what heroes do

by sugiwa

Shouto didn't know much about his twin sister. She was an Edgeshot fan, had a raging collection of manga, and liked Natsuo the best. She also wasn't supposed to be at U.A. High School, but he sure as hell wasn't telling their father about it.

47. Safe

ONE HOUR POST-RESCUE

---

The smoke in the air and dust was being cleared by heroes, allowing them to breathe freely as they traversed between the damaged buildings looking for survivors. It would take months for the rubble to be cleared and rebuilding to start, but for now, locating the alive was top priority. Enji waded through the destruction, helping lift up the sides of buildings while other heroes slipped into the cracks, pulling out the people buried beneath.

"Hey, Endeavor-san!" Hawks waved fiercely from his perch on the side of a fallen building. "Rest of the rescue ops are here. You should head down to the hospital."

Enji didn't know if he was welcome, which was why he was still here. Once All For One was defeated—a battle that took every ounce of his strength and more, but the thought of losing when Izumi was in danger, when he had already lost Touya, had drawn a strength he didn't know he had. Miruko's help, Edgeshot and Hawks breaching past All For One's defenses, taking advantage of his weakened health, and Izumi's hold on him pushed the battle in their favor. The victory still felt stale on his tongue. Too easy.

"So, he's decided to stay away. It's no matter—let him rest while Tomura grows." The chilling laugh that followed the words was the worst sound he'd ever heard. All Might and him needed to talk—about the entire mess surrounding All For One, not just the short synopsis he offered that lacked detail.

"Endeavor-san?" asked Hawks, frowning. His unending belief was annoying.

"You can totally bum off, Endeavor!" shouted Miruko, not noticing the wince the civilian let off at the loudness of her voice. "Fire ain't exactly helpful in a rescue."

"I don't need to use my quirk in this type of rescue."

A local hero, whose name he didn't know, approached them. His eyes shifted left and right, looking at the three of them in awe. "Uh—hate to be the bearer of bad news, but some U.A. students are arguing with police. Something about unauthorized quirk use, damaging public property, and obstructing traffic."

Shouto wasn't here—though Enji saw him and his friends earlier as they shot through the air with Izumi. Shouto was at the hospital where Izumi was being rushed to emergency surgery. Fuyumi and Shouto had the kind of goodness that Enji desperately wanted, thinking that it would wash away the filth in his soul.

"Take me to them," said Enji, eyes trailing over the medical tent set up by the emergency responders. As he made his way out of the center of the crater, eyes followed after him. The journalists that arrived at the scene attempted to shove their way past the police blockade to speak to him, but Enji ignored them in favor of approaching the spectacle created by Bakugou Katsuki and Kirishima Eijirō.

Bakugou, held back by Kirishima, roared at the officer. "The fuck are you worrying about Todoroki for?! Get the hell off your asses and go do your damn jobs—there's fucking people—"

"There's really more important things to do," said Kirishima, nudging Bakugou behind him. "Our friends are in the hospital. I know that what we did wasn't exactly legal, but I'm sure that—"

The green-haired boy, Midoriya Izuku, let out a loud squeak as Enji crossed his arms over his chest, towering over the officers. "What's going on here?"

The police officer flushed. "E-Endeavor-san!"

"Oh great, you wanna take a criminal in, you've got one right there," sneered Bakugou. The boy was losing it, anger hiding the shake in his voice, but his eyes revealed everything. Red and raw, seconds away from breaking. He was Best Jeanist's intern, remembered Enji—he'd been there with Izumi during the Shinjuku attack too.

"You've been busy with the rescue, but on the way to following you—your son used his quirk and froze a stretch of buildings on a major intersection, and Bakugou-san's explosions here led to panic that another villain attack was occurring, leading to major traffic confusion as civilians attempted to drive away, so we'll have to…take them in for questioning."

"He didn't do anything wrong!" shouted Midoriya, eyes lit with passion. "If they hadn't come, Izumi-chan might have been dead, and then this entire rescue would've been for—"

"Midoriya," said Iida, placing a placating hand on his arm. "Rather than arguing, let's call my father. I'm sure his agency's legal department can help."

"Where are the buildings?" asked Enji. Bakugou wasn't wrong in telling them to sort their priorities. "I'll melt the ice. Send the bill for the property damage to my agency. I'll handle it."

"While that will help, unauthorized quirk use is a serious crime. We'll need to—"

Bakugou lunged forward, barely held back by Kirishima. "Investigate after I shove my foot up your ass, you pig."

Enji's beard burned a bit hotter, making the officer sweat. "Right now, we need as many hands helping with the rescue operation. These three will take a taxi to the hospital, and when it dies down, you can contact U.A. to get any information you need."

"…uh, yes. Of course." The officer bowed his head and left.

Bakugou didn't waste a moment. "Where's the body?"

"You won't be allowed to see him. Take your friends and go to the hospital."

"I won't go until I see—"

"The first batch of medics took Best Jeanist away. They'll contact whoever's listed on his medical forms and prep him for a funeral. An autopsy's unnecessary given that the cause of death was clear." Each word struck Bakugou hard. Endeavor was surprised by the restraint he showed as he exhaled deeply and calmed himself. It was a step up from the temper he'd displayed at the Sports Festival, but Enji's mind circled around what Hawks said after the final exam. He doubted there was much truth in them. Izumi did many things out of spite, but she had too much pride to end up with someone like Bakugou.

"Let's go," said Kirishima, clutching Bakugou's shoulder tightly as he turned away from all of them.

"Wait," Midoriya's gaze blistered. "You need to come with us. If you really want to have a relationship with Todoroki-kun, then you need to prove that you're sorry, not avoid them. You'll never repair anything unless they really see you trying. You came here to save Izumi-chan, didn't you? The way you've hurt them—I can't understand how a hero could do something like that, but if you came here to save her, then you have to care! So, show them who you really are!"

As exasperating as the boy was, he had the same earnest goodness that Shouto had. He could see why they were friends. Enji thought back to his lonely U.A. days, isolated because of how focused he was on reaching the top—these days, he couldn't remember a single person in his class. Though Midoriya had a point, his shame burned too bright. Shouto's anger he expected, but Fuyumi's hurt more. He took her support for granted, adding to his growing list of mistakes.

Bakugou stared out into the street and then smirked, "The only place he should go is directly into traffic. Better yet, he should've spared the world the aftermath and just died during the fight…."

"KACCHAN!"

"I'll take you to the hospital," said Enji with a deep sigh. The only one who seemed to know how to behave was Iida, an expected trait from Ingenium's younger brother. "It's dangerous enough given what's happened."

Borrowing a police car, the three boys took the backseat while he drove through the ward. It was eerily quiet, not a car in sight due to people's fear. Bakugou remained silent on the way to the hospital. Apparently, this was a bad sign given the worried looks Iida, Kirishima, and Midoriya sent him. Midoriya filled the silence with ten thousand questions, each one more elaborate than the rest. Enji wondered if Shouto was friends with him because it gave him an excuse not to talk.

"I read in your biography that the drawback of your quirk is overheating, then shouldn't maxing out your power in the winter be easier? Or do you think that reaching higher temperature with the addition of the summer humidity and heat increa—"

Enji ignored him, addressing Iida instead, "…you and Izumi went to school together?"

"Yes." Short and curt. Though Iida was polite not to glare the way Bakugou was, Enji could feel the wall between them. Bakugou's glanced at them from the corner of his eye.

Pulling into the hospital entrance, he turned to eye all three of them. What might have happened if Shouto and Bakugou hadn't arrived when they did? "What you did was stupid, but thank—"

"Fucking save it." Bakugou threw the door open, storming into the hospital without another word. Kirishima shot after him. Enji stared at the other two boys and sighed internally. He wasn't built for babysitting. Leaving the car precariously parked outside, he followed them inside. Instantly the receptionist stopped speaking to Bakugou and picked the phone, shaking as she dialed a number. Enji frowned—unused to noticing the reaction he inspired in ordinary people. Hopefully, it was nerves and not fear.

"…y-your daughter is in surgery. We received emergency clearance from your wife."

Enji swallowed hard. Rei—had she been watching everything from her hospital room?

"Which floor?" asked Bakugou, regaining the receptionist's attention. Twice now, Bakugou had put aside his anger in favor of seeing Izumi.

"…I can take you there. As for…Best Jeanist…I'm afraid I don't have the clearance to authorize anyone to see the body."

Bakugou tapped his fingers on her desk. "It's fine. Just take us to Todoroki."

The receptionist nodded, turning to her coworker to explain that she was leaving and then guided them through the hospital. It was overflowing, doctors running down the hallways, hospital beds were set up to triage patients in the hallway as rooms filled up. The operating room was blocked off by police officers, dim lights casting eerie shadows. But, it wasn't any of this that made Enji freeze.

Rei.

All the fire surrounding his body snuffed out. She hadn't aged. She stood as he approached, eyes skimming the faces behind him quickly before they finally settled on him. He felt the blood rush out, shame and sorrow rising to choke out whatever words he might have said.

Still ghostly white, he stuttered, "R-Rei?"

"Yes, it's me. I'm surprised you came." She glanced at him, face downcast and somber, and then stood. "Let's go talk. Shouto, I'll be right back, okay?"

"Us too," said Fuyumi, pinching Natsuo until he stood. Shouto nodded, face carefully blank as he watched the door.

"We'll take care of him," said Kirishima, cutting the tension. "Yaoyorozu's here so, we should go check on her too."

Enji followed Rei as she swept by him, head held tall. There was no real privacy to be found in a hospital, so they slipped into an emergency stairwell, air fraught with tension.

Rei paced for a second, gathering her courage. He wondered if she knew how often he stopped by her hospital room, never having the courage to face her. "Why are you here?" asked Rei bluntly.

She gazed at him coolly, wondering how she had ever confused her children for him. "Why are you here?" she repeated.

He didn't intend to stay but leaving without knowing if Izumi's surgery went well would've distracted him. "For Izumi."

Behind her, Natsuo's jaw rippled with barely suppressed rage. "Like you care!" Natsuo shoved forward, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him up. Enji's mind was thick with surprise. "I should've slugged you in the face the first time you touched any of them. I should've, but I didn't want to be you. You think it's enough for you to go around volunteering and some crap?! That's it's enough to repair all the damage you did?! What's the use of you if you couldn't even save her?"

The words fall through him, sinking into a part of Enji that circled and circled around the same maddening grief when it came to Touya. Izumi said the same thing then. A mirror image of the fate he attempted to protect her from but seemed to have only pushed her toward. Fuyumi placed her hand on Natsuo's arm, and slowly he relaxed.

"I deserve that," said Enji quietly. He deserved more than that, but Natsuo was right about not being him. He was better and brighter—the kind of person Enji could be proud of, though none of Natsuo's goodness was because of him.

