Shouto's heart was racing. He shouldn't be doing this, but he couldn't find it in himself to care. Not when his mind was racing with questions.

After a brutal training session in which Shouto had met a young teen and learned a very dark secret, he had watched his father lead the boy down that set of stairs Shouto had seen his father go down everyday. He had decided right then that he needed answers. There were only two people who could give them, and Shouto would not ask the man who had been abusing a child for years.

Now, in the dead of night, Shouto crept down those stairs to try and locate the boy whose blood could cause such power. It took him the better part of an hour to find the right door. It was a large metal thing with three locks. He opened it slowly.

The lights came on automatically as Shouto walked in and quickly shut the door behind. He located the teen bolting up from bed, to stand in a fighting stance. Shouto noted the collar was still around the boy's neck, and the chain was now thoroughly attached to the wall. The teen's eyes reflected fear and uncertainty.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.." Shouto said evenly. The green haired boy tilted his head slightly in question.

"I just wanted to talk to you. But If you'd rather I leave, I can do that too," Shouto took a step towards the door.

"No wait!" It was the first time Shouto had heard the teen speak. His voice came out soft and gravely. He guessed the boy had had very little reason to speak recently. "You...You have questions?"

"I… Yes?" He found it very confusing that this boy could tell he had things he wished to know.

"I have some as well." Shouto relaxed slightly in the knowledge that this boy was just as confused as he was.

"You first." The teen nodded and slowly relaxed back into a seated position on the bed. He seemed to hesitate a moment before deciding to speak.

"W-what's your name?" Oh. That was not what he'd expected, but not unwanted.

"Shouto Todoroki. And you?"

"Izuku."

"...Just Izuku?" The teens eyes flashed with panic and slight anger.

"Yes. And?"

"Then call me Shouto," Izuku looked up at him in surprise. "I don't like being connected to that bastard anyways."

Izuku's mouth twitched up in a slight smile.

"You can ask me," Shouto blinked at Izuku in surprise. "I know you want to know. Its' okay, I don't mind."

"My father he-"

"Uses my blood to amplify his quirk? Yes."

"And he.."

"Is keeping me chained to a wall and running experiments on me to do it?" Izuku spits, tugging at the collar around his neck. "Yes."

"Did he take you or…?" Shouto wasn't sure what he was asking with that. Did my father kidnap you or are you somehow here with the government's knowledge?

"Legally, he's my godfather and has custody of me."

Shouto tried to digest that information. Who in their right mind would make Enji Todoroki a god parent. The answer: no one. Shouto had a sneaking suspicion that Endeavor had pulled some string to get a hold of Izuku.

"How long have you been here?" How long have I been oblivious of you?

"Nine years."

"Oh." It came out strangled.

"...It's not your fault, you know. Me being here."

"I could have done something," Shouto was whirling. If he had just been brave enough to go down the stairs sooner. If he had acted on his suspicions. If he had done something .

"Maybe, but I don't think there is much to do."

"Yes there is, I can get you out. I can still stop him from hurting you more!" Izuku just looked at him sadly. "Stand up, I can freeze the chain and shatter it." Izuku crossed his legs. "Please get up! I can help you get out! I can help you leave! What my father is doing to you is wrong!" I can still make this right. I can still save you.

"I know," Izuku stated quietly. He made no move to stand up.

"He's abusing you, and you aren't even going to try to leave?" Shouto asked indignantly.

"...He abusing you too," The teen said it so quietly Shouto barely heard him.

"What?" he asked weakly.

"He's hurting you too, isn't he?"

"Yes but, that doesn't really count-"

"YES IT DOES!" Izuku exploded. "If he's hurting you it counts as abuse!"

"... I thought that once too, but whenever I said anything, everyone told me that I was overreacting and that Endeavor was just showing discipline." Shouto had spoken up a total of five times before he had finally given up. He hadn't tried again. For, he had no reason to try and get help if no one cared. Besides, he's the number one hero. ' He can't do anything wrong'."

"I believe you.." Shouto let out a bitter laugh.

"Yes, well, you're the only one."

"I know," Izuku stated. He sounded so resentful.

"...what?"

"I know no one else will believe us because I've tried too. But I believe you. I saw the way he treated you during that ' training'. I see the way you avoid emotions around him. I see the fear in your eyes… fear that is so much like mine. You're scared," Izuku stated quietly. And there it was again. The understanding. The way Izuku could read Shouto and see right through the mask he'd tried so hard to maintain.

"How can you tell."

"Because the way you hide it, is the same way I hide mine. You… You're like me…." And in that moment Izuku's eyes locked onto Shouto's, and he knew. Izuku and himself were the same. Not exactly, but they had both seen the evil of a man who should only be kind. They had both been hurt to the point that the evidence will be forever burned on their bodies. They both believed a truth that no one else would even consider.

"How can I leave when someone else is hurting here? How can I leave when doing that changes nothing except for myself? Endeavor won't stop hurting you and others just because I'm gone." Izuku was near to tears now. Shouto found he was holding back his own sense of tears as well. "How can I leave when someone who is like me would be left behind?"

And because Shouto could find no argument against what Izuku had just laid bare, he said the only thing he could think of.

"Thank you," Shouto was freely crying now. No one had ever spoken so kindly to the dual haired teen. No one had ever tried to help him before. Izuku slowly rose from where he had been sitting, and cautiously folded him into a hug.

Shouto had never had a reason to try and get help again, but now crying with another who had suffered as he had, he found a new reason.

Izuku had never had a real friend before. Not between the years he'd spent as the quirkless outcast and the ones spent locked in Endeavors house. But Shouto and Izuku had become fast friends, bonded by trauma and understanding.

Shouto had been visiting Izuku everyday late at night for about two months now. After the initial one sided escape attempt, the two had taken to talking. They'd shared many a things.

Shouto had told Izuku about his entire life from the countless brutal training sessions to the story behind the burn scar that covered the side of his face. In return, Izuku had told Shouto everything. About him thinking he was quirkless to how he met Endeavor to how Izuku still wished to be a hero.

Shouto had offered to teach Izuku how to fight after Izuku had whispered to him his dream one night. Izuku had burst into tears and hugged a bewildered Shouto. He'd explained to him how he was the first person to ever believe in Izuku's dream. From that night on, Shouto would, as quietly as possible, spar with Izuku. It turned out, Izuku's practice on his own had helped, but training (actual training, not Endeavors definition) with Shouto was much more beneficial.

"Why don't you use your fire?" Izuku had asked one night.

"I won't use his power. I'm going to prove to him that I reject the idea of being his ' perfect creation,' " for a moment neither of them say nothing.

"Is it my power when I use my quirk?"

"Yes?"

"Is it my power when it's Endeavor's quirk being enhanced?"

"Yes…"

"So it's my power even if someone else is influenced by it?"

"What-"

"Shouto," Izuku looks at him, his heterochronic eyes widening. "Even if Endeavor tells you when or when not to use it, it's' still yours to use. Your fire may look similar to his, but you get to decide how to control it. Endeavor can't control your fire. I'm not asking you to use it just because, but I am asking you to not let Endeavor influence any actions you take. The best way to reject him is to show him that nothing he does matters to you. Because at least you have that choice. At least you still have the ability to deny using your quirk," Izuku was crying again. "So, why don't you use your fire?"

Shouto was sitting there staring at nothing. Izuku would not take back his words; he'd meant them. But maybe he'd been too harsh. Maybe he shouldn't have used himself as the example maybe-

"I don't know," Was the only thing Shouto said before walking out of the room that night, but not before Izuku caught the barest hint of a smile tracing his features.