Todoroki Enji, Endeavor, and perpetual number two hero, walked through the front door of his traditional Japanese manor and was greeted with naught but silence. It had been some time since he last stepped foot in his own house, opting to sleep at the office most nights. The maid seemed to be doing a decent enough job at least. Every surface was clean, everything put away where it should be, the Autumn Bellflowers in the backyard pristine and ready to be taken to Rei. The silence in the once lively house was deafening, the cleanliness jarring.

It was a hollowed out corpse of what he had once thought was a home.

Enji walked through silent halls where children's laughter could once be heard. He spared only a glance at the empty room that held his greatest shame, where in his weakness he had struck Rei, blaming her for not watching Touya better. He entered the room where Touya had attacked his infant brother.

He settled onto his knees in front of Touya's shrine, lit the incense with his Quirk and bowed his head in prayer.

Number one spot on the hero chart aside, he once thought he had everything.

The wife his father had chosen for him was kind in a way he had never known. She had blessed him with four children, Fuyumi and Natsuo were as kind and intelligent as their mother while Touya and Shoto were fortunate enough to be born with Quirks stronger than even his own. He made sure to nurture Fuyumi and Natsuo's intelligence with the best tutors money could buy while he personally trained Touya and Shoto to be strong the same way he had been despite his wife claiming it was too much.

Now his eldest was dead. His wife was in a mental health institution, blaming her for Touya's burns having spiraled into her blaming herself for his death. Natsuo had been away at university for three years and refused to answer his calls or visit. Fuyumi didn't let him attend her wedding and hadn't let him even see his grandchildren. Shoto had just recently gone to UA and wasn't answering any of his phone calls either.

He was taught from a young age that strength was the only measure of a person's worth, the only thing that mattered in life. He knew he was strong, so why did food taste like ash, why did no amount of cases closed bring satisfaction? Perhaps when he finally eclipsed All Might as the number one would he be happy.

The vibration of his phone broke him from his thoughts.

It was the rat.

"What?" He answered curtly, annoyed that he had gotten his hopes up that it was one of his kids.

"There's been an attack. Shoto's been-," Nezu said.

The rat continued to talk but he couldn't make out the words over the damn ringing in his ears.

Would he break his promise to Rei once more?

Would a parent be forced to bury their child once again?

He didn't think he could bear that, not again.

XXXX

Izuku startled awake thrashing through...water? He slowly realized he was only in the shallow surf of a black sand beach. He barely recognized it as One for All's mental landscape. The once placid waters were now gently lapping at the sand while a multi color sun blazed overhead. Where the island had once been barren it was now lush with tropical plants. In the center of the Island was a beautiful beach house with Nana sitting on the stairs leading up to the deck where the others were shouting at each other.

"What happened to this place?" Izuku asked as he approached Nana.

"It changed after you evolved One for All. It's pretty awesome actually, it's like I'm on a permanent vacation," Nana said around a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Well I'm glad you aren't just marooned anymore, but what happened back there? Why was I so ready to kill that man? I think his name was Shigaraki? Isn't that Yoichi's surname?" Izuku asked.

Nana let out a sigh but before she said anything the other vestiges approached, some sitting on the stairs with Nana, some leaning on the deck railing.

Yoichi sat at the bottom step and grabbed a handful of sand. "You remember correctly, Shigaraki is indeed my surname but I never had children. My brother, All for One, was my only relative and he wiped our family name from history. It can only mean one thing if someone is claiming to be a Shigaraki, my brother is sending a message. Either he is still alive or he has left this new Shigaraki to take his place. It's the only explanation for his name and that creature having multiple Quirks."

"You said he was dead, that All Might killed him!" Izuku said, shocked that anyone could survive if All Might had killing intent.

"We thought he was, he may still be but we can no longer be sure," En said.

"Ok, but why was I so ready to kill?" Izuku asked.

The previous holders were frustratingly silent.

He caught Nana's eye. "Please, I don't want to kill villains, they deserve a chance to change. Is something wrong with me? When I was about to tear that man's heart out, it felt like the only course of action."

Nana inhaled deeply before answering, "You wanted to hurt him but we wanted to kill him, if he is related to All for One in any way he has to die. I think our combined emotions were strong enough to influence your own. We wanted him dead but we didn't mean to influence you like that. We never intended to jeopardize your free will, we're sorry, it won't happen again."