Natsuo stared at him long and hard before shoving him away. "You did this to Touya too." His voice was low and shaking with anger. "You didn't go when he asked, and he died."

"You didn't check on Shouto either." Fuyumi wore a stern look. "Now that we need you more than ever, you're playing hero when you're not one."

"Izumi won't want to see me. It's better if I stay away… Shouto doesn't want to see me either."

As a girl, Enji remembered pushing Izumi's attitude. When she first learned to speak, she refused to call her nanny anything but old lady and oni-san. She hadn't been interested in heroism at first, not the way Shouto and Touya were, but he encouraged it. Izumi would wait for him by the door, shyly peeking out to catch a glimpse of him in his hero costume. Enji felt their relationship stale the moment he shut down her excitement over her quirk. He attempted to make up for the ugliness in his soul and for the hurt he inflicted on her by buying her whatever she wanted, but Izumi saw through it.

When he saw her again after all those years, he wanted to say something, but like always, he didn't have the words to explain what was on his mind. In a way, it was easier to deal with Shouto because Shouto wasn't afraid the way Izumi was.

"I don't know what to say to them…." Enji admitted.

"I-I'm the one always pushing everyone together," said Fuyumi, shattering in a way that cut Enji deeply. She'd always been so strong, and he knew that the pressure he placed on her was slowly chipping at her. But, now it'd finally broken. Her voice cracking, she continued. "And every time, it tears me apart. I know how much it hurts, because I can't forget what Dad's done either, but they deserve to have a proper family. They deserve to be happy, and I do too, so I keep trying. But, right now, it's not about being a happy family. None of us know what she went through, and having him there when she wakes up will only hurt her."

"I made sure she did her homework and that she got good grades. I stopped by after school and checked on her. Her teachers called me when she was sick or in trouble. I signed every form that came home from school. I made sure she slept and ate. I did it for Natsuo too. And Shouto." Her gaze turned to Rei, accusing but also profoundly heartbroken. "I took care of you too when you should've been taking care of us. I needed both of you. I needed someone, and I never had anyone!" Jaw clenching tightly, Fuyumi swallowed hard, the air around them cooling. Fuyumi's eyes clenched shut, hiding an avalanche of pain that had been building up since she was a child. "You can't suddenly decide that you're going to be parents after not being there for ten years! You don't know us!"

"We're always hurting each other. Always." Her voice was hollow and hurt, "I want it to be real. Us being a family, but it can't be real if both of you don't start acting like adults. Neither of you paid attention to any of us—Touya was constantly asking for help, and he never got it. Izumi and Shouto don't need to suffer the same mistakes. If you're just going to disappear again, then don't bother pretending."

Fuyumi and Natsuo were the children Enji never worried about, but for most of his life, it was because neither had the quirk he was looking for. They were intelligent, quiet, did what they needed to, so Enji overlooked them, ignored them. He hadn't known that Natsuo was TigTog famous or studying medical welfare until this summer. He vaguely remembered Fuyumi's college graduation, not because he went, but she sent him photos—a text he never responded to. His vision felt clear for the first time in his life.

Fuyumi rubbed at her face, "I'm sorry for getting worked—"

Rei reached out, rubbing Fuyumi's back lightly. "It's alright, Fuyumi."

"I can't do this anymore," she admitted, head hanging in shame, but there was nothing for her to be ashamed of. It was his fault she had to shoulder everything for so long. "Izumi almost died. She almost died, and all those people out there are dead, and I didn't know if we could save her. She was just in the middle of all of it…."

The time for forgiveness was long gone. He could see it drifting away, but it was finally out of sight. He wanted Fuyumi to have her dream too, to live in the peace that All Might promised, laughing and happy with the rest of them. Shouto's soft smile. Izumi's warmth. Natsuo and Rei were finally there with them. But he knew that dream couldn't include him. He had to work toward creating it for them, atoning in hopes that one day they might think of him, not fondly, but without pain.

"And Dad, saying that you don't know what to say is an excuse," said Fuyumi, folding her hands in front of her. "You can start with an apology. Even if we don't accept it, hearing it means something too. It's true that you're hurting but hiding behind your hurt while ignoring ours is no different than what you did before."

Fuyumi fixed him with a chilling gaze that softened slightly when her eyes skimmed over his ragged costume. "…I'm glad you won."

He didn't think he did. He felt as if All For One was waiting for something, toying with all of them when All Might hadn't come. The sense that there was something more dangerous at play made his victory feel cheap and too easy.

"Was that you—with the iceberg?"

A sheepish look crossed her face, "I won't get in trouble, will I?"

He doubted anyone saw her, but a hint of pride blossomed in his chest. He wondered what kind of hero Fuyumi might have been. Remembering the officer's words, the blame pinned on Bakugou and Shouto made him frown. He needed to deal with that too. "No, I'll make sure of it."

He wasn't sure if he had the power to do anything yet or how long his emergency clearance lasted but swallowing his pride to ask All Might would be the least he could do. Fuyumi nodded, tugging Natsuo with her as they dipped out. Natsuo grew since he last saw him, taller and buffer. Soon enough, they'd be the same height. How much of their lives he missed.

"You don't need to hold back for my sake," he said to Natsuo. "What you're thinking, what you want to say—I can handle hearing it." Natsuo scoffed, not answering as the door slammed behind him, leaving Enji and Rei alone.

"Rei?" He felt small, pitiful, as if All For One was standing over him again, but this time he had no one beside him and nothing to fight for. "I-I…I'm glad you're doing well."

"I'm not, but I had to be here, even if it meant seeing you." Most people assumed that Izumi got her attitude from him, but there were times when Rei had even more damning words than he did. "You're a good hero, but none of us really needed you to be a hero. Being Enji was enough…Don't you miss them? Talking to them, their excitement when they want to show you something they're proud of, their love?"

He did.

Rei sighed, "We both made mistakes. I'm going to make up for mine, but you…."

Enji would've thrown himself to the ground to beg her forgiveness, but he knew that even the slightest of moves might scare her. "I owe you a greater apology than I can give…for bringing you into this and using you for my own ambitions. If I had known—I did know, but I wanted to pretend I didn't—it won't be like that again."

"No, it won't, but don't make the mistake of thinking that this goes beyond our children. I'm here for them, not for you."

"I know."

Rei nodded, pulling her cardigan around her tightly. Enji made sure not to move as she walked toward the door and pulled it open. "Thank you for the flowers," she said stiffly. "But you can stop sending them now."

---

Shouto hated the waiting, but he was glad to not be alone. He knew that Yaoyorozu and all of his classmates would've wanted to be here too and that Izumi would've wanted to see them, but he was glad that he didn't have to entertain a large group of people. Explaining how grateful he felt to his friends for coming with him, to Bakugou for never hesitating, and Fuyumi for being unwavering despite never experiencing the level of danger they did tonight.

A low sigh left his mouth. Midoriya's classic red shoes were in his line of sight, but part of him still tasted a kernel of bitterness. Logically, he knew that it wasn't Midoriya's fault, but Shouto can't help but think of what would've happened if it was him in Izumi's shoes. Would Midoriya have left in favor of Bakugou again?

"IcyHot," Bakugou exhaled loudly, resting his head against the wall, and remained staring up at the ceiling. "Stop thinking."

"What if—"

"Stop."

Shouto nodded, bringing his knees to his chest.

"Nerd!" Midoriya jumped, staring at Bakugou with wide, frightful eyes. "Tell your mom that I'm with you. If my mom calls, my phone's dead and I'm in the bathroom, got it?!"

"W-what?"

"He wants you to lie for him," explained Shouto calmly.

"I'm not talking to the hag," muttered Bakugou, frown deepening on his face. He didn't explain, but Kirishima's careful eyes stuck on him. Something had happened with his parents too.

Midoriya took a moment to pull out his phone, but his fingers quickly shot across his screen in a quick message to his mother. Perhaps he realized that Bakugou wasn't to be messed with now. Despite his calm outward appearance, Shouto too, felt the thrum of energy surrounding him. Best Jeanist dead, Izumi nearly following him into that far-off place. Shouto's quiet respect for Bakugou grew.

The door where his parents disappeared behind reopened. Fuyumi and Natsuo passed through, speaking in quiet whispers that had his worry grow. Why had they left Rei alone with Endeavor? His concern disappeared when the door opened once more, and his parents slipped inside. His father still looked ghastly, his mother trembling slightly, but her face was stiff and cold. Bakugou inched away from him.

"Shouto." Eyeing his father warily, Shouto waited for him to continue speaking. "What you did was a stupid risk for an untrained—"

"Oh, fuck off," snarled Bakugou, rolling his eyes.

"—hero, but it was the right thing to do." Endeavor shifted awkwardly, not even paying attention to Bakugou's outburst. The words sat heavy in his chest. What was the worth of pride when it came from someone as narcissistic as Endeavor? Would he be saying the same thing if it was Izumi in his shoes? Or was he proud to see his own power finally highlighted in his creations?

"Your friends should leave. Izumi will—"

"For someone who never wants anyone to tell him what to do, you don't have a problem ordering everyone else around." Shouto crossed his arms over his chest, standing firmly in front of his father. "Don't act like you know anything about our friends. They can stay if they want to."

"They have families too."

"Why the hell would you care about that?" asked Shouto, glaring at his father scathingly. "No one's going to say congratulations to you for doing the bare minimum. If they want to leave, they can, but don't—"

"You and the punk are in enough trouble, don't drag—"

"You mean saving Izumi?! Did that get in the way of your grand plan to turn me into you? You can't handle anyone willing to see past your bullshit, right?"

Endeavor's expression turned agitated, "Reporters are talking about the two of you and what you did, which means the police won't let it go. I might have stopped them earlier, but they're not going to go away."

"Shouto," said his mother, resting a hand on his back to calm him down. "Let your father deal with the police. He's probably formed a close relationship with them."

Natsuo snorted to himself, jaw rippling as he grit his teeth together to keep his words in. Shouto imagined what Natsuo might have said, that Endeavor was only close with the police because they were investigating him too, and looked up at his brother, hoping to convey his agreement. Natsuo's face softened, hand falling on his shoulder briefly, squeezing in comfort.

Shouto hated how he was getting angry at his mother too, for trying to bridge a gap that Shouto didn't care about right now. Rei understood Shouto's pain, but sometimes she was the source of it too. Because try as Shouto might, he could not forget which hand raised the teakettle.

Shrugging off his mother's hand, he stepped up to his father, staring up at him with burning eyes. When they trained together, Shouto willed himself away. Thinking of nothing but the movement of his body, the burning in his chest, the tearing and healing of his muscles. He saw himself outside his own body, watching his training from a corner of the room. Shouto would feel as if he was a tatami mat or photo, an object with an owner rather than a person. And that owner was Endeavor, a tall looming monster, wrapped in a hero's skin. It was easy to hate him, but Shouto promised himself not to let his hatred blind him.

