There, on the steps of his home, stood Aizawa and Young Izuku Midoriya.

He wasn't sure what to do. How to act. What to think. Everything just suddenly stopped. The voices in his head were very quiet now, as well. It was almost earie to hear nothing but the natural noises around him.

"Are you going to let us in?" Aizawa snapped, his hands shoved into his pockets but the look in his eye said that he was watching Toshinori carefully. He was still a threat, after all. They didn't exactly part on good terms either.

"Ah, yes!" Toshinori finally shook his head and stepped to the side, letting both of them inside. Aizawa walked in first, his eyes never leading Toshinori. Midoriya walked behind him, trying to stay to Aizawa's left so that he was as far from Toshinori as possible. The boy still wasn't looking up at him. "Here, we can talk in the living room. I already have some tea ready and I think there are some store bought cookies somewhere too, if that's alright?"

He could think so clearly, yet his thought were all tangled. The single voice inside his head, his own voice, was so loud that it almost made him want the others to return. He felt vulnerable, like Aizawa could see into his very soul and tell exactly what he had done. Oh no. He had done so much.

"I think I'd rather have this meeting without tea and cookies." Aizawa sighed as he sat down on the couch, his eyes examining the room as Toshinori continued to pour two other cups of tea, just in case either of his guests changed their minds. As he looking back at the living room through the open space between the two rooms, he catch Midoriya's eye for a fraction of a second, but the boy looked away quickly. It made Toshinori's heart ache.

"I can understand that. You always seemed to prefer coffee anyway, right?" Toshinori set the tea cups down, as well as the unopened package of cookies. They weren't good for him, especially with how much sugar companies seemed to pack into treats these days, but it had been an impulse request. He wanted something sweet that would satisfy his hunger for blood and overly rich cookies seemed like a good idea.

He ended up eating the dead bird he stored away instead.

"I know you're here because of Nezu's request but why is...he?" Toshinori took a chance and pointed towards the young boy who still looked uncomfortable even existing here. This was painful for both of them, so why would Nezu suggest it?

Aizawa sat back as he stared at Toshinori straight on. "Nezu didn't like what you told that police chief, so he sent us to talk to you about it. Honestly, if I had a choice in the matter, it would be me and no one else, but he didn't think that was a good idea." The hero huffed out a sigh, likely wondering the same thing as Toshinori. Why would he send Midoriya? It felt like offering a poor, helpless sheet to the wolves.

No, Midoriya wasn't poor or helpless. He could've refused this offer from Nezu, Toshinori knew that much. But he decided to come here and that was even more confusing. Wasn't this just to convince him that he had to apologize for mocking UA and spreading untrue rumors about the system's care for their staff? Why was there a need for such an emotional pull?

"I don't want to waste time, Yagi." Aizawa suddenly said, his eyes sharp as he leaned forward, opening the package of cookies. He picked one up, examined it, and then offered it to Midoriya. The boy jumped slightly at the light touch from his mentor but eventually shook his head and went back to staring at the ground. This really was painful.

"Agreed." Toshinori breathed out, his eyes still trained on the boy. "Perhaps I can shorten it by saying that what I said was wrong and unfair. It was a tense situation and I said what I thought would get me out of it. But that's not really an excuse, since I continued to insult Nezu when he confronted me about it."

Every word felt like black ink oozing out of his mouth. His heart sunk, like his very creator could see him gloss over the truth and was frowning at him with distain. In this situation, Aizawa felt equal to that creator's stare, especially with how he seemed to read between the lines so easily. It made Toshinori's heart pick up with paranoia. Did he know? He must've. There was no lying to an underground hero, was there?

"I really am sorry for whatever influence my hateful words put onto you and the school." He avoided Aizawa's eyes by focusing on Midoriya. The poor boy was so tense. It was a wonder how his quirk hadn't activated yet, even by pure instinct to protect himself. "And the students." He added.

"Easy for you to say when you don't even know what it did." Aizawa's stare turned into a harsh glare. "Were you aware that the things you said become very popular in the media, despite the police chief's efforts to keep them hidden? The entire world is now questioning whether UA should even stay open because despite how horribly your image has been ruined, people still believe you for some reason. Like you're still some stupid Symbol!"

That was what Toshinori had feared, but he couldn't even feel sorry for himself because that remorse only came once he saw Midoriya's pained expression. He wasn't sorry at all before now. All he cared about was his own safety and being able to continue this maddening cycle of killing and wanting more.

"As if the media wasn't already getting onto UA's case with all of those attacks from the League and then the shift into the dorms. They weren't kind when they spoke about their distrust for UA's system and when you ended up as some...madman, it only made things worse for us." Aizawa was sitting up fully now, everything else completely melting away now besides the three of them. "They got so close to closing the school down because of what happened to do." He seemed to think better of his wording. "No, what you did. It's still getting passed around in the media, that All Might broke into Tartarus and murdered All For One in cold blood. That the guards were killed as well. That there was a little school boy involved by way of manipulation and he had no choice but to betray the single person that meant the most to him!"

