A/N: The class finally starts talking, and Hisashi is a caring dad!

"I'm home!" Izuku called out as soon as he stepped into the house, out of breath with bags swinging from his arm. "I also got the groceries!"

"Welcome home," Hisashi greeted from the couch, smiling up at him over his newspaper. "Your mother and Tomura should be home soon."

"Great!" Izuku smiled back at him and headed down the hall to the kitchen.

Working quickly, he put away the items and tucked away the bags before heading to the living room. He flopped onto the couch and sighed, closing his eyes as his father patted his head.

"How is he?" He asked, looking up at him with a conflicted expression. "You didn't threaten him too badly, did you?"

"Not more than necessary," Hisashi hummed with a secretive smile.

"Dad," Izuku sighed.

"Son," Hisashi mimicked.

"Please don't do anything to him," the boy pleaded, resting his hands on his arm. "I know he helped the cops, but I don't want him to get hurt."

"You've got such a soft heart, Izuku," the white-haired man replied wearily. "You need to properly learn that not all of your adults are going to change just because you take them in and nurse them. I can still sense turmoil inside of him, something that would make him a dangerous enemy if he knew where he was."

"I know he would never do anything to hurt his..." He trailed off, and Hisashi gave him a meaningful look.

"Did you have those same defenses for him when he treated you like a villain?" He asked quietly, and Izuku's throat tightened.

"I..." he tried to swallow. "I was..."

"You were innocent, and they treated you like a criminal," his father continued, brushing a thumb across his bottom lid. "Remember what I told you the night I went and got you?"

"... that you wouldn't treat me that way, because no one deserves to be demonized for perceived faults until proven guilty?" Izuku weakly responded. "And even then, treating them like lesser beings after the fact won't do anything to convince them that they can be successful in changing their life in a constructive and healthy way?"

"Exactly." His hand went to Izuku's shoulder, warm and large, squeezing it gently. "You never deserved to be treated that way. If they really cared about the school's wellbeing and if they were acting justly, they would have been more neutral with you until they had enough damning evidence to convict you. Then again, what they did was illegal - they should have at the very least notified your mother before taking you in. Not to mention, they needed an actual warrant to take your notebooks - and they didn't bother to get one before calling the investigators."

Izuku nodded numbly. "Y- yeah, they didn't..."

"You did nothing wrong, and your mother and I are very proud of you for keeping your head up," Hisashi said firmly, gently turning Izuku's chin so that he could look him in the eye. Crimson met amaranth, and he gave his boy a gentle smile. "That's why we need to take Yuuei down a peg. How long will it be before they treat their other students the way they did you? What if they treated one of your friends that same way? Wouldn't you be enraged at that? Nobody, no child, no matter how old, deserves to be isolated and shouted at because of what could be false allegations."

"But... but All Might..."

"I honestly don't give half a damn if it's where All Might graduated from or not," he interrupted, his eyes narrowing a fraction. "As much as I personally detest the man, I'm grateful that he's at least seeing my side in this. I'm doing this for you, Izuku. Don't you want to get even with Nedzu in a way that hurts?"

Some part of his heart protested that. Don't even think about it, it scolded him. You don't want to stoop to the level of a villain in order to feel better! If you do this, you won't be happier, you'll just feel guilty!

But another side of him whispered still. They treated you like scum, remember? Had it not been for Yagi and your father, you would still be suffering there. They never told your mother when you had to receive extensive treatment from Recovery Girl, they never bothered to get anyone, not even Bakugo, therapy after your skirmishes with the villains... face it, Izuku, they don't care about anything other than molding you into soldiers for the side of 'good'!

But what would All Might do? His good half pleaded. He would never bend to such a petty level. He would turn the other cheek!

All Might is on Father's side, the small voice whispered. If he's agreeing with him on something like this, surely it would be better in the long run. What about Nedzu's supposed ties with the Hero Commission? Don't you recall that look in his eyes... the one that reminded you of Aldera's principal? That man never had your interests at heart, or anyone's, for that matter. Don't you remember?

He did. He remembered very well. It was the whole reason he could never feel entirely safe or comfortable in the presence of the mouse. He knew some of Nedzu's history with humans, and it touched a chord in his heart for sure - but the totally apathetic and secretive look in his eyes whenever he gazed at the students set off a trigger somewhere in his heart, and memories began to resurface, memories he'd long tried to suppress, when he was taken in for interrogation.

He recalled that same exact look in the eyes of his middle school principal, always directed squarely at him whenever he was taken in to speak with him. That man had made it clear from the get-go that he would never like him, no matter what he decided to do with his life, purely because of who he was. Quirkless, he'd sneered one day with the utmost contempt, never shape up to have a future anyway, so why don't you save us all the trouble and just drop out right now? You're besmirching our school's good name with your presence here. It's obvious that it would be in your best interest to leave and never come back.

