"I can't believe we're doing this again," Young Izuku says as he fills his bag with clothes and school supplies.

This time, Toshi has his own bag to pack his clothes and personal items. Not that he has very much. But, well, they don't know how long they'll be staying at U.A. and Izuku needs to pack accordingly.

Toshinori lounges on the couch alongside Young Jiro and Young Kaminari. They're going through the home videos for his boy, deciding what should come along and what should be left behind. Honestly, Toshi thinks they'll all make their way into their luggage; the trio seem too curious about the contents of the videos to even entertain the thought of leaving some behind.

"Im sorry, my boy," Toshi mutters. "I seem to have brought a lot of havoc into your life."

"Ah, n-no! I d-didn't mean to complain or anything," Izuku waves his hands in front of him to portray his sincerity. "I just never thought I'd be experiencing all," he gestures broadly, "this!"

Toshi raises an eyebrow.

Izuku blinks. "Right. Ah, how do I explain this. It's just— I expected to have just a boring kind of… lonely life, I guess. I'm just an ordinary guy with no quirk. But then you came around and turned everything upside down! My life feels like an adventure now; like something out of a comic book! A-and the adventure just seems to keep going. I'm actually really excited to go back to U.A. and live in the dorms again.

The boy chuckles and turns back to his packing. "Honestly, it's going to be hard going back to my normal routine after all this is over. It's just never going to live up to all this happening now."

Toshinori laughs from where he sits. "I doubt things will get much calmer once we get Toshi back home, my boy! The heroes from former Class-A have always been an enthusiastic bunch."

Izuku blinks. "Ah? I-I just thought… after Toshi's gone, I won't really be seeing any of you again? I mean, there really wouldn't be a reason to…"

"What!" Young Kaminari exclaims, standing suddenly from his seat. "We aren't just gonna leave you, man! You're really cool!"

"I'm pretty sure all of us think of you as a good friend at this point," Young Jiro points out. "When all of this is over, you can count on at least one of us showing up at your door every day."

Young Izuku looks at the two, emotions overwhelming him so much that his eyes tear up. His freckled cheeks turn red and his eyes crinkle as a smile grows on his lips. He stutters, not quite finding what he wants to say as the young heroes coo at him and wrap him in a group hug.

Toshi smiles. This is exactly what he wanted for his boy when he first learned of his life. Toshi is confident that his boy will be fine when Toshi finds his way back home. And as he watches Toshinori lay his hands on Izuku's shoulders and tell the boy how much they care for him, the belief is only solidified.

ooo

They're so close; almost to the school. Toshinori looks at Izuku with fondness as the boy rants about the Symbol's most recent battle with an A-Class villain. Young Jiro and Young Kaminari trail the trio, snickering with amusement while passers-by do double-takes at seeing Toshi and Toshinori walk down the sidewalk towards U.A.'s main gates. Two more heroes are waiting beside the open gates, visitor passes in hand. Toshi believes they're Young Mineta and Young Sato, from the massive difference in body-types those two have compared to the rest of their class.

When they draw near enough, Young Sato drapes an arm around Izuku's shoulders, casually leaning his weight onto the smaller man. "There's our VIP!"

Young Mineta scoffs. His expression is pulled into an annoyed scowl, brows furrowed in frustration. "I just don't know why we have to babysit him even though he's at U.A.! He'll be surrounded by heroes and hero students."

"Young Mineta, my boy," Toshinori reprimands lightly, "a good hero takes every precaution, especially when it comes to situations with stakes as high as these."

The purple…haired?... boy huffs. "Whatever. It's not like anyone would know he's Deku anyway."

Toshi feels his blood freeze.

He didn't. Not in public. Not with so many people surrounding them right now.

"Mineta." Toshinori's voice is quiet and low, more dangerous than he's ever sounded in the presence of his students. Young Mineta pales. "You understand your mistake."

Young Mineta furiously nods his head. Toshi can't keep the disdain from his expression as he pulls Izuku past the gates.

Toshinori grips Young Mineta's shoulder tightly enough to make the younger heroes eyes tear up. "Then you must also understand that you'll be receiving disciplinary actions not only from me, but from the Lead Heroes on the case, since you potentially leaked one of the best kept secrets in Japan. I hope you are ready to face the consequences."

ooo

He can't believe it. It was the most improbable lead that he had, and he took it on a hunch, but it worked. Following Freckles around, making sure that the NPCs tailed him closely the second he located Freckles outside of Might Tower, it actually worked!