Nana as well as the other vestiges bowed their heads in apology, even the second and third users surprisingly, though he should have expected freedom fighters to value free will highly.

"Well that makes me feel a little better knowing it wasn't me. Still a little alarming that you can influence me like that…"

Nana got up and grabbed his shoulders. " . .again. I think it was only possible due to our strong, unanimous emotions to begin with."

The surroundings began to blur until only Nana's face was clear.

"You're waking up," Nana said before fading out of existence.

XXXX

Izuku's vision swam into focus, thankfully less literal this time, as he recognized the ceiling of UA's nurse's office and a privacy sheet surrounding his bed. He was more than a little surprised to not be in pain, the only thing he felt that was out of place was a weight on his chest, a familiar weight. He turned his vision down to see Eri sprawled across his hospital gown clad chest, asleep with tear tracks staining her face. He placed a hand on her back and at the same time noticed his arm had many new scars, scars earned by protecting those he loved, ones he would wear with pride.

He rubbed circles into his daughter's back, her breathing was hitched even while asleep, having likely cried herself to sleep.

"Papa?" Eri whispered with a scratchy voice.

"I'm here, Sweetheart," He whispered soothingly.

"PAPA!" Eri exclaimed in relief as tears made a reappearance at the corners of her ruby eyes.

The privacy curtain was torn aside by all three of his Moms, no doubt alarmed by Eri's cry. The haggard expressions of all three melted away and transformed into expressions of relief as they rushed forward to swarm his bed. His Mama Nemuri had a few new scars as well he saw, most notably a long one along her neck from a bladed weapon that must have just barely missed the carotid artery.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, Izuku..." His Mama Nemuri said in a defeated tone he had never heard from the usual high energy woman.

"Students and my kids were harmed on my own turf, I'll never forgive myself…" His Mom Anan lamented, their eyes that looked so much like blackholes shimmering with frustrated tears.

"How are you feeling? Does anything hurt? What's my name? What year is it? How many fingers am I holding up? Are you hungry? Thirsty? Recovery Girl said she was able to fully heal you due to your Quirk giving you limitless stamina but-" His Mother Inko asked in a worry filled mutter spree.

"I feel fine, just a little sore and a light headache," Izuku said, interrupting her before she turned blue in the face.

"Mama, Mom, please don't blame yourselves. You did everything you could, " He pleaded.

"We thought we lost you," Inko admitted, tears forming in her eyes.

A thought crossed his mind that had him sitting up abruptly, causing Eri to squeak as she held on tighter.

"IS EVERYONE ELSE OK!?" He asked in a panic.

"Stop yelling, you're not the only one in here!" Recovery Girl yelled from just beyond the privacy screen.

He threw back the screen with one arm while the other clutched Eri close. He was mistaken when he assumed this was the nurse's office, this was UA's infirmary. The room was huge with many beds, some of them concealed with privacy screens. Recovery Girl was standing in the middle of the room looking both exhausted and annoyed while directing several Ectoplasm clones around the room. It was then he could make out the emotional signatures coming from everywhere in the room, he could feel their pain, be it emotional or physical.

Ms. Chiyo pointed her cane at him. "You've only been out for a couple hours, Cell Activation is the only reason you aren't strapped to your bed right now. You broke nearly every major bone in your body and kept fighting anyway, resulting in many compound fractures, hence the scarring. I took a blood sample when you were brought in, you had enough adrenaline in your veins to kill several men your size. That's the only reason you didn't pass out from the pain. You also overloaded your Quirk, which is why you passed out initially I believe. Now come help me with the ones that didn't have enough stamina to be fully healed," She said before turning and hobbling to a concealed bed.

He quickly followed the surprisingly quick woman while he processed what she had said. It had only been a couple hours and there were still injured, the faces of Rumi, Himiko, Tsu, Ochako, and Nejire flashing through his mind.

Chiyo led him to a privacy screen, where he could hear a child's voice on the other side. They entered to see two people at the side of the bed who he recognized but couldn't place. Nejire lay unmoving save for the uneven rise and fall of her chest. She was covered head to toe in bandages with splints to keep her limbs straight until they could be fully healed.

Curled against Nejire's side was Yuki. "Not Again Not Again Not Again Not Again," She chanted, her voice broken, her words pleading.

