Hello all! Welcome back to the the second half of Izuku's past! I'm going to drop another double update! Before we get started, big thank you to nmatthews on AO3 for betaing this chonky chapter! She's great and amazing~ I love her ^^

Alrighty! Let's get started!

Warnings: Attempt of sexual assault, arson, Izuku's grief, Survivor's guilt complex, coping mechanisms with said grief, Deku-bowling


Chapter 19 - Ashes

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"Police are still searching for the individuals responsible for the Makinohara tragedy. However, after a full week of investigations, no leads have been found. This only leads police further to believe that it was orchestrated by the elusive drug gang, All For One, who is known for not leaving behind any evidence in their name…"

The soft voice of the news anchor was the first thing Izuku heard when he awoke.

Green eyes blinked opened, confused. He squinted in the all too bright white room as he felt the weight of an indistinct figure sitting on the edge of his bed.

All the haziness clouded his mind as Izuku tried his best to gain his bearings but when he tried to move his left hand, it snapped back to the railing of the hospital bed.

Izuku whipped his head around only to see himself shackled to the bed frame by silver handcuffs.

The figure sitting on the bed looked over their shoulder and that's when Izuku noticed Tomura, sitting there in the flesh.

He instantly panicked, letting out a hoarse, weak yell.

"Ah, you're finally awake. That took you awhile." Tomura smirked. Izuku's blood filled with terror as his weak voice tried to call out for help to the two officers stationed by his hospital door, but they just coldly ignored him.

"No point in asking them for help. They're with me," Tomura casually informed, looking down at his nails.

Izuku stared at the duo of policemen perplexed but Tomura leaned into his space, smirk drawing him back. Green eyes fearfully and unwillingly met Tomura's blood colored ones.

Instantly the memories of the building rushed into Izuku's mind, jamming in all terribly painful at once.

The gunshots. The screams. The explosions. His parents. The flames—Touya. Touya's unconscious body covered in his own blood and being swallowed by flames.

"Where are they?" Izuku rasped out with what strength he had. He tried to move his arm again, but the rattling of handcuffs reminded him he was chained. His panic spiked. "W-Where are my parents? Where's Touya—"

"You have to promise secrecy first before I can tell you," Tomura said slyly, an elusive smize resting on his lips as if he knew something Izuku didn't. "It's very important that you do this."

"Fuck you." Izuku's face sneered at the playful nature. He was so goddamn sick of the Shigarakis and their games.

"C'mon, angel," Tomura shushed him. "I understand you're upset and disorientated from being under for seven days but think straight for a moment."

Seven days…?

Izuku paused, not realizing he had been unconscious that long. His eyes trialed back to the news on the television and saw the date plain as day. It was a whole week after he had scheduled his mother's art show. He gritted his teeth and weakly clenched his fists.

"Fine," Izuku hissed, hanging his head away. "I won't say anything to anyone. Now, j-just tell me where they are. Please. I need to know they're okay."

"They're in the morgue, Izuku," Tomura answered coldly. "All three of them. Burned alive by your greatest piece of art."

A feeling as cold as ice sunk all the way down into Izuku's core.

That can't be true—

His mind viciously rejected the concept. He heard his parents "I love yous" and laughter in his ear mix with Touya's last "I love you." The injured young adult whirled around to face Tomura's emotionless expression.

"You bastard, you're lying!" He screamed, body slowly beginning to shake. "You're lying! T-They can't be dead—"

"I'm afraid so. You were the only survivor in that building—which by the way, is miraculous. You're such a lucky man."

The memory of the fire eating away at his flesh flashed into his head and he heard the gunshots and screams all over again. He pictured his parents and Touya smiling. Then he saw the ugly vision of Touya covered in blood again.

"N-No...no, that can't be true," Izuku whispered. Slowly his throat felt like it was choking on ashes and his voice cracked. "T-They can't be—"

"If you don't believe me, you can see for yourself on any news articles," Tomura suggested, pushing his phone into Izuku's face.

Green eyes assessed the article titled 'Tragedy in Makinohara' in big bold letters. His denial kicked in harder as he read through the sans serif print that detailed the horrific incident with two unmistakable photos: one of the building in flames and the other of his own battered face.

Izuku choked back a sob and Tomura smiled to himself.

"I'd say don't blame yourself for this horrible tragedy, but really who else is there to blame for all of this? You tipped off your father and got several of my men arrested—and for what?"

Izuku closed his eyes when the screams, flames, and sounds of gunshots wouldn't leave his mind. He shook his head in false hopes that the memories would fall out of his skull and leave him alone. His brain tried to wrap around the ugly reality that thirty-four people were dead.

Thirty-four were dead because of him—

He felt his mother's and father's warm embraces against his skin and cried harder.

"You traded in saving hundreds of lives for the three you love most," Tomura taunted, leaning inwards to rub salt in the wound. "I hope it hurts as much as I think it does."

Izuku gritted his teeth and clenched his fist as Tomura continued to talk.

"My father and I were both mildly pleased to hear you survived the fire. He decided not to kill you. He still thinks you're better use to us alive than dead."

"I'm not helping you," Izuku sneered, hateful green eyes full of tears looked up at the silver haired man that Izuku deemed to be more of a demon now. "I have no absolutely reason to help you if what you say is true. You can slit my throat now, you bastard."

A sharp bark of menacing laughter cut through the chilled hospital air.

"I had a feeling you would say that. Which is exactly why we're not going to give you that easy out," Tomura chuckled, standing up off the bed. "If you want death that badly, you'll have to give it to yourself. I personally would rather watch you suffer for crossing us."

Izuku could only hear the crackling of fire eating away at wood in his ears and the loud threatening boom of gunshots and screams.

He turned his face away to ignore Tomura when the king pin's phone rang. Izuku felt himself turn sick when Tomura took his phone call like Izuku wasn't even in the room. The phone clicked with an exhausted sigh as Tomura looked down at the weeping Izuku handcuffed to the hospital bed.

"I have to go attend to issues you and your father have caused for me and my family," Tomura hissed, narrowing his eyes at Izuku. "But before I go, I was told to tell you what the conditions are for keeping you breathing, so listen carefully to me, angel."

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut at the now tainted nickname when he saw Touya's smiling face in his head.

"You're going to continue on living your pathetic, meaningless life and you're going to keep your mouth shut," Tomura hissed directly in his ear only for him to hear. "If we request your expertise on the bomb mechanics in the future, you come running to us like the goddamn dog on a leash you are to us now. Then you go back living your boring life. Do anything to disrupt this, and we'll make sure you're disposed of quietly—to avoid any alarm that the sole survivor of the Makinohara incident was also burned alive."

Izuku stared blankly at the clock on the wall watching the ticking seconds. He didn't say a word of agreement but heard the degrading terms of his life loud and clear.

Tomura grunted at his lack of response but seemed satisfied with the tears uncontrollably streaming from Izuku's eyes. The kingpin walked over to the door, whispered something to the crooked cops at the door and they both left with Tomura.

Then Izuku was left alone—fully alone with his memories of flames, blood and death.

His guilt enveloped his soul in a suffocating grip as he thought back on how all of the people who cared for him the most all said soft, and passionate "I love you"s before they were lost to the unforgiving flames—by a creation he made.

Izuku broke down.

. . .

By the time Toshinori came and got him from the hospital Izuku's voice was gone.

His left side both stung and felt numb in an obscure mixture of hot and cold. He nodded, fully distracted, as the doctor told him all about the various types of burns and injuries he suffered from.

"You most likely won't be able to feel sensation on your left arm again," the black haired doctor whispered glumly. "Some places might be hot spots for sensation because they are more first degree than third degree burns, but overall...you won't be able to feel anything with your left arm or hand."

The look Toshinori gave him was of deep sadness when he didn't reply. The non-crooked police came in for questioning and Izuku felt like his voice had been lost to the labyrinth of the Shigarakis as he choked up and could barely get a word out.

Every time he tried to speak he just saw the same broken reel of memories in his head: gunshots, screams, flames, blood.

The police chalked it up to him knowing nothing and suffering from PTSD.

When he was officially discharged, the caring family friend came and collected him with a heavy heart. Izuku would never forget the deep shade of grey the sky was that day and how hard the rain droplets pelted against his skin. He walked out of the hospital with his left arm in a sling and a heart broken in three pieces.

Izuku remembered how he got into the car with all the broken pieces he had left silently and Toshinori didn't say a word.

"Their bodies?" was all Izuku could manage into the silent car.

"I...I Identified them for you last week," Toshinori whispered with a heavy heart, his sullen blue eyes gazed down regretfully at the steering wheel.

"D-Do I need to go identify them as well since I'm family—"

"—No," Toshinori quickly cut off, shaking his head. His grip tightened on the steering wheel. "You don't need to see that, Izuku. That's the very last thing you need to see right now."

But despite Toshinori doing everything to protect him, it didn't stop the imagery his brain supplied of his parents' bodies burnt alive. The memories of gunshots, screams, flames and blood appeared in his head again.

"Let's get you home," Toshinori whispered grief-stricken and turned on the engine of the car.

Green eyes watched the rain pouring down on the window with a chest full of guilt and the shattered pieces of his heart as he was driven away from the hospital.

. . .

Within the next week, Toshinori and Mirio both stayed with him to help him collect the remains of what was left of his life. They tried their best to ease the burden off his shoulders by planning the funeral and took care of all the small details up until the day of the wake.

Izuku picked the prettiest flowers from the fresh, red roses in the backyard. Two full bouquets for his parents.

When the funeral came, he saw them both sitting inside their respective black caskets. Everyone placed a different flower inside as they came up and said their final goodbyes. By the time the funeral ended, it looked as if his parents were sleeping in a bed of sweet-smelling flowers.

Green eyes soaked in the undeniable truth sprawled out in front of him as he looked at the all the white, blue, yellow and red flowers. His parents were dead. Their skin was tinted grey like ash, and they were fixed up to the best ability by the mortician. Burn marks were caked over with concealer as if it could hide what had happened.

But Izuku couldn't help but think how peacefully their eyes looked closed surrounded by all the people they loved most. However, he was still struggling to accept their fate.

He cried silently as all the kind policemen who worked with his father and all the loving customers from his mother's business hugged him and gave him their warm condolences. He could feel everyone's concern about him grow as he stayed unnaturally quiet by Mirio's side the entire time, clutching the childhood friend's hand.

That night when Izuku went back to his empty childhood home with Toshinori and Mirio, he privately locked himself in his room. Neither Yagi said anything as they sat downstairs on the couch, whispering about what a shame the whole ordeal was.

Izuku rested his back against his room's wooden door as he googled Touya's name on his new phone. His heart sank at the single article he found: 'Estranged son of the Shizuoka City Police Chief passed away in fire.'

He scrolled through the tiny, forgettable article trying to control all the emotions ready to bust out of his chest until he saw a time and date for a funeral. It was listed in a small font at the very bottom of the article.

. . .

He left quietly before sunrise to a city he'd never been to, only to find Touya's funeral was empty.

It was empty enough that it still felt like a dream—Izuku didn't want it to be real.

He wanted to still believe that this was a cruel joke played on him by the Shigarakis. He wanted to believe that all three of his loved ones were being held against their will somewhere because that meant there was still a chance of getting them back.

However, when he arrived in the grey town of Shizuoka City, he found himself trapped in an inevitable nightmare holding onto a bundle of red roses outside a large gravesite.

No matter how hard Izuku wished, this was very much real. And in that moment while looking at all the barrenness that reflected Touya's life, Izuku let himself grieve fully.

He broke down privately by himself, choking back sobs for the person he tried so hard to save—but couldn't. After everything.

He doubled over on the small wooden bench outside the gravesite, still too terrified to see that name engraved in stone because it would hammer the final nail in his heart. He ignored how his salty tears fell down onto the roses in his hand, clumping up as droplets that reflected the dawn colored sky. Izuku only briefly registered the small family of three leaving out from the gravesite he assumed must've been there for someone else.

But when Izuku finally worked up his last bit of strength to make his way down to Touya's grave, he saw a small bundle of white roses sitting there. They were neatly tied together with a blue ribbon.

He kneeled down to look at the flowers closely and the name 'Todoroki Touya' that was etched into the gray stone. Izuku lifted his left hand to trace the lettering slowly with his bandaged fingertips. Despite not feeling any sensation, Izuku swore he could feel it all. He almost wished he could have met the person who left the flowers. But told himself he didn't deserve to.

"I'm sorry," Izuku weakly whispered slowly to Touya's engraved name. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you in the end." Green eyes closed and bowed his head to the soil respectfully.

