ignore

by kitiycat2266

just wanted to listen and not read ignore this

2. jdjshe

Someone finally brought it up months after Eri officially joined the Aizawa-Yamada household. It happened on a night were she was staying over for dinner in the 2-A dorms while Hitoshi, Shota, and Hizashi all ate in their family apartment. It's Hitoshi who finally brought up the conversation.

"I think Eri likes Midoriya more than she likes us." He whispered over his dinner as he pushes the food around on his plate, not really eating any of it. His eyes flicker up to his parents who have both stopped eating and he feel the familiar bubble of nerves hit his stomach. Immediately, he opened his mouth to backtrack, to somehow take away his comment, to tell them to ignore it, but before the words are able to come out, he sees Hizashi's shoulders slump forward as if he'd been defeated by a great enemy.

"I thought I was the only one that noticed." Hizashi told the group, and with that it's like the tension had lifted and Hitoshi and Hizashi started exchanging stories about times they've been with Eri and she's seen Midoriya and took off towards him, asked if he could join them, or even just asked if she could go see him without anyone else. It isn't until multiple stories in that Shota spoke for the first time, clearing his throat to draw their attention to him.

"Problem Child was the first person Eri met that she could trust. She is still healing and that healing means being around people she trusts. It's fine." There was a certain edge to Shota's voice that told Hitoshi and Hizashi both that the situation certainly wasn't fine and that he was just as upset as they were.

"But, Mirio was there too and she doesn't act like this with him! She likes Mirio, but not like she likes Midoriya. I'd say Mirio is on our level, and none of us are close to Midoriya's level." Hizashi whined to Shota, defending all their hurt feelings.

"Maybe she has a crush on Midoriya." Hitoshi said jokingly. His laugh only lasted for a second before both adults were staring wide-eyed at him and he realize that they found that to be a realistic possibility. "Guys, that's not it, she's only 8." Hizashi's eyes instantly started to water.

"What if she sees him as a FATHER FIGURE?" He exclaimed, accidently activating his quirk as he began crying.

"Why don't we just ask her?" Shota said, clearly upset. His chopsticks were thrown on the plate before scooting his chair closer to Hizashi as the loud blonde man latched onto him like a koala.

With that, the conversation was placed on hold until they were able to do just as Shota suggested and ask Eri about the thing that was clearly bothering all of them.

It wasn't until three nights later that they got a chance. Eri was sitting next to Hitoshi at the table, smiling and laughing as she told the other three about her day with Midoriya and his friends at the park. The other three occupants at the table were hanging on every word she said. All their lives and feelings wrapped tightly around the young girls fingers without her even knowing it. When she had a lull in her stories, Shota glanced to Hizashi and Hitoshi seeing their encouraging nod before continuing.

"Eri, do you like it here?" He asked her lightly. Her smile started to fall and her head tilted to the side, showing her confusion.

"What do you mean?" She questioned him.

"I mean, the three of us love you very much, but we wanted to know if you wanted to be here with us or if there was another place you'd rather be." Everyone slightly sat back, all in anticipation of her answer. Her giggle filled the room.

"Of course there is nowhere else I'd rather be! You're my family and I love you." She told them as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. The group all let out a relieved sigh before smiling back at Eri. Hitoshi was the first to recover, remembering the original point of their conversation with her.

"How come you want to hang out with Midoriya more than us?" Eri immediately looked down at her food, her brows bunch together like she's trying to find the right words to answer Hitoshi's question.

"'Zuzu-" She began slowly before stopping, as if she knew they all needed a moment to recover their broken hearts at the cute nickname. "-'Zuzu gets it. He makes it easier to not think about the bad things and to be happy. Like, how daddy needs naps, or papa like to be quiet sometimes, or how you want to be alone sometimes. I want to be around Zuzu."

The trio was silent after Eri finished. They all completely understood what she was talking about. That need to recharge. It reminded them of how much she had gone through, and how she understood things that no normal 8 year old should ever have to understand. They all nodded to her, letting her know that they got it while they to recover enough to be able to form words.

"Is there something that he does that we can do, so that you can depend on us for that recharge feeling too?" Hizashi asked her, seemingly hopeful that there might be something they can do for her. She shook her head, not needing time to think about answer.

"We're the same. It has to be him." The words left her mouth with no hesitation, as if she was speaking a universal truth that all humans know upon birth. The confidence of her statement was almost enough to make the group accept it as a valid reason.

Almost.

"What do you mean, you're the same?" Shota had a panicked look his eyes that Hizashi was mirroring. Hitoshi took a second longer before he understood their fear. Eri's life pre-Midoriya had been a traumatic nightmare. Just the thought of his classmate having an understanding of what Eri went through made a feeling of ice jolt through Hitoshi's veins.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Eri whispered out, pushing her plate away.

"Eri, we just want to understand. How are you and problem child the same?" Shota asked again, pushing the issue. Eri's face contorted into an angry scowl that was reminiscent of Shota's own scowl. Had it not been directed at him, a part of him would have been proud that she'd gained one of his expressions.

"I said no!" She screamed at them, pushing away from the table before running into her room. Everyone sat stunned and in silence. They'd never seen Eri get so upset. They'd never even seen Eri get mad before.

"What do we do now?" Hitoshi finally asked his parents. Shota still sat staring at Eri's pushed back chair, not speaking.

"I think we give her time to cool down." Hizashi finally answered. They continued to push their food around until finally accepting dinner was over. Shota snapped out of his trance and the three wordlessly cleaned up the table and dishes before putting the leftovers away.

They were almost done when Hitoshi's phone started ringing. The contact name showed Midoriya and his parents made a motion for him to answer it.

"Hello?" Hitoshi answered.

"Hey Shinsou! You wouldn't happen to be with Aizawa-Sensei and Yamada-Sensei right now would you?" Midoriya's cheery voice came through the phone and Hitoshi nodded before flushing in embarrassment when he realized the green haired boy couldn't see him. He quickly put the phone on speaker.

"Uh, you're on speaker, they're both here." He said nervously, his hand rubbing against the back of his neck as he held the phone out.

"Wonderful! Thank you! Aizawa-Sensei, Yamada-Sensei, I just wanted to let you know that I have Eri. She was pretty upset when she ran into the dorms and said that she crawled out of her window and climbed down the fire escape. She's eating dinner in my room right now. Do you want me to bring her home, someone come to get her, or do you want me to keep her for the night?" Hizashi gasped loudly, covering his mouth with his hands to stop anymore sound. Shock was only one of the emotions that was filling the groups hearts as Midoriya talked. He didn't seem upset in the slightest of her being there.

"She what!?" Shota seethed, his tone a mixture of anger and terror.

"She got here about 15 minutes ago. She said she left at the beginning of dinner so I got her some curry, made sure she was safe and unhurt, and then called you." Midoriya's happy tone was beginning to dip into something different before he seemed to correct it. "She's okay. I'll talk to her if you want." He offered and that seemed to set Shota off in some way.

"I don't need you to talk to her. She's OUR daughter." He said, gritting his teeth, and emphasizing as if he were sticking some sort of claim to the girl. Hizashi patted his arm, holding his tears back, trying to comfort his husband who he recognized was in pain.

Silence filled the other end of the phone and for long enough that Hitoshi tapped his phone screen, wondering if the call had been disconnected, but Midoriya's contact name was still there and the call still showed in progress. The tension in Shota's shoulders was slowly fading with the elongated silence.

"Do you have a problem with Eri coming to me?" Midoriya asked, finally responded. His voice had a slight edge to it, but still came through as somewhat light and friendly. Hizashi and Shota answered at the same time.

"No, of cou-" Hizashi started, but was quickly cut off by Shota.

"Yes. We do. We're her family, not you. She needs to know that she can rely on us but we can't show her that when she's constantly going to you." Hitoshi and Hizashi both winced, hearing Shota say the concerns that the three of them shared aloud made them feel guilty. Even Shota uncrossed his arms and opened his mouth, wanting to pull the words he said back.

"I understand. I'll have her back in 10 minutes." Midoriya's tone was more flat and harsh than any of them have ever heard before. It didn't match the sunshine student that they'd all come to know. He hung up before anyone could say anything else.

Hizashi and Hitoshi both stared at Shota, waiting for him to say something, but he only lowed his eyes to the floor, glaring as if it had offended him personally. The air in the apartment felt heavier that it ever had before.

"Do you think we made a mistake?" Hizashi questioned, breaking the silence, and chewing nervously on his lower lip.

"It's better that we do this now than wait until he graduates and then just walks out of her life." Shota concluded.

"How are we going to figure out what Eri meant when she said they were the same?" Hitoshi whispered to his parents, trying to control the urge to cry at the whole situation. Hizashi's and Shota's panicked eyes snappee to meet his.

"I didn't think about that." Hizashi admitted. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and Shota leaned against the counter defeated.

"I'll talk to Midoriya and ask him about it. I'll do it after class tomorrow, just give everyone the night for things to settle." They all nodded their heads in agreement and slowly made their way to the living room to finish waiting on Eri.

Only a few minutes later, Eri burst in through the front door. She was sobbing into a stuffed elephant that Hitoshi recognized as Midoriya's from the few times he'd been in the latter's room. Hizashi ran over to Eri, opening his arms to offer her a hug. She started sobbing louder and took a step back away from him. Hizashi felt the rejection fill his heart with a clenching pain. Eri took in his hurt expression and looked down at the elephant in her arms before taking a deep breath and stepping forward again into Hizashi's arms. Shota and Hitoshi joined the two quickly.

"Eri, how could you run away like that? You could have been hurt." Shota scolded lightly. He reached over and brushed her hair out of her face. "You can't do that again."

"What's got you so upset honey? You can talk to us. We can help you." Hizashi rubbed her back as he spoke trying to calm her tears down. Eri shook her head, not answering.

"Let's watch a movie, that always makes you feel better." Hitoshi offered. Their parents both nodded to her.

"Yeah, let's watch a Disney movie." Hizashi picked Eri up, bringing her to the couch.

A Disney princess movie was played as Eri held onto the stuffed elephant and continued to cry. The three men were silent, all watching Eri out of the corner of their eye. Around halfway through the movie she slumped against the back of the couch, having cried herself to sleep and the trio looked to her with broken hearts before sending glances to each other. They all hoped that everything would be better in the morning, but the heaviness that remained in the apartment made them all know that it wouldn't happen.

The next day, the family returned to the apartment all together. Eri was still holding onto the stuffed elephant and the three men all looked a differently level of upset.

"I'll start dinner, Eri honey, why don't you go do your homework, I'll call you when it's ready." Eri nodded her head and silently went to her room. The second she was out of earshot, Shota threw his capture weapon at the wall in anger.

"Problem child won't talk to me." He announced. His body falling into one of the kitchen chairs. "I called him after class and he gave me the bare minimum answer to everything. Didn't even smile a single time. He barely even looked at me today."

"He acted normal in English, but he didn't come around me in halls either. He just kept his head down anytime he saw me. I tried to say hello, but he was gone before I could." Hizashi sat down in another chair, easing into it much lighter than Shota had. Both looked to Hitoshi for his interactions with the student that day.

Midoriya and Hitoshi had been sort of friends since Hitoshi had transferred into the class the year prior. They weren't especially close, as Hitoshi liked to be alone more than in a group and Midoriya tended to be surrounded by people at all times, but they talked and occasionally hung out when Midoriya wore him down enough.

"We only really got to talk at lunch. He asked if Eri was okay and then I asked what happened to make her so upset, he said it's because he told her he had to keep his distance from her for a while. Then he apologized for always bothering me and trying to force his friendship on me and said he wasn't going to anymore. Then he just, walked away. I didn't even say anything. I didn't know WHAT to say." Hitoshi used his hoodie sleeve to wipe away the few tears falling from his eyes. "I feel like he gave up on me. Like we took Eri away and he is just punishing us."

"If he wants to act so selfishly, then let him. If he decides to not be your friend anymore because of this then he wasn't your friend in the first place. I never took him as someone who would do this, but frankly I'm disappointed. I'm not going to waste my energy being upset over someone who if actively trying to hurt my family." Shota told them, hitting the table with his fist. His eyes glowed red and his hair levitated, his quirk activating with his anger.

"I don't think that's what's happening. We don't know any of this from Midoriya's point of view. I think we really hurt his feelings yesterday." Hizashi told them, trying to reason with his angry husband.

"If that were the case, then why ignore us and why stop being friends with Hitoshi? Why not just tell us how he feels?" Hizashi looked down at the table and away from Shota's angry red eyes.

"He didn't say he didn't want to be your friend, he said he was going to stop forcing it. When I became friends with Shota, I felt like I was forcing my friendship on him for a long time. Like, he didn't actually want me to be his friend and I thought about giving up once or twice. It wasn't because I didn't WANT to be his friend, but I just wanted to stop doing something he didn't like. Maybe Midoriya feels the same way." Hitoshi sat down at the table finally, sniffling occasionally into his hoodie. Shota's quirk deactivated, but his glare continued. "And talking about your feelings to someone is hard. He's still a kid too." A pointed look was sent to Shota.

"Then what do I do?" Hitoshi asked.

"You have to let him know that you also want to be his friend." Hitoshi gave a nod, showing that he heard Hizashi, but didn't verbally respond. The thought of having to tell the green haired hero in training he wanted to be his friend left an acidic taste in his mouth. It reminded him of too many times he'd tried to be friends with kids growing up only to be made fun of for his villainous quirk.

"None of this solves that he hurt both Eri and Hitoshi and is actively ignoring the both of us. If something was on his mind, then he needs to come talk to us about it. Honestly, if he thinks he's going to be a lime light hero with this attitude then he's wrong." With that, Shota stood up and walked away from the pair. Hizashi's brows furrowed as if there were more things he wanted to say, but decided against it. Hitoshi soon went to his own room, needing to be alone from the world for a little while.

Dinner was quiet that night, as was the next night, and the night after that. Eri was there every night for dinner, not asking to go to the 2-A dorm a single time. She didn't ask for Midoriya to join any outing or to go to the park with him either. They all came home and made pointless small talk. After about 5 days, the tension finally seemed to lessen and conversations began happening again.

