T-T-T-Tiiiime for an update dudes. Ya'll know the drill.

ENJOY THE READING.

It had been easier than Izuku had thought to lie to his mother.

"I just want to get some air, you know? I was inside all day yesterday." He had even smiled while doing so. "I'll be back in a bit, don't worry."

She had wanted him to stay in the house, to spend time with his friends in his room or the living room. They could watch T.V. there, or play video games, or do anything other than get into trouble.

But Izuku had insisted. He needed time away from her, away from her eyes which seemed somehow accusing and afraid, like at any moment he would grin a wolf's grin and bare blackened talons. Besides, it was only a half-lie, he did need some air… though he also wanted to talk to his friends about the Hell he had personally been to without his mother listening in.

He had dressed in some grey cargo shorts and a black zip-up hoodie, along with his usual red trainers. He didn't want to stand out too much after all, and he was used to wearing dull, muted colors to avoid the attention of people around him.

Once they were outside, Ochaco had asked where they were going, Izuku had simply said, "Somewhere quiet," and had left it at that. His friends had taken the cue and had followed alongside him for their walk.

The first topic of discussion was, of course, Izuku's new horns. Well, he didn't exactly have them right now of course, but they had all been fascinated by the stumps on the sides of his head. Izuku told them what the doctors had told him, that they would eventually grow back. Whether he wanted to let them grow out properly or keep them shaved down was up to him.

He was honestly still deciding on that.

The next topic had been his tail.

It had been hard for the others to hide their shock on that one and Ochaco had been particularly interested in poking and prodding it, causing it to jolt back suddenly at her touch. It was a weird feeling, suddenly having an extra bit of you swishing back and forth. He had been forced to stab a hole in the back of his shorts to let it through without it being uncomfortable.

Still, once the surprise had worn off, they seemed to have accepted it gracefully. Hitoshi had even joked that he could call him even more names now, while Tenya had helpfully suggested a number of clothing outlets that specialized in custom clothing, explaining that he had to get most of his pants fitted for his exhaust pipes.

Izuku didn't mind, if anything he welcomed it. Hitoshi's gentle teasing, Ochaco's insistence that it was cute and Tenya's helpful wonderings on how it could help his hero training had been more of a comfort than he thought.

They were on the third topic now, as they approached the Dagobah beach.

"-and that's why I'm so beat up," Hitoshi finished with a loud sigh, "An exciting and riveting story of my great failure to think ahead."

"And how Shoto totally came in and saved your dumb face," Ochaco added with a wicked smile, "And how you're now totally crushing on him."

Hitoshi went a strange color of red. "No I'm not!" He quickly looked to Izuku, "She's lying. She's a filthy, filthy-" Ochaco made a bunch of loud smooching noises- "Filthy liar."

Tenya sighed loudly, "Really you two, you should be focusing on your studies, not on your fellow classmates!"

"I'm not!" Hitoshi counted, "You're just making shit up."

"He so is." Ochaco giggled and nudged Izuku playfully. When the teenager gave her a tired smile, she winked at him. "Watch him on Monday, he's a complete dork around him now."

"I am not!"

"He is," Nemesis hissed suddenly through Izuku's mind, "Look at him. It's obvious."

Izuku frowned for a moment at the voice in his head before allowing a smile to cross his otherwise stoic lips. "That's if I'm still in class on Monday," He sighed and looked look down adding, "I'll be shocked if they don't move me out of the class."

"They won't, what happened was an accident, and it was one caused by villains. They can't punish you for that." Hitoshi replied swiftly before suddenly looking forward and whistling, drawing Izuku's thoughts from his incoming classroom-related doom. "Wooow. This place looks like crap."

The beach was just as messy and as trash-filled as it usually was, though the look of the place had changed since Izuku had last been there. His own training, now seemingly a lifetime ago, had made a dent within the small mountains of rubbish that had piled up everywhere. Still, people continued to use the place as a dump, and new piles had formed, almost as if they had grown naturally.

The air was permeated with the stench of old, forgotten trash mixed with the cool, salty breeze of the open shore. It wasn't pleasant to take in, but it was tolerable.

"I dunno, it's got a kind of a, eeh," Ochaco cocked her head before sighing and shaking it in defeat, "No, you're right, it's awful. Izuku, why did you bring us to a garbage dump?"

"I sometimes come here when I want to be alone," Izuku replied simply, his hands moving into his pockets as he looked over the rusting, rotting piles of metal and refuse, "No one ever comes here so… I could hang out by myself."

There was a moment of silence as the other three considered this before Tenya raised a hand. "Is there a particular place you want to talk to us?" He looked back to the smaller boy, "You said you had something you needed to tell us privately."

Izuku nodded to himself and began walking towards the piles once again. "Yeah, we're almost there, just follow me and… try not to fall over."

With the other three wobbling after him on the uneven ground of piled electronics, damp trash bags and other leftover waste, Izuku led them carefully to a large, hidden patch of open space within the trash piles. Hitoshi, with his bad leg, had it the worst to the point that Ochaco had to float him over several pieces using her own quirk.