To think Freckles himself is the Deku and not just some random delivery boy middle-man that was used to keep the real Deku's identity a secret!

Well, to be honest, Tomura never really believed that Deku would use a middle-man. The blogger seemed too righteous and heroic himself to put anyone else in the line of danger just to keep his own ass safe. A stupid decision, but what did Tomura's opinion matter? It just made things easier for him.

When the purple ball-headed freak says Freckles is Deku, Tomura almost gives his hiding spot away with how loud his gasp is. However, it seems that the group of heroes don't even notice him; instead, they are too busy panicking over that small idiot's blunder to notice Tomura slinking back into the shadows as they speak for everyone in vicinity to hear that there's an active case surrounding Deku and, as Tomura assumes, the completely identical skeletons that are with the group—because, first of all, who are they? Either way, they're giving away good information to whomever is smart enough to listen in and Tomura is reaping those benefits.

Talk about idiots.

Tomura snaps a quick photo of the group to show to the others and leaves only when the heroes and Deku disappeared behind the gates. He makes it back to the bar in Kamino in seemingly no time, and goes straight to the room Sensei stays in.

"Ah, Tomura," Sensei says before he can even know, "you're back quite early. Please, enter."

Tomura swings the door open, his movements a lot more erratic with his excitement. He enters the room lit only by two small lamps sitting atop Sensei's large mahogany desk. Said man lounges behind the desk in a dark leather office chair.

Sensei seems to have healed a bit more since Tomura's last seen him. He can only guess that the reconstructive surgery with the doctor went well since the bandages that were one over Sensei's eyes have been removed. As Tomura moves closer, he makes note that his Sensei's face—although horrifically scarred and painful to look at—actually has the pieces of a face now. Admittedly, the nose is a bit small for the face, but the eyes… the eyes look just as haunting and piercing as they did before Sensei lost them to All Might. Maybe even more so, what with the way the scar tissue covering his face makes everything very hard to look at. Tomura tries not to make eye contact as he makes his way further into the room.

The younger villain takes a seat on the couch placed in front of the desk and gets straight to business. "Sensei. It seems my hunch was correct."

Sensei smirks. "So it seems. While you got the information quicker than predicted, I cannot be too surprised over this. Heroes were never good at keeping secrets."

Nodding his head, Tomura doesn't even attempt to hide his growing smile. "Turns out Freckles is Deku. I snapped a picture of his name on the nameplate outside of his apartment, and copied down his address."

"Good job, Tomura."

The decay villain practically beams at the praise, the cracks in his lips pulling and stretching uncomfortably with the movement. He doesn't mind when his dried lips start bleeding, however, just continues with what he's found.

"He isn't going to stay at his apartment for a while, however. He's being protected by heroes and has been relocated temporarily to the U.A. dorms. I'm not exactly sure why, but there were these two really tall skeleton characters with him, and I'm guessing they may be the reason."

Sensei leans forward to rest his chin on his hands. "Skeletons?"

Lifting his phone, Tomura swipes into his photo app and taps on the photo of the hero group. He slides the device onto Sensei's desk to let the older man see.

"There are two tall, very lanky blond men that look to be extremely malnourished," Tomura explains as Sensei tries to zoom in on the picture. "They look identical in every aspect. They could be twins, but I don't think that's it. You don't look like that just because."

Sensei hums. "I do believe you're right, Tomura. They're not twins." Sensei looks up from the phone and a pleased smile overtakes his face. "All Might does not have a twin."

Tomura sputters.

Chuckling, Sensei slides the phone back towards Tomura. The younger man quickly takes a look at the picture once more and focuses on the blond men. "That's All Might?"

"Oh, my boy, I hoped you were more observational than this," Sensei sighs as he leans back in his chair once more. "Think about it; both All Might and I suffered a great deal of injuries that affected our quality of life immensely. He gave me a blow to the cranium in which I lost important organs and had lasting damage for many years. And I, in return gave him a hole through his lower abdomen. Which would affect…?"

"T-the," Tomura shudders, "the stomach and other parts of the digestive system. Maybe even a kidney."

Sensei nods. "This was a tactical decision on my end. My goal was to end All Might and stop the passing on of One for All. While I did not expect the oaf to survive those injuries, I should have realized how stubborn that man is. But that's all he did: survive the injuries. He's been slowly wasting away since he can no longer take in the nutrition he needs to sustain his hero-ing. Not to mention the idiotic habit he has to care more for others than himself; it's no wonder the man is worse off than I. He's starving and overworking himself to death! And if he doesn't stop his hero work soon, he may just die because he's exhausted his strength fighting a low-level thug who gets in a lucky hit.

