A/N: We're finally here: the epilogue! Thanks to everyone who read, and thanks to (commenter) for reviewing.


"Off to school?" Tomura questioned as Izuku popped in behind him, grabbing a piece of toast with peanut butter.

"Yep!" He hastily nodded, pressed a kiss to Inko's cheek, and nodded to Hisashi. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad! Bye, Tomura!"

"Have a good day!" His mother called over her shoulder as Tomura added another dish to the sink.

"We're still on for Legend of Dennis!" Tomura declared. "You better remember!"

Izuku let a laugh bubble from his chest as he rushed out the door, backpack bouncing off his body with each leaping step.


"Morning, Midoriya-kun!" Hanae chirped when he stumbled into the classroom, leaning forward on her desk as he slumped into his. The flowers blooming from her scalp, snowdrops this season, looked radiant as ever. "Boy, you look out of breath - did your alarm not go off?"

"Not exactly," he responded with a huff of amusement as he pulled out a familiar notebook, titled Heroes of the Future, Vol 1. "I lost track of time while meditating."

"Meditation, hm?" Kuro spoke up from behind, and both turned to see the dark-haired boy set his book bag on his desktop, his gold-yellow eyes piercing even through his shaggy bangs. "You never told us you meditated."

"I must have forgotten to mention it," Izuku responded with a smile. "Do you?"

"All the time," he replied. "It helps me control…" shifting his weight, he muttered, "... my Quirk."

"Cheer up a little, Kuro-kun!" Hanae exclaimed, standing just to pat him on the back. "You don't need to be embarrassed still. We think your Quirk is cool!"

"I'm sorry. Force of habit."

"I know how that is," the freckled teen gave him a kind smile. "If you want… I could help you with it after I'm done with Shiraishi-san? I have a bit of experience with shadow Quirks."

"That would help, thank you, Midoriya-kun."

"Good morning, you three," their homeroom teacher Fujiwara walked in with a blond boy behind, and both smiled at the trio - the shorter of them sporting a grin as he made his way towards his seat. "You look happier today, Midoriya. Did something good happen?"

He took pause, as all three looked at him. Then he beamed. "I don't know. I guess I was just… looking forward to class."

Fujiwara's dark eyes shone, and he clasped his hands together. "That's wonderful news. I'm happy that you've grown so close with your classmates already."

Hanae's hand on his shoulder and Kuro's familiar presence at his back made his heart grow warm, as did a familiar feeling in his chest, akin to someone gingerly resting a hand over it.


As soon as he got home after school, Izuku could feel something off in the air.

Frowning, he took off his shoes at the door, calling, "I'm home, Mom!"

Almost immediately his father appeared from the living room, his face pinched in worry and… anger? "Izuku, son, welcome home."

"What's going on?" He questioned, setting down his bag. "Why is it so quiet?"

"Something…" he hesitated before continuing, "...something interesting happened this morning, and I'd rather you know right away so that you don't have to worry later."

He eyed the tall man warily. "Is Mom hurt?"

"No!" Hisashi immediately answered, shaking his head. "I would never let her get hurt. You know this."

Izuku's lips pressed into a line, and he sent the man a look.

"That was because she happened to wander into a shady part of the city without my knowledge," he said with an exhausted sigh, gesturing to the living room. "Come on and sit down."

Despite his own worries, he followed behind obediently, only to frown in confusion at the sight of his mother sitting on the couch nervously fidgeting with her blouse, and Tomura sitting beside her with a stormy expression on his face.

"What's going on?" He repeated, more annoyed now. "Who died?"

"Nobody died," Tomura answered quietly, anger seething in his tone. "Not yet."

"Tomura," Hisashi chastised, but the young man didn't look up.

"We found your teacher today," Inko finally looked up with her brow creased, looking as if she'd aged years in a day. "Your former teacher. He was… badly hurt."

The breath felt as if it were punched out of his chest.

"I don't want to go back," he blurted shakily. "Don't make me go back. Please."

In an instant Inko was getting off the couch, moving to go to his side. Her face, though worried, was now pinched with latent anger, though he faintly surmised it wasn't aimed at him.

"Nobody is taking you back to Musutafu," Hisashi firmly stated, wrapping his arms around his son. "You are staying right here."

"For now, he's unconscious and recovering," his mother murmured, resting her chin on his shoulder. "He doesn't know where he is, and neither does Yuuei. The League made sure to redirect whoever they sent to recover him."

"They aren't gonna take you back." Tomura looked up with clenched fists. For the first time, Izuku noticed he wasn't wearing his gloves. "We aren't gonna let them. Not if I have anything to say about it."


OMAKE


Yuuei Teacher Missing

A shocking and concerning report comes out of Musutafu's best hero school: thirty-one-year-old Aizawa Shota has been declared missing as of 6:00 this morning, according to an official missing persons report filed with the Musutafu police. Yuuei's principal, Nedzu, sheds some light on the story: "While on patrol, we unfortunately lost contact with Aizawa and are presently unable to locate him. While I'm concerned for my staff, I'm more concerned for how our worried students will react to the news."

Aizawa is 183 cm, with shoulder-length black hair and matching eyes. He was last seen in a black jumpsuit. If anyone has seen a man of this description, please call the Musutafu missing persons tip line at (XXX) XXX-XXXX.


A/N: This is officially the end of Step By Step! I hope you all have enjoyed this book, and I hope I've piqued your interest for the next entries into this AU!

Timeline-wise, the next book is Did My Time (And I'm Doing Just Fine). However, I'll be uploading the parallel story to this, called The Greatest Loss, once I'm finished with it on AO3. I'm super excited to finally tell Yuuei's side of things, as well as clear up a few loose ends - such as, how did we get here in the first place? What happened to the villain that Shigaraki faced in the basement? What did 1-A think of Izuku's disappearance?