Todoroki laid in his bed, but his thoughts did not rest with his body. Ever since that morning his thoughts hadn't stopped their endless circles.

Groaning, Todoroki lifted a hand to his forehead. That one classmate of his, Izuku Midoriya, was currently occupying his thoughts, as they had been all day now. It had especially gotten bad when he had run into the boy.

He felt his face heat up again and he cursed. Every time he thought of that moment, where he could feel the other against him, just seemed to stir a weird fluttering feeling in his stomach, and he hated it. He just couldn't understand these new feelings and he absolutely hated how he reacted around him. For some reason, he just couldn't act indifferent to Midoriya like he could with everyone else, even his sister, and he absolutely hated that fact.

He was supposed to become the number one hero, beat All Might, and all without ever using his father's quirk. He'd be damned if he let someone, who he has spoken once to, get in his way. So why couldn't he stop thinking about him?!

His face burned as his fingers pressed deep into his forehead. Todoroki has tried to act indifferent when Midoriya had fallen in the sandpit, telling himself that his classmate was pathetic if he couldn't complete a single jump. But he hadn't been able to help himself and glanced over as Midoriya had gotten up. The look on his face though had a pang of pity shooting through him. Todoroki even almost went over to see if he was alright before he stopped himself.

Why did he even care? It wasn't like it was his job to look after his classmate. So why? Why did he care?

Todoroki flipped himself over and groaned into his pillow. As he pressed harder into the pillow, the pressure on his face was somehow comforting, he thought back to how he acted when he ran into him.

He hadn't been expecting the teen to be coming out of the door, and it had left him completely unprepared for when their bodies had collided. They had both been able to catch himself and Todoroki had found a slight pain on his forehead, but for some reason he found himself concerned for the other. That in itself was unusual for him, but then life had to go and one up him again.

The fluttery feeling had returned in full force, but this time, he had found himself zeroing in on his classmate. Everything else seemed to melt away as he took in every single tiny detail on the green-haired teen. The curls on his head had bounced gently as the teen had recovered, and they had seemed to glow as the sun filtered in from the windows behind him. But now that Todoroki thought about it, they had seemed slightly dirty, as though they hadn't been taken care of very well.

Todoroki frowned and lifted his head from the pillow. Now that he thought about it, Midoriya hadn't looked very well taken care generally. Small patches of dirt could be seen in various places on his face and his uniform had seemed wrinkled despite the fact that it must have been the first day that he had ever worn it. Even his bright red shoes seemed scuffed and worn through.

If one looked at a distance or wasn't paying attention, they could easily miss it. Though Todoroki was close, and he was paying very close attention to Midoriya.

"Todoroki? Come on you slow poke! Dinner's ready!"

Todoroki was broken out of his thoughts by the playful voice of his older sister, Fuyumi. She was a teacher and got home after him, but she always seemed ready to make dinner despite that fact. To be honest, she was the only one actually able to cook nowadays.

With a big sigh, he managed to drag himself out of his bed and thoughts and went over to the door. When he opened it, Fuyumi was gone, but he knew that she was waiting for him in the kitchen.

His muscles and joints aches from his training and he wanted nothing more than to lay down a fall asleep, but he forced himself out and into the hallway. Fasting a glance back to his bed, he shook away the worry that had appeared.

You're worrying over nothing, he thought, Midoria probably just fell or something. Plus we had just had the quirk test, so of course he would be dirty.

He ignored the voice telling him that something was wrong. That it had looked as if the green-head hadn't showered in days.

It was just a voice after all.

Izuku shot up in his bed, panting heavily. He could still feel Shigaraki's bruising grip on his arm, and his fingernails biting into his skin.

The nightmare cling to his every thought, not leaving him as most do. His eyes glanced around, taking in his bare room and slowly relaxing as he realized where he was.

Crash!

The sudden noise had him jumping in surprise and fear. He could hear laughing coming from the bar area and he figured that everyone was starting to get up.

Shaking off the last of the nightmare, Izuku slowly climbed out of his bed to get ready. He had changed into his spare clothes after he had finished reading the syllabus, as he didn't want to wrinkle his uniform anymore than it already was. That was actually one of the new recruits doing. Izuku had accidentally left it out when he had gone to training and the guy had found it. He must have recognized the uniform as he had started shaking it and throwing it to the other recruits, who had happily gone along with it. By the time Izuku had returned, his uniform was within an inch of being torn in half by one the men. He had managed to save it, but his uniform had ended up in rough shape. Luckily though, there were no holes or tears in the fabric, so it was still usable.