Memories of the boy with rose colored hair appeared in his mind and like a painful movie, the story of Touya played out in his mind. From their first kiss to the last I love you, he saw it all gracefully dance out in his mind like a tragic ballad.

And when he lifted his head to open his eyes, he was kneeling at the bitter end.

He shakily placed the red roses on the grave and picked himself back up, turning to head out before he made Toshinori and Mirio worried.

Too busy looking down, Izuku collided directly into someone forcefully.

"Sorry," he automatically apologized in a hoarse voice. He quickly glanced up at who it could be, wondering if they were the person to leave the white roses, but the gloomy sky casted shadows over their faces.

Something inside Izuku realized he wasn't ready to interact with the outside world just yet, especially if it was someone who left Touya roses. How would he explain he was the reason Touya was dead? How would he explain Touya died protecting him?

Izuku quickly shuffled out of the gravesite, being painfully pulled by the heart string he had attached to where the ashes of Touya were buried.

. . .

The next two weeks came and it turned out Izuku's father was in far more debt than he ever led anyone on to believe.

By the time the next payment on the house was due, Izuku couldn't afford it.

Nor could he afford the apartment anymore.

He found his mother's flower shop and art gallery business quickly sunk without her paintings and he had to shut it down. The sympathy of strangers ran dry like a small river in a barren desert and soon Izuku felt alone—too alone.

The now orphan made a giant sale to clean out all the inventory to help keep himself afloat a little longer. Izuku bit his cheek bitterly as he watched his mother's paintings be sold off to people one by one along with all the roses in the store until it was completely empty.

Mirio and Toshinori stayed with him the entire time with the elder Yagi advising Izuku softly on what he should do to get himself out of the sticky financial jam. Izuku was more than thankful for both of them, and he knew deep down Toshinori was hurting with the loss of his best friends. Despite this, he knew eventually the time would come when Toshinori would have to go back to Shizuoka City and Mirio had just recently been accepted to law school.

He knew they could only pause their lives for so long.

Then when Izuku felt the warm summer start to fade into a cool fall, signaling the changing of seasons, that's when it all started to peak. The landlord informed him if he couldn't make the next payment on the house, he would have to put it up for sale and find new buyers who could pay the mortgage.

Izuku calculated it all out that night, and when he realized he couldn't afford to pay off his childhood home, he resigned it back to the landlord.

The saddened freckled man would never forget how bitter tasting it was to see the blue 'For Sale' sign in his front yard.

"You can stay with me, Izuku," Mirio offered tenderly. "I start up law school next week and the new place I got is big enough for two. I won't charge you rent until you graduate." He placed his gentle hand on Izuku's shoulder affectionately and the crying young adult felt himself wallow deeper into a dark part of his mind.

"Thank you, Mirio." He smiled sorrowfully at his friend and held his hand again.

Izuku stared blankly at the empty house and the roses that were wilting. He knew they needed water to grow and get stronger, but he couldn't bring himself to water them.

So instead he let them wilt, just like himself.

When the time came, he stared heartbroken at them as the different movers came in and took all his childhood memories and resisted shouting out for them to stop. He watched as they shifted through what felt like ashes of his once happy life, asking him what was okay to take away to charity.

All Izuku could do was nod. He let them take it all, save three boxes full of photographs, notebooks, and sketchbooks. These were the things his parents held to be the dearest and Izuku decided that the rest could go. It was too painful.

He clutched his mother's sketchbooks and father's police notebooks closer to him as Mirio hugged his shoulders that night.

. . .

An official month passed with no sound from All For One. Izuku had become crazed with checking articles and looking over his shoulder for thirty days until he realized Tomura might actually be serious this time.

They left him alone.

The summer officially shied away and curled into fall, blessing Yaizu with the rich colors of autumn. Orange, yellow, and sparse green sprinkled throughout the city with drifting leaves falling like snowflakes as all the citizens wrapped their colorful scarves around their neck.

Izuku began his junior year on schedule despite Mirio telling him to take a gap semester to recover. The freckled student knew the suggestion came from a kind, reasonable place but Izuku needed school. He needed the structure and he needed a distraction.

Because everytime he was alone too long with just his thoughts, his mind played that terrible reel of memories inside of his head like a horror film.

Gunshots. Screams. Blood. Flames. His parent's smiling faces and their last 'I love you's.

It was too much for him to bear and every time he tried to think about moving forward, envisioning a normal future, he just saw ashes of what his life once was. Izuku felt like he was wading somewhere in-between grief and regret, and nothing could undo the shackles bruising his wrists.

Izuku no longer wanted to think.

Which is why when he showed up on the first day of classes to Kai's junior level chemistry class, he ignored all the prying eyes of the students. They all seemed shocked he was there and pointed to his left side that was still heavily bandaged with small blood stains leaking through from his wounds reopening periodically.

Even Kai looked surprised to see him take a seat.

But Izuku didn't care. He took out his pencil and paper diligently like a robot, not thinking about his emotions. He just needed something to silence the sound of gunshots and screams echoing over and over in his head.

. . .

"Izuku," Kai called out to him, making him stop in his tracks. The greenette turned around, eyes locking with worried golden ones. "How are you doing?"

Izuku shifted on his feet when the sound of gunshots echoed out in his head and he could feel the phantom touch of Touya's hand over his mouth, keeping him quiet from screaming.

"I'm fine," he said through a rehearsed smile. However, Kai didn't seem convinced. Izuku sighed, the man had a sixth sense. He waited until all the other students left and there was a click of a door to give his honest answer. "I'm fine as I can be, Kai. I'm just going through the motions."

That seemed to satisfy the teaching assistant. The young brunette tilted his head as he looked at Izuku with an understanding emotion.

"I heard about what happened in Makinohara…I'm really sorry for your loss. If you need any extensions on anything, please let me know."

"I'll be okay, I like school," Izuku nodded quietly, trying to hold back the sudden rawness he felt in his throat. His mind wouldn't shut off as he kept thinking about which screams were his parents and the visual of Touya covered in blood appeared again. "I-I need something to keep my mind busy."

"Well, okay," Kai said in the softest tone. "If you need any extra help after classes to help you keep up to pace let me know. Or if you need some time extension on an exam, I won't mark you for it."

Izuku felt himself genuinely smile at the extended branch of kindness. He looked at the deep, unique shade of gold eyes and felt himself relax a bit.

"Thanks, Kai."

. . .

Another colorful autumn month went by and Izuku hated to admit it, but both Kai and Mirio were right.

He hadn't slept correctly since Makinohara. Visions of flames and blood plagued his dreams every time he closed his eyes and he felt so damn lost trying to go about his life when the three people who were his world were gone. Izuku's world had shattered and he was only left with the nightmares of Makinohara while the Shigarakis were just running free.

He hated it. He hated it so much. He felt so powerless and aimless.

Mirio was the perfect roommate. However, the apartment he had originally leased was far from Yaizu University and closer to where he was attending classes for law school. Izuku's insomnia progressively only got worse as he had to wake up at the crack of dawn every day to take the bus across the city.

After a while, Izuku ended up caving and told Kai he needed extra tutoring to keep up.

However, even then during the month of going to Kai's place after classes, Izuku still saw the same memories every time he was left alone with just his thoughts. They wouldn't leave him alone. Blood, flames and the crawling feeling of fire against his skin. His parent's voices. Touya's voice.

"I'll be right back—it's okay. I promise I'll deal with them and then I'll come back for you. Just stay quiet."

"N-No—don't leave—"

"—Izuku." Kai's fingers snapped in his face, quickly breaking him out of the dazed state he was in.

Green eyes rapidly blinked when he realized his mind went off track again. Kai huffed and ran his heavily ring decorated hand through his reddish brown hair.

Izuku's eyes strangely followed the motion.

"You're distracted," Kai's deep voice said. Izuku looked down guilty at the glass table in Kai's apartment they were sitting at. Sprawled out were all the assignments Izuku was behind in and all the things his brain just refused to absorb.

More visions of blood, gunshots and flames flashed in his head. Izuku grimaced.

"Not distracted enough," he mumbled underneath his breath. Kai raised a delicately arched eyebrow at the strange remark. The tired green haired student groaned as he threw down his mechanical pencil on the table.

He pressed his face forward into his palms, defeated. This was a mistake—Mirio was right. He should've just taken the semester off. There was a creak in the silence of the two of them sitting at the table alone and Izuku let his vulnerability leak through his mask.

"I-I think, maybe, I shouldn't have enrolled this semester," he confessed softly into his hands without looking at Kai. "I thought being in school and going back to have some structure would help me, but it doesn't. Everytime I close my eyes I see…"

Gunshots. Screams. Blood. Flames.

"...Too much."

"Have you tried doing any self care? Like just trying to indulge in things you like? What have you been doing since Makinohara?" Kai asked, leaning against his forearms across the table.

"I wake up, shower, eat, ride the bus for an hour, go to classes...and sometimes visit my parents' graves," Izuku admitted, finally looking up to Kai. He earned a pained look from those all too caring golden eyes. "Not sometimes, everyday so far. It helps me feel calmer—closer to them almost."

"It sounds like you might be torturing yourself, Izuku."

"I-I'm just not used to being without them," Izuku tried to explain but when he did he just felt all the love his parents have to offer inside of his chest. "They were so kind and I loved being around them all the time."

He missed them all so much.

"I-I don't know what to do—I feel so lost. I lost everyone. I lost them all at the same time." His voice cracked thinking about the three suns that used to orbit his life and his heart broke knowing his home was up for sale. "I-It's not fair. It's not fair that they're dead and I'm alive and the Shigarakis are just walking free."

He missed his father's cinnamon colored eyes and his playful dimple. He missed watching his parents dance around the house and teaching him cooking tips. He missed riding in the patrol car with his father and painting with his mother—he just wanted his life back.

But he couldn't have it. It didn't matter how much he went through the motions like a ghost mimicking the life he used to live—normality wasn't coming back and neither were the three people he missed to the point it burned.

"Shit, don't cry," Kai rushed out and Izuku hadn't even realized he'd broken down in sobs at the table. He tried to contain it, but he couldn't. He broke out of the mindless motions he was going through and stared down at his left bandaged hand through tears.

He felt Kai quickly get up and shuffle the papers off the table. "Let's put this stuff away, we don't need to keep doing this right now. Come here."

He stiffened when Kai gave him a hug but his vulnerable state made him melt into it. He clutched Kai's warm body closer.

"I'm sorry too you know," Kai whispered while smoothing him. "I wish I could kill those Shigaraki bastards for you. You have no idea of how down right livid it makes me that they did that to you after you gave them everything they asked for."

In that moment Izuku realized Kai was the only person who knew exactly why it hurt so much. His crying got harder.

"You were wrong you know," he rasped out, body shaking. "When you said the narrative ended with me dying...everyone else died instead. I wish there was something I could do—anything to remedy this...but I can't."

"I usually don't say this, but..." Izuku felt a caring hand lift to wipe away his tears and he turned his head towards Kai. Sitting there were shining golden eyes full of complex understanding. "Wasn't your major criminology before you switched?"

"Yes?" Izuku looked mildly confused, then it clicked. "Wait, are you suggesting—"

"—I know more powerful men than you have tried to take them down before but you got a leg up this time. You know how they operate and they're going to underestimate you because they think they've broken you," Kai muttered while looking into his eyes. "Find a way to rip down the Shigarakis and serve justice in your own way."

"How can I bring them in without bringing myself in as well," Izuku whispered, his brain trying to figure out a way to untangle himself from the Shigarakis' thick, black web. "It's my fault everyone's dead."

Then Kai spoke the words Izuku didn't know he needed to hear.

"No, it's not your fault, Izuku."

The green haired male made a confused face at the statement, realizing it was the first time someone actually said that to him. Most of everyone just said 'sorry for your loss,' not knowing what he did to try to keep his parents safe—what horrific things he did—and they still died in the end.

But Kai knew.

Izuku doesn't know when his brain stopped reeling the painful memories—but it did.

It stopped the second him and Kai stared at each other too long and when Kai's hand lingered in his hair. There was a strange rise of simmering electricity that was birthed in their nearness. Izuku noticed all the small things about Kai for the first time like how his eyes were several shades of golden sun swirling together.

Looking back on it, Izuku couldn't recall how it progressed. It was blurry and he wonders sometimes if Kai just did it out of pity.

Izuku found out that grief was a strange emotion but it controlled his body in that fateful moment.

It controlled the way he allowed Kai's hands to gently undress him, and it controlled the way he mindlessly stumbled into Kai's bedroom. It controlled his motions when he lifted his hips so desperate to rid himself of the clothes on his body as Kai slowly slid off his pants.

