Donnez aux prochain.

~0~

Katsuki sat back in his seat; they were on their way back to UA in one of the most secure cars left in Japan. Beside him sat Dek... Izuku, the fucking nerd with a self-sacrificing hero complex the size of his mom's ass.

The... quasi-vigilante was dirty, his suit tattered, and he stank like an overfilled sewer filled with putrefied flesh. It was still green... but so dirty it looked brown in some places.

His sleeves were ripped apart, and his fucking bunny ears were a mere suggestion, making him look more like a monster, a villain, then a hero. It exposed the orange compression material responsible for holding his arms in place after he's fucked them up worst with All-Might's shitty power.

Izuku... it had taken everything in them to get him to stop and listen, so many sob stories... and the world's most awards and left-sided confession ever (Seriously, Mineta? Have you no shame?), Izuku finally was caught...

well, more like, Katsuki had spilled out his fucking heart like the rest of those extras... after some soul searching (yeah, so, he was a piece of shit, always had been... He should've been less crappy with Deku. Not much he could do to change it.) Then, after hearing the apology... he collapsed.

Now, Katsuki would have loved to have this weakness be a proof that he was indeed better then Fucking Deku... but it spoke otherwise.

Deku had been fighting practically nonstop for a year... and he looked like it.

Meanwhile, Katsuki and the A-1 gang had it easy, being protected by UA's walls.

Actually... this didn't feel like a win... it was more like... the calm before the storm.

There was no way Deku would just do a one-eighty and return to his cinnamon roll days. Too much had happened, too many deaths, too many crimes...

Too much suffering and no one to help him, not even his mother.

Katsuki glanced back at his childhood... friend slumped in his seat with his cowl over his eyes, despite how dark the transport van was.

It was... Katsuki knew it was used to carry dangerous criminals, but Majima-sensei and Nedzu had assured them that this meant that it was harder to get to what was inside. Still, it left an awful taste in Kastuki's mouth.

Izuku's body was limp... he was sleeping.

It was probably the first time the greenette got a chance to let go. And for good reason.

AFO was still out there, Tartarus-worthy villains roamed the streets, the fucking Vanguards never slept, and the Media and civvies now hated His guts more then fucking Endeavour after his family dealings had been aired out.

Oh... and there was Face-Palm playing hide and seek with Deku... and whining.

No, wait... was it really Face-palm anymore? Rumour has it that the creep was now going by All For One... and he looked like he'd been nomufied too.

He was covered in scars, and his muscles just looked... wrong.

Dead wrong.

But considering that whatever information about AFO was from recovered smartphones... yeah, that must be it.

"I swear D... Izuku, Oaf's won't be taken down by just you." Katsuki growled, not turning to face his...

his...

He had no right to call Izuku his friend. He'd never considered him as such since they were four.

Deku still called him Kacchan, though.

It... left a terrible taste in his mouth, looking back at all the torture and the hate he'd forced his friend to go through. And thus, for the duration of the long ride back at UA, Katsuki had basically ignored his... acquaintance. Too shameful to even speak, and still mad at him for the fucking stunt he pulled off.

And... Katsuki knew why Izuku had run away from them despite how fucking weak he was.

He didn't want to be a burden; he didn't want to be seen as weak, even if he was.

Izuku's body was falling apart; the stench of his suit and his sunken eyes and cheeks spoke volumes of the hell he's been going through for the last two years.

... it was not the first time Izuku looked like that.

Aldera had been hell... it was a miracle the nerd managed to pull Katsuki out of the slime villain with how weak he was.

...

"... You know, Izuku... For a quirkless nerd, you're... You're pretty awesome." Katsuki (somehow) admitted. the van was A.I driven and remote-controlled by the UA staff. And it was Unhackable... Meaning he could speak whatever was on his mind with all impunity.

Besides, Nezu never gave him shit for being brutally honest... as long as he truly was honest.

" I swear, man, I think you having All Might's Quirks just making you worse, you know. You have power; you can be a hero... but I'd rather you remain a quirkless nobody if it means I wouldn't have to hear your bones breaking anymore. By the way... if you think Oaf's scary, wait until you face Recovery girl." Katsuki grinned. " She's overworked, underpaid and now you drop in after a year looking like somebody shat you out and let you dry in the fucking sun. Hah! You'll wish it was All for One who's waiting for you." He grinned.

...

No answer.

"Oi! Deku, I'm talking to you." Katsuki spoke with his usual volume and annoyance, his fearsome scowl even deeper. "You think you're so hot that you can ignore me?"

He glared at Deku; he was slumped in the seat, swaying with every bump in the road, with no energy left in his body.

Once again, it was not all that surprising after the chase he'd given them all.

Still... Katsuki felt that... this was wrong.

Deku was... too quiet, too still.

"You're sleeping... right?" Katsuki asked his...ex-victim, sweat pearling on his forehead despite the AC being on. "Deku..." He swallowed thinly as he leaned over to shove the near Vigilante...

