Izuku stood there, standing straight. Nezu told him to go to the gym in the far back named Enigma and he would find Tomura Shigaraki there. The other teen stood there like a deer in headlights, confusion on his face before it was replaced by rage in those bright red eyes.

"Wh-what are you doing here?!"

"I was told to come here….."

Nezu had warned him Tomura wouldn't be too happy. It was hard to really tell what the taller teen was thinking. He stood there motionless for a few moments before sighing and covering his face with his hands.

"What do you want?" Tomura asked through his hands, muffling his voice.

"I'm here to observe."

"Why?"

Izuku wasn't sure how to explain it more than 'observing'.

"Because I can't learn about your quirk without seeing it-

"But you literally have a binder of all my failures and whatever data you need so I don't know why you're here-

"I can only do quirk analysis if I'm watching. That's how I was able to come up with….my notebooks."

Tomura looked baffled.

"What notebooks?"

The freckled teen blushed.

"I suppose you heard I'm a huge nerd but not that I have notebooks huh? I brought the ones on popular heroes. I thought they might convince you I have to see you work instead."

Tomura relaxed slightly.

"Here, I'll show you."

Izuku grabbed his black messenger bag and started pulling out notebooks. All different colors. He plopped down against the wall and Tomura went over to him cautiously. It felt a little strange he seemed so…. Leery of him when he was breaking into his locker on a daily basis.

The teen sat down slowly, watching Izuku closely like he was expecting him to attack. It felt a little weird…. Most people assumed he was weak. He wasn't sure if he should be flattered or not. It almost didn't seem like it was the same person leaving those presents in his locker.

Worry about that later. He needs help now.

"Here. Have a look and take your time. I watched tons of fights online to get these notes."

He placed the notebooks on the ground. He watched as Tomura went through each one, looking at the titles. He was a little shocked, thinking the red eyed boy would pick Thirteen, Nezu or even Present Mic but he picked All Might.

He did his best to be casual about sitting there with him but he couldn't help but stare. His hair was almost periwinkle. He had never seen that shade of blue on anyone before. His eyes seemed to be a brighter shade of red than Katsuki's eyes.

He opened up a notebook that was brand new with a dark orange cover and started drawing him. The longer he looked at his odd hair color, he saw strands of black and white. They seemed to be random so he definitely didn't color his hair. His eyebrows even matched his periwinkle hair.

It made him smile.

He's not bad looking. He just looks older than seventeen. I wonder if that's a side effect of his quirk.

"I used to like All Might as a kid," Tomura said out loud.

"I still do! He trained me."

Tomura's head snapped to the side, "What?"

"He um….. Trained me. In a way, he's like a dad I guess you could say."

A small smile appeared on the older teen's dried lips, "I call Nezu Rat Dad. He cracks up whenever I refer to him that way."

"Well, if you ever want to meet him…. I can ask."

Tomura just stared.

"If you want…. He tries to teach when he can but he has a lot going on."

"Does he teach and train you because your quirks are similar? I wouldn't think he's your dad."

"He's not," Izuku said with a laugh, "Shouto thought that though! It was hilarious! He thinks I remind him of himself when he was young- that's all."

"That's a good reason."

"I'm nothing like him though," Izuku said quietly, "Our fighting styles aren't the same. I did my best to mimic him but I continued to hurt myself."
"Oh."

Tomura flipped another page as Izuku went back to drawing. He noticed he had a beauty mark on the bottom right of his lips. It made him look…. Soft. Izuku smiled as started doing a more defined outline. The two sat there quietly for some time while Tomura went through the pro hero notebooks.

I can see why he wanted me to talk to him. He wasn't just reading books on quirk theory. He knows his shit. He's gonna be the number one pro hero one day.

Tomura sighed.

The one thing I could never be.

"You ok?"

He closed the notebook and got up. He grabbed his coffee and started drinking it.

"Tomura?"

Tomura closed his eyes as his heart fluttered in his chest.

That was weird.

"Y-yea?"

"Do you have a hero costume?" Izuku asked trying to ignore the weird tension between them.

"No. There was no point in having one."

"Why?"