After a week, Shota was semi used to Midoriya's short responses and not talking to him unless spoken to first. Hizashi stopped expecting Midoriya to greet him or even come around in at all. Hitoshi hadn't worked up the nerve to tell Midoriya that he wanted to be friends. The pair talked about school when necessary, and Hitoshi still ended up sitting at the lunch table with Midoriya and their friends, but Midoriya didn't go out of his way to greet him, invite him to do things, or speak to him any more than necessary. He was nice anytime they did speak, but there was nothing extra.

Eri seemed to get back to her usual self with them, but they began noticing that her smiles seemed to be getting smaller.

By the second week, she began yawning more at breakfast. Under her eyes started looking the slightest bit dark. She smiled less frequently and snapped at Shota once before apologizing and going to her room. The elephant that they'd suspected Midoriya gave to her was often found in her arms.

Shota had broken down at the beginning of the second week and asked All Might if he could talk to Midoriya about ignoring Hizashi and himself, noticing how much of a toll it was talking on Hizashi and how sad he'd look anytime he was ignored in the hall by the student. All Might said he would, but by the end of the week the avoidance only seemed to get worse. Midoriya stopped raising his hand in English all together and claimed to not know the answer anytime he was actively called upon. Hitoshi had expressed that he felt like too much time had passed for him to tell the other student that he wanted to be his friend and began to sit in a different spot at lunch because seeing Midoriya made him feel upset. Shota's anger was still boiling at the end of the week, though he couldn't decide where the blame should go anymore. He was angry that Midoriya was treating them like strangers, but the student wasn't required to treat them like anything else. He knew he had a closer relationship to his current class than he'd had with any other class, due to the multitude of villain attacks that had occurred over the prior two years, and in each of those attacks Midoriya had been in the middle of it with him. He was hurt that the student was able to shut him out so easily, and that made him angrier. At the same time, he recognized that if he'd never said anything when Midoriya called, none of this would have probably happened or it at least wouldn't be so bad.

Week three was difficult. They'd tried to recreate the things that Midoriya did with Eri to help her recharge, but it all seemed to fail. They went to the park, but Eri didn't want to play with them at all. They went to ice cream, but she didn't want anything sweet. They tried movies, but she'd get bored and go to her room. Her face fell into an expression reminiscent of when they'd first rescued her and Midoriya and Mirio were teaching her what a smile was. The three men were all feeling rough. Each attempt to cheer her up that failed left them all feeling worse. Hitoshi started spending more time in his room, Hizashi's silence began to feel louder than his quirk, and Shota's anger finally started to fizzle out and left him with just guilt. He felt like he ruined his family just because he was jealous of Eri liking Midoriya more than them. Eri's angry outbursts because a daily occurrence. She'd often apologize right after and then would go to her room before anyone could say anything. Any time they'd ask her about how she was feeling, her not sleeping, her outbursts, she'd clam up, and refuse to speak until they let it go. They tried telling her a thousand times it was okay and that they were there for her. That they would listen, they'd help make it better, they'd do whatever she needed, but she would only shake her hear in response.

Shota made her an appointment with Hound Dog during the fourth week. Somehow, that seemed to make it even worse. She refused to talk to him during the session and refused to speak to Shota at all for the rest of the day. After breaking down himself to his husband at the end of the fourth week, he finally caved.

"Eri, do you want to go see Midoriya?" He asked her after dinner at the end of the fourth week. Her eyes instantly lit up more than any of them had seen in the past month before it quickly dropped away again.

"Am I allowed?" She asked quietly. Shota nodded his head. Her shoulders seemed to relax and a relieved smile slipped onto her face. Shota told her to go get ready and she sprinted to her room.

"We can't keep doing this. I can't do this anymore. We're all clearly miserable. I'll apologize. I'll tell him to stop ignoring us and to be Hitoshi's friend again. I'll let him see Eri. I'm sorry." Shota told his husband and son. They both quickly hugged him.

"I'll go with you." Hizashi said before looking at Hitoshi. "We'll go with you." He corrected.Soon the family found themselves standing in the 2-A commons. The students in the hall all greeted them as normal, none of them knowing the struggle the past month had been for any of them. When Midoriya rounded the corner, Eri took off like she was running the hundred meter dash. As soon as he saw her he smiled widely and opened his arms, with no hesitation, she leaped into them and was quickly caught. He held her tightly for a moment and looked around, finding the other three standing awkwardly staring at them. They couldn't hear any of the words exchanged with the pair, but soon Midoriya began walking towards them.

"We wanted to talk to you. If that is okay." Shota said when the student was close enough. Midoriya looked unsure until he glanced at Eri and finally nodded.

"It's Friday, do you want to go to the ice cream parlor?" He asked her. The pure look of happiness that crossed her face cut into the three other males like a knife. They wanted to understand the difference when he brought her verses when they did.

The walk to the ice cream parlor was mostly silent. Eri held onto Midoriya as he carried her. Her eyes closed and a smile on her face. They entered the same ice cream parlor that they'd all been at the previous week.

"Izuku! Eri! I haven't seen you guys in a few weeks, I was starting to get worried." An elder lady greeted them with an excited grin. It was returned by both of them.

Hitoshi looked around making sure it was the same shop as before. This trip already seem different than their previous one.

"Sorry Hitomi, we haven't been able to come in, but we're here now!" Midoriya told her, bowing his apology to her slightly awkwardly as Eri was still being held against his hip.

"And you've brought new people! Welcome to my shop!" Hitomi greeted the trio who all gave a small greeting in return.

"This is Eri's family, Aizawa, Yamada, and Shinsou." Midoriya introduced them all pointing out who was who, before turning to the them. "This is Hitomi, she owns the place, but she only works on Fridays." He explained. The woman laughed.

"I gotta give those young kids their Friday nights. I remember what it was like to be young. Though, when I had fun it wasn't chasing criminals or exercising." She gave Midoriya the stink eye when she spoke the second sentence. Shota couldn't help the snort when Midoriya's face turned pink.

"You're two are his teachers right?" Hitomi asked looking at Shota and Hizashi, both nodded their heads. She smiled brightly. "I thought so. Aizawa is heroes and homeroom and Yamada is English, right?" They both nodded again to her simplified version of the classes, both eyeing Midoriya for a split second before turning their attention back to Hitomi who was smiling. "I've heard a lot about you both! You seem like real good teachers. We need more teachers like you in the world. So, thanks for taking care of this green bean here!" Both teachers instantly felt guilt burning deeper in their stomachs. "And you're Shinsou… Hmmm, is this that the boy you talked about who has a brainwashing quirk?" Midoriya instantly went red and Eri started giggling and nodding her head. Hitoshi went tense, waiting for the figurative shoe to drop and to be told off because of his quirk. "It's nice to meet you too! Izuku told me about you too. He says you're gonna be one of the top heroes in the future. You'll have to come back when you're in the top ten and bring your friends with you." She sent Hitoshi a wink and didn't seemed phased by his wide-eyed lost expression. "He's just as cute as you said." Hitomi whispered loudly Midoriya who gave a strangled embarrassed noise in response. Hitomi and Eri's laugh filled the store but Hitoshi was too busy having an internal crisis. All he could think about was that Midoriya told a stranger that he not only was going to be a hero, but a top hero, and that he was cute. Hizashi giggled at his side and he realized his face probably matched the red color of Midoriya's.

"Shut up old woman, I have to see these people after I leave here." Midoriya gripped at her. The tone was so different from his usual happy tone that it took the three men by surprise. Not only not recognizing the tone but also that he'd referred to someone by a rude nickname. She only laughed in response telling them that it had to of been somewhat normal behavior. "Can we just get our regular, please? I'd like to find a bus to step is front of sooner than later." She nodded while still laughing and made her way to the back away from the counter.

Shota watched careful, curious as to what the regular was since Eri said she hadn't wanted anything sweet before. Hitomi came out with a bag in each hand.

"Here or to-go?" She asked them. Midoriya looked to Eri who wiggled out of his arms and went over to the window to look outside.

"To go!" She shouted happily.

"To go… what?" Midoriya looked at her with an eyebrow raised. She gave a sheepish smile.

"To go, please!" She tried again. Midoriya nodded his approval and Hitomi handed over both bags smiling again. Shota and Hizashi stared open mouthed at the scene in front of them. It all seemed, so natural. Midoriya wasn't concerned about tantrums or calling her out to correct her manners, she was being so good for him. He was acting like a parent. They both tried to push down the embers of jealously that sparked in them again. Both knowing that's what got them into this terrible month in the first place. Hitoshi was still frozen beside them, as if he were a robot that had been turned off.

When they were leaving, Midoriya held out his arms but Eri shook her head. He dropped one arm and held out a hand, she looked at it for a moment before shaking her head again. He gave her a nod, never changing his facial expression once and both of them moved forward. They seemed to have a full conversation between them, one that no one in the Aizawa-Yamada house knew how to have with her. They all said goodbye to Hitomi who made everyone promise to come back and sit and talk to her soon.

Eri skipped beside Midoriya the whole way to a small lake hidden on a running trail. They never touched, but Shota saw that Midoriya's eyes were on constant alert of his surrounding and of where Eri was at all times. It gave him a little bit of relief that Eri was safe with him when they went off campus. They soon found themselves all sitting at a picnic table by the lake. Izuku opened the first bag and began pulling out croissants.

"They're honey butter croissants, try them." He said, handing one to everyone at the table. Shota looked at the savory treat in his hand.

"Why are these at an ice cream parlor?" He asked, ignoring the delighted moan Hizashi and Hitoshi made as they ate the bread.

"Hitomi gets bored. She says that baking something that takes so much time is good for the nerves and helps extend patience." Midoriya explained as he began walking to the trash to throw away the first bag, not having eaten anything himself. As if he could read Shota's mind he explained again. "I can't have them. They aren't in my diet plan." Shota finally took a bite, instantly deciding they would be going back another Friday.

Midoriya came back over to sit by Eri as she happily ate her bread.

"You want to talk about what's bouncing around in that noggin of yours?" He asked, giving her his full attention and ignoring the other three people sitting at the table. Eri glared at the bread in his hands for a second before shaking her head.

Shota felt a sick sense of satisfaction that she wasn't opening up to him and that he'd be feeling the same thing they had been, but it quickly was squashed when Midoriya nodded in understand.

"Okay." He said simply. Hizashi's mouth fell open. "You want me to talk instead?" She seemed to think about it before nodding. "Anything specific you want to hear?"

"How's your dad?" She asked him, her voice full of concern. Shota brows scrunched up, not having remembered Midoriya ever mention a father figure in his life and also why Eri would be concerned about said father.

"He's normal. He went on a business trip about two weeks ago, but he just got back yesterday." Eri nodded her head. Hizashi watched Midoriya's eyes flicker over to them for a moment and then shift his body to face Eri more. He realized how uncomfortable the student must feel with them all there, especially after a month of avoiding them. They sat in silence for a few moments before Midoriya gave her a small smile. "I missed you a lot." She instantly looked at him and nodded her head, agreeing.

"I missed you too. I wanted to come see you. I feel like-" She instantly stopped and looked over to her family before putting her head down and biting her lip.

"Eri, it's okay. You don't have to tell them, but you don't have to be ashamed to tell them either. Just because they might not understand doesn't mean they wouldn't want to know. It's okay if you're not ready though. Don't rush it. You know, one day, you won't remember as much of any of this either. You'll remember that it hurt, but you won't remember what it felt like to be in that pain. You won't remember all the times you cried or had a nightmare." He paused briefly before nodding to himself slightly. "Do you remember the time we had smoothies and I got that kiwi one?" Eri nodded her head to him while Shota, Hizashi, and Hitoshi watched intently. "Do you remember exactly what the tasted like or do you just remember that we didn't like how it tasted?"

"I just remember that it was really gross and then you got a stomach ache because you drank it all." Eri hid a small giggle and Midoriya smiled at her nodding.

"Trauma is kind of like that. We remember what happened and how we can name how we felt, but we don't remember the physical sensation when it was happening or even all the details around it." She nodded her head and opened her mouth before closing it again. "You don't have to talk about it. If you want to talk, then we can, but it you don't, we don't have to. You know I won't change the way I act or think about you no matter what you say or what you don't." Shota sat back, understanding what Midoriya was doing. He was talking to Eri and making her feel better, but he was also telling them how to care for her.

They'd been trying to make her feel better. They'd been changing things to get her to open up. They'd been pushing when she wasn't ready. They wanted to fix everything and Midoriya was content with how it was. It felt wrong to let his daughter be upset. It felt wrong to not fix things. He didn't know if he could listen to her cry and not keep trying to make it better.

His fists clenched by his sides. They all had something that worked for them, to help them recharge. Something they weren't capable of getting from each other. Just like Eri tried to tell them before, Midoriya was hers. Shota wanted to yell at himself in that moment. He tried to force Eri to change the thing that helped her and she reacted just like they would have. She got mad and pulled away. He wanted to protect her so much, he hurt her. He glanced over to Hizashi who looked just as upset and knew that he was having a similar thought process to his own.

Eri launched herself into Midoriya's arms and began saying everything she wanted to about the last month.

"I've been getting mad at people. But then, I think that I can't get mad because then I'll be just like all the bad people that hurt us. I don't want to be them. Then I get scared and I try not to be scared but I can't stop it and it makes me mad again. I don't want to be mad, I want to be happy, but I can't be happy because what if I'm just like the bad people? Then I can't sleep because I dream that it's not me being hurt that it's me hurting them. I'm the bad person and they are hurt and scared. What if I'm like them, Zuzu? What if I'm a bad person and I grow up and hurt people?" Everyone listened to the concerns of an 8 year old who had lived through too many things as their hearts broke. Hizashi felt his hands reaching forward to comfort her before dropping them, forcing himself to accept that she hadn't actually told him. She told Midoriya because it was his comfort that she wanted.

"I have those dreams too." Midoriya told her, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I used to think that way too. I thought that if I was a hero, I had to smile and be happy all the time. That I wasn't allowed to ever be sad, afraid, or angry, because heroes don't feel those emotions." Eri pulled back to look at him. He gave her a smile. "I was wrong. You're allowed to feel that way. You're allowed to feel anything. Sometimes, we need help with our feeling though, because while you're allowed to feel all the emotions in existence, you want to make sure it's not hurting you. It's always okay to get help. In fact, heroes have to call for back up all the time. Sometimes, when we don't know how to stop being angry, we have to call for backup and they can help us. They'll have a support item, like medicine, or maybe the issue just needs another set of hands."