And finally it controlled his hands when Kai pushed inside of him, pulling hard on the brown hair as he arched his back.

He chased after an all too familiar euphoria from the one person who knew the most of his trauma. He closed his eyes, completely ignoring the gentle praises coming out of Kai's mouth, too focused on how his mind and how, for the first time in two months, it was completely rid of the imagery of fire.

. . .

They both laid there in the bed, side by side, stunned for entirely different reasons.

Kai looked at the white ceiling above them trying to wrap his mind around sleeping with one of his students while Izuku nervously fiddled with the hem of Kai's black comforter. Wide emerald eyes stared up at the twirling ceiling fan because Izuku was astonished at how powerful of an orgasm he had.

But Izuku was mostly caught off guard by the fact his brain had actually stopped thinking and how for the first time in a long time, he didn't feel so...lonely. The weight of someone so intimately close to him almost felt like how Touya used to sleep in the same bed with him every night for two years.

There was an awkward cough from beside him as Kai turned over to face him.

"I...I didn't plan for that to happen," Kai explained to him with a guilty face. "I didn't invite you over here this last month to try to seduce you. I know you're in a difficult spot right now mentally and that probably made things more confusing."

But it didn't—Izuku's mind was peacefully blank and his body was basking in the coziness of the warmth.

"It's fine," the freckled man said nervously, fiddling his hands. "R-Really, I liked it and I wanted it."

At this, Kai's face seemed to perk up. He awkwardly cleared his throat and Izuku didn't miss the way those sharp eyes darted around studying his freckles this close. "Well, if that's the case, then I'll just put this out there."

Izuku tilted his head in confusion when there was a small pink blush written across Kai's normally stoic features.

"I usually do this in reverse order, but if you wanted to go out to a movie or something, or even dinner, I would love to go with you."

Izuku's mind came to a screeching halt.

"Like a date?" He clarified, confused while knitting his brows together.

"Er, sure." Kai shrugged, lifting a hand to run through Izuku's hair and for some reason the curly haired man didn't like the touch the same way as he did when they were entangled. "I've always admired you, Izuku. I just never planned on acting on my feelings. I thought it would come off as inappropriate given the fact I do teach you even if I am just a teaching aid. But how about it? Want to go on a date?"

Izuku stared at Kai, the concept of a date sinking in his head and gradually the memory of Touya appeared.

"I love you, Angel. You mean everything to me," he heard Touya's deep voice say in his thoughts. He could practically feel the redhead's smirk against his skin and the gentle, loving kisses Touya would sprinkle all over him every morning.

Then slowly the loving image of Touya looking down at him went up in flames to reveal the redhead's face above him, sneering. Teal eyes were full of spite and rage.

"I said fucking tell me why you would do that, you goddamn weak minded idiot!"

Izuku's body shot forward quicker than his mind could catch up when he realized he had possibly just made a huge mistake.

His heart rate elevated for reasons he couldn't pinpoint when he thought about Touya shaking him and the feeling of his fist colliding against his face.

"I-I," he started, trying to get out. Kai looked at him wearily and sat forward as well. Izuku felt Kai touch his shoulder but immediately he flinched out of reflex because his mind was trapped in Touya's rage even beyond the grave.

"I don't really think I can—" he fumbled looking at Kai with regret the more his mind wrestled with the two halfs of Touya. "—I can't date. I'm sorry. This was nice, but I don't think I'm ready to—I-I'm not ready to be like that with someone—I-I don't think I can endure—"

Izuku's voice stopped when he realized how his brain finished the sentence.

I don't think I can endure that pain again.

"It's okay. It's not a big deal," Kai tried to calm him down but Izuku's feet kept telling him to run. "I just thought it would be worth a shot to ask."

"Sorry, I didn't expect this to happen either," Izuku whispered, expression crestfallen. "I didn't really mean for things to turn romantic in any way. I...I can't take being in a relationship."

I can't take the risk again.

Green eyes looked down at the sheets and felt like he had somehow betrayed Touya in a strange way. His heart twisted with conflict because it was the first time in such a long time he felt his brain not think about fire.

"Don't say sorry to me, trust me, I'll be fine." Kai chuckled beautifully and Izuku suddenly felt out of place. His flight kicked in.

"I-I should get going. This was really nice and I'll see you tomorrow—"

He made a move to rip the covers off himself but a strong hand caught his elbow, pulling him back. Izuku looked at Kai and tried his best not to be distracted by the way the moonlight was illuminating his figure in the dark. Gold eyes seemed to glow in the unlit room, pulling him back in.

"You can stay the night if you want to. It's late and you said you take the bus back to your place, right?" Kai offered and Izuku bit his lip. "I don't mind the company. We all get a little lonely, Izuku. It's not a crime to have casual sex."

Temptation hung in the air like a sweet forbidden fruit that beckoned to Izuku.

He stared at the shirtless Kai and the way the black silk cover fell off his body like liquid when he sat forward. His body begged to be encased within warmth again versus going back to Mirio's and sleeping in an ice cold bed.

An ice cold bed alone with the screams of the people in Makinohara echoing in his mind.

"Okay," Izuku smiled weakly, caving into the weaker side of him that didn't want to think anymore. He turned his back on the visions inside his head, letting them grow and take deeper roots. "I'll stay the night."

Kai smiled and dragged Izuku closer to him. Izuku allowed Kai to pull him under the sheets again, and like a quick fix, Izuku's mind became peacefully desolate of all the troubling thoughts swirling within him.

. . .

Kai transformed into a drug quicker than Izuku thought. Three weeks passed from the first time they slept together and soon the after class tutoring sessions always concluded with Kai making Izuku's scream out in pleasure in the dark.

It was a temporary fix to a prolonged problem when Izuku allowed himself to close his eyes and not think. He only focused on the rapture being orchestrated out of his body by Kai's skilled hands and soon it overshadowed all the painful memories.

He was able to start sleeping correctly when he was beside another body, the warmth was familiar yet strange enough that it didn't trigger him—and that's all Izuku wanted.

He decided to focus his energy towards becoming an officer like Kai suggested—like he had originally planned.

He switched his major back to criminology and began to slowly read his all dad's notebooks and realized his father was actually really close to bringing down AFO. He was just missing small pieces of information like their hierarchy, where they operated, differences between ground alpha and ground betas and if there was either one Shigaraki or two.

All tidbits of information that Izuku knew.

However, there was something off about his father's notes because it seemed like every time he got close, the Shigarakis somehow knew what his next move was. It made Izuku think about the information Touya said about there being cops involved with AFO and the mole that tipped off his anonymous confession.

Studying the neat handwriting of his father gave Izuku a new direction as he realized it was possible for him to work out a plan for getting to them. To strike on the Shigarakis while he was working the force—but it would require both time and concentration.

Izuku knew he had both.

However, when he didn't go over to Kai's a week after the first month and was left alone, the nightmares returned. Izuku squeezed his eyes shut when the feeling of phantom smoke suffocated his lungs.

He woke up in a harsh, cold sweat when he realized his dilemma: how was he supposed to focus on becoming a cop if he couldn't even sleep a wink? That day after the nightmare, Izuku asked Kai in an antsy manner if he could 'tutor' him more regularly. Kai agreed with a more than eagar smirk.

He didn't miss the surprised look on Shindo Yo's face when he accidentally overheard—but Izuku didn't really care. He just didn't want to think.

The struggling student quickly caught back up in his classes like this. Only downside was how Mirio looked at him strangely for all the late nights and whenever he stayed gone for such long periods of time. The caring, sky colored eyes of his close friend made Izuku feel guilty because he didn't know how to explain to Mirio that he figured out a solution to keeping his mind afloat—it just happened to involve him on his knees for the most part.

So, Izuku settled on a half truth.

He explained he was getting chemistry tutoring and his tutor was kind enough to let him spend the night if it got too late. Mirio half bought this, not pushing the matter.

Then Izuku was caught blindsided by something he didn't think about in hindsight.

Kai completed his PhD.

"You're leaving?" Izuku asked quietly one day while entangled in the other's silk black sheets. "You're not going to stay the year out and walk across the stage?" Kai shrugged as he pulled Izuku in closer.

"You'd be the only reason I would stay here in Yaizu, Izuku," Kai's velvet voice explained sadly. "I have no desire to put on a cap and gown. I finished my thesis and they said they can just mail me my diploma when the time comes. Also, my father needs me back in Tokyo to help out with the family business."

Right. Kai still had a family despite his mother passing.

Izuku offered a reserved smile.

"Okay. You're right. I'll be fine," Izuku whispered as he studied the strange intricate tattoo of a phoenix on Kai's shoulder. The black ink bled all over his flawless ivory skin and Izuku reached out to trace it with his bandaged finger tips. "Thank you so much for everything, Kai. I mean it, thank you. You're a sweet spirit despite acting so aloof all the time."

Kai's deep chuckle filled the bedroom at the comment.

"Coming from the kindest person I ever met, that means a lot. You'll make a great cop one day, Izuku. Make sure to call me on that number if you need anything and don't let yourself get broken down like they want you to."

Slowly, sun colored eyes cut to him and Izuku felt a strange kinship between them.

"I'm glad I got to meet someone like you in my lifetime, despite everything, Izuku."

"Same for you, Kai."

. . .

Kai left within that week, and Izuku felt a piece of himself strangely move away as well.

He didn't want to think about it, but he would miss Kai. Not in the way he missed his parents or Touya, but in a way he'd miss a best friend that moved far away.

Kai had helped him catch up to pace with classes, and distracted his brain long enough that Izuku thought he could manage it now and start to think about his future. The freckled young adult figured maybe the memories of fire would stop, but he was quickly proven wrong when the night terrors returned when he was alone at night.

He laid there tossing and turning and it felt like his nightmares personified just to crawl into bed with him, keeping him company in the worst possible way.

Izuku thought maybe the dark thoughts would go away on their own—but they never did.

Slowly, Izuku found himself right back where he started. Only this time, he knew exactly what he needed to press pause on all the ugly thoughts chipping away at his mental state. He needed them to stop. He couldn't risk getting off track.

However, he didn't anticipate finding a solution two weeks after Kai's departure from Shindo Yo of all people.

In retrospective, if Izuku could change his decisions, he wouldn't have fucked Shindo.

Shindo was a particular breed of narcissistic and just didn't compare to someone like Kai who took care of his partner all the way through. But just in that moment when the handsome brunette approached him, the sounds of gunshots and screams were particularly loud.

"You look like shit," Shindo's voice said from beside him in advanced chemistry before class started.

"Thanks, Shindo," Izuku grumbled as he took out his yellow pencil pouch. "Good morning to you too." The green eyed student resisted the urge to outwardly sigh as Kai's replacement walked into the classroom, beginning to set up for the lab.

"Hey, I didn't mean that in a bad way, just an observation," Shindo shrugged with a small smile. "How have you been holding up since the fire? The bags under your eyes suggest that you haven't gotten a wink of sleep."

"I'm doing the best I can. Just trying to focus on school and my career."

"I heard a lot of victims of traumatic incidents have a tough time sleeping the first couple of months. Sometimes people say that they can still hear and see what happened to them without a trigger," Shindo said with a sympathetic smile while leaning in close to him. "One of those things only time can make go away."

"It goes away with distractions," Izuku said in a clipped tone. Green eyes cut to look at Shindo out the corner of his eye and frowned at the closeness. What was his angle? Why did he suddenly care?

"And I guess dating Chisaki for a month was that distraction?"

The word 'dating' made Izuku grip his pencil harder.

"I wasn't dating Kai," he explained, feeling offended. He looked at Shindo who was giving him a rather unimpressed expression and Izuku suddenly felt guilty. "I wouldn't date that soon after what happened to Touya." I might not ever date again.

"Ah, I'm not judging you," Shindo shrugged, saying it so nonchalantly. "Dating Kai or fucking him—it's your business. But you did seem almost normal again when you were getting tutoring sessions from him. I figured you and Touya had a complicated thing going on. Especially with the purple and blue love bruises he'd give you all the time."

Izuku nearly 'tch'd' at the use of 'love bruises.' "Please don't try to act like you understood our relationship."

"Trust me, I didn't," the dark haired student rolled his eyes. "To be honest, with Touya's violence streak, I steered clear of him after he beat the shit out of me for flirting with you."

Wait—

Izuku turned to Shindo with surprised eyes, stunned. He didn't know that. Shindo however, looked at Izuku as equally surprised.

"You didn't know?" He asked and Izuku shook his head slowly, almost afraid of the truth. "Freshman year, first semester. The black eye—it was from Touya. I had a bruised rib cage too and a lot of other damn injuries. He hated me for even looking at you after that. I had to awkwardly shuffle around him for the entire two years at the shop because he was so possessive of you. Didn't want anyone tainting his precious angel."