With more care then he cared to admit.

After giving Izuku a shake, dread pooled deep in Katsuki's stomach. The greenette had no reaction... not even a sound or a gasp... nothing at all.

He was too... slack.

"S-say... Izu..." He swallowed as he lifted Izuku's cowl, hoping it would reveal a pair of green eyes staring forward, stubbornly ignoring Katsuki's attempt at a civil conversation. "You're just sleeping... right?"

Instead... pale and grimy skin was revealed, his eyes half closed and... sunken.

It was then that Katsuki realized that he could not feel Izuku's breath... and that his mumbling comrade was silent...

Izuku was never silent as he slept... it was either mumbling or... snoring... but never silent.

He moved his hand closer to his mouth and nose...

Nothing...

He went to his neck, checking his pulse.

Katsuki grabbed his phone with unnaturally steady hands despite his hammering heart.

~0~

In another car following the high-security van containing their precious cargo (Izuku was precious, despite being very problematic.) Aizawa Shouta had his seat down... his eyes staring up at the dreary grown fuzz that was the sealing.

It was the first time he was out of his hospital room... and UA, in general. And he had been needed to make sure his hell class would not... accidentally kill Izuku. Since, after the USJ, poor Thirteen could not even hear about rescue class and had taken a whole year as a sabbatical to heal both body and mind. And the USJ had been considered unsafe to use, so whoever wanted to learn about rescue operations had to go to Shiketsu. meaning nobody did.

The Fault was on Shouta's shoulders and Nedzu's.

Beside him, Present Mike, his husband, was surfing on his private social media stream. Taking the pulse of society and how he could expect Izuku to be welcomed.

And from the thin line, Hizashi's lips had become...

"Wish the little listener would've run better... would've been easier on him." The blond spoke grimly as he closed his phone in clear disgust. " Poor kid will be mauled... is already mauled by the media and public opinion."

Aizawa had no energy to sneer after all that; he just stared at the van's ceiling in sheer defeat. Even the phantom pain in his leg seemed to be the worst.

They managed to 'save' Midoriya, sending him to the lion dens, the hyena pack, and the vicious orcas.

But the worst of it all?

Every hero who was worth their salt all agreed. Midoriya Izuku was already more of a hero then most of them, for he already understood what being a Hero was all about.

It was not about the fame, the glam, the galas, the kissing babies and saving everyone with a fake smile because the press wanted so... it was about sacrificing oneself for those too weak to fight back.

It was about the grit, the dirty tactic, the blood, sweat and tears that even a five-hour-long shower could not erase. It was about the wounds one takes to save another; it was about those sleepless nights thinking about how to stop crimes, about the long hours talking a jumper out of ending it all and giving comfort to those who found their loved one dead from an overdose.

It was about the failures and how to get stronger despite the pain and the numerous fallbacks; it was about melding in other people's affairs when something looked slightly off and leaving no trail of doing so. It was about doing the small and the big things and not expecting anything in return.

Shouta was aware that he was a bit biased against the limelight heroes, being an undergrounder through and through (more like a vigilante with a permit.), but he could count the true heroes on his scarred hand... Midoriya being one of them...

The rest of this year's class could also be considered Heroes and heroines in their own right... but not like Midoriya.

Midoriya understood what it meant; he understood that being a Hero meant you had to sacrifice yourself for the protection of others.

And that's what his problem child had been doing for the past year, getting as much pressure from UA's back as he could while dragging All for One's attention away, using himself as bait.

Shame society saw him as an unwanted burden, something to be chased away instead of being embraced with open arms.

Heck, the least they could do was to make Midoriya some care package to make his ordeal easier. Or to ignore the goddamn law about quirks and get out there to help out the kid instead of cancelling all other heroes because of xxy reasons!

Shouta knew how this felt like; he knew his favourite kid would only sleep with one eye close and both ears open, how he would not stay in one place for too long, how he would stay away from anything that had a whiff of the HPCS's stench (Oh, the league managed to get rid of thepublic face of the HPSC... what there were hiding behind those hidden closets was indeed worst then what Madam had going on... and wasn't that scary.) Midoriya was showing signs of multiple injuries, malnutrition, sleep deprivation and PTSD.

... Shouta, Eraserhead, the underground Hero knew that look... it was a look true Heroes would wear when at the very end of their limits.

Izuku didn't need the damn permit; he didn't need UA to tell him. Hell, Shouta bet he didn't even need All Might's shitty, bone-breaking, emotion-eating quirk to be a Hero.

He was already one... a damn good one at that too.

"They will kill him." The eraser Hero spoke as he felt... dead and hollow. "The PO will burn him alive."

"They already did."

" He won't stay in UA... he can't stay there."

"I know, Babe, I know."

" We can't keep him caged... what Izuk- What Deku did... it's..."

"It was not right... at all... but it was meant to be... it's either that or find him dead with a bloody blade in his hands and bleeding wrist" Hizashi held his husband's hand in his, and Shouta could feel the faint tremors in the callous appendage. "He still took the heat off for us..."