"Are you my back up?" There was a vulnerability in Eri's voice that Hitoshi had never heard before. In that moment he thought she was the bravest person he'd ever met. Then seeing Midoriya not blink an eye before sending her a smile filled with all the love and warmth a smile could muster, he knew he was looking at Japan's future symbol of peace.

"I'll always be your back up. No matter what. I could move to the other side of the world and I would still be your back up." Shota wanted to tell him not to make a promise he couldn't keep, but the determination in Midoriya's eyes left no question that his words were a promise he would take to the grave.

"Who is your back up?" Eri asked and the group all watched Midoriya's face fall.

"I have you, right?" He joked lightly, but the light in his eyes had dimmed too much to make anyone smile.

Shota, Hizashi, and Hitoshi all began to get a bad feeling. One that they all simultaneously hoped wouldn't come true.

"I'm too young to be back up yet. You need older people to be your back up." Midoriya sat slightly back and Eri took the sign to climb off him and back into her original seat.

"I don't have back up yet, but I that doesn't mean I won't in the future." The sad look in Midoriya's eyes raised so many questions in the three onlookers, but they also knew that they couldn't ask anything in that moment.

Eri turned to the group for the first time in the whole conversation before giving them a slight smile.

"I love you guys, but I'm not ready to talk about all the things that bother me with you yet. But, I have back up, so it's okay. Please, don't be upset with my backup again." Shota gave her a quick nod before standing up and walking away as quickly as he could. Once he was out of sight, he fell against a tree and began crying silently into his hands.

Hizashi and Hitoshi quickly agreed with Eri and promised her they wouldn't and that it was okay. Hizashi stood up and said he was going to find Shota, but Midoriya stopped him. He handed over the second bag they'd gotten from Hitomi.

"Stay, feed the ducks. I'll find him." Without waiting for an answer, Midoriya started walking in the direction Shota had gone.

"Come on! They're fun to feed." Eri waved both Hitoshi and Hizashi forward and as if she was holding their leashes, they followed along behind her.

Shota heard someone walking towards him, but paid no attention, thinking that it was only his husband. The person sat down next to him, but never said anything. After a moment, Shota looked over and saw Mydoria sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest calmly looking at the trees around them. Noticing that he was being observed at, he looked at his teacher and gave a small smile.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked and Shota couldn't help but snort.

"I'm not an 8 year old, you don't have to treat me as such." He told him, looking away from the student.

"Then, how do you want me to treat you?" Midoriya's tone was surprisingly genuine.

"Like your teacher." Shota told him harshly, hiding his tear stained cheeks under his capture weapon.

"I am. If I saw any teacher crying, I'd ask if they wanted to talk about it." Shota gave him a pointed glare.

"Really, because you're been ignoring Hizashi and I for a month." He felt a flash of the anger he'd felt over the last month coming back to him. Midoriya shook his head.

"You want the truth or a lie to make you feel better?" Shota didn't know how to answer. He'd never had someone up front ask him if he wanted a lie. He searched Midoriya's face and didn't find anything telling him that this was a trick question.

"The truth." He finally answered. Midoriya nodded before looking away from his face and back to the trees in front of him.

"You and Yamada-Sensei are different than other teachers I've had. You were two teachers that I thought really cared about their students, me included. Then Eri came to my dorm and said she felt like you guys didn't want her around me anymore. I thought there was no way that could be true, because you trusted me, and you would have talked to me. Then I called and that was exactly the situation. I've been made to feel like an outsider my entire life, especially by teachers. I know I'm not your family. When you said it though, it felt like you were reminding me that I was an outsider. It hurt knowing that in some way, you were just like all the other teachers." Midoriya shrugged his shoulder as if to say, 'oh well'. "It's my fault for putting you guys on such a pedestal." Shota wanted to say so many things. He wanted to go back in time and yell at his previous self. He wanted to tell him that, what he said was misinterpreted, but he couldn't do any of that. He was telling Midoriya that he was an outsider in that situation. He couldn't go back in time or change what he said.

"I'm sorry. I overreacted because I was angry and hurt. We all felt like Eri liked you more than she liked us and it sounds stupid now. We were jealous. That's no reason to have taken it out on you." He tried to be as honest as he could with the student and hoped that it would somehow fix the broken trust his student now had. He felt sick knowing that his student was hurting and not only did he not know, but he made it worse. Midoriya gave a single nod. Shota couldn't stand the silence. "Why did you stop being friends with Hitoshi and why did you start ignoring Hizashi? Why punish them when I was the one that upset you?" Midoriya gave him a confused look.

"I wasn't punishing you. Any of you. I stopped greeting Yamada-Sensei because it felt like all the times that teachers were nice to me to make fun of me later or because they were being watched at the time. I know he tried to say he didn't mind her hanging out me, but he never said anything to contradict that he also thought I was an outsider. So, I didn't want to talk to him. As far as Shinsou goes, I didn't stop being his friend. I just stopped trying to force him to be mine. I still consider him to be a friend, but I know that I annoy him, and that the only time he hangouts out with me is because he just wants me to stop talking. Contrary to popular belief, my tolerance for things is not infinite. Eventually, even I give up." Shota sat back and digested the words Midoriya said. He felt the self-hatred and guilt that he'd been feeling come back full force. He tried to push past it and start addressing the concerning statements he'd heard Eri and Midoriya make about him, but he was finding it difficult. He wanted to know why Midoriya's previous teachers hadn't liked him and why he thought they would make fun of him. He wanted to know why he felt like an outsider. Why Eri talked about both of them being hurt. All the questions held on the top of his tongue.

"All of us have been miserable this past month. Not only because Eri has been so upset. Hizashi misses your greetings, Hitoshi misses you inviting him places, and even I miss you talking in class." Shota admitted quietly. Midoriya gave him a sad smile in return, choosing to not respond to him verbally. The two sit in silence, for a few minutes, before Midoriya finally speaks up.

"We should go back. I'm sure Eri is chasing the ducks by now. Also, sometimes she doesn't like physical contact. If she pulls away or says no to it, let her and don't give any indication that you're upset. If you do she'll pick up on it and force herself to take it." Midoriya told him quickly as he stood up. Shota watched as the student stretched slightly. His mind finally settled on a single thought.

"Eri said you were the same. How are you the same?" Midoriya froze and looked at him. Multiple emotions crossed his face before it settled on the normal everyday smile he wore.

"Kids say the darndest things." With that, Midoriya turned away and walked back to where they all been sitting previously.

Shota sat there for a moment longer before walking back to join the others. Hizashi instantly hugged him when he was close enough.

Hizashi was relieved when Shota had come back. He wasn't sure if he'd call what was happening a good time, due to all of the tense emotions he was sure his husband and son were feeling also, but he was glad to see Eri looking happier.

"Eri, it's time to go. It's sunset, I need to do my workout." Midoriya's voice cut through everyone's thoughts. They all saw Eri give a sad look but nod her head in acceptance.

"Today is running, right?" She asked him and she threw away the empty paper bag and reach out to grab onto Midoriya's hand.

"Oh! It's changed a little bit since last month. I moved running to Wednesday to I wouldn't be tired on the weekends. So Friday's are strength now." Midoriya looked over his shoulder and motioned for the three tagalongs to join them in leaving back to the dorms.

Hitoshi felt his face heat up when Midoriya's eyes met his for a split second before his classmate turned back around. Hitoshi was left looking at the back of his head and the very red tip of one of his uncovered ears. He started to psych himself up to talk to tell Midoriya that he did in fact want to be friends.

"Midoriya, do you want to come over for dinner this weekend?" Hizashi asked out, making Midoriya turn to look at him. The teacher was ignoring the surprised looks for his son and husband and instead focusing on the surprised look on Midoriya's face. "We'd love if you could join, only if you want to though."

"I'm actually going home this weekend. My father wanted to spend time with me." No one missed how Eri's hand gripped onto Midoriya's tighter at the mention of him going home. "Weekends aren't really the best for me. Tuesday-Friday is better.

"Can we go to the park Tuesday?" Eri asked him. Hizashi bit his lip, wondering how different a trip to the park would go with Midoriya verses when they tried to take her. The trip to the ice cream parlor already proved to be a completely different experience.

"If you're up for it, you can come over for dinner and then go to the park on Tuesday." Shota concluded, trying to satisfy all parties. Midoriya nodded his head slowly and both Eri and Hizashi let out a delighted noise.When they got back to campus, Midoriya stopped and dropped onto one knee in front of Eri, making him have to look up into her eyes.

"Are you going to be okay until Tuesday?" He asked her. Her whole face scrunched up. "Are you concerned about something?" She nodded, glancing slightly over to her parents and brother. "They won't be upset with you, no matter what you say." Midoriya looked over to the two teachers who nodded their heads in agreeance.

"You can tell us anything." Hitoshi encouraged.

"I'm scared that they'll say I can't go around you again." Shota's heart dropped in his chest at her words. Midoriya frowned slightly, dropping his gaze to the ground.

"I told you before, Eri. They didn't say you had to stop. I knew that it was upsetting them, so I made the choice. It wasn't my intention to hurt you, and I don't want you to blame your family either. Sometimes we all make mistakes. You know, if you need me I will always be there, no matter what. But, they are right too, they love you so much and it hurts them when they see that you're upset but they can't help you. " He reached up slowly and wiped a stray tear off Eri's cheek. "I'm sorry that I hurt you by telling you that you shouldn't come around for a while. I did what I thought was best but I ended up letting my own issues get in the way, but I'll do better. That's all we can do. When you make a mistake, you try to do better next time." Eri nodded along, trying to take in every word he was saying.

Hizashi grabbed onto Shota's hand as he listened to Midoriya. It took everything in his power not to yell that it wasn't the students fault. That is was his, Shota's, and Hitoshi's fault. It hurt to watch his student willingly tarnish his relationship with Eri, without a blink of eye. He watched as Eri cried and felt his own tears. He wanted to ask why Midoriya was so good at this, but he knew after what happened, right now wasn't the best time to pry.

"I'm scared I'll get angry more." Eri whispered low enough that Shota had to strain to hear it.

"I get angry too. Your dad, your papa, and your brother, they get angry too. As scary as it is to let yourself feel certain emotions, you need to feel them so you can learn what to do with them. Right now, you're like an empty glass. Your emotions are like different kinds of juice. When you accept the emotions and allow yourself to feel it, your glass empties out and it's nice and clean, waiting for the next juice. But, when you don't let yourself feel it, then your glass doesn't get to empty out. Then when you try to add a different juice, the flavor is gross and eventually your glass overflows. As funny as it sounds, sometimes you just need to scream into a pillow. Some people run and that helps when get out that energy and also think about what is making them angry. We just have to find what works for you." Midoriya turned her slightly to face her family. "The best thing to do now it so warn them, so they are aware and but they don't freak out because you're acting out of the ordinary." Eri looked to the ground and played with her fingers before opening her mouth.

"I'm sorry that I'm angry-" She started but Midoriya cut her off.

"No apologizing for how you feel. How you feel is valid. You can tell them you're sorry if you yell at them or accidently hurt them, but no saying you're sorry for how you feel." His tone was firm was still carried the same caring nature that he'd had with her the whole trip. Hizashi and Shota were both shocked with the ease that he scolded her. Also, with how good he was with emotions. Shota couldn't help to be concerned with by his student was so mature.

"I feel angry. I don't know how to stop that or what to do with it, but I want to get better. I'm sorry if I hurt you or yell at you. I don't want to be angry, but I can't stop it." Eri stared at the ground as she talked, never making eye contact with anyone. As soon as she was done, Midoriya whispered his praise before turning to the family.

"Now, Eri has told you something very important, she needs you to accept her warning and reassure her that even if she is angry, you will still love her and accept her." He motioned his hand to them to proceed with his instruction. There was a look in his eyes that told Shota that in that moment Midoriya didn't care that he was a student talking to two of his teachers like children.

"We will always love you. Thank you for warning us and we'll try to not push you into feeling better. When you find something that works for you, just let us know." Hizashi told her moving forward and sitting on his knees in front of her, like Midoriya. Hitoshi moved forward nodding his head.

"You're my little sister, that'll never change. Sometimes listening to music help me when I'm angry. I just shut out the world and listen to songs written by people as angry as I am." Hitoshi sat in between Midoriya and Hizashi, crossed legged on the ground. Shota took a step forward, realizing it was his turn.

"Eri, I owe you an apology. I'm sorry that I gave Midoriya the impression that it was best for you two to not see one another. I'm also sorry for trying to push you. Midoriya is right, you're allowed to feel anything and you never have to be sorry about it. We will always accept you and love you. I think if you want help, that you should continue to see Hound Dog. He could be good back up." Shota told her, remembering what Midoriya had said previously about getting help from people. "We would be your back up too. It's okay if you aren't ready for that, we won't push you, but you have the option to have us too." Eri nodded her head and then rushed forward, grabbing on to Hizashi, hugging him. She grabbing onto Hitoshi's t-shirt pulling him in, and looked at Shota, silently beckoning him forward as well.

The four embraced for a minute before Eri pulled away, muttering a smile 'thank you', and wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"Young Midoriya!" The group turned to see All Might walking towards them. Shota had to hide his shock as Midoriya stood up quickly and stood in front of the group, chest out and a fake smile plastered on his face. One hand reached out to give a large wave as his other reached around and pushed Eri more behind him, hiding her from view.

"All Might! Hey, I was just going to the gym. Sorry, I'm running late. I was talking to Aizawa-Sensei and Yamada-Sensei for a moment." Hizashi and Hitoshi both got to their feet and gave a waved at the retired hero. The family could definitely sense that something was very off.

"What conversation could be so important that you'd be late for training?" All Might asked him and Midoriya gave his same nervous laugh that Hitoshi and Shota were used to seeing during heroics class.

"I forgot to fill out my weekend dismissal form so I could go off campus to see my mom and then I saw Yamada-Sensei and had to ask about our recent English homework." Hitoshi gave a quick glance to his parents to see if they were having just as much trouble controlling their panic as he was. Midoriya was known to not only be the worst liar in 2-A but also that he had a close relationship with the All Might. One that wouldn't involve a blatant lie that could be called by four people. Hitoshi's eyes trailed down to see Eri facing away from All Might and plastered to the back to Midoriya's legs. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her hands clasped together.

