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by kitiycat2266

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Rating:

Mature

Archive Warning:

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories:

M/MMulti

Fandom:

僕のヒーローアカデミア Boku no Hero Academia My Hero Academia

Relationships:

Midoriya Izuku/Shinsou HitoshiAizawa Shouta Eraserhead Midoriya IzukuAizawa Shouta Eraserhead Yamada Hizashi Present MicMidoriya Izuku Yamada Hizashi Present MicMidoriya Izuku Nedzuqueerplatonic-Aizawa Shouta Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi Present Mic

Characters:

Midoriya IzukuAizawa Shouta EraserheadShinsou HitoshiNedzu (My Hero Academia)Yamada Hizashi Present MicU.A. Faculty (My Hero Academia)U.A. Students (My Hero Academia)Midoriya Inko

Additional Tags:

Tags Contain SpoilersMidoriya Izuku Has a QuirkOverpowered Midoriya IzukuMidoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All QuirkGeneral Education Department Midoriya IzukuGeneral Education Department Shinsou HitoshiTired Midoriya IzukuProtective Aizawa Shouta EraserheadMidoriya Izuku Needs A BreakProtective Yamada Hizashi Present MicMidoriya Inko's Bad ParentingAbusive Midoriya InkoNeglectful Midoriya InkoYagi Toshinori All Might BashingMentor Nedzu (My Hero Academia)Genius Midoriya IzukuInsomniac Shinsou HitoshiInsomniac Midoriya IzukuEveryone Needs A NapSlow BurnMidoriya Izuku is a MessShinsou Hitoshi Has Good ParentsQueerplatonic RelationshipsTrans Male Aizawa Shouta EraserheadAizawa Shouta Eraserhead and Midoriya Izuku are SiblingsMidoriya Izuku Has An Erasure Quirk

Language:

English

Collections:

Todo lo que puedo llegar a OLVIDAR, Alternative Universes of Fandoms I enjoy., charm

Stats:

Published:2022-08-18Updated:2022-10-11Words:43107Chapters:20/?Comments:690Kudos:2375Bookmarks:727Hits:37541

Shuteye (On Hiatus)

Pherales

Summary:

Anyone who had ever been close to Midoriya would agree that something about him was just...creepy. You didn't stay near him for longer than you had to. Not that Izuku minded much, he had more time for his notebooks and his naps that way.

But when everyone was terrified of your very existence, how could you be a hero?

Settling for taking the General Education exam, Izuku prepared himself for another three years of whispers and solitude. What he was not expecting for his whole world to get flipped on it's head.

--

(18) join us on discord

Notes:

Reupload of Eyes Wide Shut, with some *very* minor alterations.

Cleansing the sheer fuckery that came with rating the last iteration of this story for teen audiences. When this story catches up to where Eyes Wide Shut has gotten to, the original will be deleted. No more teen rated stories, regardless of actual content.

As always, no set update schedule. Chapters will arrive as/when they arrive. Don't ask for updates. Yada yada.

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku was a creepy kid .

Ask anyone who had been close enough to him and they would tell you, something about that green cry baby was just off . They couldn't tell you what the exact problem was, but just being around him would make you feel like your skin was trying to crawl off of your bones. Like your soul had emptied itself out onto the ground at your feet leaving you hollow, empty and lacking.

Stay away from that Midoriya kid, they would murmur to people who didn't know, didn't understand, that demon will suck the life out of you.

Izuku had given up caring what the whispers were saying about him long before the last year of Junior High. So long as they didn't bother him, he didn't go out of his way to bother them. There were other things for him to focus his attention on. His notebooks, hero fights, new places where he could steal a quick nap. It was a lonely existence, floating through the world but not truly belonging to it. The seas of his peers parted wherever he walked, fear and tension swept along in the currents. But that was okay. So long as they didn't bother him, he didn't go out of his way to bother them.

"Deku!"

Except for one.

"K-kacchan," Izuku took half a step backwards, eyes blown wide with fear. He had known the blond for as long as he could remember, and for as long as he could remember the blond had loathed him. Bakugo Katsuki had taken personal affront to Midoriya Izuku's very existence from the very start, and actively went out of his way to ensure that Izuku knew this.

"What did I fucking tell you about being anywhere even close to me," the boy snarled, looming over him in the void that surrounded Izuku at all times. From a safe distance, the blond's regular crowd of lackeys lingered, unwilling to get any closer to the freak. It wouldn't stop them from watching as Izuku was beaten to the ground. Again . "You don't even deserve to be breathing the same air as me, fucking quirkless freak."

"S-sorry Kacchan," Izuku clutched his notebook tightly to his chest, backpedaling towards the classroom window. The sounds of students leaving for the day was starting to fade into the distance, the last bell having rung a while ago. Izuku usually tried to be first out of the door, but today he'd had to make just one more note on Mt. Lady's fight this morning. He was paying for that mistake now, "I can't- sensei won't let me just change seats."

Bakugo lunged, Izuku stood frozen with terror as those hands reached for him. Painful hands, full of fire and brimstone, pain laced with the syrupy taste of burning. He didn't fight back as the blond wrenched his notebook from his hands, staring helplessly as the boy flicked through pages upon pages of hastily scribbled notes and half-finished sketches.

"Sensei better have been fucking lying about you trying for UA, Deku," Izuku's heart stuttered in his chest as Bakugo closed his notebook, holding it pressed tightly together between his palms as vermillion eyes seared into his skull, "there's only one person from this backwater, no-name school getting into UA. And that's me. "

Izuku's teeth sank into his bottom lip to keep it from trembling as smoke rose from the cover of his notebook, the familiar crackle of Bakugo's quirk rolling through the room like so much thunder. He watched, heart falling into the pit in his stomach as the freshly charred notebook sailed past him, out of the open window. Months of work, diligent painstaking note taking and study, reduced to so much tinder in a matter of seconds.

"If you want it so badly, here's a novel idea," Izuku's blood turned to ice in his veins, the words burning his eardrums with their sweetness, "why not take a swan dive off of the school roof, and pray for a quirk in your next life?" Izuku had always held out hope that maybe, one day, they could be friends. His mother loved Katsuki, and was great friends with the boy's parents. As they grew older, Izuku wondered what it would be like to have the blond fighting beside him instead of against him.

In twenty words, Bakugo Katsuki killed the last of that hope stone dead.

"Got something to say?" Izuku shook his head, messy green waves brushing gently against his forehead. Bakugo clicked his tongue against his teeth and stalked out of the classroom with his hands in his pockets, "don't fuckin' forget this, Deku. Don't even think about applying to UA." with tittering jeers that filtered out of Izuku's brain before he even heard them, the blond's little gang followed, the door sliding shut behind the last of them.

Izuku sank to the floor, blinking tears out of his eyes. His chest ached as surely as if Bakugo had burned him instead of his notebook. So stupid . Izuku scrubbed at his face with the hell of a palm. If he actually went through with it, how would that look on Kacch- on Bakugo's application? He would never consider it, he wouldn't. He couldn't let that weigh on the boy's conscience like that. No one deserved to feel that guilt.

After a few careful breaths Izuku pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder before heading out of the classroom. Maybe his notebook could be salvaged? They were expensive, and he didn't have enough money to get a new one yet. If the burn damage wasn't too bad then the middle pages would definitely be still usable. It was fine.

It was not fine.

"Stupid fish," Izuku murmured, leaning over the edge of the koi pond, "that's not food." He managed to grab the corner with his thumb and his forefinger, carefully pulling the waterlogged notebook towards him. The pages were still intact, thankfully, but the ink on them was completely ruined. It would take a lot of work to replicate those notes, if he could remember all of them. At least once it was dry he should still be able to use the rest of the pages, the water had kept the char from sinking beyond the cover.

Sighing, Izuku stifled a yawn with his shoulder. He stood, cradling the notebook carefully in his hands, he didn't want to risk putting it in his backpack with this much damage to it. Maybe it would dry off a little on the way home. Izuku checked the time on his phone. Not too late, if he was lucky he could sneak a quick nap in the underpass on the way home. If he got really lucky, someone would think he was homeless and give him a few yen that he could use to replace this notebook. At least the day wouldn't be a total loss then.

"What have we here?" Izuku froze in the middle of setting his backpack down on the ground, turning wide eyes back to the amorphous monstrosity heaving itself out of the displaced sewer grate, "a medium sized disguise!" two eyes floating in the muck glinted wickedly in the dim light, a mouth that was far too big curved in a wide smile.

Izuku didn't have time to do so much as blink before the rancid green sludge enveloped him.

It was everywhere. Izuku's hands fought through the viscosity to claw at his throat as the slime encompassed him. He could feel it seeping, thick and tainted down his throat. Pressing against eyes forced wide open. He could even feel it forcing itself into his nostrils. The pressure in his lungs built to a crescendo, until he thought his chest would burst and his eyes rolled back in his head. He could hear that sinister voice saying something, but the frantic pounding of his heart in his ears drowned everything else out. He couldn't get out. Couldn't fight back. Couldn't breathe.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flicker of movement and tried to turn his head. He wanted to see the sun. If he was going to die, he wanted to see the sunlight one last time before the end. He wished he'd gotten that final nap in. He wished he'd been brave enough to punch Bakugo Katsuki in the face, just once.

A sharp blast of air cut across his face, ripping the sludge from his body and the air from his lungs all at once. There was pain.

Then there was darkness.

When Izuku's consciousness swam back to the surface he was alone, sprawled on the ground beneath the underpass. His notebook lay open on the ground near his hand, thankfully still in one piece, and his backpack was still where he had left it, untouched. Groaning, Izuku sat up and rubbed his temples, trying to soothe the throbbing in his head. What had happened? One minute he was dying and the next…

Whatever. He'd managed to get a nap at least. Slowly pulling himself onto his feet Izuku pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time, eyes widening at the numbers displayed on the screen.

Fuck. He was late. He had less than ten minutes until his mom would be home from work.

Izuku snatched up his notebook in one hand, ignoring the black marks on the pages. He would have to see if he could clean the tar stuff off of them later. Grabbing his backpack he bolted out of the underpass as fast as his legs could carry him. If he was lucky he would just make it home in time.

He made it. Barely. Izuku had managed to get his shoes off and halfway to his bedroom before he heard the rattle of the key in the lock. Quickening his pace, Izuku dashed into the small bedroom and closed the door just in time to hear the front door lock click. Plastering himself to the back of his door, Izuku listened to the rustle of his mom taking off her shoes. The shuffle of slippers heading to the kitchen. The thud of bags on the counter. His throat constricted as the soft padding of slippered feet headed in this direction, staring at the All Might posters on his wall. Bright smiles and sunshine yellow bangs gleaming back at him.

The footsteps stopped outside of Izuku's door and he held his breath, counting the heartbeats that he and his mother stood on opposite sides of the same door in total silence. At seven, the soft scraping of carpet underfoot moved away from his door and Izuku sagged in relief. At least she hadn't opened the door. Not that he had expected her to, he wasn't asleep after all. Izuku had no idea how she always knew when he was asleep, but every single time he let his eyes drift shut his door would slam open, his mother screeching at him to get up. He didn't remember the last time he'd had a full night's sleep.

Oh well, that's what coffee and naps were for after all.

Stepping away from his door, Izuku set his backpack down quietly at the foot of his bed before heading towards the window with his still sodden notebook in hand. It needed to dry, the window was the best place. Maybe he should try and clean some of that sludge off beforehand? Izuku sat at his desk, carefully turning fragile pages to try and find the mess of black tar he had seen in the underpass. If he had to pull the pages out then he would, but if he could salvage them that would be ideal. Black bled through the white paper and Izuku grimaced as he turned the page, this would be a mess to res-

Wait.

What?

Izuku picked up his notebook with trembling fingers, eyes wide as he stared at the thick black marks inked across the page. Jagged lines and sharp angles. But not sludge. Definitely not sludge.

When had Izuku gotten All Might's signature?

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

Izuku slammed back into awareness at the exact same moment that his bedroom door crashed into the wall, shuddering on its hinges as it rebounded off of the plaster. Rearing back from where his head had dropped onto his desk, Izuku glanced at the clock. Two hours. He'd been out for about two hours.

"What," Izuku turned slowly, his gaze meeting acidic green eyes glaring at him in the dim light of the hallway, "did I tell you about slacking off?" Izuku didn't respond, he just blinked slowly at his mother until the woman huffed and stormed back to her own room. It wasn't like she was actually expecting an answer, responses only seemed to irritate her more. Izuku didn't have the energy to deal with the fight. He never did.

Sighing, Izuku hauled himself out of his chair to close his door gently, ignoring the dent in the fresh plaster. He would have to fix that again later. Thankfully he still had some spackle left over from last time. Maybe he should just fill it with silicon instead? A question for another time, when he could afford the stuff.

Dropping back into his desk chair, Izuku slapped an exhausted hand onto his textbook and dragged it closer, wrapping the other around the handle of his mug of coffee. Ice cold now, but it would still do its job at least. He flipped the page, trying to focus on the words while he sipped at the bitter black void swimming inside the cup. No use, he may as well have been trying to read Russian. Izuku huffed another sigh out of his nose and slumped back in his chair, his eyes traveling upwards to the two pages pinned above his desk. Black, angular lines still crisp and bold against the water-stained pages in the yellow glow of his desk lamp.

He'd never figured out how he got All Might's signature. It had been months since then and he was still no closer to answers. He hadn't even been sure it was real until the news broke that All Might had apprehended a villain made of sludge. Just like the sludge Izuku had been trapped in. It made no sense to him. If All Might had been there, had saved him from that villain, why had he woken up alone? Why had the man signed his notebook and then left him unconscious on the ground beneath an underpass? It just didn't make any sense to Izuku. It wasn't like the man had figured out he was quirkless and decided he wasn't worth the effort to save…

Was it?

Izuku mentally shook himself, pushing upright in his seat and bending over his textbook once again. This line of thinking never got him anywhere, there were no answers for him to find. It wasn't like he could just ask the hero himself. Not that he hadn't tried. Emails and messages to the number one hero's social media had been responded to with generic replies, if they had been responded to at all. Izuku was well and truly in the dark on this one. He couldn't deny the spark of bitterness that tightened his throat every time he thought about it, no matter how hard he tried to.

It didn't matter. That day had been a rude awakening for Izuku. When faced with a villain, he had failed so miserably. He couldn't move or react, couldn't even think. He had been cannon fodder, an unwilling victim with no power to fight back. So much so that his savior hadn't bothered to make sure he was alright afterwards. He would be useless as a hero. What was the point in even trying? So Deku had finally accepted what the world had been telling him for as long as he could remember, shelved his UA hero exam application and filled out the general education one instead. It was still an amazing school, graduating from there would hold a lot of prestige on his resume.

He was going to need it, being quirkless in modern society. Work was not always the easiest thing to find.

The exam itself had been relatively simple, basic questions that definitely shouldn't have taken the full four hours for anyone to complete. There had been a few interesting parts, though. A blueprint with obvious errors that Izuku had pored over for the better part of 45 minutes was definitely a highlight, same with the essay question about citizen laws and how they applied to heroics. Izuku had needed more paper there, he had a lot to say about that particular subject. Specifically how the quirkless were practically written out of legal precedent and a quirkless person could essentially commit stone cold murder and be legally within their rights to, since they were not using a quirk. Society really had overlooked some glaring loopholes.

Try as he might, though, this passage about the correlation between the evolution of quirks and the subsequent deceleration of most scientific fields of study was not filtering into his brain. It wasn't like he didn't know the material already, at least. Reading just helped keep his mind active. Active was good. Active meant not asleep. Not asleep meant not having to repair holes in his walls. It didn't seem to be working today.

Glazing out of the window, Izuku brightened up at the discovery that the rain had stopped. Snatching his phone off of the desk, he keyed in an alarm and dropped the device into his pocket before quietly sliding the window open and hoisting himself up onto the frame. Izuku carefully turned and stretched upwards, catching the edge of the roof with just enough of his fingers to safely and slowly haul his body up onto the flat surface. Living on the top floor of an apartment building had its benefits.

Quietly, Izuku padded across the roof to the opposite side, settling down next to one of the large electricity boxes. The roof was still damp, but he had laid on worse and been fine. Pulling his phone out and double checking his alarm was set for 6:45, Izuku wrapped his arms around himself and closed his eyes, letting the stillness of the morning lull him into sleep. An extra nap was never a bad thing, as long as he didn't get caught.

Izuku dashed out of the school gates, ignoring some comment about the bags under his eyes from a younger student. Someone would fill the kid in, they always did. Izuku had more important things to do today.

Today was the day acceptance letters should arrive.

Today, Izuku didn't bother with the underpass, didn't consider other places he could hide away and sneak in a couple of hours of sleep without risk. There was a letter waiting for him. A letter with his name on. A letter with his name on and stamped with UA's logo. There had to be a letter waiting for him. He almost skidded straight past the mailbox, fingers fumbling his keys as he searched for the right one. Then nearly dropping them as he tried to work the key into the lock. Stupid fingers. Finally, finally the lock clicked. Izuku peered inside the small box.

There it was. White, pristine, golden ink stamped across the front. Izuku's letter.

Clutched in both hands like the precious treasure it was, Izuku carried his letter up the eight flights of stairs to his front door, staring at it the entire time. He missed a couple of steps in the process but no matter. He didn't fall, he didn't drop the letter. His letter. Izuku could hear his heart fluttering in his chest, that wave of anxiety threatening to wash over him. What if it was a rejection letter? What if he hadn't done enough? He had finished the fastest out of everyone in the exam hall, what if-

No, it was stupid to keep going over the what ifs and maybes. This was either an acceptance letter and Izuku would be going to UA High School ( UA High School! ) or it was a rejection letter and Izuku would begin looking for a job. If he wasn't studying then he would have to start paying his way.

His bedroom door had barely clicked behind him before he started peeling back the flap of the envelope, being as careful as he could. He didn't want to damage the contents in any way, didn't want to risk shredding his hopes before he could even look at them. Hours ticked by in seconds, filled with the slow stretch of glue along paper. The letter inside was cream, offsetting the brilliance of the white envelope. Izuku slid it out of its casing with the tips of two fingers, barely touching the edge. He set the envelope down gently on his desk and stared at the folded cream page. It was so small in his hands. Such a tiny, delicate thing, deciding the entirety of Izuku's future. Carefully, with the softest creak of thick, high quality paper, Izuku eased open the folds, eyes scanning over the words penned in crisp black ink.

Greetings Midoriya Izuku,

Congratulations!-

Izuku's heart leapt into his throat, his breath stuttering in his chest. Taking a breath, he forced himself to keep reading.

Congratulations! It is with great pleasure that I am writing to inform you of your acceptance into UA High School for the school year commencing in April 20XX!

Your entrance examination was scored by independent adjudicators, who have graded your test at 97%! This is the highest score ever achieved on the UA Entrance Exam, and reflects not only your dedication to your studies, but is a standard of excellence that UA High School would be both proud and honored to assist you in honing further during your high school years.

97%? The highest score? Ever? Izuku double checked the name at the top of the page. No, this was definitely addressed to him. He had never scored that highly on an exam in his life. He was expecting to just scrape through if he got in at all.

Due to the extraordinary score on your exam, I would also like to personally invite you to a meeting with myself before the school year begins to discuss in greater detail the potential unique accommodations and opportunities that UA can offer you, should you choose to enroll with us for the coming school year.

Unique accommodations? Opportunities? Izuku had combed through every page of the school website enough times to know every page by heart. The only unique accommodations that UA offered were for the hero course, not the general education course . Who exactly was offering him special treatment?

While UA understands that this is an eventful time of year for all Junior High students transitioning to High School in the next school year, we hope that you will take the time to seriously consider our school with the sincerity that this offer is made with. Should you have questions, or would like to arrange a time for the aforementioned meeting, please feel free to contact me any time on the number listed below.

In good faith,

Nedzu

Principal, UA High School

Izuku stared at the sprawling signature at the bottom of the page. The name. The tiny digits penned beneath it all. This wasn't real. There was no way this was real. Someone had seen him at the entrance exam and decided this would be a funny joke. It had to be. Izuku thumbed his phone out of his pocket with a scowl and tapped in the number at the bottom of the page. They must think they're hilarious.

Well, Izuku was going to call their bluff.

"Nedzu speaking," Izuku had to hand it to them, they'd even managed to get the slight squeak in the pitch of their voice just right.

"Ha ha," Izuku drawled, tossing the fake letter unceremoniously onto his desk, "this was a very funny joke but way too obvious. Who put you up to this? Was it Bakugo?"

"I'm afraid I don't quite know what you mean," Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose, pacing the length of his tiny room. So they wanted to play this out to the end, fine, "could you perhaps enlighten me as to what 'this' is?"

"Oh I think you know perfectly well what 'this' is," Izuku let his irritation bleed out into his voice, "and I've got to hand it to you, it's a great fake acceptance letter. You really sold it. But ninety-seven percent? Really? Personal meeting with Nedzu himself? You really pushed the boat of believability out there, huh. Should've gone for something a little easier to swallow. Who is this anyway? Matsubara? Nagata?" A soft hum of understanding purred down the line.

"Ah, you must be Midoriya Izuku. I'm afraid that I am indeed not Matsubara or, what was the other one? Nagata?" Izuku stared out of the window, watching birds pass by the clouds. If they were putting on that squeak they were really good at it, "I am Nedzu, Principal and UA. And that is your genuine acceptance letter, there are no mistakes."

A chill ran up Izuku's spine, a tiny voice whispering in the back of his head what if, what if, what if.

"Prove it," Izuku rasped, his mouth considerably drier than it had been a few mere moments ago, "if you are who you say you are then prove it."

"Certainly," Izuku heard a soft rustling, the creak of leather, "are you near a computer?" Izuku dropped into his desk chair and unlocked his computer screen with a hum of affirmation, "excellent. Would you be so kind as to send an email to the school's email address? Title it: this is not funny." Izuku pulled his keyboard closer, fingers trembling as he filled in the title of the email and clicked send. On the other end of the line, Izuku could hear the soft clicks of a mechanical keyboard, barely seconds before an email pinged into his inbox

From: .jp

To:

Re: This is not funny

That's because it's not a joke. :)

Izuku's brain shut down.

"As you can see," Izuku stared blankly at the email, "your letter was not a joke, nor a mistake."

"I'm so sorry ," Izuku practically fell over the words as they spilled from his mouth, "I thought it was kids from school playing pranks because you said I got ninety-seven and I've never scored that high on a test in my life I don't think I've ever gotten more than a seventy and suddenly the principal of UA, of UA, says I got a ninety seven and he wants to meet with me to talk about special accommodations when I know that they only offer those to hero course students and this is just-"

"Young man," Izuku's jaw snapped shut, his breath heaving in his lungs. He'd forgotten to stop to breathe again, it had been a while since he did that, "I can assure you that there has been no mistake, you truly did score that highly. If you would like, since we're talking now, we can make a time for you to come in and discuss the details in greater depth over a cup of tea. I feel that meeting in person rather than trying to hash these things out over the phone is a far better way of doing things, don't you agree?"

"Of course," Izuku nodded, flushing when he realized the Principal of UA ( oh fuck, he'd practically yelled at the Principal of UA! ) couldn't see him, "I uh, I'd love to come in and discuss things. If that's ok?"

"Of course it's okay," Izuku listened to the turning of pages in the background, "I wouldn't offer it if it wasn't. Are you free tomorrow?"

"Yes! No, damn," Izuku groaned softly, "tomorrow is a school day, I can't miss school. My mother won't allow it."

"Nonsense," Nedzu chirped lightly down the line, the soft click of keys echoing in the background, "I've just sent an email to your school to inform them that you won't be attending tomorrow. Some things take precedence and if your exam scores are anything to go by, you are utterly wasted in that school to begin with," Izuku choked on air, eyes wide. The principal of UA had just pulled him out of school for the day? Was he still alive or had his sleep deprivation finally killed him off? "I'll send a car to pick you up, I dislike the idea of young people on public transport alone, no matter how safe it is purported to be. How does nine tomorrow morning sound?"

"Fine," Izuku squeaked, pinching his arm so hard he knew it would bruise later, "It sounds…it sounds fine!"

"Excellent! I look forward to meeting you in person, Midoriya-kun. Until tomorrow!"

The line went dead. Izuku's phone dropped from his hand onto the desk with a loud clatter.

What the hell had just happened?

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

Izuku ran his fingers down the buttons of his shirt as the sleek black sedan rolled up to the curb, checking for the twelfth time that morning that he hadn't skipped a button. Satisfied, he bent down to peek inside the window as it slid open, staring at the well dressed man sitting behind the wheel. Maybe he was lost, Izuku had lived here all his life, he could probably help with directions.

"Midoriya Izuku?" Izuku blinked, his eyes widening as he nodded. The man behind the wheel flashed him a small, polite but friendly smile, "hello, Midoriya-kun, Nedzu-san is looking forward to meeting you. If you're ready we can leave immediately, it's quite a drive." Izuku nodded again, moving more on instinct than anything else as he opened the door and clambered into the back seat. Izuku had been expecting a taxi, not a car and driver .

"Make yourself comfortable," Izuku looked up, meeting coffee colored eyes in the rear view mirror, "we'll be on the road for a couple of hours." Izuku glanced out of the window, the first glimpses of the sun peeking over the horizon. That's why they were leaving so early, after all. Two and a half hours by car from Shizuoka Prefecture to Tokyo meant a very early departure for a nine o'clock meeting. Not that Izuku wasn't awake already, it was a rare occasion that he got to not greet the sun in the mornings.

The soft hum of the engine and the rich scent of leather seats washed over him and Izuku sank into the comfort, wrapping his arms around himself and letting his head settle into the corner of the seat. The car swerved ever so slightly as Izuku let his eyes slide closed, probably avoiding one of the cats that lingered around. They were always getting in the way of cars. There were far more important things to do with his time right now.

Like a nap.

The driver didn't smile as Izuku slid out of the car. If anything he looked slightly more pale than he had when they had set off.

