Author's Note: Heads up! I went back to first chapter and redid some things. Not enough to change any information you know just some nuances in my writing I couldn't help but change. This won't be a recurring theme but I just wanted to do that before I forgot. So without any more blathering, trust me you'll get a lot of that in the AN at the end, here's the second chapter.

Chapter 2: Heartburn

"It's all your fault Deku!"

No, no it was an accident I swear!

"You worthless piece of shit! Why did I die and you lived?!"

I-I don't know I swear I didn't mean to do it!

"You didn't even have the fucking guts to tell my mom either you coward!"

I c-couldn't, I would get arrested.

"That's the fucking point you dipshit! What are you a villain now?!"

I-I don't know I just don't want to go to jail!

"Just die already you loser! I don't care!"

Izuku woke with a start gasping and shuddering in the bed. His sweaty, clammy body clung to the covers and he took deep breaths with his eyes closed trying to calm himself.

It's just a nightmare. It's just a nightmare. He can't hurt you.

Izuku exhaled and sat up.

And then promptly shrieked hiding beneath his covers. He panted heavily underneath the blankets trying to settle himself.

Izuku peeked over the covers and sighed. "I swear I thought I saw Kacchan."

The door across the room clicked as it was unlocked from the outside. Izuku flinched before Touya came inside. "You good kid? I heard a scream as I was walking down the hall."

Izuku laughed weakly. "Y-Yeah um. Bad dream."

Touya grimaced. "You gonna be alright?"

Izuku nodded demurely. He wondered once again why Touya was being so nice to him. "Yeah I'm fine."

"Here." A plastic bag was tossed onto the bed. Izuku curiously looked into the bag pulling out a t-shirt, shorts and a black hoodie. Perfect, now if he could just get over the lack of his customary morning coffee, he would be golden.

"Thanks Touya."

Touya pulled out two containers from another bag in his hand. "No problem kid. You're gonna need something to wear out in public."

Izuku nodded as he pulled on the clothes.

"Speaking of that, we can't risk anyone recognizing us." Izuku picked up of the bottles. "Hair dye?"

Touya nodded running a hand through his wild blazing crimson hair. "Yeah, honestly I'm surprised I haven't been recognized yet. Granted, I keep my hood on all the time in the daylight, but it's only a matter of time. This is a temporary fix but it will help us."

Midoriya grabbed a handful of his own untamed hair gazing at it. This was really all he had left of his family. Both his mother and Izuka had the same green hair he did…

Could he really bear to part with that?

He sighed. What was he thinking, if Touya said that they needed to do this than they did. Besides, it's not like he was getting rid of it forever or anything. The green would still be there, just underneath the dye.

Touya seemed to note his hesitation. "Listen kid, I'm not gonna mince words with you. We're criminals. If we need to change the way we look to survive on our own than that's what we need to do. There's probably gonna be a lot that happens to us that might change us, your hair being the least of those things."

Izuku nodded. "I get it. We do what we have to do. Even if we don't like it."

Touya gave him a crooked smile. "That's the way brat." He ruffled his hair. Izuku pouted at him. "I'm not a brat."

Touya rolled his eyes. "Sure thing little guy." Izuku glared at him as he chuckled.

Two dark haired boys entered a convenience store, their entrance setting off a bell by the door. Touya put a hand on Izuku's shoulder.

"Rai, you go grab some food, I'm sure you're starving." Along with their new hair colors the boys had chosen new monikers to match. Another step taken by the two to hide their identities.

"Sure T-Tokuma, um are you sure you have the money to pay for it though? I just… I'd hate to be using up what we could be using for something else."

Touya smiled down at him and ruffled his hair. "Hey don't stress it. We're a team, my money is your money. Besides, I'm not sure your stomach agrees with you." Izuku blushed as his stomach growled. Touya chuckled. "If you're that worried about money, don't be. We'll have enough to survive for at least a couple weeks after today."

Izuku looked at him with confusion in his eyes. Touya patted him on the back pushing him forward to get him going.

Izuku shook his head at Touya's strange actions heading towards the food aisle. He looked down the aisle easily finding his favorite snacks. He was walking back down the aisle headed towards the register when something caught the corner of his eye.

On a stand with a hot plate was a steaming bowl of katsudon. Izuku's mouth instantly began watering as he recalled all the times his mother made the meal. The meal was quite literally an obsession of his. As he picked up the bowl and the steam wafted into his nose his memories took him back to happier times with his family.

"Rai? You alright?"

Izuku turned seeing Touya staring at him with a plastic bag at his side. Touya came up to him and brushed a hand over his face in an uncharacteristically gentle gesture.

"You're crying." Izuku blinked in shock reaching a hand up too his face. He pulled it away staring at the wetness.

"I-I miss my family Touya." The dark-haired teen ran a hand through his hair. "You-uh you wanna talk about it?"

"N-Not right now." Touya nodded hesitantly. "Alright, um let's get out of here then. Let's go pay for that food."

Moments later, Touya paid for Izuku's food and they headed back outside. "So, did you grab any food for me?"

Izuku stopped mid bite with his katsudon looking almost sheepish. "Um, I wasn't sure what you would want to eat so I just grabbed my favorite snacks and some stuff I thought you would like. I'm not really sure what kind of food you like but I did my best." He handed over the bag of snacks he was holding.

"Hey looks like you did kid!" He said holding up a package of onigiri. "Onigiri is definitely one of my favorite snacks."

Izuku blushed and smiled. "Awesome, glad I got lucky. What are we doing now though? The hotel was the other way."

Touya nodded his face set in stone. "Yeah, I have to do a job. It's actually the reason I was headed to this area in the first place."

