First OC warning! Again, if you have issues with OCs being written into fanon, then please, leave the fic now! Don't say I didn't warn you.

Izuku didn't know how long he wandered for, but the next thing he knew, he was standing at a crosswalk.

The light was still green, even as he stared at the button - he must not have pushed it yet.

As he mutely reached forward, another hand entered his peripheral - and he followed it up to its owner and stepped back in surprise.

"All Might?" He questioned, eyes brightening before he tilted his head in confusion. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Yuuei?"

The word was sour in his mouth, even though he told himself he didn't have ill will towards the school.

Yagi's lips formed a half-smile before he pressed a hand to the boy's upper back and turned his face away. "I left. Turns out that teaching impressionable minds really isn't my forte."

He nodded quietly, watching as the light changed. When the cars were paused, they both walked across, mentor and student each in their own minds.

The greenet's brain was always racing, though this time it was for a different reason. Why would he quit? All Might doesn't quit. He wouldn't leave them just because of me, would he?

Then he paused, and it took Yagi's questioning stare and a push for him to stumble into a slow walk again. ... He didn't leave because he wants to take One For All back… did he?

"I'm sure you're probably wondering why I left," Yagi spoke up, breaking him from his mile-an-hour thinking. "Well, to be honest, I'm not really sure myself. I guess it's the same reason you did."

Izuku looked up at him, and his expression must have been concerning, because the blond hastily added, "I wasn't questioned. I meant that it was because of the… incident at Tartarus."

Oh, right. His heart squeezed when he remembered what was waiting for him.

"You aren't mad, are you?" His voice was smaller than he would have wanted.

"Heavens no! Why on earth would I be mad at you?" He asked incredulously.

"Because… because my dad is…"

Yagi heaved a sigh that seemed to weigh on his whole body. He stopped them both on the sidewalk and planted his other hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Listen, Midoriya. The last person you should be blaming for this is you, alright? It's not your fault that your father is… a wanted man."

"But we tried so hard to keep it safe," he protested, and it was only when Yagi handed him a handkerchief that he realized his eyes were moist. "And now he could take it whenever he wants."

"One For All is not going to let go of you that easily," he stated firmly, watching as Izuku dabbed at his eyes. "It didn't let go of me, it didn't let go of my mentor, nor did it let go of her mentor before us. You're special, kid. I can feel it."

"He didn't target you, did he?" His voice trembled desperately, and he grabbed Yagi's sleeves.

The tall man hesitated for a second before his eyes softened and he shook his head.

Relief flooded the teenager and he sagged against his mentor, not caring when an arm wrapped around his back and held him there.

"If I'm honest, it was probably because of you," he quietly admitted. "He knows that if he came after me, it would break you."

He sighed, watching the clouds high above. "I'm not a fan of this arrangement either, believe me - and I'm just as surprised as you that he hasn't killed me yet. But I figure he knows that I'm the only one who could continue to supervise your training. And if I'm alive, you'd be less likely to reject his presence in your life."

The boy frowned. "So he's just manipulating me," he spoke bitterly.

"Maybe so, but it shows that he does care about your perception of him." Yagi patted his back and grimaced. "It doesn't feel good saying that."

"It doesn't feel good to hear it, either."

Later on, he bade him a goodbye and continued to wander. People filed past him, either not noticing him or uncaring of his presence - and for the first time, he felt the loneliness seeping away. For once, it felt good to be alone in a crowd - and when he looked around, he felt none of the paranoia that had plagued him for the past day.

Sighing quietly, he made a turn into an alley, figuring it to be a shortcut.

He stopped cold when he heard a familiar raspy voice. "Well well well, look who's far away from Yuuei."

He looked up to see Dabi and Tomura standing together with Twice and Spinner, the former staring him down with an interested amusement and the latter just glaring. To their credit, Spinner just looked lost, and Jin's face was unreadable as it always was under the mask.

"What's he doing here?" The gecko turned, pointing to the kid. "I thought you said…"

"I thought he'd stay away," Tomura snapped moodily. "Go home, Deku."

Izuku just blinked, stepping back. The fire user was about as unpredictable as ever, and the last thing he wanted was to cause a scene near such a populated area.

Twice turned to their leader. "Why aren't we killing him right now? Seriously, I thought you were just itching to turn him into dust."

"Sensei told me to hold back." The silver-haired man turned away.

"And here I figured it was because he looks like he just had his entire worldview shattered," the black-haired young man snorted. "Hey, kid. How's it feel to be like us?"

He didn't stay long enough to answer, nor did he acknowledge Tomura's low tones.

Of course the League is here, he thought bitterly. Wherever Shigaraki is, they follow… dammit, what can I do? I can't just go back… and I can't let them terrorize innocent civilians.

He thought back to his mother, and the sadness returned. I feel horrible just leaving her there with them… I hope she's okay.

He sighed, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds before accidentally bumping into a pole.

He stumbled back, holding his nose and groaning. "Ow…"

"You okay?" Someone asked.

He looked around to see a couple of high schoolers wearing an unfamiliar uniform, both staring at him in concern. The one with LEDs for eyes and cropped black hair shyly pushed a handkerchief into his hand, gesturing to his nose.

"I'm okay, I think," he replied, rubbing his sore nose. He felt a tickle in his nostril and sighed, giving the quiet one an apologetic glance as he held the fabric up to it. "Sorry for ruining your handkerchief."

"D- don't worry," the boy murmured, clasping his hands together. "I have others."

"You look a little lost," the first one commented, narrowing his vibrant amber eyes as his gloved grip tightened on his bookbag. "What brings you to this part of town? You don't look like you live here."

"I don't."

"Well, you got anywhere to go back to?"