From the moment they got there the others quickly put together what it was. The burned materials, the old memory foam mattresses that surrounded the circle, the metal fold-out chair set to one side.

"So, this is the secret training ground of Izuku Midoriya," Hitoshi smirked as they finally gathered back on the sand, "Not bad, not bad. Could use a little sprucing up, I guess."

"It's a bunch of trash in the middle of trash," Izuku couldn't help but snark back, "You don't have to dress it up." He added a shrug, "But like I said, no one knows about this place and considering how my power works…" He trailed off before finally sitting down onto the sand.

His friends looked to one another for a moment before joining him, though Hitoshi took the chair as getting sand in a cast was probably a bad idea.

It was Tenya who spoke first, his voice solid and steady and an anchor for Izuku's confidence to cling to. "Whatever you want to tell us, Izuku, we're listening. We're not going anywhere."

The other two teenagers nodded.

Izuku took a deep, steadying breath and tried to stop his stomach from doing flips.

"Let them know, we don't care," Nemesis offered unhelpfully with a voice like the splitting of skulls, "Tell them everything. We are eager to see the looks upon their faces, it'll provide great amusement."

Izuku made no attempt to hide the screwing of his eyes or the way his fingers grasped a handful of sand before slowly letting it go.

Again, his friends looked to one another with caution, though not with fear.

"Alright," His voice was small, so small it was almost drowned by the distance hissing of the ocean waves upon the golden sand, "I wanted Fumikage to be here too but… I can't just keep hiding this. It's not fair on any of you, not after what I've put you all through. What I've put everyone though."

To their credit, the others remained silent. They knew the value of just allowing him to speak, to put his heart out on a platter to the others without defense. They would not betray such trust.

He coughed to clear his throat, and his eyes flickered to them. They were all staring at him, quiet and intense, but he didn't feel judged. He didn't feel like they were about to start running from him or laughing at him or treating him like a china doll cracked and worn and one rough shove away from shattering completely.

They were his friends, his best and only friends. They deserved to know.

"It all started when I was five."

And so, he told them. He told them of the voice in his head, of the monsters that had plagued him all his life, of Fumikage and Dark Shadow and what had happened to them both during the USJ, though he skipped over what he felt from the holy water, simply stating how it hadn't done anything. He told them of his journey through Hell, what he remembered of it anyway, and how he had come face to face with a beast of unholy, inhuman proportions before being saved by a beam of light and waking up in his hospital bed. They had all gasped in shock when he had told them he'd been dead for several minutes, and several times Ochaco needed a moment to wipe tears from her eyes.

He left out how Nemesis came to be though. Yes, he told them everything else, but that one sin, the greatest of all his sins. That he kept to himself. Some secrets were best kept secret.

By the time he had finished speaking the shadows had grown slightly longer, the breeze a little colder but the warmth from the still hanging sun lingered, providing a measure of comfort to the small group.

There was silence for a stretch as each of the teenagers considered Izuku's words, and increasingly the anxiety built within Izuku with every heartbeat that passed.

"Well, fuck me sideways, Izuku," Hitoshi broke the silence like a man taking a sledgehammer to a window, "I mean… damn."

"Do- do you believe me?" Izuku braved, his voice shaking and his eyes watering despite his best efforts to keep himself from bursting into tears again.

"Yeah, I believe you," Hitoshi replied so genuinely that Izuku blinked in shock, as did Tenya.

"I believe you, too," Ochaco added a second later, her eyes set and her face stern.

"Wha-" Izuku stammered, "How can you-"

"You forget, I looked right into your eyes during the whole Katsuki thing," Hitoshi's smile was joyless, almost sad, and he shrugged, "I got a good, hard look what Nemesis was like while controlling you, and I was there when it was fighting All Might. Being possessed, or something like it, would make a lot of sense."

"I've seen your- I mean- I've seen Nemesis twice," Ochaco added, "I agree. It's… Izuku it's unholy, there's no other way of putting it. I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that, I'm so, so sorry, Izuku," She ended with a sniffle and once again wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"They're… not as scared as we'd assumed they'd be," Nemesis hissed through his mind, and to Izuku's shock it sounded almost surprised, "Why aren't they fearful of us? We are shadow and flame, they are nothing, they should fear us."

"I'm sorry," Tenya announced suddenly, his voice was low and his eyes were hidden by a cast of light across his glasses, "I'm- I'm not sure how to take this."

His words brought a new wave of silence to the others and both turned to look at him with wide eyes.

"I understand you've been through much, but…" He paused, as if wrestling with his own thoughts and feelings, "But I… All my life I have been taught that there is nothing beyond the world we see. Angels, demons, ghosts, none of them are real. I'm sorry, Izuku, but I can't just… accept all of this without some kind of proof."

"Tenya! How could you-" Ochaco immediately started, her eyes growing angry and her fists already curling at her side.