"You need to be more responsible, Young Midoriya. A future hero should not be forgetting something like that, and slacking on your studies too." The co-heroics teacher sighed before smiling at the person who all the teacher's knew to be All Might protégé. "Well let's go workout now so you have time to study tonight before seeing your mother." All Might motioned for Midoriya to walk ahead of him.

"Of course, All Might." Midoriya agreed nodding and giving a smile. Hitoshi saw him glance in his direction before reaching out and grabbing onto him, dragging him to stand in front of Midoriya. His whole body tensed in the hug and he looked at both of his parents shocked faces, he was sure his owned mirrored theirs.

"Okay, I'll miss you, see you later, Shinsou!" He happily exclaimed in his ear before Hitoshi felt his body being moved again. Midoriya flipped their positions so Hitoshi was now facing All Might, who was looking in the opposite direction, his glowing blue eyes glaring. Before Hitoshi could blink, Midoriya had let him go and was walking in front of All Might who gave them all a smile goodbye wave and trailed after Midoriya. Once they were far enough way, Hitoshi broke the silence.

"What in the world was that?" He turned to face his parents and found them both looking at a still tense Eri. Hitoshi instantly put the pieces together. Midoriya did that so All Might wouldn't see Eri.

"Let's go home, and then we can talk about this." Shota told them all, sending a glance to Midoriya and All Might disappearing figures.

The walk to their on campus apartment was quick and full of side glances from Hizashi and Shota as they both kept their guard, protecting their two children. Eri had a firm grip on Hitoshi's hand the whole way home.

"Eri, can we talk about what happened with All Might just now?" Shota asked when they were finally home and all went to sit in the living room. Shota noticed Eri's immediate discomfort and tried to do as Midoriya had. "If okay if you don't want to talk about it." He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible about the whole thing, ignoring the panicked expression by Hitoshi and Hizashi.

"'Zuzu said I have to stay away from All Might and if I'm ever near him then I need to run and find you guys or him." She immediately started playing with the quirk canceling bracelet on her wrist. "He said if All Might ever asked me to take off my bracelet that I'm supposed to start running and scream as loud as I can." All three men felt like ice water had been pumped into their veins.

While All Might wasn't Shota or Hizashi's favorite person, it wasn't a secret that the students adored the man, and none of them more than Midoriya himself. It was long theorized by the student body that Midoriya was actually his son, and after All Might announced that he was his protégé, the staff started to question whether the theory was true as well. To think that Mydoria would be scared of All Might getting close to Eri was more than a little concerning.

"If that's what he told you to do, then that's what you should do. Don't worry, we'll all keep you safe." Shota reassured her.

"Do you know why he thought that?" Hizashi asked. Eri was silent for long enough that they thought she wasn't going to answer and all took steps away to try and make a plan on what to do.

"Zuzu and I are the same." She told them, repeating the phrase she'd used a month ago.

"I'm sorry Eri, we don't know what you mean by that." Hitoshi told her. "Can you help us understand? It seems like Midoriya isn't safe and we want to help him." Shota and Hizashi both gave a proud nod to him.

"People hurt us and use us because of our quirks." As soon as the words left her mouth, Shota was running to the door. He raced as fast as he could to the gyms, trying to find Midoriya.

His thoughts looped in his mind as he ran.

He's being hurt. All Might could be hurting him. I have to help him.

Hizashi and Hitoshi were left to calm Eri down, promising that they would help Midoriya just like he'd helped her. Hitoshi retrieved her stuffed elephant and they watched her clutch onto it like a lifeline. Both silently praying that all of this was just being taken out of context and that Midoriya was fine.

When Shota entered into the weight room, finally spotting Midoriya and All Might, he tried to take in the scene in front of him as fast as he could. Midoriya was laying on a bench with All Might holding down one of his hands. The other hand was holding a barbell with more enough weight that the barbell was bending on both sides.

"What's going on here?" He shouted, catching both people off guard. Midoriya immediately pulled his arm out of All Might grasp, grabbing onto the bar and racking it quickly.

"Aizawa-Sensei, what's wrong?" Midoriya asked, sitting up and looking nervous. Shota saw how the kid was already covered in sweat, even though it hadn't even been 15 minutes since he'd seen him last.

"What were you just doing? Why did you have so much weight? Why were you holding down him arm?" Shota demanded, his quirk flicking on with his anger.

"Young Midoriya was only training Aizawa. He was lifting weights. We were just doing one arm at a time. He's quite strong after all." All Might smiled and clasped with large hand over Midoriya's shoulder. Shota watched the boy slightly pulled into himself.

"Doing one arm at a time allows me to lift more." Midoriya told him, not making eye contact with either hero.

"He can't put so much strain on his arms All Might! Do you want something to happen and him to not be able to use them anymore?" Shota watched All Might have what seemed to be a realization and then look nervous. He couldn't help in that moment feel like the man faked his reaction. The hand that was resting on Midoriya's shoulder seemed to tighten ever so slightly.

"Can I ask what brought you here?" There was an unfriendly tone in All Might's voice that Shota almost didn't register.

"I need Midoriya, it's an emergency." He told them. Midoriya immediately stepped forward. All Might's hand moving with him.

"What's wrong? Is it a villain attack?" Shota almost felt bad for making his student so nervous, but he knew it was necessary.

"Come on, I'll brief you when we get there." Midoriya nodded to him and tried to move closer until he was stopped by All Might's hand.

"We're busy, is this not something that can wait or someone else can deal with?"

"No, it pertains to Midoriya specifically." Shota took a step towards Midoriya, preparing to physically pull the student away from the other teacher.

"If it's that important, then I'll come along too." All Might was staring down Shota, clearly trying to intimidate him, but Shota wasn't going to let that happen.

"I don't need you there. I only need Midoriya." Shota's tone was as cold and harsh as he could muster. The more All Might fought him on letting Midoriya leave, the more Shota wanted to get Midoriya away from him.

"I see. Very well. Good luck, Young Midoriya. We'll finish our training another day." All Might let go of Midoriya and immediately went back to smiling, acting as though he normally did with all the other students. Midoriya sped walked to Shota and the two quickly walked out of the gym.

Shota continued to look back behind his shoulder, making sure the two weren't being followed. He'd shushed Midoriya multiple times when he'd tried to ask what the emergency was or what was happening.

Shota led him back to his apartment, opening the door and pushing the student inside. The pair were met with a relieved Hitoshi and Hizashi. Eri was clutched her stuffed animal looking at Midoriya nervously.

"What was happening?" Hizashi asked the pair.

"Are you okay?" Hitoshi quickly tacked on. Midoriya looked at all of them, clearly confused before his eyes fell to Eri.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Are you mad of me?" Eri countered. Midoriya squinted his eyes, looking like he was lost in thought before straightening up and letting out an understanding sigh.

"I'm not mad at you, Eri." He assured the girl.

"Is All Might hurting you?" Shota asked bluntly.

"He's training me." Midoriya shifted awkwardly. "I'm kind of gross, do you mind if we have this conversation after I take a shower?" Hizashi and Shota both looked at his clear distress and thought back to how gently he cared for Eri, trying to mimic it with him.

"Okay. Come back after you shower and we'll talk then." He told the teen who didn't wait for another word to be said before turning tail and exiting the apartment. "Eri, you should get ready for bed. Hitoshi, go finish any homework you have." Both kids looked reluctant before walking towards their rooms.

"How did we miss this?" Hizashi asked once they were both out of earshot.

"We don't know what we missed yet. All we can do it wait." With that, both adults went to the couch, trying to relax.

After 45 minutes, the tension had reached a breaking point.

"We shouldn't have let him go alone, what if something happened to him?" Hizashi stood up and started to the door. "I'm going to find him." Shota couldn't help standing up, trailing after his husband. They stopped to tell Hitoshi quickly that they would be back and started off once again that day to the 2-A dorms.

When they entered and began walking through the dorm, they were met with the class president Iida.

"Greeting Sensei's! Midoriya asked me to let you know if I saw you that he left for his mother's for the weekend." Iida told them, his hands swiping in motion with his speed. Shota and Hizashi both stared at the younger brother of their friend, speechless.

"When did he leave?" Shota angrily demanded. Hizashi's stunned expression finally returning to normal.

"He left around half an hour ago. Is something the matter? I can call him immediately if you wish." Iida offered, pulling out his phone to show them that he would do it.

"That's okay, thank you Iida." Hizashi told the student. "Have a nice weekend!" He offered, pulling the hostile looking Shota away and back towards the front door. When they exited, Shota's stomping only increased.

"He lied to us!" He hissed. "I shouldn't have let him leave. I should have forced him to tell us what was wrong. He's going to have so many detentions when I find him." Shota continued to threaten. His threats lasted until they were back to their apartment. "If he thinks I won't go to his apartment, he has another thing coming." Hizashi stayed quiet, letting Shota vent out his anger.

Hitoshi heard the apartment door slam, followed by the distinctive growl of his father. He walked out of his room and saw his parents back come back, but Midoriya wasn't with him.

"What's going on?" He asked them. Shota growled louder.

"Midoriya went home for the weekend instead of coming back here." Hizashi told him. Hitoshi felt his mouth fall open. Hizashi looked at his shocked son and almost laughed at their similar reactions.

"I'm going to give him detention until he graduates." Shota threatened. He walked over and sat on the couch, his head resting in his hands. "Why is he running from us?" The previous anger in his voice was replaced by a deep seeded fatigue.

"Zuzu doesn't want help." Hitoshi looked next to him and says Eri standing nervously behind him. Hizashi and Shota both looked at her, both confused. Hizashi motioned for her to come closer into the living room. She walked in and sat on the couch, Hitoshi instantly thought her pajamas and stuffed elephant made her look like she was ready for a sleepover.

"Do you know why he doesn't want help?" Hizashi asked lightly, sitting next to Shota on the couch. Eri shifted from foot to foot awkwardly swaying back and forth.

"He has a secret that he says he can't tell anyone, because if they find out it would ruin everything and he'd be expelled and he wouldn't be able to be a hero anymore. So, he's willing to do anything to keep his secret." Shota and Hizashi both tried to stay calm as Eri talked, both of their minds screaming with red flags. All three men tried to stop their minds from thinking of all the villain attacks and the theory that UA had a traitor.

"Do you know the secret, Eri?" Shota asked, trying to cover the overwhelming fear and worry in his voice. Eri looked guiltily at her feet.

"I overheard him talking about it. He didn't want to tell me, but I told him I wouldn't tell anyone. I promised!"

"Without telling us the secret, can you tell us if it has to do with Midoriya giving information to people?" Eri tilted her head to the side giving Shota a confused look. Finally, she shook her head, confirming that the secret did not include that. A collective relieved sigh was left out.

"Does the secret involve more than one person?" Hizashi asked. Eri once again thought about it.

"Kind of. Part of the secret does." She looked down, biting her lip for a moment. "Zuzu says that sometimes, doing what's right, means lying to another person. If I tell you the secret, will that help keep Zuzu safe?" Shota and Hizashi looked at one another and then glanced to Hitoshi who quickly made his way to sit in the chair next to them.

"Yes. We'll make sure to make him safe." Hizashi promised.

"Do you promise to not expel him and let him be a hero?" She gripped her stuffed elephant tightly to her chest.

"We'll do everything we can to keep him here and help him be a hero." Hizashi vaguely promised.

"All Might gave Zuzu his quirk right before UA started." The second the words came out of her mouth, everything went silent. No one dared breathed. The silence seemingly making Eri uncomfortable as she shifted from one foot to the other. "I think his dad is mean too. He comes back hurt sometimes and he said that his dad just really liked his quirk and that sometimes his quirk hurts him."

Shota mind felt like it was melting with new information. All Might was maybe bad. Definitely keeping secrets. Big important secrets. Midoriya's father was also possibly bad. Definitely forcing his son to use his quirk to the point that it hurt him, which Shota knew meant he'd either had to use more of it than he was currently capable of or that he'd had to use it for too long.

While injuries still happened, Midoriya hadn't had any real injuries in months. Only when completely over exerting himself.

I moved running to Wednesday to I wouldn't be tired on the weekends

Midoriya's previous words sounded through Shota's mind. Did he need a reason why it wasn't good to be tired on the weekends?

Hizashi wasn't faring any better mentally. He was running through quirkless statistics in his head. He'd done one of his shows about discrimination and mentioned them.

20% of the population. 2% of Japan. 0.1% of them were under 18. 38% suicide rate for those below 18. 71% suicide rate for those 18-30.

Getting a quirk right before UA started meant Midoriya was 15. 15 years of being quirkless. He'd had a 38% chance of committing suicide.

The air in Hizashi lungs felt like it was on fire. It burned in his chest and no matter how rapidly he took on new air, he couldn't get the burning to go away.

"Don't worry, Eri. We'll help him." Hitoshi promised as he watched his parents silently freaking out. He knew he needed to stay calm. He couldn't scream.

God, did he want to scream.Izuku sat on a train heading towards his parents house with shaky knees and sweaty palms. Not only had he lied to his teachers about returning, but he then basically ran away. Sure, he had a weekend pass, so he couldn't actually get in trouble for leaving, but that didn't really feel like enough to calm his nerves.

All Might had already sent a text to his phone all but demanding to know what Aizawa wanted with him, which he still hadn't answered.

Just thinking about his mentor made him drop his head back, uncaring how it bounded against the back of the seat. He owed the man everything, his life, his quirk, his future, and at the point Izuku was at, what little sanity he had left.

All Might had changed, or maybe is just wasn't until the loss of One for All that he started showing his true colors. Izuku hoped for his own childish admiration of the man, that it was the former.

It was clear from the moment All Might began training him that the man was trying to make Izuku into a copy of himself. Which, Izuku was fully on board with, at first. He wanted to live vicariously through Izuku, and Izuku was just excited that someone paid attention to him and believed in him, even if that belief had a stipulation. At first it was small things, adjustments, critics, suggestions, all very within the realm of mentoring. Sure, he was pushed hard in training, and maybe he was forced to over due it a few times, but he had to. All Might gave him a quirk.

A life.

His dream.

Then Izuku had to watch the man who he based his own dream on, crumble slowly, and then all at once. He won the fight, but lost One for All. It wasn't difficult to see that the excess anger the man had was taken out on Izuku during trainings, but it was okay.

He could do it.

All Might was in constant pain, it probably made him irritable and he had to spend so much of his energy being a hero and teacher to everyone around him. Izuku was just the only person he could be himself around.