"When Izumi wakes up, she's going to blame herself. She'll want to help. She'll fight everyone until someone lets her. Save as many people as you can, so she won't come storming out to do it herself. Let her rest."

"We'll take responsibility for what we did after we know Izumi's okay," said Shouto firmly. He didn't care if he got arrested for something as stupid as unauthorized quirk use—there were people who needed help more than he did. Having all his friends witness his family drama lodged an uncomfortable lump in his throat. Izumi mentioned in passing that she felt humiliated by Endeavor, but it was the first time that Shouto shared the feeling. Deku's wide eyes watching, Bakugou's and Iida's knowing gazes, Kirishima's silent support should've made him feel seen, but it exasperated his shame at being treated like a child who needed to be protected.

"Shouto…"

"Save it." He was a torch of anger. "Don't act like a doting father just because people are watching. You were never one to any of us."

Endeavor sighed heavily, stepping away into the far corner as Shouto turned to his friends and scowled. "I'm sorry that all of you had to—"

"Todoroki-kun!" protested Iida heavily. "You have nothing to apologize for! Rather, it's all of us who should be sorry for not being more considerate of your feelings and personal challenges!"

"Speak for yourself, Four Eyes. I'm not babying anyone for shit. We've all seen what he's made of." Bakugou's crass words earned a wince from Fuyumi.

Shouto looked down at his body and then back at Bakugou, "…flesh and—"

"Do you even speak Japanese?! I'm saying you're stronger than that piece of shit and can handle our crap, so I'm not going to hold back when it comes to beating you!"

"Oh, you could've just said that."

"Kacchan is right, Todoroki-kun," said Midoriya firmly. "You're one of the strongest people I know, so please don't think you need to apologize to us about anything. You've probably been hurting more than any of us this entire time."

"You have wonderful friends." Rei squeezed her hands together tightly, offering everyone a warm smile. Bakugou pulled the collar of his shirt up, hiding behind it as the others flushed. A warm feeling circled in his gut. He had been fortunate since he got to U.A.

"It's been a bumpy ride," Kirishima laughed a bit, "Early Roki was pretty much an ice-cube and all glary. Sero was sure he'd been born in the Arctic."

"Early Roki?" asked Natsuo.

Kirishima clapped a hand to his shoulder, smiling widely, "Pre-Sports Festival. Midoriya and Izumi really worked their magic getting this one to see sense. He was ready to declare a full-on war." Shouto shot him a worried glance, noticing the slight tremor in his hand. Had seeing Kamino Ward brought back memories of Aizawa-sensei's shooting?

"On the wrong person!" spat out Bakugou. "You owe me a fucking fight."

Natsuo crossed his arms over his chest, "Do you not know how to talk without cursing?"

"It's for emphasis."

"It's rude."

"Blame public school for that."

Midoriya cleared his throat, looking like he already regretted his next words. "Kacchan…we went to the same school. You've been cursing since you were ten." There was a slow, cunning in Midoriya's gaze that made Shouto curious and distracted him momentarily from the swirling panic inside him.

"WHO ASKED YOU?!" exploded Bakugou.

"You're Bakugou Katsuki." Rei already knew the answer, but the distraction served her well too. "Izumi told me about you."

Bakugou lifted a shoulder, lips twitching upwards, "She has a big mouth."

"Dude," groaned Kirishima, cheeks puffing out as he struggled to hold in his laugh. "For one man to another, shut up."

Endeavor was listening to all of them, which made Shouto scowl.

"Let's leave Bakugou-kun alone." Fuyumi was what Izumi called a 'buzzkill,' Shouto was enjoying Bakugou's inability to hold a normal conversation.

"Let's not," protested Natsuo, big-brother mode activated. "Why were you with her all the time in the summer? What were you doing? And don't lie—I was your age once."

"The hell is this?!" demanded Bakugou. "An interrogation?! Ask IcyHot why he was at Deku's house 24/7."

"I wasn't," denied Shouto, not finding it strange that he enjoyed spending so much time with Midoriya. Being around him was comfortable. "It was just a couple days a week. It was boring being at home alone and hanging out with Midoriya is fun, but how do you know where I was?"

"I suspect it's because your sister tells everyone everything about you, Todoroki-kun. Izumi's talkative when she's comfortable and given her and Bakugou's—" Iida didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as he dodged a light kick from Bakugou.

"What the fuck?! Why do you know?!"

Iida shrugged, "Izumi and I text, and I am extremely observant."

"Her and Bakugou's what?!" asked Natsuo, eyes narrowing on Bakugou in an expression of fury. Natsuo was a bit slow on the uptake—it was another thing they shared in common, thought Shouto happily.

The door to the operating room opened up, and a doctor emerged, rubbing his hands together. Shouto frantically stood, mood dissipating when he saw just how young the surgeon was.

"The surgery went well," said the doctor with a smile. "We've removed the bullet and repaired some of the surrounding tissue damage. Recovery Girl will arrive shortly. Once the anesthesia has worn off and Izumi's regained some energy, Recovery Girl will heal her the rest of the way."

"There is a small matter regarding her quirk. There was a bit of damage to the quirk factor from whatever drug she was given by the League of Villains. It seems to be flushing out on its own, but…we believe she may have awakened her quirk during the fight."

"Awakened?" asked Rei sharply. Her gaze shot toward Endeavor, who was listening intently.

"High-stress situations have a way of unlocking quirk limits. It used to be an old practice to train the body past its limits to achieve this, but…it's archaic and practically a form of abuse."

Had that been what his father was trying to achieve with him?

Everyone around him labeled Endeavor's training as abuse, but Shouto shied away from the term. Abuse looked like Endeavor's fights with Rei, Endeavor's treatment of Izumi—other than training, Endeavor never laid a hand on him. Even when Shouto argued back with him, Endeavor left him alone, saying he would learn and come back to him. It was why his father didn't care about him using what he learned on his ice-side rather than his fire, because Shouto would eventually need him.

Seeing his father and his sister argue, Shouto understood why Endeavor reacted the way he did to Izumi. She didn't hold back, ripping the carefully structured mask that Endeavor wore to really expose the nastiness that hid underneath. She said what Endeavor was thinking, so his father reacted to himself rather than her. But it was immature and childish for a grown man to not know how to temper his own emotions. Izumi deserved better and more than what Endeavor could offer her.

"Can we see her?" asked his mother.

The doctor nodded, "We're moving her into a VIP room on the top floor once security is in place. Family only until she's awake. It might be stressful to have so many people around—"

"That's fine," snapped Shouto. "Just take us there."

The doctor nodded, gesturing for them to follow him. Leaving Endeavor behind felt almost like victory, but as Shouto caught his father's downtrodden face, he wondered if his satisfaction was another cruelty he'd learned from Endeavor.

---

Izumi could hear them all talking. Someone's hand gently pushed her hair out of her face. Judging from how cold and small it was, Izumi imagined that it was Fuyumi. Opening her eyes was the right thing to do, but then she would have to face telling them about Touya.

Her mother would push her to tell Endeavor—Izumi knew she would. And if Endeavor knew, would he go after Touya as a villain or as his son? Would he send him to that black pit that was Tartarus? She could imagine Touya in a room, isolated and wrapped in fire-proof cloth so he couldn't move or fight, guns trained on him. A place none of them could visit. A place Lady Nagant had sold her freedom to escape from. Or was there a worse fate waiting for Touya? Desperation and anger intertwined, leaving him willing to do anything to bring Endeavor down….even die.

Natsuo would break if he knew the truth. Touya abandoned them and left them with Endeavor until everything collapsed, but he suffered his own pain. Fuyumi bore the responsibility of keeping them safe and practically raising them, yet he hadn't even mentioned her.

Touya expected her to tell them the truth, but he forgot that Izumi was always the one hiding the broken teacups or taking the blame from a ruined report so that he would escape from Endeavor's wrath. As long as Touya was with the League, he was in danger. Touya would pull Endeavor down and all the heroes with him to make him pay. Complete tunnel vision, the kind Shouto displayed before the Sports Festival. They had the same hateful glare—a mirror image of what might have happened if everything had gone wrong with Shouto.

The weight of the secret crushed her chest. There were countless crimes that Touya had to answer for. The countless deaths tugged at her mind, each fragile life that diminished under the cruelty of All For One and the League. Best Jeanist who tried saving her and died. How stupidly selfish it was to still want to save Touya despite all of it. To spare him from the shame of having his faults lay bare to everyone.

If she stayed silent and he killed someone…

His trauma didn't give him an excuse to inflict it on someone else. Nor did his crimes exclude him from being saved, but after Kamino Ward, who else would see it that way? The world they lived in categorized people in neat little buckets—civilian, hero, villain. Humans weren't like that.

The words stuck to her throat like honey, and as much as she tried, Touya's secret wouldn't come out. She owed it to the people he hurt, the ones he would hurt, but the words died. Touya needed to trust her if she was going to save him.

Saving a villain at the expense of the hundreds, maybe thousands who died in Kamino Ward.

Her father had never been more right about her not being a hero, and Izumi wasn't sure if she wanted to be one anymore. The thought of returning to school and wasting her days in the classroom while Touya was out there didn't appeal to her. When the world was willing to forgive the man who hurt her, why did it deserve anything from her? Why was she always the one giving up every part of her and never getting anything in return?

Tears slipped from her eyes staining her pillow. The hand in her hair froze, a soft voice asking, "Izumi?"

Not Fuyumi. It was Rei which made the tears stop cold.

Izumi opened her eyes, blinking blearily as a roll of nausea circled her gut. "If you feel the need to vomit, don't hold it in. The anesthesia is wearing off, so you'll feel a bit nauseous," said a nurse, tapping on the I.V. line attached to her arm. Izumi nodded, regretting the action as her stomach rolled again.

"How do you feel?" asked Fuyumi, rubbing her hand. Everyone was here—Natsuo and Shouto sitting in chairs by her bedside. Shouto's hands were clenched tightly at his side, face covered by his hair. It was getting long.

"Tired." More than tired, she was exhausted. Lost. Painfully alone despite having her family here. "Shouto-nii." His head snapped up; eyes glassy. He was covered in bandages, burns peeking out from beneath it. Izumi couldn't imagine what Touya might have done to him, how he must have taunted him with flames hotter than his own making Shouto feel as if he wasn't strong enough. Touya's face as he watched Endeavor flashed through her mind. He would come after her again, but she would let him to protect Shouto from his wrath.

Despite everything, she had never been so glad to see her brother. Shouto, against all common sense, had come to save her and Momo. She propped herself up in bed with a groan, everyone protesting as she moved. Her entire body felt sore, and her throat ached with a dry burn. "Come here or I'll—"

Shouto moved immediately, leaving his chair to lean over her bedside, "You're injured. You shouldn't be moving around yet."

