"I'm sorry, Mrs. Midoriya, but we can't release your son just yet."

"What? He's okay, isn't he?" Inko asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, he's healing wonderfully," the doctor assured her. "But this injury was no small wound. We're lucky that there wasn't more damage done to him. As it stands, I just want to keep an eye on him to make sure that there are no complications."

Inko wrung her hands. "I understand that, but I can't afford to take anymore time off from my job. I can't just leave Izuku alone! And I don't know if I can afford the hospital bills…"

Izuku bit his lip, trying not to cry as he listened to his mother fret like this. He hated that he was such a burden. He had been the reason that they moved, and she wouldn't tell him how much his online schooling and Valiant's dojo cost, but it couldn't be cheap. Until he became part of the police force, Izuku couldn't contribute, he was merely a drain on his mother. Now here he was, costing more money that they didn't have and the guilt was eating him alive. Izuku swallowed wondering if he could work in a part-time job, at least until-

"Don't worry about that, Mrs. Midoriya," Detective Tsukauchi cut in, placing a hand on her shoulder. "The police take care of their own. Our insurance policy will cover the costs completely. You can return home if you need to. I know that almost everyone in the station was planning on dropping by here at one point or another, so we can arrange shifts so that your son is never alone."

"Besides, I am being retained as well," Iida said from his own hospital bed, chopping at the air with his good arm. "I shall keep him company as best I can."

"I'll be checking up on your son as well," Dr. Meiji interrupted quickly.

Izuku blinked, completely stunned. They were helping? Just like that? Was this what having more than a two-person family felt like? Or were they helping because they felt guilty? "That's not necessary, you shouldn't feel like you have to-"

Tsukauchi put a hand on his head. "Reckless teenagers don't get any say in the matter."

Izuku squawked in protest, but in actuality, his chest was warmer than he could ever recall it being before.

Soon after that, the adults fell into a conversation that wasn't so much exclusive as it was boring, so Izuku took advantage of their distraction and stretched as far as his body would allow, finally able to snag his shone that had been tantalizingly out of reach - Tsukauchi had stolen it last night claiming that he needed rest, not a distraction.

He was marginally impressed that his phone had any battery left at all, and that it hadn't just malfunctioned from all of the notifications. There were roughly two-hundred text messages from Officer Saito alone, ranging from berating him for his stupidity to pleading for him to be okay. There were also texts from everyone else on the force (excluding Mori), a handful from various people he knew from the dojo, a dozen emails from various teachers, and a few voicemails - one was from Ojiro, one was from Valiant, and there were two from the same unknown number.

Curious, Izuku picked the first one from the unknown number. Holding the phone up to his ear, a vaguely familiar voice began speaking.

"Hi, I was just calling to say thank you for my first day of training. You helped a lot and you were super cool! I hope I see you again sometime soon, Midoriya. Oh! This is Uraraka Ochako, by the way."

Izuku hadn't been aware that his phone slipped out of his hand until it clattered to the floor. The noise alerted everyone else in the room, causing some concern while an utterly smitten smile spread across his face.

"Midoriya, are you alright? Do we need to call the doctor?"

"Talk to us, kid!"

"Izuku, honey, why are you smiling like that? Should I be worried?"

He instinctively turned to the most familiar voice. "A girl, Mom. A girl."

"What about a girl, Izuku?" Inko asked, worry creasing her face even more. "What girl?"

The door to the hospital room slammed open and none other than Officer Saito stomped in, waving a picture around. "It's this girl, isn't it Izuku?! One Uraraka Ochako, a hero student in U.A.'s Class 1-A. You helped her after the USJ incident and then again on Monday at Gunhead's dojo where you gave her your phone number!"

Izuku whimpered, feeling like a guilty man on trial even though he had done nothing. "No, it's not what you think, I-"

"Don't you lie to me, Little Midoriya. Gunhead told me everything!" Saito said, dramatically jabbing a finger at him. "But I'm not angry about the girl, Little Midoriya. If anything comes of this, I'll have to instill the fear of the station in her, but she's cute and hopefully smart enough not to hurt you. No, I came all the way to Hosu to address your blatant BETRAYAL!"

It was then that Officer Nakamura appeared in the doorway, panting. "Sorry, Little Midoriya. I tried to rein her in, but she locked me in a janitor's closet and made it here before me."

"Betrayal?" Iida asked, scandalized.

"You lost our Snapchat streak!" Saito declared, seemingly near tears. "And then you didn't confirm your crush to me, you're supposed to divulge your secrets to me! And then you had to get yourself hurt on top of it all."

Nakamura wheezed, producing an inhaler and taking a few puffs before snarling, "You need to get your priorities straight."

"We were almost to fifty days! If I can snap him in the middle of a drug bust to keep the thing alive, then-"

"Saito, what have I said about using your phone on the job?"

She cursed quietly under her breath. "I forgot that Dadtective was here. Nakamura, why didn't you warn me?"

"You… dug… your… grave," Nakamura wheezed, starting to get his breathing under control.