At least, that's what he told himself every time he found himself training well after curfew, being pushed far beyond what he was able to do, or sitting in Recovery Girls office with his newest injury.

It wasn't until Eri that Izuku actually began to worry about the mental state of his mentor. He still shuddered when thinking back to the look that passed over All Might's face when he learned of someone who could rewind people to a previous state. That look wasn't something that should ever adorn a heroes face.

"All Might, she can't use her power. It's too unstable right now. Now only could it hurt you and the people around at the time, but it could hurt her."

"Sacrifices have to be made sometimes. Don't you want me to be a hero again? Have my quirk back?"

"You aren't using her, she's just a child. She has a permanent quirk suppressor on."

"Then I'll just have to take it off her."

"I won't let you hurt her, All Might. I refuse. You're retired. Your time as a hero is over. This quirk, it isn't yours anymore. It's mine."

Izuku rubbed his jaw slightly, remembering how that conversation with All Might had ended. It had been hard to lie to Recovery Girl as she fixed his broken jaw, but he did it. He had to. Izuku could handle All Might raging on him. He could stomach having his mentor be a shadow that loomed over him at all times.

He could handle it.

It hurt him to lie, especially to his friends, but how was Izuku supposed to tell his friends the man they all looked up to had become a monster? How could he look Shoto in the face while they bandages each other's wounds and tell him that the hero he was inspired to be like, was exactly like that father he despised.

So, Izuku learned to take it.

It made him tougher, stronger, faster. It had reason and purpose. The world would forever remember, All Might, the greatest symbol of peace they had ever know, and only Izuku would even be burdened by Yagi Toshinori, the monster underneath.

Izuku groaned into his hands.

He had to think of something to tell Aizawa and Yamada. Something that would justify whatever Eri told them. They thought All Might was hurting him, and while they weren't wrong, it couldn't get released.

They were training.

Just training.

Sometimes training is hard.

Sometimes you get hurt.

Sometimes your mentor slowly pours a bottle of water on your face while you're lifting because you need to learn to keep steady while being distracted.

Yes, just training.

When the train came to a stop, Izuku made his way off, and began the trek towards the home his father purchased when he'd returned. It had a small yard in the back that was deemed perfect for training, because Izuku wasn't lucky enough to only have one sadistic trainer, no, he was blessed with two.

If Izuku could have turned back the clock, he would never have used his quirk against Todoroki in their first year sports festival. He would have lost early on, then talked to the boy after. If he'd done that, his quirk wouldn't have been shown on television, and his father would have stayed in America.

When his father first came, he was elated, as was his mother. It look 3 months for him to ask to spar with Izuku. To have a close up of his quirk. To train. After that it was like All Might 2.0, except this version could breathe fire and dangled the safety of his mother in his face constantly.

"You're finally going to be useful to me. You'll be able to take care of your parents like a good son. Provide for us. Keep us happy. You wouldn't want your mother to suffer for you incompetence any longer, right?"

Izuku was thankful for Shoto. He was good with patching up burns and not asking questions when it came to fathers training their sons. Shoto knew what going home was like and he always offered Izuku an ear, just as Izuku offered to him. Both of them just grinning and bearing it for the security of their mothers.

When he arrived at the plain white door of his parents home, he paused briefly, taking in the still and quiet air all around him. Breathing in the chilled night air and appreciating the cloudless dark sky ahead of him. With one final breath of peace, he turned the handle, and walked in.

Back at UA, the Aizawa-Yamada family had barely calmed down. Shota, Hizashi, and Hitoshi sat around the kitchen table trying to make sense of everything. They'd finally gotten Eri to bed after she started breaking down shortly after Hitoshi told her they'd help. Now, they sat in a thick silence, not knowing where to start.

"I say, we go to his apartment and drag him back. We can tell his parents that all students are required to be on campus this weekend." Shota told them, fingers itching to grab his keys.

Hitoshi squinted his eyes, trying to remember something Midoriya had said about his family life.

"His mom was excited to have a yard." He mumbled, letting his brain put the fragments of the conversation together. After a second, it all clicked into place. "He moved. To a house." Shota's eyes snapped to his before abruptly standing up and grabbing his school bag.

Shota fished around in his bag, looking for his employee laptop. If Midoriya had moved, his address should have been updated.

4 minutes later, he and Hizashi were both staring at Midoriya's student file. His address was the same apartment listed as when they'd done home visits before the creation of the dorms. A quick glance at the emergency contacts had Shota seeing red.

Inko Midoriya - Mother - Cell Phone: Number Disconnected

Yagi Toshinori - Mentor - Cell Phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx

"Our only way of contacting Midoriya is through All Might." Shota sneered.

Of course, they'd tried Midoriya's cell phone, from each of their phones, but each time the calls had gone to voice mail.

"What do we do now?" Hitoshi questioned, fumbling with his fingers nervously.

"We wait. Midoriya is supposed to come here Tuesday for dinner and to go to the park. He won't disappoint Eri, no matter what is going on. So, we wait. Monday, we'll go about our normal lives. Tuesday, once he's here, we'll try and get answers. It's obvious that the same approach Eri needs isn't the same approach that Midoriya needs. Right now, he doesn't trust us. He doesn't have a reason to. So, Tuesday we'll let him know that we can help him." Hizashi spoke for the first time since they'd moved to the table. His voice was rough with emotions that he couldn't quite place. He could feel the skin on his biceps burning under the nails as they sank into the flesh.

No one at the table argued. Instead, they all resigned to the fact that as much as the wanted to do something right then, they were all powerless to whatever was happening to Midoriya Izuku.

The weekend passed very differently for the Aizawa-Yamada and Midoriya households. While one house was filling with an erie foreboding silence, the other was filled with heavy breathing, sweat drench rags, and the smell of singed hair from attack barely blocked. Hitoshi knew he was probably watching Midoriya a little too closely when he came back to the dorms Sunday night. He was still trying to find a time to get the boy alone, though with their rooms right next to one another, it should have been far easier than it was.

Yet, the second Midoriya walked in, Todoroki was on him, dragging the tired boy away into Midoriya's room. So, Hitoshi did the only thing that he thought he could. He went into his own room, and listened closely to see if he could hear anything through the thin dorm walls.

Either the walls were thicker than Hitoshi previously thought, or Midoriya and Todoroki spoke extremely quietly, because he didn't hear a single bit of conversation. At one point he heard a faint high pitched buzzing sound that sounded almost like a handheld vacuum, but no direct words.

It was hours later when Midoriya's door opened and when Hitoshi peaked out from his own, he saw Midoriya walking with a towel over his head and his shower caddy.

Hitoshi was definitely not going to request a friendship while the other was naked. Flashback to the ice cream parlor and Midoriya apparently calling cute ran through his mind.

"I'm a useless gay." He whispered as he tried to put all thoughts of Midoriya as anything but a friend out of his head. Until Hitoshi knew Midoriya was safe, being taken care of, and they had a mutual friendship, he wouldn't let himself think about the green haired ray of sunshine.

No matter how bright his smile was or how many abs he had.

When the sun peaked over the horizon on Monday morning, the Aizawa-Yamada men prepped themselves to act normal and to somehow not give away the frenzy they all felt to learn everything they could.

Shota tried to curb his own harsh emotion that lashed out for him to just wrap the student up with his capture weapon until he talked.

Hitoshi pumped himself up to find a time to talk to his –hopefully- friend, without giving away a future integration.

Hizashi forced a smile on his face and tried to push away all thoughts of Midoriya falling into the 38% and doing something he could never take back.

Izuku spent his morning the same way he had every other Monday morning for the past several months. Stretching out sore muscles, applying healing balm to bruises, and mentally preparing himself to swallow all his negative emotions until he couldn't feel them.

The only difference from his usually Monday routine was how breezy his neck felt.

Inside the classroom was tense for certain people. Izuku refused to meet Shota's eyes, but that really didn't surprise him. Not after the last month and not after Midoriya had run away on Friday. It was hard not to look at the kid though, especially with the whole class paying attention to his new haircut.

"Deku! Your hair looks so good!" Ururaka gushed while she stood at his desk. Shota watched Midoriya turn pink and thank her briefly. Hitoshi however, looked at Todoroki. He seemed to be the only one who didn't at least look twice at Midoriya's haircut. In fact, there was a small nod shared by the pair.

Hitoshi began to wonder if the vacuum like sound he'd heard was actually a pair of electric clippers.

"What the heck did you do to your head, Deku?" Bakugou sneered as he slid into his seat.

"I just got a haircut, Kacchan."

"You've hair the same hair style since we were kids, why the heck are you changing it now? You really think changing your look around is a good idea? What are you, stupid? You need to think about how you present yourself!" A distinct popping of miniature explosions followed almost each word that Bakugou yelled. Though, Hitoshi had to admit, his hostility did sound almost like concern. Like an aggressively loud version of watching out for someone.

"It's just a haircut. There's no deeper meaning." Midoriya answered dismissively, leaning back in his desk away from the firework show infront of him.

"You getting smart with me, Deku? Try that again and I'll blow your face off!"

"Enough! Socialize at lunch. It's time to start class." Shota activated his quirk to stop Bakugou's explosions, stopping the beginnings of a fight. While Bakugou readjusted himself to face forward, Shota made brief eye contact with an exhausted Midoriya before he turned his head down, looking at the notebook infront of him.

Class progressed much the same as it had the previous month. Midoriya sat quietly with his head down while he took notes, not asking questions or offering to answer any questions that Shota asked. He tried to not let that bother him after he'd confessed how he missed hearing the kid talk in class.

As soon as the class was dismissed for lunch, Hitoshi jumped out of his chair.

"Hey Midoriya, do you think I could talk to you for just a minute?" Hitoshi rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to ignore how people's eyes lingered on them. How Midoriya's own eyes widen a fraction before he nodded slowly.

When the class finally all filed out, Shota was already in his sleeping bag, hidden by a desk as he tried to give his son some privacy while still keeping an ear on the conversation.

"I've been wanting to talk to you for a few weeks. Since we talked before. I uh-" Hitoshi paused to wipe his sweaty palms on his pants. He made eye contact with the cautious greens eyes in front of him before looking away as fast as he could. "-I'm not good at talking. Or being around people. That doesn't mean I don't want to be around certain people." He emphasized. He saw Midoriya's brows clench together in confusion and he sputtered out a sigh. "You said you were done, forcing me to be your friend, but you never forced me." One more glance into Midoriya's eyes and he silently begged that he would understand what he was trying to say. The slight shake in his knees didn't make him think he could keep explaining it without sending himself into a full blown panic attack.

There was a spark ignited in the green eyes and then Hitoshi was sent a small smile.

"You have social anxiety." Midoriya stated, though it wasn't a question, Hitoshi nodded in agreement.

"There are always so many people around you, but that doesn't mean that I don't-" He paused against, feeling his face heat up. A hand light lightly touched his elbow, causing him to flinch slightly as Midoriya dipped his head down to look up into Hitoshi hunched face, catching his gaze and coaxing him to uncurl from himself.

"You're my friend, but I'm glad to know that I'm yours too. Todoroki isn't a big people person either. Sometimes we just hangout in my dorm and watch movies. I'll invite you to those instead of the big class hangouts. Okay?" Caught in an emerald gaze, Hitoshi couldn't do anything expect nod, his whole body feeling like a pressure was lifted off of it. "Come on, let's go to lunch. You know, your spot at the table is still open, if you want to sit with us again."

The hand that held his elbow with a feathers light touch slid down his wrist to lightly pull him forward and Hitoshi couldn't help wanting to latch onto the touch and never let it go.

Shota laid there, and while he was proud of his son, he couldn't help be once again concerned how Midoriya somehow knew exactly what to say and what to do for every emotional problem. Part of him wondered if the kid didn't have some sort of latent empathy quirk.

It was just another thing that he wanted to have answered.

Hizashi was sitting at his desk, staring off into space when 1-A came in. His fixations on Midoriya's possible past with discrimination and suicidal thoughts reminded him of all the pictures of children's faces he saw when he was doing research for his segment.

Kids who were quirkless or who had quirks considered weak or villainous, that would now never be able to grow up because they'd been victims of societal injustices.

When he looked up and saw Midoriya sitting at his desk, quietly talking to Todoroki, he watched for just an extra second. Midoriya reached up touching what was definitely a new haircut before giving Todoroki a small smile and nod. It looked genuine and kind and Hizashi couldn't help how he felt the air rush into his lungs a little easier than before.

He knew that Midoriya still had problems they needed to identify and probably long lasting damage from his past, but Hizashi took comfort in Midoriya's smile. With a new pep in his step, Hizashi greeted the class with his usual boisterous enthusiasm before beginning their lecture on English conjugation

"Ah, Young Midoriya, just who I wanted to see. Since you had to leave early from training Friday, I wanted to check to see if you wanted to finish that up today." All Might smiled to Izuku as he was nearing the dorms with Todoroki and Iida by his sides. With All Might standing in front of him, Izuku couldn't help but think how he looked like a gentle giant.

Of course he'd make it sound like I had a choice.

"Yes, All Might! That sounds great, thank you." Izuku faked his enthusiasm for his friends, sending them on their way back to the dorms.

"You didn't response to my text message." All Might mentioned off handedly as they walked farther and farther away from the student body and towards one of the lesser used gyms.

"My phone screen broke. I had to get a new one this weekend and mom grounded me from using it for the rest of the weekend as punishment." Izuku lied smoothly, never lulling in a single step.

He had enough practice to know that any flinches or signs that he'd been caught off guard would cause a reason for punishment.

Lying was a skill he needed to have as a pro hero. All Might was just teaching him how to assure the public better.

He knew as long as he could justify what was happening, he could live with it.

As the door closed behind them, shutting them off from any prying eyes, the world slightly shifted into one Izuku had become intimately acquainted with.

All Might straightened up to full height and dropped the happy smile he usually carried off his face. A large hand shot out and grabbed Izuku by the top of his hair, dragging him further inside the gym.

"Since you want to keep things from me, we're going to do something new today."

Of all the things that All Might had ever told Izuku, that was always the most fearful. New meant painful.

"Yes, All Might."

For the next several hours Izuku bared the brunt of All Might's anger in a new and inventive way. He was directed to do blindfolded bar squats and to help make sure he was focusing on his center of gravity and keeping all his muscles engaged, All Might was gracious enough to at random, strike him in the torso with a wooden pole.