Izuku looked up at him. "A job?"

Touya sighed and set a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Rai, remember when I said I was a criminal?" Izuku nodded. "Yeah I remember."

"When I first started out on my own, I got involved with some other people like me, like us. They showed me that it wasn't enough to struggle to live while people like Endeavor, get to live in luxury. I couldn't take that. So I've been doing jobs that aren't exactly legal. I've never hurt anyone that didn't deserve it don't worry. Just, to survive on your own out here you need to be willing to do what it takes. That's why I brought you with me. You're a strong kid, but you need to get used to this kind of work. If there's ever a time where I can't take care of you, you need to know how to take care of yourself."

Izuku looked down not sure how to feel. This was the most Touya had ever told him at once. He was still confused on why Touya cared so much about him. And Touya was right about the jobs. Even if they weren't the most legal, they had to do what it took to survive. Besides, it wasn't like they were hurting innocent people, just other criminals.

"So, what's the job then?" Touya smiled. "I knew you would get it kid. I was hired by the Tora gang on the east side of Kiyashi (Listen man, I ain't about to try and merge MHA Japan with real Japan and try and figure that out with all the differences and shit. So expect a mix of canon city names and real names. For the purpose of this story Kiyashi is the city they are in right now it is near both Musutafu and Tokyo.) to do a raid on a local drug dealer. Apparently, he's been poaching on their customers and getting rather popular. Enough to gain their attention anyways. I'm to take his stash and burn the house to send a message."

Izuku frowned. "Do you have to hurt him?"

Touya shook his head. "It wasn't part of the deal but they did say that if he was there to rough him up. That's why were gonna head over to his address and scope it out until he leaves for his night shift."

Izuku nodded. "That sounds like a good plan. We don't have to hurt anyone if we don't have to." Touya clapped him on the back. "That's the way!" Now let's go his place isn't too far from here."

"This… might be a problem." The two had walked to their target's residence, a drug dealer by the name of Sasaki Haise. Their immediate and obvious problem was, Sasaki lived in an apartment building. A low end apartment building, but one that housed multiple people all the same.

"Touya, what are we gonna do? There's other people in the building too, we can't just burn it down."

The two of them were sitting at a bench across the street looking for everyone else like two siblings enjoying a snack.

"Quiet, I'm thinking."

Izuku frowned. This was the first time he had seen Touya at a loss.

"D-Do you we have to burn it down? Can't we just raid it?"

Touya shook his head with a scowl. "No, that was explicitly part of the deal. If we go back on the deal that's the fastest way to get us both killed."

Izuku sighed. This was pretty bad. He didn't want to do this. Izuku knew he had just resolved himself to help do the job but that didn't mean he was prepared to hurt other people.

"Touya." The older teen turned to him. "What is it?"

"I-uh I have an idea." Touya raised an eyebrow. "You gonna tell me? Or are you just gonna keep your mouth shut all day?"

Izuku winced. This situation with the Tora gang must have him acting pretty high strung. He didn't expect this either.

"I just… I have an idea to get the people out but what about their homes? Is it really alright to put that money above their homes?"

Touya set a hand on his shoulder. "It's them or us Izuku. Without that money we'll be forced out on the streets. This time with a gang at our heels. And forget any other jobs with that kind of payoff. Reputation is big in crime. That kind of outcome will paint us as useless at best and enemies at worst. Going to the authorities might be just as bad."

Izuku nodded reluctantly. He was right once again. Izuku didn't want to face punishment for his actions and he wanted even less to see what his family would think of him.

"If we set off the fire alarm that should get most of them going. You can go ahead and raid the room while I go door to door making sure people are leaving their rooms. Once you get everything I'll head to the room and we can escape together as you set the room on fire. We'll just look like another couple of tenants trying to escape the fire."

Touya cracked a smile tousling Izuku's hair. "Look at you! First day on the job and you're a criminal mastermind."

Izuku smiled at his praise. The only people who were ever that nice to him was his family. "Hey, how are you going to set the room on fire? Is it your quirk? Do you have a fire quirk like Endeavor? You never told me what it was."

Touya's smile turned crooked as he looked at the apartment. "You'll see kid. I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it."

Isobe Kendo smiled to herself as her oldest daughter hummed and danced to non-existent music in front of her. They had just gotten back from the grocery store with all the food they needed for her to start cooking dinner.

Isobe shifted the paper bag in her arm before holding out a key card to her daughter. Itsuka, here. Get the door please."

Her little fireball gave her a wide smile before snatching the key card and dramatically swiping it through the card reader.

Itsuka held the door open for her while she walked into the lobby of their apartment building.

"Ah! Excuse me!?" A high pitched voice came from behind her and she looked. It was a little boy around Itsuka's age with dark hair and the cutest set of green eyes she had ever seen. She would never admit that to Itsuka though, she would pout and that would not be good.

She snapped out of her daze as she saw the boy stumble and regain his footing almost dropping the bag he was carrying.

"Itsuka, hold the door open for him please?" Itsuka looked at the boy for a second before grinning. "Sure Mama."

"Thank you!" The boy chirped as he walked through the held open door. "You're welcome! What's your name? Are you new to the building?" The boy blanched at her forward enthusiasm.

Isobe laughed as she hit the call button for the elevator. "Itsuka," She chided. "Be a little more polite please."

"Oh! I'm sorry. What's your name?" Itsuka frowned at herself before smiling at the boy. He gave a shy smile that melted Isobe's heart and she barely resisted the urge to coo.

"M-My name's I-Izuku." The boy tightened his grip on his bag as he gave Itsuka a fearful glance out of the corner of his eye.