But Izuku quickly cut her off, "No, it's okay, Tenya's right." Her eyes blinked and looked back to him, surprised. Izuku took a moment to give her a quick, wobbling smile and looked back to the sand. Tenya's words had hit him hard, and he felt his stomach curling and twisting at the rejection. But... it also wasn't a rejection. He hadn't called him crazy, or weird, or stupid. He had simply stated something logical, which Izuku... couldn't exactly disagree with. "I don't really have any proof of any of this. It's not like I brought a souvenir back from Hell."

"Dude, did you just joke about going to Hell?" Hitoshi smirked suddenly and pointed a finger-gun over to him, "Because if so, props."

Izuku had to pause for a moment. He did just joke about going to Hell. He was pretty sure that wasn't normal person behavior, but then again, he had just explained in full to his friends how he was ninety-nine percent certain he wasn't human at all.

He shook his head for a moment and then continued. "Right, well, this is why we need to talk to Fumikage. He's the only person who can confirm anything and, frankly, he seemed to know a lot more than me," He began carving out soft swirls in the sand with a finger, "I mean, it's clear to me I'm not… something's different about me, about Nemesis. Something that I don't think can be explained with just science," He let out a dry, humorless laugh and added in a bitter tone, "My mom tried that for years, and it clearly didn't work."

"I can't vouch for your mother, Izuku, but thank you," Tenya added with a nod. "I've never seen Nemesis, I've never even heard it, so if I seem ignorant, I apologize. And besides, there are other holes in the story that need addressing. Mr. Aizawa's quirk for instance, if your power is supernatural, why does it work on you? And if Fumikage was so sure, why didn't his test work?"

"I wish I knew," Izuku sighed loudly and leaned back onto the sand, allowing the damp-yet-warm feel of the sand to greet his fingers and calm his nerves, "I always thought my life was a dumpster fire but now…"

"Now it's a dumpster fire from Hell," Hitoshi added swiftly before looking around to the others, "… what, too soon?"

"I think this is exciting, in a weird kinda way," Ochaco added with a sudden determined smile, "Angels and demons and who knows what! I mean, I know it's not been fun for you, Izuku," And she gave him a quick, apologetic look, "But I mean… we're like, unique heroes, you know? We're not just saving lives, we're saving souls!"

"What?" Izuku raised an eyebrow at her before Hitoshi quickly cut him off.

"Hell-erm- I mean, heck yeah!" Hitoshi grinned his usual small but wicked grin, "I bet not even All Might knows anything about this stuff. We're like… fighting secret villains, you know? Like, the most evil of villains!" His grin suddenly got a little wider and a little more genuine, "Which makes us the most heroic of heroes! Heh, that'll make a nice change."

Even Tenya smiled and pushed the glasses up his nose, "I must admit, if this is indeed the truth, then there is a certain thrill in the thought we could be saving lives in a unique way, and fighting a truly terrible type of villainy. Of course, it only means we must study harder, work harder and train harder to fight such mighty foes." He brought down a hand in a chopping motion, "We should be sure to talk to Fumikage the moment we can about all of this, I'm eager to see what he can show us in terms of combating these creatures, should they actually exist."

"Is this actually happening?" Nemesis hissed suddenly, clearly irritated and… confused at what it was witnessing, "They're… excited about this? We offer them the truth of Hell and fire and darkness and they want to keep fighting?"

Izuku grinned suddenly, fangs flashing with joy. His heart was filled to bursting and tears were again lining his eyes. He couldn't believe this. He couldn't… this was too much. How did he deserve this? How did he come by these people who were so understanding, so brave that they would help him face the darkest of all evils?

"I- Guys I-"

"Oh stop, you big idiot," Hitoshi scolded Izuku softly and reached over to punch him lightly in the arm, which from Hitoshi was as good as an actual hug, "We told you, we're here for you. I mean, what did you expect? You're talking to people who are literally training to save lives. Professionally. So what if you're a demon or half-demon or whatever the fuck, you're a good guy, and we know you're not evil, that's all that matters at the end of the day."

"Exactly!" Ochaco grinned excitedly. "We all know you've got a good soul, Izuku. We'll keep you on the straight and narrow, no matter what Nemesis says!"

"We cannot… this doesn't…" It was bizarre hearing Nemesis confused, as if it simply hadn't expected any normal human to ever be able to handle the thought that demons existed and that they wouldn't be afraid of them. A strange, soft warmth moved along Izuku's scars, "… we have good allies."

"We do," Izuku mumbled to himself before suddenly looking to the others, an age-old shock running through him and the urge to hide his words almost spilling from his lips. However, he paused at the looks the others gave him before coughing and, almost embarrassingly, mumbling out, "Nemesis likes all of you."

"We never said that!"

"Aww! See, even the big bad Nemesis isn't all it's cracked up to be!"

"We hate them all!"

"Oh hey, look," Hitoshi announced suddenly and pointed over to Izuku.

Izuku blinked in surprised and turned his head… only to see his new tail, spear-tipped and jet black, wagging back and forth happily.