The punishment for falling or dropping the bar was having more weight added so the process could start all over again. By the end of their new game, the bar bowed heavily on both sides, digging painfully into Izuku's shoulders causing him to try and discretely lift some of the weight off. He was drenched in sweat and the constant state of anxiety and adrenaline he'd been in left him in a new state of emotional and physical exhaustion. The second the bar was racked, his knees gave out and he crumpled on the gym floor.

"Do you want to tell me why Aizawa came to get you now?" All Might crouched down to hover over him, water bottle in hand, but just out of reach.

"It was-" He paused as All Might began to slowly poor the bottle of water out onto the ground. A dry heaved cry wracked from his chest. "He wanted to confront me because he thought I was being hurt." His honest confession stopped anymore water from being spilled.

"And what did you tell him?"

"I told him that it was just training and then I left." All Might stared him down before handing him the rest of the water which he frantically accepted, trying desperately to alleviate his parched mouth.

"Training can be rough. If you think I'm too hard on you, maybe you aren't cut out to be my successor." The comment was almost said nonchalantly, but Izuku felt it stop his very core.

All Might had talked about having his quirk back if Eri could rewind him, but never had he mentioned Izuku not being worthy anymore. Had he not been so tired in that moment, maybe he would have picked up on the clear manipulation, but laying on the ground as he was, it sent ice through veins followed by the rushing of panic and the sudden feeling of rocks weighing down his stomach.

"No, I can do it. I can handle it. I can take it. You're just training me." Izuku was practically pleading, trying to pull himself off the ground like that would show his worth.

All Might smiled down to him when he made it to his feet.

"I'll see you again on Wednesday for our next training session." The promise of a next training session. Relief filled Izuku as he watched the retired hero exit the gym.

It took him a few more minutes of resting before he was able to get enough strength back in his body to rerack the weights and clean up the area they'd been in. One for All crackled under his skin at only 1% to help him stay on his feet as he cleanup and then walked back to the dorms, slipping in unnoticed and heading straight for the showers, only detouring enough to grab clean clothes.

Once he was back in his room, laying on his bed, he finally released One for All and let his body relax painfully into the bed. Each twitch and jerk of his muscles sent pain radiation down that limb.

The need for food and to start his homework was completely ignored in favor of falling into unconsciousness.

Hitoshi was sitting at the desk finishing up his own homework when he heard Midoriya's room door close a little harder than usual and the pained gasp a few second later. He stared at the wall, unsure if he should go check on him or not. When he heard another wail come from the other side of the wall, the uneasiness overcome him. He picked up his phone quickly calling his dad.

"Hitoshi, what do you need?" His father's voice sounded the same level almost bored that it always did, but after years of living with the man, Hitoshi could easily pick up the curiosity as well.

"Dad, I think something might be wrong with Midoriya. Yesterday, I barely heard the sound of clippers coming from room but tonight I can hear him moaning in pain. He just got into his room." Hitoshi myself spoke quietly, hoping to not alert the anyone in other rooms to the conversation with his father.

"Okay, I'm on my way, thank you for letting me know." Shota quickly hung up the phone, cursing under his breath.

"What's wrong?" Hizashi asked him from the table where he was helping Eri with multiplication tables.

"Hitoshi called, I have to go to the dorms." He tried not to alert either one of them but Eri's ears perked up and with math forgotten, she was in front of him with puppy dog eyes.

"Can I go with you so I can say hi to Zuzu?"

"You should stay here and finish your homework. You'll see him tomorrow when he comes over for dinner and to go to the park." Shota turned her back around and sent her back to the table, bottom lip already wobbling.

"Come on Eri, school first, Midoriya wouldn't want you to slack off on your studies just to see him." Hizashi told Eri pushing the papers back towards her.

"Zuzu doesn't have to do stupid multiplication tables. I bet he gets to use a calculator. I hate math." Eri began grumbling under her breath making Hizashi hold a hand over his mouth to stop him from laughing outloud. A quick peak up at Shota had the laugh dying in his throat. He moved quickly to cut Shota off at the door.

"Sho, what's wrong?"

"Hitoshi thinks Midoriya might be in his room, hurt. I'm going to go check on him." Shota grabbed the handle, but Hizashi grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"I'll go. Stay here with Eri. If he is hurt, my first aid skills are better than yours." Shota didn't want to agree with Hizashi. His hand tightened on the door knob as he looked into gentle concerned green eyes before letting his hand slip off completely.

Aside from better first aid, Hizashi's overall ability to project comfort far surpassed his own.

"Okay. Let me know what's happening as soon as you find out." Hizashi nodded, telling Eri that he was handing over the math reigns and blowing both of them a kiss. The second the door was closed he was speed walking towards the student dorms, barely stopping to greet the few kids that were loitering around the common room. No one questioned when headed his way to Midoriya's floor, especially not since it was his sons floor as well.

When he knocked on Midoriya's door, he excepted something. Sounds, shuffling, or just for it to open. When nothing happened, it was far more concerning to him. Hitoshi's head peaked out after he heard the knock, he hadn't excepted to see his pops standing there instead of his dad, but he was relieved nonetheless.

"I haven't heard anything for a few minutes."

Hizashi knocked a little louder.

"Midoriya, I'm coming." Hizashi called, pointing for Hitoshi to return to his own room. Once his son's door shut, he slowly opened Midoriya's, preparing himself for anything.

The room was dark, but the farther the door opened the more the light from the hall seeped in, illuminating the lump on the bed. He could hear Midoriya's soft breathing as he got closer, settling his racing heart. The room looked untouched and Midoriya looked unharmed. The only odd thing was that the kid was sleeping on his back all four limps straightened out as his sides and with no cover on, but Hizashi couldn't judge someone's sleeping preferences when he was married to Shota. Still, Hizashi moved forward and shook Midoriya's shoulder slightly, causing an instantly furrowing of the brows on the kids face. Hizashi quickly retracted his hand.

Okay, not normal.

"Midoriya, I need you to wake up for me, for just a second." Hizashi whispered, careful not to touch the student. Seeing as that didn't work, he tried again. "Midoriya?" He followed this up with a light tug of his pillow a few times.

Midoriya woke up with a whine and then a scared gasp.

"Yamada Sensei, what are you doing in my room?" Izuku asked, alert to the blonde standing over him. His dorm door was fully open, but he didn't see any movement or hear any alarms going off to warrant the intrusion.

"I came to check on you, some on your classmates reported that you sounded injuried." Yamada told him taking a step back to give him space. Izuku tired to sit up, but none of the muscles in his upper body would cooperate. So instead, he rolled onside him side and had to hold his breath to hold back to slur of expletives that almost rushed out.

Hizashi knew something was wrong. The kid turned onto his side and his eyes almost bugged out of head.

"Midoriya, if you're hurt, I can help you. You just have to tell me where it hurts. Here, let me turn on the light." Hizashi hit the light and looked back toward Midoriya who hadn't moved another inch from where he'd rolled.

"I just went a little to hard in my workout today. I'm fine." Midoriya told him through gritted teeth.

"Did you sprain something? I can wrap it. Or I can help you get to Recovery Girl." Hizashi moved a little closer and saw the kid flinch back with a grimace. He tried to do just as Midoriya had told him to do with Eri and tried to not let it bother him, even taking a small step back.

"My muscles are just sore. I don't need any help. I'm sorry if I scared anyone, but I'm fine. Please, leave." Izuku was trying his best, but the longer he laid on his shoulder, the more painful it was becoming, and the more pain he felt, the angrier he was starting to get. He kept reminding himself that his teacher was there for good reasons, but in his experience, being around anyone without the ability to defend oneself was a recipe for disaster.

"Okay, I'll leave without another word, if you walk over and turn off the light." Hizashi watched as green eyes turned furious and matching lightning surround Midoriya.

"Fine!" Midoriya sneered, pulling himself off the bed. He swayed in the air before taking a few steps towards the light switch.

"Midoriya, I'm sorry."

Izuku froze where he stood.

"I love how much Eri loves you and how you help Hitoshi out of his shell and that you're fluent in English and understand all my stupid jokes. Im sorry I let my own jealousy cloud that. Please sit back down, I can see that you're in pain, I don't want you to hurt yourself more." Izuku felt a mixture of frustrated and overwhelmed tears come to his eyes. He was still far too anxious from the training session with All Might to process emotions normally. The fear of certain parts of his body only moving while he was using One for All was becoming less of a passing thought and more of a genuine fear as each minute went by. It didn't leave him much brain space to be able to delicately deal with others emotions.

"Stop talking about things that are over! I can't deal with this right now!" Izuku growled out. One for All increased to 5% with his outburst and he began to feel to the familiar groan in his bones when he was nearing a percentage his body couldn't handle.

Hizashi watched as Midoriya's face went pale before the green lightning flickered out of existed and he dropped to the ground. Hizashi lunged forward to catch the falling student and only seemed to succeed in causing him to cry out more.

"Shut the door, please." Midoriya commanded as tears began to fall. Hizashi moved quickly and then sat on the floor in front of Midoriya, careful not to touch him.

"Just tell me what you need and I'll do it." He promised.

Izuku stared at Yamada, trying to find something in his face to indicate he was lying. Something to indicate that he couldn't be trusted. While he searched, he started wiggly his toes and making the tiniest movements in his legs, just to remind himself that they were working, albeit painfully.

"I can't move or feel my arms." Izuku whispered before he broke into loud sorrowful sobs that he had to way to stop or covered up."Midoriya, it's okay. It'll be okay. I just need you to breathe." Hizashi's hands shook as they hovered beside limp shoulders. "We can go see Recovery Girl, I'm sure she'-" Midoriya cut him off with a vigorous shake to the head followed by broken choked mumbles refusing Recovery Girl's help sending him further into a panicked state. "I need you to look at me, can you do that?" Hizashi moved his hands to hover near Midoriya's face, still not letting them touch him.

Izuku was trying desperately to move his arms and with each failed attempt, he sobbed harder than the last. He went through the motions of flexing and stared down at the limp limbs, as they gave no indication of a single twitch. He couldn't think about the teacher in front of him or that all of his classmates could probably hear what was happening. Izuku's only thought was on a certain blonde realizing how unworthy Izuku was and then how his father was going to hurt his mother because of it.

It would all be Izuku's fault.

As Midoriya further spiraled, his sobs got louder and far more broken than Hitoshi or the classmates that frantically moved towards the door had ever heard. Hitoshi stood outside Izuku's door gripping onto the frame on both sides, as hard as he could. He could feel how his nail sunk divots into the paint, but he couldn't let go. Not with their class trying to get in.

"Why do you want access?" Hitoshi asked Iida the second his choppy motions were in view.

"I wa-" Hitoshi latched on as soon as he could, turning the class rep into a blank eyed puppet, ready for Hitoshi to pull his strings.

"Tell everyone to go back to their dorms. Make them listen, threaten to get Eraserhead, do SOMETHING. Tell them Midoriya is fine. Make them LEAVE." He demanded. Iida got to work, yelling, scooting people away, even putting his shoes in the middle of the open elevator doors to prevent anyone from using the elevator.

Only one student didn't pay enough attention. Todoroki was a few inches shorter then Hitoshi, but somehow height means a lot less when being threatened by both ice and fire at the same time.

"Move, now." Todoroki flicked his eyes up, glaring harshly through his lashes. Why Hitoshi realized in that moment of his life being threatened that Todoroki's eyelashes were the same color on both sides, he will never know.

"My pops is in there-Hizashi- Yamada-Present Mic- He's in there. I called for help. He'll help." Hitoshi stumbled over his words as he leaned as far away from the flames and ice that licked up Todoroki's arms, plastering himself to the door.

When the intensity of the sobs suddenly died down, both teens looked at the door, ignoring their previous tension. Hitoshi saw Todoroki's shoulders ease slightly, but his eyes still darted around the door.

"Help me keep everyone out? I don't think Midoriya would want people to see him right now." Hitoshi waited for Todoroki's brief nod before releasing his control on Iida. The indignant noise that Hitoshi was oh so familiar with came only a few seconds later.

What he wasn't ready for were the ice barriers that appealed on both side of the hall cutting off everyone from Izuku's room. Even Hitoshi's own room was lost to him on the other side of an ice barrier, not that he was about to make a complaint to Todoroki about it.

He didn't have that kind of death wish.

"Go. AWAY." Todoroki gritted out, staring at the ice. The noise in the hall diminished. Even the sounds of explosions dropped off into nothing.

"Thanks." Hitoshi pulled himself off the door, following Todoroki's lead, and took a seat on the floor. He already felt the temperature dropping dramatically, but once again wasn't going to say anything.

"I didn't do it for you." Todoroki glared towards him again and Hitoshi sank in on himself. For a few terrible seconds they listened to the quieter, but still prevalent sobs coming out of Midoriya's room. "Izuku told me you wanted to be his friend." Hitoshi fidgeted uncomfortably before nodding. "Is that all you want to be?"

It took a second for Hitoshi to understand the meaning behind Todoroki's question. Once he did, he felt all the remaining heat in his body rush to his face as he looked anywhere other than the his classmate. He didn't answer, he couldn't answer, he didn't even know an answer, but his silence seemed to be enough of an answer for Todoroki who gave a slightly sour expression before nodding once.

"Hurt him and I hurt you."

Hitoshi hoped his father was doing better inside the room with Midoriya than he was outside the room with his impromptu shovel talk.

One the other side of the door, Hizashi had long since abandoned his plan to not touch Midoriya, in fears of upsetting his further. When shaking his head back and forth, Midoriya had bumped his face into Hizashi's hand and before he could move the hand away, Midoriya laid his face on his, rubbing his wet cheek against his open palm like a cat wanting to be pet.

Hizashi took that as a sign and laid the other on his face, forcing the boy to look at him for just a moment.

"I got you. I'm not leaving. We're gonna figure this out together. I won't let anything else happen to you." Hizashi was making promises that he refused to let myself of anyone else break. He let go of the boy's face and wrapped his arms around him. Midoriya squirmed and whined in pain, but only wiggled closer as Hizashi rocked him back and forced, rubbing a hand in circles on his back to help him calm down.

He felt the blast of cold air come from under the door and saw shadows move slightly, but he paid no attention, focusing only on soft speaking soft words to help his student calm down.

He wasn't sure how long it took before sobs became cries, cries became whimpers, and whimpers trailed off to almost silent breathing.