Stretching, he noticed that his skin seemed to stretch out very uncomfortably. He winced, and his mind wandered the day before. His quirk dried out his skin if overexerted, and he had certainly stretched his limits yesterday. This could have been worse too if he hadn't drank water before he went fell asleep and he mentally patted himself on the back for that.

Buttoning up his uniform, he once again smoothed out the wrinkles to the best of his ability. If he had an iron or even had the ability to wash it, he probably could have fixed it, but alas, he had to deal with it and hope no body noticed.

Knock knock knock

He looked up and towards the door. He then heard Kurogiri's voice through the wood, "Midoriya, are you up?"

He nodded before realizing that he couldn't see him and quickly stuttered out, "Y-yeah. I-I'll be out soon."

Then, without warning, his door opened and Kurogiri stepped inside. Izuku froze in the middle of grabbing his shoes. Nobody ever came into his room. Ever.

"Midoriya," anticipation shot up his spine, making him twitch ever so slightly, "You are needed in the training room." Kurogiri paused, purple smoke waving as his head tilted to the side, "I suggest changing into a different pair of clothes to avoid ruining your uniform."

He wanted to throw up as Kurogiri turned and left. He kingly closed the door behind him.

Izuku knew what this meant. He must have been found out. Someone must have seen him last night and snitched. That, or there had been a camera in the room that he hadn't seen, and now he was going to be punished for it.

He swallowed the bile rising up his throat as he berated himself. Last night h had been reckless and he had known it. Yet he had done it anyways.

His gaze lowered and he changed back into his spare clothes, the only other clothes he had. They were ratty and torn in many places, but they covered him and kept him warm, and that's all he could really ask for.

Fear coiled in his stomach and almost managed to paralyze him as he reached out to open the door, but he pulled through. He knew it would only be worse if he didn't show up. It would happen either way, so he might as well just get it over with.

The familiar squeal of the hinges didn't comfort him as they usually did, and he pushed down the fear as much as he possibly could. Stepping out into the hallway, he could see multiple if the recruits laughing and drinking in the bar area, and he could also see Kurogiri standing behind the bar cleaning glasses. Nobody seemed to notice him there, but he did notice something as he raked his gaze across the room. Shigaraki wasn't there. Izuku gulped, there was only one other place he could be.

Turning his back to the room and walked to the door right next to his. He thought that they might have done that on purpose. It was much easier to drag himself back to his bedroom when it was next door.

Not even hesitating(he didn't think he could continue if he paused for even a second), he opened the door and quickly stepped inside. Closing the door behind him, he kept his gaze lowered and he made himself as small as possible.

"Izu, you've been very annoying lately."

Izuku flinched at Shigaraki's harsh words. He supposed he hadn't been on his best behavior since he'd learned about the UA plan, but he hadn't thought it'd been enough for Shigaraki to notice. "I-I'm sorry, Tou-nii, I promise I'll do be-"

"I didn't call you here just for you to make promises we all know you won't keep."

His blood froze at the sound of Sensei's crackling voice. Glancing up, he saw Shigaraki slouching next to an old looking tv. On the tv he could barely make out the hauntingly familiar silhouette of Sensei.

"By now you must know why we brought you here, and I must say, I'm very disappointed," Sensei said.

Suddenly he was sent stumbling forwards as something hard hit his back. Pain blossomed in the middle of his back, and he glanced behind him to see a large looking man standing right behind him. When did he get there? And how did he not notice?

Wincing, he tried to stand up but the man walked over and stomped his foot down onto his back. Black spots swam in his vision as the pain doubled, but he still didn't make a sound. He learned that it was best to stay quiet when this happened.

Shigaraki sneered, "What, not going to defend yourself?" He walked forwards and crouched down to look at Izuku, "If we didn't need you, you would be dead right now."

Izuku knew this, but he couldn't help the fear that spiked when Shigaraki said this.

The staticky voice of Sensei once again filled the room, "Izuku, you know better than to go snooping around. So why did you feel the sudden urge to go into that room? Surely you knew that this was going to happen."

He lowered his gaze until all he could see was the ground. Yes, he knew that this could happen, yet he had done it anyways. He didn't have a reason as to why he thought it was a good idea, if he even thought it was in the first place, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

He now knew more about his situation, and on his own terms too. They never gave him more information than absolutely necessary, as they fear he would give them away. The more he knew about what was going on behind the scenes, the better chance he stood to one day escape this place.