What was that?

Itsuka didn't seem to notice anything though because she continued talking to the boy. "Hi Izuku! My name's Itsuka Kendo, let's be friends!"

Izuku's eyes widened. "F-Friends?" Goodness it looked the boy was terrified by his own shadow! It really wasn't helping her urge to crush him in a hug.

"Yeah! Heroes make friends on and off the job!" The elevator pinged and they filed in. "W-Was that Hero Helpers?" Izuku seemed to gasp. Itsuka nodded and beamed at him. "It's my favorite show!"

Izuku smiled at her. "It's my sister's favorite too! That episode with All Might's guest appearance is amazing!"

They chattered while Isobe patiently waited for a gap in their conversation. It took a couple minutes before she realized they wouldn't be stopping any time soon and she gave a fond smile at the utterly joyful face that Itsuka was giving Izuku.

Looks like Itsuka has her first crush. She laughed to herself.

"I hate to interrupt your wonderful conversation," Isobe winked at her daughter who's face immediately burst into a fiery red blush. "But Izuku, what floor are you on?"

Izuku stopped looking in confusion at Itsuka who was covering her face with her enlarged hands, courtesy of her quirk, Big Fist. "Oh, um the top floor."

Isobe grinned at him as she hit the buttons for 3 and 4. "Oh, you're on the fourth floor? We're on the third. Did you move in last week?"

Izuku nodded. "Mmmhmm, it's just Mom, my big brother, and me. I was just out getting medicine for my mom cause she's sick. My brother's working tonight so I had to go."

Isobe grinned at him a gleam in her eye. "Izuku did you have any plans for dinner tonight?" He looked at her with a confused face. "Um, not really why?"

"Why don't you join us for dinner Izuku?" Itsuka lit up and smiled at him. Izuku paled a bit. "Um, I don't know, I'd hate to impose like that and-"

"Please Izukuuu? We can watch Hero Helpers while we eat?" Izuku gaped at her flapping his mouth with no sound coming out. Finally, his face turned red and he looked away. "…okay. Just let me go talk to my mom first."

Itsuka smiled and jumped in place as the elevator beeped and the doors opened. Itsuka marched ahead clearly very excited and Isobe smiled gently back at Izuku. "Oh Izuku, We're in apartment 3-B, just knock and we'll let you in. Also, make sure to invite your mother 'kay?"

Izuku nodded as the doors closed. "O-Okay. Be down in a few!" The doors shut all the way and Izuku collapsed to the floor with a sigh.

"That went terribly."

I completely screwed that up. I just completely lost my train of thought when she got in my face! It doesn't help that she sorta reminds me of my sister.

I did alright after that but then I completely caved when they asked me to stay for dinner! What do I do?

The elevator pinged for the last time as it emptied Izuku out onto the top floor. He sighed and moved past the apartments on the top floor heading down the stairs.

Touya will know what to do.

He reached the first floor and shoved the empty paper bag of 'medicine' into the trash. He opened the door for Touya who had been waiting outside to be let in.

"Hey kid, how'd it go?"

Izuku went into a rambling explanation about what happened at record speed. When he finished Touya grabbed his shoulders. "Listen kid, I got maybe half of that, you gotta slow it down or nobody will be able to understand you."

Izuku turned a bit red. "…Sorry."

"Basically, I had a conversation with them as we went up the elevator. The girl made friends with me and I accidentally gave her my real first name. Thankfully, the mother didn't know who I was just from that. But uh, they invited me to dinner, and I accepted. If I don't show up, they'll go out looking for me and will probably find out that I don't actually live here."

Touya sighed grabbing his own face. "It's alright. This gives us a bit more time to raid the room but there's a bigger chance the dealer will come back while I'm still in there. You go have dinner with them and I'll go raid the dealer's apartment. After that I'll head over and grab you while the fire alarm is going off. We'll have to lose the other family in the chaos but it doesn't destroy our plan."

Izuku gave a small smile at him. "They live in apartment 3-B by the way. And that's good at least." Touya gave a small smack to the back of Izuku's head. "You need to be more careful brat. Thankfully, the lady didn't recognize you but somebody will if you aren't better than this."

Izuku nodded resolutely. "I will be. I'll do my best."

Touya gave him a crooked smile. "Alright get up there kid, it's not nice to keep a girl waiting like that."

Izuku reddened and pouted at him before running back to the stairs. Oh so he heard that part.

Izuku knocked on the door for apartment 3-B and steeled himself. Alright Izuku, no screwups allowed. What is that saying? The best lies have elements of the truth. So stick little bits of true information with the lies so it makes more sense.

He drew in a deep breath as he heard steps coming towards the door. Shortly after, the door was unlocked and opened inward.

"Hi Izuku, c'mon in I'm just starting dinner now." Itsuka's mom was standing to the side of the door with an egg beater in one hand.

Izuku smiled and walked in. "Oh, I'm sorry Izuku, I never told you my name. I'm Isobe Kendo," She twirled her orange hair in her free hand. "And as you probably knew already, I'm Itsuka's mom. She's in the living room that way if you wanted to join her."

He gave a small bow to her. "Nice to meet you Mrs. Kendo." She smiled at him and closed the door. "Did you invite your mother?" She ushered him through their small kitchen. "Yeah, but she's not feeling too well so she decided to just go to sleep."

Isobe gave him a kind smile. "I'm sorry about that Izuku. How about this? After dinner I'll send you up with a meal for her? I'm making oyakodon."

Izuku smiled at her. She's so freaking nice what the heck?! "I don't know Mrs. Kendo, I don't want to be a bother."

