Stain shouldered his way into an empty, half-constructed house just as the sun dipped below the horizon. The door he'd just busted open bounced on the wall with a hollow sound, and the man walked inside without any hesitation. Behind him, the ragtag group of youngsters following him walked inside slowly, looking far more defeated than the Hero Killer leading them.

They had barely spoken in all the hours they had walked, making a beeline south and as far away as they could get from the raging fire that consumed the League's headquarters. By some miracle, they hadn't crossed paths with any heroes while they walked, and Izuku was beyond thankful. He wasn't sure just how they would all deal with another hero as they were.

Stain disappeared further inside the house, probably to scope out the place, and the rest of them settled around the common area. Dabi limped towards the nearest wall and slipped down carefully, his wounded leg stretched before him. Spinner, who had been carrying Shoto for the last hour and a half, deposited the young teen next to his older brother. Izuku took off Dabi's coat and rolled it up to use as a pillow for the wounded boy, and Dabi gave them both a grateful look.

Shoto was mostly awake by now but was still too weak to get up on his own. His left forearm was now sporting two stab wounds with burns on top, the latter from how Dabi had desperately cauterized the wound to keep Shoto from bleeding out while they escaped.

While the two siblings whispered to one another, Spinner took his mask off and ran a hand through his hair and Toga took off her tattered sweater to wipe the blood and grime off her face and legs. Izuku made sure the door was locked and, after letting out a deep sigh, leaned against the wooden surface and stared at his teammates in silence.

Like wounded animals, he watched them all clean their wounds and murmur amongst themselves, the fact that Stain hadn't returned weighing heavily on all of them.

In the almost six hours they'd marched, Stain had only ever addressed Izuku directly. He'd pointedly ignored the other four people in the group, even when he'd spent the first hour or so carrying Shoto on his arms. He was also the one that initially assessed the teen's wounded arm, but he'd done all of that in hellish silence.

Izuku had started at his mentor's back the whole trip, too hesitant to speak and too anxious to be comfortable with the silence. He'd picked at the sleeve of Dabi's coat the entire time, thoughts flooding his mind and threatening to drown him.

Every look Stain gave him, every time he as much as picked up the pace, Izuku would feel a surge of terror clawing at his heart. Was Stain about to just run off and abandon them? Was he handing Shoto over to Spinner so that he could get rid of them without any obstacles? Was his hand gripping his new katana in preparation to strike down one of their accomplices?

Ever so often Izuku would involuntarily flinch in anticipation, his companions giving him worried glances. Toga would take his hand any chance she got and even Shoto seemed to wonder what was wrong with Izuku, but only Spinner understood the teen's worries. The mutant had patted Izuku on the shoulder two hours into their walk, a serene and reassuring look in his pink eyes, and Izuku had to force himself not to start crying right then and there.

Now that they were all still and with no more need to keep running for the moment, anxiety flooded Izuku's veins like poison. His skin itched and he wished he still had the little radio at his disposal if only to know what the media was saying about them.

Had reporters gotten to the nurse Mustard had shot? Had anyone recognized Shoto's quirk from the sports festival? Had there been casualties that he was unaware of? Did anyone know that the building that had burned down earlier belonged to the League?

The fact that all of those answers were unknown to him, plus the fact that any lie or misinterpretation could become the 'truth' to the public terrified him and for the first time in almost a year Izuku started biting down on his nails. They weren't particularly long but he didn't take any notice.

Instead, he focused on his surroundings.

The house they'd broken into was just like many that Stain and him had stayed at in the past year. No doors inside, the walls a light grey and the second floor only partially finished. The windows had glass, which was good, but he could still feel the chill blowing in through the staircase. Up there somewhere, Stain was hiding from them all.

Or maybe we're hiding from him, Izuku reasoned bleakly. No one had made any attempt to follow the man upstairs and it would probably be a long time before they gathered the bravery to do so.

Dabi was on the ground next to Shoto, the two of them talking quietly. The teen was examining his newly scarred arm while his brother stretched, his own burnt arms in full display without his coat. The purple expanse of skin went up much further than Izuku anticipated, the staples keeping the skin in place reaching almost his armpits. He'd been just as surprised by the sight when Dabi offered him the coat hours earlier under the excuse that a shirtless kid wasn't exactly the most subtle thing in the world.

