Author's Note: So here's chapter 40. Lots of setup this chapter for later. I hope some people can guess/figure out who the person in the last cutaway is. Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoy the chapter!
Also, if you want to get into a place with other lovers of MHA, and specifically IzuJirou stuff, come on and join this Discord server that I'm on: /eFtmT8cTbY We're only kind of crazy, and not at all a cult... except, we also kind of are. Anyway, yeah, join that! Or maybe you want something a bit less niche with still a lot of great authors? If so, I have another server! /6ZCTyGy7zZ I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's cross-posted on Ao3 as well. Leave a review if you want to. I welcome the feedback! See you next time.

Izuku, along with the rest of his crew, pulled into their alley and got out of the van. Izuku sighed as he stepped out. His mask was on again now that the doors were open.

"So, that place. You said Overhaul was there?" Kyouka asked.

"Not now. Eri comes first. Once she's settled, then we can talk." Izuku said. He pulled open the bay door and stepped into the warehouse.

Immediately, Eri noticed him and ran to him. "Cool guy! You're back!" She immediately grabbed onto his leg. Inko stood there with a warm smile on her face.

"Hey there, Eri. Did you like being with the nice lady?" Izuku asked, turning his voice changer off again. Eri just nodded quietly. "I'll tell you a little secret, okay?" Eri looked up at him expectantly. Izuku made sure the door was closed before he took his mask off and smiled at the young girl. "That nice lady is my mom."

"Your mom?" Eri looked back and forth between Izuku and Inko. "Wow…"

"My name is Izuku." Izuku smiled.

"Izu…ku…" Eri parsed out the sounds.

"But when my mask is on, my name is different. Just like them." Izuku gestured to the other members of the group who were all taking their masks off. "Do you remember my friend that I gave you to?" Eri nodded again. "Her name is Himiko."

"Hi…ko…" Eri said.

Himiko squealed and walked over to the small girl. "Hi, Eri! I'm so glad you're safe now. You're so cute!"

Izuku introduced the rest of his teammates before he finally got to Kyouka. "Now, all those other people are important to me, but this one is very important to me."

Kyouka blushed and stepped forward. "I-Izu, stop it!"

Izuku leaned close to Eri with a smirk on his face and whispered quietly. "I'm going to marry her." Eri's face lit up in wonder. Kyouka, on the other hand, being the only other person that could hear what he said, covered her face completely with her hands. Her jacks were going completely haywire. "Her name is Kyouka."

"Kyo…ka…"

Kyouka walked up to Izuku, pulled him up so that he was standing next to her, and leaned in close to whisper. "If what you said is true, you acting like a dad is not helping."

Izuku didn't know what to say to that, so instead, he squatted down next to Eri again. "What did you do with Mama Inko?"

"She made me food." Eri said. "It was good."

"Yeah, my mom is a great cook." Izuku said. Eri yawned widely. "Let's get you to sit down. Here, lay down on the couch." Izuku led Eri over to the couch and helped her get up on it.

"It's nice." She said, yawning again.

"I bet you're tired." Izuku said. Eri nodded and began to fall over. Izuku caught her and laid her down gently on the couch, propping her head up with a small throw pillow. She fell asleep quickly, her white hair splayed out across the fabric. "Kyouka, can you get a blanket from our room?" Kyouka nodded and disappeared down the short hallway, coming out with a soft blanket. Izuku draped it over the sleeping girl, making sure not to wake her. She snuggled into the blanket immediately.

"Wow, she must be exhausted." Shouto said.

"She's probably been constantly on guard. Having part of you taken over and over again in order to make something like that, probably without care for her. The way he reacted in Heat Rush, he probably sees her as a tool and not as a person." Izuku said.

"Speaking of, I think we're owed an explanation of what Heat Rush is and what happened." Hitoshi said.

"A hero in training took me out while I was trying to lead Overhaul away from you guys." Izuku explained. "I tried to fight him, but my hand went through him. And then he hit me twice, and I was out."

"So that's why you stopped responding." Mei said.