"Thank you," Izuku sighed internally at the thin pressed set of the man's mouth, a reaction he'd seen so many times before. So they were back to this again. With a jerky nod the window slid up, obscuring Izuku's sight. He straightened and watched the car pull away, turning a corner and out of sight in a few moments. No matter, it wasn't like Izuku would see the man again. Straightening his shirt, hands smoothing over the wrinkles it had gained in the car, Izuku turned to look up at the immense glass building he was standing outside of.

UA High School.

Izuku had dreamed of standing here, but had never actually imagined he would . It was a longshot, a hail mary, taking the entrance exam. And now here he was, months early, to discuss special accommodations with Principal Nedzu. The Principal Nedzu . How had this become Izuku's life? Less than a week ago he was a regular, average quirkless kid just trying to keep up with his quirked peers and snatching a couple of hours of sleep when he couldn't focus enough to study anymore.

"I love looking just as much as the next person," Izuku jumped visibly, eyes glancing around to locate the source of the voice, "but isn't it so much better when you touch ?" His gaze settled on a smiling woman leaning against the school gate, rich dark purple hair cascading around her face and almost blending into the mask around her eyes. A handcuff rattled ever so slightly as she reached up, flicking a few strands out of her eyes. Recognition sparked in Izuku's brain and he lit up .

"You're the 18 hero, Midnight!" Izuku was practically vibrating in his shoes, he should have brought his notebook, "Your quirk, somnambulist, is so cool! What does it smell like? Can you bottle it? If you can, does it lose its effectiveness after a while and go inert? How long does that take? Does your quirk work better on men as a whole or people who are attracted to you? Does how much you inhale affect how long you're-"

"Woah, woah, kid," Izuku clapped both hands over his mouth, heat crawling up his face. The hero stared down at him, blue eyes wide with shock before she threw her head back and laughed, "I can see why Nedzu wants to meet you ! That's a whole lot of questions you have. Come on, Midoriya-chan," Izuku's nose scrunched up slightly at that but Midnight paid it no mind, pressing a palm to his back and ushering him through the entrance, "let's see how many of those questions I can answer before we get to his office!"

"Midoriya-kun!" Izuku resisted the urge to yawn as the Principal's office door closed behind him. Midnight had been more than happy to answer any questions she could, but he'd definitely burned out most of the energy he'd gained from his drive-nap doing it. He really needed some- "wonderful to meet you, would you like some tea?"

"Do you have coffee?" the words spilled from Izuku's lips before his brain could catch them, "sorry! Tea is fine, Nedzu-san, thank you. I'm just tired." black beady eyes stared at him from across the room silently. Izuku blinked. Those whiskers twitched. Izuku blinked again, receiving the same response. For almost a full minute they maintained a silent standoff, a blink, a twitch, until finally the Principal broke the silence.

" Fascinating. Please, Midoriya-kun," a paw gestured, a sweeping arc that encompassed most of the room, "take a seat wherever you feel most comfortable. I am sure a cup of coffee can be procured quite easily." Izuku blinked and looked around, taking in the strange myriad of chairs littering the office for the first time as the principal left the room in a patter of paws.

There was a couch propped against one wall, stiff unbroken leather shining brightly in the sunlight streaming in from the massive window behind the principal's desk, two antique-looking wooden chairs set directly in front of the desk that could have been from the early 1900s. Definitely expensive. There was even a singular artist's stool tucked away in the corner beside the door, out of the way and almost overlooked. Izuku had seen plenty of tests in his life, he knew one when he was looking at it.

In the end he gravitated towards a large, pillowy armchair tucked in against the side of a bookshelf. It was far enough away from the door that if it slammed open he wouldn't get hurt (that lesson had only needed to be learned once) and angled just right so that every single inch of the room was visible in the slightest turn of his head. But that wasn't the main reason he picked it, those were definitely bonuses, but not what drew him to it in the first place.

It was the blanket.

Thick, canary yellow fleece draped over the back of the armchair like a sunshine-coloured sheep. Warm and inviting, just begging for Izuku to press his cheek against it and see how soft it was for himself. Running on the last cohesive thoughts of his nap, Izuku toed off his vibrant red shoes and folded himself into the plush, inviting warmth. Thin, pale fingers sank into the blanket and pulled, tugging it down in a heap on top of him. It was heavy and warm and so good . Izuku could sleep here forever.

"I see you've made your decision," Izuku nodded, blinking lazily at the pale whiskers twitching behind the desk, "quite a fascinating choice, I must say." A large mug of coffee made its presence apparent and Izuku's eyes lit up, reaching out to cup it with both hands, "I have milk and sugar if you so require, Midoriya-kun."

"Thank you, Nedzu-san," Izuku sipped the steaming black coffee gingerly. Oh it was good, "black is just fine."

"Wonderful," Izuku watched the chimera climb back into his desk chair before clapping tiny paws together, "shall we begin, then? I have been looking forward to this discussion all day!"

"But surely if we made support more freely available and advertised, then-"

"It wouldn't work, Nedzu-san," Izuku rubbed his chin against the rim of his coffee mug, empty from his third cup, as he stared down at the chessboard on the small table in front of him. Opposite, Nedzu's whiskers twitched excitedly. The chimera had efficiently boxed him in, moves were taking longer to consider, "if you publicize quirkless focused aid and provide locations, no one will come. There have been too many incidents of us going missing, of gene-purists showing up and hurting people. Hurting kids. In France they started a domestic violence aid office that advertised specifically that it would help quirkless people. It took a week for it to mysteriously go up in flames. Public aid doesn't help the quirkless, it's just a tactic for bleeding heart quirked people to gain some popularity and internet likes." he reached out, running a fingertip over a rook before settling on moving his bishop instead.

"What would you suggest instead, Midoriya-kun?" Izuku disliked that the principal barely had to think about moves the same way he did, a knight making its way towards Izuku's pawns, "people require assistance, and as a hero one's duty is to save everyone who can possibly be saved."

"True," Izuku hummed softly, drumming his fingers on the ceramic as he stared at the board, "but what you're suggesting hurts as many, if not more, people than it saves. Ergo, not a heroic action. If limelight heroes really wanted to help, they would go out of their way not to bring attention to us. There's plenty of quirkless aid out there if you know where to go, we don't need the target painted on our backs."

"Fascinating," Izuku nodded, reaching out to capture the knight with his rook and cursing softly when Nedzu's queen immediately took his rook in turn, "you specified limelight heroes?"

"Yes?" Izuku blinked, looking up into beady black eyes, "the unders have always been good to quirkless people, for the most part. You get a bad apple here or there, but for the most part quirkless people know that they're far more likely to get help at night than they are during the day. A lot of us choose night jobs for that reason, not because it's the only thing that we can get hired for."

"I had no idea," Izuku sighed softly, staring at the board for a moment before reaching out to topple his king, "good game, Midoriya-kun. I don't remember the last time someone held their own against me for more than fifteen moves."

"Good game," Izuku glanced at the clock, eyes widening. When had it turned to afternoon? Apparently, about an hour ago, "oh, it's getting pretty late."

"So it is," soft white paws folded over themselves as those black eyes met his once more, "I have an offer for you, Midoriya-kun. I have thoroughly enjoyed this day and I hope you have too?" Izuku nodded hesitantly, suspicion creeping up his spine, "I would like to continue having these meetings with you, during your time as a student in UA. Should you choose to attend, of course." Izuku's eyes went as wide as they could possibly go. Personal meeting with Nedzu ? For the entirety of his high school career? That was… Izuku couldn't quite process that.

"What would-" Izuku paused to clear his throat, "what would we do during these meetings? When?"

"I would expect, anything ," Izuku saw the delighted gleam in those eyes, "I surely would enjoy discussing, teaching or learning anything and everything that could possibly strike your fancy, Midoriya-kun. As for when, I reviewed your exam myself. If I'm not mistaken, you're fluent in English?" Izuku nodded, he'd taught himself when his mother had told him his father had moved to America, preparing in case they moved there. Something that never happened, "excellent, so we can meet during those lessons, perhaps others as your schooling progresses and we can evaluate your progress more effectively. Is this something you would be interested in?"

"Yes!" Izuku clapped his hands over his mouth, embarrassed at his exuberance. Across from him, Nedzu simply cackled.

"Wonderful, Midoriya-kun. I'm very glad that we will be able to enjoy more conversations like this. I have truly not enjoyed myself so much in years." Izuku's ears were hot, he could probably boil water on them, "before I call Miyazato-san to drive you home, what do you say to one more game? To celebrate this promising new partnership?"

"Nedzu-san," Izuku smiled and sat up, pulling the soft blanket tightly around him, "throw in another cup of coffee and you've got a deal."

Chapter 4

Chapter Text

Hitoshi hunched his shoulders up to his ears and tried his best to focus on the slap of his messenger bag against his thigh as he walked past the oversized classroom door, but his eyes still gravitated to the large 1-A painted on it. Bitterness stung the back of his tongue, burning around the dull ache in his throat. It was a slap in the face, Hitoshi thought, to make the Gen Ed students walk past those doors every day. To see the place he could have been, should have been , if UA wasn't so biased towards physical quirks.

Huffing a soft sigh, Hitoshi tried to shake those thoughts from his head as he kept walking. It wasn't like he hadn't expected it, after all. The entirety of society was biased, it always had been. High school was never going to be any different to junior high, it just wasn't. Hitoshi was always going to be the kid with the villain quirk, the lowest rung on the ladder, sacrificed as a stepping stone for the kid with the heroic quirk to succeed. That was the way it worked, no matter how hard he tried to fight against it. Might as well just accept it and do the best he could with what he was given.

Even the 1-C on the door was a different color, a muted blue that almost faded into the color of the door itself. And wasn't that just fitting? A background color for the background kids, the ones who didn't make the cut. UA wasn't even subtle about where their priorities lay. Hitoshi bit back another sigh and wrapped his hand around the handle, sliding the door open slowly. He was early out of habit, wanting to get into the classroom before he could be spotted in the hallways, tripped, spat on, leered at. But on the off chance he wasn't the first here, he didn't want to draw attention to himself. The moment he stepped over the threshold, he felt something change.

For the first time in Hitoshi's memory, his throat didn't hurt .

The heavy weight that was constantly pressing against his throat, radiating dull pain that had long been a constant every time he spoke, vanished. There was still a residual ache, a faint memory of feeling, but for the most part Hitoshi was pain free . He could swallow, his tongue didn't feel heavy in his mouth, breathing was easier. What had happened? He had only walked through a door, right? Hitoshi looked around, seeking out the source of this wondrous experience while he blinked residual moisture away before it had the chance to fall.

A cloud of rich green waves of hair peeked out from a cocoon of gray-wrapped arms on the far side of the classroom, tucked into the center of the row of desks. Hitoshi stared, not daring to make a sound. It looked like whoever they were was fast asleep and Hitoshi could empathize with that. Snatching what sleep you could where you could was a mood he definitely agreed with. That had to be their quirk though, right? Hitoshi wondered what it was, maybe some kind of projected pain relief? That was amazing, if true. Why was this person not in the hero course?

Glancing down, Hitoshi noticed the name taped to the desk beside the door. Togeike Chikuchi. Desks must all be named then. Hitoshi spared another glance at the green hair tumbling haphazardly over the sleeve of the sleeping person's blazer before he moved, quietly as possible checking the names on the desk. It was a pity they were named, Hitoshi would have preferred to hide in the back corner of the class, away from as many people as possible. Though after three rows of not finding his name, he was starting to wonder if he had gotten his wish.

No, not quite so lucky. Agoyamato Tsutsutaka had been granted that privilege. Hitoshi glanced down the row, chewing the inside of his lip. That left three more seats and two of them were directly around the green person. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad? Hitoshi honestly hadn't felt so comfortable in his own skin for his entire life, being closer to the quirk that made that possible couldn't be a bad thing. Maybe they were nice, wouldn't treat Hitoshi like the villain everyone else had? Hah, who was he kidding, it would probably rain coffee before that happened.

There was his name, directly in front of the sleeper. Hitoshi very carefully set his bag down and eased into his seat, wincing as the chair squeaked slightly against the tile. He froze as they shifted slightly, mumbling something unintelligible under their breath before their breathing evened out again. Hitoshi sighed softly in relief, he really didn't want to disturb their rest. Out of curiosity, he glanced down at their desk, tilting his head so he could see the kanji properly. Midoriya Izuku. Hitoshi couldn't suppress a small smile, eyeing the green hair. That name seemed…appropriate.

The door slammed open with such force that it wobbled on the rail.

Hitoshi jumped, startled, but it was nothing compared to the reaction of Midoriya Izuku. The pressure in Hitoshi's throat thudded against his skin as those green waves shot upwards with enough speed to blur, brilliant emerald eyes wide and panicked. Hands scrabbled blindly against the desktop, searching for something that wasn't there as their gaze snapped to the door. A small group of students milled through the doorway, talking loudly and animatedly to each other as the door slid closed behind them. Hitoshi would have guessed from their voices that there were about five of them, but he hadn't taken his eyes off of the person in the desk behind them.

Oh god, they were hot .

Freckles dotted across pale cheeks still slightly round with baby fat, not obscured in the slightest by thick dark shadows that ringed beneath those eyes. And those eyes . They were like jade pools of darkness that you wanted to stare at forever, try and find the bottom of. Green waves, Hitoshi had been right, definitely waves not curls, drifted down over their eyebrows to hang just above those eyes and over small, delicate ears. The ends had definitely been more curled though, when they were asleep. Maybe just a trick of the way they had been resting? A quirk side effect? Hitoshi's fingers twitched slightly. He wanted to ask questions .

The panic was over almost as soon as it had started, shoulders slumping and the green teen slouching in their seat, blinking sleep out of their eyes. The briefest waves of soothing comfort washed over Hitoshi's throat, confirming his suspicions, definitely this person's quirk. Something when he closed his eyes took away the pain in his throat. Hitoshi ignored the complaints from the other students in the room that the room felt off, it was cold, and gave them a bad feeling. Hitoshi couldn't feel it, he always felt like that anyway so it wasn't like he'd notice if they were telling the truth most likely. He watched with unabashed fascination as this exhausted viridian student reached into his blazer and pulled out an entire thermos , the rich scent of coffee reaching his nose as they unscrewed the top.

Oh, he wanted to be this person's friend more than he'd wanted almost anything in his life.

Green eyes finally looked up, startled as if they hadn't realized he was there for a moment before they relaxed into an expression Hitoshi was infinitely familiar with, exhausted disinterest. He saw it on his own face every time he looked in the mirror, there was no way he wouldn't recognize it on someone else's. Slowly, they raised one eyebrow and the steaming thermos at the same time, maintaining eye contact as they chugged the contents without pause. He should look away, Hitoshi knew the rules. Knew this was a dominance display, that if he wasn't careful he was going to find himself bleeding in another alley with bruises on his ribs. But he couldn't, something kept his eyes transfixed on this green person that had caught his fascination so entirely he hadn't even noticed when more voices had joined the clamor in the classroom.

"Something I can help you with?" If Hitoshi hadn't been so focused on them, he would have missed the faint tremor in their voice that made everything so clear and so confusing all at once. This wasn't a kid who had grown up with a powerful heroic quirk, who'd had their ego stroked at every turn and was used to stepping over others to get their own way. Now he'd heard it he could see it. The hesitance in those eyes, the way their shoulders were slightly hunched forwards, chin down, protecting their throat. This was a kid used to taking blows, to not being able to fight back.

Midoriya Izuku was just like him .

Hitoshi's fingers twitched, half raising before he hesitated and lowered them again. The chances of this new person knowing enough sign language to understand him were slim, it would be better to just speak and risk the backlash. If he wanted to try and make friends with Midoriya Izuku, he had to try. He found that he wanted to try.

"That's coffee." Hitoshi cringed internally, cursing himself softly. Why did asking questions have to be so hard? Now he sounded like an asshole, there was no way this person would want to talk to him more. Hitoshi watched them slowly screw the top back on the thermos and tuck it back into their blazer, eyes widening when pale fingers lifted off of the desk and moved in familiar patterns.

Mine .

Hitoshi gaped. Did this person notice his hands move? After a moment's hesitation, Hitoshi lifted his own hands once more.

You speak sign language? Hitoshi almost missed the soft huff of breath through their nose over the racket in the classroom, the bell had to be almost ready to ring but he was too interested in those hands to care. No one ever spoke sign language.

Yes. Japanese. English.

Hitoshi perked up a little. The movements were good, smooth and well practiced, but single words only every time. Maybe they were learning?

That's awesome, he made his movements a little slower and easier to read, are you learning? I could teach you more words so you could make sentences if you want. Sign language was the only way Hitoshi never felt uncomfortable asking questions. It couldn't trigger his quirk. He had tried. The roll of green eyes made him frown, but the faintest hint of a smile on their face stopped his anxiety from overloading on him.

Fluent. Effort. Why more words? Understand fine.

Oh. Oh . Oh that was actually kind of genius, really. Hitoshi had been too exhausted to form full sentences on more than one occasion. Midoriya Izuku was right, he understood them perfectly without the extra signs in between, they weren't needed at all so why waste energy on them? A soft flush brushed over the bridge of their nose and Hitoshi looked away quickly. He wasn't entirely sure what his expression had been but if it was close to what he was feeling right now, he was probably looking at them like they had hung the sun. Such a fuckin' disaster gay , Hitoshi scolded himself mentally, you don't even know their pronouns and you're already a hot mess.

"Holy fuck!" Hitoshi glanced up at a dark haired boy shouting loud enough to drown out the rest of the noise, "is that Deku ? How the fuck did you even get accepted here?" Hitoshi could see the haze of green behind him slump in their seat and looked back to find them propping their face on their hand, blinking sleepily at the teen drawing attention, "since when did UA start letting soul sucking quirkless demons in?"

Huh? Quirkless? Hitoshi was confused. Judging by the lack of surprise in Midoriya Izuku's expression, this wasn't news to them. But… they definitely had a quirk? What was going on here? Hitoshi opened his mouth and then hesitated before closing it again. Maybe they were hiding their quirk? Hitoshi had considered it a couple of times in the past but he'd seen the way quirkless people were treated, it was worse than he was. Whatever reason they had for hiding their quirk, Hitoshi wasn't going to be the one that outed them for it. Deku was a horrible name to call someone though, did they really just…put up with that?

"I took the test," Hitoshi settled back in his seat, deciding not to get involved based on the uninterested drawl of their voice, "just like everyone else." The other teen scoffed, brown eyes falling on Hitoshi. Great, just as he decided he was staying out of it.

"I wouldn't sit there if I were you, man," Hitoshi raised an eyebrow at him as the dark haired kid pointed at Midoriya, "that guy is a fucking freak . He'll suck your soul out if you stay too close. Everyone in Musutafu knows you stay away from the quirkless weirdo Deku." Throughout the classroom Hitoshi could see the looks, the fear and the whispers and the glances. Everything he'd seen a hundred times before except usually it was directed at him . For once, Hitoshi wasn't on the bottom of the food chain. There was someone the class thought was beneath even him. There was only one thing Hitoshi could do, only one response that made sense to him.

"Bold of you to think I have a soul to drain." Hitoshi deadpanned, ignoring the throbbing pain in his throat. The dark haired boy stared at him blankly as the bell rang, breaking up the crowds of students to find their actual seats, before he scoffed softly, shaking his head.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, man. When he messes you up, don't come crying to me."

"Find a new line, Kawakami-kun," Hitoshi smirked softly at the condescending tone from the seat behind him, "it gets a little repetitive after eleven years." a soft tap hit his shoulder and Hitoshi glanced back, letting his lips curl upwards into a smile at the single word signed at him.

Thanks .

"What's up, Listeners!" the door crashed open before Hitoshi could respond and he whirled around in his seat to face the front as the very well known blond practically bounced energetically through the door, "I'm Present Mic! But for you guys, call me Yamada-sensei! I'm gonna be your homeroom teacher! YEAH! Alright!" Hitoshi snorted softly, it was hard to believe anyone just genuinely had this much energy, he already wanted a nap just from watching the hero, "Let's get this show on the road! I've got some paperwork to hand out and then we're going to head to the auditorium for orientation! YEAH!" A stack of papers found their way into Hitoshi's hands and he took one before turning around to pass them back. Midoriya gave him a small, genuine smile as he (definitely he, he hadn't corrected the other guy, awesome) took them. Hitoshi smiled back before he turned around.

Maybe high school wouldn't be the same after all.

Chapter 5

Chapter Text

By the second day of school, Izuku was back to listening to whispers in the hallways. Fearful glances and his aura of emptiness that no one wanted to cross, lest he suck out their quirk with some magical ability he just didn't have.

Well, almost no one.

Try as he might, Izuku could not figure out Shinsou Hitoshi. Not only had he spoken to Izuku without any glimmer of discomfort (quite the opposite, actually. Izuku had never had anyone stare at him with so much curiosity , it was more than a little strange) but he had defended Izuku ? What was with that? Izuku wasn't sure he wanted to actually find out.

It had even looked like Shinsou had wanted to talk to him after the orientation yesterday had ended, those indigo eyes lighting up with someone Izuku didn't recognize when they landed on his face as everyone was leaving the auditorium. Izuku had quickly ducked into the crowd, slipping away through the first year student body to hide himself away in Nedzu-sensei's office with his fluffy yellow blanket and his good coffee. Nothing good could come of someone who wanted to talk to him that badly. The last person he had been that close to was Kac-Bakugo. No. It was safer to keep his distance. Stick to his lessons and make it through high school in one piece.

"Hey."

Izuku looked up from his notebook, staring at that gravity defying purple hair like a deer in the headlights. The rest of their classmates were milling around the door, slowly but surely leaving the room. The lunch bell must have rang. Izuku hadn't noticed. With an ease that came from years of practice Izuku schooled his expression to neutrality, blinking up at the boy standing in front of him. Izuku's gaze flickered down to Shinsou's hands as they moved.

Do you want to eat lunch together?

Izuku felt wariness creep over his skin. This was a trick, definitely. There was no way someone actually wanted to eat lunch with him. What was the catch? Izuku squinted in the bright light, searching the teen's face for any hint of deception or ulterior motive. Awkwardly, Shinsou shifted in front of him, his gaze flicking away from Izuku's scrutiny. There was nervousness there, but Izuku couldn't find any malice. Either this guy was a fantastic actor or maybe…just maybe. Izuku lifted his hands.

Why? Shinsou blinked at his fingers, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Izuku sighed, he was going to have to use more words, wasn't he? He lifted his hands again, Why me? Whole class. Charity. Those vibrant indigo eyes widened almost comically.

"No!" Pink dusted across his cheekbones while Izuku watched. Heh, cute. Izuku shook the thought out of his head as slender fingers moved again, hesitantly this time.

I don't want to… fingers paused, reshaping different words. Izuku caught the softest defeated sigh, I have a villain quirk.

Oh. Oh now things made sense. Shinsou Hitoshi was like him .

"Hmmmm," Izuku reached down into his backpack and pulled out his bento box, gesturing at the other side of his desk. In a hurried scraping of chairs, Shinsou dropped his own bento box down with a small smile. Cute .

For a few moments they didn't talk, just the soft clatter of chopsticks and chewing. Every now and again Izuku would steal glances at his lunch-mate. He was curious. What was a villain quirk, anyway?

"What is it?" Izuku blurted, biting his tongue when startled sapphire looked up at him. Izuku considered apologizing, dropping the topic. Fuck it , "your quirk. What is it?" Izuku knew immediately that he shouldn't have asked. The pained expression on the boy's face spoke volumes. This was someone who'd been shunned and tormented for something he couldn't control, didn't want it to happen again. Izuku opened his mouth to apologize, to tell him not to worry about it when narrow shoulders slumped slightly, defeat rolling off of Shinsou in waves. He didn't even look up as he set down his chopsticks, lifting his hands.

Brainwashing .

"No way," Izuku's eyes widened, Shinsou's shoulders hunched up around his ears, "That's so cool ." Izuku barely registered Shinsou's head snap up as he pushed his bento box to the side to flip open his notebook, eating with his left hand while he jotted down notes with his right, "I don't think I've ever heard about a cooler quirk! Well, maybe Eraserhead's but honestly , nothing beats Eraserhead's quirk for sheer utility, it's the most powerful quirk I ever heard of including All Might's. But brainwashing ? Man, there's so much you could do with that! You could stop villain attacks without even having to lift a finger, talk people down off of roofs, negotiate hostage situations, you could do so much! " Izuku scratched a line under his shorthand and kept going, "so is it voice activated? I bet it is you've got a totally different timbre most commonly heard in vocal mutations, Present Mic has it too it's so nice . Is that why you use sign language? Because it's voice activated? But not all of your voice or you'd have brainwashed everyone more than once so it has a trigger. A certain word? A phrase? Ooooh, is it call and response? Call and response is so cool, it's so rare and- Shinsou?" Izuku had looked up briefly to find the violet haired teen staring at him blankly, tears streaming down his cheeks. Had Izuku gone too far again? "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to upset you. I just really love quirks and when I hear about a cool one I get carried away." Shinsou shook his head, scrubbing at his cheeks with the palms of his hands.

"You really…" Izuku almost missed it, Shinsou's voice was so quiet, "...you really think all those things."

"Yeah?" Izuku frowned slightly. Had no one liked Shinsou's quirk before? "It's an amazing quirk, Shinsou-kun. You'd be a great hero, why are you not in the hero course?"

Shinsou's shoulders shook as a soft sob spilled from his lips, tears dripping from the end of his nose into his bento box.

"Hey," Izuku didn't know how to do this, not really. Comfort wasn't exactly something he received much, or really at all. But he knew that he'd always wanted it regardless. He ended up standing awkwardly beside Shinsou's chair, rubbing awkward circles into the teen's back while he cried almost silently into his lunch, "it's okay. I shouldn't have asked, sorry."

"No," Shinsou sniffed sharply and straightened, tilting his head up to offer Izuku a watery smile, "thank you. No one- no one ever said that before."

"Well," Izuku patted his shoulder gently before he sat back down, "they're all stupid." Shinsou laughed wetly and Izuku smiled as the teen picked up his chopsticks, picking at his now soggier bento. At least Izuku hadn't truly upset the one person his age who wanted to talk to him. Maybe they could even be friends?