Best interest, the voice scoffed. Hah. Like he ever cared enough to know what was in your 'best interest'.

His stomach churned with doubt, and as he looked into his father's face, the sincerity and care there made him feel safe. It shouldn't, considering who he was, but then again, if he wanted to do something unspeakable, he likely would have done so by now, or at the very least not kept Tomura from attacking him on sight. He probably would have held his mother as a hostage, not treated her with adoration. He would have tried to take One For All from him, not given him headpats and told him how proud he was of him.

It could have been likely that he was playing a long con, but either he was a master of looking genuine, or he really was being sincere. Hisashi was a puzzling man, but something in his heart whispered to him that he was telling the truth.

You can't save everyone, Izuku, especially if they reject your attempts, the voice prodded again. That kind of thinking is only going to get you hurt even more. Remember what your therapist said?

Izuku swallowed, giving him another nod. "Y... you're right, Dad. Yuuei just isn't a good place to be anymore."

"Of course I'm right, I've lived long enough to tell the difference between a caring and uncaring school environment for the youth, and I want the best environment possible for my son." He nodded with a look of finality. "Of course, we'd have to make sure your old classmates were able to get into better schools... what about that girl you liked... Uraraka, was it? And your friends Iida and Todoroki? Would you feel happier if they went to your current school?"

At his old friend's names, his stomach roiled with guilt once more. It had been so incredibly hard to completely sever ties with them, but in order to get away from Yuuei's desperate grasp, he had to. He hadn't stopped crying for days afterward after he abandoned his old number and got a flip phone with only a few numbers put into it for safekeeping, months' worth of personal conversations and happy memories totally lost, save for some pictures he saved onto his computer. Of course, he'd had to get a new laptop too; it was likely that Yuuei had installed a tracking program onto the old one before he left, and it was easier to just replace it than continue to live with that risk. Indeed, only a week after he left Yuuei his father had come home with news that Yuuei had managed to track down the laptop and old phone to an abandoned warehouse, and that was where the rumor that he'd died had sprouted from. He cried himself to sleep visualizing his friends' reactions to that one.

He sighed, weakly smiling at the older man. "Maybe if they forgive me... it would be nice to keep in contact again. I miss them."

"They are promising, good-hearted young men and women," Hisashi praised. "I would expect no less from the ones who helped you rescue Bakugo."

Ah, and speaking of his ex-childhood friend. Izuku had worried about what his mother's disappearance would do to Aunt Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru, but luckily for them, his aunt had understood - and was one of the only people who protected the secret of their move fiercely. Even when Yuuei staff had gone to their home to question them soon after, she asserted that she didn't know where they'd gone. Not quite a lie, as Inko had kept their new location a secret and had just said that the family would be moving, and Mitsuki and Masaru couldn't quite come with them. Every once in a while, to throw off any potential threat of tracking, Inko called them from a payphone and chatted for a while to catch up. It was one of the things that kept her motivated and happy.

As much as Hisashi had a personal distaste for the blond, he was ambivalent where Izuku was involved, knowing about his deep attachment that still remained. He was getting better, though; his family was slowly getting him to understand that whatever they had was severed years ago because of Bakugo's inferiority complex and likely couldn't be repaired. Izuku was beginning to see that his attachment to his childhood friend was too toxic to go on, and with that, he was ready to completely disregard any fledging friendship he might've cultivated with the explosive boy.

Perhaps one day it could be repaired, but not without intensive therapy and effort from both sides. And for right now, with new friends who didn't care about his turbulent past and accepted him as he was, Izuku easily put that thought out of his mind.

The first thing Shouto did was send out a mass text in the group chat about his findings. While the class had a staff-moderated official group chat, Uraraka and Ashido had quickly convinced everyone to make a non-staff-moderated one (with Iida and Yaoyorozu as mods) after Midoriya left in hopes of communicating any information they found in secrecy.

Class 1-gAyyyyyyy
(2 users online)
6:25 PM icythot: Midoriya is alive.

Not even a moment later, he started getting responses.