Dabi gave his sibling a calm smile and the younger brother returned it weakly. If he didn't know any better, then Izuku might have believed that these two had been together for years rather than the measly few days that had passed since Shoto's 'kidnapping'.

Another thing he wished he had information about.

On an opposite end of the room, right beside a cracked window, Toga sat by herself. Her once light yellow sweater was now a dirty piece of cloth in her hand, blood and dirt making the object look unrecognizable from before. All of her hair was down now, blonde locks framing her face as she slowly searched her legs for any blood she might have missed. At least a fourth of the scratches adorning her skin would leave a mark.

Her eyes met Izuku's for a brief moment and she sent a cute smile his way before getting back to work. Thank God she did, because Izuku wasn't sure that he would have been able to return it.

Spinner was crouching in a corner of the room, his bouquet of swords and knives neatly spread out on the floor in front of him as he examined each blade individually. He looked at each piece with the same care and attention that Stain usually showed, and Izuku found himself entranced for a good two minutes. The katana he still had with him, hanging off the belt loop of his pants, clanked quietly against the wall behind him.

It was a familiar, yet new scene, and Izuku found the smallest amount of solace in watching Spinner expertly turn the weapons in his hands. Just then he realized how much he missed the knife that Stain had gifted him all those months ago when they left the national park. He regretted not being able to take anything with him when joining the League, but the weapon was the one that hurt him the most.

Without noticing, he finished biting the nails on his right hand and got to attacking the other one swiftly. He hadn't done anything like this since he'd been in school, where he would usually bite his nails until they would bleed. The fact that he was unconsciously falling back into that habit was anything but good.

Izuku watched how the shadows inside the room became darker and darker as time went on, a faint buzzing in his ears. He could feel how nervousness started taking a hold of him slowly and yet, felt like his body was completely calm. He thought about moving his hand away from his face, especially when Toga noticed what he was doing, but found it impossible to move.

Toga approached him from the front butt he still flinched when she touched him. Or did he really flinch? Did he move at all? He wasn't sure anymore.

"Izuku-kun?" The girl asked sweetly, her hands already on his cheeks to ensure eye contact. There was the usual blush on her face, but the yellow eyes seemed foreign to Izuku somehow. Toga tilted her head to the side like a confused puppy, but Izuku said nothing.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but just then a new shadow joined them in the room. Stain's eyes met Izuku's and the teen tensed. He unconsciously took a hold of Toga's shirt as if that was the only thing anchoring him to reality.

"A word." His mentor told him, a nod for Izuku to follow him upstairs. "Alone." He added, narrowing his eyes at Toga.

Izuku nodded but he had to mechanically move his legs to step away from Toga, a tiny 'good luck' reaching his deaf ears. His feet felt like lead, and he missed the sympathetic, yet resolute look that Spinner sent his way.

Each step felt like it lasted ages and yet he was upstairs in the blink of an eye. He'd followed Stain into a small room with a discarded bathtub, the place furthest away from the stairs that they could get to. They were alone.

Emotions threatened to knock Izuku over. A few days ago he would have given anything to be where he was right now. But now he was terrified of what might happen.

Stain stood, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed and staring at Izuku with judgemental eyes. Izuku just stood frozen in the doorway, too stressed to even think of making himself comfortable.

After what felt like years, Stain broke the silence.

"So?" He asked and that single syllable was as loud as a gunshot to the teen.

Izuku's throat felt dry and the first sound that he managed to produce was a pathetic croak. He shifted on his feet, a cold sweat already forming over his chest.

"I… um…" He stammered. Had he ever been so scared of talking with Stain? Maybe when they met in that alley all that time ago.

"Care to explain yourself?" Stain's voice was sharp as a knife. Izuku swallowed, finding the unpainted concrete of the walls rather hypnotizing.

"I…" He started pulling on some hair by his neck, the newly dyed strand feeling dry. He couldn't find his words. Anything he said would only serve to make the hole where he was even deeper.

"How about you start with the fact that you not only joined the League of Villains but also helped kidnap a kid and attack a hospital and a park with them."