"You shouldn't hang out with people like Shindo alone, Izuku," Touya's distant, cold voice whispered from his memories. "It's nothing serious, it would just make me feel better."

Izuku suddenly felt a strange weight on his shoulders when he could see the possessive words for what they were without rose colored glasses.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know he assaulted you because of me," he whispered.

"Eh, it's fine now. It was two years ago," Shindo laughed it off awkwardly but Izuku could sense there was still a tenseness in his shoulders. "It just made me feel kind of bad for you, y'know? Like you seemed so happy the first year of being with him but I could tell things got rocky that second year."

He thought about Touya, and the unwanted vision of him bleeding out appeared in Izuku's mind, making his body feel like an empty shell again.

He looked around at all the students preparing for the lecture when the new chemistry instructor began to write the day's agenda in black marker on the white board. He watched as a group of girls laughed amongst themselves, blushing and giggling and he wondered if he would ever be that carefree again.

"Maybe I'm just destined to have a rocky life," Izuku murmured below a whisper without looking at Shindo.

"But a distraction makes things less rocky, I'm guessing? Specifically the type of distraction Kai was giving you?" Shindo hummed, leaning in closer to the point their shoulders touched. Izuku stiffened at the proximity and when he turned around he saw the warm brown colored eyes of his classmate assessing with fully dilated eyes.

"Y-Yeah, Kai helped a bit," Izuku nervously answered, scooting away from the feather light physical touch. He tried to ignore the clear heat that rose in his face as he cleared his throat and tried to calm his body. "But I'm going to focus on school fully." —or at least try to.

"Alright, if you say so." Shindo leaned away from him and Izuku released a bated breath of the relief. He eyed the other dark haired student in a strange way until a sly smirk graced Shindo's face.

"Just as an FYI, my offer still stands from two years ago. In case you need a distraction to help keep those nightmares at bay."

Izuku stared intensely at whiskey colored eyes that stared right back at him.

. . .

There was a tiny voice that screamed at him that it was a mistake when Shindo roughly handled him inside of the small cluttered dorm room. But Izuku didn't care. He had a terrifying nightmare the previous three nights involving his parents and he just wanted it all to stop.

And Shindo was the quickest route to make his mind go blank.

Izuku cursed when they tripped over a small pile of what he hoped to be clean laundry as their lips roughly worked against each other. The other student's hands were everywhere. They were in his hair, under his clothes and they worked as if Shindo had been thinking about this moment for exactly two years.

"Why are you agreeing to this so easily?" Izuku asked in through a heavy pant, breaking their hungry kiss when Shindo pushed him backwards onto the bed. He opened his mouth again to say something but two strong hands caught his sensitive nipples and tweaked them hard. "F-Fuck!"

Izuku squeezed his eyes and shuddered through a moan as Shindo's hands so greedily felt him everywhere. Shindo leaned down to bite his neck and Izuku felt a satisfied smirk against his freckled skin.

"What can I say? I like 'em damaged."

Izuku resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the corny response, but he should've heeded the warning in retrospective.

"Forget I asked. J-Just fuck me, Shindo."

"Gladly. Call me Yo from now on."

. . .

Yo wasn't like Kai. Izuku couldn't tell if he was worse or better in the end.

Yo was a selfish lover but because of it, he made it easy for Izuku to close his eyes and let himself not even think about where he was. His body was pushed and pulled on by what became rough phantom hands accompanied by Yo's voice whispering all kinds of filthy things in his ear.

But the more his head was filled up with Yo, the less he thought about the things paining him—and Izuku took the saving grace. It was a metronome of empty sex that only benefited them both in different ways but Izuku didn't mind—or at least that's what he told himself.

Yo never let him stay the night like Kai had. He told Izuku doing that put them at risk to develop feelings for each other and made Izuku take the hour-long bus back to his apartment no matter what time of night.

Izuku didn't know why but the contrast between Yo's hot body against his skin and sitting on the cold bus directly after made him feel so—

—used.

But he took what he could because at least his nightmares were on pause.

Then as the months passed, Izuku realized he needed, or, er, wanted more.

Well, not more from Yo per se. He didn't need after sex cuddles or for the other to extend the offer to stay the night—but just more sex. Something had shifted inside of him that itched deeply for that blank slate of mind the closer it got to his first holidays without his parents.

But when he swallowed his pride to ask for sex outside of their usual time, he got a sneer accompanied with the response.

"I don't have all the time in the world to fuck you," Yo whispered agitated while quickly walking to his next class after chemistry. "It's been like two months since we started fucking and I have to go home for the holidays soon to be with myfamily. Also, I have to study for our chemistry test tomorrow so don't come over tonight."

"But you said—"

"—I know, and I'm sorry," Yo sighed and gave him a single glance of sympathy. "Not all of us are photographic memory geniuses like you. Go looking for your fix tonight on a dating app or at a bar like other people do," Yo said quickly without thinking and Izuku stopped cold in the middle of the hallway. He watched as Shindo didn't look back nor did he seem to care what happened to Izuku as he faded away into the crowd.

Izuku stood there alone in the sea of students at Yaizu University and looked downwards at their colorful array of shoes. He could hear students chattering about going home to see their parents and he felt his heart clutch.

He could just go back to the apartment. Izuku pondered the idea because he didn't need sex that much...right? He had just been feeling anxious and sex was something he found helped ease the tension but it was fine—he didn't need Yo.

But that night, Izuku was visited by a dream he wished he could scrub clean from his memory.

The atmosphere was dark and when he looked around, he found himself standing alone on a beach at night. There wasn't a single star in the grey sky and the sound of waves originally calmed him, being the first dream not about fire that he had in awhile.

However when he bent down to grab a conch shell, it changed. He remembered being happy and put it carefully to his ear but he heard the sounds again.

Gunshots. Screams. Touya's voice. The rattling of chains on doors.

He dropped the seashell quickly when it spiked in temperature. He watched in terror as it disintegrated into fearsome flames right in front of him and left behind black soot. The air suddenly felt suffocatingly hot and when he looked over towards the sea, it was made of grey ashes. Voices of the Makinohara victims beckoned him to join them and add his own ashes to the sea of their remains.

Needless to say, Izuku jolted awake with a scream. He pushed his palm to his chest to stop hyperventilating and hated himself.

Jade colored eyes glanced at the clock. He saw the time was nearing midnight and decided to take Yo's advice.

. . .

The first time Izuku went to a bar he felt strange like a fish out of water.

He was clearly the youngest person there on a Thursday night and he had tried his best to dress up. He had taken Touya's gold hoop earring out of his ear feeling weird about it, but he wore the expensive bomber jacket that had 'Fire Rose' written down the left sleeve. He awkwardly sat alone at the bar assessing the sparse crowd while reading at the menu.

Should I even order? He scrunched his face up when he realized he was there to try to pick someone up not get drunk. He didn't even know what half these drinks were. What the hell was a screwdriver?

Izuku without a doubt felt silly and started bouncing his leg nervously. He considered just going back to his bed that was crawling with nightmares. He figured he must've been making a hopeless face when the bartender came over and had some level pity on him.

"What's got you worked up?" The tall man asked with a charming grin. "I usually don't see anyone my age here on Thursdays. Much less by themselves."

Izuku peered up from underneath his curly bangs to see pretty long black hair tied into a bun in the back and a sharp, strong jaw.

The stranger's hazel eyes assessed him and Izuku felt like he caught his prey when those same eyes studied his lips a little bit too long.

. . .

Izuku couldn't even remember the bartender's name, and for that he was thankful.

All he knew was that he was one year older, a senior at another university around the area and that he had been caught staring at Izuku's ass several times when the greenette went to go to the bathroom. They held a decent conversation all night as the other young man told him what each drink on the menu was. When the bartender asked Izuku what he was looking for, Izuku replied smoother than he expected with alcohol slicking his reply.

"I think I might be looking for you," Izuku remembered he said with a tipsy chuckle. He swirled the colorful orange drink in his hand and bit his lip. That seemed to do the trick.

The bartender asked him if he could wait around until closing and Izuku was more than willing.

However, when they got to the nearest hotel and began to undress, Izuku wasn't expecting the reaction he got.

"Holy shit, what happened to your body?" The deep voice exclaimed when Izuku took off all his clothes and straddled him. The green eyed young adult was caught off guard because he hadn't considered this was the first person who didn't know.

"Oh, it's just scarring. I was in a fire," Izuku explained casually, ignoring the bubbling nervousness. He went back to kissing the man beneath him and stroking the man's length slowly.

The stranger's hands were back on him and Izuku felt his mind begin to slowly slip into that intoxicating blankness.

However, he was abruptly ripped away from it when those rough hands settled on his hips and touched the large piece of raised skin on his left thigh.

He felt the stranger go soft in his hand.

Izuku stopped kissing the man in realization. He pulled back confused, and stared at the stranger's deflated erection. His embarrassment spilled over.

"Shit, give me a moment," the bartender cursed and reached down between their bodies to try to stoke himself back to full hardness. Izuku's face turned bright red as he awkwardly stayed straddled and hazel eyes skirted around looking anywhere but his body.

When it took too long Izuku shifted off to sit on the edge of the small hotel bed in silence. The bartender sighed and put his hands over his face.

"Is it the scars?" Izuku pried, making a pained face as he looked down at his damaged hands.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," the man said honestly and Izuku felt something inside him break. "It's just...there's so much of it and that bandage. I thought it was just your left hand, not your entire arm. It looks like you just got back from fighting some battle and lost."

Izuku didn't reply. He couldn't bring himself to look at his almost-partner in the eye because the man wasn't wrong.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this, I'm so sorry," was all Izuku got as the man with hazel eyes gathered his clothes and left.

Izuku lifted his head to stare in front of him and what he got in return was his bare reflection staring sadly back in the mirror.

It was the first time in nearly four months since the fire that Izuku had truly sat down to look at everything together.

He studied the scar above his heart from Himiko, the dirty blotchy bandages that covered his left arm and all the different burns and cuts littered all over his skin. He saw the tiny scars from Touya's final act of rage blend in with the different nicks climbing up his right forearm from the falling wood in the building. And finally he saw the large chunk of keloided skin stretched over his left hip and thigh from where fire seared into him when he was pinned underneath the burning beam.

Izuku lifted his left hand to numbly touch the gash Himiko left. He wondered if this was why Kai had kept the lights off and if this was the real reason Shindo never let him stay afterwards.

It was the first time Izuku didn't consider himself to be beautiful and it was the first time he realized no one else truly would ever again.

. . .

"Izuku, where were you?!" Mirio hissed when Izuku came into the apartment eerily silent. "It's nearly 4:00am! I thought something happened to you and I've been calling your phone!"

Gunshots. Screams. Blood. Flames.

Izuku lifted his tired eyes to look at Mirio and his worried expression. He tried his best to say something but the sound of screams in his head silenced him and made him wince. Mirio, ignorant to the battlefield in his brain, continued to worry over him.

"You can't keep doing this," Mirio pleaded, blue eyes looking exhausted. "I-I understand you're going through a tough time but it's been four months. You're either never here or you're coming back really late and it makes me worried about you, Izu. You don't even tell me where you go...what's going on with you?"

"I—I tried," Izuku started when he took a deep breath in. "I tried going out because I couldn't sleep, but I didn't think. I'm sorry, Miri. I didn't mean to make you worried." Izuku felt guilty when he looked at the bags underneath his friend's eyes.

"Why were you out, Izuku? Don't you have a test tomorrow?"

"I couldn't sleep," Izuku whispered. He took off his shoes slowly and placed his rose jacket on the hook by the door. "When I'm alone I get night terrors. I needed a good night's sleep to do well on my test but I can't do that in that bed."

He said the honest words, too tired to put up a facade.

"You've been having night terrors?" His friend asked and Izuku just nodded emptily. "Izu...I'm so sorry, I didn't know. But what does that have to do with you going out? How would that have helped you sleep?"

"Sex," Izuku said in a short manner and he heard Mirio choke. He blushed slightly when he could see Mirio's face go into shock and the law student turned bright pink. "When I, um, have sex I feel better for a while that's all. Nothing too deep about it."

Mirio awkwardly cleared his throat and eyed the fresh hickey on Izuku's neck.

"O-Oh—I see. Um, well, did you find a girl to sleep with?"

"Mirio...I'm gay." Izuku exasperated and then he got a shocked look from those big blue eyes. "But, no. I didn't find anybody. I got rejected the second he saw my body fully bare."

