hers. Her right hand made its way to his neck as she traced the bandages that Recovery Girl had carefully rewrapped early that morning.

"You've become such a great hero, Izuku. I keep thinking that one of these days I'm going to run out of tears, but they always seem to keep coming." She let them flow freely with no attempt to wipe them from her cheeks. "I'm so proud of you, but I selfishly wish you would take a break from scaring me to death."

Her smile was sad. In the past two years her hair had begun turn gray, wrinkles were now etched on her forehead highlighting years of frowning, and pale skin hung loosely off hollow cheeks. The cause of the change was obvious, which was one of the reasons he avoided home so often. It made him feel guilty to see her like this.

"I know… But it was my fault that she… I was supposed to be at that gala, not her." The tears began to fall from his own cheeks the moment he spoke. He wanted to explain everything to her, but he couldn't' betray All Might, and settled on a semi truth. "And it was my responsibility to save her."

"Even if it was your responsibility, did you have to go alone?" She used his own hand to wipe some of her tears. It was clear from whom he got his emotional habits. "You have such strong friends, Izuku, and they would do anything to help you if you'd let them."

"But it was Uraraka… And she is so… Well she i-"

"Is also a hero." She cut him off before he could explain his feelings. "You know, I'm not as oblivious as you think I am. I've seen how you look at her, and how you react when you hear her name."

He felt his already damp cheeks begin to redden. Unable to conjure up a reply, he sat in silence for what felt like minutes. The only sound the occasional sniffle as he watched his mother coordinate her words.

"It's my fault... I tried so hard to shield you from the world, from any kind of pain, that I didn't realize I put so much on you. I depended on you for everything. For support, friendship, and I even made you help with the household finances. You've always been my hero, Izuku. For everything."

"I do those things for you because I love you, mom." He was thoroughly confused by her sudden shift in the conversation.

"Is she a strong hero?" She shifted the topic yet again.

"Uraraka? She is kind, and pretty, and smart, and her quirk has lots of uses, especially in search and rescu-"

"But is she strong? When she fights are you worried about her, or proud? Does the thought of having her by your side in battle comfort, or scare you? Do you want to be with her, or protect her?" Her tone was soft and comforting, but also slightly accusatory. It surprised him coming from his mother.

"I… I don't know…" He answered truthfully. It had never really crossed his mind before, but he spent a lot of time worrying about Uraraka. He had even thrown a few battle exams to help her out. Thinking about their future together, he had never really thought about her being out and fighting without him there to protect her.

"When I got married, I gave up everything for your father. I depended on him to survive, and when he left us, I began depending on you and that's not a healthy way to live, or to love someone. I think I may have been a bad role model for what a relationship should be…" She looked him straight in the eyes and smiled. His mother had never really talked about her relationship with his father before. It was slightly unnerving to think about, but it was one of the first times he had ever heard her talk about a feeling that wasn't concern for him.

"You were, and still are, the best son any mother could ask for. You have always taken care of me, just like you always try to take care of everyone else. But even the strongest heroes can't save everyone by themselves. You have to rely on other people as Deku and Izuku." She leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on his forehead. "I don't know if any of my rambling made any sense, but I hope you trust your friends to help you a little more, on and off the battlefield."

They sat together quietly for awhile while their tears dried and he digested what she had told him. The world needed another symbol of peace, and only he could step up to the plate and fill the giant shoes All Might left behind. His mother wasn't able to comprehend the weight that being the bearer of One for All placed on his shoulders. He didn't have the luxury of being able to have normal relationships. All he wanted for his life was to be a hero that could compare to All Might, and take away the pain of everyone he loved.

Squeezing her hand tightly, he put on a large smile. He may not have fully understood what she was trying to convey, but he wasn't about to tell her anything that would stress her anymore.

"I understand, and I'll do my best." His smile didn't feel genuine, but it was at least enough to please his mother.

"You always do." She stood from the chair, stretching out her legs, and bending down to give him a kiss on the forehead. "I'm sure that kind woman would like her office back. So it's probably best if I leave you to rest."

She was halfway to the door when she turned to face him. "You know Izuku, I love you very much. I worry about you constantly, but I don't think I tell you that I love you that enough."

"You tell me all the time!" He laughed softly, his smile genuine this time.

"You can never tell people how you feel about them enough." She turned and exited the room quietly, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He may not have comprehended her entire message, but there was one thing that came across clear. Having One for All meant his life was never going to be easy, and he would likely continue to have close calls like he had in the warehouse. He reached up to fiddle with his bandages again, knowing he would face Recovery Girls wrath for it later.

He needed to be honest about his feelings. He needed to find Urakaka…

Probably after giving himself a few days to work up the courage….