"He may have passed that cursed quirk onto another, but I have still led to the downfall of All Might. One of my goals were still met. I can only hope that I'll find the successor soon and stop things before the quirk settles into the new user. But that's a pursuit for later. Now, we must find out why there are two All Might's instead of the one."

ooo

"We've finally found the culprit who sent you here!"

It's been a week since Toshi and Izuku moved into U.A.'s dorms. Since they settled in, his boy has been working non-stop with Principal Nedzu on the case. More often than not, Sir Nighteye has also been present in their meetings and debates while Toshinori spends time with Toshi talking about All for One and planning a raid on their headquarters in Kamino Ward and the Nomu Factory in the warehouse district. To say the week has been productive is an understatement. So, it's no surprise to Toshi when Young Izuku bursts into the common room of their dorm building and tackles Toshi with an enthusiastic hug.

Toshi laughs and returns the hug while Nighteye and Nedzu enter at a much calmer pace than the young blogger. When Izuku finally pulls away, he goes straight for Toshinori and wraps him up in a just as enthusiastic hug as a greeting.

Realizing Izuku is a bit too excited to explain coherently, Nighteye takes it upon himself to discuss the next steps with the blond men. "Midoriya already contacted Tsukauchi and let him know the profile number of the individual. Surprisingly, he's not a villain in this world, just a normal civilian who works as a travel agent. It's actually quite fitting for his quirk."

Nighteye places a laptop in front of Toshi and Toshinori with the profile of the civilian named Yuuma Mochizuki and his quirk registration. "The quirk is called Ogygia, an homage to the island in ancient Greek mythology that imprisoned Calypso. In mythology, the island is a paradise with everything someone could every want and need, and it housed the beautiful minor god and nymph Calypso. Apparently, heroes would be sent to the island by the gods and would have to choose between staying in paradise and leaving to fulfill their heroic destiny."

"It's actually really interesting!" Izuku exclaims as he places himself between Toshi and Toshinori on the couch they occupy. He pulls the laptop closer to them as he explains their findings. "Apparently, his quirk allows him to see into a person's deepest desires and send them into another dimension that will fulfill those desires. It's both temporary and permanent!"

Toshi feels his stomach drop. "Permanent?"

"Yes," Izuku replies. "But only if you want it to be."

"B-but, you said it can be both?" Toshinori stutters his confusion. "How can it be both temporary and permanent at the same time?"

Nedzu and Nighteye take a seat on the couch across from the trio as Izuku speaks. "Well, we'd have to talk to Mochizuki to be completely sure... But from my understanding, if someone sent to another dimension becomes attached to something or they want to stay there instead of travel back home, they can just... Stay? The files say that someone can return to their own dimension after about two weeks of interdimensional travel, or stay longer if they choose. So, you should have been able to go home a long time ago, especially if you want to go back."

"I do want to go back!" Toshi exclaims, his heart palpitating with the information. "What does that mean for me?"

Izuku purses his lips and lays a comforting hand on Toshi's forearm. "I have a couple theories, but I'd rather we talk to Mochizuki instead of worrying about what it could be."

Toshi takes a deep breath in an attempt to quell his panic. "When can we speak to him?"

Principal Nedzu decides to take charge of the conversation. "Hopefully within the next few days. Luckily, he's a Musutafu resident, so he's quite close by. I'm happy to invite him into U.A. for a tour as a 'thank you' for the time he'll spend with us. The Detective will let us know when he's available as soon as he makes contact."

While the others make plan surrounding the visit of Mochizuki, Izuku lowers his voice to speak to Toshi. "Isn't this great? You'll be going home soon!"

Toshi can't help but grin at his son's excitement. "You're very optimistic that I can go home despite these hiccups with Mochizuki's quirk."

"I'm sure there's no reason why you can't go back," Izuku explains as he laces his fingers with Toshi's. "Mochizuki's worked with a whole team of quirk specialists since he was very young. I read that he's sent people to other dimensions before for his work; something about a kind of therapy, as well as some experiments to understand the limits of his quirk. He sends someone to another dimension, but they take something with them to remind them why they want to return home. And then, after they've stayed in that dimension for the appointed time, they come back."

"Were any of them gone as long as I have been?" Toshi asks.

"Well, no," Izuku pouts. "B-but others have been gone longer than the two-week allotment! And they all said that they returned as soon as they knew that they were ready!"

