So I have no intention of doing a sequel fic or anything like that but if anyone wants to write one, feel free to send me a message.

"So you guys are from a different world?"

"Looks like it. Pretty neat, huh?" Luffy asked, tilting his head back so he could enjoy the breeze blowing across the U.A. Academy lawn.

"Neat? It's completely mind-blowing! You and Zoro-san are proof the String Theory is correct! The implications this could have on the scientific community are astounding! This is just so amazing! You said that quirks aren't a thing in your world, right? Then I wonder what else is different about your bodies, what kind of if you have different physiologies from people-"

Bonk!

"Ouchy!" Deku moaned, clutching his head where Luffy had clocked him with a swift -though, for him, fairly gentle- punch. "What was that for, Luffy-san?"

"You were getting on my nerves," the rubber-man replied simply.

"Oh, sorry," Deku apologized, face flushing in embarrassment and still rubbing the growing goose egg. "But... aren't you worried, though? I mean, what if you can't get back? Not being able to go home... I can't imagine anything more horrible."

Deku's heart clenched and his stomach flipped at the thought of never being able to see his mother again. He knew she lived in fear of him getting injured or, even worse, killed on the path of being a professional hero, despite her support of him. Deku hated that, for the sake of his dreams and goals, he had to put her through that stress; it was something that kept him up at night every now and then.

"Nah, it'll all work out in the end," Luffy shrugged, calm and relaxed. "We haven't even been here for three whole days so, yeah, I want to get back and meet up with my Nakama again but it's also not time to worry just yet."

"I wish I could have that much confidence," Deku mused, wrapping his scarred arms around his legs and pulling them close to his body. He didn't know why but the older teen just had this... energy about him that made Deku want to open up and spill all of his secrets, all of his insecurities.

"I've had my abilities for a while now, and I'm getting better with them. But I'm still so far behind most of my classmates in that regard. I want to be a hero, it's all I've ever wanted to be but what if I don't have what it takes? What if I ended up disappointing everyone who believes in me? What if- OW! STOP HITTING ME!"

Deku shouted that last part, grabbing at the second, much larger bump on his head.

Luffy gave him an uncharacteristically stern look, "Stop whining, that won't get you anywhere."

Then his face turned soft again, and he gave Deku a small smile, "Take pride in what you can do and work on what you can't."

"He is right, kid," the gruff voice of Luffy's scary friend cut in. "If you let your doubts take too much control then you've already lost. So be proud of your strength and find a way to address your weaknesses, either by improving them or finding people who can compensate for them."

"Mmmhmm, Zoro here is dumber than an animal when it comes to directions so we got an awesome navigator to make up for his idiocy," Luffy chirped, slapping the swordsman on the back.

"You're one to talk!" the green-haired man snarled, already in the process of wringing Luffy's rubbery next.

"Gak! Stupid meany," Luffy croaked as the pair wrestled and Deku watched on, deeply bemused.

After about five minutes of fists flying, insults being thrown, and rolling around in the dirt, the two self-proclaimed pirates righted themselves so that they were sitting up again. Zoro, having stretched his 'captain's' ears out and tied them neatly into a bow, turned back to Deku and continued.

"Anyway, what I'm saying, kid, is that you need to dedicate yourself fully to your dream," the man imparted, "and accepting that you might fail, that you might die, is part of it. Maybe you're too much of a wimp to accomplish it just yet but, if your conviction is strong enough, then you are on the right track. You said you're worried about letting down the people who believe in you? Well, I guarantee they will be more disappointed if you half-ass your efforts."

The green-haired man was intimidating, with a general aura like he'd sooner cut someone down for bumping into him than offer up advice to a young hero-in-training, and his voice was gruff. He also slept a lot and drank whatever alcohol he could get his hands on... including what Deku was pretty sure was rubbing alcohol from the infirmary.

Still... Deku felt himself sit up straighter at the man's words and he grinner. "Zoro-san, I-"

"That sounds like pretty solid advice to me."

All three young men turned and a choir of cheers when Eraser Head turned the corner, holding the hand of a beaming Eri.

"Awww, Eri, you look so pretty," Deku exclaimed.

The little girl flushed, ducking to hide her face. After another round of check-ups with Recovery Girl, Eri had finally been taken to get a proper wardrobe by Mt. Lady. Today she was wearing a white dress shirt with a frilled collar and a plain red pinafore with two large, golden buttons on either side of her chest. Under this, she had donned a pair of gray tights and a set of tan boots; hanging by her side was a small dark red messenger bag with a cute little floral pattern decorating one of its sides.

"Yeah, you look great!" Luffy clapped as Zoro nodded in agreement with a sharp grin.

"We also got her a haircut," Aizawa added, putting a hand on the little girl's head to smooth back the straighter, neater silvery locks. "Personally, I think it looks good."

"You already look like a different person," the rubber-man chuckled. "In fact, who are you again?"

Eri looked confused, but then she just giggled and ran forward to tackle Luffy in a hug. "You're so silly," the girl laughed as Luffy tickled her sides and settled her into his lap.