"Without knowing the full picture."

"Blame Yagi, the Kid's innocent."

"Was innocent..." Shouta let himself this particular sob... Midoriya's innocent eye filled with bright light as he walked into class, geeking on quirk, fantasizing about his career.

Where was this bright child who broke Todoroki out of his shell? Who is this child who inspired the entire school to truly go plus ultra? Where is that problem child with the thousand-watt smile who, despite breaking his bones, despite the adversity, despite the heartbreak and being stalked and forced to carry a burden heavier then what anybody on earth should carry, would always aim to make others smile, to make Eri smile... to help others?

That child... had been brutally murdered. And Shouta knew... he just knew what was left was nothing better than an old man who had seen too much, dead inside after seeing the ugly reality of the human heart. The dirty secrets better left unsaid by the Hero Society.

If Shouta didn't have his husband and the teaching position... he would have joined L.O.V and ripped the system out himself... but cursed his idealistic side.

That side of him had died... and he hoped it would remain so.

He felt the hand of his husband migrate to his neck, massaging the tense muscle and Shouta let his tears fall freely.

This didn't feel like a victory... his class, his students may think it was, but Shouta knew otherwise.

Deku had lost so much. Sure he could plan all he wanted, and with Deku back, they could finally start their offensive... but...

But it didn't take two eyes to see that Izuku was running on fumes at this point, and having Stars and Stripes face Shigaraki didn't mean a clear victory.

For all they knew, they were just making the whole situation worse.

And even if Star would defeat AFO's cursed pet project... how much time would it give the Heroes to prepare for the next step?

How much time would Izuku have, time Shouta knew Izuku would not use to heal and recoup, and Shouta knew he was at fault there.

How many would die? How many would have their quirk taken and used against them?

His problem classroom and Yagi had acted illogically by seeking out Midoriya the way they did, and to see the near Vigilant (a damn good one at that, shamefully enough) running away from them despite his clear exhaustion...

It broke Shouta's heart...

they could've at least tried to get in contact with him... first by phone, a letter... anything but what they just did.

Izu... Midoriya was traumatized enough; he did not need to be hunted down like an animal by his classmates.

" We should've let him go, Zashi... there's just more suffering waiting for him in UA... He won't rest there, and... Oh, God." He covered his mouth.

Yagi had informed all of them that the only thing that stood between them and AFO was Midoriya's quirk, One for all. But at the same time, if they kept Izuku (Midoriya, call him Midoriya, you dolt.) It would paint a huge bulls-eye on the last secure bastion in Japan.

Izuku knew...

Nedzu knew...

Yagi knew but didn't care; the sentimental oaf (the other one) only wanted to see Miss Midoriya with a smile... and he wanted his boy back.

Unless... This was Nedzu's sick plan.

Shouta felt sick at the thought...

And his students...

Sure, outside of UA's massive walls, Izuku was at the mercy of every criminal out there... but inside, they would have to keep him away from the population, and he would stress out about AFO's eventual move to destroy the place.

Once again, from what they had learned from the small amount of information gathered, Shigaraki Tomura could now decay by will; he didn't even have to touch it with five fingers.

And he had the copy of AFO's quirk on top of having his body modified to such an extent... to call him human would be a gross underestimation.

'the need of one versus the need of the many... dammit, Midoriya, why did you have to apply it now?'

"What have I done to gain such an Illogical class Zashi? I swear the only good ones are... shit, not even Todoroki can be at his level. Only Izu-Midoriya's the good one, the rest..."

Hizashi sighed as he leaned back in his seat. " I know, Shou, I know. The Kid who could water a garden with his tears made the hard decision while those with normal moods run after him without thinking of the consequences." The Blond Grimace. "I know I sound like those protesters... but I can't fault them... not completely." He said grimly. "Still... why couldn't the little listener give One For All to another Hero, an adult and have the adult run around?"

"Would it really change anything? All for one is a fucking maniac; he would kill Midoriya just for the hell of it... and the emotional damage."

It was the only logical outcome.

Or if the ancient Ass were as sadistic as Shouta thought, He would destroy everything and save Midoriya for last... watching him suffer and break further for his own sick amusement.

Oh, and it wasn't like this illogical part of him didn't want to grab Midorya, swaddle him in flannel, cats and have his mama feed him all the food he'd lack ( and a trip to Recovery girl... no, this one super sweet healing Vigilante he'd known... much better bedside manner then the old gall.), find Shigaraki and beat him to death with his own spine and plant his head on a spike as a warning to all villains to stay the fuck away from his student...

It was funny, really, how he'd disliked Izuku at the start, and now...

But... that was illogical. Oh, so Illogical... Izuku deserved the praise, and he deserved plenty of criticism... and yet...

"We'll arrive at the UA camp soon. His husband sadly informed his spouse, not even bothering to bring his fake cheerfulness.

He had run out...