The doctor cleared his throat. "I was letting this slide before, but with this many people we should really only have family in the room."

"I really should get going anyway, office hours are starting soon," Dr. Meiji said regretfully. "Heal quickly, Midoriya. I look forward to your next visit."

Once Meiji had departed, the doctor looked expectantly at the others in the room, though mainly Saito. Looking him dead in the eyes with a completely straight face, she said, "He's my brother, can't you see the resemblance? How are you, Mom?" she asked, giving Inko a wooden hug.

Inko patted the woman who was obviously too old to be her daughter on the back. Normally she would have protested the lie, but it was true in all but blood. The police station were more like family to Izuku than anyone but Inko herself.

"And him?" the doctor asked, pointedly looking at Nakamura.

"He's our great uncle," she said without missing a beat.

The doctor sighed in resignation. "Just don't get too rowdy."

It was then that Iida chose to lean over and whisper, "Are you truly smitten with Uraraka?"

Unfortunately Iida was terrible at whispering, and the entire room heard him. Izuku paled as every eye present came to rest on him. It was his mother of all people that asked, "Izuku, who is this Uraraka Ochako?"

Izuku flailed, unsure of how to answer and praying for deliverance. It seemed just then that he had apparently done something right in his life, because it actually came. A nurse stepped in to collect Iida and Izuku to get them out of their room and visit some other patients.

At that point Izuku was ready to fling himself off the bed, but he settled for nodding vigorously while Iida agreed as well. The two were transferred into wheelchairs while Izuku insisted that he and Iida went alone with the nurses until finally they were pushed away from prying eyes.

Once out of earshot, Iida said, "I must beg your forgiveness, Midoriya. I was not nearly discreet enough."

"Don't worry about it, Iida. And yeah, I think I do l-like Uraraka. She's one of the first girls I've ever met that didn't care I was quirkless."

"She is indeed a person of the highest caliber, as are you," Iida said almost proudly, like a mother hen talking about her chicks.

"We're at the first room," one of the nurses announced before pushing the door open.

The room was nearly identical to theirs, but only one of the beds was taken, and this room was littered with candy wrappers and the like. From his armchair next to the occupied bed, still chewing on a candybar, Officer Mao languidly poked Officer Ashia awake while Izuku excitedly said, "It's great to see you both! I'm glad you're healing well, Officer Ashia!"

It took a minute for Ashia's eyes to focus enough to see the boys before a smile spread across his face. "Hey, Midoriya. You haven't tried to take down any homicidal maniacs since I last saw you, have you?"

"Not yet, but it's not quite lunchtime," Izuku said with a smile.

"That was amazing kid, but a little warning next time?" Mao asked. "I know you probably have experience being doubted because you're a quirkless teenager, but that's not going to be the case anymore. You're the golden child of the police department."

"What?"

Both officers stared at him. "Haven't you seen the news?"

"I made the news?"

"Oh, jeez," Mao said, picking up the remote and flipping through a few channels. Izuku only caught snippets from each, but it was enough.

"-Hero Killer Stain stopped by a quirkless fifteen-year-old. Some question the legitimacy of the story and whether or not it was all a ploy to raise the public opinion of quirkless individuals -"

"- Midoriya Izuku, a quirkless fifteen-year-old reportedly accomplished what an abundance of pro-heroes have been unable to. This begs the question, are quirks really helpful, or have we become too reliant on them? Here we have-"

"-taser sales have skyrocketed overnight. More on-"

"-was just a fluke, a lucky coincidence," Endeavor was saying, staring into the camera. "Children, especially defenseless children, should keep out of hero work."

Mao turned off the TV. "You're everywhere. Some people love you, some people hate you. Endeavor is pissed beyond belief, and so he's been attempting to downplay your fight and talk up the strength of those Nomu things. I think he's really just jealous that you took down such a high-profile villain without a quirk."

"Jealous?" Izuku squeaked.

"For better or for worse, you're making a name for yourself. Your face is being plastered everywhere, both of you. The police as a whole are getting the most positive publicity than we've gotten since the institution of public heroes. This is probably going to be a fleeting thing - in a month you might seem vaguely familiar to someone in the grocery store, but people are going to remember that it was a quirkless kid that took down Stain," Ashia said gravely. "But kid, from what I know of you, this is only the start of one of the brightest careers I've ever seen. I look forward to what you do next."

"As long as you warn your partners," Mao said immediately and sternly. "Now get out of here. If Ashia doesn't get more rest his wife will kill both of us."

Izuku and Iida bid the two farewell as their nurses pushed them out of the room and further down the hallway. Neither boy asked any questions when they were pushed into a room a few doors down where Native was being visited by Manual. Both heroes were happy to see the boys, but wasted no time telling them that they were reckless and stupid that night. But Native ended by saying, "If it weren't for you two though, I'd be dead, so I have to say thank you."

Manual smiled. "I think you've learned your lesson, Tenya. But thank you, Midoriya. You kept him alive when I couldn't. I hear you want to be a detective, and I think I speak for many heroes when I say that I look forward to working with you."