Deku could only join in the laughter, the pairs' joy was absolutely infection. "You're really good with kids, Luffy-san."

"Yeah, that is because he is on their level mentally," Zoro grumbled, his tone in complete contrast to the obvious affection shining in his eye as he watched Eri and Luffy goof around.

Deku didn't know the history between these two young men, didn't understand the ties that bound them together, but even he, as an outsider looking in, could tell how close they were. He imagined that only a few people in the world were lucky enough to have that close to someone.

But that somber thought was shoved away as Deu watched Eri tug at Luffy's stretchy cheeks, giggling all the way. "She looks so happy," he said softly to himself.

Evidently, someone overheard him.

"She sure does," Eraser Head agreed, giving a rare smile. "She has a long road of recovery ahead of her, but I think Eri will be just fine."

"What is going to happen to her?" Deku asked, worry surging through his body. "The people after her are still out there! She could still be in danger!"

"You're right, which is why Eri is going to be living with me after she is finished with her hospital stay," the pro-hero admitted. Somewhat bashful, oddly enough. "It was deemed too dangerous to put her into the system, especially given how unstable her quirk is."

Deku's eyes nearly bugged out of his skull. "You're going to be looking after her?"

"What does that mean?" Eraser Head glared.

"Uh... nothing?"

"It means you're kind of a jerk," Luffy butted in, turning his head to the side as Eri continued pulling on it.

"...That reminds me, there will be someone from the government coming to meet with you two idiots later today," Aizawa grunted. "We're going to try to spin the 'from a different world' thing but don't go leaving the U.A. campus."

With that demand, the pro-hero turned and left, allowing them to continue playing with Eri. At least for now.

"Can we have dinner together tonight?" the little girl asked.

"Mmm, that would be a lot of fun, but we won't be around that long," Luffy replied, bumping his forehead against hers.

Eri frown, an action Deku mirrored.

"What do you mean?"

Yeah, Aiwaza-sensei just said that you both have to stay here," Deku added, not wanting his new friends to get into trouble.

"Luffy is right, we'll be leaving soon," Zoro grunted. "It's for the best too, neither of us wants anything to do with your government. Even if yours seems better than the one we have to deal with, it is for the best that our paths don't cross."

"Why not?" Eri asked, what remains of her childhood innocence poking through.

Both men frowned but said nothing; Zoro clenched his jaw, and Luffy scratched the massive, x-shaped scar on his chest. Even without words, Deku knew better than to ask again.

"Okay, I understand," he said with a respectful nod. "I won't tell anyone when you leave."

Eri looked at him with shock in her big eyes, "But-"

Luffy inhaled sharply, causing all eyes to turn to him. The rubber-man held up his arm, and Deku's eyes went wide when he saw that the orange, metallic-looking band around his forearm was glowing.

"What the..." Deku gasped, already trying to get to his feet. "Stay still, I'm going to go get Aiwaza-sensei! SOMEONE, HELP!"

"Nah, it's okay," Luffy waved him off, staring at his own arm. "I kinda figured this would happen."

"What?"

"Yeah, it looks like it is time to go," Zoro said, examining the ring around his own arm. "One ring for each day... There are weirder Devil Fruits, I supposed."

Eri whimpered and grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip, her fingernails digging into his arm, but Deku could only watch on is half-amazement and half-horror as the glistening orange-silver aura expanded to cover the rest of Zoro and Luffy's bodies.

"We're going home," the rubber-man smiled, one hand on his straw hat and one hand on his scarred chest. "We're going to see our Nakama."

At those words, Eri burst into tears. "I! DON'T! WANT! YOU! TO! GO!"

"Aw, it'll be alright. No matter how far away we are from one another, we're still friends," Luffy reassured. Then, as he and the swordsman began to fade out of existence, his eyes and smile went to Deku, "Hey, Broccoli-guy, watch out for Eri, okay?"

Swallowing back his tears, the young hero-in-training could only nod viciously.

"Good! Oh... and you better grow up to be a great hero, Broccoli-guy, or I'll have to come back here and kick your ass!"

With one final wave from Luffy and a nod from Zoro, the pair of young men vanished in one final burst of bright light. It was like they were never there at all.

'But they were there, Luffy-san, and I swear that I'll never forget you or my promise,' Deku, the future Greatest Hero in the World, swore to himself.

But, for now, he just pulled a still sobbing Eri into a comforting hug.

"I already miss him so much," she openly wept. "What if he gets hurt? What if we never get to see him again?"

Deku rubbed his cheek against the top of the girl's silky-soft hair. "Well, I don't know if we'll ever get to meet Luffy-san again... but I can promise that, no matter what happens, he will be alright."

Eri looked up at him with her watery red eyes, "How do you know that?"

"Because he is the one who will be the King of the Pirates."

SPOILERS:

On behalf of myself and all the other believers in the Dabi-is-Touya-Theory, I have one thing to say.

VINDICATION!