"Yuki?" Eri asked.

The snow leopard child didn't respond, her chant continuing unabated. He placed a hand on her head and stroked her mane. Her eyes blinked open as she turned to look at him and Eri, her gray eyes hollow and unfocused. Tears began forming as her feline eyes struggled to focus on them, small hiccups escaped her lips once she finally saw them, her hands in the universal sign of wanting up. He wordlessly pulled the girl into his chest where she threw her arms around his neck much the same way that Eri was doing. She began rubbing her cheek along the underside of his jaw as she purred in a self soothing manner while her tail coiled around him and Eri.

"Can you heal M-Mommy, Da-Izu?" Yuki asked once she found her words, it seemed as if she was about to call him something else but caught herself before she did.

"Of course, don't you worry, Yuki!" Izuku said, trying to lift her spirits without using Empathy. He didn't like using Empathy to influence someone's emotions unless it was in combat or an emergency, real emotions, even the bad ones, were important to feel and process. He took a seat on the edge of Nejire's bed and held her hand in his now glowing one.

Sensing now was a good time to introduce himself, the blond muscular boy sat forward in his seat. "You must be Midoriya, I'm Togata Mirio," He said before gesturing to a boy with indigo hair and elfen ears that was doing his damndest to blend in with the chair. "And this is my boyfriend, Amijiki Tamaki!" The shy boy looked like he was about to implode with how hard he was trying to draw in on himself. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances, like a spar! Well at any rate, I wanted to thank you for being there for Nejire, she doesn't have many people in her life and I can tell you care about her and Yuki. Honestly, I'm a little jealous how much Yuki seems to like you already! Getting her to like me was harder than herding cats!" He finished with a guffaw.

"You're the rest of the big three! It's an honor, I would love to spar with you sometime!" Izuku exclaimed, wishing he had a notebook for them to sign. If Tamaki's shyness was a regular thing then his hero autograph would become insanely rare!

Nejire's hand gripped his own, her fingers interlacing his. Recovery Girl must have used her Quirk when he wasn't looking. He looked just in time to see her beautiful periwinkle eyes flutter open and blink away the sleep as she tried to focus on her surroundings. Her eyes met his and she smiled warmly.

"You're safe," Nejire said with relief as if she wasn't the one being healed.

"Mommy!" Yuki yelled before clambering onto her mother and rubbing her cheek against her in the same manner she had done to him, Eri climbing onto Nejire to join in the hug as well.

Izuku laughed. "She sure likes doing that."

Nejire blinked at him in surprise. "She did that to you?"

"Ya?" He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"She's scent marking you as hers, it's a big deal, especially for her. She hasn't even done that to her uncles," She explained, gesturing to Mirio who was pouting dramatically.

He scratched Yuki right behind her little ears. "Yours huh?" He teased the girl, earning a giggle that was music to his ears after seeing her so upset just minutes ago.

"She was really worried about you, we should probably do another joint therapy session," He suggested, knowing the girl was nearly forced to relive one of the most traumatic things she'd gone through.

"You weren't worried?" Nejire asked, trying to sound teasing but he could feel her deflate a bit.

"Of course I was, when you hit the ground and didn't move…I wasn't…I didn't…" Izuku said, trailing off softly.

Nejire's grip tightened, reminding him that they were, in fact, holding hands still.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have implied you didn't, It must have been hard to see." She said warmly.

The privacy screen was pulled open and Fuyumi walked in alongside the number nine hero, the Dragoon Hero: Ryukyu. Their children, Rin and Mika, were hanging off Ryukyu with worried expressions.

"Auntie!" They both cried in perfect unison before they too, clambered on top of Nejire who laughed at all the attention.

Ryukyu gave him an appraising look with her reptilian eyes that emanated shovel talk energy.

Fuyumi elbowed her wife before speaking. "Hello, Izuku. I'm glad to see you well, Eri was distraught when we heard the news after going into lockdown again. It seems you've already helped fully heal Nejire? I was here earlier but went to the gate to meet my wife," She said, gesturing to Ryukyu.

He honestly hadn't even thought about what was happening back at the main campus and the fact that the Daycare might go into lockdown again.

"Was Yuki ok? She didn't handle the last one very well," He asked, afraid the child had to go through that again but without him or Nejire to calm her down.