Mirio assessed him as if that piece of information about his sexuality was groundbreaking but Izuku was too tired to think about it. He cradled his left arm close to him and made his way back to the guest bedroom.

"I'm going to go to bed and just try my best to sleep," Izuku called out without looking behind him. "I'm sorry for worrying you again. I'll try my best to be better about it."

. . .

Izuku laid in bed by himself that night considering everything. He used to believe healing was linear but he found himself to be proven oh so very wrong. If grief could be described as anything, Izuku would say it was an oceanfront that one would wade in.

He felt like he was watching the memories of the ones he loved slowly drift away from him as his grief came and went like a passing tide hitting his feet on the beach. He never knew when it was going to come or if it was going to be a big wave or a small one. Or some days there were no waves at all.

Izuku let out a stream of unfiltered tears when there was a small knock on his door. The wooden door creaked open and there stood Mirio in his white t-shirt and blue boxers looking at him in a sad way.

"You can sleep with me," Mirio said in a whisper that Izuku almost didn't hear.

Izuku originally thought his friend was offering his bed as a remedy for the bad dreams. Almost as if he was a child who needed to go sleep with his parents for shelter from a nightmare. Izuku shook his head and tried to wipe his face clean of the tears that wouldn't stop pouring.

"Thank you for the offer, but your bed isn't big enough for two grown men, Miri."

"No, I mean you can sleep with me," Mirio restated with heavy emphasis on what he actually meant.

Izuku stopped wiping his face and his eyes went wide. Bloodshot green eyes looked at Mirio as if he had grown a third eye but the blond just walked forward and crouched down to Izuku's height in bed. There were countless heavy emotions sitting inside as Mirio began to wipe his freckled cheeks of tears.

"If it'll help you feel better and keeps you from being out so late all the time, then just let me give you what you need. I can be good at it."

That was the beginning of the final step down into a dangerous spiral.

. . .

Two years passed by and Izuku graduated with a degree in criminology and what felt like a new soul.

His heart adapted and molded into a new shape to make room for the hurt he carried and he learned to slowly live with it versus trying to drown it out all the time. He smiled more and made some friends with the people in his criminology classes. He was thankful that AFO never reached out to him again, and he wondered if that was really the end of that saga when no more fires appeared.

He blocked out every Sunday to paint and indulge in art like he used to do with his mother and slowly a new life was birthed from the ashes of his old one.

He picked up interning at his dad's old precinct senior year and everyone there seemed to be overjoyed to have him on board again. Shindo laughed at the prospect of Izuku actually becoming a cop but Izuku trained his green eyes to learn how to mask his sadness as the years passed to keep focused on the task at hand.

And the first check box on his list was figuring out which cop at the precinct was working for AFO—which one blew the whistle and told the Shigaraki about his anonymous tip.

The internship transitioned into a job position when the captain demanded more hands on deck. Izuku was thrilled but it turned out Mirio wasn't happy about it at all.

"Do you really think you can handle it, Izuku?" Mirio had wearily said after Izuku showed him the job offer happily. "I mean, you're still not back to normal and I just don't think the lifestyle of officers is well suited for someone like you."

Izuku remembered how he frowned. He felt back to normal—even if it wasn't the normal Mirio remembered. He was recovering but the blond didn't see it like that.

His childhood friend constantly regarded him as fragile and broken. Not normal. Damaged. It struck a bitter chord in the burn victim whenever Mirio would try to control his decisions—much like Touya tried to.

Mirio would hold open every door, break all his chopsticks for him, and constantly insist that Izuku needed someone to take care of him because he was mentally unable to make the best choices for himself. Just like Touya had insisted.

The control Mirio wanted made Izuku clench his jaw in distaste because it reminded him of all the bitter parts of his relationship with the deceased redhead.

The future lawyer confessed to having heavy feelings for Izuku in his senior year in college, and Izuku explained that he couldn't return his affections. Mirio then made it a point to say this is why he didn't think Izuku could handle police work.

But Mirio didn't know the real reason behind his inability to date—especially why he didn't want someone like Mirio who insisted that he shouldn't make his own choices and treated him like he was weak.

Even if Mirio wasn't Touya and the situations weren't the same, it still hurt. The memory of the fiery gang member was still too painful for Izuku and it made the concept of falling in love again an impossible feat.

So he ignored it. Izuku felt like he had known enough love and loss to last a lifetime.

Now the only thing the new officer wanted to do was bring in all the people responsible for the Makinohara tragedy. He needed to not just for himself, but for the thirty-four victims whose lives were collateral of his and Touya's mistakes.

His mind was solely focused on the task at hand: slowly unraveling AFO without tripping their alarms. During this, Izuku didn't allow himself to think too much about the small addiction that took root in his life like an overgrown weed.

He grew into his new skin, building out leaner muscle and getting taller, hitting his final growth sprout to even out to 170cm. Some scars faded, but not all. Particularly the deep emotional one. It expanded with Izuku when he turned twenty-one like a dull mark as the greenette slowly became an expert at maneuvering bars, clubs and both Shindo and Mirio to get his fix to help him stay on track.

All of the countless temporary lovers fed his loneliness just enough to dull the ache in his mind, but he kept everyone at arm's reach. His fear of getting hurt again was undoubtedly strong.

Some men rejected him, too focused on his scarring. But Izuku this time knew how to rebound it with either Mirio or Shindo if they were available. If they weren't—he worked off his energy at the gym late at night and refused to sleep.

It's the same reason why, by the time he got his badge the night before his twenty-second birthday, Izuku didn't mind that Mirio wasn't available to help him celebrate.

He was officially accustomed to being lonely, but sometimes, being alone on holidays was a certain level of hard to swallow.

Which brings him to now, the evening of his twenty-second birthday wandering inside of his usual spot for hookups. He wore his rose jacket, gold hoop earring and a red decorative floral shirt that matched his favorite red sneakers.

The club he found comfort in was the most popular spot in Yaizu amongst twenty-somethings. It was decorated in blue and purple neon lights with a sign that read 'Happīdorinku' in bright white lettering. It was pumped full of nightlife adrenaline and happy go lucky people. It had a spacious dance floor and a large, long bar staffed by five bartenders keeping up with the dense crowds.

"Hey, Izuku! Happy Friday!" A particularly familiar voice called out over the loud music when he walked into the club fully. Izuku felt the comfort of body heat of the dense crowd as he zeroed in on his friend's welcoming teal colored eyes. He broke out in a bright smile.

"Happy Friday to you too, Itsuka!" He called out to the bartender.

Izuku walked over, full of joy to lean over the counter to the ginger woman he'd grown close to within the last two years. Kendo Itsuka was two years older than him like Mirio and full of bubbly life. She worked part time as a bartender to help pay her younger sister's way through college, and Izuku couldn't help but feel drawn to her sisterly nature.

"Haven't seen you in a while, what's going on? Looking for some trouble to get into again?"

"Ah, I'm just dropping in," Izuku shrugged and took a seat in the stool in front of her. "It's my birthday and I want to celebrate starting my new job on Monday."

"You got the officer position and it's your birthday?" Itsuka gasped and immediately she started scrambling to pour his favorite drink. "Izuku, that's amazing! I'll give you a drink free on me! Hey everyone!" Her voice suddenly boomed, stealing the attention of club goers nearby and Izuku felt embarrassment heat underneath his collar.

"Listen up, it's this guy's birthday! He's turning twenty two and got his dream job as a police officer!"

Izuku immediately shrunk at the attention, but all the strangers in the vicinity just clapped for him and some even patted him on the back with praises. Izuku gave a sheepish smile in return to all the kind, drunk men and women but slowly as he looked at the people beside him he noticed one man one seat over wasn't clapping.

The newly hired officer tilted his head at the stranger with jet black hair who was wearing a mouth mask dressed in all black. His black turtle raised an odd sensation because it was the middle of July. Why was he wearing so much to cover himself?

Then finally, green eyes squinted at the fingerless biker gloves on the man's hands and black nail polish.

When Izuku focused harder, he realized the poor lighting in the club didn't allow him to see anything past the dark bangs casting a large shadow over the man's hidden face.

"Looking for a new victim tonight, green eyes?" Itsuka whispered with a suggestive tone, wiggling her brows.

Izuku snapped out of his light investigation of the mysterious stranger before turning back to his friend.

"Oh, I dunno," he shrugged, picking up the orange screwdriver drink with a smile. "I just want to have some fun and figure I'd get out of the house versus sitting around. Mirio was pretty pushy that I didn't spend it like my twenty-first, just by myself writing poetry."

"Ugh, that sounds god-awful, Izuku. Your roomie is right. You definitely should be out, whether or not that includes you trying to suck someone's dick like last time you were here."

"Hey! Language!" Izuku cut her off quickly, looking embarrassed at the raised eyebrows of strangers around him. He leaned in and harshly whispered to her, "don't let everyone know my business, Itsuka."

"Don't let everyone know your business?" The ginger haired woman huffed as she poured a drink for the brown haired man next to Izuku who was now looking at the greenette in a new light. "Did you forget how we first met? This is gold coming from the guy who I found sloppy drunk on his knees about to blow some rando in this club's public bathroom stall—"

The loud abrupt screeching of a barstool cut her sentence short.

All the eyes in the area turned to see what had happened and Izuku was faced with the back of the black haired stranger's leather jacket. One of his gloved hands strummed the countertop as if he was pensively thinking and the other was curled tightly in a fist.

It was only then did Izuku notice the purple burn showing in the small sliver of space between the man's nape and where the turtle neck ended.

Then without a word, the stranger disappeared into the cloister of bodies into the shadows of the night club.

"Who was that?" Izuku whispered, unable to shake the feeling that something was off about the reaction.

"Oh, some new guy," Itsuka hummed with a shrug. "He's actually been coming here more and more recently. My guess is he saw something or someone he liked. His pretty blue eyes were glued to you when you walked to me just now."

"Do you know anything about him? His get up is kind of strange for the middle of July."

"To be honest, no. I just serve the drinks here and go home. But I did notice that he gets into the V.I.P upstairs rather easily. My boss said something about him having powerful friends? He wouldn't let me know the full details. Said it was above my pay-grade."

Izuku huffed, took a long swing of his drink and rolled his eyes at the term 'powerful friends'.

"That's just code for he's in some gang," Izuku mumbled into his glass. The brief bittersweet memory of Touya came into his mind. "I'll steer far away from that and I suggest you do too. Pretty blue eyes aren't worth getting tangled with gangs."

Itsuka laughed and poured him another celebratory drink and soon the mystery man was a forgotten topic as Izuku became friendly with the man next to him.

But the rest of the night, Izuku couldn't shake the feeling of eyes burning into the back of his skull. But every time he looked over his shoulder, he just saw happy people dancing to the music.

. . .

"Have a fun night you two!" Itsuka called out to him when Izuku was ready to make his leave with the guy that was next to him. They both waved goodbye to her as the man graciously took Izuku's left hand with a suggestive grin.

The stranger was more than kind and chatted Izuku up about his future job and his birthday. He smoothly questioned Izuku on if he had any after dark birthday activities planned. The greenette smiled, a fun thrill of excitement fluttering through him. He informed the man that his roommate was out of town so he could indulge in some fun.

However, on their night walk back to his apartment, Izuku kept looking over his shoulder. The feeling of prying eyes never left and the hairs on his right arm stood up underneath his rose jacket.

Green eyes glanced over his shoulder as he clutched the man's hand in the dark—but he saw no one.

"Is everything okay?" The handsome man asked while Izuku was still looking down the dark, empty street. The freckled man pursed his lips and slowed down walking when he could've sworn he heard footsteps.

But it could be his paranoia.

"Sorry," Izuku whispered and put on his well rehearsed fake smile. "I think I'm just a little naturally spooked when it gets late like this."

"Ah, don't worry, cutie," the strange chuckled, throwing his arm around Izuku's shoulders. "I'll protect you if anything happens and I'll keep you company tonight to scare off any ghosts."

Izuku laughed in harmony with the man but still looked over his shoulder one more time at the sound of strange, invisible footsteps.

. . .

When Izuku woke up, he was alone.

The morning rays poured into his room against the empty spot in his white sheets. Izuku stared at the side of the bed that showed evidence of the once warm body there but it was no surprise that the man had left before Izuku awoke.

The hungover greenette groaned when a pain shot up his spine at the smallest shift. He sat forward on his forearms with a sigh as he glanced around his messy room and spotted an unfamiliar orange sock on the side of his bed.

"Why do they always forget something?" Izuku grumbled as he lazily reached for his blue boxers on the floor.

The groggy freckled man stretched as he glanced at the mess of condoms and lube sprawled out all over. He made a note to clean before Mirio came back as he slowly emerged from the bundle of green covers.