Midoriya flinched now, his eyes beginning to water as the events were retold in Aizawa's harsh words. Toshinori felt it too, the unbearable regret that came with these events. These horrible crimes that he committed out of selfishness. Why had he ever brought the kid into this?

"And if that wasn't enough, they found two bodies with your finger prints all over them! That cab driver who was going to escort you to a safe place and that old woman who used to be your neighbor! I even witnessed that last one!" Aizawa was panting now and his teeth were bared in a harsh frown.

There was a pause where Toshinori felt very, very uncomfortable. All he could do was stare at those angry eyes and hope that there was some way to undo this. But it had been six months since all of that. Six months were he continued to manipulate those around him into getting what he wanted, so selfishly.

When Aizawa spoke again, his tone was softer, but no less angry. It was terrifying. "Do you realize what you've put us through for the last half year? Are you aware that several of us had to quick teaching at UA because of the death threats and actual attempts as well?"

"No." Toshinori gasped, a hand covering his mouth at those words. No, that couldn't be true. How...how could they have brought this all back to those wonderful heroes? The teachers and staff at UA were encouraging and only ever cared about what was best for the students. They wouldn't have agreed to leave their own homes and move into the one bedroom apartments in the teacher's UA dorms if they didn't. So, why were they the ones getting hurt because of this?

Aizawa continued. "You know, Present Mic had to quit his studio because all of the callers would just curse him out. He couldn't even play a single song without getting interrupted by someone's hateful words."

No. No, that studio meant everything to Yamada!

"And Midnight came home to find her whole place trashed. Half of her personal items were missing and her cat nearly drowned in the bathtub."

Not Kayama! She always talked about how she loved keeping scrapbooks with old pictures in them. They held people who she would never see again. They couldn't have taken that from her!

"Ectoplasm retired early because of the backlash. He even handed over his hero license because the civilians would harass him while he was patrolling the city."

Toshinori was shaking, his vision beginning to blur, but he couldn't look away. His heart was aching in his chest and his stuttered breaths only made it worse, but he couldn't care less.

"My personal information was spread across the internet and I can't do underground work anymore. I can't do anything, because now, people know my exact name, my family, everything about my quirk and even which areas I patrol and on which days. I can't go outside without worrying that a villain is going to attack with a perfect plan to defeat me."

There was another pause, but it was filled with the sounds of soft sniffling from Midoriya's side of the couch and Toshinori's own blood rushing through his veins.

"And the worst of it all, is that the students won't be given access to another hero school if the place shuts down. All other schools in Japan have refused to accept them in fear of the UA 'curse' spreading to them. If UA gets shut down, they'll be without a future and an entire generation of heroes won't be able to save people."

No. No, he didn't want this! He didn't want this!

"So, sorry if I'm a bit upset, but I don't think you have the right to even apologize to me, let alone Midoriya."

Toshinori hung his head, his face buried in large hands. What had he done?! Why was he so stupid?! While he sat here, dreading that he had to wear an ankle bracelet so he couldn't freely wander around and kill his next victims, those at UA were suffering so much! He hurt them all and he didn't even care until now! In fact, he made it all worse! He spread a lie through the media and now...would those kids even have a future anymore? Would Midoriya end up having to go into some other field of work? Could he even become a detective with how much school he just wasted?

He didn't know what to say, so he kept quiet. Just like Aizawa said, it wasn't right for him to even as for forgiveness. He didn't deserve to apologize for what he'd done, especially since he had no way of changing it. If he took his words back, they'd think that Nezu influenced him somehow. They would conclude that those people he sent over threatened him into telling a different story and even he pleaded with them to believe the truth, many would continue to torment them. Many would continue to tear their lives apart and eventually, all of them would have to hide themselves away in order to avoid it. To think that he had pushed them all so far...it hurt more than he could even comprehend.

"All Might?"

The soft voice made his head snap up. Midoriya's eyes were red and tracked with tears, his lip also turned down in a frown, but his eyes met the older man's own. For the first time in months, Toshinori could see the boy's gaze match his own and he could feel the anguish eating at him. Midoriya deserved better than this.

"All Might, why?"

It was such a simple question, yet it hold so much meaning. There were so many things to ask him why for, but despite that, he knew exactly what he was talking about. Why did you end up like this? How did this even happen?

"Young Midoriya." He gasped out, not sure how to form the right words. His throat still felt closed, like someone was wrapping their fingers around it and squeezing. It was hard to breathe correctly and he coughed a few times to clear it. It did nothing to help, in the end. "I...I don't know what's wrong with me." He whispered it out like a secret, and honestly, it was. "I don't know how to control it and it scares me. It's like someone else it thinking for me, acting for me. Like I wasn't even real for a while."