Izumi wound her arms around his neck, pulling him close to her. She held him for a long moment telling herself that this was for him, but it was for her too. She had been ready to die for Touya—selfishly and stupidly blinded by her utter joy and rage that he was alive. "Thank you for coming to save me," she breathed out softly. Blearily she remembered waking up—Bakugou and Fuyumi had been there too.

Shouto let out a stifled sound between a sigh and a sob. "If it was me, you would've done the same."

She felt strangely ill, cold to the touch and numb as if she was moving through amber. The weight of loss and guilt threatened to sink her. She needed information, numbers, to know if they had caught the League and what happened with All For One.

"Don't worry about anything," said Fuyumi, pressing a hand to her cheek. "None of us can even imagine how scared you must feel, but you're safe now."

"You were…"

"Sis came to save you. They're blaming Shouto for the iceberg, but it was all Fuyumi," said Natsuo. His grin faded almost as soon as it appeared. All of their faces were strangely hollow.

Or maybe it was Izumi that felt hollow, like a puppet going through the motions. Her senses were still sharp from the rampant, aftershocks of fear echoing through her. People were flooding into the hospital. A swarm of movement in the floors below them. And death. There were still so many dying.

"I guess we're a family of lawbreakers," murmured Izumi, thoughts still on Touya. Fuyumi managed a half-smile. Izumi turned her eyes to Rei, wondering what had dragged her mother out of the hospital room.

"What's wrong?" Her mother asked, eyes roaming all over her face. Could she read the truth hidden in her gaze? If she knew the truth about Touya, would she break again? "Izumi?"

A doctor walked into the room with Shūzenji-sensei at his side. Using her cane to push Natsuo and Shouto aside, Shūzenji-sensei tapped a finger against the heart rate monitor. "Any higher and you'll have a heart attack. Where's the pain?"

She was grateful for the distraction. "It's dull, mostly my back, but everything hurts a bit."

"As stubborn as your sensei."

Izumi didn't grace her with a response. Overwhelmed by the number of people in the hospital and the suddenness that came from being in mortal danger to being safe, she spoke little, only opening her mouth to answer Shūzenji-sensei's many questions. A lump rose in her throat that refused to go away, tightening everything until the urge to cry welled up once more. She wanted to go back to sleep and wake up before the hellish night in the forest.

Shūzenji-sensei graced her with a kiss that pulled away the pain radiating down her back, but left her aching with exhaustion. Izumi pulled her blanket up, wishing she was at home rather than shivering in a hospital room where people were slowly dying all around her.

"Are you hungry?" asked Rei lightly, once Shūzenji-sensei left promising to return in the morning for another healing session. No one mentioned anything about her quirk which worried her.

"A bit…is Momo…."

"She's in the room next door. I'll go grab you something light to eat," Her mother leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to her temple before leaving the room.

Fuyumi took her spot instantly, "Did anyone do anything…" she whispered too low for Shouto or Natsuo to hear.

Izumi jerked her head sharply. Fuyumi's face went slack with relief. "Did you really come with Shouto to rescue me?"

"Someone needed to babysit and since I'm actually qualified to deal with children, I figured it was for the best. They were practically shouting their plan to the world." Fuyumi's eyes were tight at the corners, smile false.

"That's so fucking badass." Izumi let a grin stretch across her face as she looked at her older brother, "Natsuo, keep up."

"I wanted to go too, but someone had to stay with mom!"

Shouto came to his defense, "Natsuo punched the old man."

Izumi let out an impressed whistle, "I get kidnapped, and everyone suddenly levels up." Her joke was met with flat looks. "We really need to stop meeting—"

"Izumi, you don't need to make us feel better," said Natsuo, shaking his head tightly. "No one expects you to be okay after spending days in a hostage situation."

"I was asleep for most of it," admitted Izumi, unable to look at him for long. Natsuo would hate her for keeping Touya's secret and Touya for his betrayal.

"What is it?" Shouto's fingers prodded her arm lightly. "Something's wrong." There were so many tiny fragments to her now that she was afraid one would slip out if she answered him. Izumi

Don't be afraid. You're safe. Touya is alive.

Izumi repeated it in her mind until she could almost believe the words. She didn't feel any safer. She felt as if she'd been dropped from a great height and was still falling. Dragging her siblings down with her was foolish. A wave of sadness and helplessness washed over her. She wished she could give back the knowledge, live in the same ignorance as everyone else did.

"Izumi?" Shouto's voice was more urgent, afraid too.

"It's just strange being back." The struggle to separate the pain from her voice was fruitless. Her siblings, who had always been a comfort to her, seemed to be on the other side of a vast ocean. In her mind was every word of blame that Touya lay in front of her, his hurts, his reasoning, paired with her own protests, her anger and sadness that he thought so cruelly of her.

"It's okay," said Fuyumi, with a smile. It was full of sorrow. "You'll tell us when you're ready. You're safe now and alive—the rest can wait."

Fuyumi's emphasis on alive echoed inside the vast hollowness within her.

Her mother returned with food. Izumi ate, taking none of her usual pleasure in the food. She spoke little while her family entertained her and then finally, her mother and Fuyumi got pulled away to sign insurance forms. Natsuo lingered, but Izumi urged him to call his friends and tell them he was alright, leaving Izumi alone with Shouto.

"Do your burns hurt?" asked Izumi, peeking at the red skin visible at the edge of his bandages. Touya's flames had done that.

Shouto's brow furrowed, anger crossing his face for a split second before it disappeared. Izumi would welcome his rage in place of this madness seeping inside her. "Don't do this," bit out Shouto, "You're the one who got hurt. You're the one I couldn't protect, so don't make this about me."

"Shouto—"

"No," said Shouto firmly. "I do it all the time because everyone's always treated me like something to be protected, even though I'm the older one. Everyone gave into Endeavor's beliefs that I'm special, but right now—you're hurt. I know you are, so stop hiding it."

Izumi didn't know what to say. It was a kind of violence to hold all of this inside, a kind of self-inflicted pain to make herself hurt. She was just a girl—she wanted to stay a girl, a teenager hanging out with her friends, no worries other than school and kissing the boy she liked. But, she learned to bury her own skeletons and Shouto, who she loved more than he loved her at times, would burn himself trying to save Touya.

"I'm not okay," agreed Izumi softly. "But, I will be…with time. I'm just tired."

Shouto sighed, not believing her excuse. When had he learned to see through her so easily, thought Izumi warily. He tapped away at his phone quickly and then rose to open the door to her hospital room.

One by one her classmates shuffled into her room, full of smiles and relief, but there was one person absent from the bunch and Izumi realized, with a stunning clarity, how much she wanted to see Bak—Katsuki.

Katsuki—his name was Katsuki and he'd given her permission to use it.

She wanted to go back to the days they spent in his backyard. The comfort she felt when he held her. The laughter echoed as they bantered back and forth. The small, innocent touches lit a tender longing in her. But Best Jeanist was dead, and she was unable to save him.

How alone Katsuki must feel grieving a person only he knew. She wouldn't blame Katsuki for not wanting to see her and perhaps regretting having come. It was normal, expected even, for him to be angry, but her chest tightened at the thought. She tried holding on as hard as she could, but it happened so quickly, so unpredictably that Best Jeanist was already dead by the time she figured out how to move.

Izumi always thought of romantic love as imaginary. There was familial love and platonic love which she harbored deeply for the people in her life. Romantic love meant being vulnerable and weak. It meant admitting that she was a girl and longed for things like holding hands and dating and having someone who was hers and hers alone. Growing up hearing her father mutter how useless she was, hearing Touya call Fuyumi and Rei the same thing, planted the seed that things like love and affection and compassion were pathetic. But Izumi was human, and humans loved.

She hadn't ever told Katsuki that she liked him back. The words felt clumsy and awkward in her mouth whenever she tried to say them and the moment never seemed right, but Katsuki must've known. Now, a death and countless secrets sat between them. Though, it hurt, not having him— "Bakugou's on the phone with Aizawa-sensei. He'll be here in a bit. Sensei was pretty…upset with us," said Kirishima, giving his head a sheepish shake.

"So, he's not…"

Midoriya blinked, looking at her intently. "Not what, Izumi-chan?"

Saying it felt childish and silly given the gravitas of everything happening around them, but Izumi didn't think she could handle Katsuki being angry on top of her own guilt. Izumi swallowed down the words.

"You're going to hate this," said Kirishima with a grin on his face. "They got a hold of your hero name in America and they're calling you Naval Battle."

"No, they're not!" It was a complete misconstruction. Naval Battle was kaisen in Romaji. Kai used the same kanji as umi, just with a different reading, but the kanji for sen in kaisen was different than the one Izumi used for her hero name. Calling her Naval Battle, knowing the history between the US and Japan would be like her calling an American hero A-Bomb.

"They are! Someone mistranslated and it got all over before anyone corrected them. Star and Stripe said it was 'a name worthy of honor.' You're about to get banned from Hawaii." America's No. 1 hero, a woman who used lethal force regularly, was praising her for something that wasn't even real.

It was ridiculous to hear that there were people in America probably making memes about her, but it succeeded in making Izumi laugh, which was what Kirishima had been hoping for. Smile settling on her face, she pulled her legs up to her chest, giving Shouto enough space to sit at the end of her bed and free up one of the chairs.

She had been hoping to see Momo, but it was understandable that her parents were hesitant to let her leave her room. Her mother was being equally overbearing.

"Monoma-kun's never going to leave us alone after this," said Izumi with a light smile. "It's going to be a 24/7 fight to avoid him."

"We'll just stick Bakugou on him."

"Did you guys get hurt? Midoriya—are your arms okay?"

"There was a bit of muscle and nerve damage, but nothing as bad as it could've been without your help, Izumi-chan. I—I owe you an apology! I should've—"

"Midoriya," said Izumi softly. "Do you remember what I told you when you tried to apologize after USJ? Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm training to be a hero too. I don't need to be protected at every moment. The only people responsible for my kidnapping are the League of Villains and if they hadn't taken me, they would've taken someone else."

Midoriya sniffled, nodding his head as tears slipped out of the corners of his eyes. Shouto's mouth curled downward, a guilty expression shadowing his features. Had he blamed Midoriya? Izumi wouldn't be surprised—Shouto was hotheaded despite his outwardly cold personality. In a moment of rage or panic, he might have said things that were more than hurtful.

"If you start crying, I'll kick you out." Izumi clasped her hands over her stomach. "Since you're an only child, you don't know how it works, but the youngest makes the rules."

Midoriya let you a watery laugh. "All Might always saves people with a smile, and I thought that I owed it to him—"

Izumi let out a loud, fake groan. "I'm telling Katsuki to go back to bullying you until you quit feeling sorry for yourself."

"You don't even need to tell him, he'll do it for free," muttered Midoriya, lips twisting petulantly.

"Do you know how me and Kirishima get him to do stuff?" asked Izumi, sharing a grin with Kirishima. "We tell him that you did it first."