"I tried." Izuku looked up as Shinsou spoke again, chewing on the end of his chopsticks. "The hero exam. I tried. It was robots," Izuku felt the bitter sadness in the teen's laugh right down to his bones, "I never stood a chance against robots."

"That's ridiculous," Izuku shook his head sadly, "hero practical exams are always so biased towards physical quirks, it's so stupid. Are you gonna try and get in through the Sports Festival?" Indigo eyes blinked at him in pure confusion, "you know," Izuku said slowly, "since students from other departments who excel at the UA Sports Festival can get transferred into the hero course?"

Shinsou's eyes widened until Izuku could see the white all the way around his irises, "You mean…"

"That you could still be a hero? Yeah," Izuku nodded, closing his empty bento box and tucking it back into his backpack, "It would be hard work, you'd have to train pretty hard to do well in the Sports Festival but if you really want- Shinsou?!" The teen was crying again . Izuku was about ready to panic, he did not know how to handle this much crying if it wasn't coming from him! Shinsou lunged across the desk and Izuku flinched back as two hands wrapped around his, squeezing tightly.

" Thank you , Midoriya," Izuku blinked, confused until he looked at the teen's face. Determination burned in deep blue eyes. Cute , " Thank you ."

"Just," Izuku could feel the heat rising in his cheeks, "just call me Izuku." Shinsou nodded and looked down, snatching his hands back as if he'd just realized what he was doing, "and you're welcome? I don't know that I did much but," Izuku laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as Shinsou straightened, looking even more tired than he already had from all of the crying, "can I get you a glass of water or something?"

"Call me Hitoshi, then," Izuku nodded, smiling. Shin-Hitoshi sighed, wiping even more tears off of his cheeks, "coffee would be amazing, but water would be good. Thanks." Izuku grinned at that, finally someone who appreciated caffeine as much as he did.

"Okay, Sh-Hitoshi-kun," Izuku bounced up out of his seat, feeling more energetic than he had in a while, "I'll be right back." Was this what having a friend was like? If this was the kind of buzz friendship gave, Izuku definitely wanted more of it. He pulled the classroom door open and stepped into the hallway.

" DEKU! "

Fuck. Izuku had forgotten Bakugo got accepted to UA. He hadn't seen him at orientation, after all. Izuku turned slowly, staring wide eyed at the angry blond stalking down the hallway towards him. Of course it was too much to hope for high school to be different. It didn't matter, as long as Bakugo was here things would never be different.

"B-Bakugo," Izuku stepped back into the classroom as the teen slammed his hand against the door, the familiar crackle of his quirk rattling it slightly, "w-what do you-"

" What ," Izuku's jaw snapped close, stepping backwards at the blond advanced on him, "did I tell you about applying to UA?"

"I-I'm not in the hero course, Bakugo," Izuku had really hoped that he wouldn't run into Bakugo so quickly. A small voice in the back of his head laughed at him for being so stupid, "Gen-general education will look good on-good on my resume so-"

"I don't fucking care about what will look good for you ," Bakugo snarled in his face, palm raised, "I warned you Deku, you just can't take fucking advice, can you? Let's see how-"

"What do you think you're doing?" Izuku jumped, he'd forgotten Hitoshi was still in the room. Now he was standing, hands in his pockets, glaring at Bakugo darkly. The blond sneered at the violet haired teen.

"None of you-" Izuku watched, wide-eyed, as Bakugo's face went slack, his eyes blank and glassy.

"Hit yourself in the face, hard enough to knock yourself out." There was no hesitation. One minute that hand was raised, ready to crash down on Izuku. The next, Bakugo's fist was slamming into his own jaw and the blond went down, crumpled in a heap at Izuku's feet. Izuku turned to stare incredulously at Hitoshi, who for the most part looked downright terrified. Hands came up, fingers flashing so quickly Izuku almost couldn't keep up.

I'm sorry he was going to hurt you and I panicked and I didn't know how else to make him stop and I'm so sorry if you don't want to talk to me anymore I totally-

"That was amazing !" Izuku reached out and grabbed Hitoshi's hands, stopping him in his tracks. Hitoshi stared at him like he'd gone mad, "seriously, your quirk is so cool , Hitoshi-kun! I have so many questions! You stopped a fight before it happened, just like that ! Oh you're gonna be such an amazing hero, Hitoshi-kun! Seriously!" Izuku looked back at Bakugo in a heap on the floor, " So damn cool. "

"I'm," Izuku looked up to find tears in Hitoshi's eyes again, "I'm really gonna need that water, I think." Izuku laughed, shaking his head.

"Usually I'm the crybaby in the room," Izuku let go of his hands and dashed to the door, "I'll get you some water, okay?"

"We should do something about…" Izuku looked back, following Hitoshi's gesture to the pile of hero student.

"Nah," Izuku shrugged, "Nedzu-sensei has cameras in every classroom, he already knows what happened." Izuku turned back to the door and pulled it open, missing the mouthed Nedzu-sensei? behind him, "water and then we can start planning how we're getting you into the hero course!"

Ignoring the noise of surprise behind him, Izuku practically skipped down the hallway, totally oblivious to the stares and whispers around him. Maybe highschool would be different?

Chapter 6

Chapter Text

Izuku dropped into his seat with seconds to spare before the morning bell rang. At least he hadn't been late for homeroom, after the mess that was their class coming back to find a hero student out cold on the classroom floor yesterday Izuku was trying his best to attract as little attention as possible. The rumors were already flying and he didn't want to do anything more to encourage them. They'd been incredibly fortunate that Nedzu-sensei had the entire thing on camera, making their actions self defense. Sh-Hitoshi got a minor lecture for using his quirk outside of quirk training classes, but other than that there were no repercussions save for Izuku checking around corners wherever he walked. There was no way Bakugo was going to let that one lie.

"You got through the reporters in one piece, then." Izuku shot the boy in front of him a small, tired smile, propping his cheek in his hand.

"Barely. One of them tried to grab me, demanding to know what All Might is like as a teacher. If Eraserhead hadn't already been there hauling out some of the hero students I don't think I'd have made it out alive." Izuku grimaced slightly. He'd gotten seriously lucky that a brown haired girl had spotted him and pulled him out of the fray. Yet another reason to not be a hero, there was no way he ever wanted to deal with the press like that again. Once was enough.

Hitoshi looked like he was about to say something but just at that moment the classroom door slammed open, their exuberant homeroom teacher bounding through the door.

"Hey hey hey Listeners! Another bright and shining morning! Yeah!" Izuku subtly massaged his temples with his fingers. This guy was so loud , "we've got a wild exciting homeroom today! You've got to pick a class president!"

Izuku reached into his backpack and pulled out his notebook, flipping it open to a clean page and pulling a pen out of his blazer. He could take it easy in this homeroom, at least. Not a single student in here would nominate him for class president and he didn't want it. He already had enough on his plate to keep him busy. Carefully, Izuku set pen to page and started a fresh page of notes for Eraserhead. Being so close to such a mysterious hero had been an…experience. Izuku had seen glares, dealt with them his entire life from pretty much everyone around him. But the way that Eraserhead had just locked eyes with that reporter who'd tried to get past the gate was intense in a way Izuku hoped would never be turned on him. Maybe it was part of his quirk? It would make sense, really. Eye contact quirk erasure was just fascinating . Izuku had so many questions . Was it limited by range? Did low light conditions weaken its effectiveness? What happened if Eraserhead looked in a mirror and activated his quirk? What happened if he erased a transformative quirk partway through the-

Izuku startled as knuckles rapped softly on the top of his notebook, glancing up at Hitoshi as the teen's hands moved.

You're talking out loud.

Oh. Izuku flushed deep crimson and tucked his head down into his shoulders, trying to ward off the glares he could now feel on his back and ignoring the overtly curious gaze of their homeroom teacher. He mumbled a soft thanks under his breath and Hitoshi nodded, slouching sideways in his seat so he could watch Izuku write. That was another strange thing about Shinsou Hitoshi, Izuku didn't mind him looking at his notes. The guy had been genuinely interested in what Izuku had written about him, even answering some questions which was completely unheard of. It felt strange to trust someone that much, but until it all went wrong Izuku honestly wasn't going to question it.

The end of homeroom bell rang while Izuku was halfway through a small sketch of the hero in the bottom corner of the page and Izuku brightened. Flipping the book shut, Izuku dropped it into his backpack and bounced out of his seat excitedly.

"Hey there, Listener!" Izuku looked up at Yamada-sensei while he hefted his tattered yellow backpack over his shoulder, "no need to go anywhere, since we've got English first period we can just get started! Yeah!" Izuku blinked, frowning slightly. Did Yamada-sensei not know? Izuku looked up at the camera nestled in the corner above the door then back to his homeroom teacher.

"I know we do? That's why I'm leaving?" Izuku tilted his head at the small frown on Yamada-sensei's face. Puzzled, not angry. That was good at least.

"Why would you be leaving?" Izuku sighed. Either this was one of Nedzu-sensei's tests or the hero had genuinely forgotten. Either way, Izuku was going to be late if he wasn't quick.

" Because I'm fluent in English? " Izuku switched to English just to prove the point, Yamada-sensei's eyes widened slightly, " I have lessons with Nedzu-sensei during English. "

"Oh it's you!" Izuku huffed a soft sigh of relief as the hero's expression brightened, "sorry Listener, I forgot all about it! No problemo, have fun with Nedzu!"

The startled expressions on most of his classmates' faces as he skipped out of the door made the entire interaction worth it.

"Izuku-kun!" Izuku beamed as he slipped in the door of Nedzu-sensei's office just as the bell rang for next period, "excellently handled! Come in, come in, let's get started." Gratefully wrapping his hands around the steaming mug of coffee already waiting for him, Izuku crawled into the armchair and pulled the blanket down again. This may have only been his third time in Nedzu-sensei's office, but already it was starting to feel like a safe haven for him.

"Now then," Izuku sat up straighter, sipping on his coffee as Nedzu-sensei set up the chess board on a small table in front of him, "what shall we discuss today?"

"The entrance exam," Izuku reached out, moving his first pawn. It was his turn for white, "specifically, the hero practical. Nedzu-sensei, why use robots?"

"Ah," Izuku settled more comfortably into his armchair as the moves progressed, "I wondered how long it would take you to learn what the contents of the hero practical were. Simply put, Izuku-kun, because it was deemed the most effective method of evaluating potential in hero course candidates."

"Not by you." Izuku hummed softly, reaching out to capture a knight with his bishop. Looking up, he shrugged at beady eyes staring at him curiously, "you said 'it was deemed', not 'I deemed it'. If it was your work, or if you agreed, you would have claimed credit for it. Instead, you left it open for interpretation. You didn't deem it effective." Nedzu-sensei cackled softly and Izuku almost missed the principal capturing one of his pawns.

"Oh Izuku-kun, what I wouldn't give to be able to put you in front of the board of directors and see what happens," Izuku sipped at his coffee, studying the board. Things got trickier now, "you're quite right, of course. It wasn't my doing. UA has a reputation to upkeep, with both the top two heroes being alumni. The board of directors feels that strong, powerful heroes are the key to maintaining that reputation."

"That's stupid, though," Izuku frowned, moving his rook to protect his queen, "plenty of heroes don't have powerful physical quirks that would let them fight robots easily. You don't have a physical quirk, Nedzu-sensei," Izuku rubbed his chin against the rim of his mug, "anyone with mental quirks was completely out of luck before they even stepped into the arena."

"I assume you're referring to your young friend, Shinsou Hitoshi?" Izuku nodded, sighing as Nedzu-sensei cornered his king once more and conceding the game. Izuku drained the last of his coffee and helped replace the pieces on the board, "truly unfortunate, his quirk is rather remarkable indeed. With the right training he would be quite formidable."

"I want to get him in through the Sports Festival," Izuku moved his pawn, black this time, "I know it's possible, but…"

"But he'll be going up against hero students with training as well as support students with gear," Nedzu-sensei mused quietly. Izuku nodded, "how fascinating. We have had students occasionally transfer courses, but never from general education without endorsement from at least one member of staff. The odds are most thoroughly stacked against your companion."

"I know," Izuku sighed heavily, "but he's wasted in Gen Ed, Nedzu-sensei. No one has ever just stuck up for me before, especially not against Ka-Bakugo. As far as I'm concerned, he's already a hero."

"And what about yourself, Izuku-kun," Izuku blinked, Nedzu-sensei's whiskers twitched, "do you not want to be a hero?"

Izuku hesitated. If he had been asked that question a year ago he would have answered yes without hesitation. But now… Izuku looked up from his empty mug, meeting the principal's gaze tiredly.

"Of course I do," Izuku sighed softly. He wouldn't lie to his favorite teacher, "but I'm quirkless."

"Supposing you are," Izuku blinked in confusion. Supposing? "What would that have to do with anything?"

"What would… I'm quirkless ." Izuku would unpack the supposing part later, "useless, weak. When a villain attacked me all I could do was be a victim , Nedzu-sensei! How could I be a hero when I can't even defend myself?"

"A villain attacked you?" Izuku slouched into the armchair, pulling the blanket up over his legs more firmly, "when was this? There's nothing about it in your files."

"There wouldn't be," Izuku set his mug down on the table, their game forgotten for now, "it was never reported."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to elaborate, Izuku-kun," the principal had left his little stool in favor of his desk, paws tapping at his keyboard while he talked. Sighing, Izuku hunched in on himself and related his walk home from school around eleven months ago. How the sludge villain had appeared out of nowhere, how a gust of air had blasted the villain from his body but also knocked him out in the process. How he had woken up alone, still in the underpass, with-

"All Might's signature?" Izuku nodded as Nedzu-sensei stopped typing to give him his full attention, "you're absolutely sure it's All Might's autograph?"

"I wasn't," Izuku scratched his cheek and wriggled out from under his blanket, heading for the coffee machine Nedzu-sensei had been kind enough to put in his office, "but it was in the news. 'All Might's slimy capture'."

"I do recall that," Nedzu-sensei turned back to his monitor, pulling up a white document Izuku couldn't read from this far away, "the report submitted doesn't make any mention of a victim. How curious." With a few more quick taps on his keyboard, Nedzu-sensei shot off an email before turning his attention back to Izuku, "not to worry, I shall get to the bottom of this situation! In the meantime," black beady eyes glittered as Izuku curled back up in his chair, "I am perfectly happy for you to work with Shinsou-kun in training for the sports festival. Any student is welcome to train as they please for it, of course, but I suspect you'll be putting in quite a bit more effort than the average student. I do have two conditions."

"Okay?" Izuku perked up slightly, sipping his coffee. Conditions meant that Nedzu was treating this as a learning experience, which meant there was something to be gained from it. Izuku had won an entire box of notebooks and quality pens and pencils for an in depth analysis on the flaws within the current legislation surrounding heroes and vigilantism. The rewards were always great.

"Condition one: You need to request Yamada-san's assistance," Izuku must have made a face at that, because Nedzu-sensei continued without stopping, "he will be a valuable asset to you in many different ways, including some that won't occur to you. Utilize his help." Sighing, Izuku nodded. He had planned to keep this as quiet as possible, asking teachers meant attention. Izuku didn't want attention. "Condition two: I will evaluate you as a unit during the Sports Festival." Izuku stilled, staring at his mentor incredulously.

" What? "

"Ah, should I be clearer?" Izuku shivered slightly at the sadistic little grin that spread across the principal's face, "Shinsou Hitoshi and yourself, Izuku-kun, will be evaluated for transfer to the hero course as a unit. If you both succeed in making it to the third round, I will write your endorsements myself. However-"

"If one of us fails, we both fail." Izuku finished for him, pinching the bridge of his nose. He hadn't had enough coffee for this, "you're hinging a valuable hero asset's success on a quirkless kid, Nedzu-sensei. That's hardly fair."

"On the contrary," Nedzu-sensei chirped cheerfully, "I'm hinging young Shinsou's success on the brightest mind to walk these halls except for mine. Consider this an exam, Izuku-kun. You have about a month to prepare. Use everything available to you." The bell screeched through the room and Nedzu's smile softened a little, "I would not give you a test I did not believe you were capable of succeeding at, Izuku-kun."

"I know, Nedzu-sensei," Izuku sighed softly, draining his cup and setting it beside the abandoned chess board. The principal was right, his tests were always difficult but they were doable. Izuku just had to approach this properly, "I won't let you down."

"I don't doubt it for a second!" Izuku shouldered his backpack and slid his shoes back on, "I shall see you at fourth period on Thursday!"

Izuku waved as the door clicked shut behind him, the smile giving way to pure exhaustion as he slumped through the near-empty halls back to his classroom. Of course Nedzu-sensei would make it a challenge. He knew Izuku wouldn't be able to resist. Now he just had to figure out how to get Hitoshi in good enough shape for the sports festival as well as himself . Just great. It was a good thing he didn't sleep much, Izuku had a feeling he was going to need every spare minute.

In his peripheral vision Izuku saw an approaching figure halt in their tracks, looking up to see a very emaciated-looking blond man apparently on his way to the principal's office. Izuku stifled a yawn behind his hand, nodding slightly in greeting as he met wide icy blue eyes for a brief second. Strange, that man looked like he recognized him but Izuku was pretty sure he'd remember someone like that. Still, he didn't think he'd ever seen a total stranger look that afraid of him. Maybe he was just forgetting? Lack of sleep did affect memory after all.

Izuku put it out of his head for now. He had three more classes to get through until lunch. Priorities.

Chapter 7

Chapter Text

The lunch bell rang and Izuku fought the urge to slump in his seat. Modern literature was a tedious subject and he was glad it was finally over. Hitoshi's bento box practically slammed down on his desk, making Izuku look up at the teen in front of him who was practically vibrating with curiosity. Izuku sighed, casting a glance around the room. A few people had lingered for a few minutes, probably hoping to overheard some kind of gossip. Izuku raised his hands.

Listening. Eat.

With a soft sigh, Hitoshi flipped open his bento and grabbed his chopsticks. Grateful that he didn't push, Izuku pulled out his thermos and set the cap down to fill it with steaming hot black coffee. The smile he received when he pushed it across the table made it entirely worth it, though the groan of happiness after the teen had tried it was enough for Izuku to feel the heat rushing into his face. Voice quirks should not be allowed to make noises like that without preparing the people who can hear first!

"This is so good." Hitoshi sighed happily, gripping the little metal cup with both hands like it was precious, "strong."

"I would think so," Izuku eyed the cup as he sipped straight from the thermos, "there's about four shots in there." Hitoshi's eyes widened, looking down at the tiny cup in his hands.

"This is…pure espresso. You have a thermos filled with pure espresso."

"Yeah?" Izuku stuffed a chunk of rice in his mouth, chewing slowly, "do you not drink espresso?"

"I do, just not usually four shots at a time." Hitoshi looked up at him, opening his mouth and hesitating before he raised his hands, why do you need so much coffee?

"You can ask questions if you want, I don't mind." Izuku shrugged, "how else would I stay up?" Across from him, deep sapphire eyes looked even more confused.

"I thought you had insomnia."

"I mean, at this point probably," Izuku picked at what was left of his bento, "but mostly I just don't have time. I'm quirkless, I have to work harder than everyone else just to keep up. Quirked brains work differently, I need more time to study and learn than everyone else." Giving up on the food that didn't really hold any interest to him, Izuku fished out his notebook, meeting Hitoshi's mildly horrified expression, "what?"

"That's not true, though." Izuku blinked, then sighed and shook his head. He'd gone over this discussion a few times before already.

"My mom's a nurse, I've seen the medical journals. It's just the way it is. It's fine, really." Izuku smiled, "besides, we have more important things to discuss, like training for the sports festival."

"And," Hitoshi's gaze flitted around their now empty classroom, "how you have one on one lessons with Principal Nedzu ."

"It's not that big of a deal," Izuku shrugged, "I scored high on the Gen Ed exam, Nedzu-sensei invited me to UA early to discuss it. I'm fluent in English, so he offered to let me skip that class and spend it with him. Mostly we play chess and talk, sometimes he gives me assignments."

"You play chess with Mr. Principal !" Okay, when Hitoshi put it that way even Izuku could agree that it was kind of insane to think about. But they were wasting time that they didn't have, not if Izuku really wanted to get Hitoshi into the hero course.

"Not important," Izuku waved his hand, "no it's really not, we can talk about it later if you want. For now we have about a month to get in shape for the sports festival, we need to prioritize that."

"Okay, okay," Hitoshi slumped in his seat a little, "after the sports festival, then."

"Great," Izuku grinned, flipping open his notebook, "we should start by-"

A siren screeched through the classroom, shearing straight through Izuku's train of thought.

"Security level three has been breached," Nedzu-sensei's voice chirped over the speaker system, "All students, please promptly evacuate."

"Nope," Izuku reached out and caught Hitoshi's wrist as the violet haired teen got up to head to the door, "bad idea." A soft lavender eyebrow lifted at him, Izuku sighed, "If it's an evacuation announcement, those hallways are going to be flooded with students. I don't know about you but I don't want to get trampled." The teen nodded, glancing back at the door.

"We still need to evacuate, though."

"Honestly, I probably wouldn't," Izuku shrugged, "we're in a classroom, the hallways are going to be packed. A level 3 breach is an intruder warning, someone got through the barrier. With all the press at the front gates this morning, it's most likely going to be someone there. Even if it isn't, by the time whoever it is worked their way to the classrooms the teachers would have apprehended them." Abruptly the siren shut off and Izuku sighed in relief, his ears were ringing from the noise, "crisis averted, minimal damage."

Slowly, Hitoshi slid back into his seat in front of Izuku, his eyes still warily flicking to the door, "You were talking about your training plan."

"Yeah!" Izuku brightened, pulling his notebook and his coffee thermos closer, "so I think we should start by…"

Izuku fidgeted in his seat as the final bell rang, nervously tapping his fingers together while he watched the rest of the class pack up and head out. He and Hitoshi were heading to the staff office to talk to Yamada-sensei, and he wanted as many eyes and ears out of the way as possible before they did that. The less gossip the better.

As the last students filed out of the door, Izuku glanced over at the teen in front of him and as one they stood, clutching backpacks tightly with identical looks of determination on their faces. Izuku had filled Hitoshi in on Nedzu-sensei's assignment and instead of the agitation he had expected from telling him that his hopes for the hero course rested on the quirkless kid's shoulders, Hitoshi had seemed…excited? Izuku still wasn't quite sure how to process that.

Quietly, they made their way from the classroom to the staff office, avoiding eye contact with any of the students they passed in the halls. Izuku was glad that the hero classes were in the opposite direction. Not much chance of running into Bakugo again going this way. He wanted to avoid the next altercation for as long as humanly possible. With Bakugo, there was never an if, it was always when. There would always be another fight. Izuku had learned that years ago.

The door to the staff office loomed in front of him while he was still distracted, taking him off guard. Before he had time to process where he was, he raised his hand and rapped sharply with his knuckles on the door. The low hum of talking inside stopped. Izuku shifted anxiously on his feet, glancing over his shoulder at Hitoshi. Was it bad of him to be relieved that he wasn't the only one who looked like they were anxious?

The door slid open and Izuku looked back just in time to see Midnight beam down at him.

"Midori-chan!" Izuku fought back the grimace at the cutesy nickname, "Long time no see! What can I do for you, sweetie?"

"Hi, Midn-Kayama-sensei," Izuku smiled up at her. Midnight was nice, if a little…hands-on sometimes, "actually, we wanted to speak to Yamada-sensei, please?" Midnight gasped, clutching her chest.

"Mic is stealing away my precious students from me again! This is war!" Izuku stifled a giggle, the hero grinned down at him, "I'll get him for you, wait here a second." The door slid closed and Izuku stepped back next to Hitoshi.

"You know Midnight."

"Hmm? Oh, kind of?" Izuku shrugged, "she met me at the gate when I came to visit Nedzu-sensei the first time. She's nice, answered all my questions and didn't call me creepy once." Hitoshi blinked at him before smiling softly. Izuku's stomach did a somersault.

"Good. You're not creepy." Before Izuku could answer, the door slid open again, their homeroom teacher framed in the doorway.

"Hey Listeners! I hear you're looking for me?" Izuku nodded, in his peripheral vision he saw Hitoshi do the same, "Alright! Let's go to the classroom, so we can have a chat without all these other guys and gals listening in!" As the blond hero ushered them back down the hallway, Izuku couldn't help but wonder if Present Mic could bottle some of the insane amounts of energy he seemed to have and if he could, would he sell it to Izuku.

"Alright alright," the classroom door slid shut behind them and Yamada Sensei leant against the wall, still smiling as bright and cheerily as he had in homeroom this morning, "what can I help you with, Listeners?" Izuku felt Hitoshi's shoulder bump into his, nudging him forwards. Looks like Izuku was the spokesperson here.

"We were, uhm, so…" Izuku hated asking teachers for things. It never went well. He looked down at his fingers, picking at a hangnail, "Nedzu-sensei gave me an assignment and, uhm, well, part of that assignment is that we need to ask you for help? But you don't have to help, I mean, you're already super busy and it's not even that important and we can do it just fine on our own so it's fine really and-"

"Hey," Izuku's jaw clicked shut, staring wide eyed and unblinking down at the ground in front of his feet. He heard the teacher move before he saw him, crouching down in front of Izuku. Yellow-green eyes shifted into his field of vision, "I'm your homeroom teacher, Midoriya-kun. Helping you is part of the job." Izuku couldn't help it, nervous laughter bubbled up out of his throat. He froze as the hero in front of him frowned slightly for the briefest moment before his face settled back into his hero smile again, "if I can help you Listeners, then I'd love to help. Honestly." Izuku opened his mouth but the words stuck in his throat, only a soft wheeze leaving his lips.