The teenager was so embarrassed that he almost literally buried his head in the sand.

Izuku hadn't expected any more surprises over the weekend but apparently, fate had other thoughts in mind.

The first half had passed easily. After spilling his soul to his friends and finding their resolve had only strengthened in the face of the unholy truth of his possible origins, they had decided to go for some ice cream.

Because there was no better balm for telling your friends that Hell was a very real place and you may come from there than a nice bowl of ice cream.

There had been some more discussion, of course, most of it light-hearted though the talk about if Hell was real, did that make Heaven real and therefore was there only one true religion had gotten a little too heavy before Ochaco had told Hitoshi that maybe, with Izuku's help, they could use the unholy powers of Hell to help him ask Shoto out.

After that, they had all joined in on some good-natured teasing and had said their goodbyes, with Izuku returning to his home in far better spirits than when he had left. Even so, the air within the Midoriya home was still tense and awkward. Izuku couldn't bring himself to press his mother for answers, and it seemed she was unwilling to say anything unless provoked.

He decided it would be easier for them both if he kept mostly to his room, working on 'homework' and really just reading up on whatever he could about Hell and demons. Most of what he researched, however, came back with very little results. There were a hundred thousand ideas floating around and reading through them all would no doubt be tedious and boring.

He had even tried pressing Nemesis a little more for answers, but as always, its replies were a simple and unsurprising repeat of, "We are Nemesis, we are Izuku Midoriya."

Izuku was in no mood to poke his inner demon with a stick and had decided he would leave it at that. Besides, they had all agreed as a group to essentially corner Fumikage and see if they could get him to open up.

That was a conversation Izuku was both looking forward to and simultaneously dreading.

It had been in the evening of that Sunday, during a weirdly quiet dinner with his mother, that the doorbell had rung. Both had looked to one another in surprise before Izuku had volunteered to go get it.

To say he wasn't expecting who was there would have been an understatement.

"The Fading King?"

"I AM HERE! At your household, young Midoriya!" All Might, and it was All Might and not Toshinori standing before him, practically filled the entire doorway. He stood, dressed in a white t-shirt and green cargo pants, his apparent go-to casual wear, with his ever-present and inspiring grin plastered across his face. Though Izuku felt a lance of shame as he spied the many, many bandages he seemed to be sporting.

"A-All Might?!" Izuku stammered in complete shock at the sudden appearance of the world's greatest hero and took a step back, even as a sudden fire spiked along his scars and his tail whipped up in shock.

"Has he come for a second bout?" He could feel a wolf's maw grin within his blood, "We'd be honored to finish the job."

Izuku immediately went to grab one of his still-healing stitches to stab pain through his body, however, before he could do anything of the sort, he heard his mother's gasp from down the hallway. He turned and saw her, wide-eyed and staring right at the number one hero.

"A-All Might?"

"Ah, good evening Mrs. Midoriya," All Might gave a polite bow, "I-erm, well, may I come in? If it's not too much trouble?"

To hear All Might sound bashful was… weird. Weird because the man exuded such a presence of power and righteousness that by all rights, he should be able to walk into any home and be immediately welcomed.

And yet it took a few seconds for both the son and mother to find their voices. Izuku spoke first, having been a little more acclimatized to All Might than Inko, "O-of course, sir! Please come in!"

He stepped aside as the giant entered the house, stooping just to get through the doorway, "Thank you, young Midoriya."

There was a strange, awkward pause for a moment as he saw the great hero's eyes note the newly formed stumps of horns on Izuku's head, and then to the twitching, anxious black tail.

Izuku quickly grabbed his tail and tried to stuff it, awkwardly, up his shirt as he stammered out, "S-Sir I-erm-"

"No need to explain, young Midoriya, it's alright, I understand." All Might replied in a smooth, understanding tone. It seemed as though he was about to continue when suddenly Inko spoke from down the hall.

"I- Mr. All Might, it's an honor to have you here." Inko seemed panicked, though there was certainly a… tenseness to her words that Izuku couldn't help but notice. A thickness, a dam she was holding back with the tip of her tongue. "Izuku," She hissed suddenly to her son, who quickly made his way to her side, "Go put the kettle on, I'm sure Mr. All Might would like something to drink."

"Oh, no, nothing for me please, I shouldn't be long," All Might called out from where he was taking off his shoes, "A glass of water would be nice, though!"

However, before Izuku moved to go get just that, Inko grabbed him tightly by the arm, looked him square in the eyes and, in a surprisingly irritated tone, hissed, "What is he doing here?"

"I don't know!" Izuku anxiously whispered back, all thoughts of being awkward around his secret-keeping mother vanishing in the face of All Might's surprise visit, "Maybe it's something to do with… you know?"

They didn't need to mention exactly what it was. There was only one recent event big enough to warrant such a hushed tone and unspoken words.

Izuku vanished into the kitchen while Inko showed All Might to the living room with a cautious and cold politeness that Izuku immediately recognized as her passive-aggressive way of being angry.