He hesitated to answer. Did he really? He thought again of his mother, but this time, he tried to push down the guilty feeling that welled up to the surface.

"I can't go back." Without realizing it, he voiced his own thoughts.

The first student nodded resolutely, fluffy black hair bobbing with the movement. "I figured. C'mon, you can stay with us for now."

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude…" Izuku protested.

"C'mon," he said pointedly. "Unless you wanna go back to whatever it is you're running from."

"Tadaima," the older boy announced boredly.

"I don't think they're home yet," the younger timidly replied.

"Ah, I guessed so. Looks like we're cooking tonight." The first grunted as he lifted the bookbag from his shoulder and set it on the floor. "What kinds of foods do you like, er…?"

"Izuku," he said. "Midoriya Izuku."

"Midoriya." The older sibling nodded. "What kind of food you like?"

"I'll eat anything," he automatically said with a smile.

"That doesn't help me much," The black-haired boy groaned.

The younger sibling giggled. "Do you mind if we just make curry?"

Guilt seeped in again when he thought of home. "Curry sounds great," he answered, forcing down the emotions as he pulled off his shoes.

The older brother eyed him silently for a moment before leading them all inside. "I guess we're having curry, then…"

"Oh come on, Akuru, you like it!"

"Not that much."

The boy rolled his eyes and leaned in to whisper. "He's just being aloof. He loves curry night."

"I can hear you, y'know?" Akuru called from the kitchen. "Don't just stand there chatting all night, Hinato."

Izuku smiled as he noted the way Hinato's cheeks seemed to redden before he walked ahead.

As he followed, he glanced around the hall. It was sparsely decorated, walls a warm wooden color with a picture frame here and a mirror there. He looked up at one of the hanging frames and frowned when he saw the two boys with whom he presumed to be their parents, a man with black sunglasses and the same fluffy black hair as the two boys and a pretty woman with glowing eyes that resembled lightbulbs. Everyone was smiling in the picture; A younger Akuru with a short, fluffy ponytail was grinning as he held up the same uniform blazer he was currently wearing now, his father's tanned hand resting on his shoulder. The man's face was warm with pride for his son, and it twisted his guts uncomfortably to look at.

Izuku looked away from the photo, stepping into the kitchen just as Hinato pulled out some green onion from the fridge.

"You have a beautiful home," the greenet commented, rolling up his sleeves.

"Thanks." Akuru glanced up at him before looking back to the vegetable he was chopping. "If you wanna help, you can help me with this carrot."

"Okay." He went to the sink, but not before catching a glimpse of the boy's hands. Now that he wasn't wearing gloves, he could clearly see his fingernails glowing a pale yellow.

Deciding it would be too rude to bring up, he washed up and moved to the older boy's side, picking out a carrot and a knife.

The three worked in silence for a few minutes before Izuku glanced again at Akuru's hands. His nails were a soft glowing color, almost the same as both Hinato's and the woman's eyes from the photo.

This time, he caught him staring. "Pretty useless Quirk, huh?"

Izuku paused, taken aback. "What?"

The noiret gestured to his left hand. "My nails. That's all my Quirk does. I can make my nails glow."

"So it's a result of your Quirk?" He asked slowly. "Do your toes do the same?"

"Yeah." Akuru grunted, staring down at his own hands in disdain. "That's why I wear gloves most of the time. Turns out, people just can't stop looking at you like a zoo animal otherwise."

"Well, what about your parents?"

"My mom's Quirk makes her eyes glow on and off at will, and dad's... well, he's blind."

"Oh." The greenet looked down awkwardly. "I'm... sorry."

"What're you sorry for? That's part of his Quirk." Akuru looked at him strangely before turning back to the carrot. "His Quirk lets him echolocate using sound. It's pretty freaky to watch him sometimes. You'd almost think he could actually see."

"Oh," he repeated quietly. "That's pretty cool."

"I guess." The older boy shrugged his shoulders and picked up the diced carrot pieces before putting them into a bowl. "I guess that's why he was so eager to enroll us in a hero school. Following in his footsteps, or whatever."

"Your dad is a hero?" Izuku's eyes sparkled. "Really?"

"And Mom," Hinato added. "They're both support heroes."

"They graduated from Heroes' Alliance and everything." Akuru grunted. "Same school we go to."

"What's it like?"

At this, the two boys paused. Akuru's face twisted into something of irritation, and Hinato's face fell, a contemplative sadness in his eyes.

After a few moments of silence, it was Hinato, not Akuru, who spoke up. "Lonely."

Izuku looked from sibling to sibling in confusion.

"They're almost never home," the older brother continued, slamming his knife into another carrot with more force than before. "They're always out saving people. The only times we can count on them to be here is when it's some kind of special occasion, like graduation or something. They're hardly ever home during holidays, because more people get into more accidents. They hardly stay for birthdays. On my seventeenth birthday this year, all I got was a card with money in it."

"I wouldn't say I hate them being heroes," Hinato chimed in slowly, "but it's hard not to be jealous of others. Hardly any others in my class have both parents who work full time. Usually they have a mother or a father who stay home."

"So to answer your question, it fucking sucks." Akuru leveled Izuku with a cool stare, ignoring Hinato's quiet reprimand of coarse language in the house. "I would give anything to at least have my dad to rely on."

His stomach churned once more, and he realized he recognized the look in the older boy's eyes. Resentment.

He looked to the other, and when their eyes met, he recognized the look in his too. Sadness.

Izuku swallowed hard and shook his head. "Do you... have a phone I could use to call my mom and tell her I'm okay?"

Y'all remember the blink-and-you-miss-it cameo of a boy with LED eyes from Did My Time? Well, he has a name now! And a family, because I needed a broader backstory for him (my original plan was for the Shiraishi siblings to take him in, but... this felt more natural).