She warmly patted him on the back. "There's really no problem Izuku. I'll pack it up after we finish eating." Izuku nodded and she lead him into the living room.

"Itsukaaa, your friend's here!"

"Izuku!" His eyes widened as Itsuka grabbed his arm and tugged him towards the couch.

"I put Hero Helpers on already! It's the episode with-"

"-With Livewire! I love his quirk!" Izuku responded with equal enthusiasm as he found familiarity in the topic of heroes.

The two chattered back and forth the volume of their conversation eventually drowning out even the audio of their show.

Eventually their conversation died when suddenly a baby started crying in the background. Izuku looked around confused as Itsuka seemed to grimace.

"ITSUKAA! Quiet down please! And go get the baby!"

Itsuka huffed and slid off the couch where she quickly moved into an adjacent room.

Izuku looked around the apartment feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Not because of the apartment though. The living space practically screamed 'Home!'. There were throw pillows on the couch and the walls were a light red that might've seemed odd in any other place. There were family photos on the wall of Itsuka, her mom and a tall skinny man with her matching green eyes.

Mrs. Kendo had been so nice ever since he met her and her words warm and friendly to the point where his only comparison was his own mother.

Itsuka came back into the room and his stomach dropped.

Oh the baby.

The baby.

Itsuka came over and sat close to him on the couch. "This is Mitsui, she's my baby sister. Here, say hi Mitsui."

Izuku's breath caught as the baby opened her eyes. Her face was chubby as most babies' are and at the top of her head she possessed a few orange hairs.

And her eyes. Oh god her eyes. She had these wide, almost emerald green eyes that were neither too bright or too dark. Izuku knew right then and there that this baby had captured his heart as much as any member of his family already had.

"Do you wanna hold her?"

Izuku bit down on his lip as his guilt thundered into his gut once more. "I-I don't think so. I wouldn't want to drop her."

"Hey." Itsuka nudged into him her tone softer than he had ever heard it. "I wouldn't let you drop her, I'll be right here."

Her assurance helped him more than she knew and Izuku gathered what courage he had enough to take the baby.

Itsuka shifted his hand with her own. "Here, hold her like this to support her neck." As he did so the baby started to gurgle at him with a smile that he couldn't help but return.

He blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "She's got your eyes." Itsuka giggled lightly and he met her gaze as he reddened.

"She's got my dad's eyes silly. So do I."

"Oh." Izuku internally praised his own eloquent wording.

At some point Itsuka took the baby and placed her in a crib that was lying nearby. Izuku sighed as she took the time to pull the covers over Mitsui.

"Hey Itsuka."

She smiled at him and plopped back down on the couch. "What's up?"

Izuku looked straight ahead at the tv but seemed to not even be watching the show. "If you guys didn't live here, where would you live?"

Itsuka didn't seem to think twice about the question's oddness and answered quickly. "Probably with my aunt in Tokyo. She's pretty rich because of her modeling career but she lives all alone. Something to do with being a bachelorette, whatever that means."

The pounding in Izuku's chest became a little lighter at the news but he still felt a great amount of guilt because of what he and Touya had to do.

"Izuku." He looked over at her. "What's your quirk?" His face went blank. "I mean, earlier we were both going crazy over Hero Helpers and I know I watch it because I want to be a hero so I assumed you did too."

He stayed silent as he tried to think of a response. She frowned minutely at him before brightening back up. "Mine's called Big Fist!" She held a hand up as it enlarged to twice it's original size. "It's a transformation quirk and doesn't seem super useful at first but I'm gonna use it hit a bunch of bad guys!" She finished her statement with a chop.

Her eyes met his again. "Izuku?"

He despondently looked down. "Um, I-I'm actually quirkless. I was diagnosed when I was 4. B-But I've always wanted to be a hero! And I don't think I could ever give that up."

"That's awesome!"

Izuku jumped in his seat. "Huh?"

"I mean that's crazy awesome Izuku, there are so many people that say quirkless people can't be heroes but you still want to become one. I could definitely see you as the first quirkless hero."

Izuku looked at her, disoriented. "You don't think that it's impossible?"

Itsuka gave him a blank stare. "Dude. You know Grayscale? Yeah, the hero whose quirk is to literally turn his fingers into kitchen utensils! You think it's his quirk that makes him a hero?"

Izuku shook his head bashfully. "No."

Itsuka brightened back up. "That's right! He just knows some awesome martial arts and has great support gear!"

Izuku gave her a bright genuine smile. "You're right!"

"Honestly, even besides being that kind of hero there's so much you can do to be a hero! You could be a scientist or a general, or an astronaut! You can be any kind of hero if you want to!"

Any kind of hero huh. He thought.

Who says I can't be a hero even if I am a criminal! That's what vigilantes are anyways! Criminals who take down other criminals even if they don't get any recognition and are hunted down by the law! I can be that kind of hero!

"Itsuka, Izuku! It's time for dinner!" Isobe called from the kitchen.

"Coming Okaa-san!" Itsuka went over to the crib to grab the baby.

Izuku stood to his feet before reaching over and turning the tv off joining Itsuka as they entered the kitchen. Moments later, they were seated at the table with Mitsui in a high-chair.

Izuku practically drooled at the scent of the meal. Even though this was only his first day away from home he already had missed the homecooked meals from his mother.

He looked up and blushed at the knowing gaze of Isobe. She laughed. "If you're hungry, dig in Izuku, we won't stop you."