Fuyumi side eyed Ryukyu with an 'I told you so' look that only got a huff and an eye roll in response.

"She did much better this time now that she knew what to expect and thanks to you and Nejire taking her to Hound Dog to talk about it. You really care about her, don't you?" Fuyumi asked with a look that told him that she already knew the answer.

Izuku's brows scrunched in confusion at such a question. "Of course I do," He said like he was explaining the sun was bright.

Fuyumi smiled with some mirth like she was winning an argument he had no idea he was even having.

Ryukyu growled slightly before speaking. "I heard what you did at the USJ, impressive stuff. It's no wonder you have a collection of women at your beck and call," She said with a taunting tone that made Izuku's eye twitch.

Izuku stood up abruptly and entered the pro hero's personal space until he was looking straight down at her from his considerable height. Ryukyu was not impressed, judging by her not only standing her ground but glaring back with the ferocity of an apex predator of myth and legend.

"Don't speak about them like they're objects," He warned the number nine hero in a too calm voice.

Ryukyu's hard eyes softened as her predator's smile turned friendly despite the sharp teeth.

"You pass," She said smugly.

Izuku blinked. "What?" He asked wisely.

"Had to make sure you weren't some womanizer before I continued to let you be around my brood," Ryukyu admitted with a grin.

Fuyumi grabbed her wife's ear as Recovery Girl smacked Izuku in the shin, causing both parties to wince.

"I told you to be nice~" Fuyumi somehow managed to sing-song a threat into her wife's captive ear.

"We got more patients, come on," Recovery Girl ordered as she led the way.

Eri hopped off the bed and grabbed his hand as they followed the woman to the next bed.

"My legs are only a little broken, it's fine!" Rumi's unmistakable voice argued from behind the curtain.

"Stay in the damn bed you little shit!" Mr. Oguro's stern voice argued back as they entered.

"I got her," Mei said as she held Rumi in a half suplex with her power-armor.

Now to most Mei would appear unfazed but thanks to Empathy he could see her inner turmoil as plain as day and she was barely keeping it together.

Rumi was attempting to get out of the bed despite both her legs being splinted along with one of her arms while her adoptive father and girlfriend were trying to force her back into the bed without exacerbating her injuries.

"Mamas!" Eri cried excitedly as she ran up to the bed, dragging Izuku with her.

Rumi let out a defeated sigh as she fell back onto the bed with barely a wince despite her injuries. She looked at him with narrowed eyes as Mei scooped up Eri and began tossing her gently into the air.

"Hey! How come you're allowed to be up already, they said you were worse than me!" Rumi demanded not a little petulantly.

"It's not my fault that my Cell Activation works in perfect tandem with Recovery Girl's Quirk," He said with a grin that he knew would piss her off.

Judging by the vein on her forehead, it worked.

"Then hurry up and heal me so I can kick your," She turned to make sure Eri was giggling too much to hear and continued, "fuckin ass!"

He rolled his eyes and sat on the bed, his glowing hands tracing her new scars decorating her legs and arm.

"I was worried about you too, when that thing hit you…" He admitted quietly.

"They said if you didn't have Cell Activation you would have died…" Rumi said with a small hitch in her voice.

"All done," Recovery Girl said, cutting in.

"Wooo!" Rumi yelled as she tore the dressings off and lept out of bed.

Mr. Oguro approached him and placed a weathered hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Son. They're saying that the villain that hurt her had multiple Quirks…is that true?"

"Definitely, It had strength and speed on par with All Might, Regeneration like I've never seen, and was able to take a hit from me like it was nothing, probably some kind of impact reduction," Izuku said.

Mr. Oguro looked like he had seen a ghost. It deeply unsettled Izuku to see the expression on the usually gruff man's face.

"You said it was fast. Do you think it had a super speed Quirk? Like O' Clock's, if you remember him?" Mr. Oguro asked, seeming to fear the answer for some reason.

Izuku hummed in thought, he certainly remembered the High-Speed Hero: O' Clock who had retired in his prime with no warning or explanation. The hero was unrivaled when it came to speed, even by All Might.

"I don't think so, I think its speed was just a result of it's strength enhancement," He answered after a second of deliberation.

Color returned to Mr. Oguro's face as he released a breath he had been holding. "Good, good," He said, patting Izuku on the shoulder.