Oh God. He was fuming. His voice was dark and threatening and it made Izuku feel like a cornered animal.

"How do you…"

"Know?" Stain raised a brow. "You were all over the news. You think Endeavor of all people wouldn't have cameras around his own house? Come on kid, that's basic stuff."

He's disappointed in you, Deku.

"You even got a nickname, kid."

"What?"

"Oh yes," Stain chuckled, the slightest hint of humor in his voice. "You're 'the Disciple' now. The newest addition to the League of Villains."

There was an icy silence between them.

"There was…" Izuku squeaked. "I couldn't rescue you on my own, I needed help and they-"

"They made you sully your name and your principles on an empty promise."

"But-" Izuku tried.

"And they turned me in in the first place." Stain spat.

"We didn't know that!"

" We?"

Izuku's skin felt like it'd been doused in gasoline. All that was missing was a match and he'd be turned into ash.

"I… Them. My… group." Izuku pointed towards the stairs. "Shigaraki didn't tell anyone what he'd done."

"Oh, now they're your group? Well that just changes everything, don't it?" Stain raised his hands with a sarcastic smile on his face and Izuku actually took a step back. He wanted to run as far away as humanly possible.

"They're different, they..."

"They attacked public places without rhyme or reason and hurt pedestrians without a care in the world."

"They didn't hurt any innocents!"

"How are you so sure? Let me guess, they told you themselves?" Stain sneered, a cold smile adorning his lips. "And you just went and believed them?! Why, because you like them?"

Izuku attempted to get a word out of his mouth, but Stain seemed to have heard enough. As fast and unexpected as lighting, he cut the distance between the two of them, cornering Izuku against the wall. His stance alone was enough to show how angry he was, but he still glared at Izuku for good measure.

"Cut the crap. You owe them nothing, you hear me? Admit that they used you so we can finally get this over with." Stain hissed through his teeth.

Izuku felt like he'd been hit right in the face. He was frozen in fear -actual fear- and he didn't know what to do or feel. He shook his head automatically and Stain scoffed.

Useless as ever, Deku.

"I can't fucking believe you…" Stain murmured. But Izuku's mind was already obsessing over something else.

"G-get… wh…" Izuku's voices faltered, his heart trying to escape his body. Stain took one step towards the door and Izuku clung to his arm like his life depended on it.

"Let go, kid." Stain warned.

"Get what over with?" Izuku whispered, his eyes desperately searching Stain's face for any sign of… Of what? Mercy? Vulnerability?

But there was only blood lust in those red eyes.

Stain tried to pull away, and Izuku was moving before he could think about his own actions. He tried to maneuver himself in front of Stain, but that only got him pushed away. It was truly just an instinct for them both, a reflex to being grabbed or surprised, and it was never meant to be a personal thing. They always drew their weapons when they felt attacked.

But right now, with each other's sword pointing at one another in the tiny hallway, it felt like the whole world had turned against them.

No. No, please no.

Izuku shook his head weakly, the stairs right behind him and his mentor mere feet away from him.

Stain narrowed his eyes, his steady blade a great contrast to Izuku's trembling hands.

"Stand down, kid. I'm warning you." His tone was cautious and slow, like he wanted to make sure that Izuku really listened to him. But the teen just shook his head again.

"Move."

"No."

Stain let out a long sigh through what was left of his nose, his eyes not deviating off Izuku's for even a second.

"Why are you defending them? They're targets, kid."

"No, they're not." Izuku hissed. At last he sounded sure of something but Stain just frowned more.

You're even fighting him now, eh Deku? Where's your loyalty?

"What ever they told you was a fucking lie. Let me pass."

"No!" Izuku held his sword firmly in his hands, not daring to take a step forward but wanting to look as immovable as possible. He knew that if he made the first move Stain would have him disarmed and on the ground in a second.

And every second was precious right now. A part of him wanted to scream, wanted to yell out for Spinner and the others to run. Another part of him wanted to swing his sword as a warning. And another, more prominent part of his soul wanted to do something drastic. Different. Undesirable.

Just do it, Deku. It's all you're good for.