Looking back, he couldn't remember having a clear, coherent thought. Through those six months, and then after, when he was taking care of his house and hurting whatever he could, nothing felt clear to him. Life was fuzzy and wrong. Everything still was wrong but he had no way to fix it. He was only even aware of it now and who knew what would happen after the pair left his home. Would he continue to hurt others without a care in the world? Would he continue to hurt his coworkers and his beloved students? Would he hurt Midoriya?

"Please." He gasped it out as he held his aching chest. "I can't apologize in a way that would matter to you, but know that I never wanted this. I never wanted you to hurt this badly. I should've just left when I felt something was wrong, but I didn't. I stayed and waited through it and now look what's happened. Please, I didn't want you to get stuck in all of this."

Toshinori closed his eyes again, no longer able to meet their of their gazes. His head was pounding and he felt like the dark hand of death was going to crush him at any moment. At this point, he would almost welcome it. Maybe dying would save them from this torment.

There was another pause filled with nothing but Toshinori's labored breaths and soft sobs. It was pathetic, but he didn't care. These people meant to much to him. Aizawa helped him when he felt like he couldn't even get up. He even visited when things were going wrong and tried to help until he realized that were was no recovering. He even came here today to talk to Toshinori after everything he did; and although it might've been in hopes to release all of his anger, it still spoke so much.

Midoriya didn't deserve this either. He was the one who saw how Toshinori was suffering all until he left UA unexpectedly. The boy cared enough to stand up and speak his mind instead of just accepting any answer his idol gave him. The boy even helped him in his insane mission to destroy his nemisis. He had become worse that even All For One in his mission to do just that. Midoriya saved him by calling Tsukauchi and getting him sent to that mental hospital. How many more people would've died had the boy decided to stay silent?

"I'm sorry." The words were nothing more than a pained wheeze, but Toshinori wasn't sure what else he could utter.

"I know." Aizawa spoke this time. There was a shifting noise from the couch and Toshinori looked up in time to see the man gathering his things. Midoriya stood up as well and Toshinori's heart jumped into his throat. "I think we've stayed long enough already. Let's go, Midoriya." Aizawa put a soft hand onto the boy's back and gently urged him forward. It was much softer than anything Toshinori had given him.

"Bye, All Might." Midoriya gave a small wave as he left, their cookies and tea going untouched. "Sorry for bothering you."

"No." He wheezed again, his legs moving before he could think properly. "No, wait!"

His arms were tightly bound to his sides in a flash of a second and Aizawa's hair was floating. He was seething again, his harsh glare returning to his face. The capture weapon squeezed Toshinori a little tighter before it let him go completely. "We're leaving." He said it with such finality. It left no room to argue.

Toshinori watched in a haze of desperation and pain as the pair walked to the front door and left. The scarf let go of him and snaked it's way out of the front door before it could close. Then, with the sharp snap of the door closing, Toshinori was left all alone. He fell to his knees, not caring how they'd ache afterward, and listened as the sound of a car starting reached him. He couldn't move to stop them or even watch them retreat. All he could feel was the crushing pain of his own sins.

"I'm sorry!" He shouted it into his empty house, wishing that he could take it all back. He wanted to take it back so badly. "I'm sorry..."

He was left sobbing into the old carpet, his limbs shaking around him as he released everything inside of him. He felt so empty without them.

...

The very next morning, Toshinori decided to dress up. He took a long, hot bath to sooth the ached from the day before. He then dressed in his best attire, a white button up with a dark vest over it. He polished his dress shoes to the best of his abilities, a smile crossing his face at the clear reflection. He combed his hair back, leaving the two long bangs hanging in front. There wasn't much he could do in the ways of improving the state of his unruly curls, but he tried his best with a generous amount of gel.

He stood in front of the mirror, smiling to himself with pride. He looked stunning. Where he had once only had skin and bones, he now had a near normal build. It was nothing compared to his larger form, but it wasn't bad either. The colors all complimented each other and made his blue irises stand out. He could picture Kayama or Yamada smiling with approval. They always did like when he wore less baggy clothes and he had to admit that they were right.

You look lovely.

The intruding voice nearly made his smile falter, but he kept it up despite the depression on his good mood. He walked out of his bedroom, his shoes clacking against the wood floors, and he decided to start a kettle before making his call. This was important, after all, and he'd like to have at least something to sooth his nerves before the moment arrived.

He looked at the few pictures he had long the walls, liking how homey they made his home. They weren't too personal, just pictures he had taken with a fan or two and managed to get printed. In each one, he was holding the fan on his shoulders due to his height, but they were all beaming despite it. They really did adore him, didn't they.

