It was a wonderful day in the woods. Izuku would gladly have spent an eternity here just listening to the birds chirping. Of course he was heading somewhere, something his son reminded him of.

"Are we almost there dad?" Koshiro said. He was sagging behind Izuku.

"We're almost there" Izuku said and lifted Koshiro up on his shoulders, much to the joy of the boy. "Trust me, it'll be worth it."

The father and son duo continued through the forest. Koshiro smiling as Izuku told him stories to pass the time. Before the they knew it they had reached their destination as Koshiro made a small gasp.

Izuku put down Koshiro and sat down in the large clearing. Koshiro stood with wide eyes as he took in the surroundings. From the inland lake in front of him and to the snow-covered mountains surrounding the nearby forest. "Wait, mom has taken me here before. But we were up there" Koshiro said and pointed up to a nearby ridge

"She did?"

"Yeah. She showed it to me one day after I asked her about you. She said she spread your ashes there" Koshiro said.

"And here I thought I was showing you something new" Izuku said, feigning annoyance. He then noticed the troubled look on Koshiro. "Are you alright?" Receiving no answers Izuku decided to push further. "Are you treated well in school?"

Koshiro looked away and pulled his knees to his chest. "Maybe? There's no one bothering me."

"They don't want to play with you because you're quirkless" Izuku said bluntly.

"Yeah. And those who want to talk to me only do it because they know who my mom is" Koshiro said, holding back his tears.

Izuku pulled his son close, ruffling the boy's curly hair. "I might not have had that last problem, but I remember how being bullied felt like. All because of something that is outside of our control. Unfortunately society doesn't care about people like us. Most of them see us as useless and worthless. They might not admit it, but that's the harsh truth. All men are not created equal."

"So you can't help me?"

"I didn't say that" A smirk grew on Izuku's face. "I have some influence after all."

"You aren't going to kill them are you?" Koshiro said, suddenly very worried.

"Don't worry, there's no need to go so far" Izuku said, calming down his son. "You just need some slight emotional manipulation."

"That sounds worse!" Koshiro said, only making Izuku chuckle.

The duo then heard a distant thunder and could see dark clouds approaching. "I think we should head back home before we get wet" Izuku said and opened a portal.


Ochako got inside the hospital just before it began pouring outside. She found out which room she needed to get to and entered, bringing back memories of the raid against Overhaul in the process. "I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner." She said.

Bakugo looked up at her briefly before looking back at the bandaged and unconscious Kirishima lying in bed. "It's alright. A lot happened yesterday" Bakugo said, unusually quiet.

Ochako sat down next to Bakugo. "Is Fumiko alright?"

"My old hag is taking care of her."

"And how's Kirishima doing? I hope he'll be alright" Ochako said.

"Do I look like someone who would marry a weakling?" Bakugo said with a scoff. "He might have been in the middle of one of those explosions, but he'll pull through. They don't know when he'll wake up, but it'll be soon. Then he'll just need some time to recover."

"That's good. I got worried when I heard he was hospitalized" Ochako said, sighing in relief. "By the way, have you seen the news recently?"

"No, I haven't had the time. How bad is it?"

"Well, over a hundred heroes are dead, many more are captured, and the revolution has total control over Kyushu."

"That bad?" Bakugo said, slowly nodding. "Then I guess I got away somewhat unscathed."

"And Izuku is back." Ochako braced for the reaction, expecting anger.

"I see" Bakugo said. His face was unreadable and his voice gave no hint of what he felt. "I won't keep you busy. You must have someone who needs you right now. I can take care of Eijiro."

"Alright. Take care Bakugo" Ochako said and left.

Once the heroine had left the room Bakugo's fist tightened. His faced hardened and his eyes became watery. "Fuck."


When Eri came home she found a familiar sight. Her father sitting on the couch watching the same old pre-quirk movies he had shown her once. Except he was now showing them to her brother. "Trying to convince him that movies were better before quirks I see."

"Hey, don't think I didn't see some of the movies I gave you in your room" Izuku said.

"Well some of them were good" Eri said and walked over to the couch. "What do you think Koshiro?"

"I'm just happy seeing movies where quirks aren't everywhere" Koshiro said.

"Told you so. Everyone loves old movies" Izuku said with a small chuckle.

"Dad, is it alright if I talk to you about something?" Eri asked.

"When the movie is finished" Izuku said, his smile dropping.


"Koshiro, why don't you go to your room for a while? Me and Eri needs to discuss a few things" Izuku said once the movie was done.

"But I want to spend more time with you dad" Koshiro said.