When the teenager re-emerged, he was treated to the utterly bizarre sight of All Might sitting on his couch, as the chair would no doubt be unable to hold his giant bulk, chatting idly with his mother, who seemed to just be nodding along to whatever he was saying.

He set down the water for All Might, who gave him a quick bow of thanks. His voice shook just a little as he began to speak, "Erm, so, All Might, sir, what can we do for you?"

"He could bleed for us again."

Izuku curled a hand suddenly into a fist, his fingernails digging into his palm as he silently told his demon not now, not now!

"Actually, it's what I can do for you, young Midoriya, and you, Mrs. Midoriya." All Might's voice drained softly as he spoke. He sat with his hands linked together before him, his elbows resting on his legs. He looked to the water, his gaze dark and unreadable before he swallowed thickly and began speaking. "As I'm sure you both know by now, it was I who fought Nemesis during the… incident."

Izuku felt a cold chill run across his skin, just as Nemesis sent a roll of liquid fire moving through his blood and he could hear his demonic monster cackling from within his head.

"And it was I who… who hurt you, Izuku," All Might's hands were starting to shake, just softly, and the breath was taken from Izuku's lips at the sight. All Might feared nothing. He was a man who knew only courage, only bravery, he was the shining light in the darkest shadow.

And he was scared.

"I hurt you so badly that I…" He gulped softly, not meeting the gaze of either Midoriya, "I killed you."

"No!" Izuku snapped suddenly, taking a step towards All Might, "No, that's not what happened! It wasn't your-"

"Let him speak, Izuku," Inko's voice was no longer polite.

It was cold. Colder than Izuku had ever heard it, perhaps even more so than when she had screamed down the phone to that unknown caller all that time ago. It was angry too, angry with a mother's rage at the pain caused to her child.

"I killed you, young Midoriya. You died because of my actions. And it's a true miracle you came back to us, but don't think for a second I am not torn apart by what I did to you," He gulped again, his voice a bottomless pit of swirling emotions. Sorrow, self-hate and regret. To see All Might like this was… it was wrong on so many levels.

He was the symbol of peace, the man who never stopped smiling no matter how bad things got. And he was here, ruined by the consequences of his actions.

"I realize how it easily could have been different," His hands squeezed tighter, going almost white, "You could have never come around, you could have never woken up. You could have…"

Nemesis moved though Izuku's system again, its anger somehow tempered, like a wolf that was no longer growling but cautious, waiting for whatever trap was being set to spring.

All Might's head dipped lower. There was no attempt to garner any pity in his tone, and he was clearly asking for none. It was a statement, pure and simple. It was the truth he felt in his heart, and nothing could persuade him otherwise. He stood suddenly, then in a quick movement, he stepped to one side and sank to the floor in a bow until his forehead touched the floor, "I am so, so, so sorry, Mrs. Midoriya, young Midoriya. With all my heart and soul I apologize. I failed you both, as a teacher and as a hero. I failed to do my duty, to protect young Midoriya, to keep everyone safe."

"That's not true!" Izuku finally snapped, ignoring the look of silence his mother tried to give him and staring right at All Might, "That's not true and you know it's not!" All Might looked up in surprise, "You had no other choice! It was that, or everyone else would have been hurt!"

"We're not wrong."

"I know what Nemesis is! I know how it works!" Izuku continued, his eyes blazing as he spoke, his hands curling into fists, "It wouldn't have stopped All Might! It would have never stopped. Not until… not until everyone in that place was dead."

"Again, not wrong."

"Izuku-" Inko spoke softly, looking to her son with wide eyes, but Izuku ignored her.

"You did the right thing! You saved lives! It was my fault Nemesis was unleashed, it was all my fault."

Izuku paused for a second before falling to his hands and knees and bowing low to his teacher, with even his tail laying flat onto the ground behind him.

Nemesis immediately flared through his scars and growled with blood-wet teeth through his mind, "What are we doing?!"

"I'm sorry!" Izuku spoke through tight, wet eyes, his voice holding back a sob through the sheer force of his intention, "I'm sorry I failed everyone! I failed to hold Nemesis back! I failed you, All Might!"

All Might looked up at this, blinking in pure shock. For a moment the world seemed to pause before it was split suddenly, but not by Izuku or his teacher.

"Both of you, get on your feet." Inko's voice was a cold, slicing blade through the room, and both the boys looked to her. At some point she had stood, and while she was the shortest person in the room, in that moment she towered over them both.

As they both slowly climbed up, she spoke, her eyes fixed on All Might, as cold and as sharp as a dagger thrust into his heart. "All Might. I admit once Izuku had come around, I felt a lot of rage towards what you did, and towards the entire school. How could you let that happen? After what you knew about Izuku's quirk? You should have been there, and not just to stop the villains or to look after my son but to teach. From what I understand, you were late because you were saving others and not looking after the ones you are paid to look after."

Her words cut All Might deeply, anyone could have seen it.