"I decay everything. I train in my boxers most of the time. I have to be careful. That's why I want to be underground. They'll probably see a lot of naked criminals and anyone else who works with me. The only person I've seen naked as much as myself is Mei. She's not afraid of my quirk and she likes standing close to me for whatever reason. She's fuckin' weird."

Izuku laughed, "That sounds like Mei. Is she your girlfriend?"

Tomura choked on his own spit.

"I would rather castrate myself. Mei's aromantic and asexual. She doesn't have any interest in anyone but her inventions. I'm gay anyways."

"Oh."

Izuku looked thoughtful for a moment, "Ya know…. That makes sense for her. A lot of the kids our age have dated or anything else but Mei doesn't seem too interested in that. I watched her blatantly ignore Denki when he asked her out. I mean…. Asking her when she's trying to help with support gear probably wasn't the best time anyways."

Tomura snorted loudly.

"Yea. She also has no sense of personal space either. If you decide to become better friends with her, get ready to shit while she talks to you. One time we went out for materials together and she picked the lock on the family bathroom while I was pissing to just tell me about an idea she had."

"Wow. Just wow."

"She means well in her own fucked up way. I um…. I'm glad she's rather shameless. It makes up for my personality most of the time. Rat Dad likes her too because she's actually considerate and isn't scared of me like most of the school."

"I don't think you're scary."

The older teen didn't say anything.

"I do have an idea for your hero costume."

"Like what?" Tomura asked as he dust his empty plastic cup.

"Well, I interned under Nighteye with Mirio Togata. He can go through things and he's usually naked. Why don't we ask him where he gets help with growing his hair out and you can have a suit made for you! You can't decay your own hair right?"

"I…. I don't think so."

"Let's see!"

Izuku grabbed his bag, digging around for a minute.

"I found them!"

He pulled out a pair of red scissors and got up. Tomura stood still, heart pounding against his ribs. It was an odd feeling.

There is nothing romantic about this. Get over yourself. Sheesh.

"I'll get some from your neck. If it doesn't decay, we can get more info from Mirio. Is that ok with you?" Izuku asked.

Tomura averted his gaze and nodded. He turned around, helping Izuku by holding his hair up while Izuku pulled some from his fingers. Tomura shuddered, feeling the boy's rough fingers against his neck making his face heat up.

THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO GET A BONER

"There. I don't think it's too noticeable if you decide to tie your hair up."

"Thanks."

Izuku placed the scissors in his pocket.

"Let's try one strand first. Just in case."

"Alright."

Tomura turned around, pulling off a glove. Tomura grabbed it with his safe hand before pinching the end of his hair. It didn't decay. He held it up, just watching in amazement. He never thought for his hair to be used for his costume.

"Mirio goes to someone once a month and they grow out his hair. That way if a costume gets ruined then he has extras! We can do the same for you when you go pro and you won't have that issue! Do you have any sketches?"

"No."

"Why not? I've been making my costume sketches since I was six!"

Tomura looked away.

"Did he not tell you? Thirteen or Mei didn't tell you?"

Izuku's excited smile disappeared.

"What do you mean?"

"If I can't control my quirk, I can't become a hero and they'll take it from me. I'm dangerous. I already said I can't live on campus. I take classes alone and some of the teachers won't teach me."

The color drained from his freckled face.

"What?"

After that, things had gotten quiet and Nezu showed up. He could sense the tension between the two teens. Tomura packed up all his stuff and left without a single word. Izuku stood there confused and even hurt.

What would be worse? Having no quirk or having it taken from you with no fault of yours? Some quirks are too powerful….. would they have done the same to Eri if she couldn't control hers?

"You ok Midoriya?"

His green eyes landed on Nezu.

"I wanna talk."

X

X
Tomura drove him and Nezu to school even though the mammal insisted he could stay home for today.

"I'm not giving those fucks at HC the chance to be proven right," he had snapped before grabbing his things and stomping out of their home.

