Notes: A surprisingly...soft chapter after the mess of the last few ones, but I think that makes it sadder. I love Deku with all my heart, so it's hard writing him like this. I also love IzuOcha a lot, so doing this to them has been rough. Of course, you know what a quiet chapter means for the next one, right? I know the last chapter made people feel like Deku is beyond saving, but to be honest, that was nothing new. He's done stuff like that already. It's just the first time we (and Uraraka) have seen it firsthand. By that line, he would've been beyond saving before he even showed up in the beginning. As for whether this is Izuocha or Kacchako, it's both and neither at the same time. To be honest, ships are the last thing I'm concerned about endgame-wise. I know it's frustrating, but it is what it is. Thank you for sticking around and reading!

"Hard times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times when the 'hero' within us is revealed."
- Bob Riley

While they waited for Deku's return, Uraraka and Todoroki sat in a tense silence. Unlike when Ikeda had been the one guarding them, Dabi didn't leave the room, but he sat in the corner opposite of the dead body, paying them so little attention that it was almost like they weren't there. Ikeda came back before Deku with two other villains in tow, one of which she was surprised to recognize from their old days.

Nearly everyone from the old League of Villains had either been captured or killed while they had still been in school, but a few had escaped. Along with Kurogiri, Mr. Compress had vanished as well. The two of them had been the most difficult to capture because of the nature of their quirks and abilities. However, it appeared as if he was alive and well, looking slightly less theatrical wearing a simple half white and half black mask.

Uraraka watched with cautious eyes as Dabi lazily pulled himself back to his feet and conversed with the other three villains low enough to not be heard. They came to some agreement and split off in two groups. As Ikeda and the unknown villain slunk over to Murai's body, neither one of them happy with the job, Dabi and Compress walked over to the cells. Todoroki sat with a faint glower on his face, still holding onto his arm. The bleeding had slowed thanks to his keeping pressure on it, but there was still a chance for infection.

Dabi held the keys up. "Try anything and we'll find out if you're still fire resistant with that quirk inhibitor."

Todoroki didn't respond, which they seemed to take as understanding. Dabi unlocked the cell and Compress slipped inside. She'd forgotten how graceful he could be, something to do with his old life as an entertainer. He had the material necessary to take care of a wound in his hands.

The surprise on Uraraka's face must have been evident because Compress turned to her and pulled his mask off enough to display a wink. "You learn how to tend to wounds on your own when you perform a lot of dangerous stunts for the masses," he explained before sliding his mask back into place. Todoroki was clearly hesitant, but showed his arm when Compress held his hand out and tsked. "This is worse than when I was younger than you and playing with swords. Even worse, Murai wasn't known for cleaning his weapons well. A dreadful habit."

"He'll be fine though, right?" Uraraka prompted.

"It's a deep gash, but he didn't lose too much blood despite what it looks like," Compress said, eyeing the ground where Todoroki's blood had leaked everywhere. "Kyōmu might not be able to give Todoroki his session today."

Something that suspiciously felt like hope shined faintly in Uraraka's heart, but she couldn't let it overwhelm her. Interrupting use of Kyōmu's quirk had to weaken its effect. Consistent use had to be key, considering that Deku was still having it used on him to reinforce it.

"I offered to cauterize it," Dabi pointed out idly.

Compress sighed in an unimpressed manner. "You're just trying to make things worse for fun. As if we don't have to watch out for an infection already."

Dabi waved a hand and went back to sit down. "Just patch him up and be on your way. Ikeda has to inform Kyōmu of this anyways when she's done cleaning up that mess."

"I haven't seen Midoriya slip like that in a while," Compress mused. He must have been with this new League longer. Maybe he'd even seen Deku's transformation. "Not since we showed him those pictures." He hummed. "Young love is a powerful and beautiful thing."

Uraraka couldn't find it in herself to speak, not with the villains speaking so casually. She hoped that they might say something that could help her, but this sounded like everyday conversations. They didn't care if Uraraka and Todoroki were right there. Honestly, somehow, it made things worse. Deku was a part of their world, a member of their team. He had spoken to them about her, about his old friends, about Bakugou. They knew how Deku felt about her and their life together. It was an uncomfortable thought, one made even worse by the fact that Kyōmu had not only dug into Deku's mind and memories but was now doing the same to Todoroki.

Nothing was sacred. Nothing was secret. It made her feel exposed, like she was lying open on a surgery table and couldn't move.

"You know," Compress said in a conversational tone as he dressed Todoroki's wound, "this wouldn't be so difficult on either of you if you just gave in."

"That line didn't work on Bakugou back then," Uraraka said firmly. "It won't work on us." Todoroki's eyes flickered to her and away quickly, but then he nodded his head stiffly. "We're not villains."