Izuku nodded and clasped his hands together. "Itadakimasu!" Izuku ate quickly but politely. Manners in the Midoriya household were a bit of a staple. Inko had always wanted both Izuku and Izuka to be able to act politely with anyone. Taking time to think back on it, Izuku appreciated the focus on manners in situations like this where instead of coming off as a starving malnourished animal he was just a kid with an enthusiasm for food. Other aspects of being polite may not have been so productive. That might've actually been one of the reasons Katsuki and his friends had picked on him so much. He had been polite to a fault. Trying to be nice even when they had intentions of hurting him.

Hey, that was the first time I've thought about Katsuki without feeling terrible about killi-

Izuku put down his chopsticks as his appetite deserted him.

Dang it.

"Izuku, did you eat too fast?" Isobe looked over from where she was spooning Mitsui from a jar of baby food.

Izuku gave a humorous smile that probably came off as more of a grimace. "Something like that." Itsuka seemed to note his sudden sullen nature and promptly took it upon herself to interject. "Mom, guess what?"

Isobe smiled at her oldest in mirth. "What dear?" Itsuka pointed at Izuku with an open hand. "Izuku wants to be a hero just like me!" Isobe gave Izuku a wide smile. "That sounds amazing Izuku! What kind of quirk do you have?"

Itsuka shot him a glance eyes gleaming with something close to… pride?

"That's just it Mom! Izuku is quirkless!"

Izuku held his breath.

"Wow Izuku, that is certainly ambitious of you. That's definitely an amazing dream to strive for. I'm sure if you give it your all, you could reach it."

Izuku blushed and smiled at her meeting her kind eyes. "T-Thank you, Mrs. Kendo. You have no idea what that means to me. You and Itsuka are the first people to genuinely believe in me and I just- thank you."

Isobe laughed lightly. "There's no reason to thank me Izuku. Quirkless heroes are entirely possible. To be honest, Japan's stance on quirkless individuals is worse than anywhere else. I've spent time in other parts of the world and while quirks are valued, they aren't so much as obsessed over as they are here. Did you know there are quirkless heroes in America?"

Izuku gaped at her. "There are?! How come I haven't ever heard of them? What are their names? How do you know?"

Isobe chuckled at the change in his demeanor. "America actually has a few quirkless heroes. They either aren't really known because they aren't as popular, or they do not publicly claim to be quirkless. There's a hero in San Francisco that is named Pillar. He doesn't have a quirk at all but he's the favorite hero for that area. I know about heroes in America because my husband, Itsuka's father is in America currently. He actually reminds me a bit of you in your enthusiasm about quirks and heroes."

Izuku listened intently as she spoke to him about heroes in America and the disparity of quirks and society between Japan and America. Izuku learned a lot about the heroic system in the time they finished their dinner. Apparently, kids in America went through middle school and high school where they could then choose a university to go to. There wasn't really a specific college that was dedicated to heroism like in Japan. With the advent of quirks, the various school systems had just adjusted so that heroism and quirk related jobs were just another career path. It was a bit surreal learning that heroes didn't really dominate society in America but it seemed nice when she explained it.

Who knows? Maybe he could visit one day.

After dinner Izuku helped Isobe clean up while Itsuka put Mitsui back in her crib. Izuku had just finished putting the trash away and was standing around awkwardly waiting for Itsuka to get back when Isobe turned to him.

"Izuku, here's that food I promised. Make sure your mother gets it. I know how hungry you can get but I can always cook you something later next time you come over."

Izuku blushed and smiled at her taking the container from her hands.

That's when it happened.

A high-pitched whining came from outside the door, its blaring noise cutting through any other noise.

Izuku dropped the container startled and horrified. He had almost forgotten what he was here for. What they had come here for.

Almost immediately after the fire alarm came Itsuka's fearful cry. "Mom, what's happening?! What is that?" Izuku's heart shattered as Itsuka came into the kitchen and both her and Isobe shared the same fear.

The moment ended quickly though as Isobe took control of her emotions. "Itsuka, go get Mitsui, now!" Itsuka cowed before her mother's new steel demeanor but she ran off nonetheless. Isobe rushed off into another room and Izuku followed feeling lost, broken and guilty as all hell as Mitsui's cries echoed throughout the apartment.

"Mrs. Kendo, is there anything I can do to help?!" Isobe paused from shoving documents into a bag before turning to him. "Izuku you need to go help your mother! She needs you more than I do right now!" Izuku barely resisted the urge to cry as she unintentionally threw his lies back in his face.

"My brother should be helping her! He would have been home by now!"

Itsuka stared at him for a moment before relenting. "Fine, go grab my laptop in the living room and the photo album on the shelf!"

Izuku nodded vigorously and went about his task. The laptop was a small sleek silver thing one he could have easily imagined Isobe pouring over at late nights when she was restless. The photo album was a bit larger but he was easily able to find it and stack it over the laptop quickly. His eyes darted back and forth between Itsuka's room where she was probably gathering her things and the dvd player. On a whim he ejected Hero Helpers and put it on top of the photo album.

They all met up in the kitchen and Isobe looked over both of them and their items of choice before turning to the door.

"Let's go! Both of you stay close to me Izuku hold onto Itsuka and stay RIGHT BEHIND ME!"

Izuku and Itsuka both nodded before Izuku grabbed her free hand. Izuku's hand was cold and clammy in his turmoil of emotions and Itsuka's was surprisingly warm. He took a look at her and was surprised to see a trembling smile on her face directed at him.

Her hair was a mess and her blue backpack was half zipped and stuffed with who knows what from her room. Even as Mitsui cried in one arm she met his gaze. 'Everything will be alright.' She mouthed at him

Izuku froze for a moment before mustering his bravest smile for her and squeezing her hand. Isobe swung the door open and she stood still instead of rushing out as Izuku thought she would.

