Tomura sat in the backseat with Izuku. It was… awkward. Izuku was jotting things down in his notebook and mumbling to himself but his mind was elsewhere. It was a shame it wasn't just the two of them but Nezu insisted he go. He wanted to see his son achieve something great.

If all went well, it would be absolutely fantastic.

It was one more step in the right direction.

"We're about ten minutes away," Aizawa said looking down at his phone, "The man said he's outside waiting for us."

"Wonderful!" Nezu said, turning down a dirt road.

Izuku had almost lost his shit when he saw Nezu in a booster seat for kids but the car was made for him with longer pedals for gas and brakes. If he didn't know the white rat, he would've thought it was cute as hell. He almost took a picture but decided against it. It seemed Aizawa and Tomura weren't even fazed by it.

"Why are we in the middle of nowhere?" Tomura asked, looking at the trees passing by.

"Because! You're helping someone!" Izuku said with a grin.

I'm sure he's going to do great! I have to show him his quirk is good to have.

Izuku glanced at him, seeing the worry on his face.

"You're going to do great."

"Only you believe that," he mumbled.

"Midoriya is right. This task is suited for your quirk. You shouldn't doubt the boy sitting beside you because he knows what he's doing. He's a problem child and knows exactly what he can and can't do."

Izuku laughed nervously. Tomura sighed and looked back out the window. Izuku slipped his hand over Tomura's and held his gloved hand. A small smile appeared on his face and he seemed to relax a little bit.

Nezu pulled up to a farm that was close to twenty three acres. There were corn, rice and wheat fields everywhere.

"We're on a farm."

"Yes. Your observation skills are phenomenal," Aizawa said sarcastically when Nezu parked the car.

"Dick."

The four of them got out of the car to greet an old farmer named Ken.

"I feel so honored that students from UA are helping me!" he said, "My name is Ken Nomura."

"Izuku Midoriya!"

"Tomura Shigaraki."

"So… Are you two ready?" the old farmer asked.

Tomura nodded hesitantly while Izuku was bouncing with excitement.

"Alright, follow me."

The four of them followed him closely when they noticed spots of the ground were dug up.

"I plan on extending my cattle this way but I can't afford the money to hire people to dig for me. I placed an ad online and it was answered by Izuku Midoriya saying he could help. Can you clear out the space so I can make a small pond please?"

Tomura's red eyes widened as he stared at Izuku then at the old man.

Can I even do this?

"Don't worry. That's why I'm here. I can see it written all over your face," Eraserhead said tiredly.

"It's ok if I get ash in the plants?" Izuku asked and the old man nodded.

"Go on ahead."

Tomura stepped near the area. He had the outline dug out so all he had to do was decay the pond shape out.

"Are there any pipes underneath?"

"No. Do not worry young man. It was explained to me you're learning quirk control. If it ends up deeper or a little bigger, it's no issue."

"Alright."

Izuku, Aizawa and Nezu stood on the edge watching. Tomura kicked off his shoes and shoes. He tucked his gloves into his pockets before kneeling down. He kept himself steady.

Like a water hose. Like that. Go slow and make a pit. See how deep he wants it.

He repeated 'like a water hose' in his head, taking the time he needed to clear out a space. Ash blew in the breeze as he continued working. He heard nothing around him as he worked. This too was a test. He never used his quirk continuously like this before. It was different.

He had never pushed it before. He was excited to know what it would do. What the drawback would be and he would know for the future.

The future.

He smiled.

I never had thought about the future before. I can think about the future. Look at me.

After an hour, he was half way done. It is six feet deep and fifty feet around. Tomura decided to give it a little character once the farmer gave him the ok so it wasn't a completely normal looking pond. It looked like a wiggly blob but the old man just laughed about it and said he liked it.

It took a few hours and Tomura's hands were finally cracking and bleeding a little bit from the effort. Izuku of course brought his notebook and was observing the whole time. The older teen was a little glad for that since he probably didn't notice any difference while he was working.

Overall, it felt really different than usual. He had been so scared to use it like he usually would have…. But now, it felt like he did something useful. He was productive in some way and not a killing machine. He couldn't fight the smile on his face even as Nezu cleaned his palms with alcohol (sadistic asshole) and wrapped them up to protect them from cracking more or getting infected. Recovery Girl could help him out later.

"Alright, my turn!" Izuku shouted.

Tomura watched as he slipped on his white and blue gloves. He frowned. Of course he hadn't really seen Izuku decked out at Deku yet but the gloves were… interesting considering his suit was all green pretty much.

"Don't break anything, problem child."

The curly haired boy gave the most offended face he could, "I don't do that often anymore! Give me some credit please!"

Aizawa snorted and waved him away to do his job.

"It's gonna blow ash everywhere, is that ok?" Izuku asked.

The old man nodded, "Of course. I don't mind. You had warned me ahead of time."

The freckled boy nodded and walked over the hollowed out ground. The amount of ash wasn't too bad and he didn't need one hundred percent of One for All. His body started crackling with green, causing his hair to move as if the wind was blowing. He held out a hand in position to flick a finger. He held his wrist and let out a slow, heavy breath before flicking his fingers. A blast of wind blew all the ash out of the pond, making it look like gray snow on the green grass and some of the crops.

Izuku managed to move- it had been hard to use more than forty percent while physically moving. Sometimes it felt like his body was paralzyed and he had yet to do one hundred percent while trying to move. All Might had told him to not over do it. One for All was more powerful than when All Might had gotten it. He needed his leg braces just in case.

"How was that?" Izuku asked, looking at Eraserhead.

