Sorry for the late update! Though I guess it's sort of in-character for me, haha.

I had a hard time writing this chapter. Mostly because I had it planned out. Weird story, but true.

But thank you, everyone who reviewed! You made me seriously want to finish this whole thing right now and give it to you. Unfortunately, I was unable to do that. Go figure.

But commencing Chapter 23...

"Come in," Midoriya Inko told them the second they arrived.

She ushered them to her lounge, where she picked up a jug of water and offered them both a glass.

Tensei accepted it with a small smile that wavered on the edges. "Thank you for contacting me, Midoriya-san."

Inko's hands trembled, and she set down the tray, folding her arms to hide the shaking. "I…" She turned to look behind her, in the direction of what was most certainly Izuku's room and sighed. "I should be the one thanking you," She replied. "Both of you."

Mirio, nearly silent at his side, startled.

Inko blinked rapidly, then inhaled deeply, settling herself. "You helped Izuku be himself after- after I couldn't. You brought him out of his shell." She sniffed. "… I've never seen Izuku happier."

Tensei frowned. What…? But- "It was only because you raised him to be such a great person," He replied back, half courteously, and entirely truthfully.

Inko's lips trembled, but she didn't cry, only serving to flash them both a sad, tearful smile. "… I shouldn't hold you up," She said. "Izuku's in his room."

She spun and began to walk deeper into the home, and Tensei set down his drained glass and followed, Mirio at his heels.

Seconds later, Inko stopped in front of a door with an All Might welcome sign that, in other circumstances, would have made Tensei laugh. All he did now was grimace.

Inko turned the knob, and the door silently slid open to reveal a darkened room.

She stepped away, letting the two guests enter, then hovered in the doorway. "Izuku?" She called.

"… Yes?" A small muffled voice floated out from a mound of blankets on the bed.

Inko wrangled her hands. "You have guests."

There was no reply.

Tensei inhaled, then grinned full force and stalked closer until she stood a step away. "Evening, Izuku!" He boomed.

There was a sudden stillness, and then the blankets started to shift, a small head framed by fluffy green hair pushing out. "In- Ingenium-san?" Izuku yelped. Then he swallowed and tried to move back, but his hands were trapped in a prison of his own making. "What- what are you doing here?" He mumbled, looking down.

Tensei couldn't help but laugh as he sat down next to the child. "That's me," he agreed.

Mirio came forward and sat on Izuku's other side. "You hung up on me," He reminded. "I got worried."

Izuku flinched. "… Mirio-san?"

"Hey, Quirky."

Izuku burrowed further down into his blanket hole. "Go away," He whispered.

Tensei raised an eyebrow. From what he had gleaned about Izuku – and it had been a lot; the kid was an open book – the boy wasn't one to say something that could be taken rudely. And 'Go away' fell definitively in that category. "Why should we do that?" He asked, reaching up a hand to smooth Izuku's hair away from his eyes.

Izuku's eyes widened, and he stared at Tensei as if such an action was alien. "Wh- what?" He managed after a minute of recollection.

Mirio finished his work for him. "Why should we go away?" He repeated and stared at Izuku intensely.

Izuku trembled, the blanket hill vibrating with him. "Because," He sniffed. "It's my fault Daisuke-san is gone!"

Mirio inhaled sharply, then locked his jaw. "No."

Izuku shook his head, buried as it was alongside him. "It- it is! I... Daisuke-san was with me on the day he disappeared. He- he just dropped me at home and now- now he's gone."

Mirio exchanged a surprised look with Tensei, who pressed his lips together in grim certainty. It was true. It was precisely that.

"Daisuke-san was-" Izuku inhales deeply, seems to calm, and then continues. "He was distracted while we were walking back from the park and- and… and then he disappeared. He disappeared after leaving here, and he probably disappeared, trying to save me because he's a hero!"

The silence rang through the air like alarm bells.

Tensei's mind tried to swim through this as fast as he could.

But…

If Daisuke had seen something off-putting at the park, that meant other people had, too. It also meant that the security cameras on the streets would finally be put to use, because-

Tensei flinched, as the bed rocked and threw him back into the present. Izuku.

Mirio pulled up on the bed and began to peel off the layers of blankets that made up the mock fort Quirky had made. He did it with trembling fingers, slowly and resolutely. When the last layer pushed away from Quirky's curled up form – he was so small – Mirio pulled him into a hug.

"Not your fault," He murmured.

Izuku blubbered something that sounded suspiciously like a 'Yes, it is!'

Mirio ignored it. "It's not your fault, Quirky," He repeated. "Who knows what the villain was there for? And even if, for some stupid reason, they had decided to go after you, Daisuke being kidnapped was not your fault. It was the fault of the villain. It was the fault of the person who chose to be evil."

Izuku whimpered. "But… If Daisuke-san had never met… me…" He mumbled. "He wouldn't have been in danger."

Tensei placed a warm hand on Izuku's back. "Daisuke was trying to be a hero, Izuku," He said softly. "Heroes always have a target on their backs."

Mirio nodded and pushed back to stare at Quirky, whose giant eyes were filled with fear and pain.

(And a tiny bit of hope.)

"You don't want Dai to be a hero?" He asked simply, and Izuku's eyes widened.

"What?" He gasped. "That's not-"

Mirio smiled. "Then don't say it's your fault. Even if the villains were after you, you gave Dai a chance to be a hero." He held out a hand, and Izuku hesitantly placed his own on it. "He's always wanted to be a hero."

Izuku swallowed, and a second later, threw himself at Mirio and Tensei. "…Thank you," He whispered.

They stayed like this for more than a minute, but that was more than enough, and when Inko opened the door and stared at them with the beginnings of hope, asking if they would like dinner, Izuku nodded. "I would, Kaa-san."

Inko's eyes filled with happy tears.

Mirio and Tensei grinned.