"Why did you let them get in your head like this?" Stain asked and had Izuku been more calm he might have identified the hint of desperation in his teacher's voice. "Why on Earth would you join Shigaraki of all fucking people?"

"It was the only way." Izuku croaked, his vision already blurring. His chest felt tight and his lungs refused to take in any oxygen, making him feel like he was about to pass out.

"Only way?"

"To get you out."

"For what?" Stain asked bitterly. "You compromised everything recklessly and twisted our message."

"What was I supposed to do? Leave you to rot in Tartarus?!" Izuku half shrieked, already past the point of caring about the Dabi and the rest hearing the argument. Hell, he didn't care if all of Japan heard them.

"Yes!" Stain barked, thrusting his sword forward in one swift motion and effectively catching Izuku off guard. He knocked the katana out of the teen's hands and tripped him, both metal and body hitting the ground at the same time. The movement was fast and precise enough to probably knock down any person, but that didn't matter.

Stain didn't need to make any physical contact to defeat Izuku at this point. What he'd said, that one word, had been more than enough to rip Izuku's heart right out of his chest. His body felt numb and he only knew he'd crashed on the wooden floor because of the angle in which he started seeing things around him.

He saw Stain's feet next to him. If he wanted to, he could easily strike again and make sure that Izuku stayed down. But again, that would be unnecessary.

Izuku's mind was filled with fog. He felt like he was standing in the middle of endless darkness, no memories and no coherent thought forming in the mist. All that was left was that familiar voice echoing through every part of his head.

You broke everything, Deku. He's never gonna trust you again. You made the wrong choice.

No. God, please no. He'd tried to make sure that no one got hurt, that no one died. He had put their ideals first and foremost.

You're lying to yourself. You just wanted Stain back.

Stain had to come back. He was the Hero Killer. No one would listen to their message if he wasn't there.

Oh, the message you tore to bits? Admit it. You acted only for yourself.

No, that couldn't be true. No one else could teach people what real justice looked like, no one but Stain could bring forth a better future. And he'd found more people, more that would enforce their message.

All targets, Deku. But hey…

Stain finally sighed, turning around and heading for the stairs.

You know what they say, don't you?

"Stay down, Izuku." Stain said over his shoulder, a heavy note in his tone. Izuku's hand twitched.

Birds of a feather flock together, Deku. You brought them here. And if Stain is right, well then…

Izuku's eyes followed the moving feet before drifting to the right. His hand limply stretched forward. Just at the top of the stairs, Stain's weight made the wooden floor boards crack dangerously.

His foot was already raised to go down, but the man tensed at the sound of movement behind him. He turned swiftly, ready for a strike that never actually came.

Izuku was standing in the middle of the hallway, his dark green eyes looking at Stain but not really seeing him. The katana was held tightly in his left hand, his knuckes white and arm completely tense at the amount of force he was using.

Stain's blade was at the ready, but Izuku didn't show any signs of attacking. His eyes traveled from Stain's form to the blade in his hands and Stain tensed. He didn't know it at the time, but Izuku was making him feel nervous.

"Stain," The teen said, brows furrowed. "Why are they targets?"

The Hero Killer hesitated briefly. He glanced down the stairs as if expecting someone to ambush him, but there was no one there.

"You know why." Stain said, and Izuku blinked.

"Because they were with the League?" The teen was fixated on the blade in his hands and so he didn't look at Stain as he talked. He was lost in some vision of darkness, his voice reflecting how far away his mind was at the time. "Because they're criminals that acted for their own sake? Because they attacked innocent people? Because they seem to have no real objective of their own?"

Stain's red eyes narrowed. The blade in his hands shook briefly.

"You know all that and yet you're going to defend them?"

"No," Izuku said, the ghost of a smile grazing his lips. He turned the katana in his hands, looking at the dark reflections that danced upon the blade. "No, I… I just wanted to make sure what it was because…"

Izuku shifted his weight from one foot to the other, the change in pressure making the floorboards under him crack dryly.

"Well, then I'm also a target, am I not?"

Stain's breathing caught in his throat.

"I worked with the League. I helped them kidnap Shoto. I terrorized a hospital and publicly acted with the same organization that you hate." Izuku's voice hitched, tears falling down his face without any kind of control. But his expression was eerily calm as his eyes finally met his teacher's, dark pools of empty green space.