"We need to train for the sports festival," Izuku could have cried when Hitoshi spoke out of sheer relief, "Nedzu-sensei told Izuku that if we both make it to the third round of the sports festival then he passes his assignment, but we have to both make it and we have to ask you for help to train." Slowly, Yamada-sensei stood up. Izuku fought the urge to shrink back from the man. This was it, the moment where teachers laughed and ridiculed him for being stupid, for needing help, for-

"Of course!" Izuku's head snapped up so fast his neck hurt, staring up at that brilliant, beaming smile on their homeroom teacher's face, "I'd love to help you guys! We're gonna ace that assignment, yeah!" Izuku sniffed, wiping tears off of his face as they came pouring down his cheeks, "hey, what's the matter? You okay?" Izuku stepped back, laughing it off.

"I-I'm fine, honest. I'm just a crybaby, my eyes water at just about anything. Super light sensitive," Izuku rambled, hiking his backpack higher up his shoulder, "we should-we should get home. Uh, thank you. For agreeing to help, I mean. We don't want to be too loud about it, draw too much attention, so if we could-"

"Your secret is safe with me, Listeners!" Izuku nodded, giving the hero a watery smile as he pulled Hitoshi behind him to the door, "We'll get started tomorrow! Yeah! Can't wait!" The man was still cheering excitedly as the door closed. Honestly, so much energy .

"I guess we should head home," Izuku looked back at Hitoshi, bright pink dusted across his cheekbones and his ears as he stared down at the ground. Looking down, Izuku realized he was still holding the other teen's hand. Color rose in his face and he squeaked as he let go.

"Sorry!"

"It's uh, it's fine," Hitoshi scratched the back of his neck, walking alongside Izuku as they headed for the exit, "I have to catch the train home."

"Me too," Izuku double-checked his pockets for his keys and phone, "where to?"

"Musutafu." Izuku blinked, turning his head to stare at Hitoshi who frowned, "I live there."

"No you don't." Izuku had lived in Musutafu his entire life and he had never seen Hitoshi before.

"Yes," Hitoshi raised an eyebrow at him, "my mom works at Ketsubutsu. We've lived there for years."

"But I've never seen you before!" Izuku exclaimed, hands flying in wild gestures as he talked, "I've lived there my entire life! It's not that big of a city!"

"Huh," Hitoshi blinked, "I uh, I don't go out. Went to a private Junior High. We wouldn't have met, probably."

"Oh," Izuku deflated a little, "that makes sense I suppose. But if your mom works at Ketsubutsu, why are you at UA?" Hitoshi's shoulders hunched forwards slightly, clearly Izuku had asked a not great question.

"I don't want people to think I took handouts. They alright think I brainwashed my way through the exams to get in. I need to do it on my own."

"...I get it." Izuku sighed, "It sucks that you feel you have to do that, but it makes sense. People suck."

"Yeah. People suck."

"On the plus side, this will make training a lot easier," Beside him, the teen perked up a little, a small smile back on his face.

"Yeah, it will. Living in the same city, you can come over and…oh no." Izuku frowned at the dawning look of horror on Hitoshi's face.

"What? What's wrong?"

"My mom is going to find out I made a friend," Hitoshi groaned. Izuku's heart leapt in his chest, "she's never going to give me a moment's peace again." For a moment they walked together silently, Izuku processing what Hitoshi had just said. Finally, he opened his mouth, his voice quiet and unsure.

"Are we friends?"

Hitoshi froze. Izuku stopped walking, looking back at him. A mixture of emotions crossed over the teen's face before indigo eyes looked up to meet emerald green.

"If you want to be."

"I want to be!" Izuku had never answered a question faster in his whole life, tripping over the words as they fell off his tongue. Hitoshi laughed, more than a little relief in the sounds.

"Then we're friends." Izuku beamed brightly, slightly more energetic as he walked alongside his friend to take the train home together.

Izuku had a friend.

Chapter 8

Chapter Text

Izuku knew before he even got to the train station that today was going to suck. Not even coffee was helping with the pure exhaustion sinking into his bones, every blink of his eyelids felt slower and heavier. Sitting on the train was even worse, the rhythmic movement of the train car beneath his feet practically rocking him to sleep while he stood in the middle of the crowded space. Even here, people were still trying to put space between him and them, uncomfortable glances thrown his way. Izuku was finding it hard to care about their gazes, no matter how hard they made his shoulder blades itch. The third time his head smacked into the soft gray blazer beside him, Hitoshi sighed and turned around to look at him.

"You didn't sleep at all last night." Izuku shook his head, blinking away the blurriness crowding at the edges of his vision. The sun hurt, light always kind of hurt his eyes but when he was tired it was worse. His eyes wouldn't stop watering, he kept having to wipe tears off of his cheeks. No wonder he had a reputation as a crybaby.

"M'fine," he mumbled, grimacing at the slight slur. Stupid tongue not doing what he wanted it to, "s'normal. Almost there anyway, jus' gotta get off the train." The violet teen glanced out of the window, nodding. Izuku couldn't see much out of the window, the light was too bright, but he'd been counting the time and they only had about five minutes left before their stop. Sighing, he pulled his thermos out of his blazer and unscrewed the top, watching balefully as the cap slipped through his fingers. Thankfully, his friend was more alert than he was today and managed to catch it for him. Tipping back the thermos, he drained the last of his coffee, staring woefully at the empty interior before he replaced the cap.

"You drank that whole thing on the train," Izuku nodded, tucking the thermos back into his blazer, "and it's not helping." Izuku sighed, rubbing fiercely at his watering eyes.

"No, it's not." Izuku grumbled, wincing when his voice sounded harsher than he intended, "sorry. Tired."

"It's fine," Izuku hiked his backpack higher on his shoulder as Hitoshi turned around, the train pulling into the station, "let's get out of this crowd." Without thinking Izuku reached out and latched onto the back of Hitoshi's blazer, letting the teen lead them both out of the train. Izuku tried to focus on the bright pink tips of his friend's ears instead of the people hastily moving out of their way as he passed. He just needed to get off this train.

"Here." Izuku collided with Hitoshi's back as his friend stopped, crouching down in front of him, "get on."

"...huh?" Hitoshi huffed softly, looking over his shoulder at Izuku. From here he could see the faint flush in the boy's cheeks. Izuku felt like he was missing something.

"You need a nap. We need to get to class. Get on. I'll carry you, you take a nap."

If it had been any other moment, Izuku would have freaked out. He would have flustered and refused and rambled until he ran out of voice. But with only half of his brain at most operational, the part of him that would panic was most definitely not functioning. So without a word he slumped forwards, gratefully draping himself over his friend's back and wrapping his arms around Hitoshi's neck. For a moment, neither of them moved. Izuku could feel the tension in Hitoshi's shoulders, the heat radiating from the ear next to his cheek, before hands wrapped around his thighs and Izuku felt the ground fall away beneath him.

Izuku didn't sleep around people. Ever. He didn't trust them not to mess with him. That's why he found hiding places, spaces where he wouldn't be found, wouldn't be hurt, would be safe . Hitoshi was warm, Izuku could feel the teen's body heat seeping into his muscles even with the cold fingers gripping his legs. Bad circulation , Izuku thought, burying his face into the nimbus of gravity defying lavender hair. It smelled like cinnamon and vanilla, and it was soft . Izuku couldn't sleep with pillows, too many years snatching what rest he could against concrete walls and gravel rooftops, but as blissful nothingness washed over him Izuku thought that maybe…maybe there was one pillow he liked.

A whole thirty minutes of uninterrupted sleep was usually enough to bring him back to life. Apparently today it was not enough. Izuku sat slumped in his seat, face propped on both hands as he blinked wearily at the back of Hitoshi's head. The classroom was flooded with whispers, fearful glances in his direction. Izuku even managed to catch a couple of them, apparently they thought he was angry today. Was his resting face really that pissed off? Hitoshi kept throwing him concerned glances every now and then, Izuku managed to put the effort into what he thought was a smile. Frowning, Hitoshi reached into his backpack and pulled out a small brown glass bottle as the morning bell rang. Izuku's face slipped between his hands a little. His eyes hurt, the light was killing him. Just a couple of seconds, he would close his eyes for a couple of seconds.

"Good morning, Listeners!" The door slammed open, Izuku could distantly hear the excessive excitement in their homeroom teacher's voice over the ringing in his ears. He pried his eyes open, squinting at the blur of black and yellow, "Another amazing day ahead of us! YEA HHhhh!"

Wham!

Izuku reared back in his seat, searing pain flooding his face where he had slammed nose-first into his desk. Fuck, that really hurt. Fingers swam into his tear filled vision, someone tilted his head back carefully.

"You're bleeding," purple hovered over him. Izuku blinked tears out of his eyes to meet the concern in Hitoshi's. His friend looked up at their homeroom teacher, "I'm going to take him to the nurse."

"Of course, Listener," Izuku frowned, Yamada-sensei sounded strange. As Hitoshi helped him out of his seat, Izuku stole a glance at the blond, finding him staring at Izuku with an expression that he couldn't quite place. It wasn't concern or fear, it almost seemed like…recognition? But why would Yamada-sensei be looking at him like that? It was more than Izuku could currently work through mentally, between exhaustion and pain, as Hitoshi guided him out of the classroom door. Damn, his nose definitely felt broken.

"Shinsou-kun!" Izuku turned, looking up at the vent in the ceiling where the principal's head was sticking out, little more than a blur of white at this distance, "please bring Izuku-kun to my office instead of Recovery Girl's office. I'll have her meet us there." In a scrabble of claws on metal, the blur vanished, not even waiting for an answer.

"Damn," Hitoshi turned them around a corner, "you really are the Principal's favorite student."

"Mmm," Izuku grumbled, "Is dot li' dat."

"Yeah, I didn't understand a word of that," Izuku sighed, letting his friend lead him, "you hit your face pretty bad. You need more sleep. And no," Izuku huffed in protest as the teen cut him off before he could speak, "you're not fine. You just broke your nose on a desk because you were so exhausted. You need to sleep, Izuku."

"Quite so!" Izuku hadn't even noticed they had made it to Nedzu-sensei's office, he was too focused on the soothing thrum of Hitoshi's voice. Voice quirks were so pretty, so unfair, "quite so, Izuku-kun. Voice quirks are very nice to listen to." Oh, Izuku really was tired if he was voicing his thoughts, "over here, Shinsou-kun. Thank you for helping him."

"He's my friend," Izuku sank into the warmth of his armchair, reaching up blindly to pull down his blanket, warm yellow fleece so nice against his fingertips, "of course I would help." Purple swam into his vision, indigo eyes coming into focus so close to Izuku's face he could see the individual flecks of color in them. Pretty . "Get some sleep, Izuku. You can't train with me when you're this tired."

Izuku was pretty sure he nodded, though the throbbing in his face made it hard to be sure. He heard the low murmurs of conversation, the tap of something against the floor before the door clicked shut. Hitoshi going back to class, probably.

"Izuku-kun?" Izuku hummed softly in response to Nedzu-sensei, "I need you to open your eyes, please. Just for a couple of moments. Recovery Girl is here to take a look at you." Izuku hadn't even realized he'd shut his eyes. Slowly he cracked one open, squinting in the harsh light pouring through the window. Blurry gray swam in his vision.

"I see why you didn't bring him to my office," a new voice filtered into Izuku's ears. Recovery Girl, it must be. Izuku wished he wasn't so tired. He had so many questions , "and you can ask them when you're not about to pass out on your feet, young man. But for now, keep your eyes open for a moment." Izuku nodded, the nurse's wizened face leant into him until lips pressed against his forehead, "I can't do much, Nedzu, he's too tired. But I fixed the break. The rest will have to heal on its own."

"Thank you, Chiyo," Izuku could feel the tears pouring over the bridge of his nose, the daylight searing into the back of his skull like a brand. A paw patted his hair gently, "you can close your eyes now, Izuku-kun. Get some rest. You did well."

Izuku closed his eyes and slipped into deep, dreamless sleep.

"Did you have a good nap?" Izuku blinked sleep out of his eyes, having bolted upright in a panic. Sitting at his desk, Nedzu-sensei's whiskers twitched, beady black eyes watching him intently.

Izuku nodded, rolling his tongue around his mouth and wiping drool from his chin. It was strange, to wake up in a comfortable place without a door slamming open or green eyes glaring down at him. He felt… good . Still tired, definitely in need of a cup of coffee, but better than he had in a long time.

"Excellent!" Nedzu-sensei clapped his paws together as the bell rang, "just in time for lunch!" Izuku gaped, jaw hanging open. In time for lunch ? Had he slept for four hours ?!

The office door clicked open, interrupting Izuku's panic over having missed an entire morning of classes. Yamada-sensei's hair preceded his actual face appearing around the door by a whole four seconds. Izuku stamped down the urge to giggle, though he brightened considerably when a cloud of purple hair peeked around the door as well.

"Hey! The Listener is awake!" Izuku sat up straighter in his armchair, rearranging his blanket as his homeroom teacher ushered his friend through the door. For his part, Hitoshi looked equal parts shy and uncomfortable, clutching Izuku's backpack to his chest as he looked around the principal's office, "how're you feeling, Midoriya-kun?"

"Better," Izuku croaked softly, rubbing at his face and wincing when pain lanced through him. Not healed entirely, he forgot, "sorry, Yamada-sensei. I'll work hard to catch up."

"Nothing to be sorry about!" The blond beamed, pulling up the chair in front of the principal's desk while Nedzu pushed his own chair around to Izuku's armchair like he usually did when they played chess. After a moment, Hitoshi perched himself on a stool next to Izuku, looking tense, "you needed the sleep! It's not healthy to push yourself too hard!" Izuku considered arguing the point, but gave it up before he had to defend himself all over again.

"I thought, since we're all party to your current assignment, Izuku-kun, that we could have lunch here and discuss your plans and progress so far!" Izuku brightened, pulling his training plan notebook out along with his bento box, "after lunch, I have another assignment for you instead of your afternoon lessons today."

"Nedzu-sensei," Izuku said slowly, staring at the principal, "I'd miss an entire day of classes!" The chimera cackled, Izuku swore that Yamada-sensei paled ever so slightly.

"I doubt that a day off will cause you to fall behind, Izuku-kun."

"Yeah, Listener, it's fine!" Izuku blinked at Yamada-sensei, who smiled brightly back, "if you can score 97% on Nedzu's entrance exam then you'll be fine taking a day off!"

"You scored," Izuku felt like he was going to get whiplash, looking from person to person. Hitoshi was staring at him wide-eyed, "ninety seven percent. No wonder you play chess with Mr. Principal."

"Quite well, in fact!" Nedzu-sensei chirped, "I wouldn't be surprised if Izuku-kun manages to beat me by the end of his second year!" It was Yamada-sensei's turn to gape, apparently. Izuku shifted uncomfortably, focusing hard on his rice.

"That reminds me, Listener!" Izuku glanced up, his homeroom teacher staring at him with that same expression he'd had when Hitoshi was walking him out of the classroom. Why was Yamada-sensei looking at him like that?

"Are you related to the Aizawas?"

Chapter 9

Chapter Text

"Are you related to the Aizawas?" Izuku blinked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"I don't…know any Aizawas?" He said slowly, "it's been just me and my mom forever, her parents are dead."

"Huh," Yamada-sensei frowned slightly, "I could have sworn… What about your dad, Listener?" Izuku shifted uncomfortably, glancing between the curious faces looking at him.

"He's in America, mom said he left before I was even- sorry, what is this about?" Izuku cut himself off, nervous energy twitching in his fingers. His homeroom teacher looked a little sheepish, offering him a small smile.

"I was just curious, Midoriya, sorry if I pushed you too hard. Your quirk reminds me of a friend's."

Wait. What?

"My what?" Izuku wasn't following this conversation at all. Was he still asleep? This kind of felt a little like an exhaustion hallucination except it was missing the wild colors.

"Your quirk!" Izuku stared dumbfounded at the three faces all looking at him as if this was the most normal conversation in the world and Yamada-sensei wasn't talking complete nonsense, "you know, how when you-"

"I don't have a quirk!" It was everyone else's turn to look confused. Why were they confused? It was in his files, every single student knew by this point. It wasn't like this was a new development, "I've never had a quirk, I have the toe joint and everything."

"It's okay, Izuku," Izuku turned to stare wide eyed at Hitoshi, "you don't have to keep hiding it, you know. We're not going to-"

"I'm not hiding anything !" Izuku practically screeched, fumbling in his pockets and pulling out his wallet. Dragging his I.D. card out of it's pocket, he slapped it down on the table in front of him, the bright crimson letters stamped across the bottom of his information.

QUIRKLESS

"I'm not- I don't," Izuku's pulse was roaring in his ears, his throat tight. This was a joke, a cruel joke they were all playing on him and it wasn't fair. Izuku knew what he was, he spent every single day being reminded of what he was. Lesser, unevolved, useless, worthless, Deku . Color blurred together in his vision and he pulled his knees up to his chest instinctively, making himself as small as possible. So stupid, Deku. Should have known it wouldn't last. Such a Deku, you can't even have a friend for four days . Who could blame them?

"Iz_u-k_n," Izuku flinched back violently from the paw that touched his arm, wild green gaze meeting familiar black. Nedzu-sensei didn't try to touch him again. Whiskers twitched slightly and Izuku zeroed in on the movement, focusing on the small little twitches. Sounds filtered in and out of his ears, drowned out by his racing pulse and sharp, ragged breaths that never seemed to catch enough air. He couldn't breathe, just like with the sludge villain. Couldn't breathe, couldn't fight, couldn't do anything. Useless. Deku . Useless .

"-you hear me?" Izuku knew that voice, only a couple of days of hearing it and he could have picked it out of a crowd. Hitoshi. One more cruel joke at Izuku's expense. Izuku should have known better, known it wouldn't be that simple. Not for him, not for Deku. The same voice, the same question. Yes, he could hear him. Not that it matter–

Cool tranquility settled across Izuku's train of thought like a blanket, smothering the flames of panic he had been drowning in. Never in Izuku's life had he been so peaceful in his own head.

"Relax." Izuku felt his muscles unwind of their own accord, slumping back against the back of his armchair, "Take ten slow, even breaths." Izuku could count them, chest rising and falling with an ease he couldn't have even imagined a few moments ago. Was this Hitoshi's quirk? The tenth breath left his lungs and Izuku felt the cool sensation slip from his consciousness like a whisper in the back of his mind. So gentle, Izuku had never felt anything that gentle before in his life . All three of them were still looking at him. Nedzu-sensei was the most neutral, though Izuku could see the concern there. Yamada-sensei looked completely distraught, wringing his hands in his lap. Hitoshi just looked defeated. If Izuku had to define a 'kicked puppy' expression, it would probably be the one on Hitoshi's face right now.

"Was," Izuku coughed softly, clearing his throat. A bottle of water settled on his blanket thanks to soft white paws, "was that your quirk?" The teen's hands moved but Izuku wasn't quite paying attention as he uncapped the water bottle and drank as much as he could before he needed to breathe, "I'm gonna guess yes," Izuku gasped for air, replacing the cap, " Awesome . Can you do it again?" Hitoshi was staring at him like he'd suddenly announced he was a dragon, "What?"

" No one, " Izuku had to lean in slightly to hear him, the whisper barely audible, " no one ever wants me to do it again. "

"Really? Why? That was amazing." Izuku blinked, frowning, "that's the longest I've ever not had at least four different thought trains running at the same time, it was so peaceful. And gentle ! It was like getting a hug inside my head! Is it always like that? Can you adjust how noticeable your control is? Why is it called brainwashing anyway, that was definitely not what brainwashing is at all, none of my core beliefs or personality were messed with. Did you choose to call it that or-"

"Izuku-kun," Izuku clapped both hands over his mouth with a soft squeak of embarrassment. He'd done it again, hadn't he? Hitoshi was definitely crying again, silent tears tracking over pale cheeks, "you just got your breathing back under control, thanks to Shinsou-kun, maybe you should give it a few moments before you talk yourself out of air again."

"Sorry, Nedzu-sensei," Izuku scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, though his mentor just shook his head with no small amount of amusement. They both knew how Izuku got when he latched onto a topic. Especially quirks.

"I'm so sorry, Listener," Izuku blinked at his homeroom teacher who was still looking devastated across the table, "I didn't mean to bring up a topic that so clearly distresses you that much."

"That's okay, Yamada-sensei," Izuku finished the bottle of water before pulling his yellow blanket up again, the warmth and weight of it comforting on his legs, "it's not your fault." Izuku closed his bento box, appetite gone now, and tucked it back into his backpack, missing the weighted look between the two teachers.

"How about," Nedzu-sensei offered Hitoshi a handkerchief, which the still sniffling violet teen took with shaking fingertips, "we discuss the plan for your assignment, and we can revisit this topic another time." Izuku frowned at that. There wasn't a need to revisit this topic, "we don't have much of lunch left, and we're leaving the main campus for your afternoon assignment, Izuku-kun."

Izuku had forgotten about that. Pushing curiosity about what this assignment would be aside for now, Izuku flipped open his training notebook. He had so many ideas to discuss!

Izuku stared up in wonder at the massive glass-domed building from the passenger of Nedzu-sensei's golf cart. U.A. was an insanely large campus, not unsurprising for the foremost hero school in Japan but seeing this now, Izuku was truly starting to understand just how large it might be.

"The U.S.J.!" Nedzu-sensei chirped as they pulled up outside the building. Izuku climbed out and stared up at the glass reflecting the sunlight wordlessly, "one of many training environments for our hero students, and Thirteen's personal project. Come along, Izuku-kun!" Izuku startled, realizing his mentor was halfway up the steps and scrambled to catch up.

"Thirteen?" Nedzu-sensei nodded, "so this is for rescue training environments? Thirteen is one of the foremost rescue heroes in the country."

"Indeed!" Izuku pulled the door open for his mentor, following him into the cavernous space and staring in wonder, "specifically, this is for training in disaster environments. Excellent deduction, Izuku-kun." Izuku flushed crimson, still unused to the praise.

"Principal Nedzu," Izuku startled at the new, slightly distorted voice, torn between gaping in surprise and babbling in excitement as he laid eyes on the space-suited hero approaching them, "I wasn't expecting to see you today?"

"Thirteen!" Nedzu-sensei clapped his paws together, "I happen to have an afternoon free and couldn't think of a more delightful way to spend it than spectating the rescue heroics lesson this afternoon with my student." Izuku did squeak then, as the dark helmet turned slightly. Izuku knew he was being looked at then.

"Of course," Izuku bit back a sigh of relief when the rescue hero broke the silence, "will your student be joining the class?"

"No, no," Nedzu-sensei cackled, "I thought I might bring him to the control room with me. I'm most curious as to what he would be able to analyze with the benefit of the camera system." Izuku's shoulders did slump in relief then. He definitely had no desire to be shoved into a hero class just to be ridiculed.

With a bow to Thirteen (Izuku would freak out over that later, Thirteen! ), Izuku trailed after the principal down the steps towards the central plaza. Why were they going this way, wouldn't a control room be somewhere out of the way?

"Quite so, Izuku-kun," Izuku flushed at being caught muttering again. In front of him, Nedzu-sensei pulled what looked like a phone out of his waistcoat and tapped a few buttons. Part of the flooring slid back, revealing well-lit steps down into the ground, "most certainly out of the way."

Okay, Izuku could admit to himself as he followed Nedzu-sensei down underneath the fountain, this was so freaking cool.

The control room was amazing. Screens lined every inch of the circular room, displaying key points of all six disaster zones as well as the central plaza and entrance. The computer system was elaborate and, from what Nedzu-sensei had told him, ran on a system completely independent from the rest of U.A., in case security was somehow compromised.

Izuku could spend his entire life in this room and probably never run out of things to be fascinated by.

He was cycling through live feeds from the conflagration zone when the device in Nedzu-sensei's hands chirped loudly. Izuku had never seen the principal agitated before, but he was pretty sure that this was what it looked like, fur bristling and whiskers twitching rapidly.

"It seems," Nedzu-sensei said slowly, "that I am needed back at the main campus." Izuku's heart sank a little and he swallowed back the little bit of disappointment. A chance to analyze hero students was exciting, having to miss it was- "would you be alright staying here by yourself?"

"You would let me stay here ?" Izuku's eyes widened, "alone?"

"Of course!" Nedzu-sensei didn't even hesitate. Izuku was not going to cry , "you would be perfectly safe here, the only way to open this room is with the correct passcode, which only myself and Thirteen know. No one except Thirteen would even know you were here." That was true, though Izuku's chest felt more than a little warm that his mentor's first thoughts were for his safety, not that Izuku would steal anything.

"O-okay!" Izuku nodded, almost vibrating in excitement, "I'd like to stay, please! Thank you!"

After a brief discussion of what his assignment would exactly be, analyze and evaluate the strengths, weaknesses and top three areas for improvement in each hero student, Nedzu-sensei scurried back up the stairs and Izuku was alone in the stillness of the room. It was amazing how close to the surface this room was yet completely undetected. He could still hear the fountain trickling water above him clear as a bell.

Movement at the entrance caught Izuku's attention and he quickly tapped a few keys to bring up the nearest camera feeds. That was Eraserhead ! Izuku was going to get to analyze class 1A! He ignored the acidic taste on the back of his tongue as his gaze fell on unmistakeable blond spikes and flipped his notebook open, pen flashing across the page. First he would note down the basic appearances of each student along with any initial theories he had on their quirks, from there he could extrapolate further from watching them just how correct he'd been and start to identify–

Izuku frowned at a flicker of movement on a screen in his peripheral vision, looking up and leaning forward to squint at the pixels.

What was that weird swirly thing? Was that the fountain camera?

Chapter 10

Chapter Text

Izuku watched in growing horror as the swirly thing expanded into what was unmistakably a portal, a theory that was almost immediately proven when people started pouring out of it. He gave up trying to count after a while, simply staring as they kept stepping out of that purple swirling portal. There had to be dozens of them, easily. A flicker of movement drew Izuku's gaze to another screen, eyes widening. Grabbing the keyboard, he tapped a few keys and flooded the screens with live feeds from every zone, watching portals flicker to life in every single one and deposit even more people there.