He walked over to check the front door, since most of his one night stands who sneak out always forget some article of clothing, they always forgot to lock the door as well.

Izuku sheepishly reached for the handle but stopped when something caught his attention out the peripheral of his eye. He turned his head slowly to glance at the living room table and walked towards it confused.

Sleep heavy green eyes peered down to the table to see a single red rose sitting alone against the brown wood. He tilted his head in confusion as he reached down to grab it, completely baffled.

He wondered if the stranger from last night left the flower but when he read the note attached on the small brown piece of paper, something didn't quite add up.

You are the most gorgeous rose that grew from the ashes.

Happy birthday.

Izuku made a face at the lack of signature. He turned over the note searching it for more, but there was nothing on the other side but blankness.

He looked harder and harder at the rose in his hand that had been carefully trimmed of thorns and felt the hairs on his arm stand up again. He locked the door quickly.

That was just the first rose of countless.

. . .

Six months passed by and with Izuku starting his new position and receiving mysterious roses from a stranger with no name. It first started off as once a week, then there was a dry spell for a month, then it evened out to an unpredictable delivery to Izuku's doorstep.

The first round of roses were bright red and reminded him of his mother's old garden. But as the months shifted to winter, it felt like whoever was sending them was lonely and heartbroken—like him.

Each rose was accompanied by some type of poem that Izuku assumed to be a direct mirror of the stranger's emotions. The color of the rose always mimicked the emotion conveyed in the poem and Izuku admittedly felt strangely close to whoever this was.

Blue roses for sad, sullen poems. Pink for lovesick. Red for passionate poems that sometimes brought a blush to Izuku's face. Orange for friendly tones like holidays and wishing Izuku to have a nice day.

He originally assumed it to be some poor guy he slept with that must've been intensely fixated on him.

Then Mirio found out about the roses one day, coming home earlier than Izuku, and flipped out.

He immediately put Izuku's promiscuity on the table and blamed him for obtaining a stalker for his 'tacky' habit.

"Always so damn reckless," Mirio had hissed, throwing down the pink rose when Izuku caved and told him he was still going out to bars. "This is a warning, Izuku. If you keep throwing your body out there, it's going to come back and bite you. Get a handle on that already. It's not attractive!"

Izuku felt terrible as he watched Mirio's blue eyes flash with a mixture of hurt and disappointment. He knew his friend didn't actually mean the harshness of the statement and that deep down he cared.

But outside of the roses, nothing ever happened. No one came to his door and he received no new followers on social media. Izuku did sometimes feel the feeling of eyes on him when he would go about his daily routine in public, like sitting in a coffee shop and working out at the gym. Or when he would go to bars and the movies alone sometimes.

But six months passed and nothing happened.

So Izuku tried his best to keep up to pace at work and focus on his job, paying the roses little mind.

During this time, he blended in awkwardly with his new squad. All of them knew him as Hiashi's son but there was a strange vibe he got from one sergeant, Asahi Cid.

Sergeant Asahi was his father's old partner and he had a permanent frown on his face. The displeased expression was etched deeply in his forehead lines and he had a notable scar over his right eye that no one ever discussed. His eyes were a deep violet and his hair was the perfect shade of black that matched his gloomy personality.

The seasoned sergeant always hovered over him but never long enough for Izuku to get the impression that he liked him. It almost seemed like he was watching him, waiting for Izuku to slip up.

The greenette figured he was just being carefully studied, everyone in the station knowing of the Makinohara tragedy that took one of their very own. Maybe they just wanted to reassure themselves hiring someone like him wasn't a mistake like Mirio insisted it to be.

As the months passed, Izuku proved himself to be a valued police officer and also found himself still in the unchanged sex cycle without much effort.

He stopped going out to bars like Mirio wanted him to, but it didn't really help much when he ended up in bed with his patrol partner within the first month. Then two more officers the next month, and finally every officer that seemed willing to sleep with him by the sixth month mark.

It was a bit more of a mess than Izuku liked to admit.

Some officers, like his patrol partner, Atomu, wanted double dips and Izuku wasn't one to really pass up on the euphoric feeling he had come to be addicted to deep down.

But the strange looks he got from Sergeant Asahi still provoked something in Izuku's gut. It made him weary as he considered the fact there was still a mole in the station. Which prompted him to go to the station's captain, Nakamura Reo.

"Excuse me, Captain?" Izuku had asked one particular evening after his New Year's parade shift. The captain, Nakamura, peeked around from the mile high paperwork at his desk to look at Izuku.

"Is something the matter, Midoriya?" Nakamura asked with a soft voice. He was always more than welcoming of Izuku and tended to lean a bit on the touchier side with him, which Izuku attributed to his age group.

"I was just wondering, is there a reason why Sergeant Asahi seems to act off around me?" Izuku prompted as he closed the office door for privacy. Nakamura looked baffled by the question and Izuku felt nervous about asking. "It's just, he doesn't seem too fond of me and I'm just wondering if it has something to do with my father. I know they used to be really close partners for over twenty years."

"Maybe he's homophobic," Nakamura said nonchalantly and Izuku's eyebrows shot off his face at the bluntness. "What's with that look? You have to know that everyone here is well aware of the rounds you've made and what kind of partnersyou're particularly interested in."

"Uh, right," Izuku winced, and rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "Sorry, sir."

He had known a lot of the other officers were gossiping about him—especially after the file room scandal with Hiro—but he just didn't think the captain of all people would discuss it with him so casually.

"Nothing to be sorry about, Midoriya," Nakamura gave a hearty laugh. "I used to be a lot like you. Young and carefree like that! I used to explore different men and women all the time when I had the energy. I miss that lifestyle a lot."

Izuku's eyes awkwardly looked off to the side noting the shift in topic.

"You know, I grew up with your mother. We're from the same small country town," Nakamura said suddenly with a look of longing on his face. "She really was beautiful. Inside and out. Your father was such a lucky man."

Izuku's ears perked up as he looked at the captain in front of him, surprised. He didn't miss the subtle jealousy tacked onto the end of the statement regarding his father.

"I wasn't aware of that, sir. I guess we live in a really small world."

"Extremely," Nakamura sighed and leaned back in his chair with a fond smile. Izuku watched as the captain assessed him up and down slowly and Izuku didn't know if he should press again about Sergeant Asahi. "You look a lot like her, y'know. Same doe green eyes, delicate bone structure with soft features, and you even somehow managed to inherit her hips a bit."

Izuku paused at the comment about his hips and stared at his higher up taken back. He watched how the dark eyes of his grey-haired captain traced his outline and immediately it felt like their interaction was off.

"Maybe we can get drinks together some time to discuss your future, Midoriya. I would love to hear about your career path trajectory plans. It would please me a lot to make sure you move up in the ranks and help you achieve your goals."

"I'll be sure to let you know, sir." Izuku gave a plastic smile when the Captain's eyes settled on his mouth too long. He decided to drop the question about Sergeant Asahi and leave.

Izuku regretted looking back that day as he left the office, he caught Nakamura eyeing his backside with a lustful gaze.

. . .

Izuku ignored the creepy feeling from Nakamura and shrugged it off as an elder gentleman who hadn't been laid in a while.

Nakamura was always nice to him, despite the over touching. However, something in Izuku's gut still pushed him to set a boundary with him after the strange commentary about his looks. He had no intentions of going out for a drink with the man after that odd interaction.

Instead, Izuku stayed late every night in the precinct and discreetly watched Sergeant Asahi.

He noticed how he took two separate lunch breaks and how whenever Izuku completed a task, he took diligent notes about it. One day, Izuku found himself loosely following Asahi to where he took his second lunch break and found him going to a strange storage locker.

Then when Asahi came back, he placed something in a secret locked drawer in the large case-files room all the way in the back. Izuku frowned from his hidden crouched position as he watched Asahi cover the cabinet with a black sheet, making it easy to overlook.

It could just be his own well-earned paranoia, but Izuku learned to trust his gut.

And his gut told him to write down the storage unit number and to break into that locked drawer.

Izuku found himself nearly past midnight in the station picking the lock with the technique Touya had shown him so long ago until it sprang open. Sitting inside were piles of hard-drives that Izuku didn't recognize. They were nameless and when he tried to plug them into his laptop, they were encrypted.

Izuku cursed when he realized he didn't know how to unencrypt files. Then a small thought popped in his head as he pulled out his cellphone in the depths of night and pressed the dial button on a specific number.

"Hello?" Kai's groggy voice answered on the third ring. Izuku felt like smiling after not hearing his voice for so long. "Izuku, is everything okay? It's really late."

"I know I'm sorry, but I have a question, Kai. Do you know how to hack into encrypted files?"

"That's like asking you if you can paint," Kai chuckled. "What do you need from me?"

. . .

The next morning Izuku felt himself shake with anger as he carefully placed back everything he found.

He stayed up all night on the phone with Kai going through file after incriminating file on the hard drives and he felt his heart shatter with each one they unlocked.

His father had no idea his partner was crooked—this whole time it was the officer his father trusted the most.

Izuku called Toshinori first thing in the morning, not allowing himself to trust anyone at the station. He told the elder Yagi that it was an emergency and that he found something pertaining to Makinohara.

Toshinori drove to Yaizu immediately but looked at Izuku confused when the silent young officer handed him his green hard-drive.

"What's this, Izuku?" The captain asked, inspecting in curiously. "What does this have to do with Makinohara?"

"These are select files I found in Sergeant Asahi's belongings and the number to a storage unit across town," Izuku said, holding back angry tears. "You're going to want to take a look at this. Please, promise to keep my name out of the investigation going forward."

. . .

"Several dozen police officers in downtown Yaizu precincts have been arrested for being involved in crimes directly linking to several gangs, including All For One," The voice of the evening news woman spoke on the television.

Izuku bounced his leg while biting the inside of his mouth on the black couch. He didn't dare take eyes off the screen, watching everything carefully. Mirio's eyes darted between Izuku and the screen as they showed more than fifty police officers and several gang members arrested.

"All of the officers in question were arrested for leaking sensitive information to these criminal organizations. Many keep disturbingly detailed notes on other officers to report back to gang leaders. One sergeant, Asahi Cid, was found to be the main link between the task force and the elusive criminal gang All For One by a woman named Toga Himiko who was also arrested for being his point of contact."

"Are you okay, Izuku?" Mirio whispered as Izuku's eyes didn't leave the screen. "Some of those are officers from your precinct."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Izuku nodded emptily as he watched the entire police branch of All For One slowly become unraveled.

"The investigation was started when police captain Nakamura Reo was told by Yagi Toshinori that he saw Asahi Cid leave duty to go to a storage unit during an unauthorized lunch break. Yagi was in town visiting his hometown per family when this occurred. Nakamura immediately went to investigate this claim, and when he did, they found missing evidence and case files from over the last two decades."

"This is so screwed up," Mirio murmured, leaning back on the couch. "I can't believe my dad caught this. Who knows how many lives have been messed up because of this guy and the others?"

Izuku downcast his eyes when he pictured his parents and Touya. Then saw that tell-tale reel of memories that only appeared in his mind every so often now. But they were still crystal clear down to the very last detail.

He heard the gunshots and screams and saw Touya's blood mixing with flames.

"Yeah," Izuku whispered softly while looking at his left hand. "Who knows."

Later that night Izuku went out to a random bar and found himself underneath another stranger to prevent himself from reliving his grief.

. . .

The next day when Izuku arrived in the precinct after the bust, Nakamura called him into his office.

Standing there tall and bright like a giant ray of sun rays was Toshinori by his side. Together they informed him that Toshinori had given him a special recommendation that would allow Izuku to take the detective's exam early after demonstrating outstanding performance and diligence to his community.

Izuku felt his heart flutter and when he took the test, he passed with flying colors.

He received his advanced assignments, badge and a new air of self confidence that Izuku forgot he had. He felt something within him soften as he put on his golden badge around his neck by a black string and starred in the mirror that morning before work for his first day as a detective.

He smiled at himself and felt proud that he was still standing after everything.

A small tear slipped out of his eye as he stared at his new badge because he wished his parents could where he was now.

He looked longingly at the photograph of them on his dresser a little longer than usual that morning.

Five more months passed with the changing season melting winter to spring and then finally summer. Izuku had come to know his new life like an artist who had shaped their own being out of clay.

He worked every case with diligence and focused all his energy on living out his dream career and finishing his father's investigation of AFO quietly. He slowly fell into a routine that he didn't mind, in fact he welcomed it.

Izuku went to work every morning and then went out every night with Itsuka to the movies or mall. He grew closer to the ginger bartender as he hung out with her at the bar some nights. He saved his weekends for painting and slowly Izuku began smiling without forcing it.