For his part, Shouta sent a prayer to whoever was willing to listen to an atheist. 'Oh God, Kami... Yahve, whatever the Fuck you are called... Make something happen; give Izuku a break... Don't let him step through the gate.''

And apparently, God chose to act...

Shouta's phone began to ring; taking it from his holster (He had half a mind to let the damn thing screech itself to death.) and checked the caller ID.

It was Bakugou.

"Aizawa-"

"He's dead." Bakugou interrupted his teacher with the two words every teacher dreaded to hear about his student.

Time stopped, and no sound reached Shouta's ears... until his heart began to beat twice as fast.

"Bakugou, what the hell do you... Who are you talking about?" 'Please don't be Midoriya, please don't be Izuku.'

"It's Izuku…He ain't... he's not moving."

" I'm sure he's sleeping. The Troubled child looked as if he'd skipped a month's worth of nap." Shouta spoke with a deceptive calmness despite his clammy hands and hammering heart.

He knew how that felt.

" No... No, He's... he's not breathing, sensei." Bakugou continued, his voice wavering and thick. "He's pale like... Like my Grandpa... He... I can't feel a pulse, and he's... his bowels... listen, He's dead... I know He's dead... Oh, God... Oh, God!"

"Bakugou, calm down," Shouta spoke with an urgent calm he didn't feel. He was signing to his husband to call UA; their problem child was dying... if not already dead. " Have you checked his breathing?"

"Yes, there is nothing."

Fuck. " Have you checked his-"

"Fucking Hobo 've passed my CPR and first aid exam, I've seen my grandpa die and seen more dead extras then any kid my age ... Izuku's dead... Deku's-"

"Shou, bad news." Hizashi grabbed his husband's shoulder, his countenance deathly calm despite the dire situation. " I can't reach anyone... Not Recovery Girl, not Nedzu...not even the front desk."

"Shit... Bakugou, can you reach the front console?" Shouta asked as he helped his husband and partner in crime get out of the car seat and onto the empty driver's seat. Overriding the remote control and pushing on the gas.

"I... I don't think so; we're in this... This prison van, I can't do shit!" Internally, Shouta scowled; Izuku was being treated as a villain... but his more logical side saw why they chose this type of vehicle despite their connotations and other security risks.

Those things were practically indestructible.

But not completely impenetrable.

"Calm down, Katsuki. Breathe; Present Mike, and I will reach you in a few seconds; I will jump on the van and use the manual override. Don't panic, and for the love of whatever will be left, keep your explosions off." Oh, it was not a missing leg and eye that would slow Eraserhead down when one of his kids was in danger.

"Ok, Sensei... ok."

"Zawa, go!... don't get yourself killed."

As Aizawa jumped to the other black moving vehicle, using his capture weapon to secure himself on the door. They were about to pass the gigantic doors and onto the robotized UA ground. Where Izuku would reach the help, he needed.

All the help.

After The hell that was the meta-liberation army and Shigaraki's decay, Aizawa would plan for everything that could go wrong, having formed an unnerving camaraderie with Nedzu.

Never was there a time Aizawa would be more grateful for the rat's foresight... but this gratitude would only go as far as Izuku's continued well-being.

He flashed his card to the reader, and the moment the locks disengaged, he threw the door open and sat in the driver's seat. "I'm Here... any change?" He asked Bakugou as he pressed the pedal to the metal and managed to pass the gate like frozen molasses in a slight slant... but from what he could see from the cargo camera...

His breath hitched...

He quickly brought the armoured vehicle to a stop and reached for the glove box, knowing that there should be an AED unit ready to be used.

And indeed... There it was.

Beside him, he could hear Hizashi park their own conveyance and, jumping out of the vehicle, open the door with his own key while Bakugou helped him get the upsettingly limp Midoriya out and on the ground.

The teacher side of Shouta could not help but feel pride in his chest. Bakugou had already loosened whatever could prevent Izuku's blood from circulating or breathing. The mouthguard was gone, the belt was removed, and all metal pieces were discarded, and he had preemptively opened the Problem Child's suit and compression sleeve, revealing a chest covered in old scars, many shaped like hands.

He filed that for perusal later When his Problem child was not on the verge of death.

Quickly, Hizashi and Bakugou cleaned up Midoriya's chest and body of anything metallic and applied the electrodes; the machine beeped to life and urgently (as urgent as a machine can be.), prompting them to start chest compression.

Hizashi was already in position; his sensitive hands could feel some weak vibrations from the troubled child's heart. Not a pulse, but not completely static either.

Elbows in, arms straight, not too much pressure but enough to make the ribs flex... making sure Izuku has nothing in his mouth...

He began pumping, praying that no ribs were cracked... only to hear them crackle and creak.

Aizawa cursed as he turned his now bloody red gaze to Bakugou; the last thing he wanted was for the explosive youth to blow up...

And Bakugou... he looks utterly crushed, some hope clings to his heart, but Shouta... he could feel it in his guts.