Kirishima laughed and nodded, "It's true. One time we wanted to go to this hero exhibit by U.A. and all we had to say was that you'd gone there the day before."

"Worked like a charm."

Tenya cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses, "I feel as Class President—"

"Save the Class President card for when we got back to U.A., Mr. Lawbreaker. That's twice now?" Tenya flushed under her teasing. "To think an elite alumnus from Somei would end up on the other side of the law. For shame!"

"Izumi…I feel the need to apologize as well. I am quite ashamed to think that you gave so much to come comfort and help me when Tensei was in the hospital, and I was unable to do the same for you when you needed my help. I promise that I will strive to live up to be both a great hero and friend!"

She didn't really think Tenya had anything to apologize for. Growing apart was a natural part of life, but Izumi would always hold Tenya dear to her. He'd tried stopping her from running after Midoriya and protected her when her mouth got ahead of her sense. They had different roles in each other's lives now, but that didn't mean they didn't care about one another.

"I leave you alone for five fucking minutes and all you idiots can do is start throwing sob stories at her?!" Katsuki kicked the door open, shuffling inside with his hands in his pockets. Izumi nervously smoothed out her blanket, relieved that she didn't need to deliver another round of 'it's not your fault,' but also achingly anxious.

"Izumi." Something about Katsuki when he focused on her always made him want to give in to her quieter instincts, the ones that seemed to know that something was hurting him or that he was worried beneath his biting words and rude tone. He always seemed to look only at her in moments like this.

She liked it best when he said her name. A gently textured cadence that wanted her to pay attention. A warm, soft sigh when they were alone in his room, and he was on the verge of nodding off during a movie. A thousand different ways, each one better than the last. Izumi often cursed her own awkwardness around him because Bakugou Katsuki made her nervous in ways other people couldn't.

"I—" Her mouth wavered, remembering the broken body on the ground. Best Jeanist was the first hero to see Katsuki for who he was and now he was gone because of her. How could an apology suffice for a life lost? Izumi settled for fiddling with her thumbs in her lap.

"You want them to leave?" asked Katsuki.

Kirishima pumped his fist in Katsuki's direction. "We just came! Let us chill for a bit and then make-ou—"

"It's not that!" barked out Katsuki, rolling his eyes.

Her family's doting, the doctors coming in and out every hour to check on her and having to entertain every person dropping by to visit was quietly overwhelming, building up her anxiousness and tension to new heights. Izumi wanted to sleep but couldn't. She wanted quiet, but her thoughts were running rampant. And she needed to get out of this hospital, but no one seemed to understand how much it hurt to feel the constant displacement and movement around her.

"Just for a bit," answered Izumi softly. "I just need a second to breathe." Shouto shot her a worried look that had her slump, "It's not pain or anything. I'm glad that you're all here and that I'm safe, but…"

"Bakugou, you too."

"Don't tell me what to do, IcyHot!" snapped Bakugou, glaring at her brother. "I'll be out in a minute!"

Izumi sagged with relief once everyone was gone. "Thanks," she whispered. A couple of days and so much had changed. A ragged cry left her and then she was enveloped in Katsuki's arms, pressed against his chest, so very real and warm. "I'm sorry," she cried, "I'm so sorry."

He smelled like soap, and he stroked her hair and held her like glass. Her trembling hand lifted, fingers weaving through his hair. His heart fluttered beneath her ear—quick like the wings of a bird about to take flight.

Katsuki pulled away, hands reaching up to press against her cool cheeks. A flush rose in her skin. "There's a shit ton of people that should be saying thank you to you for holding that bastard off as long as you did. I told those idiots to let you go home as soon as you woke up, but no one wants to listen."

"Best Jeanist was trying to save me. He was fighting to the end and then, he was just gone. It was so fast." Her face paled, the sickly parlor returning. "I thought it took longer for someone to die, but he…I should've saved him—that's what we trained for, and I couldn't."

She should've saved someone. Anyone. Instead, she was the one needing to be rescued, carrying Touya's secret knowing that people would die because of him.

Why wasn't he angry?

Something rippled in his voice. "Do you want me to blame you?"

"I don't understand why you're not angry."

Katsuki flinched. Surprise flashed like lightning and then it was gone replaced with a calm, soft look that Katsuki usually only wore when he was near the edge of sleep. Shaking his head, he cleared his throat. Fingers threading together, "I'm an asshole. I know I am and there's not really an excuse for it. Deku scared me so I pushed him away and bullied him. You did too—when I saw that our scores were the same, it terrified me, but you didn't let me get away with it. You were so damn cold when we found you, I thought you were going to die too."

"Katsuki?"

"I'm so fucking glad you're alive," whispered Katsuki, hanging his head low.

"Me too." It was the only truth she'd spoken that day. Part of her was still terrified. The little girl cowering inside of her faced a new disappointment that she'd grown up to be a liar who crushed the world under her foot in favor of Touya who never loved her as much as he did Endeavor. "Where is Best…"

"They already—" Katsuki shook his head, unable to get the words past his throat. Something about him seemed different, harder and softer at the same time, like he'd formed a brittle shell around himself to hide the aching grief he was experiencing. Swallowing, he cleared his throat. "They took the body. There's going to be a memorial later this week."

"Is he going to be…" she trailed off.

"Cremated."

Izumi blinked back the tears welling in her eyes. So, it was final then. No chance that he too would somehow come back from the dead the way Touya had. What a miserable world they lived in.

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"It's not your fault—none of it is." Katsuki sighed heavily, rubbing at the corner of his eyes which were raw and red. "They wanted me because I was acting like an idiot at the Sports Festival and they took you and Yaoyorozu instead, but—"

Hypocrite, thought Izumi fondly. "If it's not my fault, then it's not yours either. I'll kick you out with the rest of them if you start crying about it too."

"Yeah?" asked Katsuki dryly, "You're in a hospital bed. How's that gonna work out?"

"My patience is very thin and I'm on pain medication. It's a dangerous combination."

"Let me see."

"What?"

"The scar."

Izumi wiggled around, until she'd brought the back of the hospital gown up a bit and tucked the blanket tightly around her legs. Gesturing for him to come forward, she exposed the wound on her back. Thanks to Recovery Girl, it had scarred over, but her muscles and surrounding tissue were still sore and aching. A warm touch brushed against the edges of the scar sending a shiver up her spine.

"You were worried, weren't you?"

"Don't ask me that."

"I was worried too when I heard they were after you. They didn't understand who you are and what kind of mistake they were making. I—It'll never be enough to just tell you this, but being your friend, being more than that, makes me happy."

Izumi pursed her lips together, finding it in herself to make a horribly inappropriate comment, because she couldn't bear the troubled expression on Katsuki's face any longer. "And it was pretty hot of you to come rescue me. Total fuck-me energy."

His hand lifted; face twisted with confusion as he tried to comprehend what the fuck she just said. Izumi didn't know where it'd come from either, but she wasn't taking it back. "I'm serious. If I wasn't unconscious for most of it, it'd totally be a fantasy moment where—Your heart is beating very fast," said Izumi with a grin. The tension eased out of her body.

"…I can't stand you." He crushed his lips to hers, mouth soft and urgent, but before Izumi could even think to deepen the kiss, he was pulling away. Then he looked at her in a way that made her feel…important. "I'm not good at saying things the right way, so I'm not going to say this right either, but I didn't come just because I like you. I came because it's you."

"When I called you an extra and was an asshole and every other stupid thing I did—I can't take it back, but it won't happen again." His hand cupped the back of her neck gently. Another kiss against the corner of her mouth held the words he couldn't say yet. Izumi can hear the whisper of words against her skin and it's both terrifying and divine. "I'm not going to ask if you're alright, because there's no way you are. Just…if you need me for anything…don't hold it in."

Rough hands shook out one of the blankets—Kirishima once told her that Katsuki practiced something called aggressive comfort. He complained and shouted at anyone who told him to do anything, but Katsuki always did it. Izumi thought it was an accurate assessment. If he didn't 'hate' you, he basically liked you. And Katsuki liking you was kinda wonderful.

Katsuki, having felt how cold she was, went overboard on unfolding the blankets at the end of her bed before leaving the room. Izumi smiled to herself as he grumbled under his breath, cursing Midoriya and Shouto under his breath.

"When you figure out your hero name, tell me so I can send a thank you letter."

"I already did."

"What is it?" asked Izumi, through a yawn.

"I'll tell you when your shitty brother's not listening through the door."

"You said it was going to be a minute," said Shouto, voice muffled by the door. "It's been way longer."

"Stop fucking eavesdropping, you bastards!"

Izumi laughed, feeling her heart lighten as she caught the bemused smile on Katsuki's face before he left. Izumi's mind settled for a moment or two before the happiness slipped from her body. Quiet at last, her mind returned to the knowledge that Touya was out there planning and plotting with the League.

---

Momo had never realized how isolating wealth was. Being the daughter of Yaoyorozu Karin and Yaoyorozu Shinji meant never lacking for anything. Her parents were attentive, competent, and capable. They had enough wealth to hire nannies and forget about her, but both had chosen to take years off from work to raise her. Momo undoubtedly loved them and owed them for making her dream of being a hero possible. But Momo could feel the difference in how she was being treated and how Izumi was.

The overexaggerated warmth the doctors displayed as they waited on her hand and foot, the HPSC agents coming in to reassure her parents that the danger was over, the media only mentioning how brave and strong she'd been in the face of villains, while they questioned Izumi's use of her quirk and the truth about Endeavor—all signs of her parents' manipulation.

"Do you want more food?" asked Shinji. Her father looked pale and withdrawn. "We can have someone pick up some wagyu?"

Momo shook her head.

Her mother tapped away on her phone, "There's a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles who can remove the scar—"

"No," said Momo firmly. Her mother meant well as she always did—making cookies for her classmates, despite not knowing how and subbing in salt for sugar, buying her outrageous gifts whenever she went out, helping her design a costume that was appealing and 'practical'—but Momo was tired of being coddled. "Everyone else has them. This won't be the last one I get either. I got it trying to save my friends, so erasing it would make it seem as if I'm ashamed of that."

"Oh, Momo!" Her mother threw her arms around her, squeezing tightly. "You're so wonderfully brave."

"You can't possibly be considering still attending that school?" Her father wavered, taking a deep breath as he took a seat. Normally, put together and suave, it came as a shock to Momo when she caught sight of Shinji's disheveled appearance.

"Why wouldn't she?" Karin's words had her father's brows pinching together. Though her parents rarely fought, Momo felt the stirrings of an argument in the air.