He looked around her. Touya was in front of her strapped with a backpack and a duffelbag over one shoulder. He coughed and his eyes watered in the smoke that filled the hallway. It sounded like he was trying to talk to Isobe.

"-elevator -en we –ed to -e - stairs!"

Izuku met Touya's eyes for a moment and Touya nodded at him confirming the success of his goal. Izuku immediately looked down his insides twisting.

"Izuku!" He looked up at Isobe.

"It's time to go!" Without delay Isobe rushed into the hallway following Touya. Izuku readied himself before diving into the red tinted hall that seemed to assault his eyes.

He tugged on Itsuka as a voice whispered in his head.

This is your fault.

The journey down the stairs from the third floor was not fun. The stairwell was filled with smoke and heat and people rushing back and forth. Some were taking items downstairs and other crazy people were heading back up to grab more. Finally, they were able to reach the base floor.

Izuku tugged Itsuka through the throng of tenants and outside where a crowd had gathered. Izuku looked over towards Isobe and saw Touya giving him a look. Izuku knew it was time for them to go but he hated what happened and how the Kendo family was affected by the fire.

Izuku put the stack of what he had grabbed on the ground near Itsuka and grabbed her hand. "Itsuka."

She turned to him her green eyes set alight by the fire of the apartment. "I believe in you and that you can be a great hero. I don't know when but someday I will repay you for this."

Izuku squeezed her hand once more and latched onto Touya's outstretched hand. He then pulled him through the crowd surrounding the apartment building. At some point they broke free of the crowd and were able to walk away just as the authorities arrived on the scene. Touya stopped gripping his hand and put it on his shoulder as they walked.

"What happened to making sure everyone got out?" Izuku looked back at the smoke. "I just couldn't not help them. It makes me feel worse but in that short amount of time they became more valuable to me than any of the other people there. Besides, everyone else had plenty of time to make it out."

Touya nodded. "There's nothing wrong with that Izuku, I was just curious. I would have done the same."

"If it's not wrong than why do I feel so terrible about not helping the other people? How are their lives more important than the other people in the building?" Izuku looked up at Touya tears in his eyes. Touya sighed. "Izuku do you regret helping that family?"

Izuku shook his head vigorously. "No."

"There you have it then. To me, their lives don't hold any more value than any of the others in that building. To you, you would rather save them over any of the others in that building because you know them and in that short time you grew to care about them. Neither of those are wrong or more right than the other. The value of a person is subjective. It's just that simple. What you did wasn't a good thing or a bad thing. You just did what you wanted to do. And as long as you do that without regrets, you'll be fine Izuku."

Izuku smiled up at Touya. "Thanks Touya. Where are we going now?" The older teen gave him a crooked smile as he mussed up Izuku's hair. "Now we go back to the hotel. You smell like smoke. We can go meet the Tora gang later tomorrow."

"Dang Touya! How much did you get?!" Izuku peeked from around Touya as he rooted through the duffel bag. Touya smiled at him as he counted notes. "I think there's gotta be at least 100,000 yen here. It's no wonder the Toras wanted him out of the business."

"Touya what's in the other bag?" Touya grimaced and put down the notes. He moved past Izuku and opened up the backpack reaching inside.

"Drugs which you will NEVER touch I hope that's clear." Izuku nodded. "And this." Touya pulled his hand out revealing a pitch-black handgun. As Izuku's eyes were drawn to it, it almost seemed to shimmer as light washed over it.

"I've never seen one before…" Izuku muttered as he gazed at the firearm. "Glad you're interested. Because you get to learn how to use one of these guys." Izuku squawked. "What?! I can't use a gun."

"Izuku you're a quirkless ten-year old with no skill in fighting to speak of. You're gonna need to at least be able to use a gun."

Izuku's eyes widened and he gaped. "Y-You knew?! How?"

Touya sighed. "Listen kid, I'm not the smartest person but I can put things together given enough time."

"So, you don't regret helping me?" Touya shook his head. "Remember what we talked about earlier? It doesn't matter if you're quirkless or not. You're worth a lot more to me than any other person out there right now."

Izuku grinned. "Thanks Touya." The older boy put the gun back into the bag and sealed it back up. "No problem kid. Now, did you wanna talk about what happened earlier?"

Izuku looked at him one eyebrow raised in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Touya ran a hand through his hair. "In the convenience store, with the food. You were crying and I asked if you wanted to talk about it. So, talk?"

Izuku nodded solemnly. "Oh. Yeah I should probably tell you." Touya sat back against the bed while Izuku hopped on top of it.

Izuku started by talking about his life at home with his twin sister and his mom. He did his best to describe both Izuka and Inko. He didn't really mention his dad. Not that there was much to mention. Izuku talked a bit about his relationship with Katsuki before explaining how that day went.

"Y-You saw how much he hurt me. There was just s-so much blood and I was on the ground. And I just had so much anger. I've never been that angry in my entire life. I hated him. I've never hated anyone. I just wanted make him h-hurt. I never wanted him to die I swear I just wanted to hurt him back for all the times he hurt me. So I grabbed the bat and hit him and it felt so g-good but h-he was on the edge of the r-river and he fell and-" Izuku broke down and started to sob into his arm.

Touya circled him in with his arms and held him close. "I'm sorry for doubting you kid that was fucking heavy. But from what I've heard this kid was a little monster. Sure, I'm not saying he deserved to die but you didn't mean to kill him. The worst thing you can do right now is let that guilt drown you. Take this as a lesson. To never let your anger control yourself like that again. I'm not saying you should let other people walk over you just never let anyone get to you like that again."