"However," She sighed softly, slowly, her anger melting with the breath of her lips. She gulped her emotions down before continuing, "I am not an idiot. I understand what my son's power is like. I know how… difficult it is. How it's… unique." Her eyes moved to Izuku now. "My child has struggled all his life with this power, with all the curses laid at his feet and he's come through time and time again. If I lost him I…" Her voice trailed away, and Izuku could see the pain in his mother's eyes.

She finally turned back to All Might, her voice hardened once again. "He wishes to be a hero. He wishes to help others, to do good in this world despite everything he's gone through. He's a good boy, All Might, and he has a good soul, I know it, I see it every day." She hesitated only a moment longer before saying, "I cannot forgive you for what happened. However, perhaps, with time, if you help my son become the hero he is inside, if you help him overcome the darkness that plagues him, perhaps then I can find my way to seeing past this."

"Mom…" Izuku wanted to say something, anything, but the words wouldn't come. He just stood there, his emotions whirling inside him and candle-flame dancing along his scars.

"I will do all I can, Mrs. Midoriya," All Might suddenly announced, almost shocking Izuku as he did so. His head bowed low once more, his voice strong and serious, "I promise you. I will help him conquer and control his quirk, and I will see him achieve his dream. I promise you, I will do this for you both."

All Might had left soon after, and all appetite for his dinner had left Izuku. He wanted to chase after his teacher, to beg him for… for something. Forgiveness for himself, for his actions, for all the pain and horror he had caused his entire class. For more than that perhaps, though what he wasn't sure. There were a million things to apologize for, and he had no idea where to start. One thing he knew for certain, however, was the coldness of his mother's gaze as she watched All Might leave.

It would be a long, long, long time before she found any forgiveness for the number one hero.

In the end, he decided it was better to focus on healing up and getting ready for Monday.

Life went on, after all, and despite everything he could say, he knew his actions would forever speak louder. Right now, his actions demanded he make amends for his sins.

Besides, All Might wasn't the only person he needed to make amends with.

Ochaco had mentioned during their ice-cream trip that while his friends were there for him no matter what, the rest of the class… was a different matter.

Most of the class had suffered from a wave of sleeplessness, nightmares, and losses of appetite. Those who had seen Nemesis with their own eyes had been the worst off. Katsuki especially was about ready to snap and strangle someone at the mere mention of his name. That didn't exactly put Izuku at ease, but what other choice did he have?

Despite everything, despite the looming anxiety and fear that the moment he stepped into Class 1-A he'd be told to leave, he still wanted to be a hero. It was all he'd ever wanted to be, and now more than ever he felt the need to find a way to conquer Nemesis. Even if he couldn't be a real hero, even if the shadow of evil would always lay across him, he could still find a way to control his curse.

Maybe he couldn't save people from villains, but he could save people from himself. Leaving the class, leaving the course, would only land him back to square one. One bad day from repeating what he'd done to that unknown kidnapper, to Katsuki, to whatever it was that had assaulted him in the USJ and to All Might.

Hell was in his blood, he knew that now, as a fact. The only thing standing between Nemesis and the world was himself, which meant he needed to be stronger.

The problem was, of course, that he didn't know what he was anymore. He knew he was Izuku Midoriya, and he knew he wanted to be a hero, but what was he? Why was he cursed? What really was Nemesis and why had it chosen him to inhabit? Why had that terrible throne been calling to him, why had that thing called him Lucifer?

He was pretty sure, after all, that he wasn't the original fallen angel, of that at least he was certain.

He had always been convinced that he was just some unlucky soul, picked by God to be the whipping boy of the universe. Now he was sure the reason was far more sinister, far more… predestined.

Thinking about it too much, however, brought on headaches, ones that seemed to originate from where his new horns emerged from his skull.

What am I?

The question hung like an anchor around his neck, and no matter what he did, it didn't seem to grow any lighter.

He left for school that Monday with an anxious mind and a heavy heart, giving his mother a hurried goodbye that somehow didn't feel genuine. His train ride was filled with the usual monsters and demons, including the weird snake-thing that always seemed to appear on his trip to school.

He was close to naming it. Maybe something like… Danger Noodle. He'd briefly and quietly asked Nemesis what it thought he should call it. It told him, "Food".

He'd not asked it anything else after that.

Izuku felt slightly better by the time he met up with his friends. Their presence was a comfort to him, even more so now that they knew just what he went through. Ochaco had even asked if he was alright, if Nemesis was getting loud and if he just wanted to listen to music. He had declined of course, but the fact she had even offered it made him feel slightly more at ease.

Hitoshi no longer wore his casts, though Izuku could spy bandages on his arms. He had explained, helpfully, that Recovery Girl had further treated him over the remainder of the weekend, though he wouldn't be allowed any more treatments for a few more days. At least he had been cleared for Heroics class, which of course kicked up a new discussion of what classes they could possibly have.

It had been a nice, calm, peaceful walk to the campus.

And predictably, of course, it had all crumbled once they had reached the classroom.

The moment he'd stepped through the door the room had gone quiet. Not the same low-level chatter as had happened the first time he'd been out for a few days, oh no, it was quiet.