"Midoriya?" Hizashi pulled away, earning another pained sound. "Where else are you hurt?"

"My muscles hurt from training." Midoriya told him softly, keep his head down. The occasional tear slipped down his cheek, but exhaustion poured off his small frame in waves, stopping his tears from building into anything more.

Hizashi's brows scrunched together in worry. He'd been sore plenty of times. He remembered how Shota had worked himself to the point of passing out when they were in school, but he'd never seen sore muscles make a person react how Midoriya was, at least not so close to when they'd been used. People usually felt it after the muscles had had plenty of time to rest, feeling it the day after they worked out. Hizashi got a sinking feeling in his gut.

"Midoriya, I'm going to raise your shirt, okay? I just want to take a look at your back." Hizashi reached to the back of Midoriya's shirt and began to raise it slightly. The kid made no reaction, and Hizashi honestly wasn't sure if he was awake enough anymore to give one.

He didn't have to raise the shirt very high before his fears were confirmed. Midoriya's back and onto what he could see of his torso were covered in red and pinks bruises that's centers bled into hints of purple. The color suggested they were brand new and Hizashi had to breathe deeply in through his nose to control the wave of nausea that hit him.

"Is it bad?" Midoriya surprised him by speaking again. Questioning him because of course he knew they were there, he'd felt them. Hizashi dropped his shirt and shuffled back in front of Midoriya's face.

"I'm gonna pick you up, and then I'm taking you to the hospital. They are gonna look at your arms and fix the bruises, and you're going to be okay." Hizashi pushed back Midoriya hair and wiped a few tears off his face.

"What if they can't fix them? The doctor before said-" Hizashi didn't let him finish. Holding back his own tears.

"I will burst the eardrums of every single doctor I have to until they fix them, okay? I'm gonna pick you up and I know it's going to hurt, I'm sorry, I don't want to hurt you." Hizashi put one arm under curled knees and the other hovered behind Midoriya's back, waiting for confirmation.

"It's okay. I'm used to being hurt." Hizashi had to stop himself from crumbling under the weight of Midoriya's confession. With a deep breathe, he picked the kid up, stumbling slightly as he got to his knees and tried to not have his heart break and the cry that Midoriya released.

"Whoever is on the other side of this door, open it." Hizashi called through the door, hearing a slight scuffle before the door was opened. Hitoshi and Todoroki were on the other side of the door, eyes immediately looking at the curled up body in his arms.

"Izuku!" Todoroki reached his hand out, but Midoriya didn't take it, couldn't take it. He watched Midoriya look at the hand and caught him as he leaned forwards towards it.

"Todoroki, I need you to melt the ice. Hitoshi, call Shota and tell him to bring the car to the front of the dorms. It's an emergency." Both boys kept their eyes on Midoriya for a moment longer before Todoroki put his left hand on the ice. The temperature in the air changed in the blink of an eye and the hallways was once again opened up.

"I'm going with you." Todoroki informed Hizashi. Hizashi didn't have the time or patience to decline him. He shifted Midoriya in his arms slightly and walked towards the elevator, the sound of two sets of feet trailed behind him.

Izuku didn't know what to say or what to do. He was tired and exhausted in ways he hadn't been in so long, if he'd ever been before. Shoto was there and Izuku wanted nothing more than to cry to his best friend about what had happened, but he couldn't. He couldn't hurt Shoto. Not when Shoto already had too much to deal with, because of Endeavor. Shoto needed All Might to be his symbol of peace. He needed to know that the man his father tortured him to beat, was worth it.

It was all worth it.

Izuku didn't want Shinsou to see him either. He didn't want Shinsou to know how weak he was. How he wasn't worth it. He was already 90% sure the other knew about his pathetic crush, he didn't want to boy to have another reason to avoid him. Not when he just told Izuku he wanted to be friends.

Then there was his teacher, whose arms he was being carried in, who he latched onto like a scared child. Yamada was warm and kind and told Izuku that he would help him and Izuku let himself be smothered in affection that he didn't deserve and promises that couldn't be kept.

He hated himself for it. He hated himself for giving in. He hated himself for watching everyone in the elevator and every move they made, because he didn't know when another hit was going to come. He hated himself because he couldn't stop crying.

Mostly, he hated himself for All Might being right.

He wasn't cut out to be-

"ZUZU!" The sound of Eri's panicked shout pulled Izuku out of his thoughts. His quirked activated without him even realizing what was happening and he sprang out of Yamada's arms and rushed to Eri.

Eri was panicked, he needed to help her. Izuku didn't know how it happened, but black tendrils shot out from Izuku's limp hands reaching out for Eri, exhaustion forgotten under the new amount of adrenaline that rushed through him. The second he was in front of her, she threw her arms around his neck and the black tendrils secured her to his chest as he pushed his body to run out of the room to get Eri away from whatever danger was around them.

He couldn't think about anything but the head of white hair the clung onto him as he moved out of the dorms and around the building, finding a small nook big enough for the both of them to hide in. The tendrils moved frantically around them, hiding them from view, and protecting Eri from whatever was upsetting her.

"Zuzu, what's happening!?" Eri cried, hiding her face into his neck. When he tried to speak, his own breath was coming out in short bursts, in rapid succession. He couldn't pull enough air in to stop the burn that his lungs began feeling. The longer he thought about his breath, the drier his mouth got, and the more he tried to swallow the growing lump in his throat.

His throat was swelling.

He couldn't breathe.

He had to protect Eri.

He had to ignore the spasming pain in climbing down his jaw in to his chest and protect Eri.

"I got you. I got you. I got you. I got you." He repeated frantically, rubbing his face against Eri's hair.

He tried to fight against the black dots the began to pepper his vision, but they grew larger with each breathless swallow.

Distant screams and a hands tightening their hold on the back of his shirt were the last things Izuku registered before the dark spots over took his vision and his head dropped back against the wall.Shota had been on edge from the moment Hizashi had left the apartment. The longer that time stretched on, the more his nerves were set on edge.

"Dad, will you check my homework?" Eri asked pushing the math paper she'd been working on towards him. Shota took it, scanning his eyes over the multiplication equations, trying to focus on anything else except his unringing phone. He handed the paper back to Eri, not able to remember a single thing he'd looked at and gave her a nod.

He made a mental note to recheck it later.

By the 100th glance to his phone, he was beyond his normal amount of annoyed. He wanted answers. He wanted to know his student was okay. Hizashi was taking far too long. He rolled his shoulders a few times, fingers tapping against the table impatiently.

He had to give Hizashi time. He knew his husband wasn't going to call until he knew Midoriya was okay. Shota told himself repeatedly to calm down, but the longer it took, the more it confirmed something was wrong.

When his text tone went off, he all but lunged for the phone. Then even before his could open the first message, another came in. Steady text messages from Shota's students all begging him to come to the dorms, that something was wrong with Midoriya, that Todoroki blocked off any access to Midoriya's room. By the time Iida's call came, informing Shota that Hitoshi had brainwashed him into keeping their classmates out of Midoriya's room, Shota was already getting Eri into her shoes.

"Eri, we have to go to the dorms. I'm going to need you to stay with your brother when we get there, okay?" Eri's excitement petered out quickly.

"Why can't I see Zuzu?" She took a slight step away from Shota, fists clinching the bottom of her dress. Shota saw a confused and hesitant expression on her face, one that was waiting to know if Shota was already breaking his vow to not keep her from Midoriya.

"Midoriya isn't feeling well. When he's better, you can see him. I promise." Shota let both of them out and then turned back to lock the door. When he turned around to grab Eri's hand, he caught the last sight of her red shoes turning the corner as she ran away. "Eri get back here!" Shota hollered, chasing after his daughter. Long legs and years of chasing after villains made catching up with the 8 years fairly easy.

"Eri! You can't run off like that!" Shota reprimanded, holding her still for a moment. "I know you care about Midoriya, but running off is not okay. Hizashi is with him right now, he's being looked after. You CAN NOT run off, even if it for Midoriya." Eri squirmed in his hold slightly before scrunching her face up in to an angry expression. Red eyes looking almost like Shota's own.

"Fine." She relented. Shota rubbed a hand through his hair before scooping her up and beginning a hasty walk towards the A-Class dormitory.

When his phone rang again with Hitoshi telling him that Hizashi needed him outside the dorm with the car, immediately, Shota was already opening the door to the common room. A few students were sitting on the couch, immediately surrounded Shota. Their voices blended together and he sat Eri down to try and placate their concerns before he went to go retrieve the car.

"ZUZU!" Eri's scream caused Shota and the students heads to snap towards the elevator. A streak of green lightning shot from the elevator, stopping in front of Eri. Shota would have turned off his quirk, but before he could, a mess of black energy burst from Midoriya's hands and pulled Eri towards him. Midoriya's face looked pale and uneasy before he too was covered by the black whips that slung out, keeping everyone at bay and slamming into walls, knocking large chunks of dry wall off.

"Everyone get back!" Shota screamed, throwing his arm out to block the kids from getting any closer. His quirk was activated, but he couldn't see Midoriya through the black that surrounded him. "Midoriya!" The name had barely left his mouth when the whole mess of darkness lit up with green lightning, looking like a dangerous storm, and tore through the door, disappearing out of the room.

Hizashi, Shoto, and Hitoshi sprinted after Midoriya, only a second in front of Shota and the terrified students.

He knew Midoriya would never intentionally hurt Eri, but he still couldn't stop from thinking about Eri's rescue when her power and gone out of control with her holding onto Midoriya. Now he had the reverse situation, with Midoriya's power going out of control while he held onto Eri. He prayed that nothing would happen to either of them.

It didn't take much to find the two, not with the angry looking black coils flying all over the place.

"Stay back!" Shota demanded of his very afraid and worried students. He and Hizashi moved forward slowly, seeing the lightning and darkness begin to blink in and out of existence the closer they got. The second Shota should see Midoriya, he flipped on his own quirk, erasing Midoriya's.

Everything cleared with just enough time for Shota and Hizashi to watch Midoriya's head lull back, eyes closed, arms hanging by his side, with Eri clinging to his unconscious body.

Eri's voice begging for Midoriya to wake back up was the only sound any of them made for a split second before Hizashi and Shota both rushed into action.

The spot that Midoriya had brought them didn't allow for much space to move around, but they somehow both managed to squeeze their bodies in. Shota reached for Eri, but as he pulled, she pulled Midoriya with her.

"No! I won't leave him!" Eri screamed, whimpering against a tear soaked shoulder.

"Eri, we have to get him help. I can't lift him with you hanging on. I need you to let go." Hizashi tried to placate his daughter and breathed a sigh of relief when after looking between her parents and Midoriya a few times, she finally released her grip.

"You have to help him. You promised me!" Shota hoisted her up, turning her away from Midoriya so she didn't see Hizashi pick up his limp body.

"Dad, I got Eri, pops said he needs the car." Hitoshi held out his arms for Eri, who easy moved from their father to him. She gripped around his neck, squeezing with ever bit of strength she had, but Hitoshi couldn't care less.

"Mr. Aizawa, is Deku going to be okay?" Uraraka asked, speaking up for the teary eyed students that had followed them out.

Hitoshi took stock of his classmates, Iida, Uraraka, and Tsu all clung together. Todoroki stood a few steps away, a thin layer of frost was visible on his right side as he stared at his friend. Peaking around the corner of the dorm, Hitoshi caught sight of Kaminari's nervous discharges of electricity as he peaked around the dorm building.

"Midoriya will okay, we'll make sure of that." Shota had his keys in his hand, ready to run for their car as he tried to calm down the students, but a part of him was reluctant to leave, just in case Midoriya woke back up and lost control of his quirk again, but he knew that worry couldn't stop him. "Everyone, go to bed. Hitoshi, keep your sister. Hizashi, I'm going to go get the car, be careful." He didn't take one step away before voices erupted all around them.

"Shouldn't we get him to Recovery Girl?"

"What was that black stuff?"

"Is that why he was crying?"

"If Izuku is going somewhere, I want to go."

"I'm with Todoroki."

"I want to come too!"

"SILENCE!" Shota screamed, flaring his quirk and letting his voice echo into the otherwise quiet night's air. "You will do as you're told. Go back to the dorms. I understand you're worried for your classmate, but he is going to be with two pro heroes." Large glossy eyes looked at him in almost every direction, making him sigh and drop his quirk. His dry eyed burned with every blink. "Look, I know you're all worried and upset. Us standing here arguing isn't helping Midoriya. He needs doctors and he doesn't have any stamina left for Recovery Girl to do anything. I'll send Iida a message when we know something. You all have permission to sleep in the common room if you want, I'll send Midnight to supervise. Now, I need to leave."

Without waiting for another answer, Shota turned away and began running towards the parking lot leaving Hizashi to finish dealing with the students.

"Come on, everyone back to the dorms, I need to set Midoriya down soon. He's a little heavier than he looks." Hizashi moved forward slightly, herding the panicky students like curious duckling.

Hitoshi needed no more convincing to get Eri out of there and quickly turned heal and headed back for the dorms. Eri was already becoming fidgety in his arms and he didn't think he had long to get her somewhere before she stopping wanting to be touched and started wanting to get back to Midoriya.

No one spoke as they entered the dorm. Not when they saw there other classmates. Not when they all eyed the few slices that had been taken out of the walls with a mystery quirk they'd never seen before. Even Bakugou sat next to Kirishima uncharacteristically less explosive than normal. Hitoshi moved past them all as he headed for the elevator with Eri. What he wasn't expected was to be joined on the elevator by Todoroki or the icy glare that came with him.

"Hello Eri. It's nice to see you again." Todoroki greeted her. "Would you like to go to Izuku's room and watch one of his favorite movies with me?" As Hitoshi previously excepted, Eri wiggled out of his grasp, getting to her feet and moved to the far corner of the elevator.

"Can I go with Zuzu?" Eri asked as the elevator opened. Hitoshi watched as she gazed into the hallway, carpet still discolored with the water from Todoroki's ice, and then eyed the lobby floor button.

"Sorry Eri, we have to stay here." Hitoshi lightly touched the back of her shoulder, directing her off the elevator before the doors closed on them again. "But Dad and Pops, they'll let us know what's going on."

Eri walked with her head down towards Midoriya's room, not bothering to wait for either Hitoshi or Todoroki. She paused slightly at the door before throwing it open and running into the room, immediately burying herself under the covers on the bed, curly up into a ball.