"B-But what should I do when I get angry? I don't know if I can control that…" Izuku sniffled.

Touya scratched his head. "What did that Katsuki kid do when he was angry at them? Besides flying off the handle and beating on them with his quirk."

Izuku wiped his eyes with a sleeve. "H-He swore at people a lot." Touya snapped. "That's what you can do. Whenever you get angry at someone, instead of trying to hurt them, cuss them out. If it's somebody you can't really afford to piss off then just do it in your head. I actually do that a lot to be honest. Probably not super healthy buuut it's better than taking somebody's head off."

Izuku's eyes widened and he cracked a grin. "You want me to swear at people?!" Touya shrugged. "Whatever works kid, as long as you don't go around killing people you're fine." Touya laughed.

"…"

"You're doing it right now aren't you."

"Fuck off!" Touya's grin widened. "There you go. Fuck you too kid." Touya attacked Izuku pinching his sides. Izuku started yelling and thrashing in place trying to get out of his grapple.

"Screw off bastard!" Touya gave an evil cackle and held both of Izuku's hands above his head pinning him down. "Get ready to burn you brat!" Izuku flinched in surprise as the palm of Touya's free hand burst into blue flames.

"W-Woah! Is that your quirk!?"

Touya let go of his arms and rolled his eyes. "No this is completely natural." Izuku narrowed his eyes at him. "Is sarcasm a secondary affect?"

"Eat shit Izuku. It's called Cremation. It's an emitter quirk that lets me generate fire from my hands to be blunt." He winced and put the fire out. "It doesn't give much fire resistance though. I have to be careful not to emit fire for more than a couple seconds."

Izuku nodded looking over his now faintly red palm. "That doesn't sound fun. I've always wondered why some quirks produce secondary affects and others don't. I know Katsuki had skin that protected him from most of his explosions as an affect."

Touya scowled. "Probably because I'm a failure." Izuku frowned up at him. "What do you mean?" Touya sighed. "I guess it's only fair. You told me your story. I didn't end up killing anyone-" Izuku flipped him off. "But it wasn't something I would wish on anyone else."

"When Endeavor's polls settled at number 2, he was furious. He had dedicated his life to being the number one hero, yet there seemed to be no way for him to reach it with his own power." Izuku scooted closer to Touya looking up at him. He was surprisingly good at narrating.

"So Endeavor came up with a plan to take the number 1 spot from All Might. He decided that if there wasn't any way for him to personally earn the first place spot among the heroes of Japan he would devise a way for a child of his to take that spot." Izuku breathed in sharply, his mind connecting some of the theories he had spinning in his head.

"Endeavor used his influence and power to illegally force a quirk marriage. He found what he was looking for in a woman named Rei Todoroki. With Endeavor's money and power it was a simple thing for him to bribe her parents into the marriage. Soon after said marriage, I was born. Once I exhibited the first signs of my quirk, I was cast aside as a failure. All because my father decided my quirk wasn't good enough. My younger siblings Fuyumi and Natsuo were born shortly after. Both were judged as I was and Endeavor would only deign us worthy of his attention during our 'training' sessions. Otherwise we were barely acknowledged as his children. And then, just as I turned 6, Shoto was born. My youngest brother, Shoto was born with both our father's Hellflame and our mother's Ice Queen quirk. He was immediately taken by our father and separated from us for the sake of training his precious legacy." Touya scoffed. Izuku moved closer and leaned up against Touya.

"Did you know that I only saw my baby brother once? Just that one time when he was born. He had this perfectly split hair of our mother's white hair and red hair. Even though I could never visit him or see him, I always loved him. I used to bribe the servants to give him little gifts and messages from me. Just so he wouldn't think that no one loved him. I grew up doing my best to protect my siblings but Shoto was always out of reach. Mother was weak. I love her but she was weak in a way that I hate. She would take abuse from that bastard over and over and never did anything when he came for us. At some point she broke from his abuse and hurt Shoto. I never saw her again after that. I'm not even sure if want to. I hated her for her weakness and hated Endeavor for what he did but I hated myself more for being so useless. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted Endeavor to pay but there was nothing I could personally do to him to hurt him. When I was 15 I came up with a plan. I would leave my house and fake a suicide. That way, the police would have to investigate and find proof of Endeavor's abuse. It seemed foolproof." He laughed mirthlessly an empty smile on his face.

"Needless to say, I underestimated Endeavor's influence. The suicide was swept under the attention of the press and the authorities only undertook a cursory investigation. All at once, I was homeless and Endeavor was still seated in his throne of power where he could hurt my family without my protection. A little under a year later, and here I am. A cowardly criminal desperate to survive while my family suffers."

Izuku clutched onto Touya's midsection, desperate to provide some kind of comfort. "I-I…. I've always never liked Endeavor but after knowing all of that. I hate him Touya. For what he did to you and his family. He doesn't deserve to be a hero or even to live like that. He's a monster Touya. I thought I hated my dad for never being there but your dad…. We'll make him pay Touya. I don't know how and I don't know when, but someday he'll pay for what he has done. If the police are this useless, if we can't rely on other heroes, then only we can hold him responsible."

Touya laughed. "Damn Izuku. That's some fire you've got in you. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though. God knows I want to make that bastard pay more than anyone else. But let's focus on ourselves day to day."

Izuku drew back from Touya and smiled at him. "What's our next move then?" Touya shook his head at him. "To get some shuteye brat, we're meeting with the Toras tomorrow. If anything goes wrong we'll be screwed so let's try and get some rest."

Izuku rolled his eyes before jumping back onto his back on the stiff hotel mattress. "Yes sir." A swung leg sent Izuku tumbling off the bed and onto the floor.