"They were unable to keep her safe. Not once, but thrice now. If it wasn't for our Momo's quick thinking, they would still be looking for her. All those politicians and companies we've helped in the past were useless and the heroes even more so. Endeavor's own daughter was on the verge of death! Why would we send her—"

"Father," said Momo quietly. Shinji fell quiet immediately, giving her his full attention. "If I'm being honest, I had my doubts at the beginning of the year. I understood why I wanted to be a hero, but the deeper I fell into training, the more lost I felt. We have everything we could possibly want. I could help people no matter what my job was, but my quirk is capable of so much good and to remain at home knowing that is irresponsible. I won't abandon my friends or what I've learned so far."

Her father shook his head, eyes glassy, "Momo-chan, you almost died. If they had gotten there too late…"

Momo thought back to the League. Though they'd been careful about giving her a quirk advantage, they were surprisingly agreeable in other aspects—letting her help Izumi and not raising a hand to her despite the injuries they'd caused in the forest. Lady Nagant's words echoed through her head, the villainization of her sexuality by the media and the HPSC, Magne's anger at society for rejecting her, Toga young and human. There were important things to fight for, issues that needed to be unrooted and stemmed. Momo couldn't ignore it.

Fear still pulsed through her, though she'd done her best not to show it. She feared making a mistake, of failing to help Izumi and turning out to be another burden for her to shoulder. Death hadn't even been on her mind. Jirou's unconscious body, the weak pulse thrumming in her veins, and then Bakugou nearly getting caught, Todoroki-kun in pain but fighting—Momo had been thinking of all of that when she made her choice and regretted none of it.

"We'll talk about that later. Momo's exhausted, we don't need to stress her out." Karin placed a hand on Shinji's shoulder, squeezing lightly. Some of the tension faded from her father's body.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small chocolate bar that Momo frequently snacked on when they were on vacations in Europe. She hadn't been able to buy them in Japan, so her father would order a crate to come every few months just for her. Patting the top of her hand softly, he slipped the chocolate to her.

Momo thought of Izumi, throat closing as she remembered the look of horror crossing her face when she realized that Endeavor had actually come. She hoped that Endeavor wasn't here, that Izumi could wake up as Momo had, surrounded by people who loved her deeply.

"Those boys are still causing such a ruckus. Honestly, Momo-chan, how do you stand—"

"They risked a lot to come rescue me. I'd like to see them."

"…maybe later," Shinji said reluctantly. He wore a slight scowl on his face. "One of them started cursing at the security guard. It's rather uncivilized."

Bakugou-kun. It couldn't be anyone else…though Todoroki-kun had a rather crass mouth too at times.

Stuck in a room with her parents, Momo passed the time with quiet chatter and dissuaded their attempts to bring in quirk specialists, a massage therapist or a Michelin Star chef to make her more comfortable. Though she heard her classmates outside her door often, they were never allowed inside.

Clenching her fists to hide her displeasure, Momo waited until parents fell asleep to sneak out.

"Izumi?" whispered Momo, surprised to find her sitting awake in her hospital bed. The news played on the hospital T.V. illuminating the faces of all the people in Izumi's room. Momo's fingers curled around her hospital gown, reminded that despite her classmates' insistence on visiting, her parents barred them, leaving Momo alone with their suffocatingly, sheltered love.

"Momo!" Izumi's eagerness was usually endearing, but it only served to worry Momo as she tried to get out of bed. "Why aren't you sleeping? How's your head?! Did you eat?"

"Don't move, moron," said Bakugou, eyes still closed. Izumi startled, letting out a pained yelp as the I.V. in her arm tugged in the wrong direction. Bakugou sat up, wide awake. "What is it? Where—"

"I'm fine—it's just the—" Though Momo was somewhat aware of the relationship that existed between her two classmates, witnessing the delicate intimacy that arose as Bakugou carefully untangled the tubes taped to Izumi's arm filled her with embarrassment. This was something more private than a kiss might have been.

"I'm fine," whined Izumi as Bakugou complained under his breath about her inability to sit still.

"Fine, my ass." Bakugou leaned away from her hospital bed, eyes dim and dark. "You want another blanket?"

Izumi nodded hesitantly, eyes trailing after Bakugou as he left the room to go get one. He offered her a sharp nod as he left the room. Momo couldn't even begin to imagine the turmoil in his mind because of Best Jeanist's death. Letting out a soft sigh, she shuffled into the room, sitting on the edge of Izumi's bed careful not to disturb Todoroki-kun who was dead asleep.

"I did eat—abalone porridge. My parents ordered it from a nearby restaurant and all I could think about was how selfish it was for them to waste time and money going to get it when hundreds are missing."

"Do you feel better though? What did the doctors say?"

"No concussion, just a bit of blood loss. It was my fault—when I saw Dark Shadow losing control and Todoroki-kun's fight, I weighed the reward over the risks."

"I'm sure Tokoyami probably thinks it's his fault."

"He shouldn't take responsibility for my injuries."

"That's what I've been trying to tell Shouto, but—" Izumi frowned, hand moving to brush her brother's hair out of his face. "—I scared him. I don't even know how to tell him…"

"Tell him what?" asked Momo gently.

Izumi's eyes were haunted by ghosts Momo couldn't see. Anger or pain pulled her skin taut over her jaw, whatever Izumi wanted to tell Todoroki-kun would remain hidden in the corners of her mind. Before her very eyes Izumi seemed to be unmade, destroyed, and put together again. Living fractured. Greedily, Momo wanted to know.

The two of them were the only ones who could make sense of their time with the League. Secrets sat waiting to be unraveled—the mystery of Lady Nagant, the hint that someone in their class had leaked knowledge to the League, and Dabi's ever haunting eyes trailing after Izumi as if he was reading a book. Momo knew where her own strengths lay. Planning and preparation, smarts, theory. Izumi was different. She had an instinct for action and ability to mold into whatever you needed her to be. Together, Momo was sure they could figure everything out, but she didn't want to push.

"It's nothing." A lie. Izumi was falling apart in slow motion. The physical ache that came with wanting to help, but knowing that Izumi was too prideful to let her was unbearable.

"Shigaraki knew about your fight with Endeavor."

"…it can't be true," whispered Izumi, shutting her eyes tightly. "If we start thinking like that—"

"The training camp. All Might's schedule and USJ. The Internship Attacks. Once or twice might be a coincidence, but this is a pattern. They planned it."

"So, then we're fucked. Someone in our class or one of our teachers is a traitor. We're just going to keep getting attacked because of All Might and I can't even—" Izumi cut herself off with a gasp, curling over as she pressed her hands to her eyes. As her shoulders started shaking, Momo realized that Izumi was crying. Silently, to herself as if she was afraid of the noise that would come out.

"I shouldn't have said anything," said Momo, rubbing her back gently. "We can talk about it later. It's too soon."

"I can't save anyone," whispered Izumi, heartbroken. "I tried with Shouto. I tried at USJ and Kamino Ward. I keep failing and the people I care about get hurt and it's just going to keep happening. I don't know how to be a hero."

"You do!"

"You let yourself get kidnapped to help me. I—I couldn't even fight Dabi," confessed Izumi, laying on her pillow. "I'm exhausted and I really want to sleep, but I can't. I just can't. My head won't stop and now it's like my quirk's cranked up to a thousand—people are dying downstairs, and I can feelit. I could feel all of them in Kamino Ward too. I want it to stop."

Sensory overload—Kaminari suffered it as a side effect of overusing his quirk and went into Dummy Mode as his brain struggled to contain the vast electrical signals traveling through it. Momo was lucky to be born with a quirk that didn't affect her body the way Izumi's did hers. The constant cold, the near death that came with overuse, the extension of her senses to encompass an entire hidden world. If quirks determined personality as some scientists believed, Izumi's fit the traditional Buddhist interpretation of water. Fluid and formless, adapting to a changing environment, flowing where she saw fit. But even Izumi had her limits.

Todoroki-kun twitched. Momo caught his gaze briefly, before his eyes slipped closed, and he pretended to sleep once more. "Tomorrow you'll leave. Don't worry about doing anything or fixing the world out there, just go home and rest. I know that your father probably told you that being a hero was an impossible dream, but it's not. We're going to do it together."

Izumi took in a shuddering breath that had her entire body shaking and nodded silently. Momo wished that there was something more she could say, but she was struggling to make sense of the last few days too. More than ever, her determination to be a hero burned bright. Izumi's seemed like a waning moon.

Knowing that lingering too long would alert, Momo made ready to leave as the door reopened. Bakugou's social grace was strangely surprising.

"Yaoyorozu!" Bakugou aimed a glare at her still seated in his chair. "Catch."

Bakugou's phone sailed through the air. Momo scrambled to catch it—why were boys always throwing things? It was unlocked, stuck on his messages app. He crossed his arms over his chest. "This isn't me being nice. I'm just annoyed by those shitheads spamming me every second, so tell them you're alive and get them to stop.

She couldn't read his expression very well, but judging from Izumi's eye roll this was typical Bakugou behavior. Momo shook her head, handing the phone back as she passed Bakugou. "Perhaps in the morning. It's late and my parents…"

"Oi, the hell is their deal? Your mom had her nose stuck so high in the air, you would've thought she was smelling shi—"

"Katsuki."

"Whatever," muttered Bakugou, mouth twisting awkwardly. He turned to Izumi, a slight smirk on his face. "I snagged melon-pan from the nurse, so quit crying about the food, you loser."

Izumi pulled out a hand from beneath her blanket, holding it out for her snack. "My stomach is a black hole."

Momo wondered which Izumi was the real one or if she was a mix of both—deeply broken and lost, digging her fingers into the things that made her happy. Slipping out of her room and back to her own, Momo made a mental note to talk to Aizawa-sensei before the next semester started. They all would need to help one another, catching each other when they fell in the next couple of months.

---

real_izuzutodo: where is todoroki izumi and why do we not know if she's okay?

saito_kenji: real people died, worry about ur influencer later

mirukoswaifu: this is not a real tweet, i refuse to believe it

mirukoswaifu: oh, ur an all might stan

mirukoswaifu: just cause ur butthurt ur man was sleeping while Umisen was out there fighting with the best of the best to try and prevent more deaths, doesn't mean u should let those words escape from ur ass

User umisen not found.

User dumpsterfire not found.

User todorokiizumi not found.

---

Yaoyorozu: Thank you everyone for the well wishes!

Yaoyorozu: Has anyone heard from Jirou yet?

Mina: The doctor said she's doing better!

Ochako: How are you?

Ochako: Send us a video so we know it's really u!

Tsuyu: I'm glad you're alright, we were so worried about you.

Mina: next time, im dripping acid on all of them

Kirishima: Mission to break in to Yaomomo's room: Successful!

Kirishima: [Image attached]

Kirishima: bro, she's got a badass scar to match, so you guys better watch out

Aoyama: Mademoiselle, you've never looked better

Mina: she's literally gorgeous

Mina: bet those villains were crusty af

Kaminari: im going to kill the vibe and ask the difficult question

Kaminari: is Todoroki back to being emo or are we still safe?

Shouto:….what?

Shouto: its izumi btw

Mina: UR ALIVE!