The Underground Hero knew of no one, not even the most grizzled of the undergrounders, who could have kept going the way Izuku did and live...

They would have broken earlier... like, months earlier than the green-haired child.

Add to that the strain of Izuku's patchwork of a quirk and the price he had to pay to use it...

He held onto Katsuki as he averted his eyes from the sorry scene, keeping his activated quirk on the explosive youth as he waited for the machine to detect fatal brain damage, Hizashi's arms giving up, Izuku's ribs collapsing or a miracle...

Not that Shouta believed in Miracles anymore.

"DEKU!" Bakugou shouted, desperate to reach... Midoriya. "DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON US, YOU USELESS HERO! DON'T YOU DARE MAKE AUNTY CRY OVER YOU AGAIN, YOU HEAR! WE NEED YOU! THE WORLD NEEDS YOU! DON'T GO! PLEASE DON'T GO!" Katsuki sobbed. "I'M SORRY... IZUKU! IZUKU!"

And then...

Lightening arched from the small boy's all too pale skin, pushing away Hizashi as red veins covered his body.

One For All had activated...

Izuku opened his eyes, turning them toward the duo. They were still dull, but some light, the light they would gain when he would use One For All, light them up. The AED machine glitched, warbling out nonsense as Izuku reached out to Katsuki and Shouta.

His eyes fell on the explosive blond... and then he turned his attention to his homeroom teacher, reaching out to him.

His hand glowed.

"S-Sensei." The ninth holder breathed out below a whisper and a shiver of dread pooled at the bottom of Shouta's spine. It had been the only time he had seen Izuku's chest rise and fall.

Over the last year, Yagi had revealed the true nature of his and Midoriya's inherited quirk...

Midoriya Izuku... was choosing the tenth holder... giving Aizawa Shouta, underground hero and Homeroom teacher at UA, the burden that came with the title.

A burden that had broken a child robbing him of everything.

This Burden... Shouta was willing t-

There was a scream, an angry mob falling on them, and the impact of rocks and other heavy debris hitting the hallowed ground!

He could hear the sound of his student, Yagi, being Frozen by the sight and...

A brick, thrown by someone from the civilian mob, hitting Izuku's head, the impact too hard to have been without a quirk.

The light died...

Izuku died.

His student screamed; the mob kept advancing. Those were civilians, and they were acting like a pack of villains.

What were they supposed to do? What were they supposed to say? The Protesters were still considered... civilians, and no one had used a quirk, just rocks, sticks and bricks they had gathered from God knows were.

They had killed Izuku... what would they do to his body?

He felt sick at the thought... and while Shouta was not the religious one, at this time... he prayed for a miracle... for something to happen... to prevent whatever faith in humanity he had left not getting shattered by the ones he had been tasked to protect.

~0~

At the other side of the now violent protest, Shiozaki Ibara was on her knees fervently praying to the Lord as the rest of the Pro's watched helplessly as the first stone was cast. The police, or what was left of it, were already trying to reign in the violence...

Heroes could not intervene when Civilians were acting like a Mob; the HSPC made it so... but it wouldn't stop Ibara from praying for the culprits to be turned into statues of salt...

And a heavy downpour.

And thus, the girl with the crown of thorns prayed to Jesus, his mother and his Divine father.

And the Father answered, how could he not?

~0~

He wanted to scream, but the shock froze his vocal cords; those were not Villains, those were not criminals... Those were the civilians, most of them his public.

The words he had spoken to Shou back in the van came back to haunt him.

They will kill him, Shou...

They did kill him... The AED Machine had restarted (it was made to be nearly indestructible), and it only showed a flickering line. Izuku's body had once again gone inert; blood lazily pooled at the side of his matted hair.

The mob wasn't done... they came closer and closer, some celebrating the death of a child with jubilation. As if, by this horrid event, All for One had been soundly defeated.

'I'm going crazy... I'm going mad...' Hizashi thought with deep shock; his whole body felt numb and unresponsive. 'This can't be... this can't be happening... this can't be...'

The Mob of Madness came closer and closer like a maddening herd of insects hurriedly crawling to a cooling meal...

And then... they stopped dead in their tracks by a shower of light pellets, looking and pointing at something in the sky.

" And this is what this Kshatriya was fighting to protect?" A man spoke from up, his voice deep, commanding. And to Hizashi's sensitive hearing aid... Artificial.

And... holding a motherload of Nostalgia.

The blond turned his head up, still covering Izuku's body with his own and looked up...

What he was... was not something a thousand years would prepare him for.

Hovering above everyone, yet close enough to be clearly heard, was...

The Person (not gonna judge his gender now, even in such a time) Was wearing a fancy witch hat, under its wide brim, extra long golden hair flowed out (Ah-ah! liability) a dark and heavy cape sat on his shoulders, in his chest was a red slitted eye (if this was his quirk, the only thing Hizashi hoped was that it was not a laser) they were sitting side saddle on a flying broomstick (Of course). He wore red boots on his feet, a black, opulent robe covered their body, and their lower face was obscured by a skull bandana. Only his eyes were exposed... one was an electric blue, the other was hollow, its pupil slit and shifting from light blue to pale yellow.