Izuku nodded. "I woke up in a car, and we were there. The blonde guy that punched me, Lemillion, wasn't driving. That was Sir Nighteye of the Nighteye Hero Agency. He said that Heat Rush is neutral ground. We went in, and there were heroes, police, and some notable villains. All together just in the bar."

"That sounds like a shitstorm waiting to happen. Heroes and villains in the same bar? Why aren't they getting arrested?" Kyouka asked.

"I was wondering the same thing, but the bar owner is a guy who is incredibly strong. He's apparently stronger than Miruko, who just… happens to be his girlfriend." Izuku said. "His one rule is no fighting in the establishment, and all of the people in the bar are willing to defend that rule."

"If he's that strong, it makes sense, then." Hitoshi agreed.

"So the guy that runs it. Not a hero." Shouto more said than asked.

"Nope." Izuku replied.

"Not a villain."

"Nope."

"Just a… guy…?"

"Yeah, a guy with a fire quirk that's super strong." Izuku said.

Shouto's eyes went wide. "You don't think…?"

"Now's not the time for a conspiracy theory, Shouto." Izuku dismissed. "Plus, he seems like he's from Hawaii."

"How can you be certain that he's from Hawaii?" Shouto asked.

"Probably because a few of the decorations in his place had Hawaii on them." Izuku said.

"He could have been a tourist!" Shouto countered.

"Listen, when you go see him, you'll be able to know all you want." Izuku said. "Anyway, Nighteye wanted to know why I took Eri. Nezu showed up too. They said the Nighteye agency was conducting an investigation of the Shie Hassaikai. He asked for our help."

"And what did you say?" Himiko asked.

"I said I'd need to talk to you all first." Izuku said.

"A wise choice." Fumikage nodded.

"Anything happen after that?" Kyouka asked.

"Yeah… Overhaul showed up. He saw me and ran at me with his hand out. Everyone stopped what they were doing and Ryouya, the owner, almost had to get involved. He threatened me. Said he'd take away everything that's important to me. And then he… Oh my god…" Izuku stopped.

"Then he what?" Shouto asked.

"He put his hand on my shoulder, saying that we'd be in touch." Izuku said. "If what the one guy said is correct, he could have killed me then and there." Izuku put his head into his hands.

"Not to sound insensitive, but don't you almost die a lot?" Shouto asked.

"Not without the chance to fight back." Izuku said. "There was so much murder in his eyes. He almost took my head off earlier when he launched a spike made out of road at me."

"It seems like we have chosen quite the fearsome opponent this time around." Fumikage noted.

"Does that scare you?" Izuku asked.

"Absolutely not. With you all and Dark Shadow at my side, I am not afraid." Fumikage said with a clenched fist.

"Good. Because we have a lot of training we need to do to get to the point where we can get out of there alive." Izuku said. That earned groans from everyone. "Oh, don't give me that. We already had training on the plate this week. We just have more of a reason to now." Izuku pointed at Eri, who shifted in her sleep.

Nobody said anything else. They just nodded. They had all just met Eri, but she was important enough to train for. She had to be protected. They all understood that.

"Oh, as soon as we got her back here, I started doing some digging into her blood. Her quirk is called Rewind. She stores energy in her horn, and then she can rewind the biology of any living being. The extent of this is unknown. She charges up energy by feeling positive emotions. And then she uses that built up energy in order to rewind things." Mei explained.

"That's a powerful quirk. I'm going to assume that because she's so young and has been trapped with the Shie Hassaikai for a while, she doesn't know how to control it." Izuku said.

"A safe assumption probably." Kyouka said, leaning back in one of the kitchen chairs.

"Now would be a good time to use Eraserhead's quirk to make some items." Izuku said. "It would be better to start having that under control. And then use that if it gets out of hand." He explained.

"Heard." Mei said as she jumped into her chair and turned to her computer. "I should have a prototype by the time she wakes up." And then she got to work.

Izuku turned back around and looked at the little girl. She looked so peaceful, and he was happy that he could get her away from… from whatever happened to her to make those bullets. He grabbed one of the kitchen chairs and set it in front of the couch. He sat down and just watched her. She looked calm. She looked peaceful. She looked safe. A far cry fromhow she was before. He felt peaceful just by looking at her…

The next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake by Kyouka. "Huh?"