Mina: 😭 😭 😭 😭

Ochako: MY INHERITANCE

Tokoyami: I'm glad evil forces did not prevail

Shouto: mina, ur right, they were crusty

Shouto: momo, pls come back

Shouto: im begging u

Bakugou: They gave her drugs and Todoroki's phone

Bakugou: Quit writing and give her a chance to sleep them off.

Shouto: katsukiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Shouto: ❤️❤️❤️

Shouto: literally ur no. 1 fan

Bakugou:…..if even one of you fucking responds, I'll kill you.

Bakugou: [Video attached]

Video Transcript:

Izumi was sitting in a hospital bed. Shouto made bunny-ears behind her, while she attempted to steal his phone back from Bakugou.

Izumi: Give it back!

Bakugou: You cried five minutes ago about an imaginary dog. No phone.

Shouto: Our neighbors had one when we were small, so it wasn't really imaginary

Izumi: Where is it? I wanna see it!

Shouto: What kind of drugs did they give her?

Izumi: Oh, they're excellent. I can't even feel my hands—I'm like a ghost.

Izumi pushed her hand forward, bumping into Shouto's chest and repeated it over and over again as she laughed.

Izumi: See! I bet you can't feel it too.

Shouto: Actually, you're hitting one of my burns.

Fuyumi entered the frame, pulling Izumi's hands down.

Fuyumi: It's time to sleep, let's leave Shouto alone, okay?

---

When Recovery Girl's healing and the last of the drugs left her system, Izumi was accosted by Detective Tsukauchi and a couple of HPSC men who assured her that the villains would be brought to justice while thanking her for her bravery in the rescue attempt. Izumi's fake gag went unappreciated. Shouto and Katsuki went missing sometime while she was asleep, leaving her with Rei, Fuyumi, and Natsuo.

"Dabi was caught on CCTV cameras a number of times around you," said Detective Tsukauchi cautiously.

"I met him when I was trying to buy hair dye, but I thought he was a college student…"

"A college student?"

"He seemed young and had that broke, emo-jaded, college student vibe. Clearly I was wrong."

"Given his appearance—" said the HPSC suit, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "—you thought—"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" snapped Izumi, glaring sharply at the nameless man. "He has burn scars, not a tattoo on his forehead screaming League of Villains. Why would I think that he was dangerous?"

Detective Tsukauchi stepped into cut the rising tension and ask her a couple of other questions. Izumi told them everything that had happened, leaving out only the glaring omission that she knew exactly who Dabi was and why he'd been stalking her.

Once they left, her mother and Fuyumi reentered the room as Izumi started to flip through the channels. "Where's Natsuo?" she asked.

Fuyumi answered, "He went to get you some stuff from the house. Ijichi-san's going to pick us up in a couple hours once you have your last check up."

Izumi stopped on a news channel, sitting up, crawling to the end of her bed as both her brother and Shouto appeared on the T.V. screen beside her father. Katsuki was dressed in a plain black suit, shoulders arched low. His appearance was so different, so subdued compared to his normal attitude. What was he doing? Why were Shouto and Endeavor there?

Scrambling for the remote, she put the volume on high, eyes watering as she refused to blink. Her father went to the center podium first, tugging at his tie awkwardly as he shuffled around some papers. He pulled a small pair of glasses from his inner pocket, putting them on, before addressing the reporters. "There are some reports out there about U.A. students being involved in the rescue effort and Kamino Ward incident, excluding my daughter. We're here to clear the record. Shouto and Bakugou Katsuki under my orders proceeded to the main sight of the attac—"

"I said, I'd do this, but fuck it," interrupted Katsuki, shaking his head. "I'm not a liar. No one fucking ordered me to go. I did it on my own cause those bastards took our classmates and I wasn't going to let them."

Shouto's eyes widened, silent for a moment, before he nodded. "Me too."

Endeavor looked at them in utter horror as the reporters exploded into outbursts. Katsuki shoved Endeavor out of the way, hauling Shouto in front of the microphone. "If you got questions, ask him. I'm not in the mood to entertain you morons."

Shouto nodded, pointing at one of the reporters. "Do you mean to say that both of you broke the law and expect to receive no punishment?"

"Sometimes it's the law that prevents you from saving people. I wouldn't leave people in danger when I could do something to help. If the police want to punish me for doing the right thing when they couldn't, then maybe we should reconsider the law."

That was the wrong thing to say, because immediately the reporters exploded with more questions, throwing out things about the upcoming elections and whether Shouto was saying he supported Quirk reform laws. Endeavor pulled Shouto behind him, trying to calm the media down. Shouto looked annoyed with the ruckus. If allowed to, he'd say something far worse to get them to shut up, but he simply shook off Endeavor's hand.

She felt like a child again, eagerly waiting for Shouto to sneak over to her room so they could play together while the others were at school. Like a candle lit on a dark, winter's night, the low burning warmth offered the comfort she needed. Shouto's dream of being a hero that reassured people was closer than he thought, and she was so inexplicably proud of him.

Behind him stood Katsuki, a solitary figure, glaring out at the crowd as his fingers caught around his collar. He looked so achingly lonely and lost. The part of him that chipped off in Kamino Ward would never return. Izumi's jaw clenched tight, resisting the urge to cry for the thousandth time. Best Jeanist's death replayed in her mind and with it all her guilt returned. It was better for everyone if she gave up the stupid illusion that she was a hero and finally admitted to herself that all the fighting left her feeling empty.

"Izumi?" Rei's hand rubbed at her back. "They'll be okay, I promise. Enji said he'd take care of it and U.A.'s been talking to the police for them. No one got hurt when they rushed over, so everything should be fine."

"Where are they?" she asked tightly.

"In the hospital press room."

She wanted to go and clear the mess up herself. Katsuki was too honest, Shouto too blunt, and her father a complete mess. He'd end up getting Shouto and Katsuki in trouble by association. "Can I…"

Her mother shook her head, "You need rest. You've done enough for everyone, it's time to focus on yourself."

"It's not just about them, I have a lot of stuff to say…" Apologies to give, questions she wanted answers, the truth about her father so that people couldn't say they didn't know what he's done while they spilled their praise. She wanted to hold all of society accountable for what happened to Touya. She wanted to beg their forgiveness for every person who died.

"That's not a good idea. I know that what's happened is hurting you, but you should rest."

Fuyumi observed her, not saying a word as Rei attempted to comfort her. Her mother's comfort was strange and foreign—Izumi kept her lips forcibly sealed, knowing that if she spoke, she would say something that she would later regret.

The press conference ended as the news channel changed, showing off a growing crowd outside her father's agency. Izumi pressed a hand to her eyes, hearing Touya's words echo in her head. No matter what Endeavor did, the public still trusted him—perhaps trusted him even more for telling the truth and cooperating when they took away his license.

While she'd been asleep, the world was already reordering itself to make room for him.

---

Civilian Statements:

As one student counter-protestor put it, "When Shinjuku Station got attacked, it wasn't Endeavor that saved me, but Umisen. None of us know exactly what Endeavor's done, but I think we owe it to Izumi and Shouto to hold him accountable."

"No one's really an Endeavor fan in the same way that people are All Might or Edgeshot fans, but he gets the job done. If that's what's at play here, then yeah, he should get reinstated. The drama can stay with the tabloids, he's already apologized."

"I don't care. Villains are villains—as long as someone's around to stop them so I can get to work or live my life then that's really all that matters."

"Arguably, the area around Endeavor's agency has the lowest incident rate in all of Japan. People still shoot their shot at All Might out of desperation. I've never seen someone willingly step foot in a volcano."

---

ENDEAVOR, ALL FOR ONE, AND THE NEW AGE OF HEROES

THE TODOROKI DYNASTY: HOW ONE MAN CREATED THE NEXT GENERATION OF HEROES

ALL MIGHTY NO MORE?: ALL MIGHT'S DECLINE HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING

HAWKS AND MIRUKO AND EDGESHOT: THE FIERCESOME TRIO

BEST JEANIST DEAD: WORLD MOURNS FROM PARIS TO TOKYO

---

DDC Reporter: "Live in Tokyo, I'm standing outside of Endeavor's Agency where close to twenty-five thousand civilians have gathered for a second day of protests demanding his reinstatement. As one man described it, 'I grew up with him. Graduated the same time he did, so he's been here my entire life and I've never felt unsafe with him around.' Today's protests are peaceful compared to the late-night clash that left several injured and led to the arrest of three students from the University of Tokyo. According to their social media posts leading up to the conflict, they wanted to show the world that they're not going to sit in silence while his alleged abuse was dismissed. We'll return to the studio with Miyagi Daikaku.

Miyagi-san: Thank you and stay safe out there. We're joined by Tsutsui Sadao, Chair of the Law Department at the University of Tokyo, and Kadoyama Yōko, the previous Minister of Justice and current seat at the United Heroes Council. First, thank you both for joining us. It's been a while since we've had such a passionate public response to any action taken by the HPSC and Ministry of Justice. I'll start with Tsutsui-san. How would you explain the onset of the protests and what do you think the likely outcome is?"

Tsutsui-san: It's a difficult question to answer. As an academic, I can't help but be pessimistic due to historical precedent. As a society, we adhere to traditions. We've been described as a populace apathetic to politics—both views I firmly disagree with, but I think what we're seeing here is the onset of fear and uncertainty. The death of Best Jeanist is a loss for all of us and with it, we've witnessed the team up of a relatively young group of heroes. Edgeshot, Miruko, Hawks—however it was Endeavor that drove the point home. He provided stability and safety for the last twenty years without faltering. Where All Might was an international presence as seen by the copy-cats worldwide, Stars and Stripes most notably, Endeavor has always been a Japanese staple. He's by the books and result driven. Of course, my mind knows the outcome, but my heart can't help but side with the students.

Kadoyama-san: I'll have to jump in here if I can—the students are driven by emotion. They're young. They want to see themselves reflected in heroes and the most famous rising stars are the U.A. students. Knowing that Endeavor's relationship with his children is strained, hearing rumors of abuse, and Endeavor's own admission propagates the feeling that supporting him means dismissing his faults. Their voices should be heard, but Endeavor's private failings do not equate to his public record. Using it as an excuse to create chaos among distressed civilians—

Tsutsui-san: Are the students not civilians as well?

Kadoyama-san: Of course, but that doesn't give them a right to disrupt a peaceful protest and turn it into a street brawl.

Tsutsui-san: Does Endeavor's status as a hero give him immunity from child abuse? He publicly admitted to it, though not as explicitly as I would've liked.

Kadoyama-san: The choice not to bring public charges means that the so-called abuse didn't warrant police involvement. This is an ethical investigation, not a criminal one. Reinstating him is necessary for the public good.

Tsutsui-san: I'll have to disagree. I think it's clear that the HPSC will push for his reinstatement but doing so puts the weight of the Todoroki children's pain on all of our shoulders.