Izuku managed to hold back his tears, but only just. "Me too."

He sniffled as they were pushed from the room. He was still trying not to cry when Iida said, "Our room is in the opposite direction, and surely there are no more patients…"

"Have you forgotten about me so easily, Tenya?"

Iida froze at the sound of the newcomer's voice. "Brother?"

Izuku glanced around to find a man who looked remarkably like Iida wheeling up in a wheelchair of his own. Ingenium.

A harried nurse materialized behind him. "Sir, you're not allowed to be moving about on your own yet!"

"I just wanted to make sure my brother hadn't forgotten me," Ingenium said with a winning smile. It was roughly about that moment that Izuku felt like his heart was about to explode because holy whoa THE Ingenium sat right in front of him.

"I… I could never forget you!" Iida said fervently, his eyes shining with tears. "Brother, I must apologize. I thought I was avenging you, but in reality I merely let my anger overwhelm me. I'm so sorry, brother, I have failed to uphold the ideals of heroism that you taught me."

Iida was crying in earnest now, but he jolted when his brother placed a comforting hand atop his head. "You acted rashly, Tenya, that's true. But I know you, and you will learn from this and become a better hero than I ever was. You will make Ingenium a hero to look up to."

"Thank you brother, I won't let you down again," Iida said, wiping at his tears.

"I know you won't," Ingenium said warmly before his eyes came to rest on Izuku. "And I'm assuming you're the person I have to thank for keeping my brother alive."

"Oh, I didn't do much, really. But it's an honor to meet you, Ingenium, sir. I've looked up to you for-"

Izuku was pulled from what could potentially the most embarrassing mutter-storm of his life when an irritated voice called, "Tensei, I won't bring you to your checkups with your surgeon if you're never where you're supposed to be."

Ingenium wheeled around enough to look at the speaker. "Aw, but Shota, I was popping in on m darling little brother and his new friend."

Izuku swallowed as none other than Aizawa strolled into view, displeasure clear on his face. "I didn't think I'd get the opportunity to lecture you two so soon. You were both reckless and stupid. Iida, I expect you to learn from this, and learn well. You're only alive because Midoriya is a trained EMT, and a good one at that. I trust that you'll rein in your emotions in the future."

"Of course, Mr. Aizawa. You have my sincerest apologies."

"Don't expect the government to take it easy on you. You used your quirk illegally, and there will be a penalty," Aizawa warned. "You were being a vigilante in every sense of the word."

Iida hung his head. "I am aware."

"And you," Aizawa said, his glare sharpening on Izuku. "I'm sure Tsukauchi covered most things already, Problem Child, but I've spoken with Gunhead and Valiant about methods of countering various types of weapons. The next time I hear that you've taken a sword to the thigh I'm going to make you wish that the villain had finished the job."

"I'll be more careful," Izuku said, furiously nodding.

Ingenium's mouth curled even further upwards. "I didn't know you knew the hero of the hour, Shota."

"I know him well enough to know that Midoriya didn't stumble across Stain by accident," Aizawa said, his eyes boring into the depths of Izuku's soul. "But I also know he's one of the most capable Problem Children I've ever come across. I swear, when I find whatever fool of a pro-hero told him he couldn't be one of us, I'm going to hang them upside down with my capture weapon."

"That is the highest praise I have ever heard from Aizawa Shota. Take heart, Midoriya, that means that you're doing something incredibly right. Thank you for saving my little brother. I may no longer be able to be a hero, but I can rest easy knowing that I'm leaving the world in the hands of you two," Tensei said with a bittersweet smile. "Now we need to get going. If Shota isn't back by a certain time, his cats will riot and I will be hearing about it for months."

Izuku wasn't sure what to feel as he watched Ingenium and Aizawa leave. He was still not completely present, thanks to his pain medication and the poor sleep afforded by hospital beds. He thought about nothing and everything at the same time as he was wheeled back to his hospital room, where he would sit aside Iida for days, making a lifelong friend and ally.

In those few days, Izuku was able to pretend he was just a teenager with Iida, as if neither of their pictures were broadcasted across every news channel while millions of strangers formulated opinions of each of them. Each boy was blissfully unaware that the happenings of that fateful night was already changing their nation as it stood, potentially even the world. The specifics and their faces would be widely forgotten, but the emotions behind it all never would.

However, the details were not forgotten by all. Many eyes now rested on Midoriya Izuku, for better or for worse.

A/N: Sorry for the slow update, moving for the summer was even more hectic than finals, and then this chapter has been a struggle to write for whatever reason. But I'm glad to be back. The backstory has kind of evolved and become a whole story of its own, but I hope you're enjoying it! I've got some big things coming, so watch out!

I have a friend that I consult about my stories, we'll call her Kit. You can thank her for the addition of Tensei, it was a stroke of genius on her part. However, we usually agree on most things, but Kit thinks I should get rid of the fanny pack. I think the fanny pack deserves a long and happy life. Opinions? See you all soon!