Was this the assignment? No, it couldn't be. The more Izuku looked the more he saw it. Wicked grins that promised pain, the vague aura of menace that seemed to almost radiate off of some of them, the hunger in eyes that looked far too excited to be staring at a group of teenagers. Izuku wouldn't have needed to see Eraserhead throw an arm out, shouting as he pressed the students back away from the steps.

These were villains.

Izuku whipped his phone out of his pocket, fumbling through his contacts to find his mentor's number. No sirens or alerts had sounded, he couldn't be sure they hadn't bypassed the security somehow, he needed to make sure Nedzu-sensei was aware of what was happening here. The call wouldn't connect. Izuku stared at the dead signal symbol in the upper corner of his screen. He'd had a signal before, he was sure of it. Turning his attention back to the security system, he tried to manually activate the intruder protocols instead. The doors slammed shut with a clang loud enough that Izuku heard it even without sound, but the silent alarm that was supposed to trip and send alerts to the main system failed.

"A quirk?" Izuku mumbled, shuffling back in his seat and taking the keyboard with him, resting it on his knees with his heels pressed into the chair seat, "a tech quirk most likely, but it's limited. Communications, maybe? No," Izuku's eyes widened as he tried to open the external camera feeds and came up empty-handed, "an isolation field? Oh that's fascinating, all of the tech in the area is isolated, it can only interact within the field. So it doesn't matter if I trip the alarm because no one can hear…" Izuku's eyes widened, staring in unblinking horror as Eraserhead leapt into the fray against countless villains, "...and I just locked us all in."

This was bad. This was really bad . Izuku had just locked the entire hero class in with more villains than he could count, and that was just the ones that the class could see, never mind the rest lying in wait in all of the disaster zones. Eraserhead was…impressive. If Izuku wasn't so frantic to try and figure out a fix for his mistake then he would have spent a lot more time just watching the man fight. But he couldn't last forever, he was still human. Eventually the villains would overwhelm him if he didn't get some kind of help.

…help?

Izuku blinked, looking down at the keyboard in his hands then back up to the wall of screens in front of him. Could he help? Logically he should be able to, right? This was the control room . He couldn't just sit and watch, not while Eraserhead was up there fighting for his life and the lives of his students. Izuku could hear the fighting above him, muffled through the solid ceiling and the patter of the fountain, but just loud enough to make it real. This wasn't a game, people's lives were on the line.

Chewing on the end of his tongue, Izuku pulled out the little brown bottle from his blazer that Hitoshi had pushed into his hands at the end of lunch. An emergency button, he'd called it, for if Izuku needed a boost and coffee wasn't helping. Izuku watched wide-eyed as the purple mist villain evaded an attack from Bakugo and a red haired boy before promptly opening half a dozen portals and depositing a dozen of the students in the six disaster zones. Right into the arms of waiting villains.

Yeah, this was definitely emergency button time.

Cracking the little bottle open, Izuku tipped his head back and drank down the contents. Surprisingly it didn't taste all that bad, pretty fruity actually. Dropping the empty bottle on the floor for future Izuku to deal with, Izuku pulled his chair close enough to the desk to reach the mouse, wriggling his fingers before he started typing. Hitoshi said it would take ten minutes to kick in, but he didn't have that long, he needed to start now and hope his brain would catch up to him.

"Okay," Izuku let himself sink into a mutterstorm, eyes flicking between the live feeds and the data in front of him, "I need to bypass the lockdown and activate the subroutines for the doors, but that's going to take a moment. The students in the disaster zones need to take priority. Landslide is…" Izuku's eyes widened as a wave of ice froze over two of his cameras, switching to another to get a good look at the red and white haired teen standing alone in the frozen epicenter, "...okay. Landslide is handled no need to worry about that. Ruins is…" Izuku grimaced, familiar blond spikes filling one viewpoint, "...ruins is probably about to become even more ruinous. Definitely not needed there."

A soft ping caught his attention, looking down from the camera feeds to the screen on the desk. The lockdown was caught in a loop, continually trying to send out alerts. But thanks to whoever had that quirk, it was never going to get-

"Wait," Izuku suppressed the urge to smack himself in the forehead, "find the guy with the quirk. So stupid, Izuku, you're better than this. Okay so, they wouldn't drop him in the center. Too obvious and too easy to single the guy out. More likely he's hiding in one of the disaster zones but which one?" Izuku looked up at the screens, shifting his gaze between zones and hunting for inconsistencies, "The students aren't split up evenly, but they've not been thrown around haphazardly. There are students in every single zone and no more than three students in a single zone so that speaks to some kind of planning. Given that they've put a frog quirk," Izuku leant in slightly, squinting at the screen, "yeah definitely a frog quirk, look at that tongue, in the shipwreck zone, quirks weren't factored into the equation which means they likely didn't know them. So they were playing to their own strengths, putting more students in places where they have more people to manage them. Given how many villains are in that mountain zone…" Izuku winced as a visible crackle of electricity blasted out, taking out every villain in a large radius, "...were in the mountain zone, they've spread themselves out based on where their strengths are. So they've put the tech quirk somewhere where they won't need to focus too hard on keeping them safe. Somewhere with not many students but plenty of villains to deal with the threat should it happe- there!" Izuku slammed his fingers on the keys, pulling up the camera feeds in the conflagration zone, eyes sparkling, "one student, a mass of villains and over here ," Izuku shifted to a separate feed, three villains separated from the group and doing as little as possible to draw attention to themselves, "our little trio of anomalies. Hello there, tech quirk."

Izuku could feel it now, the tingle in the back of his head and his fingers. A gentle buzzing that resonated so nicely with the pounding of his heart and the surge of adrenalin in his veins. He needed to get that tech quirk out of commission, so they could get out a message to the main campus. His fingers hovered over the keys, pausing as his eyes darted over the cameras one more time. Damn, the flood zone wasn't doing too great. The two students had gotten to the boat with the help of the frog quirk person but the villains were now attacking the boat. If it sank…

Izuku, running on more taurine than he had ever experienced in his life, let his fingers move over the keyboard. He wasn't entirely sure he could do it from here, but it was a flood zone. The water had to get in somewhere and if it could get in …

"Okay, drain controls drain controls," Izuku fished around in the subroutines, looking for anything that would do the job, "wave motion… whirlpool? Come back to that, I need drain controls, anything that could- oh here we go," Izuku brightened considerably, fingers flashing over the keyboard, "pump cycling. Ah hell, while we're at it, why not whirlpool! Make it a party."

Izuku watched for a couple of seconds, making sure the boat itself stayed anchored in place as the waters started to churn. Satisfied that things were okay at least for now, he turned his attention back to the conflagration zone. He'd found what he needed already, he just needed to activate it.

"Sorry, tail-quirk," Izuku muttered softly, tapping a few keys, "it's about to get a bit hotter over there." he winced, watching strategically placed detonation charges in the part of the zone where the trio were hiding out explode in a hail of rubble. The fires raged unchecked now, buildings collapsing in on themselves as the three villains scrambled over debris, clearly yelling at each other. A large chunk of building dropped, clubbing the smallest of the three across the head and she dropped like a stone.

"Gotcha," Izuku punched the air as another soft ping announced that the alerts had been sent. Now all he needed to do was unlock the doors and-

Izuku stared in horror as a villain covered in hands gripped Eraserhead's elbow, bile crawling up the back of his throat as the flesh flaked away around the villain's grip. The hero leapt back and Izuku heaved a sigh of relief. He was okay, he was going to be fine, the alarms had gone out and heroes would be here to help soon.

As a hulking monstrosity Izuku had never seen anything like before, not even in his nightmares, edged into view of the camera; Izuku was starting to think that maybe soon would not be soon enough. Izuku cried out, clutching the edges of the keyboard tightly, as the monster grabbed Eraserhead and slammed him face first into the ground. Dust showered down on him and Izuku's gaze slowly tracked up to the wide crack splitting across the ceiling. The thing had slammed the hero into the ground so hard that he had split the ceiling ? Izuku looked back at the screen just in time to see a massive hand snap Eraserhead's arm like a twig, to see the hand-covered villain step into view and stare down at the mangled mess of man the monster had created. They were going to kill him. They were going to kill Eraserhead . Izuku felt sick, he couldn't do it, he couldn't watch villains kill a person in front of him. Taking a deep breath, Izuku prayed that he'd done enough, that the heroes would be here soon to save the students, to save everyone.

And squeezed his eyes shut tight.

Chapter 11

Chapter Text

In the years since Nedzu's hard-won freedom and subsequent instatement as the principal of U.A. High School, he could count on one paw the number of truly memorable moments that had stuck with him. He couldn't recall with unerring accuracy from memory when All Might had reached number one in the rankings, nor when the reputation of his school had skyrocketed to first place. (Though he could say with certainty that the former was the direct cause of the latter.). High Specs was not an omniscient quirk, in fact it had very little to do with memory at all. It was only logical to remember things of utmost importance and discard the rest. Triage was not just a medical practice.

So of course, he remembered precisely the moment that Midoriya Izuku stepped through his office door.

To be perfectly equitable, Nedzu had known that he was going to meet someone spectacular from the moment he had laid eyes on the boy's entrance exam. In four hours, not only had a fifteen year old boy managed to work his way through a two hundred question exam covering multiple subjects (some of them considered university level curriculum) with surprising accuracy, but he had also managed to produce a twelve page dissertation (because there was no other word that could truly capture the quality of the work presented) on heroic law and ethics.

The last time Nedzu had been so excited to meet someone had been fifteen years ago, when Shutdown's son had appeared in the recommendation exam. Nedzu hadn't been able to acquire the boy as a personal student until around halfway through his second year and the circumstances surrounding the acceptance were… unpleasant, but Aizawa Shouta had eventually thrived in his own way. Truly, Nedzu was exceptionally proud of his Heroics Department's head teacher and the feats the man had accomplished over the years. He kept a personal scrapbook of his student's greatest moments, things that would be inefficient to keep as core memories, just like any proud mentor would.

Nedzu knew that he would need a new scrapbook the first time Izuku blinked.

If it had been anyone else save for him, Nedzu was certain they wouldn't have put the pieces together. If he was honest it had taken him eight blinks to truly comprehend. But his thoughts moved too quickly, his synapses were too sharp not to notice the subtle shift. The way his whiskers twitched, a spasm of his facial muscles that he had absolutely no control over. It was truly fascinating and incredibly curious, considering that Midoriya Izuku was listed in the National Quirk Registry as quirkless. Something to look into. Quietly.

It had taken less than an hour after Midoriya Izuku had left to put the pieces together. Of all the connections, it wasn't one that he was expecting. Which in itself was interesting, very few things actually took him by surprise. He sat at his desk, smoothing his paws over the fresh manilla folder in front of him for longer than he had intended to while he considered his options. Long enough, in fact, for the school day to end and his other (perhaps former now? Something to consider) student to arrive and drop himself into the comfort of the armchair by the bookshelf. It really was curious that they had both picked the same chair.

"Something interesting?" Nedzu smiled and slid the folder off of the desk and into his drawer, making sure it was firmly closed before he hopped off of his chair to push it over to the chess board still sitting in front of the underground hero.

"Quite fascinating indeed!" He chirped, hopping back into his seat and moving a pawn without preamble, "I'll be taking a new student this year." Long fingers hesitated in reaching for a chess piece, onyx eyes staring at him from behind a curtain of equally dark hair with a mix of curiosity and suspicion.

"That's… surprising." Nedzu nodded, using Shouta's distraction to neatly capture his queen's knight, "I don't recall seeing a student in the practical that you took much interest in. A recommendation student?"

Right then and there, Nedzu had decided what he would do with the information he had learned.

"Interesting," Nedzu folded his paws on his lap, regarding his student calmly. Across the chessboard, Nedzu could see the flicker of panic in the man's eyes, "what leads you to believe that they're a hero student?" If there had been a prize for greatest impersonation of a statue, Aizawa Shouta would have taken home first place right then and there. Nedzu twitched his whiskers, unable to help the smile that came with the movement. Truly, Midoriya Izuku was fascinating .

"Consider this a new assignment, Shouta-kun," Nedzu had moved his tower while he spoke, cutting off the man's escape route, "I'll give you until the summer to identify my new personal student. Asking your colleagues defeats the purpose of the exercise, so I would refrain from doing so."

He must have been lax, for his student to have developed such a narrow perspective over the years. The hero students were not always the best and brightest that U.A. had to offer, in fact since the remodel of the entrance exam some of the finest candidates have been relegated to other departments or even other schools entirely. That knowledge still made Nedzu's fur bristle. His student needed to relearn how to observe and determine the facts for himself. Nedzu would keep his knowledge close to his chest and wait for Shouta-kun to discover the facts which, to Nedzu's mind, were so glaringly obvious he doubted anyone would miss them for long for himself.

The same would go for Izuku and discovering the nature of his own quirk. Nedzu was…concerned about the situation there, it would require a delicate hand and careful maneuvering. It would take time to approach and even longer to convince, that much was certain.

But now, as he used the app on his phone to override the lockdown at the USJ for the heroes to get inside, Nedzu found himself wondering whether the path he had chosen was the wisest.

Inside was chaos. Some of the students from 1A were crouched beside Thirteen, desperate hands holding thick layers of tape in place across the back of their spacesuit. The rest of U.A's faculty poured in through the entrance, support items and quirks ready to go as they descended on the remaining villains heading their way, picking off the small fry before they could get to the students.

It was the screaming from the central plaza that drew Nedzu's attention.

Of all the things he had expected to see, he could safely say that none of his expectations had included a pale haired villain shrieking in equal parts fear and fury as he scrabbled away from the hulking monster bearing down on him. Nedzu watched on in pure shock as the villain fell backwards into the fountain, barely managing to drag himself out again before a dark hand smashed down, turning the water feature into so much rubble. He watched as a villain shrouded in purple took two steps forward and froze as the fog dissipated, giving way to sky blue hair tufting around the large metal casing obscuring the rest of the face. Nedzu's nose twitched at the thick scent of blood in the air, so strong he could almost taste it.

His staff were finishing up the last of the smaller villains while Snipe stood at his side taking shots at the monster in the center that it seemed to not even notice when the hand villain crashed into the blue haired villain, sending them both tumbling backwards towards the ground. The purple fog washed back in before they landed and in less than a heartbeat, a large swirling portal snapped open beneath them and they vanished. The monstrosity lurched to a halt, arms falling heavily to its sides and eyes staring off into the distance. Even from the top of the stairs, Nedzu could see that they were dull, lifeless. A form of control, maybe? Some kind of obedience quirk would make sense, seeing as the minute it stepped outside of-

"Shouta!" Nedzu bristled at the panicked tone in Present Mic's voice as the blond hero practically threw himself down the stairs, bolting towards the central plaza and…oh. Oh no. That was his student on the ground, wasn't it.

Nedzu scurried down the stairs, heedless of the students slowly making their way back to the top of the stairs with the help of some of his teachers. Everyone, it seemed, had been found and corralled safely back to the rest of the group. Everyone except for the one person who no-one knew was present save for himself and Thirteen. He reached the main plaza as Yamada was carefully picking Shouta-kun up off of the ground, blood dripping from dark hair into the crater where his head had been lying. The blond looked up as Nedzu got close enough for the now-familiar sensation of his synapses rerouting themselves ever so slightly, slowing down his thoughts just enough for it to be noticeable. It was almost peaceful, really. Shouta-kun couldn't affect mutation quirks after all, so any attempts to alter High Specs with Erasure had proven fruitless. This was an entirely new experience for him.

"Midoriya's here, isn't he." It wasn't a question. Nedzu blinked at Yamada for a second as the man stood up with his friend cradling in his arms before he nodded.

"He's quite safe below in the control room, I assure you."

"He shouldn't have been here alone, Nedzu," the principal couldn't fault the man for the bitterness in his tone as he walked past, though he cleared his throat gently.

"I daresay that Izuku-kun's presence was more beneficial than harmful, in this instance. His quirk was assuredly…" what Nedzu had been intending to say died in his throat as the blond halted for a second, glancing over his shoulder. Nedzu felt his fur ruffle slightly at the look the hero gave him.

"You need to tell him about that. Keeping him in the dark for whatever experiment or assignment you've decided on will only hurt him in the end. If you don't want him to hate you, then tell him."

Nedzu watched Yamada start up the stairs with Shouta-kun, the wail of sirens outside heralding the medical services that had arrived, before he opened the control room and descended the stairs to collect his young student. He wasn't heartless, contrary to popular belief. He disliked most humans, distrusted them, but he was capable enough of empathy when it mattered.

Seeing the young green-haired boy huddled in the chair, head buried deeply in his arms and practically sobbing into his knees, broke Nedzu's heart.

"Izuku-kun," Nedzu reached up to gently lay a paw on the boy's arm. His thoughts flickered back to their usual rapid pace moments before vibrant green eyes emerged, set in a heavily tear stained face, "it's over, now. You're okay. Everyone is safe." Those eyes, wide and terrified and unblinking, flicked upwards. Nedzu looked up to see the crack in the ceiling, directly below the crater where his other student's head had been.

"E-everyone?" the tremulous whisper drowned out the noise from outside of the room, "they're all safe?" Nedzu smiled and patted the boy's arm gently, connecting the pieces. He'd closed his eyes because he couldn't watch anymore. Izuku had probably inadvertently saved Shouta's life in doing so.

"Everyone's alive, Izuku-kun. I promise." His thoughts stuttered a little as the teenager rapidly blinked tears out of his eyes, giving up when more cascaded down his face.

"They- they were going to kill him ," Izuku's fingers twisted over themselves and Nedzu wished he had something to give the boy to distract him, "and I couldn't-I couldn't do anything." Nedzu paused, considering his options.

Yamada was right. Izuku needed to know, he really did. He had a wealth of unharnessed power that was being wasted because of the people in his life. But Nedzu knew, all too well, what it was like to be at the mercy of others. To be held down and prevented from reaching your fullest potential by the people around you. He didn't want to be part of that list for Izuku, but his hands were quite firmly tied on this. Izuku's belief that he was quirkless was almost cult-like in its rigidity. Someone had planted this idea so firmly in him that any suggestion to the contrary caused severe meltdowns. They had to be careful , to undo the knots one by one until he could untangle his student from the web enough to pull him free.

"You saved him, Izuku," Nedzu patted the boy's hand gently, only flinching slightly when a mess of tousled green waves dropped down onto his shoulder with a soft sob, "you saved them all."

He couldn't force Izuku to face the truth yet. But he could do this much.

Chapter 12

Chapter Text

Izuku's phone buzzed against his leg, jolting him out of the daze he had been drifting into. A quick glance at the window confirmed it was still dark outside and the silence in the house confirmed he hadn't wasted too much time. Blinking watery eyes, Izuku fished his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it, flinching away from the harsh glare of the screen. Four in the morning, what was Hitoshi doing texting him at four in the morning?

Hitoshi:

Why is English so hard? I swear this language is trying to kill me. Why do the letters make so many different sounds?

Izuku snorted softly, tucking his legs up on the chair so he could rest his chin on his knees while he typed.

Izuku:

Just wait until you start learning homophones and homonyms. Do you need help?

Hitoshi:

I should have known you would actually be awake. English help would be great, don't think I need help with the homo though.

Well that was an interesting piece of information, to be sure. Izuku blinked at his screen, watching the little typing icon appear and disappear for a few minutes while he avidly pretended he wasn't cherry red from the neck up.

Hitoshi:

Shit.

Didn't mean to send that. I have no filter at this time of night. Sorry.

Not about the homo, I'm not ashamed. But you know. Word vomit.

Which I am still doing.

Sorry.

Fuck I'm just going to go drown myself in the sink now.

Izuku muffled a laugh against his knees. It was a little strange, seeing someone other than him rambling and flustered. Not in a bad way though, if Izuku was honest it was kind of cute. His fingers flew over the keys, hiding his smile on his leg.

Izuku:

Well at least I don't need to help you out of the closet then. I'm more experienced with kitchen cabinets.

Hitoshi:

I feel like I'm missing something. Why kitchen cabinets?

Izuku:

Do you keep your pans somewhere else?

Hitoshi:

…

Fuck. I hate that that made me laugh. Damnit.

Izuku grinned widely, tucking his face into his knees. Having someone to text in the ridiculous hours of the night when he was struggling to stay awake was a new feeling. Honestly, having someone to text at all was a new feeling. Izuku definitely liked it. His phone buzzed in his hand, drawing his attention back to the new message on the screen.

Hitoshi:

If you were serious about help though I would definitely take you up on that. I can't afford to fail this class and have them use it as an excuse for me not to transfer.

Izuku:

Well it is my assignment to train you, after all. I don't mind though. What part are you stuck on?

Izuku tried to explain over text, he really did. Comparatives weren't the easiest thing to really explain without being able to actually talk. But his mom was asleep and Izuku knew better than to make more noise than was absolutely necessary. She worked long hours at a hard job, she needed the sleep.

Hitoshi:

This isn't working at all.

Izuku:

Sorry, it's harder to explain in texts than actually speaking.

The text window was silent. No typing icon appeared, just a little 'read' listed underneath his last message. Izuku chewed on the inside of his lip, staring at the screen until it timed out and reflected his own exhausted eyes back at him in the dim light from his desk lamp. He was a terrible friend, he couldn't even help with one simple thing. Izuku didn't blame Hitoshi for going to find someone better, smarter, more capable of-

Izuku's phone vibrated. He almost dropped it twice trying to unlock the screen.

Hitoshi:

You know, we do have a day off of school today. And we both live in Musutafu. We could do the actually speaking thing if that would mean I don't fail English.

Izuku stared at the screen, reading through the message over and over again. Was that…was Hitoshi asking him to study together? Izuku's thumbs trembled as they hovered over the screen. No one had ever asked Izuku to study with them. Ever. Was there some kind of protocol for this? What was the right answer here? Another message lit up Izuku's screen while he was busy panicking about the last one.

Hitoshi:

You don't have to if you don't want to. It's fine.

Izuku:

No! I want to! Sorry.

No one's ever asked me to study with them before.

I didn't know if there was something I was supposed to say or not.

Hitoshi:

Oh. Well if it makes you feel better I've never actually asked anyone to come over and study before. So we're both new to this, no way to tell if we're making mistakes or not.

Izuku did feel better about that, actually. Not being the only person who didn't know how to do these things was kind of nice. The sun was peeking over the horizon, first sharp rays cutting across Izuku's face by the time they'd finalized plans for the day. His mom would be up soon, getting ready to leave for work, and then Izuku could leave. Until then he switched to a new tab on his browser and started looking through refreshers on comparatives, too full of nervous energy to even feel tired like he usually would. He was going to a friend's house ! A real friend, who had invited him over to study, because he actually wanted to hang out! With Izuku! He smothered a small smile with the palm of his hand cupping his chin.

For once, Izuku didn't feel quite so alone in the world.

It was nerve wracking, standing at the edge of a park first thing in the morning waiting for Hitoshi. They'd decided on meeting there so Izuku didn't have to deal with the anxiety of knocking on someone's door and hoping he'd got the right place but now that he was stood here, avidly ignoring the uncomfortable looks strangers were giving him as they walked past and nursing his coffee thermos, Izuku was wondering whether the anxiety of waiting was better or worse. He couldn't shake the nagging voice in the back of his head telling him that this was going to be another joke at his expense, that somewhere nearby a group of kids was watching him and laughing while he waited and waited and wai-

"Izuku!" Izuku's gaze snapped up from his thermos to the cloud of purple jogging across the street, eyes widening slightly as he realized he'd never seen Hitoshi out of his uniform before.

Izuku wasn't quite sure how the other teen managed to make weathered black jeans and a loose knitted cream sweater look that good but he definitely wasn't complaining. Glancing down, Izuku tugged gently at the hem of his ratty old hoodie and wished he'd put a little more effort into his appearance than grabbing the first thing that his fingers touched when he opened his closet. Not that his hoodie was bad , it was oversized and warm and just the right shade of gray, but he felt… underdressed.

"Hey," Izuku blinked up at Hitoshi. When had he gotten so close? "Sorry I'm late."

"Oh, no! Not at all!" Izuku flustered, waving his free hand around, "I was early! I only just got here, really!" Something in Hitoshi's eyes softened a little.

"Okay," Izuku grinned, stifling a yawn in the side of his hood, "come on, my house isn't far from here. I hope you're ready to- ack!"

It was a split second decision, not made of any kind of rational thought except the vestiges of anxious energy from pacing his room for the last two and a half hours waiting to be able to leave, combined with the exhaustion of less than an hour of sleep. As Hitoshi turned back the way he had come Izuku stuffed his thermos in the pocket of his hoodie, wrapped both hands over the taller teen's shoulders and leapt onto his back. Hands instinctively wrapped around his legs, holding him up as he got situated properly with his arms draped around his friend's neck and his chin resting on one shoulder. Izuku could feel the warmth radiating off of the ear pressed against his cheek.

"Uhm," Izuku readjusted a little so his thermos wasn't crushed against Hitoshi's back, "I guess you didn't sleep much."

"Mmmmnope," Izuku mumbled, settling his head comfortably against Hitoshi's soft, pillowy hair, "you need strength training. Can't be a hero with those spindly arms."

"Uhuh," Izuku closed his eyes, finally comfortable, "somethi-woah." Izuku frowned, had Hitoshi's voice always been that deep or was he just more tired than he thought, "something tells me you just didn't want to walk." Izuku grinned then but didn't answer, the slight swaying of his pillow beneath him letting him know that they were moving. Perfect for a quick nap.

Izuku was going to kill Hitoshi. He was going to beat him to death with his coffee thermos and no one would ever find the body. The purple teen was doing a great job of avoiding Izuku's exhausted glare but he was going to give it nonetheless. His friend should know that his death is coming and that he deserves it. His punishment for dropping a bomb like this on Izuku's head without warning.

Friends don't hide that their mom is a pro hero!

"Mom," Izuku was doing his best not to fanboy as Miss Joke, Miss Joke! , beamed her signature smile across the kitchen at him. Beside him, Hitoshi sounded resigned to his fate, "this is my frie-"

"It's so nice to meet you!" Izuku found himself under the scrutiny of green eyes nearly as dark as his. For how bright her smile was, Izuku could see the steely glint in those eyes. He was being weighed and measured right now, "Wow, Hitoshi, you sure do take after me huh?" Izuku wasn't sure what that meant entirely, though from the sputter next to him Hitoshi did, "I'm Fukukado Emi, but you can just call me Emi okay?"