But what really caught their attention were his arms.

They were skeletonized and yet, didn't fall apparent and moved as if they were covered with muscles

The stranger tilted his head, his narrowed eyes practically glowing with anger at the sight. " Humans... you dare call yourselves humans after the act you have just performed... look what you've done. Look at what you are doing, killing a child who gave everything for you," he sneered under his grinning mask. "Are you proud of yourself? Are you happy that a freaking kid died protecting your collective asses because no one else was willing to do it? To fight?" He spat. "You have all the reasons to fight, and you, your sheep, just stood there like a bunch of brain-dead zombies, unwilling to fight despite being able to... Instead, you have powers, and you chose to use them to harm a dying boy, not even an adult."

"My maker was right; humans are trash."

He reached a skeletonized hand toward Izuku's prone form. Too still despite the weak flutter that somehow remained in his chest. A tiny bit of hope soon to be snuffed.

Suddenly, he felt Izuku's body move despite its owner's lack of a proper heartbeat... and then got pulled toward the Villain.

Hizashi held on to the dying hero, His husband bodily throwing himself to prevent the little listener from being taken...

But the Villains' psionic pull was too great, and the mob too eager to see him go with what they perceived to be worthy of being discarded. And before anything could be done... Izuku was pulled beside the witch, along with Hizashi.

No... He would not let go of Izuku during his final moments... they had failed the green-haired boy too often; they had let him down so many times. He ignored his plea for help, his tears and...

And the blatant mistreatment he had endured at the hands of some of his peers.

But, halfway up, the villain managed to separate them too...

'Oh, shit... No...' Hizashi thought with great dismay. He was so high up from the ground that the fall would kill him.

But... apparently, the Villain's plan did not include a splattered DJ.

Not that he'd particularly cared... He turned his attention back to the blond tramp and took a deep breath. Only to stop...

He... he couldn't do it... he was frozen there, staring at the very artificial face of a familiar stranger. He was holding Deku on his lap, giving the screamer a good idea of his height.

He was around the same size as Izuku... but extremely bulky with his heavy cape and a wide-brimmed hat. He had wrapped said dark blue cape around Deku's pale and limp form. And, would Hizashi be optimistic, he would call the way the witch (warlock?) held Izuku protective.

He began to speak again. Snarling with anger at the mob under him. His voice carried far, his anger clear.

"You don't deserve him, mavericks, two-legged animals, the lowest of demons. May your supervillain succeed in his quest!" He spat.

"You Mother fucking bitch, We don't need this quirkless hoe's-" One in the crowd, a kid around Izuku's age, yelled, waiving his extra-long fingers. "he's a thief, took All Might's Quirk! Let him die! Do whatever the Fuck you want with-" During his slander, Katsuki had managed to sneak on the guy, clocking him out and breaking his Jaw.

This, Of course, caused the Mob to pile on Bakugou, and whatever 'peace' had been in the protest was well and truly gone.

Then, he heard something from his hearing aid. The person beside him was speaking to him, his voice warm and caring.

"I will make it quick. My name is Jatayu das Reiuji; I'm not with any side save for the one in which we worship God. I was tasked to find the Midoriya Izuku from this one departed Saint. I know his status, my brother and sister are waiting for him at their hospital... I will bring you with us. Hold on." And taking the chaos of the riot as an opportunity, Jatayu das... made a door in mid-air and flew through it, carrying Izuku and Hizashi with him to a place unknown. Under the anguished gaze of class 2-A and their remaining teacher.

~0~

One week later...

"Still no sight of them," Aizawa spoke around a pen... for Christ's sake, what wouldn't he do for a pack of smoke... a blunt or even some cheap booze?(He knew his Kids managed to make a still, not that hard to make with Yoyorozu, to be honest. But he would not take that from them... as unhealthy as it was.) Beside him, Hawk remained silent as he watched the horizon.

No matter how much time had passed, it was still hard to see him without his wings, the gruesome burns on his body had been... erased by the commission, but the shame and the pain were never truly gone. And while he didn't show it, it was clear that being grounded didn't help his situation.

"We've looked everywhere." The blond rasped, his usually pleasant voice now harsh to one's ears. " No one knows where this bitch brought your mate and Midoriya..." He coughed a bit. " There is nowhere he could be other than with the villains but... I don't think we have to worry about that."

"What do you mean?" Shouta asked as he turned to stare at Hawk.

"I mean... I may have lost my contact with Dabi, but... I have another contact... someone cooler."

"... And?"

"... When I asked her what they had done with Izuku's body-" Aizawa hissed as he pressed his eyes closed. " She... began to sob. Like... heavy sobbing." The damaged man turned to the teacher. " One thing I'm good at picking up our tears... those tears were genuine. And my contact came back to me today... Shigaraki's also clueless."