"Quiet down brat." Izuku grumbled as he climbed back into the bed. He was sure they had nothing to worry about. After all, they had completed the job. Why would they have any problems?

Author's Note:

First thing I want to address is honorifics. Personally, I don't mind using them but I'm going to use them when I want to for story effect. I went back and forth on it for a bit but at the risk of angering some of the more Japanese purists in this community I will most likely only using a few throughout the story. If you don't like it you can just call me a filthy American. Basically I like using the honorifics for siblings and basically that's it. Anything else like "-san" or "-sama" will just not be used. Those are fun to use for me so that's what I'm doing. In case you didn't notice so far, my version of Touya is different from others that I've seen in the past. Honestly I haven't read a good fanfiction with Touya as one of the main cast simply ever and this will change that. Touya will most likely be out of character from what we've seen in anime and manga. There's just no helping that. We haven't technically seen him yet as far as I know there hasn't been any official naming of Dabi being Touya but that's what I'm doing. Touya in his early years of being on his own. I want to make it known that while he is far from being the Touya from before leaving his home, he isn't quite Dabi yet. My Touya cares for very little besides those he chooses to care about. Those being his siblings and lil ol' Izuku. I hope his philosophy makes some sense. He sees his father who is living at the top of society while being a grade A piece of shit that belongs in Tartarus and finds that wrong while he has to struggle to live. He holds a great deal of hate for his father but hasn't quite come to that idea of wanting to make his father pay, remember he isn't a villain yet, just a criminal. He's left his home and wants to make his own way in the world and turns to crime not out of necessity but out of selfishness. So far we've only really seen his soft side because that's what he shows to Izuku and Izuku has been at the helm of this story so far. Regardless of that he is willing to do what it takes to get what he wants because in the end, if it helps himself and who he cares for, why would he care? What I'm doing with Izuku is a tad different. This isn't really a typical, Izuku villain story or an Izuku vigilante fic. I'm doing something different and unique and I'm very excited about it.

*Cue very deep breath

I digress. Itsuka Kendo is a very interesting character that I had a bit of trouble writing at such a young age. Not to say I don't enjoy writing her, it's just a bit trying to put to words her genuine care for others, her developing sense of responsibility for others, and her confidence while trying to exude a sense of childlike innocence at this age. Hope I did well, please tell me if I did terrible. Couldn't find anything for her parents, I recently read Entropy by Imperium 42 and they write a lovely version of Itsuka if I say so. In that story her parents are abroad for whatever reason. I did a bit of half and half. Her father is actually quirkless and is currently abroad for reasons that I will not state now. Honestly not sure if I want to do anything with him and whether to keep him boring or interesting. We'll see how the story goes I guess. Sometimes I feel like it writes itself. *Cough Anyways Isobe was fun I love to write mother type characters and I'm not sure why. From Inko's loving and polite character to Mitsuki's hell and damnation parenting style it's just interesting to write how they interact. Isobe's kind of a perfect character at the moment. I've made her a character with an extreme amount of love for her children and kindness toward others. She's got more than her default love mother personality though she's bit more multi-faceted than that. Without going too deep into the story, she has actually taken up motherhood as a full time job while she studies online for a degree in law. All while Daddy Kendo is off somewhere working and sending money home.

One of the topics I covered a bit was society and quirks. I always was in a bit of disbelief of how much society revolved around quirks in My Hero Academia's world. It seemed like for most characters the first question for a stranger was what their quirk was. The second being what their name is. This always seemed wrong to me. People are still people with or without quirks. Kid it doesn't matter if you have really long fingers and the other kid doesn't. One, that's really creepy, two have fun with those fingers once the girls realize they don't match up with your dick you're gonna get familiar with them and three it doesn't matter if you've got tentacle ass fingers if said quirkless kid has a gun you're fucked. Unless you have a quirk that lets you avoid or block said bullet it will kill you dead. I'm actually surprised that the military doesn't get involved in villain incidents at all. Fucking serial killer Muscular is about to kill the Water Hose team? Fuckin shoot him in the head. Doesn't matter how many muscles he's got packed on his body a bullet through his head takes care of all of that. Fuck me I went on a rant again.

So, I hope did a decent job of Touya's little story. The whole suicide thing was something taken from a different fic I literally can't remember which one to be honest. If someone knows please let me know so I can give credit! But that's how I've made Touya fit in this story. As for the disparity of ages between my Todoroki children and canon's that's been adjusted by a good deal. Touya is 16 right now, Fuyumi is 14, Natsuo is 13 and Shoto is 11 being a bit over half a year older than Izuku. If anyone was wondering it's technically early June right now in the story. I mentioned Bakugo's birthday in the first chapter to kind of hint to this but I wanted to put this out there nevertheless. Now for next chapter, ooooh next chapter, I'm excited. We get to see some different perspectives of characters we already know from this story instead of me using it to introduce a new character. One of them is Touya. We might get a fight. I went back and forth on what to put in for chapter two and three but I finally decided to end this chapter here at the hotel once more. Next chapter's gonna be a bit wild. I hope you guys haven't been too frustrated by the slow pace of these chapters but I need to lay some groundwork for the chapters and I would feel lazy and if I just summarized these events and just began where the heavy stuff starts.

On another note, I need some suggestions on said pacing. How much do we want to be going on in between now and the start of canon? I've already got two distinct arcs I want to put in but besides that, I can do pretty much anything.

I get way too into these OC's and I have no idea why. Anyways hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please review and share this story if you can. I have big plans and can't wait to share them.

-Insaneauthor050701