Izuku bowed, his hood flopping back down over his head as he did, "It's nice to meet you," he was glad he didn't sound quite as nervous as he felt, "I'm Midoriya Izuku." Miss J- Emi frowned and Izuku froze. He'd said something wrong, what had he done? He was going to get thrown out and lose his only friend because he was too stupid to even introduce himself properly.

"Midoriya?" Izuku blinked a few times, confused, "not Aizawa?"

Izuku heard the soft hiss from Hitoshi next to him, though he missed any actual words that were spoken. He was too busy being confused. This was the second time that someone had brought up Aizawa around him. Both of them were pro heroes. Something was just off about it, his exhausted brain wasn't putting the pieces together. Not that he even had enough pieces to begin with. His mouth opened before his mind could catch up, blurting the only think he could actually think to say.

"Who the hell is Aizawa, and why do pro heroes keep asking if I'm related to them?"

Chapter 13

Chapter Text

"Who the hell is Aizawa, and why do pro heroes keep asking if I'm related to them?"

To her credit, Ms. Joke looked equal parts confused and embarrassed by Izuku's response. From the look Hitoshi was giving her, his friend must definitely have said something he missed while he was trying to get his thoughts in working order again.

"I'm so sorry, Midoriya-kun," the woman actually sounded apologetic, not a tone of voice Izuku heard very often, "I didn't mean to bring up a problem for you. Aizawa-san is…someone I work with." Izuku's eyebrows rose at that. It was an interesting choice of words. As a pro hero, there were a lot of people that Hitoshi's mom could work with that would coincide with Present Mic. Police, reporters, inter-agency staff, HPSC employees. Hell they were both teachers at hero schools, that was an entire extra grouping of connections right there. But refusing to actually name their job implied that it was something that she wasn't at liberty to disclose, which narrowed the field quite a bit.

"Wow," Izuku blinked, pulled from his train of thought by the single syllable and looking up into surprised eyes, "I can see why Hitoshi asked if you could come over and study. That is some impressive reasoning, Midoriya-kun." Izuku could feel the heat rising up his neck, his thoughts stuttering to a flustered halt at the praise.

"That's not even half of it," Izuku could see the grin on his friend's face in his peripheral vision, "Izuku is fluent in English, so he spends that period taking personal lessons and playing chess with Principal Nedzu!" The shock on Ms. Joke's face was more than enough to bump Izuku up to a whole new level of flustered panic. He was not awake enough for this!

"Alright, alright," Ms. Joke laughed cheerfully, "I think we should stop before we break your friend, Hii-hii. Do you boys need anything for your studying?" Izuku glanced at Hitoshi, who just raised an eyebrow at him. Izuku sighed softly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Coffee?" He asked hesitantly, wincing a little at the look Ms. Joke and Hitoshi shared, "if it's too much trouble then it's fine, I don't want to be a bother."

"It's not too much trouble," Izuku couldn't place the tone in the woman's voice, but he was sure he'd heard the same note in Yamada-sensei's voice as well, "how do you take your coffee, Midoriya-kun?"

"Just Izuku is okay, please," Izuku smiled softly, "and black? As strong as you can make it?"

"He's not kidding either, Mom," Hitoshi piped up as he waved Izuku over, heading for the stairs while a real live pro hero made Izuku coffee (he would have a meltdown over that later), "Izuku takes a thermos full of espresso to school every day and it's usually gone by lunch."

Izuku was just far enough down the stairs to hear the woman's low, murmured, "how the fuck. " before he was scampering up the steps after his friend, flushed cheeks burning hot. It wasn't his fault that coffee didn't really do that much for him anymore! He really needed to get some more of those bottles Hitoshi had given him, that had really done the job for a while.

"This is my room," Izuku almost ran into Hitoshi's back as the teen stopped, stretching up on the tips of his toes to peek over his shoulder, "it's not much, but-"

"Woah." Izuku breathed, eyes wide with wonder as he took in the veritable cave of wonders that was Hitoshi's room. Colorful books stacked in haphazard piles against the wall beside a desk that Izuku couldn't even see the surface of for scraps of paper, pots of colored pencils stuffed in together alongside screwdrivers and wrenches; and the remains of what Izuku was pretty sure was a speaker scattered across the top. Izuku was pretty sure the bed was made, though he couldn't quite tell with the pile of pillows and throws heaped on top of it. Soft blue curtains fluttered in the breeze and the rug spread across the floor looked softer than Izuku's bed at home did. He wanted to press his fingers into the bright geometric shapes and find out for himself.

What really caught Izuku's eye, though, were the posters .

Every visible inch of Hitoshi's walls was plastered in hero posters. Not like Izuku's, with just All Might, but so many different heroes. Ducking under Hitoshi's arm, Izuku stared at them all in wonder. There was Present Mic, and Midnight, and there was a Crimson Riot poster Izuku had seen in a store window one time; was that the Wild Wild Pussycats? Izuku was pretty sure he was vibrating with excitement as he turned on the spot, naming one hero after the other as their merch caught his eye. His eyes tracked upwards, above Hitoshi's bed to a spot of darkness that caught his peripheral vision. Was that-

" No way ," Izuku's shins collided with the side of Hitoshi's bed and he almost faceplanted directly into the pile of pillows, staring directly upwards, "is that Eraserhead ?"

Izuku had never seen Eraserhead merch. Ever. It wasn't even a guarantee that it was Eraserhead, but Izuku couldn't think of another hero it could be for. Almost entirely jet black, with the faintest hint of gray outlining the silhouette from one side, and that bold splash of canary yellow. It was amazing, he couldn't tear his eyes away from it.

"Yeah," Izuku didn't know why his friend sounded embarrassed, it was awesome, "it took a while to find the right shade of yellow."

Wait a minute.

"You made that?" Izuku rounded on Hitoshi, wide eyed. The faintest hints of pink were creeping into the taller teen's cheeks, "are you kidding? I thought you bought it, I was going to ask where you got it so I could try and get one myself."

"I, uhm," Izuku watched Hitoshi shift from foot to foot. Anxiety, maybe? "Thanks. I'm just uh," the pink flush in his cheekbones had definitely spread to his ears and the bridge of his nose now, Izuku could tell while his friend looked everywhere except for at him, "I'm just gonna go get that coffee. Yeah. Uhm. Sit wherever you want, I'll be right back!"

Izuku blinked after the teen's rapidly retreating back before turning to look around Hitoshi's room again. It really was nothing like Izuku's room; there were no bookshelves full of nothing but textbooks, it wasn't meticulously organized and neat. It was bright colors and meaningful chaos and… it felt warm . Slowly, Izuku sat down on the edge of the bed, sinking into the massive pile of cushions. A slightly battered, well loved stuffed animal tumbled out from behind a cushion practically on top of his face as Izuku tumbled back into the softness. He was almost positive that this was what laying on a cloud would be like. Y'know, if they weren't just big balls of water vapor and actually had substance.

"Hello there," Izuku murmured softly as he picked up the stuffed animal, he was pretty sure it was a wolf, fur worn down to the fabric in places and one glass eye missing, "I didn't mean to disturb you from your den. It's a very comfortable den, I hope you don't mind sharing it with me for a minute?" He would need to move in a moment, Hitoshi would be back and Izuku needed to sit up so he could focus on helping his friend with his English homework.

Impulsively, Izuku pressed the stuffed toy to his face, breathing in deeply. He was surrounded by the sweet scent of cinnamon and vanilla and an underlying hint of something that Izuku was beginning to recognize as purely Hitoshi. It was quite possibly the most relaxing place Izuku had been, ever. Usually soft places woke him up, made him feel weird, but he could almost feel the dull persistent tension in his muscles slowly soaking out of his pores the longer he laid here.

Closing his eyes for just a minute couldn't hurt, right?

Izuku groaned and rolled over, blinking sleep out of his eyes only for his vision to be flooded with soft lavender. Indigo eyes blinked at him from the edge of the bed.

"Mmmm, time s'it?" Slowly he sat up, sighing in relief when his spine popped. Comfortable places always hurt when he woke up. Something soft and warm tumbled off of his chest into his lap and Izuku looked down at the worn stuffed wolf. Weird, he'd never had a stuffed wolf. There'd never been anyone in his room either.

"It's almost 11," Izuku nodded, reaching up to smother a yawn, "you slept for about forty minutes." That wasn't bad, at least Hitoshi had kept track of the time-

Wait.

Izuku squeaked softly, heat flooding his cheeks. He was on Hitoshi's bed. He had fallen asleep on Hitoshi's bed . He was supposed to come over here and help his friend with his homework , not take a nap! He didn't have time to take naps for his own benefit, never mind helping someone else! Forty minutes of time wasted when he could have been-

"Izuku," his train of thought screeched to a panicked halt when Hitoshi's voice interrupted his mutterings, "it's fine. You clearly needed the sleep and it's not even lunchtime yet. As long as you're okay with it, we can study this afternoon." Izuku huffed a soft, relieved sigh and nodded. At least he wasn't in trouble for slacking off.

"You could have woken me up though, I wouldn't have minded," Izuku picked up the wolf in his lap, stroking the weathered fur gently, "thank you for letting me share your den," he murmured softly before tucking it back behind the pillow he was fairly sure it had come from. Sliding off of the bed, he tried his best to rearrange the pillow pile back to how he had found it before he sat down on the floor next to Hitoshi, the teen's ears a brilliantly warm shade of pink. Izuku watched him open his mouth, hesitate, then close it again before lifting his hands instead.

What do you want to do until lunch?

Izuku frowned, "Can we talk about that? Is that okay?" After a moment, Hitoshi nodded hesitantly, "Why don't you ask questions?" Izuku had figured out Hitoshi's quirk was triggered by questions almost immediately after he made Bakugo knock himself out, but no matter how many times he told his friend that he could ask questions, Hitoshi never did. There was something going on there, "Is it because of the villain quirk thing? Because I can make you another presentation on why that's stupid if I need to." Hitoshi snorted softly and Izuku grinned. He had, in fact, given Hitoshi an entire essay on all the heroic uses for his quirk. Hitoshi had cried. Again.

"Partly." Izuku shifted so he was facing the violet teen, watching slender fingers pick anxiously at a stray thread in his jeans, "it's also just…" Hitoshi sighed, his shoulders slumping a little. Izuku's chest ached just watching him. His voice was so soft Izuku almost missed it, barely above a whisper.

"It hurts ."

Oh. Oh. Oh that actually made so much sense. Izuku's fingers tapped gently on his knees as he thought about it. Voice quirks had a specific vocal timbre, a little higher pitched than other people's, it would make total sense that it…

"Hey Hitoshi," Izuku shuffled forwards slightly, eyes sparkling with the almost manic intrigue that quirk theory sparked in him, "could I feel your throat? Ah!" Color warmed his face, he realized almost immediately what he'd said after he said it, "not like… I mean… your voice! Your vocal cords, I want to check something! But only if it's okay with you, I mean, consent matters!"

"...Yeah," Izuku blinked at the softly flushed face that nodded at him, "yeah you can, you can feel. How uh…" Izuku caught it, almost at the same time Hitoshi winced ever so slightly. The faintest distortion in his words. Like strumming guitar strings.

" Fascinating ," Izuku shifted onto his knees and leant in, eyes wide as he pressed his fingertips gently to Hitoshi's skin, "definitely some vocal mutation, you can hear it. The adam's apple isn't distended, you wouldn't know just from looking that there's a difference. But you can definitely feel it, goodness. Here, feel the difference," Izuku reached down and felt around for one of Hitoshi's hands, fixated completely on the teen's throat while he pressed his friend's hand against his own throat, "your larynx is larger, like, a lot larger. But your voice is higher, which usually means more tension. Ohhh, maybe you have… could you hum for me?" Izuku stared, fascinated as the skin beneath his fingertips vibrated with the sound, " so fascinating ! I think you have more vocal cords! It would make so much sense, really. The vocal part of your quirk is an emitter, you need a specific range of sound to emit it! So that would mean-" Izuku's gaze flicked upwards to wide indigo eyes staring at him from very close proximity . Fingers that weren't his twitched slightly against his throat, reminding Izuku of their presence on his skin.

Squeaking, Izuku snatched his hand back, rocking back on his heels and focusing intently on the posters on the wall. He was not turning crimson again. He was not .

"So," Izuku jumped slightly when Hitoshi spoke, the teen pausing to clear his throat, "that would mean…" Ah, he could talk quirk theory, that was a safe subject.

"Ah, that would mean that," Izuku rubbed his fingers gently against each other, focusing on anything except for how soft Hitoshi's skin had been, "that would mean that your quirk hurts because your extra vocal cords aren't active." He risked a glance at his friend, tilting his head on the confusion in the teen's face, "quirks want to be used," Izuku explained, falling into lecture mode as easily as breathing, "that's why we end up with so many quirk accidents, people who don't get to use their quirks because of societal or legal repercussions whose quirks finally bottleneck and the backlash causes more problems than if they were just allowed to use their natural born abilities a little more regularly." Izuku took a breath. He was getting off track, he could rant about the issues in society later, "for you, that means your quirk wants you to ask questions. Your vocal cords want to be used ." Hitoshi's eyes were growing wider with every word, it seemed like. Izuku pushed on, "so the more you don't use them, the tenser they get. I bet you have points where you can't talk, right?" Hitoshi nodded, "yeah, it's because your quirk is causing pressure in your throat and seizing the muscles in your larynx. You need to ask questions, Hitoshi. You can ask me all the questions you want, any time you want," Izuku smiled softly, "it'll hurt less if you just use it."

The lavender teen was silent, staring at the bright green shapes on the rug beneath them. Izuku took the opportunity to run his fingers over the top of the rug, tracing the patterns. He was right, it was soft.

"You promise?" It was such a quiet question, but Izuku could feel the thrum of quirk in it, dancing in the air between them. Looking up, emerald eyes meeting amethyst, Izuku smiled widely at his friend.

"I promise." The sensation was almost instant, a subtle dulling of his senses. It was like someone had thrown a blanket over his brain, cutting him off from the outside world aside from muted, muffled sounds. Almost as soon as it settled, it lifted, leaving Izuku blinking in the bright midday light across from a mildly panicked Hitoshi.

From the bottom of the stairs, Ms. Joke called them down for food but Izuku barely noticed, practically vibrating with excitement as he stared at Hitoshi. The latter looked like he was heading to his own execution, waiting for Izuku to freak out. Which Izuku was more than happy to do.

"That was amazing !" Hitoshi gaped at him, "your quirk is so nice and soothing! Have you tested it much? How long do you think you can keep someone under? Oh man, a whole day feeling that calm and relaxed would be weird but also so nice. How much can you make someone do? Can you make them talk? What's the most complex thing you-"

"Uh," Izuku stopped for breath mid-sentence at the soft choked noise that spilled from Hitoshi's lips, unshed tears shining in indigo eyes, "I think we should- we should probably eat, mum is calling." Izuku nodded, shoulders slumping a little as he pulled himself to his feet. He'd gone too far again, "we could," he paused and looked up at his friend, who was avidly looking anywhere else except for at Izuku, pink dusting the bridge of his nose, "we could find out later if you really want. I don't know any of those answers."

The beaming smile that stretched across Izuku's face could have lit half of Mustafu for a week.

Chapter 14

Chapter Text

Being carried around like a backpack was starting to become a habit. Not a bad habit, Hitoshi didn't seem to mind in the slightest and honestly the extra weight would go a long way towards his friend building better strength and endurance more naturally than if he spent time in a gym, but still a habit.

"I don't see why we need to go to Recovery Girl," Izuku pressed his cheek against Hitoshi's shoulder, ignoring the strands of hair tickling his nose while his friend grouched quietly, "we could just work on it when we're working with Yamada-sensei."

"Nope," Izuku slapped his fingers lazily against his friend's chest, he was far too comfortable for actual energy, "you need to get used to asking questions regularly, Hitoshi, or you're going to take so much longer learning your limits because it hurts. Getting a quirk exemption for you is the best option." To his credit Hitoshi didn't argue, just sighed heavily and hiked Izuku up higher on his back. Smiling into the curve of his friend's neck, Izuku reached out for the door to the nurse's office since Hitoshi's hands were occupied with holding him up.

Only for the door to slide open before he could touch it.

"If you insist on being a stubborn fool," Izuku recognized Recovery Girl's voice from when he broke his nose, "then don't come crying to me when your injuries take twice as long to heal!"

"I have classes to teach," oh wow, whoever was speaking sounded about as exhausted as Izuku felt, "it's illogical to spend my time here when I'm still capable of doing so." Izuku shifted his head slightly, adjusting on Hitoshi's shoulder just enough to get a glimpse of whoever was talking.

Black eyes stared out from a swath of bandages, no other distinguishing features visible except for the fall of tousled black hair. Izuku's eyes tracked downwards to the man's arms, both wrapped tightly in bandages and strapped snugly in place.

Pale fingers wrapped around a black-clad elbow, fabric and skin and muscle flaking away like bitter ashes. A broken arm gripped tightly in a fist too big to be human, shoulder trembling with the strain.

Those bandages shifted out of Izuku's view as Hitoshi stepped out of the way, Izuku moving his face deeper into the haze of violet hair to watch the hero as he walked away. Slightly stiffer than Izuku remembered from the cameras of the USJ but that costume was unmistakable even without the injuries.

"Izuku," he rubbed his chin against Hitoshi's shoulder by way of acknowledgement, "I'm not sure if you're trying to tear my buttons off, but I don't know how to sew them back on if you do."

"Sorry," Izuku sheepishly untangled his fingers from their bruisingly-tight grip on Hitoshi's shirt, "I wasn't expecting to see Eraserhead back so soon." Cold fingers squeezed Izuku's legs gently. He had told Hitoshi everything that had happened at the USJ, his friend knew how badly seeing the hero get hurt had affected him. Seeing him back already, albeit covered in bandages, Izuku was amazed and mildly terrified by the man.

"Well don't just stand there," both teens jumped at the terse voice barking at them, "get him inside so I can see what's wrong now." Izuku frowned as Hitoshi walked them both in the door, confused, "you should have gone to Nedzu's office instead of bringing him to mine, young man."

"Oh," Izuku wriggled on Hitoshi's back until his friend sighed heavily and let go of his legs so Izuku could hop down safely, "no, I'm fine. We're just working on Hitoshi's endurance." The gray-haired nurse squinted at him suspiciously, Izuku scratched the back of his neck, "we're actually here for a quirk exemption letter?"

"I can write you one," Izuku wasn't sure why Recovery Girl sounded suspicious, it was just a quirk exemption letter, "but you don't need one for a passive-"

"For me!" Hitoshi interrupted the nurse, looking slightly frantic. Everyone was acting a little strange today, maybe Izuku really did need another nap, "my quirk is a call and response vocal emitter, and I uh, haven't been using it. Izuku says that if I want my throat not to hurt, I'm going to have to actually use it. So-"

"So you need an exemption letter to use it outside of your scheduled quirk control lessons," the nurse finished for him, hopping up into her desk chair, "name?"

"Shinsou Hitoshi." Izuku fiddled with the buttons on his blazer, watching the older hero's fingers move across the keyboard. He had no idea anyone actually still typed that slowly.

"Brainwashing," Izuku watched Hitoshi's shoulders inch up to his ears as the nurse hummed softly, "quite a volatile quirk to write an exemption for. Are you sure that-"

"Brainwashing is a misnomer," Izuku sighed heavily, cutting the woman off. This is why he hated that their quirks were named so early in life, and usually by quirk counselors, "I've been on the receiving end of Hitoshi's quirk. It's a mental quirk with a call and response emitter component that induces a trance state similar to hypnosis, or sleepwalking. Nowhere near as volatile as most of the quirks in the hero course." Izuku cut his rambling short as the nurse fixed him with a sharp stare

"I wasn't implying that it was, Midoriya," Izuku scowled slightly when she looked away, "just that writing an exemption for it will lend itself to trouble from your peers. If not using your quirk is hindering your day to day life, Shinsou-kun." The purple teen straightened as Recovery Girl's gaze shifted to him, "is it hindering your day to day life?"

"My call and response trigger is questions," Hitoshi rasped slowly after a moment, anxiously pulling at his fingers, "because I haven't been using it, my throat hurts all of the time and I don't have any control over it." Indigo eyes flicked over to Izuku, "I need to use it so I can get help with controlling it."

"Alright," Izuku watched the nurse leant over to the printer on her desk to grab the paper she had just printed out, pausing to sign the bottom of it before holding it out to his friend, "here you go." Hitoshi stared blankly at the page for a couple of seconds before he reached out to take it, staring at the words printed on it.

"It can't be that easy."

"Usually it wouldn't be," Izuku leant over Hitoshi's shoulder to read his exemption letter, "except your homeroom teacher already put in a request for you to get one if you came and asked for it." That was news to Izuku. He had a feeling Nedzu-sensei had a hand in that as well, "you can thank him for the speedy process."

"I-" Hitoshi let Izuku take the letter from his hands and fold it carefully, the taller teen still slightly stunned, "thank you."

"I said thank him, not me," the elderly nurse huffed softly, waving them off with a hand, "get yourselves to class, boys, stop loitering in my office. Go on, get!" Not needing to be told twice, Izuku wasted no time in hopping back onto Hitoshi's back and letting the teen carry him out of the door.

"Well," Izuku chirped cheerfully as the door slid closed behind them, "that went nice and smoothly."

"Yeah," Hitoshi still sounded slightly dazed, though he jolted out of it quickly as the bell shrieked through the hallways, "we're late!"

"Better get a move on then," Izuku wriggled slightly, "you've got the longer legs, mister quirk exemption." Beneath him Hitoshi hesitated, a slow grin creeping over his face as fingers tightened on Izuku's legs. For a moment Izuku was painfully aware of how closely he was pressed against Hitoshi's back, the soft rumble of the teen's voice vibrating against Izuku's chest.

"Are you ready?"

Izuku couldn't help the brilliant grin that stretched across his face, the slight distortion of Hitoshi's quirk the best sound he'd heard all day. Tightening his arms around Hitoshi's neck, he settled in comfortably.

"You bet."

The shroud of his friend's quirk blanketed his senses for less than a second as he broke into a run, Izuku clinging to his back and giggling the whole way to their classroom.

Izuku's back hit the mat, driving all the air out of his lungs in one solid woosh.

"That was good, Midoriya!" Izuku rolled onto his knees with a groan, shaking his head, "come on come on, Listener, gotta get up fast or you're leaving yourself open to another attack!" As if on cue, Hitoshi pushed him over onto his back again and sat on his stomach.

"You look comfortable down there," Hitoshi drawled, grinning widely. Izuku could see so much of his mother in his smile, slightly manic and joyful.

"You know, cartoons often show tiny birds around people's heads," Hitoshi clambered off of him and extended a hand, hauling Izuku to his feet, "I didn't realize they were actually a thing." Hitoshi frowned at that, bending slightly to get a good look at his face.

"You feeling okay?" Izuku's face split into a smile, like it did every time Hitoshi had asked a question unprompted today. He'd been so hesitant about asking Izuku any questions yesterday at his house, but after an hour of coaxing them out of him he had finally believed that Izuku wasn't going to suddenly hate him for his quirk.

"Yeah," Hitoshi's quirk was such a nice feeling, a couple of moments of peace and calm before it slid off of his consciousness again, "I'm fine. Just need a second to breathe."

"Okay Listeners," Yamada-sensei clapped his hands together, drawing both of their attention, "overworking yourselves is just as bad as not working at all, let's take a break and work on things other than fighting, yeah!" Hitoshi perked up at that.

"Can you help me with throwing my voice again?" Izuku was pretty sure that if he beamed when Hitoshi asked questions, Yamada-sensei shone like the sun .

" Yeah! Of course, Listener! Get some water, don't wanna overuse your voice too much!" Hitoshi scrambled for his water bottle, "and we'll do some voice throwing!"

Izuku settled down against the wall with his water bottle, doing his best to ignore the fact that it wasn't some form of caffeine, while he watched his friend and their homeroom teacher practice vocal techniques. He was so glad that Hitoshi had taken very little convincing to work seriously on his quirk. It was such an amazing quirk, it would be so beneficial to him as a hero when he got better control over it. They only had so much time before the sports festival, so every moment mattered. The more they managed to improve the better.

"Hey, Listener," Izuku blinked, looking up at his homeroom teacher. When had he come over from where he had been with Hitoshi? "How are you holding up over here?"

"I'm okay, Yamada-sensei," Izuku covered his suspicious frown with a small smile. Izuku tried to stay out of the way when Yamada-sensei worked with Hitoshi, so he could focus on the future hero student without Izuku's interruption. Was he talking out loud again? "Is there an issue?"

"No," Yamada-sensei sat down next to him and Izuku tensed slightly, waiting for whatever reason he'd drawn so much attention to drop, "I was just wondering what you've planned to do about getting into the third round for yourself? You work very hard on Shinsou-kun, but I've not seen you focus on you at all." Izuku blinked, confused for a moment before it dawned on him. Of course, he'd forgotten. Izuku needed to get into the third round as well for Hitoshi to make it into the hero course. So stupid. He was honestly such a deku.

"I, uh," Izuku hunched in on himself a little, picking at the lid of his water bottle, "I haven't thought about it much. But I'll figure something out, don't worry! I won't let Hitoshi not get his transfer because of me." Yamada-sensei frowned slightly and Izuku froze.

"I'm here to help both of you, Midoriya," Yamada-sensei said gently, "not just Shinsou. I'll happily help you too, if you let me."

Izuku frowned. Teachers never offered to help him, he hadn't asked for a teacher's help in years. Why would they waste their time on the creepy quirkless kid when there were kids like Bakugo to focus on. So Izuku had grown accustomed to figuring everything out on his own. Would it be okay to ask for help? Just this once? Nedzu-sensei had made it a part of his assignment after all. What was the worst that could happen?