"Come on, Izu. You fell asleep. Let's get to bed." Kyouka said.

"Oh, right. I guess watching Eri sleep so peacefully sent me into sleep too." Izuku shook his head. He stood up and put the chair he was sitting at back at the table.

"Izuku, I have the prototype for Eraserhead, but as a sort of magnetic field." Mei said, pointing at her design visualizer. "It'll be physically made by the morning."

"Don't stay up too late. We've talked about your all-nighters." Izuku said.

"I'm setting it up to fabricate and then hitting the hay myself. You stressed me out today. I'm tired." She admitted.

"Alright. Goodnight, Mei." Izuku said.

"Night night!" She waved Izuku away.

Izuku and Kyouka walked back to their room in tired silence. They each slipped into the bed and sighed.

"You worried me today, Izuku." Kyouka said.

"I'm sorry, Kyo. I wasn't expecting the blonde guy to come out of nowhere." Izuku said.

"I know, but still… I was worried."

"Well, I'll be more careful, okay?" Izuku promised.

"Okay…" Kyouka acquiesced. A few seconds of silence passed before she spoke again. "Did you really mean what you said earlier?"

"What did I say earlier?" Izuku asked, caught off guard a bit.

"You told Eri that you're going to marry me…"

"Oh, of course. I love you, after all." Izuku said.

Kyouka choked on her own spit for a split second, recovering quickly. "You just… you just said it." She said with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I just said it, I-… I forgot that neither of us have said that yet! Dammit!" Izuku said.

Kyouka started laughing. "You're a fucking simp!" She jabbed him in the side with her fingers. Eventually, she settled down with her laughter. "But… I… I love you too."

"I'm sorry, did you just use the word 'simp'? In this, the current year? That's archaic language, grandma." Izuku teased.

"Fuck you." Kyouka said, pushing him almost out of the bed.

"A little soon for that, huh?" Izuku teased back.

"Oh, you…" Kyouka started, but she stopped as soon as the curtain to the room drew open. The two of them looked over and saw Eri standing there, holding the blanket that she had been given.

"Eri, what's wrong?" Izuku asked.

"I had a nightmare." She sniffled.

"Do you want to sleep in the bed with us?" Kyouka asked. Eri just nodded. "Alright, well climb on in." Eri did as she was told, climbing into bed with Izuku and Kyouka. "Good night, Eri." Kyouka said softly.

"Goodnight, Eri." Izuku said with the same tone.

"Goodnight Izu…ku and Kyou…ka…" Eri yawned and drifted off to sleep quickly. Izuku and Kyouka shared a loving glance between the two of them before falling asleep themselves with Eri between them.


Chisaki was furious, but he knew what he needed to do. He knocked on the door in front of him, and it slowly opened.

"Overhaul of the Shie Hassaikai, is it?" A blue haired man with hands covering his body asked.

"Tomura Shigaraki of the League of Villains." Chisaki responded.

"What do you want?" Tomura asked.

"I've recently had something very important taken from me, and I've heard that you have a few people that could help me get it back." Chisaki explained.

"Go on." Shigaraki said. "What is this key item and why is it so important?"

"That's none of your concern." Chisaki said. "I am asking for your services. I'll pay, of course. But I'm paying for services, not for your questions."

Shigaraki scoffed. "And why would I help you?"

"I don't reduce you to a bloody mist across that wall." Chisaki said. "And I give you some notoriety for taking down the Societas Requiem group."

Shigaraki's face turned serious. "You know how to take them down?"

"I know enough to pull it off." Chisaki said. "I just need a bit of help with the foundations of this plan. It seems like that struck a chord in you. Help me, and you will get your revenge. Once I have what I want, you can do whatever you please with them."

Shigaraki sat in thought. "What do you need for your raid? We'll see if the reward matches up with the quest."

Chisaki paced around the room. "Who do you have in your ranks that can go and retrieve things or people?"

"Compress." Shigaraki instructed, and Mr. Compress stepped forward.