Every eye had turned on him, every gaze locked to his form and in an instant, he knew what they were thinking. Horns. Tail. Fire. Terror. USJ. Nemesis.

Ochaco was right, the events of the USJ had affected the class. He could see it in their slightly pallid tones, the fading rings of sleeplessness around many of their eyes. He could feel it in the air, in the way that some of the life and energy had been drained from them all. Maybe not all of it, but enough. Enough that it was almost a tangible loss to each and every one of them.

He paused, his heart skipping a beat as he felt the insane pressure crash onto his shoulders and he wanted nothing more than to find the nearest black hole and throw himself into it. He gulped and began waving a black-fingernailed hand to the other students, "H-Hi-"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Katsuki's voice rang out across the classroom like a war-cry. Izuku jumped in shock and fire raced across his scars and he had to quickly pull back the oil-thick waves of power that jumped to his defense.

The blonde was sat at his desk, and it was the only thing separating him from Izuku.

Izuku would never forget the look of pure hate that screamed from Katsuki's eyes.

His mouth twitched as if being pulled by a hook and his teeth clamped together so tight that Izuku was worried his teeth would shatter. Already explosions littered across Katsuki's desk as his anger melted into his quirk.

His other classmates looked drained, but they looked to be recovering at least. Katsuki on the other hand… it looked as if Nemesis itself had reached into his soul and tore out the last of his joy. It looked as though nothing but the memories of that day had played repeatedly through his mind without end.

It looked as though a parasite was eating him alive from the inside, and he could feel every bite and chew it took out of him. Somehow, in that moment, the scars across his face seemed so stretched and tight.

Tenya and Hitoshi quickly came to Izuku's sides, already ready and willing to fight Katsuki if it came to it.

Yet this time it seemed different. Katsuki was enraged past the point of his usual anger, but he wasn't approaching them. He simply sat, his hands twitching to the sounds of miniature explosions as his gaze remained an unrelenting barrage upon Izuku.

"How dare he speak to us like this, let us free, let us tear him apart for his insolence!"

"K-K-Kaachan I-"

"WHY AREN'T YOU FUCKING EXPELLED?"

The question was an honest one, and really, Izuku had no answer. Why wasn't he expelled? Or at least moved from the class or something. He had been waiting for the phone call since waking up. It had simply never come.

"Katsuki! It isn't your place to-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Katsuki's voice again exploded across the room, though this time there was something different to it. There was… shaking, a fear mixed with an increasing hysterical madness, "HE'S NOT FUCKING HUMAN! HE SHOULDN'T BE HERE!"

"What the fuck is your problem?" Hitoshi snapped back, stepping forwards and focusing his gaze on Katsuki, "Seriously. What happened wasn't his fault, and Izuku's paid for it enough, let it go."

Katsuki opened his mouth, but then paused and suddenly bit the inside of his cheek, causing Hitoshi's eyes to flash with a sense of annoyance, though whether it was from avoiding his quirk or just from Katsuki's fury Izuku wasn't sure.

Izuku stepped forwards, his voice, his lungs, his tail, every part of him shaking in anxious, terrified fear. "Kaachan, p-please-"

Katsuki moved suddenly, and in that one movement, everyone in the classroom reacted. He stood and stepped back, knocking his chair over and raising a finger to point dagger-like at Izuku, "Don't you fucking talk to me, demon."

At the same time, several members of the classroom had jumped to their feet, others even taking a step towards him, as if expecting him to leap over his desk and start trying to kill Izuku with his bare hands.

Nemesis burned along Izuku's scars, all too eager to set his hands burning with blue fire and cover his skin with unlight once more. When it spoke, it spoke through the grinding, gritted teeth of a wolf, "We. Are not. A demon."

Katsuki's twitching eyes narrowed dangerously and he quickly glanced around the classroom, "All of you. All of you fucking cowards may be too afraid to say it, but I'm not. He's not fucking human. We all know it, all of us, and yet you sit there pretending otherwise. Fucking look at him."

The blonde lowered his hand slowly and Izuku could feel the eyes of the class locking to him. His tail flicked nervously, his new horn-stumps felt heavy, and flame whispered anxiously across his scars. He was being judged, and he knew he was being judged.

"What fucking quirk changes a person like that? What fucking quirk causes nightmares like that… that thing did to all of us," Katsuki's hissing tone was somehow more dangerous than when he was screaming. It was a knife pushing its way slowly into Izuku's heart, drawing more blood with every second, "You're not human, you just pretend to be, like it's some amusing fucking game for you. But I know the truth, you're a fucking monster, Izuku."

"That's enough."

Aizawa's voice cut through the classroom like a blade of its own, almost dividing the air between Izuku and Katsuki. He stepped into the classroom, his eyes already blazing with anger towards the blonde from behind the many bandages wrapped around him.

It was shocking to see their teacher covered almost head-to-toe in bandages. They all knew he had suffered, but the fact he was still here, determined to teach was… well, almost bizarre.