Stain looked at his student as if he was being spoken to in a different language.

"I did all that, Stain. I chose to do every single thing I did. They didn't force me." Izuku laughed weakly. The hand that wasn't holding the katana was placed on his neck. His fingers were shaking and he could feel his wild pulse in his throat.

"And I knew it was wrong, I knew what it all meant. I knew that was a point of no return to it. But I just…"

"Kid-"

"I couldn't just carry on without you, Stain!" Izuku cried, an honestly desperate smile on his face. "You don't realize it but this message, this mission of yours, only got its wings because you started to preach it."

"I am not my message, kid. Any one could carry it forward."

"Oh please! You think I had anything to do with those four risking their lives for your message? They wanted to meet you. They wanted to follow you! They're just like me!" Izuku's breathing was becoming erratic and the way he swung the katana around was terribly dangerous.

"I can't do what you do! I can't move people's hearts and change their minds! I couldn't even change the way my best friend felt about me for ten years!" Another bitter laugh left his lips, but this one morphed into a pained wail before long. Izuku's blade crashed against the wall, the sound shutting him up for only a second.

"You're the only one that can change things, Stain. They know it and I know it. I can't… I'm not like you…" Izuku gasped, the katana held firmly against his chest as if he were hugging a plush toy. Stain's blade was no longer pointing at him, but Izuku still jumped back when Stain stepped forward.

"Kid, you need to calm down. Just put th-"

"I got a nurse shot in the hospital, you know," Izuku admitted bitterly. His heart cracked at the utter shock in Stain's face and the echoing voice in his head grew louder and louder. "She didn't die but she got shot right next to me. And then when I couldn't find you I froze and I…"

"That wasn't your fault." Stain tried to reason.

Izuku laughed pathetically.

"I thought there were no excuses, Stain. Targets are targets, aren't they?" Izuku took another two steps back, his katana pointing towards the ceiling. "I'm just like them, Stain. Hell, I'm much worse because you fucking trusted me and I just ignored everything you told me because I missed you. It's all on me. I'm the real target here."

There was short silence. Stain's mouth was half open, some word already on the tip of his tongue, but Izuku shook his head violently. His katana flashed in the dark and Izuku's body froze in an instant. He looked at Stain with pure regret and sadness.

"I failed you once, Stain, and I can't change that. I can't make up for what I've done." Izuku whispered with a tiny smile, the katana's sharp end turning inwards towards his own body as he raised it towards his neck. "But I can at least take care of one target for you."

Izuku put all of his strength on pressing the blade against himself and he pulled it down in one swift motion. There was no hesitation. No pause. Only a voice in his head telling him to 'at least do this right, useless Deku'.

It was as if lightning struck in the middle of the room. The katana was still in his hands when he hit the floor, feeling how fresh blood stained his chest and neck. Stain was hovering above him, the blade of the sword digging deep into the palm of his hand as he desperately pulled it away from Izuku. His red eyes were wide and Izuku, shocked, could only think of the fact that he'd never seen fear in his mentor's eyes before this.

Without an ounce of fight left in him, Izuku relaxed his hands and allowed the katana to be taken from him. Stain threw the blade across the room as if the item were cursed and the weapon bounced down the stairs loudly. Stain moved Izuku's head to the side, taking in the small but deep cut that the teen had managed to inflict upon his own throat, and he applied pressure without as much as a thought towards his own injured hand.

"Are you fucking insane?!" Stain yelled, his voice cracking due to the panic and the anger and whatever else he was feeling at the moment. "What are you doing?!"

"I…" Izuku croaked, his eyes shining with innocent confusion. "But I… I did everything a target would, I… Don't I deserve t-"

Stain used his free hand to slap Izuku, just hard enough to make him stop talking out of surprise.

"What, deserve to what? Die?!" Stain yelled and he sounded absolutely livid. Much more angry than he did before, Izuku noted through his tears. The voice in his head was no longer speaking and the silence was making him nervous. He didn't want to think about any of the things that had happened in the last fifteen minutes.