That thought always hurt, but he could never seem to completely rid of it. He knew that it would be nearly impossible to escape this group, especially when he could be seen as a villain now. But he couldn't stop that tiny part of him that hoped that he could one day be free from this life.

"Answer him, Izu." Shigaraki's said from somewhere above him, and he felt the foot press down harder. His lungs worked in over time to get oxygen as the pain spiked. He felt a tiny whine escape his lips before he could stop it. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to block out the pain, with little avail.

He felt his head be wrenched upwards and his neck screamed in protest. Squinting, he managed to make out the blurry outline of Shigaraki's body and face. Had he started crying? They certainly wouldn't like that.

Prying open his mouth, he managed to get out a few words, "I-I d-on't k-know." He knew they wouldn't except that answer, but he also knew that they wouldn't accept any other answer he gave them either.

He heard Sensei sigh, "You know that isn't answer, Izuku."

The pressure on his back suddenly left and Shigaraki dropped his head. His face landed uncomfortably hard on the concrete floor of the training room(concrete lasted longer than wood), but he ignored that in favor of enjoying the air that came freely into his lungs.

That was soon interrupted as he was dragged up onto his feet by his hair. His legs wobbled and almost buckled underneath him, but the hand gripping his hair kept him standing.

He blinked a few times, but the blurriness refused to leave. His felt something wet roll down his cheek.

"Since you've already seen it, I might as well tell you what we've done."

Izuku closed his eyes. He didn't want to know what they'd done to him. He was already a freak as it was.

Sensei continued, "You see, we realized that we didn't have any way to monitor you as you went to school. You hadn't gone out much before, so we hadn't had a reason to. But with you being gone for so long, and around pro heroes for that matter, we knew you might get, ideas.

"So we came up with something that could tell us where you were and monitor you vitals to see if anything, suspicious, happened."

Izuku shuddered.

"During one of your training sessions, we had on of the recruits attach a device into your right arm. His quirk allows his body or anything he's holding to go through human matter. It's actually quite useful. He has found many ways to cleverly utilize his quirk for our needs."

He suddenly became very aware of his arm and mentally checked on his arm. He didn't feel anything off, but then again, if he hadn't already noticed something like a chip or tracker, then he doubted he would feel anything now.

Panic started to stir in his stomach before he suddenly went limp. Resignation claimed every muscle in his body, making them seem like lead weights. The small part of hope he clung to suddenly became even smaller.

The hand let go a he crumpled to the ground. He didn't bother getting up.

"I hope this reminded you that there's no escape. It would be a shame if we had to resort to drastic measures."

And then suddenly he was alone.

He didn't want to get up, but he did anyways. They still needed him to go to school.

Pushing himself up was one of the hardest things he's ever done. The black hole in his chest sapped his energy away until there was almost nothing left. Eventually, he got into a sitting position and stared out into the dark room. It was completely barren except for the now powered off tv. He had spent so many pain-filled days here. Many of the scars now littering his body could be traced back to this room.

Sighing, he dragged himself onto his feet and shuffled to the door. Opening it, he was greeted to the sight of multiple recruits coming out of the bar area and into the hallway. One of them caught sight of him and decided to approach him. Izuku didn't do anything to stop him.

The recruit cocked his fist back and slammed it into his chest. His vision went white as he fell back into the training from the force of the punch. The man followed him into the room and gave him a hard kick to the ribs, "What? Not even going fight back? Tsk, boring."

His friends heckled Izuku from the doorway as the man left. Izuku did nothing but stare at them, his eyes dull.

The group left when the man returned to them and Izuku was left alone once more with his wounds. He could practically feel the stabbing pain in his chest and ribs start to bruise.

With a groan of pain, he eventually managed to pull himself back into his feet and not almost pass out.

Going back to the door, he could still hear laughter from the bar area, but he didn't bother to look this time, instead choosing to go straight into his room.

Closing the door behind him, he started getting ready for school once again.

The gate loomed menacingly over him as he walked through. The bruises burned underneath his shirt, but he was well practiced in hiding pain.

"Hey Midoriya-kun!"

He glanced over to the side and saw a floating uniform.

Ah, Hagakure.

"Hey, Hagakure," he greeted back.

She ran up to him in her enthusiastic way, and stopped next to him, "Are you excited for today? I heard we were going to do hero training. Doesn't that sound like fun!" Her entire body was jumping up and down as she waved around her hands as she spoke.