Toshi blinks. "'As soon as they knew when they were ready'… what does that mean?"

Izuku rubs the back of his neck with his free hand. "Ah, that's what I'm confused about. It's always about a feeling; like an intuition that they'll be okay if they go home. Do you… not think you'll be okay if you go home?"

Toshi's brows furrow as he thinks. He's never been one to put his own needs over others', so he doubts that he's worried that he himself would be fine. However, there is something that worries him if he goes home now. Actually, it's more like a couple really big things that worries him if he leaves this world prematurely.

"I'll be fine," Toshi begins, speaking slowly as he catches up with his thoughts. "But I don't think you will be. Not yet."

The retired hero looks at Izuku, watching as bright green eyes widen with surprise and warmth. "You're staying for me."

The older man nods. "I'm staying for you."

"B-but I don't-! You need to- I don't want to take you away from the me that really needs you! I-I-"

"Don't worry, my boy," Toshi placates as he lays his own hand atop the one Izuku still has on his forearm. "That's not the only reason. While I do want to ensure you're taken care of when I'm gone, I also want to make sure that you're safe from the League of Villains. Plus, All for One is still out there. I think that's one of the biggest things that worries me."

Izuku sniffles and nods. "But I can take care of myself. You really don't have to worry about me."

Toshi smiles warmly at his boy. "I know you can. I just want to make sure you're loved by someone as much as I love you."

Izuku sighs and lays his head on Toshi's shoulder. His boy cuddles in closer, burying his face into the crook of Toshi's neck as he speaks. "Then, I'll just prove to you that I'll be okay no matter what! And I'll make sure to help you get All for One behind bars, so you don't have to worry for us anymore."

His heart is so warm and full with affection as he holds Izuku close. "Thank you, my boy. There's no one else in the world more capable of that than you."

In the corner of his eye, Toshi can see Toshinori watching them with thinly veiled longing.

ooo

Toshi makes his way down to the kitchen, stifling a yawn as he moves. The rest of the day had been full of discussions and drafting out plans to take down All for One and how to get information on Mochizuki's quirk without putting him or anyone else in danger. Izuku wanted to spy on said man and keep him from every knowing they were researching him at all, but Toshinori believed that that was a breach of privacy, and would rather be up front about their interest in his quirk. They'll just have to be… careful about what they reveal to the man.

By dinner time, they had solid plans for both All for One and Mochizuki, so they decided to break for the day and return to work tomorrow. Despite the invitation from Izuku, only Toshinori decided to stay for dinner while Nedzu returned to his office and Nighteye went to meet with Young Togata. They had such a swell evening talking and watching a few home videos that they didn't realize it was so late until one of them suddenly caught sight of the clock. Toshinori decided to stay overnight in one of the unused rooms and they all bid each other a good night before disappearing behind their respective doors.

Toshi smiles at the thought of Izuku finally sleeping normally again. It's actually a recent development. His boy had decided that he was ready to try sleeping in his own room and without the videos playing in the background. He explained he was comfortable knowing that Toshi's room was just next door to him if he needed any company.

At first, Toshi was worried, and continuously asked Izuku if he was sure and if he wanted to wait another day or two. However, Izuku just laughed and said he'd be fine. And the next day, when Toshi saw his boy again in the dorm kitchen, his boy greeted him with a sunny smile and a contentment in his face that proved the boy was well-rested. Toshi had never been so proud.

So, as Toshi makes his way down the stairs and to the common room, he finds himself thoroughly concerned at the sound of Izuku's home videos playing softly, soft light chasing shadows around the walls. Toshi rushes to the bottom step and almost trips on himself when he suddenly stops at the voices speaking softly over the television. He furrows his brow and leans in slightly, hoping to hear more of the conversation without alerting the other two he's there.

"—'s okay that you fall back on old habits once in a while," Toshinori's voice is soft and compassionate. "No one expects you to be okay again so quickly."

"But I can't keep relying on this," Izuku answers, frustration laden in his voice. "It's been so long since I first began doing this, and it's not like it actually worked in the beginning. It's because of Toshi. Toshi made everything better and he helped me so much! And after all that progress, it's just-! I ruined it. I'm so pathetic."

Toshi bites his lip as he peeks around the corner to look at the two. Izuku is slumped on the couch, elbows on his knees as his hands struggle to support his head. His boy is shaking, and upset, and it takes everything in him to stay back—to let Toshinori handle it.