"Okay," Izuku whispered softly, though by the bright smile creeping across Yamada-sensei's face he heard it anyway, "okay, please help me too."

"Of course, Listener!" Yamada-sensei leant in close, grinning brightly, "okay, so, it's going to sound crazy, but here's what I want you specifically to do at the sports festival…"

Chapter 15

Chapter Text

"Izuku," Izuku grunted softly in acknowledgement, fishing around in his backpack propped between his chest and the locker in front of him, "please tell me you managed to sleep last night."

"I don't think you need me to answer that one," Izuku pulled out his thermos and held it out to Hitoshi, ignoring the look of concern on his friend's face, "here hold this for a moment. Don't worry , I got a couple of hours this morning before I had to leave and I've done more on less sleep."

"Do I even want to know what that means?" Izuku chuckled softly, eyes still glued to his backpack, while Hitoshi leant over his shoulder, "what are you looking for, anyway?"

"I stopped at the store on the way to the train station," Hitoshi's quirk slid over Izuku's thoughts so quickly that he barely noticed it. It was seriously so impressive how much better the taller teen's quirk control had gotten in such a small space of time, "I found 500 yen on the way home last night so I could afford to get- there it is!" Izuku pulled out the little brown bottle triumphantly.

"The Lipovitan worked for you then," Hitoshi handed back Izuku's thermos when he held out his hand for it, raising an eyebrow when steam rose from the lip after Izuku opened it, "Izuku, what-"

"What?" Izuku blinked up at the horrified look on Hitoshi's face as he emptied the contents of the energy shot into the thermos with his coffee, "it's not full, I'm not going to spill it anywhere."

"That's not…Izuku, why ?" Izuku made a face at the first swallow, fruit flavoring and black coffee really didn't mix too great together.

"We've got to get to the third round, I needed a pick me up that actually worked?" Izuku frowned as Hitoshi put his head in his hands and groaned.

"You're going to die," Hitoshi's voice was muffled between his fingers, "you're going to die and it's going to be my fault for introducing you to energy drinks." Izuku snorted softly, shaking his head and finishing the last of his energy coffee. Definitely not a good time to tell Hitoshi this wasn't his first time attempting this and he was just fine.

"I promise, I'm not going to die," Izuku replaced the cap on his thermos and patted his friend's shoulder gently, "we're going to get to the third round and you're going to get into the hero course. Dying will have to wait for another day. Now come on," Izuku hauled on Hitoshi's arm, dragging him to the door, "the opening ceremony is gonna start any minute and we don't want to be late for the elimination round."

"The elimination round huh," Hitoshi sighed and fell into step beside him, hands in the pockets of his track pants, "sounds like you've got some idea of what's coming. Did the principal tell you what the rounds are going to be?"

"No," Izuku shook his head, "Nedzu-sensei wouldn't help me like that, it defeats the purpose of the assignment. But I found the footage for the last eighteen sports festivals and there is definitely a pattern. First round is always a high intensity qualifying round designed to remove at least 70% of the pack." Hitoshi whistled softly as they rounded the corner, familiar faces from their class milling around the hallway.

"That's a pretty high percentage to just wipe out at the start. Why even bother letting everyone compete if they're going to cull most of them immediately?"

Izuku shrugged, "the sports festival is only three events and it's the primary scouting resource for pro heroes looking to offer internships. Makes sense that they would sift the rice from the husk early, keep the attention on the hero classes as much as possible. It does mean," Izuku lowered his voice ever so slightly as they got close enough to be overheard if anyone bothered to pay attention to them, "that a non-hero course student getting into the second round is worth noticing; and a non-hero course student getting into the third round is almost unheard of. Not impossible, but definitely rare."

"Well," Izuku couldn't help the smile that curled his lips as he looked up at Hitoshi. The teen's determination and excitement was contagious, "I guess we're going to be making people take notice today."

Izuku nodded, startling slightly when their homeroom teacher's voice boomed through the speakers, announcing the hero courses as they entered the arena. He'd not considered that Yamada-sensei would probably be commentating the event. Somehow that made him more nervous, the hero had put so much effort into helping Izuku as well at Hitoshi, he didn't want to let him down. Knowing that he would be watching every moment intently was…a lot of pressure.

"Wow," Izuku couldn't figure out whose voice that was as he followed Hitoshi out onto the arena floor, hand tangled in the back of the taller teen's shirt, "they're really just using us as the backdrop for the hero kids, huh."

Obviously, Izuku thought to himself while keeping himself from actually rolling his eyes, U.A. is a hero school. If you want the spotlight as a Gen Ed kid, go to a general high school.

"Now then!" Izuku peered around Hitoshi's arm and smiled. Midnight-sensei really was a sight to see standing on the podium in front of them, Izuku would never have the confidence to do that, "for our opening speech from the first year representative, Bakugo Katsuki of 1-A!"

"That guy," Izuku cringed slightly at the disdain in Hitoshi's voice. He'd told his friend about his history with Bakugo in the simplest of terms and the violet teen had settled on fierce loathing of the blond, "is the first year representative."

"Yeah!" Izuku's attention flickered to the new, upbeat voice, eyes widening slightly as he recognized the speaker. The red haired hero student that had been in the ruins zone with Bakugo at the USJ grinned toothily at them, "he placed first in the entrance exam!" Hitoshi scoffed loudly in response, the redhead's smile faltering slightly.

"The hero practical exam, maybe," Izuku ducked out of sight behind Hitoshi, not wanting the attention his friend was threatening to bring down on him, "the highest scorer on the written exam is in the Gen Ed course." Izuku could just see the confusion on the other guy's face, see his mouth open to say something in response, when Bakugo's voice boomed out of the speakers.

"I'm gonna place first."

The uproar from the other classes was immediate. Izuku didn't need to look to hear the almost manic grin on the blond's face as he called the other students stepping stones. He couldn't lie, there was a part of him that had been hoping that between Hitoshi stepping in on Izuku's behalf and Bakugo being placed in a class with other strong quirks on par with his, that the boy Izuku had grown up with would learn a little humility. Seeing his step down from the podium with his hands in his pockets and that smug grin plastered all over his face, that didn't seem to be the case.

"Alright!" Midnight's whip cracked loudly over the ruckus. That had to take some practice to be able to do, "with that out of the way, let's move onto the preliminaries! This year's first round of destiny is… the obstacle race!"

"I was right," Izuku muttered softly behind Hitoshi, "high intensity elimination round, cull most of the mass out for the next event."

"The obstacle course is an almost 4km race around the outskirts of the stadium!" Izuku clung to the back of Hitoshi's shirt as he moved forwards, letting the taller teen move them closer to the front of their class, "as long as you stay within the course bounds, anything goes!" In front of them the entryway for the start of the race opened. For the 220 students present…that was a really narrow opening.

Exchanging a glance with Hitoshi, Izuku hopped up onto his back and wrapped both arms snugly around his neck. It was a risk, starting this way, but they had practiced Hitoshi running with Izuku on his back so much that it felt more natural than running side by side sometimes. Settling his chin against his friend's shoulder, Izuku sucked in a deep breath of cinnamon and vanilla while the buzzing of caffeine and taurine started in the back of his skull, his pulse thudding in his veins.

"You ready to do what Yamada-sensei told you?" Izuku nodded, "just before the green light. I'll get us through, you focus on what you need to do. Especially with that much caffeine in your system." Izuku chuckled softly, chewing on his lip. He still had no idea why Yamada-sensei had told him to do this. Maybe because he knew Izuku was nervous and it was a good centering technique.

"On your marks!" Izuku felt Hitoshi's fingers flex under his thighs, ready to run. Izuku blinked up at the red lights, waiting. This felt so counterproductive, a waste of valuable time.

"Get set!" Yamada-sensei wouldn't tell him to do it if it wouldn't help though. He trusted that. And it was three breaths. Just three breaths. Almost no time at all.

"START!" The start of the word had barely started when Izuku squeezed his eyes shut tightly, focusing on the explosion of movement as Hitoshi surged forwards beneath him and keeping his grip tight on his friend's back while he took three slow, deep breaths.

By the time he opened his eyes, they were almost through the narrow tunnel with just a few people ahead of them. Izuku blinked in surprise before he laughed, adrenaline joining the caffeine in his veins as the wind whipped through his hair. Tapping twice on Hitoshi's chest, Izuku gripped his friend's shoulders tightly and used his grip as leverage to swing his legs back out of Hitoshi's loosening grip and onto the ground, barely slowing his own momentum in the process. As nice as it would be for Hitoshi to carry him the whole way, it would feel like cheating and would definitely rob Hitoshi of more stamina than was necessary. They'd practiced that particular move for moments precisely like that. Spending so much time being Hitoshi's backpack had its benefits for both of them.

In a few strides Izuku's shorter legs caught up with his friend, grinning manically up at him. Hitoshi has longer legs but Izuku was faster, it made them well matched. A few of the hero course students passed them, though except for one weird purple kid with strange balls for hair, they'd all ignored the pair. Izuku's gaze flickered over the figures ahead of them, counting seventeen. They'd really gotten ahead of the pack.

Maybe Yamada-sensei's breathing trick had some merit to it after all.

Yamada-sensei leant in close, grinning brightly, "okay, so, it's going to sound crazy, but here's what I want you specifically to do at the sports festival." Izuku leant in too, hanging on every word, "at the start of every new part of every event, no matter what it is; I want you to stop, close your eyes tightly and take three slow, deep breaths. Everything will go just fine if you just close your eyes for a couple of seconds, I promise."

Chapter 16

Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku made no sense to Yamada Hizashi.

When Nedzu had notified him at the start of the year that one of his homeroom was the principal's new personal student, the last thing Hizashi had been expecting was a miniature Shouta in a new color palette. It was almost unnerving sometimes how much of his dearest person was reflected in Midoriya's face, never mind the blatant insomnia and the (frankly alarming) caffeine addiction. Hizashi had needed to suppress the urge to wrap the little Listener up in a blanket and dump a kitten on his lap to try and get him to take a nap more than once.

The speed at which he had latched onto Fukukado's kid was something else too. Joke had swung by the radio station after Hitoshi had received his acceptance letter and asked him, teacher to teacher, to keep an eye on her son; that he had issues with his quirk and struggled making friends because of it. Yet within three days the pair were attached at the hip, practically secluding themselves from the rest of the class. Hizashi couldn't say he was entirely surprised, like calls to like after all.

But what had really surprised him was Midoriya's quirk.

Hizashi had heard the whispers in his homeroom, the rumors about the tired green teen that circulated the school within 24 hours, but he was embarrassed to admit he hadn't actually noticed anything about the Listener until he had broken his nose passing out at his desk. Shouta was already with his class, it would have been impossible for him to erase Voice from another room. Beside that, Shou's Erasure had never made his throat feel like it was closing in on itself when he used it on Hizashi.

And then Midoriya had denied even having a quirk. Had thrown down an I.D. card that had quirkless stamped across it in garish red letters and descended into one of the worst panic attacks Hizashi had seen since his second year of high school. When Shouta couldn't sleep indoors, could barely walk into a building without hyperventilating. When Hizashi had spent night after night sleeping on his balcony next to that garish yellow sleeping bag he both hated and would never regret buying.

Hizashi hated that he both didn't understand and yet understood completely why Izuku had reacted like that.

The more he watched the teen, the more he saw it. Saw the nervous twitches, the sidelong glances thrown at his classmates. Saw the way that his gaze shifted whenever he entered a room and Hizashi knew that he was cataloging exit routes and potential safe places. Saw the way Izuku had shied back from asking him for help, had laughed when Hizashi had pointed out that it was literally his job to help him. So many little things that added up to one bigger picture that Hizashi didn't like. At all.

The world was truly unkind sometimes.

After meeting with Nedzu, they had both finally agreed on how to approach the matter that was Midoriya Izuku in two main ways. One, they wouldn't push. Hizashi could admit when he was wrong and he had spoken hastily at the USJ. Holding Shouta's broken body in his arms was not conducive to rational thought. Indoctrinated kids were always tricky, they had to approach with care and understanding if they wanted to make any progress at all.

Two, Hizashi would get Shouta involved.

It was the most logical step. No one would know how to handle an erasure quirk quite like the erasure hero. Hizashi was quietly hoping that Shou would know a little better how to prove to the kid that he actually had a quirk, since it wasn't one he could actually see. A quirk that activated when your eyes were closed, no wonder he wholeheartedly believed he was quirkless. Unfortunately it had proven more of a struggle than Hizashi had anticipated to even bring Midoriya up in conversation. With Shou still wrapped in bandages and Chiyo unable to heal him until he recovered enough stamina to actually be healed, most of the man's free time was spent curled up asleep in that ratty old sleeping bag. Throw in Hizashi spending large chunks of his free time helping Hitoshi and Izuku with their sports festival training and they'd both been too busy for more than the occasional gentle hug between naps.

Now here they were, sequestered away in the commentator booth at the first year sports festival, watching the majority of the first years falter at the start line.

"And they're off!" Hizashi couldn't keep the gleeful grin off of his face as a distinctive shock of purple hair surged out ahead of the pack, mingling with green, "or not! It seems a lot of our first years fell flat already!" Some of them literally, Hizashi could see them picking themselves back up off of the ground with confused faces, "careful kids, the starting line isn't supposed to be an obstacle!"

"Any of my class that faltered there," Hizashi winced at the dangerous note in Shouta's voice, he could almost see that manic grin behind the bandages still wound around his face, "will be running my obstacle courses until they graduate ."

"Ahaha, come on now Eraser!" Hizashi shifted uncomfortably, he knew exactly why some of them had frozen for a moment, "maybe there were external forces at play!"

"All the more reason," Hizashi pushed down a sigh, those poor hero kids were going to suffer no matter what he said, "as aspiring heroes they need to be able to push through distraction."

"Alright! Well the first obstacle is fast approaching!" distract and redirect was the best option here. Hopefully, "and from the very start we're coming in hard and fast with a Robo Inferno!"

It was exciting, watching from the commentator booth. Even more so since Hizashi had a vested interest in where two of his kids placed. They'd worked so hard, they deserved to do well. They skidded to a halt just behind a red and white haired teen who looked like he was just getting ready to activate his quirk, crouched down with the tips of his fingers reaching for the ground.

Hizashi's grin widened as he watched Izuku squeeze his eyes shut. He'd hoped that's what had startled so many of the kids at the starting line. Little green was listening to Hizashi's advice. He couldn't be prouder right now. Fist tangled in Hitoshi's shirt, the purple teen led his friend off to the side even as red and white's head snapped around, searching for the cause of his quirk's faltering. Hizashi could see the uncomfortable and almost scared expressions on a few of the kids' faces from the camera bot video feed.

"And it looks like the inferno is proving too hot for some of our competitors today!" It was hard to keep his voice steady, stop it warbling with excitement as his kids skirted around the outside of the pack of massive robots that had zoned in on the main crowd of racers. In an instant, ice flooded the roboarena, freezing them in place from the red and white kid forwards. Hizashi glanced down at his student list, picking him out from the list, "lucky for everyone else that heat is no match for Todoroki Shouto's ice!"

Beside him, Shouta had shuffled forward in his chair slightly, leaning into the screens. Hizashi muted the microphones for a moment while the first years filtered through the frozen arena and turned to look at his co-commentator, finding him staring at the camera bot footage displaying Hitoshi and Izuku with an intensity Hizashi hadn't seen in a long time. His kids weren't first, taking the long route around the robots had dropped them lower in the ranks than a lot of the hero course students, but they were comfortably in the top 50.

"What's up, Shou?" The dark haired hero grunted softly, reaching up to scratch at the bandages on his face.

"That's the kid you wanted me to come take a look at, right?" Hizashi's eyes widened in surprise as Shouta tapped the screen, picking Izuku out of the students displayed on the screen, "I've seen him before, a couple of times. Didn't know he was one of yours."

"Yeah!" the blond hero grinned broadly, "he's something else, huh? Reminds me a lot of you, actually. I'm honestly not surprised he's Nedzu's boy." Shouta stiffened beside him and Hizashi frowned as the man dropped his head in his hands and groaned softly.

"Damnit he really wasn't a hero course student. Fuck ." Hizashi really wanted to ask about that, because he knew there was a story there, but the forerunners were coming up on the second obstacle and he couldn't keep the microphones muted forever.

"Alright folks!" it wasn't hard to put the excitement back in his tone, "with most of our racers making their way through the robot ice garden, as expected most of our front runners are the students from Class 1A! Have the other classes been slacking off?"

"It's not that," Hizashi's grin widened. If there was one way to get Shouta to actively participate in commentating it was to give him a statement to correct, "the other students have been working hard. 1A this year had just been faced with more already than the other classes. They'd had no time to stop in their tracks, instead they've had to persevere through hardships that the other classes have not. They've already had experiences that most hero students don't get until at least their second year," Hizashi knew what he meant, Izuku had been through the same thing to some degree, "they've coped, made it out the other side in one piece and now their experiences have formed a large part of their drive and motivation. It gives them the edge over their peers."

Hizashi loved it when Shou started rambling. He got carried away so rarely these days, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that the blond could listen to Shouta talk for hours and never get bored.

"Well just because the first obstacle was a cinch, doesn't mean they can get complacent!" Hizashi trilled cheerily, watching the first wave of students approach the massive canyon, "one wrong move and you drop! Drop and you're out! Our first years better not underestimate The Fall!"

A few of the students were already across the ropes by the time Hitoshi and Izuku made it to the next obstacle. Hizashi could see the exhilaration on Little Green's face as those big tired eyes scanned the ropes in front of him already full of students slowly but steadily making their way across. He was just about to dash forwards when Hitoshi caught his arm, leaning down to whisper in his friend's ear.

"That's it kid," Hizashi murmured softly under his breath as Izuku flashed his friend a sheepish grin and squeezed his eyes shut tight, "three breaths."

"And it looks like," the blond straightened, grinning widely as most of the students already on the ropes wavered dangerously for a moment, panicked looks on multiple faces as boys and girls alike slipped from ropes and vanished out of sight, "heights might be the down Fall of this year's first years!" Shouta groaned softly beside him and Hizashi laughed gleefully as Hitoshi and Izuku shimmied quickly across the gap. Hizashi checked the digital listings the camera bots were keeping of students' placements, "and after the mass exodus, it's a quick leap to twelfth and thirteenth place for 1C's Shinsou Hitoshi," Hizashi wiggled excitedly in his seat as the purple haired teen hauled himself off of the ropes onto solid ground and reached back to help Izuku, "and Midoriya Izuku!"

Hizashi wasn't expecting the visceral reaction Shouta had to that announcement. The dark haired hero lurched forward out of his seat, slapping both hands down on the sides of the screen displaying Hizashi's wonder kids and leaning in so close his bandaged nose was practically touching the screen. Confused, Hizashi reached over and muted the microphones, turning his seat to face his dearest person.

"Shou, what-" Shouta whirled on him, bandaged hands tangling in Hizashi's leather jacket and yanking him closer. Black eyes stared down at him, wide and manic and just a touch of fury. Hizashi had never seen Shou like this.

"What," Shouta's whisper rasped dangerously over Hizashi's ears. He swallowed heavily, "did you just say his name was?"

Chapter 17

Chapter Text

Honestly, the only reason Shouta had even agreed to commentate with Hizashi was so that the blond would finally stop bugging him to come look at some student he was helping to train for the sports festival. Not that Shouta wouldn't do almost anything for him, but he already had twenty (no, nineteen, he forgot about the one kid he shuffled off to 1D on the first day. Zero potential and alarmingly lax control on a quirk that had the potential to be a massive liability in the field. Not a chance Shouta was teaching them how to legally hurt people.) students to deal with six days a week and more healing to do.

At least Chiyo had managed to heal his arms already. Being wrapped up in casts for three days made it infuriatingly difficult to nap.

So after weeks of barely having enough time for Hizashi to get half of his request out, Shouta had instead agreed to commentate the sports festival with him, something that the blond had been asking him about for the last three festivals. Two birds with one stone, it was the easiest and most logical option.

The minute Shouta saw Todoroki's ice fail at the first obstacle, he knew exactly why Hizashi had been so adamant he came to see this kid.

It had to be an erasure type quirk, Shouta was almost certain. He hadn't been until he'd seen the recommendation student mouth 'Sensei' as he looked around for the source of whatever he was currently experiencing. Logically, Todoroki wouldn't be looking for him unless that sensation was something he had experienced from Shouta. Quirk erasure had a…distinctive sensation, even now Shouta could remember exactly what it felt like when his Dad touched him with all five fingers. It was hollowing; like something carved a space out of you and let what was supposed to be there spill out of you, leaving you chilled all the way down to your soul. He'd found it soothing, a welcome relief from a quirk that people hated and villainized without a second thought. Others hadn't liked it so much. Whispers of Shouta sucking your soul out if he looked at you had followed him since he was in middle school and didn't show any sign of vanishing completely any time soon. He'd gotten used to it.

He should've come to look at the kid sooner. Finding out he was Nedzu's new personal student was just adding insult to injury. The rat was going to haul Shouta over coals for outright assuming he would pick a new student from the hero course. Completely illogical, really, he shouldn't have narrowed his viewpoint like that. Completing the assignment really didn't feel like a success this time. Hizashi was still commentating while Shouta stared at the cloud of vibrant green hair on the screen. Something about him felt familiar and not in the seen-him-in-passing-in-the-hallway sense, though he had indeed seen him in the hallway, regularly clinging to the back of the purple teen next to him now. No, more in the gut lurching, subconscious screaming, demanding a second look to figure out why it hurt way.

"...it's a quick leap to twelfth and thirteenth place for 1C's Shinsou Hitoshi and Midoriya Izuku!"

Shouta didn't remember moving. One minute he was seated next to his most important person, the next he was barely an inch away from the screen, palms pressed into the plastic molding so firmly he might need to get them looked at by Chiyo again.

No way. There was no way .

Hizashi said something that Shouta didn't hear, rounding on his blond to wrap his fists in that familiar leather jacket. He needed to grip something, needed something in his fists to keep him from putting them through something breakable . Anger he hadn't felt in over a decade threatening to boil over.

"What," he hissed softly, forcing his voice down. If he didn't he would start shouting and Shouta did not shout, "did you just say his name was?"

"Uhm," Shouta hated that uncertain waver in Hizashi's voice. It told him he was dangerously close to losing control of his temper and he hated that, "Midoriya Izuku? I'm sure I already told you that?"

"No," Shouta forced his fingers to open, digits creaking under the strain as he smoothed the blond's jacket back into place, "you didn't. I'm sorry, Zashi, I promise I'm not mad at you but I have to-"

"Go," Shouta's shoulders slumped in relief at the small smile on Hizashi's face, "whatever this is is important, right?" Shouta nodded, swallowing around the lump in his throat as the blond gently pulled him close, feeling the light pressure of the kiss his favorite person pressed against the bandages wrapped around his forehead, "so go. Deal with what you need to and tell me about it later, ok?"

"Thank you," Shouta sighed softly, tucking a stray strand of blond hair back into the gravity defying nest Hizashi worked so hard on, "for being understanding." Hizashi just chuckled softly and waved him off towards the door before turning back to the commentator's desk. With a small, grateful smile at the man's back, Shouta slipped out of the door just before Hizashi's voice could deafen him once more. Fishing his phone out of his capture weapon, Shouta shot a quick text to Nedzu before taking off at a brisk jog towards the medical tent. The urge to run, to all-out sprint to his destination was almost unbearable but he forced it down. He needed his stamina. There were more important things.

"No."

"I'm not asking, Chiyo," Shouta scowled behind his bandages, "I need the bandages off. Either you can heal me enough to take them off yourself or I'm going to walk out of here and take them off in the driver's seat of my car on my own. It would be logical for you to at least ensure I don't cause more damage than strictly necessary."

"You!" Shouta stared the elderly woman down blankly as she swatted his shin with her cane, "that creature almost obliterated your orbital floor and most of the other bones in your face. And you want to rush your recovery?! I told you, Shouta-kun, that I would heal you when you had enough stamina for me to do so. Be grateful that you got use of your arms back so quickly! If you rush your face then you risk damaging your quirk irreparably! Is that what you want?"

"I'm afraid he won't be swayed on this, my dear Chiyo," Shouta wasn't surprised to hear the warbling chirp of his sensei from the nurse's doorway, "if you could see how much you could reasonably do at this moment, and we can go from there?" Shouta looked down into beady, animalistic eyes that stared back at him with that same knowing expression that had infuriated Shouta routinely since his second year of high school.

"You knew." Shouta didn't bother with preamble, ignoring the grumble of the healer as she bustled up to press her lips to his hand. Almost immediately a wave of exhaustion washed over him but he shoved it down. It wasn't bad, he had worked twelve hour patrols with less energy.

"I knew," the rat confirmed, paws folded neatly over each other, grasping a manilla folder, "I debated informing you, after I met him for the first time, but ultimately-"

"Ultimately you decided to make a challenge out of it," Shouta finished for him, "because I assumed your new student would be in the hero course, I would guess. You've always been one for the active lesson, sensei."

The rat nodded, hesitating before holding out the folder to him. Shouta took it without a word, flipping it open as gnarled fingers worked at removing the bandages from his head. Large, emerald green eyes and a smattering of freckles half-obscured under heavy dark circles stared tiredly out at him from the pages.

"When it became apparent that all was not well, I did try to rectify my error," Nedzu almost sounded apologetic, not a tone of voice he was familiar with from the principal, "but you were balancing your healing with teaching your class. I could not ask more of you than you could spare. Yamada-kun has been doing an admirable job of helping him as much as Izuku-kun will allow." Shouta looked up at that, frowning slightly,

"Does Hizashi-"

"No," Nedzu shook his head, cutting him off, "I believed that would be a conversation you would want to have with your…is partner an appropriate word?"

"Life mate," Shouta turned his attention back to the file, flipping the page. There was his next of kin details, Midoriya Inko in bold black ink, "life mate or person are appropriate. Partner is too…it doesn't work for us."