The excitement was contagious and he cracked a smile for the first time that day, "Y-yeah, I guess I am."

Hero training. It sounded almost like a dream. This was everything he's ever wanted, yet he couldn't help but feel like something was going to go wrong today. It was starting to become a common theme these days.

They turned to the building and walked through the gate, and Hagakure made small talk with him while they walked. It was a long walk to the classroom, so he was caught up on the trip to the mall they took the other day. He had forgotten that they had gone to the mall.

They had just reached the door when Hagakure suddenly jumped, "Oh! I forgot!" She then turned towards him and bowed, "I'm sorry for taking a picture of you without your permission! It was rude of me and will delete it if you want."

Izuku was stunned. He had forgotten about that and he wasn't exactly used to people apologizing to him about anything, even when it had been their fault.

He panicked and tried to get Hagakure to straighten back up, "I-it's okay! Y-you don't have to a-apologize."

She was now standing straight again and he had a feeling she was smiling, "Oh good! I thought you would still be mad at me."

He smiled weakly at her, "I'm not really the type to hold grudges n' stuff. And I wasn't mad at you, I was just embarrassed. I-it's no big deal."

Hagakure squealed and hugged him and he had to hid his wince, "You're too nice, Midoriya-kun!" She let go of him and turned back to the door, "Come on! I bet everyone is inside already."

She opened the door and stepped inside. Hagakure has been right, almost everyone was already inside the classroom and seated in their seats. His invisible classmate curved away and headed straight to a seat in the front. Izuku glanced around and took a seat behind Bakugou. The blonde didn't seem to notice him, as he seemed focused on staring out the window with a scowl in his face.

Once he seated himself, he looked around to see if any of friends were nearby. To his disappointment, only Hagakure and Yaoyorozu were on his side of the room, and even then Hagakure seemed busy busy talking to that guy with multiple arms and Yaoyorozu seemed busy with writing something down. Iida and Uraraka were on the complete other side of the room, along with Kirishima and Kaminari. He also noticed that Todoroki was sitting in the back of the row next to him. He glanced away and felt his face heat up.

"HEEEELLOOOO EVERYONE!"

A loud voice boomed through the classroom, making everyone wince and cover their ears.

Present Mic walked through the door and and gave his introduction, even though everyone at least knew him from the test.

And with that, their school day started. Their core classes passed quickly, and he was able to meet pro hero Lunch Rush with his friends.

After that, it was onto the class that they had all been waiting for.

The hero class.

"I am here! Coming through the door like a hero!"

Midoriya had to physically stop himself from squealing like the fanboy he is. All Might came swinging through the doorway, and his cape fluttered majestically behind him. Izuku quickly took note of how All Might was wearing wearing his silver age costume.

All Might marched up to the front of the room and addressed the class, effectively silencing the whispers that had started, "Welcome to the most important class at Yueei high! Think of it as heroing 101. Here you will learn the basics of being a pro, and what it takes to fight in the name of good!" He started stretching in front of the class and Izuku nearly died right there and then, "Today's lesson," he pulled out a card, "we'll pull no punches!"

In front of him he could hear Bakugou say, "Fight training," in a very creepy voice. Izuku also couldn't help but whisper, "Real combat?"

All Might suddenly grabbed a remote and turned towards the wall, "But another one of the keys to being a hero iiiiiss," boxes started coming out of the wall, "looking good!"

Whispers started up as people figured out what was inside the boxes, "These were designed based on the quirk registration and requests you sent in before school started."

Everyone cheered and Izuku whispered, "Costumes."

"Get yourselves suit up and then meet me in trading ground beta!"

And with that, All Might left and everyone jumped up and out of their seats. Everyone was excited to get their costumes, but Izuku hovered near the back of the crowd. He was too shy to push himself to the front, but at the same time he wasn't sure how his costume would look.

Finally, most of his classmates had gotten their costumes and left to the changing rooms, leaving only Izuku, Todoroki, and Yaoyorozu left. They apparently hadn't tried to push through the crowd either.

Izuku went up and nervously grabbed his case, and made sure not to get in the way of Todoroki or Yaoyorozu.

Once he got his case, he turned and quickly left the classroom and went to the boys changing room. Heading inside, he waited for everyone else to leave. Kirishima and Kaminari noticed and when questioned, Izuku just told them he was uncomfortable with changing in front of others. Thankfully, they took that as an acceptable answer and left him alone.

Soon enough he was completely alone and he opened his case. Staring down at his costume, he sighed. He really wasn't looking forward to this.