"Is your finger broken?"

He pulled off his gloves to reveal all fingers were fine.

"It's about damn time."

"H-hey!"

He turned to see the odd look on Tomura's face.

Oh, he hasn't seen me do anything with my quirk yet.

"S-sorry. I guess you haven't seen me use it in a long while huh?"

"No I haven't."

Izuku smiled, "If you ever want to fight, let me know. We can use Enigma and give it a shot. Your quirk would require some extra thinking. I can't flick it away like Shouto's ice or fire. I wonder if air pressure would work ..."

The boy started mumbling while he placed his thumb on his chin, thinking hard. Eraser's capture came out and wrapped up his mouth quickly.

"Enough. We have to head back,problem child."

Izuku mumbled something and nodded. The four of them said their goodbye to the old man. He looked thrilled to have his pond done.

X

X

Nezu and Tomura were on the way home, when there were ambulance and police sirens. The closer they got home, the louder it got. Tomura sank in his seat, dreading what was coming. He knew it had something to do with their home.

It wasn't as if they let a candle burning or the stove on. Something bad had happened. People probably died…. People saw him. They were going to toss Tomura out on his ass and he would homeless because people wouldn't want him there-

A tiny white paw landed on his lap.

"You need to calm down. You're hyperventilating and panicking."

Tomura allowed his hands to drop from his hair. He had decayed his gloves right off. It had been a while since he had done that like a child but he was panicking badly. At least he hadn't damaged anything else yet. Nezu popped open the glove box and handed him another pair.

The principal parked the car near their home, about a block away. It was apparent something had happened to their place and it was…. Scary but not surprising in any way. They knew this day would come…. It had only been a matter of time.

It had been about ten years since he saw him. Since he was in his grasp….

"I'm scared," Tomura whispered.

"Do not worry…. You won't end up with that man. I promise you, even if it kills me."

X

X

Izuku was busy composing his notes on Tomura. He had managed to get him a whole notebook for himself (just in case because research right?), with several different drawings, notes, predictions etc. It had been a good weekend and they still needed to bring Tomura to the lady who could grow out his hair quickly.

It would be the only way he wouldn't end up naked on the battlefield. Izuku laughed.

Honestly he hadn't thought of teaming up with someone before but Tomura wanted to… then he could do it. He really liked him. He understood him a lot better than others. He was born with his quirk while Izuku wasn't but they were both struggling. It was nice to be understood.

He really hoped…. Things would be different.

Tomura was very attractive. He loved those red eyes of his too. The look on his face when he did something good…. Something not destructive- it was like seeing a whole new person. He wanted to show him that things could be different.

All those people had been wrong about him. He knew Tomura wasn't a killing machine. He wouldn't do it on purpose.

We need to see about his hair soon and Mei can craft his costume. That way we can get him ready and he can get his hero license and prove everyone wrong. He's going to do great and amazing things.

Izuku truly believed that.

But for the following days, Tomura and Nezu hadn't showed up and Aizawa had to play principal. No one knew anything and Tomura wasn't answering any of Izuku's texts. It made his stomach knot up. If it was just Tomura missing, then it wouldn't be so bad.

Something was very very wrong and Izuku had to know what was wrong.

Even All Might was missing from the school grounds but that wasn't all that unusual. He saw doctors more regularly now and Izuku had even joined him to be supportive and to protect him. He was like a dad to him so Izuku was more than happy to do whatever he needed.

He managed to escape the school area after asking Katsuki to lie for him. The blonde agreed and even said it was fishy. Hitoshi and Neito said if they heard anything, they would let him know. He shot Ochako a text to watch his room and see if anyone goes to his door trying to sneak around.

Yes, he was being severely paranoid but for some reason, he felt like whatever it was, was affecting him too. It was just a matter of finding out what the fuck it was. Tomura was secretive by nature- he was a young man of few words and a lot of pent up emotions.

It seemed he was going to have to force himself to get involved no matter what so…. Here goes nothing.

Izuku disguised himself of course, he borrowed some fountain from Ochako since they had close to the same skin tone thanks to all that time in the sun (he's had to sneak around more than once of course) and made his way to their house.

When he got there, Izuku thought he went to the wrong area. He was not. There were construction men walking around picking up debris. Cops were everywhere still and he saw detective Tsukauchi with All Might and Nezu but no Tomura.

His heart sank.

He didn't destroy the house…. There's no ash anywhere…. So where is he? Where did he go and what happened?!

Dread filled him. He had knots in his stomach and he felt like he couldn't breathe. Something happened here and it wasn't good. He placed a hand on his mouth as his eyes watered up.

"All Might!" Izuku screamed.

The tall blonde and the principal turned around to see a boy they didn't recognize until they saw him crying and stuttering.

"W-what- what hap-happened?!" he wailed.

All Might looked a little shocked.

"Young Midoriya, what are you doing here?"

"Where is he? Is he ok?"

Nezu placed his paws behind him, studying his face.

"You've become quite attached to my son haven't you?"

"Of course! He's a great person!"

A smile came across the mammal's face and he turned to look at his broken house.

"Tomura is in hiding for the moment."

"W-why?!"

"There is a great deal about Tomura that no one knows about. He keeps a lot of secrets because he has to. The reason I brought him to UA was to protect him. The reason he hides from people and doesn't open up is because he has the same problems as you Midoriya."

That doesn't narrow it down. I have too many problems.

"Which ones are those?" he asked quietly.

Nezu jumped up into his arms and leaned into his ear so only he could hear.

"Tomura Shigaraki isn't his name. All for One gave it to him."