"Not anymore." Shouta... didn't even have the energy to sneer. Right now, Shigaraki knew that his only obstacle against him was MIA... dead, really (He hoped, Izuku didn't deserve... he didn't deserve more torture.), meaning that now...

"Fucking hell."

"Mood..." Hawk muttered in agreement as he checked his phone.

"Nothing about Zashi?"

"No... nothing." Hawk rasped. "It's like he dropped from the planet's surface entirely.

Discreetly, Shouta reached inside his hero suit and held their wedding bangles. Ironically, Zashi had been so anxious to get Midoriya some medical care (at the very least... and get him back to his dorm and lock him there until the adult got their collective heads out of their arses and kill the Thing. How hard was it to have the support department come up with a fucking gun?! And it wasn't like they needed more than one goddamn bullet to kill a man... and Eri... a bullet wouldn't take that much blood from her!) Had forgotten his wedding band on their bedroom table.

Usually, Shouta would have given his husband hell for it but now...

He was glad Zashi took out his ring.

"Any news about what the fuck happened to Dabi?" The underground hero asked. He knew something was happening between the Commission's pet bird and scarface jr... but, for some reason, Hawk was still on this very peculiar case. To hell with his emotional involvement.

Yeah, Mera was better... but apparently, The president was good enough to be back at the helm of the failing Hero Society.

"We managed to find some security footage, but..."

"But?" The black-haired teacher asked with a quirked brow... the working one.

Hawk made a sound that could have passed for a tired sigh. Rubbing his scarred hand across what was left of his face. "It's... We know what the fuck happened to Dabi's head. But... We have another party to deal with, someone who's not with the league of villains but not with the heroes either."

"Explain."

"Basically, the video shows Dabi... doing whatever." Hawk began, his agitation clear. " he's in a room, alone at first. Then there's a... gap that opens."

"A... gap?" Aizawa parroted.

"Yeah, like... reality rips itself, and there is this purple gap that opens, held wide by a pair of red ribbons and filled with eyes. Then, a blond woman wearing a purple sari, seven and a half feet tall, with either red or gold eyes, holding an umbrella, emerges from this space, and she starts talking with Dabi..."

"I... don't like this," Shouta muttered. The last thing they needed was to deal with yet another rift opener; they had enough of... him already.

And... the MO sounded a bit too much like Izuku and Zashi's kidnappers.

"Wait... this is where it gets good." The Avian quirked man grinned. "So, she's talking to Dabi like the guys are just another man on the street. And... she must have insulted him cus Dabi lit up."

"And?"

"And he didn't even have the chance to burn anything, the blond just..." Hawk made a pulling motion. "And his body fell apart at the seam like... wherever there was a border between healthy and burnt skin, it split."

Shouta's head whipped to stare at the bird, dread filling his guts.

"His fingers from his hand, his wrists to his forearm, his neck from his head and trunk, his calves and thighs, all separated."

"So... that's what happened."

"yeah... this mysterious woman cut him apart with her portals." Hawk let out a shudder. "And you know what's worse?"

" Hawk, Izuku's probably dead, Hizashi's missing, Shigaraki's unopposed, and we now have another party fucking with us; you can't give me worst."

"Todoroki's body is still functioning. Dude's still alive and breathing, despite his head missing."

Shouta stared. And blinked.

"No... no, that... that's impossible... it's illogical."

"Hey, last I was at the morgue, his disembodied chest was still taking in air, and his heart was still beating." Hawk gave a hapless shrug. " No one knows what's going on... only that were dealing with Quirks that goes above and beyond what we knew... and I'm including Midoryia's and Shigaraki's quirk."

Shouta buried his heavy, pounding head in his hands. That's it; it was the end of the world, and nobody would survive with their sanity or health.

"Say... if I throw myself-" he cut himself off... no, he could not do that to his Kids... He had to fight for them.

As he was letting his new, terrible and illogical reality sink in, his phone rang; it was his ringtone for his students.

Taking out his phone without looking at the Display (it was one of his own, probably wanting to grieve about Midoriya.), he opened it to hear Yayorozu's all to calm tone hiding the cusp of a panic attack and Jirou's repressed sobs.

"Sensei... Midoriya's... He's back... He's... Shigaraki's with him. None of the security systems are working and-"

'Fuck.' Where are they?" Shouta asked as he jumped off the side of the building, using his capture weapon to rappel off from the side. He signed to hawk the two names, and the burn victim wasted no time in running down the stairs.

"They are in Height alliance, Locked in the boy's bathroom... Sensei, Izuku's... his chest... it's covered in glowing tattoos and... he has a scar on his chest... like they took his heart out."

'Nomu...' This was officially the worst-case scenario. "And why is Shigaraki there? What is he doing?"