6:25 PM defyinggravity: WAIT WHAT
6:25 PM defyinggravity: HOW YOU FIND OUT
6:25 PM lord-explosion-murder: WTF are you shitting me halfnhalf
6:25 PM class-daddy: Todoroki-kun, you were on patrol up north, were you not?
6:26 PM icythot: Correct. Besupin City.
6:26 PM class-daddy: So not only is he still alive, but he's likely living in Besupin...
6:26 PM grapejuice: so wait u found midoriya?
6:26 PM acid_rain: wtf he have to go get him!
6:26 PM flextape: holy shit wht did i miss
6:26 PM defyinggravity: WE HAVE TO GO GET HIM
6:26 PM class-momma: Please calm down, we can't act rashly yet!
6:26 PM class-momma: Todoroki you're sure it was him?
6:26 PM icythot: He had red shoes and black dyed hair, but I could see green in it. If it wasn't Midoriya, it's a damn good copy.
6:26 PM icythot: I found him helping civilians at a burning building. He singlehandedly saved a few before the heroes arrived.
6:26 PM class-momma: Okay. That definitely sounds like him.
6:26 PM portablecharger: shoud we like tell sensei?
6:26 PM portablecharger: *should dammit
6:26 PM stonecold: he's been missing since yesterday, right? I overheard Mic-sensei saying that they couldn't get ahold of him for like fifteen hours
6:27 PM class-daddy: Something about this seems fishy... what if Aizawa-sensei found Midoriya?
6:27 PM class-momma: It could be. But that begs the question of why nobody can locate him or contact him...
6:27 PM acid_rain: we gotta take a chance guys! we have to find midoriya and get answers!
6:27 PM icythot: If we do, we can't tell the teachers.
6:27 PM class-daddy: Todoroki-kun, I know you still think the staff had something to do with Midoriya-kun's disappearance, but it would be unwise not to let them know ahead of time!
6:27 PM defyinggravity: Iida ily but for once, i kinda agree with Todoroki
6:27 PM defyinggravity: remember when Principal Nedzu gave that speech about how 'we must be unified in the face of tragedy' and bs and just brushing off Deku's disappearance?
6:27 PM defyinggravity: he acted so nonchalant about it like it wasn't any big deal or w/e
6:27 PM lord-explosion-murder: i'm probably gonna regret this, but i agree with round face
6:27 PM acid_rain: !
6:27 PM flextape: w/e you decide to do, im behind you bro
6:27 PM portablecharger: lets go find midoriya and catch up w/ him!
6:27 PM class-momma: If we do decide to leave, we need to be stealthy about it!
6:27 PM class-daddy: I agree with Yaoyorozu! As much as I hate worrying the staff, we will need to keep every detail between the members of 1-A!
6:27 PM kerokero-cola: for once Iida is in on the shenanigans, i'm impressed
6:27 PM class-daddy: I care for Midoriya just as much as any of you, and I want him home safely with us once more. As his friend, I can only strive for such!

Todoroki felt a smile pull at his mouth and he glanced through the chat as the others excitedly planned. The class had felt remarkably empty without Midoriya in it, and even when the staff lost hope of finding him, Class 1-A had all voted to keep his seat open for if they eventually found him - and Todoroki was planning on keeping that promise to find him. The way Aizawa had looked at them with that pitying frown had rubbed him the wrong way - and it wasn't just because of the man's hand in him leaving. Something about the staff felt off to him, and it wasn't just the way Vlad King's eyes roamed over them during class, something paranoid about his gaze that he just couldn't quite pin down. It certainly wasn't the way Nedzu's appearances marked a tension in the class that could not be eased.

Better we get to him than that man does, he thought to himself, his mood momentarily souring at the thought of the cremation villain. Dabi won't lay a hand on him to prove a point, I swear it!

Ever since Midoriya disappeared, more and more things had begun to make sense in the young prodigy's mind about suspicious events and people. One week after that night, he ran into Dabi on the street. The second he looked into the man's eyes, something clicked, and he could hardly contain his anger when he cornered his father that night (with his siblings in the room) and demanded answers about their deceased oldest brother.

Fuyumi had gasped, Natsuo's eyes had widened, and Enji's head had bowed in shame, only fueling the boy's anger. When he heard the whole story about what had happened to the boy, it took every ounce of his strength not to activate his ice out of sheer rage. What he saw definitely was Touya - why he went by a different name with black hair, he didn't yet know, but he was sure it was him. Later confirming it with Natsuo fueled his determination. One look at old pictures of Touya with both red and with white hair and seeing his eyes immediately reminded him of Dabi. When he discussed this with Natsuo, his older brother began to weep, both out of anger at their father and sorrow for what had become of his closest friend.

They both decided it would be better to tell Fuyumi, and she had much the same reaction, bursting into inconsolable tears as she hugged her younger brothers tightly and not letting go. Shouto hugged back just as tightly, tears pricking his own eyes for the brother he faintly recalled, the head of red hair burned into his memory with his siblings' defeated, pitying gazes as they watched Endeavor drag him away for training.

Now that he found Midoriya, perhaps he would be one step closer to confronting Touya once and for all, and trying to bring him home.

A/N: Yes, the Todosibs know who Dabi is, because angst. And it's setting things up for a more dark turn later on :)

Please tell me what you thought!