"Of course," Shouta blinked and flexed his jaw as the last of the bandages came free from his skin. His face felt tender, but not unbearably so. Pulling his phone out he opened the camera app and flipped the view so it was facing him.

"Since I assume you're going somewhere immediately I can't do much," Shouta eyed the yellowing bruises spattered across his skin, still rich purple underneath his eyes. The beginnings of a thick, angry scar traced beneath one eye socket, "but I've healed the breaks. The rest you will have to heal for yourself, I won't be doing it for you since you want to be stubborn about your healing process."

"That's fine," he pocketed his phone again, ignoring the glares that the nurse was giving him as he handed the file back to Nedzu, "thank you."

"Do you need the address?" Nedzu held out a slip of paper, spidery black ink scrawled across the page as the elderly heroine moved away still grumbling under her breath about reckless heroes setting bad examples for children. Shouta took it between two fingers, looking down at the kanji printed on the lines.

"Thank you, sensei."

Shouta had tried his best to distract himself on the drive with Hizashi's commentary on the radio, but honestly he couldn't remember a single word that his person had said. Most of the trip had been Shouta staring blankly at the road in front of him while Hizashi's voice thrummed wordlessly in his ears. He was pretty sure that the high pitched glee that was so quintessentially Hizashi was the only reason he had managed not to break every single traffic law on the trip to Musutafu.

Now here he was, sitting in his car outside of a nondescript apartment building, shifting his attention between the slip of paper in his hand, the building and the bruises on his face via the rear view mirror. He wasn't sure when Hizashi's commentary had switched to music and someone else's voice but it was a definite indicator that the sports festival had ended. A glance at the time told him that it ended about 45 minutes ago. Most of the students would be on their way home by now. Shouta was running out of time if he wanted to do this without… without Izuku present.

And wasn't that a wild thing. A whole person that Shouta hadn't known existed. For fifteen years Shouta hadn't known he existed. Almost exact timing for him starting high school himself. Back when things were unsteady, when he and Dad moved from short stay apartment to short stay apartment, just trying to find a safe place to call home on an underground hero's salary. All of that time and Shouta had never known about an entire person . He glanced back at the clock. Ten minutes had passed since he parked.

It was now or never.

Sucking in a deep breath, Shouta threw the car door open and dragged himself out of it. His bones screamed in protest, every fiber of his being did not want to be here. Did not want to climb these stairs, one by one, each echoing footfall sounding like another step backwards into a past he never wanted to think about again. He did not want to count numbers on doors, read nameplates, looking for kanji that had never been used for him, would never be used for him. The very thought made him nauseous . Did not want to stand outside of a nondescript white door. Did not want to raise his hand. Did not want to knock four times, three in quick succession, one after a delay. He did not want to hear the shuffling of footsteps, feel the sinking pit growing in his stomach, the itching across his chest at the rattle of a chain on the inside of the door. He did not want to stand there as the door cracked open, as one eye in an all too familiar shade of green he wished so many time he could forget about peeked out. Shorter than he remembered, but the glimmer of blind malice in them when they registered who was standing outside was every bit as sharp as it always had been. The door opened wider.

"Shouko." Shouta forcefully shoved down the impulse to flinch, swallowed back the bile that crawled up his throat at the sound of a name he hadn't used in fifteen years, hadn't heard in as long. Had never wanted to hear again. He should have expected it, been prepared for it. His own fault. He took one slow, steadying breath, preparing himself for a conversation he did not want, but for the sake of Izuku he had to have. Had to have.

"Hello, Mother."

Chapter 18

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Izuku hoisted his backpack higher on his shoulder as he climbed the steps of his apartment building. Normally eight flights of stairs didn't seem so terrible, but with the last vestiges of energy drink slowly fading from his system the apartment may as well have been perched on top of Mt. Fuji. Izuku found himself wishing Hitoshi were here, it would be so easy to just hop on his friend's back and let him do the legwork.

Sighing, Izuku shook the thought from his head and focused on putting on foot in front of the other. He was getting too reliant on Hitoshi, too used to comfort and warmth and regular naps. Now that Hitoshi was getting into the hero course Izuku needed to learn how to stand on his own two feet again. It's not like Izuku could ask the other boy to prioritize their friendship over the hero course , he would never ask him to compromise his dreams like that. It would be fine, Izuku was used to being on his own.

He just wished he hadn't learned what not being alone felt like first.

It felt good though, Izuku couldn't deny, knowing that he had been instrumental in securing his friend's recommendation letter from Nedzu-sensei. He was proud of himself for getting as far as he had. Sure, he'd quietly let Hitoshi have the win after putting on enough of a display to help showcase the lilac teen's combat ability and strategy before finally responding to his quirk and letting Hitoshi walk him out of the ring. But they'd talked about it beforehand, Hitoshi knew that Izuku didn't want to risk going up against Bakugo. Besides, Nedzu-sensei has only said he needed to get to the third round, not that he needed to place. He'd fulfilled every condition his teacher had set down for this assignment, no equivocations.

Fumbling in his pocket for his house keys, Izuku trudged down the hallway to his apartment door. It was still pretty early, walking Hitoshi back before he headed home hadn't taken as much time as he'd expected. If he was lucky Izuku's mom wouldn't be home yet and he could scrape a quick nap without upsetting her again.

"You're lying to him!"

Izuku froze with his key hovering in front of the lock, heart hammering loudly in his ears. That shout had come from inside . There was someone in his apartment. His mom shouldn't be home yet. Who was in his apartment? Who were they shouting at?

Another voice joined the first, barely audible through the closed door but just loud enough for Izuku to tell who it was. His mom was home, and whoever she was talking to she really wasn't happy with. Izuku usually only ever heard that tone of voice when he slacked off. Carefully he eased his key into the lock. He didn't want to disturb them, didn't want to accidentally make anything worse, but loitering outside the door would draw attention to whatever was happening inside and that would definitely make things worse. The lesser of two evils still wasn't desirable in this case.

" – any of your concern, Shouko," Izuku bit down on his lip as he eased the door open carefully, "your father was perfectly clear when he left on what his priorities were, I highly doubt that now extends to my son."

This was about him? Why would they be arguing about him?

"What his prior- do you even hear yourself?" Izuku frowned to himself, standing in the genkan trying to close the door as silently as possible. He recognized that voice, though he couldn't figure out from where, "is that what this is about? Getting back at Dad? You're lying to a child about his quirk for the sake of some… some petty grudge you've been holding for fif–"

"There's nothing petty about this!" Izuku's blood turned to ice as his mother cut off the man, Shouko she'd called him (though why a man would have a girl's name he didn't know), "that man took everything from me! My youth, my freedom , and when he was done with all that he decided to take my daughter too!" Izuku felt hollow, like someone had carved everything out of his chest and poured it on the floor at his feet for him to trip over as he took hesitant, faltering steps down the hall, whisper-silent on socked feet, "Izuku has nothing to do with that man and as far as I'm concerned he never will. Not him, not you; and most definitely not that revolting, villainous abomination of a quirk you all have."

"I don't have a quirk," Izuku's voice was loud in his ears, dry and rasping as he rounded the doorway to the living room to meet his mother's wide, startled gaze, "you…you told me I'm quirkless. I got diagnosed quirkless at…at your hospital. I have..I have the extra toe joint." The silence in the living room roiled with tension, his mother's gaze flickered back and forth between him and the other occupant in the room, obscured by the door, "am I… do I have a quirk?"

"If you lie to him," Izuku's spine was rigid, the tension in his jaw ached at the threatening tone in the mystery man's voice, "then I will have you arrested for falsifying quirk information. Right here and now." Arrested? Who was this person, that they could threaten something like that? Izuku took a hesitant step into the room, catching a glimpse of black before his mother's scoff drew his attention.

"Have me arrested," Izuku instinctively stepped back out of the room, ready to duck around the corner at a moment's notice. If she couldn't see him then she couldn't use her quirk on him, "and how exactly do you plan to do that? You can't prove a single thing to a police officer. Izuku's quirklessness is already registered. No one's ever going to believe you over me. Not with a quirk like that."

For a moment there was silence. The look of triumph on his mother's face as she stared down her nose at the man in the room made Izuku's gut curl nauseatingly until it faltered, shattered by the soft, wry chuckle that floated out of the living room. Izuku had experienced trouble in his life, so much of it from so many different sources, but the only time he had felt danger thrum in his veins like this was when dozens of villains poured out of a purple portal while he sat there helpless.

"If I were a civilian," Izuku stared unblinking at the growing look of horror on his mother's face, "then perhaps you would be right. However," the woman's hand shot up and Izuku dived behind the wall out of sight, waiting for the crash of furniture, the shatter of glass. Instead there was only a muffled shriek and a heavy thud, "I am not a civilian. I am, after all, my father's son." Izuku curled his fingers around the doorway, his pulse roaring in his ears. Had his mother just been killed by a villain? She'd said something about a villainous person, right? Was this person, someone he was apparently related to, a villain? Slowly, tentatively, he edged close enough to peek, to finally get a glimpse of the man in the room. The tall, dark haired main dressed in nothing but black, towering over his mother while he kept her bound tightly in white bandages. Were they bandages? It looked more like straps, or ribbons, or…scarf? Wait… Scarf?

" Eraserhead?! "

"So," Izuku huddled tighter in the silvery-lined blanket they kept insisting he stay under as Eraserhead, the Eraserhead , sat down on the back of the ambulance beside him, "you have questions, I bet."

Boy, did Izuku have questions. So many questions he wasn't entirely sure where to start. He had just spent an entire day competing in the sports festival, doing his best to support his friend's endeavors to get into the hero course. He'd just wanted to come home, maybe take a quick nap, and do his homework. Instead he was sitting under a shock blanket, having already been fussed over by paramedics, watching his mother being put into the back of a police car in handcuffs. His whole world had been turned upside down in the space of ten minutes, nothing made sense any more. He didn't know what to ask first. No, that wasn't true. He knew what he needed to ask first.

"You're my…?"

"Brother," Izuku chewed on the inside of his cheek, ignoring the copper tang on his tongue, "we can get a dna test done if you like, if you want undeniable proof. But you look so much like Dad, it's impossible for me not to see it."

"Dad?" Izuku shifted slightly so he could look up at the man beside him without straining his neck, "is he… mom told me he was working in America." Eraserhead's eyes widened slightly, glancing over to the police car where his…where their mom was glowering out of the window at them.

"As far as I know, Dad never went to America in his life," Izuku looked down, trying to swallow past the heavy lump of nausea in his throat, "he…he died. Almost fourteen years ago now, during a villain attack." Izuku's chest ached for a man he had never met and would never get to know, but also for the man next to him who had known him and lost him so long ago.

"I'm sorry." Long black hair shifted as the hero turned, obscuring most of his face from sight. After a moment, one hand patted his knee awkwardly.

"Me too, kid."

"Was she really–," Izuku swallowed thickly, fingers clenching and unclenching in the crinkled silver material, "did she really lie about… you know." He felt the man tense beside him and fought the urge to flinch away from the soft sigh that left the hero's lungs.

"Without a genuine assessment by a medical professional, I can't tell you without any room for doubt," Izuku looked down at his feet, at the stupid, garish red sneakers his mother bought him, the only shoes he owned because she had told him that they were the only ones quirkless people could wear. It hurt, not knowing what to believe. He had spent his entire life believing he knew who he was and what he was capable of, and now he might have been living a lie for the last fifteen years, "but we may be able to answer it now. Maybe ." Izuku looked up at the hero, at his brother, eyes wide and shining, "I'm not making any promises, but…you know what my quirk is?" Izuku nodded vehemently, bristling with excitement.

"Erasure! You can erase quirks as long as you maintain eye contact, which is so cool ! Does it work at any distance? It doesn't work on mutations, right? What about the emitter components of mutations, or are mutation based quirks a complete dead zone for you? What happens if they leave your line of sight, does your quirk cut off? What about–oh," Izuku clapped his hands over his mouth, flushing crimson all the way to his scalp at the incredulous look on the hero's face, "sorry. I… I really like quirks."

"Looks like you got Dad's smarts too," Izuku thought he could hear amusement in the deadpan tone, though he couldn't be entirely sure, "we can talk about my quirk later, but for now what you need to know is that when I erase a quirk, people feel it ." Izuku blinked up at the man, soaking in the information he was giving out freely, "it's like a…chill, a coldness. Like a little piece of you is missing and you're not entirely sure what or where. People who really don't like it tend to say it's like getting your soul sucked out." Izuku gaped at the wry words, each one sinking painfully into his chest as they fell from the hero's lips.

Didn't that just sound oh so familiar .

"So if," Izuku coughed softly, clearing his throat, "so if you use your quirk on me and I don't have anything to erase then I shouldn't feel anything. But if I do… " Izuku sucked in a deep breath as Eraserhead nodded slowly, hands clasped neatly in his lap. Izuku's gut was a raging pit of anxiety, screaming at him not to do this, that ignorance was bliss. That knowing would only bring more pain, more heartache in the long run. But Izuku was already in pain, his heart already hurt. How much worse could it get, really?

"Okay," Izuku whispered softly, just loud enough for the hero to hear, "okay, do it." He stared up into pitch black eyes, all pupil and void with himself reflected back in them for the briefest moment before they shifted, strands of sable hair drifting around the hero's face as his eyes lit up crimson.

Tears poured down Izuku's cheeks as the icy, yawning maw of nothingness opened inside of him.

"I'm so sorry, Izuku," cold fingers rubbed up and down his back over the blanket as he tucked his knees up to his chest, gut-wrenching sobs heaving their way out of his lungs, "I'm so sorry."

"W-what's," Izuku tried to suck in one more breath, tried to steady himself to ask the next question, the most important question, "what's go-going to happen to-to me now?" The hand on his back paused for a moment, just long enough for him to notice before it started up again, firmer, more resolute.

"You'll come home with me." Izuku wanted to protest, to refuse. He didn't want to be a burden on a pro hero, especially not his favorite pro hero, "you don't need to worry about that, Izuku. We're family. I won't let anything happen to you." Slowly, Izuku found himself pulled in against a broad, warm chest. Found his fingers transferred from crinkly polyester to soft, gentle cotton already soaked through with tears, "I've got you, little brother."

Maybe…maybe it would be okay to rely on someone else. Just for a little while.

Notes:

We're now caught up to the first work, update frequency will slow down from here on out.

Chapter 19

Notes:

Man, an entire month.

This chapter fought me, not gonna lie. Partly because I took so long to write it, partly because my brain is focused on other projects at the moment.

But we finally have an update!

Chapter Text

The police station was so cold that even the blanket wrapped around Izuku's shoulders did nothing to stave off the chill settling into his bones. Though that might have had less to do with the temperature and more to do with the events of the last couple of hours. Between shock and the inevitable energy crash he had been fighting since the train home, it was no wonder that his body temperature wasn't regulating properly. At least the coffee was hot; cheap and instant and searing straight through to his fingers. That heat was about the only thing Izuku could manage to focus on right now.

Well, the only thing he was willing to focus on right now at least. If he wasn't considering how long the coffee cup would take to burn the skin off of his fingertips, then he would inevitably start spiraling back into thoughts of how he had ended up here. Izuku couldn't afford that, not yet. There was still more to do before he could allow himself that luxury.

The fact that currently, 'more to do' consisted of sitting in a slightly rickety old chair nursing a scalding hot paper cup in silence next to a man who seemed more awkward to be in Izuku's presence than Izuku was to be in his, wasn't particularly assisting with keeping his mind preoccupied. There was only so much excitement he could maintain over the knowledge that one of his favorite heroes of all time also happened to be his brother. Especially when said favorite hero was doing his utmost to make himself as unnoticeable and unapproachable as possible, eyes and thumbs glued to the screen of his phone as he slouched as low as he could reasonably go in the seat next to Izuku.

Izuku had never considered that the Eraserhead might have bad posture before. He was starting to understand why people might not want to meet their heroes.

It was…awkward, waiting for the police next to a brother Izuku knew nothing about. Well, that wasn't really true but somehow Izuku had a feeling that Eraserhead might not appreciate him rattling off the hero's career statistics to him. At least the awkwardness seemed to be mutual, Eraserhead had been shooting glances at him whenever he thought Izuku wasn't looking but otherwise hadn't said a word since they had crowded into the back of a police car for the trip down to the station. The detective driving had been nice, he'd not even seemed all that bothered by Izuku's presence which was a novelty he still wasn't used to. But now, waiting to give his statement in a silence so tense and still that every breath he took felt loud and ragged in his ears, Izuku would have preferred the looks and the whispers. Something normal, something he could latch onto and wrap around himself like an extra layer of armor against the unfamiliarity surrounding him now. At least there was coffee.

"Shouta!" Izuku's head snapped up at almost the same time as Eraserhead's, locking onto a familiar tower of blond hair ducking through the doorway of the police station. What was Yamada-sensei doing here? "When I said deal with what you need to, I didn't mean end up in a police station in Musutafu! What did you do this ti– Midoriya?" Izuku smiled sheepishly as the hero stopped in his tracks, apparently Izuku's confusion about his homeroom teacher's appearance was mutual, "Shouta did you kidnap one of my students? "

"Half my life," the sheer level of done in Eraserhead's tone was something Izuku could only aspire to, "half my life you have been glued to my side, and your first thought upon seeing me in a police station waiting room with a teenager is kidnapping ?"

"Spending fifteen years with you is precisely why I know not to rule anything out, Shouta!" Izuku smothered a grin with the rim of his coffee cup. The back and forth was kind of endearing, in a way, "remember that time in third year when you found out that the owners of that cat cafe were–"

" Hizashi ," Izuku ducked as Eraserhead's phone sailed through the air, smacking the blond hero in the chest and drawing an indignant squawk from the man, "can we not relate my teenager misadventures in the middle of a police station in front of my brother ?"

There it was again. Brother. There was something about the way Eraserhead said it, like it was the most casual and understood thing in the world, while it was still turning Izuku's world upside down every time he considered it. A single word that defied comprehension. It had been just him and his mom for so long, for his entire life. What did having a brother even mean ? How was he supposed to handle this? What reaction was he meant to have?

"I knew it!" Yamada-sensei's jubilant crowing pulled Izuku out of the spiral of questions that threatened to drag him under, staring blankly at the blinding smile on his homeroom teacher's face. The heavy sigh to Izuku's left was a direct reflection of every speck of exhaustion in his body right now. This cheap coffee really wasn't helping him much.

"No, you didn't," Eraserhead deadpanned, "or I'd have heard no end of it from the moment the school year started. You're no good at hiding things from me, Zashi, you'd have spilled your guts the second you knew."

"Shouuuu," Izuku didn't need to look in order to see the pout that went along with that whine, but he did anyway. There was something fascinating about seeing not only two pro heroes but one of them was his homeroom teacher being human beings, like it was forbidden knowledge, "I did know! I asked the Listener weeks ago, right before you–"

Yamada-sensei's jaw snapped shut with an audible click and he glanced away, fist flexing slightly at the man's side. His homeroom teacher had asked him if he was related to Eraserhead? When? It took a moment for Izuku to connect the dots but when he did the connections lit up like fireworks in his head.

"Aizawa," he whispered, mostly to himself. Not quietly enough for the man beside him not to start slightly, black gaze meeting green as Izuku turned slowly to face the hero, "your family name is Aizawa." It wasn't a question but Eraserhead nodded anyway. Suddenly everything made sense , "Yamada-sensei asked me if I was related to the Aizawas. In Nedzu-sensei's office, the day I broke my nose. That was– oh ." Izuku sank his teeth into his tongue firmly. He remembered what else had happened that day, cracks in ceilings and monsters on cameras. The bruises on Eraserhead's face a stark reminder of how little Izuku had done to help.

"Eraserhead." Izuku tore his gaze away from the unreadable expression on the hero's face to look up at the soft-spoken police officer standing in the doorway. Wisps of lavender hair curled out from underneath the man's hat, reminding Izuku of another head of purple hair. He wished Hitoshi was here right now, "are you here to finally take my wife off of my hands?" The exasperated sigh that left the man beside him, teamed with the wide grin slowly stretching across the officer's face, told Izuku that this wasn't the first time this subject had come up, "I can call her right now, have you two married by the evening."

"Shinsou," Izuku blinked in surprise. Hitoshi had said his dad worked for the police, it really shouldn't have been such a shock, "the day I agree to marry that woman, I expect you to start the search for me and arrest the impostor." The officer, Hitoshi's dad , chuckled dryly, shaking his head in amusement.

"I'll tell her, expect a phone call lamenting her heartbreak at some point. Again. Anyway," wisps of violet swayed around the man's face, just as unruly as his son's hair despite the difference in length as he jerked his head backwards, "you ready to do this?"

"Yeah," Izuku glanced to the side as Eraserhead heaved himself to his feet, swaying slightly before he steadied himself with a palm on the table, "let's get this over with."

"Why don't I take Midoriya-kun," Izuku felt like a spectator in his own life, shifting his attention from person to person as they spoke, "the Listener and I can wait for you in the car, Shou. Probably a little more comfortable than sitting in a police office waiting for you to be finished." Eraserhead froze mid-step, dead still for half a breath before he covered his face with both hands and groaned loudly, prompting a concerned Yamada-sensei to step closer, "what? What is it, Shou?"

"So, uh," if Izuku didn't know better, he would say that sounded like embarrassment in Eraserhead's voice, "about the car. How do you feel about an evening walk?"

A walk turned out not to be necessary, thanks to Hitoshi's dad. While the officer couldn't drive them back to Izuku's apartment building himself, he was more than happy to call another officer to give them a ride instead. Yamada-sensei was still bursting into random fits of giggles and if he was honest, Izuku was failing to smother a smile every time he did. Eraserhead always seemed so stoic, even sitting awkwardly next to Izuku in the station he'd given off this unflappable aura. To hear that in the commotion of the last couple of hours the hero had forgotten that he drove himself to Musutafu and left his car parked outside Izuku's building was humanizing in a way that nothing else that evening had been.

"This must be pretty overwhelming, hey Listener," Izuku looked up after he buckled himself into the back seat of the car, meeting Yamada-sensei's gaze in the rear view mirror. He wasn't wrong, but the sympathy on his homeroom teacher's face didn't make things feel any less overwhelming, "you've probably got a whole mess of questions. I just want to let you know that you can ask me anything, Midoriya. I know that sometimes, a stranger is the last person you want to ask. I might not be someone you've known for very long, but I think we've spent enough time together for you to believe me when I say you can trust me to answer any question I can with honesty."

Izuku considered that offer for a moment. Again, Yamada-sensei wasn't wrong , he had spent enough time with his homeroom teacher during their training sessions for Izuku to trust that the hero genuinely cared about his well being. But that was as a student, and this wasn't a student - teacher situation right now. Did the same rules apply? Izuku wasn't sure. It didn't hurt to be polite, though; so Izuku plastered what felt like the most genuine smile he could manage on his face.

"Thank you, Yamada-sensei."

Izuku hadn't expected the laughter that filled the car. For a moment his anxieties spiked, he hadn't said anything funny so the hero had to be laughing at him. But try as he might, he couldn't maintain indignance at the man. His laughter was such a genuine expression of joy, Izuku couldn't find a thread of malice in it.

"Oh I'm sorry, Listener," Yamada-sensei wiped at his face, still chuckling softly, "I'm not laughing at you, I promise. It's just… wow , you looked so much like Shouta just then when he's trying to be polite even though he doesn't want to be. I mean, the likeness is uncanny. I don't know how people didn't spot it earlier!"

"Shouta?" Izuku frowned. That was the third time Yamada-sensei had called Eraserhead that, but… "I thought his name was Shou–"

"No." The vehemence in that single syllable stopped Izuku in his tracks. In the rearview mirror the blond smiled apologetically, "sorry Listener, I'm pretty sure I know what you're going to say if you heard it from your mother. It's not my story to tell, so I'm not going to tell you all of it, but Eraserhead's name is Aizawa Shouta and has been for as long as I've known him. Please don't use the one you heard, okay?" Izuku nodded, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

"Okay, Yamada-sensei." People changed their names for all kinds of reasons, after all. Izuku couldn't say that if he'd been given a girl's name that he wouldn't want to change it too.

"Thank you, Midoriya. Your mother was being very rude and very disrespectful to Shou, using that name." They were moving now, houses and trees drifting past the window as they headed back to the station, "and please, outside of work it's just Yamada. Or if you feel comfortable enough, I'd love it if you called me Hizashi!" Izuku nodded, clenching his jaw tightly to stifle another yawn. Car engines were like lullabies when he was this tired, "why don't you take a nap, Listener? I promise," the blond must have seen him tense, seen the stubborn set of Izuku's jaw clenching at the thought of falling asleep around someone else, "I promise that you're safe here. I'll lock the doors if you like. And I'm not afraid of your quirk, Midoriya. I know the feeling of your quirk very well, since it's similar to Shouta's. You're safe here, and you need rest."

Izuku wanted to protest, refuse and force himself to stay awake. Just because he could trust his teacher in a school setting didn't mean that he could trust him anywhere else. He wouldn't be the first person to lull Izuku into a false sense of security just to hurt him later. But the way he knew Eraserhead, knew Shouta , the way he interacted with him said they were close. Almost family close. Were they together? Izuku was supposed to be able to trust family, right? Would Shouta understand, would he help if Izuku didn't feel safe? Something in him whispered yes, he could trust these people, he just had to let them prove it.

The last thing Izuku remembered before sleep claimed him was the hum of the engine mingling with the humming of the hero in the driver's seat. It was nice.

Chapter 20: Hiatus Notice.

Chapter Text

One new chapter. That's all it took. One new chapter.

Did you know, if you make a note on a public bookmark everyone can read it?

As of right now, I'm done with this story. I'm so fucking tired of readers thinking they are entitled to demand content from authors. Even if you mean it in jest, it's not funny and it sucks all the desire to continue out of the writer.

So this is me, lacking any and all desire to continue this story. We might come back to it, we might not.

It's sad, because I loved this story, I loved the concept, I had fun writing what we've got so far. But I'm not having fun with it anymore, not with having content demanded of me. The love for the story is gone, and if it comes back at some point we will continue. But right now, I'm done.

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