"He... Shigaraki is not conscious... ... I think he's wounded. He's completely covered in dried blood; Jirou said he was moaning and whimpering... Shigaraki was... He's whimpering. And Izuku-"

"I see... can you confirm it's Izuku and not Toga." Shouta asked, pulling up on the Height alliance bike lot. He could see his student and Kans groups standing on alert. Yaoyorozu held Jirou close, Bakugou looked dangerously calm, same as Mineta (who finally learned to behave.), while others held tears in their eyes, unwilling to fight their classmate... or the sick fuck who dared take his form, spitting on his memory.

Yagi, Nedzu, Snipe, Vlad King, Endeavour and Togata were by the front door, and all of his kids had wisely evacuated... and Shouta noticed that someone was missing.

Todoroki Shoto...

The boy had died with Midoriya, becoming but a shell of his former self. Nothing could make him react or speak, not even his Father's comical attempt at being a parent.

Not even Shouta.

He quickly climbed up the stairs to class 1-A's dorm, preparing for several things.

He entered, noticing how the door had been unlocked.

The dorm was dark, and he could hear the water running in the communal showers and some light conversation too low for him to pick up.

Shouto wasn't there.

There was a suspicious object hidden under a towel and left haphazardly on the bookshelf. And Eraserhead's guts told him that this was for a purpose.

But before he could lift the tea towel and uncover whatever the hell 'Midoriya' hid there, the bathroom door opened... revealing 'him'... and the fact that the bathroom was also in the dark, saved from a red orb floating in the middle of the room. Giving off just enough light to show Todoroki and Shigaraki. The lather was lying in a dark pool that smelled suspiciously like Trigger, bile and blood. His stomach was... bloodied.

Like... somebody had gutted him, bloodied.

This was all Eraserhead managed to glimpse before the unknown quickly closed the door and opened the light.

Now... Eraserhead had been doing underground heroic ever since he walked out of UA. He had seen the worst humanity could give, and his heart had hardened, letting him stomach the worst of the worst.

But if there was one thing that would still irremediably make him break, it was his students... it was those he cared about...

Izuku stood in front of him... he had to be, for the moment his Kid's eyes fell on Shouta, fat tears fell from his green, green eyes.

Green tears... Trigger green tears.

It was Izuku... but how much of Izuku was left, Shouta feared to know.

The heroic greenette had gained weight but lost some muscle mass here and there. His body was covered in rainbow tattoos... no, those were made out of light and... they were moving. On his chest was a long surgical scar sitting between his pecs. He looked healthier then Shouta remembered; hell, no tremors shook his often broken arms and legs, a testament to the pain he had to endure every day.

But those scars... hand shaped, burnt deep in his skin…

Years of being Bakugou's practice dummy.

(it was not a rivalry, Shouta had been dead wrong about it… he was a failure as an educator.)

He wore nothing but what amounted to a tea towel, and the thing looked about ready to fall apart; his feet were noticeably more calloused and filthy as if he had been running around Japan barefooted.

He was stalling... wasn't he?

Shouta dared to raise his eyes to face what was left of his student... he felt his breath hitch and his eyes burn... and it was not out of quirk overuse.

His face was round; his cheeks had filed back in (too quick of an improvement. He looked like he had eaten three full meals daily for months, maybe a for a year. It was quite an improvement considering how... soon to be dead the kid looked one week ago.) He wore a wobbly smile filled with emotion... but the whole package was ruined by...

Was it blood that covered his whole body? Or was it Trigger?

Not... he was... that was.

How could someone be doused in so much trigger? No… Shouta knew. But how come Midoriya was sweating and crying the stuff out?

"Aizawa-Sensei." Izuku... Izuku spoke; his voice was hoarse, his eyes tired and red with bags under them... but not as bad as they were the week prior.

Last week, during the last moment, Shouta got to behold his small student, body is broken, mind even worse. He looked dead on his feet...

And... he...

"Sensei!" Izuku spoke insistently. " Listen-"

"Spy check."

"Aizawa Shouta's in stupid love with miss Joke said the president of outaway." Izuku didn't even hesitate to say the security phrase...

"What's your status?"

"Alive, listen, I need you to call Recovery Girl..."

"Yes... since you're obviously wounded." Aizawa's own voice sounded so far away.

A peculiar look passed Izuku's face. "Oh, no. It's not for me this time."

"Midoriya! Tomura's... oh crap, He's shaking again, he's way... he's freezing cold." Shouto spoke from the other side of the room; his voice filled with urgency.

"I'll be back soon." Izuku returned his gaze back to his teacher, who was already waiting for the overworked doctor to pick up her phone. "Sensei, I need her to bring at least five bags of blood; my own should be good enough, but... yeah, I would rather not outsource it right now if I could help it. And please remind her of the Hippocratic oath... Shimura Tenko needs all the help he can get." There was a gasp coming from the back; it was Yagi.

He was covering his mouth, looking even more pale and sick then usual. "Izu-Shonen."

" I'll talk to you once he's out of danger." And with that, the returned Greenette closed the light and again entered the dark bathroom containing Shouto and the most dangerous man in Japan.

Only one thing was running in Shouta's brain at the moment.

What the fuck!