He felt like a creature who was finally learning how to live again—and he decided on living fully for the three people he wished were still with him. He appreciated all the small things like sunsets, photography and dancing in the rain with Itsuka because he knew first hand life was too fragile to waste it away.

However, the issue of the roses were still at hand.

The beautiful flowers never stopped and Izuku still couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching him despite Asahi being arrested. He began to wonder if this was really some guy he slept with or if it was somehow related to the Shigarakis.

His paranoia told him to give the next rose to Toshinori to run for DNA. However, it came up scott clean—which helped nothing. If it was some random guy he slept with why would they make sure their prints were cleans off the rose?

Izuku couldn't place his finger on what, but something was off.

Then on this particular morning when Izuku woke up, he could feel something wrong in the air. He didn't know it at the time, but this early July morning nearing his twenty third birthday would change the course of everything.

He woke up to another rose sitting prettily on the doorstep of his and Mirio's apartment. The flower was light pink in color and was sprayed with his favorite cologne. The smell relaxed Izuku, but the thought of whoever knowing his favorite cologne made him uneasy.

The newly named detective pushed the thought down and placed the rose in his room in a designated vase he bought for them until he got the next one.

But when Izuku arrived at work, he could sense something was wrong. Everyone was whispering about him and all of his higher ups were avoiding him like the plague. He sat down at his desk confused and eyed the photographs he had of his parents and one of Touya off to the side on his tabletop.

Then a loud slam on his desk jolted him. He looked up to see a ridiculously thick stack of files in front of him and peering from above them, blocking out the ceiling light, was Nakamura.

"Finish filing these by tomorrow, Midoriya," the captain's deep voice commanded. "No excuses. I need this done by 6:00am." Izuku looked at the thick stack of unorganized files with dread.

"I might need more time than tomorrow by 6:00am, captain," Izuku informed politely. "I have patrol with officer Hiro this evening and I have a debriefing for an undercover operative with Atomu—"

"—I said no excuses," Nakamura barked and Izuku shut up quickly. "You'll do your scheduled agenda and this paperwork. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir. Understood," Izuku muttered with his head down.

He felt the heat of embarrassment against his skin when the whispering around him grew thicker. His captain turned on his heel and shut his office door with a slam. Izuku huffed as he eyed the large stack of paper with a grimace, wondering what he did to step on Nakamura's toes.

The young detective reviewed the last five months in his head silently when it clicked.

Ah. I haven't gone out for drinks with him but I slept with Atomu again last night.

Izuku sighed and rubbed his temples trying to subdue the impending headache the paperwork was going to give him. He figured it was only a matter of time before Nakamura got agitated about Izuku's deflections of his advancements but he just didn't think it would hit him this hard.

Izuku peered around the precinct curiously. Then his suspicions were confirmed when he saw Atomu himself walking to his desk with an arm full of paperwork as well. He pursed his lips.

He didn't think Captain Nakamura was a spiteful man—but here they were.

The freckled officer gave Atomu a sympathetic smile who just handsomely grinned and shrugged in return. The other detective gave Izuku a reassuring wink before hunkering down at his desk.

Izuku took a quick snapshot of the mountain of colorful papers on his desk and sent it to Itsuka.

[You]: Guess who gets to stay at work extremely late today #thisguy

[Itsuka]: nooo! D: What is that monstrosity!? That's work for at least three people!

[You]: It's all old misdemeanor cases that need to be digitized. I think my captain is mad that I haven't slept with him but I went over Atomu's place last night :/

[Itsuka]: Ewwwww what the fuck seriously? That's disgusting. Ugh. When you finish there *please* come by the bar and let me treat you. I'm working an extra shift tonight until 3AM.

[You]: We'll see...this might take all night :( I don't think I'm going to be leaving the precinct today.

And he didn't.

The day bled into night and Izuku was informed by Hiro on their shared patrol about what happened. Apparently in the morning, Nakamura overheard Atomu talking about how much of a 'great night' they shared with one of the other detectives. Izuku winced at the thought of Nakamura getting pissy at the information drop.

Everyone eventually went home by the time 11:00pm came around, even Atomu. The honey brown eyed detective declared he wasn't going to be someone's step stool and advised Izuku to do the same. But Izuku stayed, not minding the tireless night. He had finished a good chunk of the filing and figured he'd make it out by 3:00am latest.

Then a call from Mirio came through.

"Izuku, it's late," Mirio said tiredly. "I thought I told you no more late nights out with strangers."

"Don't worry, I'm at the station," Izuku hummed as he looked over a small case file. He held the phone in between his ear and shoulder as he began entering the information into the system mindlessly. "I just got swamped with some paperwork. I'll probably be back really late so don't wait up."

Izuku didn't think of it as a big deal, but the irritated tone from Mirio caught him off guard.

"Really, Izuku? You're going to just lie to me like that?"

"What?" The confused officer questioned, making a baffled expression. "I'm not lying, I'm really at the station—"

"—I know you went out over your coworker's place last night and I know you haven't stopped going out," Mirio exasperated as if he was fed up. "You keep being reckless and it's driving me up the wall. Are you not taking the fact you have a stalker serious? I'm always sitting up waiting for you to come back home because I'm constantly worried some creep got to you!"

"I'm sorry," Izuku whispered and stopped typing. "I-I don't mean to make you worry, Mirio. I'm trying my best to be better about that but really, I'm at the station this time. I can send you a photograph if you don't believe me so you know I'm safe—"

"—Forget it. I don't know why I bother to care anymore. Goodnight, Izuku. Remember to use a condom."

He opened his mouth to retort but the flustered blond hung up on him quicker. The crisp silence was the next thing he heard and Izuku frowned deeply. He pulled the green phone away from his ear and tried to call Mirio back but was just sent to voicemail. Twice.

"Is he serious?" Izuku hissed annoyed into the empty station.

He huffed as he shook his head at the rude behavior. He still needed to deal with Mirio one day—but he just didn't know how. The blond just didn't respect the fact Izuku couldn't—er—didn't want to date someone.

Izuku was fully zoned out and didn't notice how the door for Nakamura's office opened. Too busy lost in his thoughts, Izuku only registered the silent man leaning against his door way when he lifted his phone again, but this time he jolted from being startled.

Nakamura didn't break his blank expression.

"Oh, s-sir, you're still here," Izuku nervously spoke. The dark colored eyes of Nakamura studied him and Izuku felt a strange stir in the air.

"I needed to stay late to do some work," Nakamura said casually. Izuku watched as he put on a smile as fake as plastic and felt the hairs on his right arm tingle the longer the elder man studied him. "Where's detective Atomu?"

"He went home an hour ago, sir. It's just me."

There was a beat of silence and the captain glanced around the empty office space. His eyes crawled over all the abandoned desks before settling back on Izuku.

"Would you mind coming in here for a second, Midoriya? I have something I need to ask you."

"...You can't ask me out here, captain?"

"No. I need to show you something in my office. Now come here."

Izuku wanted to say no, but he didn't know what to do at that moment. How would it look if he ran out of the precinct and how would he deal with it in the upcoming days? He swallowed thickly and stood up like a lamb going to slaughter. He nervously ran his palms over his blue dress shirt and straightened out his dark blue tie when his throat suddenly felt tight.

He stepped right into the captain's office and his gut sank at the sound of the lock clicking behind him.

"You know, Midoriya, I have to say I'm surprised," Nakamura started, circling around him until he towered over in front of the shorter detective. Izuku kept his eyes focused on the ground, his feet screaming out to run. "I've given you more than enough signals but I can't tell what's going on. Why haven't you gone out for a drink with me yet?"

"I've just been really busy, sir," Izuku deflected, holding his hands behind his back and mentally measuring how long it might take him to break for the door. "I haven't really found the time to go out."

"But you found time to bend over for Atomu last night?" Nakamura accused and Izuku's heart stopped at the animosity dripping off the words. "You know, I could have him, Hiro and the countless others fired for sexual misconduct involving a subordinate. I know for a fact that you slept with them while you were still just a uniformed officer."

Nakamura lifted his hand slowly to caress Izuku's cheek and all the flare guns inside Izuku's mind went off.

"I would think you would show more gratitude towards me after I permitted you to take the detective's examination early. It shouldn't be this hard to get you on your knees for me, Izuku."

In a flash of lightning, the younger man made a move to run towards the door but yelled when he was forcefully manhandled backwards by an overpowering strength.

"Let me go!" Izuku shouted while trying to fight against the elder man. He scratched at the unkind hands that threw him onto his back on top of the wooden desk with a hard slam. Izuku's breathing swallowed out in fear when he looked up and saw his superior's angry, controlling gaze all over his body.

"G-Get off of me! I said get off!" Izuku yelled as he thrashed, knocking over all the items on the wooden desk as he struggled against the larger body pushing him up higher until his feet didn't touch the ground. He kicked and tried to pry off the intrusive hands that were touching him everywhere.

"Just fucking sit still," Nakamura growled out in a low voice as he forcefully flipped Izuku over onto his stomach and pinned him against the desk and his hips. "This shouldn't be a big deal for someone like you. It's just another cock fucking your ass—why does it matter whose it is?"

"N-No! I said no!" Izuku screamed when he felt a large hand make a move to undo his belt.

Then the sickening crack of bone breaking rang out.

"Fuck!"

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut and it took him several seconds to realize he had elbowed Nakamura directly in the face with full strength. Izuku whirled around when the large body pinning him down stumbled backwards. He watched petrified as Nakamura clutched his bleeding nose and fell to the ground.

Green eyes frantically bulged in horror when he looked down at the dark blood that trickled all over his light blue shirt. His breath hitched in fear over the reality of what was happening all too fast.

"You ungrateful little shit," Nakamura hissed in a low voice as he clutched his face in throbbing pain. "You're just like your goddamn mother—fucking shallow. Consider yourself fired."

The word 'fired' burned into Izuku's skull and he felt tears start to spill out at the loss of his job. He shook his head desperately and tried to apologize.

"I'm sorry—please, no. You can't do that to me—"

"—Yes, I can and I just did," Nakamura glared up at him and Izuku felt himself flinch at the hatred in his eyes. "You just assaulted your captain out of rage for giving you paperwork, detective. I don't know how well that's going to hold up if you go to HR. Especially when I tell them about your little habit. It'll be your word against mine."

"That's not fair! Y-You can't just lie like that, I earned this position—"

"—You should've thought about that months ago," the captain spoke coldly, lifting himself off the ground. He pulled his hand back and both him and Izuku winced at the sight of blood pooling in his palm.

Nakamura's dark, spiteful eyes dug into him and Izuku felt himself come undone at the seams.

"Get out of my precinct, you goddamn slut."

. . .

Izuku staggered back to the apartment shaken, eyes bloodshot red. His body was strung tight when a stranger had bumped into him and it caused Izuku to violently flinch away. The man apologized but was taken back by Izuku's disheveled appearance and the specks of dark red blood all over his light blue shirt.

Safety—I need safety

Izuku wanted to rip his skin off his body as he thought about the disgusting warm body that was just pressed on to his. He felt the sting of hot tears in his eyes beckoning to be let out. With a trembling hand, he tore open the apartment door and felt himself start to choke back sobs.

"M-Mirio—" Izuku weakly called out into the dark apartment. He walked over to his friends door and knocked on it. "Mirio, are you awake? I-I need your help, something happened—" he tried to explain but his voice cracked.

He laid his tired head against the door waiting for his friend's comfort. He just wanted to feel safe and he needed to tell someone what happened. The loss of his job weighed down heavy on the freckled man because he knew it was one of the only things holding him together.

"Mirio, please open up," he sobbed. "I'm sorry, please."

Izuku heard the shuffling of the bed and the blond's heavy footsteps coming to the door. Izuku let himself softly cry against the white painted wood. He braced himself for the door to open and for Mirio to bring him into a caring embrace.

But he got the locking of a door instead.

Izuku's world stopped at the sound.

He lifted his shaky hand to try to open the bedroom door—but he was shut out. Izuku's crying got harder as he fiddled the silver handle that didn't open up for him. The greenette took two steps back, shocked by the blatant action that screamed 'go away' and he felt confused, lost, and hurt.

But above all, Izuku felt alone.

He looked around in the dark and all he heard was the howling of the harsh summer winds rattling the windows.

Then his phone pinged in his pocket.

[Itsuka]: Hey bb, are you still working late? You should come take a break with me for an hour! You need a break 3

Izuku clutched his phone tightly to his chest before backing away from Mirio's door and heading out into the howling night.

. . .