But even if they couldn't even see his face, they could clearly see his fury. It was in his stance, in the way one of his hands had already curled into a fist, and in the way his shoulders seemed set. It was in the rolling, growling thunder of his tone and the way his hair already seemed to be raising despite his quirk not being active.

"Bakugo, you will sit down and-"

"Fuck you too."

Now the class gasped. Even Izuku gasped. Had Katsuki seriously just said that to Aizawa? Was he seriously going there? Was his anger so great that he would turn it on even the teachers?

"You let that thing in here," His voice was shaking, his hands were shaking, and Izuku was sure that if he made just one more sound Katsuki would attack him full force. However, thankfully, the blonde's gaze kept on Aizawa, "You and all the other stupid fucking teachers. You're training a goddamn villain! He tried to kill All Might and you've done nothing. When are you finally going to wake the fuck up, huh? When he finally fucking murders one of us? He. Isn't. Human."

The silence was so heavy that it seemed to hinder the breaths of everyone in the room. It was so tight and tense that it strangled their throats and seized their lungs.

"Katsuki. Outside. Now." Someone could bludgeon a man to death with the weight of Aizawa's tone.

The blonde snatched up his bag and stormed past the others, utterly ignoring Izuku as he did so. And yet even as he walked, Izuku caught the look in Katsuki's eyes. He hadn't noticed until now, but he seemed… so scared. So deeply afraid that it was eating him from the inside.

Katsuki was… afraid of him.

And Izuku felt his heart crumble into pieces.

The second both Aizawa and Katsuki exited the room Izuku's legs gave out from under him and he collapsed down, caught only by Tenya just before he hit the floor.

With Hitoshi's and Ochaco's help, and by help they basically just walked beside him while Tenya carried him, they managed to escort Izuku to his seat.

No one said anything to him, no one said anything against Katsuki. There was simply a maudlin silence that lingered like thick fog between the desks of the classroom. Nemesis tried to whisper something cruel and mocking into Izuku's mind, but he silenced it by swiftly gripping of one of his still healing stitches and a hiss of pain.

"Dude, don't let him get to you," Hitoshi mumbled, his voice barely being heard above Izuku's own drowning sorrow, "He's a goddamn asshole, don't worry about it."

This was followed quickly by similarly helpful comments from Tenya and Ochaco, both of which landed on deaf ears. All Izuku could think about was the look in Katsuki's eyes, the tone of his voice, the shaking of his hands and the way he had looked at him.

It wasn't just that he was calling him inhuman, it was that he believed it. Katsuki would never again look at Izuku the same way he had before they had entered the school. It had not escaped Izuku that the old nickname, Deku, had vanished from Katsuki's lips. He'd called him by his name, and somehow, that was far, far more devastating.

He hated him. He had always disliked him, always laughed at him and bullied him and mocked him.

But now? Now Katsuki hated him.

Any stragglers to the classroom came in through the far door, and when whispering voices asked them what was happening, they simply shrugged and shook their heads. Denki briefly tried to pressure Toru into 'changing into her hero costume', as he had put it, and spying on the two of them.

She had, of course, refused him, claiming she wanted absolutely none of that.

When Fumikage arrived, he ignored everyone and took his usual seat. For a moment, Izuku met his eyes, but Fumikage simply blinked, then turned away to his desk and gave a tiny shake of his head.

Now wasn't the time to go badgering him anyway, Izuku was close to openly crying after all.

After what seemed like an eternity the door finally reopened, though this time only Aizawa walked back in.

He took a moment to sink into the teacher's chair by his desk and he held his head in his one good hand, the other being held in a sling, looking to nothing and no one before Tenya, barely, put a hand up.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Iida?" Aizawa sounded tired. Really tired. Izuku felt his heart breaking all over again.

"Where is-" He gulped, "Where is Katsuki Bakugo?"

Aizawa was silent for another moment longer, his eyes drifting across the classroom from behind his many bandages. Finally, he stood up and moved over to the center podium, where he stood looking like a bizarre black-clad mummy. After a second, he calmly and robotically announced, "After talking to Bakugo, I decided it would be best if he transferred to Class 1-B. He will no longer be part of our classroom from this day forward."

There was a gasp that drifted from the lips of many of the students, as well as many shared looks of shock. Izuku felt many eyes land on him and in response he buried his head under his hands and his tail drooped to the floor. Aizawa glanced towards him, but in an act of uncharacteristic kindness from the man, did not order him to sit up.

Izuku knew it was his fault. It was all his fault.

Nemesis, however, simply grinned from within Izuku's blood and a cruel fire crawled along his scars. "Good. Let the coward go. We're better off without him."

So about thems Katsuki's huh? Yeah he's been yeeted out the classroom, so bye bye for now.

Not a whole lot to say other than next chapter we get some more advancement and of course, the gang get to hunt down ol' Fumikage! Also we get more on how the overall class feels about Izuku.

So until next time my dudes, hope you all enjoyed and thank you for reading! PEACE OUT!