Kadoyama-san: Yet, his son chose to go to him for his internship. Todoroki Izumi's repeatedly demonstrated a lack of discipline parading around in maid costumes and mocking the media for doing its job. Having kids myself and with quirks as varied as they are a certain amount of control is needed.

Tsutsui-san: Perhaps, we need to start asking ourselves why we're policing teenage girls and their clothing choices more than actual adults.

---

The television cut off abruptly as Magne's quirk made quick work of destroying it. A furious expression covered her and Toga's face. The news story that had been playing profiled each of them to a nasty degree, but Dabi was surprised by the lack of information attached to it when his name came up. Had Izumi not woken up yet?

Twice startled, "Wha—"

"They deadnamed her," said Spinner with a sharp jerk of his head. "This is why the media's just as much to blame for the current state of things as the heroes."

"They don't know anything!" Magne raised her leg, bringing it down hard on the scraps of the T.V. Shigaraki surprisingly kept silent, even though he and Spinner couldn't play videogames any longer. "Just because I was born with that name, doesn't mean it's mine! Tiger passes, so of course they'll give him the respect he deserves, but I never get it!"

"It's because you're a villain," said Lady Nagant calmly. Too calmly, thought Dabi. She was strangely passive since Kamino Ward. "They won't see you as anything else and they'll make you into whatever they want."

Magne rounded on her, "What about the other trans people out there?! They'll use me to stomp on them!"

"Just kill them," suggested Toga, picking at her nails with a knife. "String that news lady up on T.V. and show them what'll happen to people who mess with us."

"If she steps anywhere near a television station, they'll arrest her," said Dabi, rolling his eyes.

Twice waved his hand wildly, not waiting for anyone to call on him as he spoke up. "I'll freaking kill them for you, Big Sis! No one gets away with—"

"Oh, please do be quiet," Mr. Compress rubbed his temples tightly. "I've got enough of a headache and basic medical supplies are hard to come by. Magne, these fools have been raised in a barbaric society. Don't let their faults weigh on you."

"A barbaric society is an oxymoron," said Lady Nagant with a slight grin.

Dabi drowned them out, stretching his hands out as heat shot into the palm of his hand. He bit back the biting pain that ran down his arms from the repeated use of his quirk.

Endeavor hadn't even looked at him. Tunnel eyes aimed straight at Izumi, not noticing at his mere presence inspired more fear in her than even Shigaraki had. Twice Dabi faltered, unable to really come to terms that Izumi saw through him so quickly. But, it'd always been like that. Izumi had her eyes open. Inside, she was still the bright little kid fighting imaginary villains in the backyard.

Even before her quirk came, when she and Shouto remained isolated and under Endeavor's tight control, he'd spot her watching them from the upstairs window. Whenever she saw him staring, she'd wave back cheerily. Stupidly, he corrected—because forgiving the people who hurt her was the exact kind of stupid thing Izumi did. Sooner or later, she'd do the same thing with Endeavor. A single nice act among the countless horrific ones and it'd—he was doing it again.

Sighing in frustration, he tried to clear his head and failed. This was getting annoying now—was she dead? She looked like it when Shouto came running to the rescue with her little boyfriend. Izumi always had the worst taste.

Fuyumi was there too. The sight of her, using a quirk he'd barely ever caught a glimpse of even as children, startled him so bad that the fucking chicken-man landed a hit square on his false jaw and nearly dislodged it. He had a hitlist now, starting and ending with Chickadee. In all honesty, it was a bit embarrassing, and Toga wouldn't stop reminding him about it.

Fuyumi following him around with crumbs stuck to her mouth, laughing after sticking her icy hands against his skin, crying when he got burned, stuttering over letters as he taught her how to ready, clutching his hand nervously before she went to her first day of school—all the memories rush through his mind. Little Fuyumi whose cheeks puffed out like a fish. Fuyumi protected Natsuo, the way he had protected her. Hiding in closets together when they played hide-and-seek, shoving Natsuo out of the way because he always made too much noise and Izumi found them. He remembered a pack of purple glitter clips she brought and ended up sticking half of them in his hair because she wanted him to look pretty too.

In her first year, she'd gotten teased at school for the red streaks in her hair. Her face blubbering and red as she wailed to him afterschool. His annoyance turned to anger as he caught sight of the idiot who'd said it. Knuckles scrapped and bruising after he'd hit him, because the only person messing with Fuyumi was him and the idea of her taking shit from anyone else pissed him off.

As much as he tried to pretend, something inside him wouldn't let go. Rage. Guilt. Deeply hidden shame. Hurt. Countless other nameless emotions swirled. He'd been numb to the pain for so long, going through each day with the kind of apathy that came from living with only one end in sight. He imagined Fuyumi's reaction when Izumi ultimately spilled the truth—her disgust for his appearance mingled with the humiliation of having a villain as a brother. He hated all of them.

Was Izumi telling them right now?

With some time and distance, he can admit his mistake. Dabi shouldn't have done it. He shouldn't have talked to Izumi or kidnapped her or talked to her again or let her hug him. It wasn't Izumi's fault, it was Endeavor's, but he had to prove to himself that he was willing to do anything, cut off any ties to make his father pay.

Izumi's trembling arms tightened around him in a hug that ached because he had expected her anger and rage but received none. Too alive, even as her body slowly deteriorated from her injury. It was pitiful watching her try and muster up the feeble amount of strength needed to alleviate her fear and reassure her friend, like watching a wounded dog trying to gnaw off its own leg. But a wounded dog was better than whatever the Nomu doctor had planned.

They had her blood anyway. A whole pint taken by Toga while Izumi was sleeping.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Twice, climbing onto the rotting crates he sat on. "Did the boss decay one of your shirts again? I'll totally fight him for it."

"And lose?" drawled Dabi.

"It won't really be me. Maybe one of your clones? Or Big Sis's? Hey, that nap I took was totally great—you didn't ask what Yaomomo put in that smoke, did you?"

"You're not friends with her."

"It just sounds so much better. Right, Toga?!" shouted Twice, calling down to the blonde who sat huddled with Magne and Lady Nagant in her makeshift girl's club. Lady Nagant caught his eye, offering a cheery grin.

"What does?" Toga asked, sticking her tongue between her teeth as she concentrated on balancing a knife on its point.

"Yaomomo!"

Toga remained silent for a pause and then her gaze shot to him. "Dabi." Toga's eyes were sharp, cutting. She'd been scared during the Kamino Ward battle reminding him of just how young she was. "Why'd you lie?"

"About?" he asked warily.

"If you love something then…you need to keep it safe."

Slightly startled, it took everything in him not to react to her words. Ultimately a false laugh left his mouth and then a teeth-bearing grin, "Love? I'm not you, Himiko-chan," The sound of her first name had Toga grinding her teeth in anger. "Let's not talk about mistakes when you barely watched Yaoyorozu."

"It's rude," pouted Toga. "I wasn't going to go in the bathroom with her…and she's Ochako and Deku's friend."

Dabi curled into his coat, holding it close to his chest. What love did he have for Izumi? Even when they were younger, it was reluctant and forced on him by proximity. Fuyumi, he loved. Natsuo and his mother too. Shouto and Izumi were two strangers caught in Endeavor's trap, neither realizing that they were basically knives for him to weld. That Todoroki Touya had been a dull blade tossed aside rather than sharpened.

Lady Nagant yawned loudly and then said, "We threw ourselves into it this time without the proper intel, next time won't be the same."

"You lied about the doctor and the Nomu," snapped Dabi, growing annoyed by her secrecy and know-it-all attitude.

Pacing against the concrete ground, Lady Nagant rubbed at her arms. "It wasn't a lie. Shigaraki and I got talking and we widened the scope. It would've broken All Might if one of his students had joined the League and she was the weakest link out of all of them. And it worked in drawing out the heroes. Best Jeanist is dead, thousands with him, and people's faith in All Might is faltering. But that doesn't matter anymore—All For One falling is a bigger deal than any of you know. People are going to be coming for us. The police and every rat that's been hiding in the shadows. I'm not going to stick around when my neck is on the line, so what makes dying worth it?"

The question was pointed at Shigaraki. Since they left Kamino Ward he hadn't spoken, staring at the warehouse wall with an empty gaze. Dabi wondered if he was aware of how many strings All For One pulled for him, of how sheltered and groomed he was. Shigaraki must have known how free he was now, how much power he held in his hands.

"You don't need to die," rasped Shigaraki, leaning his head on the back of the couch with his eyes closed. Ignoring the ragged red welts covering his neck was impossible. Like the rest of them, his quirk had seeped into every inch of his body. "No one does. You can leave if you want to—I won't stop you. But I'm going to make them pay. Every one of them for taking Sensei, for ruining our dreams, for trying to crush us without even thinking about what we wanted."

"Leave if you want." Shigaraki's gaze raised to meet each of theirs individually. "You'll be safer alone, but I won't turn you away if you want to stay."

Lady Nagant dipped her head in a nod, but her words came out stale and practiced. "We should get rid of—"

"No," said Shigaraki, shaking his head. "I'm done messing around with little kids. I want All Might—he was supposed to come, but he didn't. What kind of hero does that make him?!"

Dabi's leg shook, thinking about the relief lining Endeavor's face as he caught sight of Izumi. "The same as the others."

"Everyone wants to be All Might. They put him on a pedestal and say that this is their best soldier, I'm going to bring him back down to earth to crawl with the rest of us."

Dabi stared at Shigaraki, feeling the truth in his words. Though he didn't care about any of them or their fake dreams, Dabi knew that they were the type of people desperate enough to make things happen.

"We can start by replenishing our numbers," said Dabi, ignoring Twice's protest as he jumped down from the crates. "Mustard was ruthless, I kinda miss him."

"Shut up," muttered Shigaraki.

"I'll find us some new members. Call me when you need me, boss," said Dabi, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he escaped into the dark night. The cool air hit his overheating skin bringing him some slight relief.

He wanted to know what had happened to Izumi—what made her so ready to die? Quietly handing her life over to him despite how scared and alone she'd been. Her reassurance that it was okay made it hard to even stomach what he was doing. And then she still acted like the hero she was underneath it all, forgoing her chance to escape for the sake of her friend.

The betrayal seeping into her face at Kamino Ward made bitter by the fact that Endeavor hadn't even been paying them any attention.

He had to wait, lie low for a couple of days and wait to see if the news of his identity leaked. If it didn't…then Izumi was planning something beyond stupid, but, thought Dabi with a grin, she'd always been unnecessarily foolish. Enji would see it soon and he welcomed the day the two of them could sink down into hell together.

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END CHAPTER

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Notes: guys, respectfully if people keep asking me for updates, it's gonna stop happening :/

Also, this story is crossposted on Ao3, it's easier for u to get notifs about updates there cause FF's system is kinda wack