Izuku walked into the bar, eyes puffy and red and Itsuka nearly dropped the bottle of whiskey she was pouring for a man with black hair at the bar. Izuku didn't pay him any mind, keeping his head down as his vision blurred with tears.

The loud music overwhelmed the recently let go officer but he found a strange comfort of safety in his usual spot as the ginger woman flocked over to him.

"Izuku!? Why are you crying!?" Itsuka gasped loudly as she looked at him closely.

She inspected his clothes and eyes went wide at the droplets of blood. Immediately, she rushed him to take a seat one over from the man she was just pouring a drink for. Izuku let the tears come pouring out as he slumped in the bar stool, exhausted.

He tried to open his mouth to explain but got stopped by a sob that came out instead. Without being prompted, Itsuka held his hand and rubbed his back to steady him.

"Just breathe for me, Izuku," she whispered, teal eyes looking at him dearly. "You're safe here, okay? You're safe with me." She hushed and Izuku squeezed her hand tightly. She had come to know Izuku's panic attacks and leaned in fully with the sisterly touch as she hushed him and brought him back down with warm embrace.

Izuku lifted his free hand to weakly hug Itsuka back and slowly his breathing returned to a normal pace as he calmed down.

"Do you want to talk about it? You don't have to if you don't want to," Itsuka asked. She pulled back to look down at Izuku in the barstool and reached over to grab a napkin to wipe the tears from his face. "I can pour you your favorite if you want, no charge."

"I got fired," Izuku whispered as Itsuka cleaned his face. Her hand froze mid-action and her eyes bulged.

"W-What?" She exclaimed, voice inflecting upwards. "Between the time you texted me at 10:30pm and now? You got fired? How?!"

"I broke my captain's nose," Izuku mumbled.

His eyes glazed over looking at all the people inside the nightclub dancing and singing along to the loud song. He felt oddly numb as he watched them all dance in their joyous spirit while he wallowed in the fact the only thing keeping him going was just brutally ripped out of his life.

"Izuku...Izuku what—there has to be more to that," Itsuka pushed, looking at him concerned. "You wouldn't hurt anyone if there wasn't a good reason behind it."

"I broke his nose after he tried to force himself on me," Izuku explained hollowly, still focusing on the dancing men and women. "He said it would be my word against his, then called me a slut as he fired me."

"Are you shitting me? That sleaze bag of a captain tried to rape you?!"

The sudden sound of a glass shattering caught both of their attention.

Both Izuku and Itsuka whipped their heads towards the alarming noise. There they found the source as the stranger with black hair and biker gloves clutching his bleeding hand with his face turned away from them. Izuku raised his eyebrows in shock when he realized that the man had broken the thick glass in his bare hands from holding it too tightly.

An indescribable chill settled into Izuku's core when he vaguely recognized the back of the man by the sliver of purple burns showing on his neck. It was the same faceless, nameless guy from his twenty second birthday nearly a year ago who had 'powerful friends.'

The stranger hung his head away from Izuku, concealing his face with his dark bangs as he stood up and turned his back fully to Izuku. Izuku silently watched as Itsuka hurried over to the tall, bleeding stranger and quickly ordered her coworker to clean up the spilled alcohol that was mixing in with dark red liquid.

Itsuka walked to the back of the bar for the first aid kit but Izuku found himself curiously studying the burns on the back of the man's ears. Bloodshot emerald eyes assessed the back of the man as he pulled out what Izuku presumed to be a black mouth mask and put it on. The stranger straightened out his ash-grey turtleneck and plain black leather jacket.

The raven-like man kept his head hung low as he walked past Izuku holding his bleeding hand tightly. Then Izuku's world felt like it stopped moving when the stranger paused near him for a second as if he was about to say something.

But nothing happened.

The man released his hands and let the blood flow freely. It dripped down onto the floor drop by drop, splattering onto the floor and it made the dark wood look as if a slaughter had occurred.

Then, without waiting for help, the faceless stranger walked out the door of the dark club as if some divine spirit had suddenly called upon him. The door swung open and the howling wind flooded into the club. The breeze rustled all the papers posted on the wall and Izuku's hair softly swayed along with it.

"Uh, where did he go?" Itsuka huffed when she came back with the red and white first aid kit.

"He just...left?" Izuku whispered confused as he furrowed his brows. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the closed door when he felt a strange feeling bubble up inside of him.

Something about the man felt familiar.

. . .

"Izuku, I'm so sorry," Mirio pleaded the next morning when they finally had a chance to sit down and talk. "I didn't know that's what's happened—that's terrible. I-I just thought it was another one-night stand gone wrong."

The blond had a guilt written expression all over his face when he woke up in the morning to Izuku coming back from the station in plain clothing, badgeless. Mirio had quizzed Izuku on why he was back home so early from the station and Izuku bitterly informed him that he had been been forced to resign for self defense against sexual assault.

"It's fine," Izuku whispered, holding the most recent rose left at the doorstep in his hand. He reread the message on it depressed, not understanding what it meant and too tired to decipher it.

"I think it's time for me to come back for you."

There was no signature or beautiful rhythm to it this time. Izuku stared down at the white rose for what it was in that moment: a reflection of his actions and an unhealthy coping mechanism that spiraled out of control.

He sighed and looked at his roommate with crestfallen eyes. "I'm sorry my track record made you believe that was the case and you deserve better than someone who uses you as a crutch. So...I-I think we should stop having sex."

Mirio's blue eyes stretched wide. "W-What? Why?"

"Last night made me realize I wasn't being fair to you. You want a relationship but—" A vision of Touya flashed in Izuku's head and his heart clenched painfully. "—I can't give you that. I-I can't give it to anyone. Look at me, Mirio. I'm a mess. I don't want to give you false hope that I might be able to give you what you so obviously need one day because I just don't know when I'll be ready to be with someone in that way."

"Izuku, no," Mirio rushed out and sat down next to him on the couch. The nervous blond plucked the pure white rose out of Izuku's hand and placed it gently on the table in front of them. "It's okay. I just was really in my emotions last night and I thought you were lying to me. I'm sorry for what I said and accusing you wrongly like that."

"That's fine and I accept your apology but I'm serious this time, Mirio," Izuku repeated, looking into the saddened eyes of his friend. "I'm going to start seeing a therapist so I think we really should stop—"

Both of them halted their conversation at the abrupt loud sound of police sirens coming from the television. They both turned to the news playing out in front of them and what they saw caused a lump in both of their throats.

"We're coming to you live from a terrifying scene in downtown Yaizu," the anchor woman said with a look of horror on her face.

She stood in front of a devastating scene that neither of them expected to see so early in the morning. Izuku's precinct was up in flames and there were dozens of fire trucks trying to dull the flames. But they burned on and on in the most fearsome fire that either Izuku or Mirio had seen.

"The 7th street precinct was bombed and the flames are catching quicker than anything anyone has witnessed in years. Firemen are scrambling as the Captain, Nakamura Reo, is apparently locked inside his office because of the lock being jammed. People are wondering if this is the return of The Incinerator, an arson weapon that terrorized Yaizu nearly three years ago."

Izuku's heart plummeted out of his body when he heard a name from his past haunt him like an undying ghost.

The Incinerator.

Izuku stared on in horror as the building he was just inside of began to collapse on itself.

Neither roommate said a word as they watched firemen successfully rescue a shaken Nakamura. The elder man's eyes were full of fear and he sustained deep burns all over his body.

Wide green eyes wearily looked down at the purity colored rose on the table in a terrible new light.

"I think it's time for me to come back for you."

The air shifted and Izuku felt his skin crawl like ants were creeping up his legs. Without warning, the feeling that there was an underlying foreboding meaning behind the message twisted Izuku's gut in several knots.

He pictured Tomura's sinister smile and jumped to the conclusion that the gang leader somehow found out about Izuku's involvement in clearing Yaizu of dirty cops. His feet iced over in fear at the thought of them going back on their word to keep him alive.

The memories of gunshots, screams, blood and flames returned to him.

Izuku without a doubt knew those raging, spiteful flames were calling out for him.

. . .

The next time Toshinori came to visit him and Mirio, Izuku got him alone and said something that would change both his life and many others.

"Toshinori…I may be in trouble," Izuku had whispered behind closed doors. He held up the white rose with the cryptic message on it for the tall man to see. "I think All For One might be coming for me."

Toshinori's kind blue eyes hardened when Izuku broke and told the truth of his involvement with the deadly gang.

He spilled out the depths of his soul about dating someone involved with them unknowingly and being the one to overhear about the police-bombing threat. He told him how he lost three people he loved in the fire and not just two.

Then he told him about how he was forced to collect money for All For One and that the string of robberies was him and the man he dated his sophomore year in University. Izuku shakily confessed that Makinohara was punishment for his anonymous tip ratting out the bombing and not his father's bust like so many believed.

But right as he was about to confess to building The Incinerator, Toshinori put his hand up and stopped him.

"That's enough Izuku," Toshinori whispered harshly. "The less I know the better."

"But there's something else—"

"I'm serious, Izuku. The less I know the better. I heard all I need to understand you were forced and abused by gang members into committing crimes you wanted absolutely no part in because you were threatened. And on top of that, you saved both me and my son's lives by stopping that bombing."

The noble captain stared determinedly at the rose in Izuku's hands.

"I once promised your parents that I would protect you if anything happened to them," Toshinori whispered, balling his hands into a fist. "I made a vow to serve and protect when I became an officer and right now, Izuku, I am going to protect you. If the Shigarakis want you, they're going to have to go through me. I'm sick of them ruining lives left and right like everyone else are insects beneath their feet."

"What should I do?"

"You're coming to Shizuoka City with me and starting over. I'll be damned if they think they can just keep hurting you." Toshinori gave him a very serious expression as he stood up and assessed the white rose closely. "Tell no one about your involvement with them, do you hear me? If we can avoid it, it's best that this stays buried."

Izuku nervously nodded.

"You'll be safer out of their territory and under my watch full time. They don't step foot in Shizuoka City due to it being another drug lord of equal power's so called territory. Plus, I just got an opening for a new detective. It could be a chance for a new beginning."

And that was the end of Izuku's chapter in Yaizu.

He packed up his belongings with full intentions of moving out of All For One's clutches and never looking back—no matter how painful it was.

He told Mirio that Toshinori convinced him to come to Shizuoka City after his 23rd birthday to take the new detective position. Mirio objected and begged Izuku to stay, but the greenette knew in his heart that he couldn't. There were too many ashes in Yaizu and Izuku was putting himself in danger by staying.

Izuku almost relaxed because the potential of a clean slate felt...good.

Itsuka had smiled and hugged him. She told him that he needed to visit but Izuku didn't know how to tell her that he probably could never come back to his beloved hometown because of a ruthless drug lord.

Izuku visited his parents' graves one last time, buying them red roses and turned away from their tombstones with a heavy heart.

As he packed up the last of his items in the moving van with Toshinori, the dejected green eyed man couldn't help but ask to make one last stop on his way out.

Toshinori parked the van outside of his childhood home that was overgrown with dark green vines and the same worn down blue 'For Sale' sign that had been sitting in the front yard for three years. He opened the rusted black fence to wander into the backyard and looked woefully at the thick weeds that overtook the once beautiful rose-garden.

He said goodbye to his home one last time.

He saw a vision of his mother calling out for him to come inside and his father sitting, reading in his patio chair all while a younger, unburnt version of himself potted flowers in the backyard.

Then slowly those happy memories turned to ash and faded away in front of him. It was then that Izuku knew it was time to let go. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his rose jacket and ignored the howling wind that blew his hair wistfully in the breeze.

Hanging his head down, the crestfallen man ignored the painful pull in his chest as he walked away from his home for what felt truly like the last time.

"Are you ready? You can take all the time you need." Toshinori reassured him but Izuku shook his head and in return gave a melancholy filled smile.

"It's okay, I said all my goodbyes. I'm ready."

He looked once more at the blue 'For Sale' sign and pried his eyes forward, because that's all that he could do now. Emerald colored eyes looked at the long road ahead of him and studied the beautiful dusk orange sky with a bittersweet appreciation.

"Alright then, let's go to Shizuoka City, Izuku. You're going to love it there." Toshinori grinned and patted him on the shoulder. "I actually think you'll get along really well with the lieutenant of my precinct. He's a lot like you."

"Well, I can't wait to meet him then."

Izuku smiled at the prospect of a new beginning.


Notes:

I hope you guys enjoyed! Next chapter is Izuku's POV of everything and the big BakuDeku reunion! Please let me know what you think below, this is oddly one of my favorite chapters to have written out of everything. It was nice to finally show Izuku's development and how his past has shaped him :)

Thanks so much for reading!