Toshinori, who's sitting on the couch beside Izuku, slowly shifts closer to the boy. Hesitant, he places his hand across the boy's back, rubbing softly in comfort. They're silent, just existing in each other's company. Toshi can see that his counterpart is out of his depth; after all, Toshi's knows Izuku, has known him for so long, now. Toshinori is still in that awkward in between stage where Izuku is still a bit star-struck with the idea that All Might is giving him company, that Izuku gets to know the man behind his idol's hero persona. But Toshi knows that all it will take to push their bond to the next level is a conversation—a real conversation—that opens their hearts to one another and helps them understand each other more than they thought possible.

A conversation… much like this one.

Toshi holds his breath as he watches, hoping Toshinori can make the most of this opportunity. That Toshinori cares for Izuku as much as he does, and that he can trust the other man to care for his boy when he leaves.

"You," Toshinori's voice comes out low, as if he's grumbling more than actually speaking, "are not pathetic, my boy."

Izuku scoffs, shaking his head and letting his hands fall while his head hangs and his shoulder slump.

"You're not," Toshinori reiterates. The older man angles himself so his body is facing more towards Izuku. "In fact, you're amazing. You're resourceful and strong and so, so smart. You care so much for others, and it's like the mere presence of you can brighten anyone's day."

Izuku sniffles, and it looks like he doesn't believe a word that Toshinori is saying. They sit together in silence so long, that Toshi almost steps around the corner to help. But, Toshinori speaks once more, voice soft.

"It's been 3 months, right?"

Izuku's head whips up, his wide eyes looking towards Toshinori in surprise. "Y-uh… yeah."

Toshinori blushes. "Toshi told me. He—uh… he worries."

It's Izuku's turn to blush. His head looks back down to the ground and his hands fiddle in his lap. He whispers, "yeah."

"It's barely been three months, and you've done so well, gotten by despite…" Toshinori trails off, swallowing against the lump in his throat. "It took me years to heal… I don't think I actually have yet."

Intrigued, his boy turns to look at Toshinori again. He sniffles a bit and furrows his eyebrows in concern. "You… lost someone. Toshi mentioned it, once, but…"

Toshinori gave the boy a sad smile, nodding and taking his hand back to fiddle with his fingers. His shoulders hunched, and he looked towards the ground as hurt flashed across his face. A mirror to Izuku.

"She's like a mother to me. She raised me into the man I am today," Toshinori sighed and leaned back against the couch cushions. "She trained me into the hero I always dreamed of being. Without her, there would be no All Might."

Silence. And then, "What happened to her?"

Toshinori sighs. "She fought All for One."

The way Izuku's face falls tells him that there need not be more of an explanation than that.

For a few moments, they sit together, grieving for their respective loved ones. One heart aches for a woman long past, the other for someone who's grave has barely settled. Toshi can see, from where he stands in the shadows hoping not to be noticed, that they feel the most comfortable in each other's presence than they have felt before. After all, they both understand the pain they each suffer.

"My Mom," Izuku starts, his voice gravelly and small, "was in her office when a villain fight broke out right in front of her building. It was a villain with a gigantification quirk."

Toshi presses his knuckles to his mouth. Izuku hasn't even shared this story with Toshi yet, and he doesn't know if he should even listen in on this conversation or not. But he can't seem to get himself to move as he listens to his boy recount the worst day of his life.

"I first saw what was happening on the news," he continues. "I was about to turn of the T.V. when the story broke. Instead of going to school, I went straight to Mom's work. I watched the villain fall onto the building; it collapsed."

Toshinori's harsh gasp fills the room. He settles a hand on Izuku's shoulder and the younger man continues. "After they arrested the villain, they were looking for survivors. There weren't very many floors in the building, just five, and it was the beginning of the work day, so there weren't very many people… Most everyone got out okay. But they couldn't find Mom.

"Sh-she… I c-called her. To see if she'd answer, and she did! I told the police that she was on the phone, and she's somewhere in the building, they have to save her! And th-they t-tried really hard, and I stayed on the phone with her, but she stopped responding and I begged her to say something-!"

Izuku buries his face is his hands, sobbing quietly as he tried to catch his tears in his palms. "They found her a few minutes later. Dead. She… I was so close! I-I know you can't save everyone, but what kind of—what kind of person am I if I can't even save someone who's right in front of me?"

The sobs Izuku releases are heart-wrenching and painful to hear. But Toshinori pulls his boy—no, their boy close and holds him through his heartache. They say nothing, taking comfort in each other's presence in the blue light of the memories captured on video.