"What's his quirk?" Chisaki asked. His voice seemed… off… Like it pained him to ask that almost.

"You'll know later. This is still in the planning phase, after all." Shigaraki said. "We don't know what you want yet, you don't know our stat allocation."

"Fine. But you are interested." It wasn't a question.

"We are. What is the quest reward?"

"You'll get a fair monetary compensation as well as a few of our special bullets, free of charge." Chisaki said. "And once I start taking over, you all will be absorbed into my empire and not slaughtered."

"Fair enough. Alright. We accept tentatively. You know how to contact us. Tell me when the raid is, and then you can borrow Compress and maybe another member of my League." Shigaraki said.

"Great. Once I have more information, I will get back to you." Chisaki turned to leave. As soon as he exited the building, the same building the League had met Societas Requiem in, Dabi turned to look at Shigaraki.

"You were fairly agreeable with him. It almost seemed unlike you."

"That guy has his head so far up his own ass that he can't see anything other than his main quest." Shigaraki stated. "He thinks that we're just going to cooperate. Compress, get as much information as you can when you help. When this is all over, he won't be swallowing us, we'll be swallowing him. These 'special bullets' will be his rare drop. It sounds like that's his whole scheme. Be prepared, everyone. The man named Overhaul doesn't know what's coming for him." Shigaraki began to laugh uproariously, soon joined by Twice and a few other members of the League.


A man, masked up to his nose with a dark black plate and long white hair stepped through the threshold of the hospital office, locking the door behind him. The doctor in the room had his back turned, but once the door closed, he turned around in shock.

"A-Ah, Kuchikara. It's great to see you again. How are Slice, Mummy, abd Chimera doing?" The doctor said.

"They are fine, but as you can see, I've returned. I have found what I needed to, but now I need something else from you." The man named Kuchikara said.

"What else could you need? The experiment was a success. You hold your new power, what more could you want?" The doctor said.

"I want the full power, Garaki." The man said, his eyes glowing red now. "And you're going to give it to me."

"Wha- Wai- Not here! Don't say that name here. You'll blow my cover." Garaki stuttered. Then he sighed. "Why do you need it?"

Kuchikara's eyes returned to their normal gray. "I think it's less about what I need and more about what you need. With the mad dog of the underworld locked away in Tartarus now, your whole lifestyle is hanging on the shoulders of All For One's spoiled manchild of a 'successor'. What plans does he have to release All For One from his prison?"

"The boy still has much to learn." Garaki defended.

"But why wait until he's learned it? I am here now, a man of known compatibility with All For One, and willing to move the world into a better place where the strong survive. Where people like you don't have to hide behind fake names and jobs." Kuchikara said.

"But that's not the plan that master had told me." Garaki said, his voice now much softer.

Kuchikara stepped closer to the man who shrunk away from the approaching threat. He grabbed Garaki by his lab coat and pulled him close. "Your master isn't here to approve this new and improved plan. You will give me the full power version of All For One." His eyes turned red again, and a massive bolt of lightning flashed right outside the window of Garaki's office. "Or else." Garaki said nothing, but he nodded. "Good. When will this happen." It wasn't a question, but a demand.

"M-Meet me here tonight. We'll go to my lab, and we will give you the full version of the quirk. Now please leave. I'm sure a random lightning strike will have alerted some people that something is wrong." Garaki said.

"Good. I will see you then. Do not be late." Kuchikara said, turning around and leaving the room quickly.

"What have we done, master Hisashi?" Garaki looked down at his desk and then back to the door. "I do hope you make it back soon. Before it's too late." He sighed to himself as some security guards poured into his office.

"Dr. Ujiko, are you alright?" One of then asked.

Garaki just put on his biggest smile. "Oh yes, I'm quite fine. The sudden storm gave me a bit of fright is all." He waved them off. "Don't worry, everything is fine."

Seemingly appeased by that answer, the security guards left.

Garaki spoke to himself again. "I say that, but it's really not. But I don't have much of a choice in the matter." He put his head in his hands in sadness. "What a predicament…"

Author's Note: So I know the actual buildup for Eri's quirk isn't known, but I wanted to just have it be this anyway. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!