"If you go to your room right now then I'll give you five pre-quirk movies" Izuku said. Koshiro immediately took the offer and left Eri and Izuku alone.

"I want to join your revolution" Eri said.

Izuku sighed. "Eri, I made a promise to-"

"To keep me safe I know" Eri said, cutting off Izuku again. "But I'm old enough now, I can take care of myself. I can control my quirk now. You don't even have to put me in any fights, I could just heal the wounded. Maybe you could even use your natural quirk and have me rewind you afterwards. I can-"

"Can you bring back the dead?" Izuku said with a dark tone. Eri fell silent. "When I promised to keep you safe that meant both physically and up here" Izuku said, tapping his head. "Now, I haven't always managed to keep that promise as well as I would like, but if I were to let you join the Phoenix revolution I would forever break that promise."

"How? I just want to help you like you helped me."

"Eri I…" Izuku said, reluctant to continue. "I think it's time for me to confess something to you that you weren't old enough to understand before. I'm not a good person" He said. Eri tried to protest, but was quickly silenced by Izuku. "I've had a lot of time to think for the last 8 years, despite technically being dead. And I've realised that no matter how noble my intensions are it won't change the morality of my actions. I've done more inhuman experiments than I can count, and I've committed enough war crimes to make the Geneva convention look like a check list."

Eri looked at her father stunned. She had never heard him being this regretful for his actions before. "I wouldn't have done things differently. If the option is between letting people suffer under society as it is, or to become a dictator to stop it I will choose the latter. Even if that means I have to carry the burden of my actions. If you joined the revolution you would have to do the same" Izuku said, his lips trembling. "Can you do that Eri? Can you live with yourself knowing you've helped killing tens of, or even hundreds of thousands of people? Innocents, people with jobs, friends, loved ones, children, parents, and families. Can you live every day knowing you killed them all?"

"No" Eri said quietly.

"Exactly. Because you are a good person Eri" Izuku said and embraced her, trying to hide his tears. "A better person than I can ever become."

"How do you live with it?" Eri asked.

"Well, someone has to take that burden if things are to change. As for how I deal with it on a day to day basis, well…" Izuku pulled out a sheet of paper and looked over it. "I write apology letters to those I've killed. It helps, even if I'm the only one who ever reads them" He said and put the letter back into his pocket.

They were then interrupted as Ochako came back home with a tired expression. "How has things been here?" She said.

"It has been nice. Koshiro is such a lovely boy" Izuku said, giving a weak smile.

"That's good to hear. And Eri, are you alright?" Ochako said.

"Yeah. I'm just so glad that I can be with dad again" Eri said, wiping away a few tears.

"Well, I'll be going now. I have some business to do" Izuku said and opened a portal.

"Hey dad?" Eri said. Izuku stopped halfway through the portal. "I still think you're a good person."

"I guess that makes one of us" Izuku said nonchalantly before disappearing into the portal.

"What was that about?" Ochako said, slightly concerned.

"Just something dad said to me" Eri said and got up from the couch. "I need some time to think" She said and went to her room.


Later that night, in a classified location near the heart of Tokyo Tsukauchi made his way through a series of underground hallways and to a large meeting room. There he was greeted by the prime minister and a strong man in a General's uniform.

"Minister Yowai" Tsukauchi said, giving the older man a deep bow.

"Good to see you detective Tsukauchi. I will not waste much of your time, so I will keep myself brief. Given the recent escalation with the Phoenix revolution the national diet has voted to use the self defence forces to combat this threat. And my cabinet has decided to put General Zankoku here in charge of this effort. So from now on you'll answer to him" The prime minister said.

"I look forwards to working with you detective. I hope there is some information you've gathered that is still useful" The general said

"I haven't been doing nothing for the last few years General" Tsukauchi said, already feeling uneasy around the man.

"If that's the case I want all the information you have regarding the Phoenix revolution handed to me within the next few days. After that you'll be leading the intelligence efforts into finding out where future attacks will take place and where we might make attacks of our own."

"Understood" Tsukauci said, sending the general a harsh look. "Anything else?"

"No, you're dismissed" Zankoku said and waved away the detective.


A/N: Would you look at that. It didn't take several months this time, yay! All in all I'm pleased with how it turned out. For the most part this chapter is a look into Deku's internal thoughts and how he views himself, if that wasn't obvious enough. Then of course Bakugo's reaction to finding out Deku's back, interpret that how you would like. And finally the introduction of a character which you will see more of. Either way, I hope you're all having a wonderful day. Goodbye.