Once he was in the kitchen, he filled the kettle with water and set it on the stove top. He flipped the little dial and watched as it turned on, a little red light glowing to show that the burner was on. With that, he was nor free to make his call. He ventured towards the home phone sitting on one of the many tables in his home. On the way there, he admired the few decorations he had in his living room. Mostly, it was just plants he managed to find around, but the pots were all a glossy ceramic that made everything look nice. The room looked full despite not having very many items surrounding it.

He picked up the phone and punched in the numbers. With one hand, he pressed the phone against his ear and waited patiently for them to pick it up. It rang for quite a while, but eventually, he heard the familiar voice of his old friend.

"Hello? What do you need?" Tsukauchi's strong voice came back, though, it was slightly distorted through the line. Why was that, exactly? Toshinori had once video chatted with someone and the sound was so much better than over the phone, though, he still preferred a normal call. Call him old, but video chats always felt too complicated to him.

"Ah, Naomasa. I'd like to offer more greetings before I get to the real business, but I'm guessing you wouldn't appreciate that." He didn't need a definite answer to already know that Tsukauchi was likely in the middle of his morning coffee and didn't want to be disturbed for any longer. So, he pressed on. "I would like to report a murder and several accounts of animal abuse. Or would it be animal mutilation? Likely the latter." He didn't let the soft smile leave his face despite the grotesque words.

There was silence, and then finally, and answer. "Who?!"

"Me." Was his simple response. "I expect you'll send over a squad to arrest me soon. That would be ideal, at least. I'll tell you more in the eventual interrogation." When nothing came back from the other line, he suppressed a sigh. "It was good talking to you. I'll see you soon." With that, he hung up.

There. He had done it. Now, he could carry on with the rest of the day as usual. Well, as usual as he could. He jumped slightly when the kettle whistled and he made his way back to the kitchen. As he poured it into his cup, the tea bag beginning to let the sweet tea defuse into the water, he looked across the kitchen. He loved the fridge, even if he had only had it for a few weeks or so. It was taller, making it easier for him to look inside at the very few things he had to refrigerate.

With a full cup of tea now, he carried it with him towards the back porch. Once he was outside, he sat down on the lawn chair beside a glass table and just breathed. The air wasn't too chilly, but it wasn't too hot either. It pushed his bangs around, likely messing up the hard work he had put into his hair, but it didn't matter anymore. It would likely have gotten messed up eventually anyway.

As he watched, a small bird came fluttering towards him, landing just a few feet away on the fence of his porch. It was a cute little thing, covered in yellow and black feathers. It's little head searched around the floor of his porch for twigs or sticks. At least, that's what he assumed it was doing. It also could've been looking for food, but he wasn't sure why a bird would look here for that. All of the worms and bugs were further in the forest, likely in places that he couldn't even reach, thanks to the ankle bracelet on his leg.

"I won't be staying here much longer, you know." He spoke softly, in case his words might scare the bird away. "It would be nice to have a parting gift, though, I doubt that you have one on you at the moment, hm?" He chuckled to himself and the sound made the little bird fly away. He smiled as he watched it carry itself above the trees and then fall into the thick branches of the forest.

He would miss everything about this place, that much he knew. If only he had appreciated it's scenery more. The forest line was beautiful and now that he was in a better head space than he was, it made everything seem so calm. There was no longer a thirst for his next kill or to drink the blood of a once living animal. He was at peace now, but he couldn't stay. Not with the things he had done.

That would likely be the thing he missed the most. His freedom. When he went off to jail, he would no longer have the ability to just sit on his porch and apricate the world around him. He would be behind bars, lucky to even see the sky at all. But there was no other choice. If he stayed, he would eventually be found out. And if he wasn't, then the torment would never end. He had to stop this cycle for Midoriya and for the others at UA. He owed it to them, at least.

Police sirens came into earshot and Toshinori let out a sigh. His time was up. That thought was punctuated by a harsh knock on his front door. With only one sip of his tea, Toshinori stood up and took in a final breath before heading back inside. As he walked, he admired the plants in his living room, the fridge in his kitchen and the pictures in his halls. Who knew what would happen to them once he left, but he could only hope that the image of them would never leave his memory.

Now at the door, Toshinori grabbed the handle and with only a moment's hesitation, wanting to take in his freedom for a second longer, he opened it.

"Hello, again. It's a fine morning, isn't it?"

Author's Notes: I have to say that I'm really sad to see this end! This story started as just a Halloween idea back in 2019 but here we are, completing the sequel to it. It was quite a ride, to say the least. I really do apricate everyone who stayed here long enough to read this. It means so much that you guys enjoyed this and supported me through it! It's been kind of slow going, but you guys kept the motivation! Thank you again.