"Thanks again, I wouldn't survive losing another daughter," He whispered as he walked towards Eri, trademark grin plastered on his face once again.

Izuku couldn't even imagine what the man had gone through when he lost his daughter to the villain Queen Bee, even the thought of losing Eri or even Yuki despite her not being his made his mind go to dark places.

"Grandpa Knuckles!" Eri yelled as Mei lowered her to the ground and let her rush the old man.

"How's my favorite Pipsqueak?" Mr. Oguro asked, Izuku gasping in mock hurt.

Izuku approached Mei with Rumi. "You ok?" He asked.

"I didn't get hurt," Mei said a little too quickly.

"Come on, Mei. I can tell you're not alright," He pleaded.

"Please talk to us," Rumi pleaded as well.

Mei's visor slapped shut. "If Ochako didn't have the grapple, she would have died. If Tsu didn't have the dart gun, they might have all died from what I heard. I should have made her a climate control suite for her suit. Ochako needs more ranged options. I could have done more, I could have made more, I should-"

"Alright, enough of that," Rumi ordered, her foot slapping the floor in irritation.

"You're more than what you can give, Mei. You saved lives with your babies, be proud of that," Izuku tried.

"I guess…" Mei said, not sounding entirely convinced.

"Mei…" he said, worried for her mental state.

"I'll let you off the hood for now, but we're talking later with Hound Dog," Rumi said, ending the conversation there.

Mei's Mom came tripping through the privacy screen. "I'm here!"

"Come on, come on whipper snapper!" Recovery Girl said, waving her cane at him threateningly.

"Where's my hug, Kit?" Rumi asked Eri as he followed Recovery Girl.

The instant he passed the threshold of the next privacy screen he was grabbed by large hands and all but dragged to the bedside.

"Hurry up and heal her!" Vlad King all but yelled into his ear as he manhandled Izuku.

"Too loud…" Himiko grumbled on the bed and she held her head in her hands.

"Sorry!" Her father yelled again, causing her to wince again.

Izuku sat on the bed and began undoing Himiko's messy buns, both his hands glowing with Cell Activation as he did so.

"Izukun? They said you were in rough shape…" Himiko asked as her eyes fluttered close in pleasure.

"I got better," He said with a smirk.

"Smartass," Himiko said with a toothy grin.

"What happened to you? You drank that thing's blood and just started screaming in pain," Izuku asked.

"They said I suffered a Quirk burnout, same as you. When I tried transforming into that thing it felt like trying to be multiple people at once, it felt like I was being torn apart," She said, wincing at the memory.

"That thing had multiple Quirks, maybe that's why?" Izuku wondered aloud.

"That…or it was made of multiple people," Himiko said. That repulsive possibility was enough to silence them both.

Recovery Girl gave Himiko a quick kiss just to make sure she was completely healed before saying, "Well that's everyone that can be healed, thanks Izuku."

Izuku's eyes shot wide at the implication. "What do you mean 'can be healed'? Are Ochako and Tsu hurt? I thought their injuries weren't severe? I knew it!" He said, beginning to panic.

Himiko's hand palmed his face and turned it to look him in the eyes. "They're fine, they were in here earlier before their parents picked them up."

"Then who?" Izuku asked.

"Todoroki. He lost a couple toes and his pinky finger to frostbite, the idiot," Recovery Girl said, irritated for some reason before she stalked off.

Izuku raised an eyebrow at her being mad at Todoroki, it wasn't like it was his fault. Right?

"I'm going to go find the girls, Izuku," Himiko said, kissing him on the cheek before leaving in search of her girlfriends, her father following.

Izuku stepped out from the privacy screen to see a scene unfolding. The Endeavor was trailing after a limping Todoroki. The heterochromatic boy seemed to be still getting the hang of walking on a foot with a few missing toes. What Izuku didn't understand was why Todoroki looked so damn pissed as he hurried to escape the number two hero.

"Do you really hate me so much that you would do this to yourself, Shoto?" Endeavor demanded more than asked.

Todoroki whirled on the man with pure vitriol in his mismatched eyes as he responded, "Yes."

"Is that our Uncle," Rin began.

"and Grandpa?" Mika finished.

Ryukyu pulled her daughters behind her and snarled in a way that was in no way human.

"That depends on them," Ryukyu gritted out an answer.