There was the sound of footsteps at the base of the stairs followed by voices, but no one came up.

Stain expertly ripped the sleeve of his hospital uniform off and started using the cloth to keep the pressure on Izuku's neck. His hands were shaking and his eyes darted from the wound to Izuku's face ever so often. Had Stain ever been this upset before?

"I.. I don't get it." Izuku whispered, more tears spilling from his eyes and uncomfortably pooling inside his ears as he faced the ceiling. "I did everything wrong, doesn't that make me a target?"

"Shut up." Stain warned, sounding just like a growling dog.

"But, Stain, I… I knew that what I did would end up in you hating me an-" Izuku whispered, pure disbelief in his voice. Stain's hand hit the floor with raw force, the sound making Izuku jump. The rest of his sentence died under Stain's hellish glare.

"I don't hate you!" Stain roared wildly, hastily ripping off his other sleeve to secure the cloth already on Izuku's neck. "And you're not a target! You've never been one and you're not becoming one ever, do you understand?!"

Izuku froze. There was a telltale shine glazing Stain's eyes as he spoke and Izuku half believed he was already dead. There was no way any of this was real.

"But… you said that…"

"I can't… What…" Stain sighed shakily, tying the fabric on the teen's neck but not moving away. He ran a hand across his face, looking completely lost for a moment. Izuku whimpered on the ground, emotions stuck in his throat painfully.

Stain forcefully looked up at the ceiling and swallowed. He was frowning as if he could push all of this away by pure power of will.

"Izuku, my God... Do you really believe I could consider you a target?" Stain whispered hoarsely, blinking rapidly and refusing to look directly at the teen.

"What?" Izuku frowned, his tears making it impossible for him to take a proper look at his teacher. Stain let out a low chuckle, though the sound lacked any type of humor, and allowed himself to take a seat on the floor. He leaned against the wall as if all the strength had been taken from his body. He even let his hand bleed freely, blood getting on the floor without any thing to stop it.

After a moment of silence, Izuku pressed his hand to his neck and dared to sit up, his movements careful and slow. Stain was no longer glaring at the ceiling, instead looking vacantly at a random spot on the wall in front of him.

Izuku looked at his hands, the left one splashed with blood.

"But I… I… I did..." Izuku wanted to say that he'd ruined everything. That he knew he'd stepped over every boundary, every rule they had ever held sacred. He wanted to say how unworthy he felt to even be in the same room as his teacher after everything that had happened.

"Stop." Stain interrupted, his voice clear and soft.

Izuku shook his head and finally Stain looked at him. Pained red eyes met hollow green ones and the teen felt like he could just shatter under that gaze. His shoulders immediately started shaking again and his eyes lost focus.

"But I failed you! I.. I d-dissapointed you and I ruin-ned e-everything and now the He-hero Killer's n-name is all sullied and..." Izuku choked, his hands rubbing his eyes in a futile attempt to regain some sort of control over himself. His emotions were bubbling up in an incoherent mess and he felt absolutely helpless and lost and so small and-

He stopped breathing for a moment when he was pulled into a tight embrace.

"Stop putting words in my mouth." Stain's voice whispered right over his head. "I don't care what you did."

"But why? " Izuku asked, his voice pleading. "I'm just some random kid you took in. You could just find someone else."

There was an unmissable tremble on Stain's breathing as he held the teen firmly against his chest.

"You really think I'd just put up with some random kid that meant nothing to me for fourteen months?" Stain asked, sadness making his chest shake slightly. His voice was laced with a raw emotion that Izuku had never heard on the man and that made him cry even harder. "You're… not replaceable or exchangeable to me, okay? You're my... You're my kid and you've never disappointed me, Izuku. Not once."

As if the floodgates had been destroyed, emotion took over Izuku's mind and body completely. At first he only trembled silently as his hands clutched the back of Stain's shirt tightly. But when Stain's hand landed on his hair, the teen let out a wail that was only partially muffled by his mentor's chest. That cry was followed by another and then another, each stronger than the one before and Izuku just gave up on trying to hold back what he felt. Stain held him through it all.

At the bottom of the stairs, the katana that Stain had thrown was stuck on the floor, where it would stay for a long, long time.