Nezu knew the boy had a hard night. He knew for a fact he had been crying on and off throughout the night. When he ordered his iced mocha with four shots of espresso, it was going to be a bad day. Midoroiya hadn't told him too much other than the issue he was upset that Tomura was being treated like a bomb when his friend Bakugou was allowed with the other students as well as Shouto. Even Denki was allowed with others and he barely gained control with support items thanks to Mei. Then he told him about his idea about having Tomura's hair growing out and making his hero costume made out of it so it wouldn't decay off his body.

Seeing how enraged he was, made Nezu glad. If anyone could help Tomura, it was him. He was glad All Might had picked him as his successor. Midoriya did prove a good point though.

He had been proud when Mei started relentlessly pestering the crap out of the boy. Tomura had his first friend after being there a whole year. But this time, Tomura went out of his way to try and connect with someone on his own instead of them coming to him.

That was growth.

Though…..

The flowers, candy and presents had been a bit much. He should've known something was up when they had the sports festival (Tomura hadn't been allowed to enter it) and he was ecstatic about the green haired boy. Against all odds, he made it through to Shouto Todoroki. It had given Tomura a second wind of hope.

He had tried to talk him into meeting Midoriya sooner but he had refused. He had wanted to prove something before asking him but they were running out of time. No matter how many therapists Tomura talked to, he still felt mediocre at best and he didn't feel human. He had feared one day, someone evil would sink their claws into Tomura and then…. It wouldn't be good for anyone.

The two of them got out of the car and walked in together. Tomura stayed silent the whole walk to the break room. Sometimes Midnight and Present Mic would be in there making food for everybody. They even got a custom made coffee maker that did thirty cups of coffee because Eraserhead would just jack the pot and drink directly from it sometimes. Tomura was in one of those moods.

"Hey!"

Tomura waved to Midnight first before sitting down. His head hit the table and he groaned loudly.

"Rough night little listener?"

"Like you wouldn't fuckin' believe."

Nezu chuckled as he sat up beside him and started drinking his hot tea.

"We heard you met Midoriya."

He raised his head to look at Midnight.

"Yea and?"

"He's the sweetest kid! He's a well rounded thinker too. It probably helps that he hangs out with Shinsou, Monoma and Uraraka."

"Aren't two of those kids from 1-B?" Tomura asked.

"Yea. He seems to get along with almost everyone but they hang out with him the most. He has a rivalry with Bakugou."

Hmmmm.

"Maybe you can make Midoriya your rival?!" Midnight said, placing an omelet in front of him.

"I can kill him. I don't think that's a good idea."

"No no! Using your quirk! That boy's arms are so busted up I don't think he can use them to fight anymore."

Tomura perked up, "What? Why?"

"He broke them so many times," Nezu said, "He got some help with fixing the damage but he had to change how he used his quirk."

"Oh."

He stuck his fork into his omelet but he didn't feel the need to eat. He really wanted to sleep.

"Just eat a little."

His eyes met Nezu's.

"Just a little and you can sleep."

"I have school-

"You look like you've been up all day and night. Take a nap until ten."

Tomura sighed and ate about half before laying on the couch. He knew Aizaawa would be pissed when he would try to take his nine AM nap but he didn't care. The man carried around a sleeping bag- he can sleep on the floor for all he cared for.

X

Tomura woke up to see Eraser head was indeed laying on the floor with a murderous glare on his face. He stood up, stretched, popping his back in the process. He grabbed his bag and headed for Present Mic's empty room. He knew the loud teacher would be in there soon enough for him.

Tomura knew it had to be a headache teaching one student several subjects but what could they do? No one else was around him and they even suggested online learning but even he couldn't agree with that. He would pass out after an hour.

He pushed the day open to see Izuku sitting there at the front of the class with a grin and seeing Yamada standing at his desk with an even bigger smile.

"What the fuck?" he asked, dropping his bag on the floor in shock.

"Hey! I'm doing classes with you Mondays and Thursdays! Isn't that cool?!" Izuku said, practically bouncing in his seat.

"Nezu said it's ok!" Present Mic said with a giddy smile, "Come on now! Let's learn!"

"Of course he did."

Tomura plopped himself down in his seat with a heavy sigh.

He's not making this easy on me.

RubyRose99: I'm glad you love it! makes me happy to read your comment :)