"How come you didn't stay with Midoriya?" Hitoshi whispered to Todoroki, as the teen moved around the room like it was his own. A computer from the desk, a hidden basket of snacks from under the bed, a new stuffed animal from the closet that was placed next to the lump on the bed before being dragged under the covers by a small hand.

"Izuku would have my head if I went with him and left Eri here upset." He dug around in a box filled with movies until he pulled out an old DVD. "This movie is stupid, Izuku loves it."

"If it's stupid, why does he love it?" Hitoshi sat on the bed near Eri's feet.

"Izuku like bad movies. He says he only likes the ones that are so bad they are good, but I have yet to figure out how that classification works." Todoroki started up the movie and set the laptop on the bed, taking his own seat in the computer chair. About 15 minutes in, Hitoshi saw Eri's teary eyes peeking out from under the blanket as she watched the very cheesy movie.

By the time Shota appeared back in front of the dorms with the car, Hizashi was about to lose his cool. 17 students were staring dozens of questions into his back that he couldn't answer all while he hovered over the couch he laid Midoriya on.

He wasn't sure if the twitch the kid gave when he picked him up for a third time made everyone feel better or worse, but it had to of done something with how the class stayed on Hizashi's tail as he moved towards the car.

"You will inform us when you know something, correct?" Iida verified as Hizashi shut the back seat car door.

"Unless they want an explosion to the face they will. I need answers on what the hell that black shit was!" Bakugou's fist popped alongside his threat and Hizashi was honestly surprised that Bakugou had lasted so long without setting off at least a few explosions.

"Midnight is on her way. I'll let you know when we hear something." Shota confirmed as Hizashi got in and shut the car door. They left the class standing in front of the door watching them drive away with the hope that Nemuri would be able to corral them all back in.

"What did you tell Nem?" Hizashi asked as Shota sped towards the nearest hospital.

"I told her Midoriya had a quirk accident and need medical attention. I didn't know what else to tell her. Is this what Hitoshi called about?" Shota gave a small glance towards Hizashi's grim face and then shot a look towards the back seat at the still unconscious Midoriya.

He should have already woken up.

"Someone beat him, Shota. He's covered in fresh bruises. There's something else-" Hizashi paused, taking a deep breath, and Shota felt his heart drum against chest. "-He couldn't move or feel his arms."

Neither of them said anything more. Shota stepped on the gas a little harder and Hizashi held onto his seat belt just a little tighter. Both of them had theories forming in their heads about who might have caused this. Certain blonde heroes and mystery fathers were on the top of both of their lists.

When Izuku opened his eyes and was met with an endless black sky and empty rock ground, he filed it under just one more thing that was wrong with his day. The ghostly glowing figures that stood in front of his with distressed faces weren't making it any better.

The last time he'd had a dream about One for All, he'd burst his bedroom windows, and honestly with the day he'd already had, that didn't really seem like a surprising end to his Monday.

"Ninth." The Seventh One for All user, Nana, stepped forward towards him and pet him hair softly. Just like the time before, he was covered from nose down with a dense black cloud like substance. He had sight into the quirk, but he'd theorized that his soul was still too alive to move around with the ghosts of One for All's past.

Not being able to move his arms in this plane actually gave him a bit of hope for his return.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened to him. That isn't the boy I gave the quirk to. That isn-" Nana was pulled away midsentence by the first and fifth user.

"Nana, we aren't sure how much time we have. We have to prioritize what we speak about." The first user told her softly, gesturing for the fifth to take over.

"Congratulation, Ninth! You got my quirk, blackwhip! I was honestly surprised that you used it right, at least at first. You can't just use idle thought anymore. You need to know what your goal is when you use it! You wanted to pick that little girl up, that was a good command, but you lost focus and thus you lost control. I know you're trying kid, you just have to change the way you're thinking a little." Izuku tried to respond, but it came out as more of a grumble than anything else. He had questions, so many questions. "Seems like you can't talk here, but that's okay!"

"Ninth, the previous user's quirks have been dormant inside One for All for a long time. None of the other users have been able to manifest them, until you. I suspect that the core of One for All has begun to expand, allowing a physical manifestation of the quirks that it houses." The first user explained. Izuku chattered away with question after question against the dark cloud that left each of them undistinguishable to the vestiges in front of him.

"Do you get it kid? Now you have six new quirks to discover." Though the fifth user smiled at Izuku, he couldn't help but feel the dread settle in his stomach. Six new quirks. Six new things to master. He and his 35% max level of One for All didn't really know what to do with six new quirks. "Good Luck, boy! We'll be with you!"

"Be safe, Ninth." Nana and the First user told him before everything around Izuku began to swirl until he too was drug into the nothingness around him.Shota and Hizashi had been sitting in the waiting room for two and a half hours when a doctor finally came out to talk to them.

"You're the guardians of Midoriya Izuku?" An older man in a white jacket with a clip board asked the pair.

"We have emergency guardianship as UA staff and filed a Form 84 with the nurse." Shota informed. The Form 84 was meant for temporary guardianship during investigations. With neither of them knowing the role Izuku's father had in his current state, they both felt it best to leave the Midoriya's out of the loop.

"I see. Please come with me and I'll explain everything to you." The doctor led them into a private room with a computer that he signed into. He began pulling up x-ray images and MRI scans. When he finished, he pulled out a small stool and took a seat, staring at them both.

"I'm going to be honest, while it's not as bad as it could be, it's not great." The Doctor started. He enlarged the x-ray image, which showed them a shot taken of the shoulders and spine, down to the bottom of the ribs. "Do you see these small dark marks?" The doctor pointed to several spots on the spine and then on the shoulders. "They're stress fractures. Just from the xray and MRI, I could count 9, but I can almost guarantee there are more. There are also cracks in the 7th and 8th ribs on the left side and the 6th rib on rights side."

Hizashi and Shota both sat in shock, staying at an xray that neither of them had the training to understand themselves.

"I'm not as concerned as much about the breaks as I am the nerves, take a look here." The doctor pulled to the MRI and enlarge on a section neck and shoulder. "These lines right here, they make up the brachial plexus nerve, that nerve controls movement in the shoulders, arms, and hands."

"He said he couldn't move either of his arms." Hizashi whispered, staring at monitor. The doctor nodded along, pointing at a small dark patches that matched on both sides.

"He was probably alternating between pain if they were touched and completed paralysis. He has a rupture on both sides, right here." He circled the dark marks with his finger, showing them where it was on both side of the nerves.

"What does that mean?" Shota questioned, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

"His nerves are being torn away from his spinal cord, this is a partial rupture, it's still has connection left." He flipped the image again to one of an actual picture of Midoriya's chest on one side and his back on the other. "The contusions on the torso have also caused some muscle swelling that's making it a little difficult to get a clear reading if there is additional damage. We didn't see any internal bleeding, but it is something I want to have rechecked in a few hours after he runs through a bag on fluids and anti-inflammatories." There were few times Shota had ever felt so powerless in his life. Being a hero meant he was always in action, there was someone to catch, someone to help, something to do, but sitting in an isolated room staring at pictures of his student covered in bruises, there wasn't anything he could do in that moment. His stomach felt like it was flipping as he tried to sit still and not take off to start planning revenge against anyone who might have hurt the kid.

"What are we going to do about the nerve damage?" Hizashi asked, fully ready to burst an ear drum and ask for a new doctor like he promised.

"Surgery. The brachial nerve needs to be reattached to the spinal cord." The doctor clicked off the monitor, hiding away the proof of Midoriya's injuries. "I know that sounds scary, but the surgery has about a 90% success rate. It's actually one of the more common injuries that heroes get, and a surgery I've done multiple times. He'll need to spend a few days here after surgery with regular sessions from healing quirks and I'll require him to be off hero work for the next month while he does PT, but after that, he should be right as rain." Hizashi closed his eyes and let out a shaky sigh of relief.

"Why didn't he wake up?" Shota probed.

"Based on his high cortisol levels, low blood pressure, low glucose levels, and low electrolyte levels, I'd say he probably fainted due to a panic attack and hasn't been able to regain consciousness due to exhaustion. We've got him scheduled for a 7:45 am operation tomorrow and we'll be rerunning his lab work every two hours between now and then. We've got him on an IV right now. I can take you to his room." Both heroes nodded, jumping to their feet and following behind the doctor as they twisted and turned down several maze like hallways before appearing in front of a extra wide door.

Midoriya was laying on a hospital bed, hooked up to several machines that all beeped periodically. He was covered mid-chest down with a thin blanket that his hands rested on top of. Had it not been for the hospital gown and IV stuck in his hand, Hizashi would have thought he looked peaceful.

"Our visitation hours are usually from 8am to 9pm, but since Midoriya is a minor, we can allow one of you to stay with him tonight. A nurse will come in, in about 5 minutes to bring an overnight visitation pass. I'd ask that at that time one of you please leave." With nothing else to say, the doctor left the room, leaving Hizashi and Shota to talk.

"What are we going to tell the students? It's almost midnight, but I'm sure they're still all awake waiting for an update." Hizashi fell back into one of the chairs by Midoriya's bed. Stress and relief both sagged against his body.

"We need to inform Nezu and get a copy of all Midoriya's injuries for an official investigation. I'm most concerned about what we're going to tell Eri. The class has seen Midoriya break his arms repeatedly since the beginning of school, I think they're a little more desensitized to him being injured, but Eri, she ran off earlier when she thought he was just sick." Shota sat next to his husband, far more gently than the other, but with an equal amount of fatigue.

"Do you think Nezu has camera footage of all of All Might and Midoriya's training sessions?" Hizashi felt like a light bulb clicked on over his head. Nezu had cameras everywhere, if something was going on in his school, he'd have eyes on it. Shota was back to his feet in an instant.

"I'm going to go find out. Stay with Midoriya, I'll be back in the morning. I'll message the kids, so just rest." Shota kissed Hizashi on his cheek before walking towards the door, phone already coming out of his pocket.

In Midoriya's room, Eri was fast asleep, curled up like a burrito in Midoriya's plain black blanket with the stuffed teddy bear Todoroki had given her previously as her pillow. They were halfway through the second movie out of Midoriya's stash when Hitoshi's phone finally buzzed with a text from his father.

"What does it say?" Todoroki demanded in a whisper, face suddenly very much in Hitoshi personal space as he tried to see the screen.

"Dad told me to call him. I'm going to go in my room so I don't wake up Eri." He began to slip off the bed carefully. Todoroki followed behind him, not bothering to ask for permission as he slipped into Hitoshi's room with him.

Thankfully, his father was quick to answer. His voice filling the room once Hitoshi put it on speaker.

"Dad, is Midoriya okay?" Hitoshi questioned, chewing at the tip of his thumb.

"Midoriya will be okay. The doctor expects a full recovery. Is Eri there with you right now?"

"No Sensei, she's currently asleep in Midoriya's room." Todoroki answered for him.

"Good. Let her sleep. You should be asleep too, Todoroki." Shota chastised lightly, fully aware it was going to do nothing, but at least he could say he tried.

"When will Izuku be back?" Hitoshi wasn't used to seeing so much emotion on Todoroki's face when he spoke. Maybe it was the darkness in the room that came from only having a single lamp turned on, or maybe it was the way the phone light made his eyes look glossy as he leaned over it, but Todoroki looked one wrong word away from a melt down.

Shota sighed through his nose as he leaned against the driver's side door in the almost empty hospital parking garage. He didn't want his entire class at the hospital or spreading around that Midoriya was even in the hospital, but none of them were exactly known for their ability to keep their nose out of other people's business.

"Dad?" Hitoshi's broke Shota's silence, spurring him to give them some sort of explanation.

"Midoriya has an injury that needs to be watched. He'll be just fine and he'll be back in class in a few days. He's sleeping right now, but when he wakes up, I'm sure he'll give you a call." Shota hoped the explanation would pacify them, because they were basically his test run on what he was going to tell Iida to tell the rest of the class.

"When can he have visitors?"

"Why don't we let him make the call. We can call him tomorrow after school and see if he's up for visitors." Shota hadn't asked how long the surgery would take, so he could only pray it would be over and the kid would be awake before 3pm. "If Eri wakes up, tell her that Midoriya is okay and that he's resting right now."

"Okay, Dad." Hitoshi knew there was something that his father wasn't telling them and by Todoroki's pinched brows he knew it too. They stood there not speaking for a moment after the phone call had ended before Hitoshi worked up the nerve to take a leap put of his comfort zone.

"If you want, we can grab some more pillows and blankets from here and then go watch more movies together in Midoriya's room." He gestured to his unmade bed with one hand and dug his fingers into the back of his neck with the other. "We could talk too. If you wanted. I'm not so good at the talking part, but I can listen."

"Why are you doing this? We're not friends." Todoroki didn't speak unkindly, only stating a fact that wasn't surprising to either of them.

"We could be." Hitoshi offered lowly. "Plus, Midoriya would have my head if I left you here upset." He quipped, using the same line Todoroki had given him about staying for Eri. Todoroki's eyes roamed over his face for a long few seconds before he exhaled an audible breath through his nose and let his shoulders and pinched face relax slightly.

"What is your opinion on Endeavor?" Todoroki's blank expression gave Hitoshi no indication on whether the unprompted question was a trick question or not. "I'll know if you're lying." Todoroki added after Hitoshi's delay in answering.

"He's not my favorite hero."

"I didn't ask where he ranked, I asked your opinion." Something about Todoroki's correction sounded like a dismissal and Hitoshi opened his mouth before he could think about it, letting the surge of annoyance boost his confidence.

"I think he a piece of flaming shit who cares more about making sure everyone sees and hears him than he does about actually being a hero." Hitoshi snapped, glaring at the mismatched eyes in front of him.

"He is very loud." Todoroki agreed. "Alright, I guess we can be friends, but that doesn't mean I won't come after you if you even think about making Izuku upset again. The only reason you aren't a charred popsicle right now is because I respect his feelings."

There were so many questions and sarcastic comments from both Hitoshi's anxiety side and his annoyed with society side that threatened to spill out of his mouth but instead he stayed quiet, grabbed his blanket, and headed back to Midoriya's room. He hoped somehow this was all either a very emotionally charged nightmare or that Tuesday was going to be a little easier to handle.

Hizashi and Shota though miles away from Hitoshi and each other both shared that same hope for the following day.