Compress stood back up. "I've always found that term to be relative and easy to bend." He had such a polite way of talking and was known to be non-confrontational compared to the other villains in the League. It was sometimes easy to forget that he was a villain, one that had successfully kidnapped Bakugou as well back when they had been in their first year. "The same with heroes. Who's to say that you aren't the villains here?"

Uraraka bristled. "We don't-" She couldn't finish the sentence.

We don't murder people.

But Deku had.

She didn't have to finish for Compress to know what she meant. It was the easiest distinction to make between a hero and villain. With a quirk like hers, it would be deceptively easy to kill a person. Most people didn't consider her quirk to be made for combat, but it wouldn't take much for her to take a life. She didn't have to consciously hold back and watch herself like Bakugou, Todoroki, or Deku before all of this - she had always considered her quirk to be truly meant for rescuing people - but then neither did Compress.

"To tell the truth, I've actually never killed anyone," Compress told her. "Maimed, certainly, kidnapped and held someone captive - I'm certain you remember that - aided and abetted, but not killed by myself. It's best to leave that to other people." He walked out of Todoroki's cell and shut the gate. "By your standards, I suppose that would make me more innocent than Midoriya."

Uraraka didn't have a response to that, so she kept her mouth shut. She could've said that Deku was being mind-controlled - that he didn't have a choice - that it wasn't him - but Kyōmu had made it quite clear that some of it was up to him. Kyōmu had meddled with Deku's mind. He'd changed things around, pushed him to feel other things, planted thoughts and memories in his mind to guide Deku to make those decisions. Compress, Dabi, and the like hadn't needed a brainwashing quirk used on them to do the same.

Deku was different from them. She refused to believe any other way. She had to believe that she could bring him back, no matter what, even after what she'd just witnessed.

"Think about it, Uravity," Compress said. "You've seen what Midoriya is capable of. You could save a lot of people by joining us."

"I'll die first," Uraraka swore.

Compress shook his head. "I certainly hope not. Midoriya would be inconsolable and I don't want to know what he might do then. The world would be a dark place indeed." He turned his back to her, waving a hand to Dabi, and said, "I'll leave you to it then," before walking out the door.

Uraraka looked at Todoroki, who was examining his bandaged arm. He lifted his eyes to hers and nodded his head, allowing her to ease down on the cot. Compress' words sat uncomfortably in her mind. She could never join the League of Villains willingly, but she knew that Deku was hopeful that she would one day without being coerced by Kyōmu's quirk. It was a delusion, of course, one that the other villains surely knew, but it was like they were all committed to their roles of letting him continue that delusion, going so far as to even being kind to her.

You're still a hero, aren't you? That was what Deku had said to her first time waking up after getting injected by that quirk inhibitor drug. Maybe, on some level, he knew it was a delusion too, but he couldn't let it go just yet.

Deku returned shortly after that, wearing the same outfit he'd worn the morning he'd broken into her apartment and came back to life in her world. Considering he'd been drenched in blood and had manic light in his eyes not too long ago, his clean and crisp transformation was something of a shock. He looked put together and calm, as if he hadn't lost his temper so violently that he'd beat a villain into an unrecognizable pulp an hour ago.

"Let's get you out of here, Ochako. You've been in that cell for too long." Deku snapped his fingers and Dabi tossed him the keys, which he snatched out of the air without looking. Uraraka shot Todoroki a panicked look, but he shook his head slightly. Being separated made them more vulnerable, but fighting Deku on this would only make things worse and neither one of them could be sure of his mental state after what he'd done.

Uraraka moved to stand, but then her ankle stung sharply and she dropped back down on the cot with a hiss. Concern burned brightly in Deku's green eyes as rushed to her, dropping down to prop one hand on the mattress and the other on her arm. "Sorry. I'm fine. Must have bent it funny when I…"

"It's not fine," Deku replied. She was scared that he might fly into a rage again, but there was no one to direct his fury towards. Ikeda and the other villain had cleared out minutes before with Murai's remains. "I'll take a closer look at it and wrap it when we get back to my room."

Before she could insist that she was okay, he hooked an arm under her knees and slid the other under her, lifting her from the cot with ease. It caught her off guard and she wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling. Pressed so close to him, her face in the crook of his neck, he smelled so fresh, but she could've sworn that there was a hint of the metallic tang of blood underneath it.

Still, she couldn't help but be reminded of Bakugou carrying her up the stairs to her bed. His scent of alcohol and nitroglycerin. How long ago had that been now? It felt like a cross between another lifetime and a dream.

"Take care of her, Izuku," Todoroki called out before Deku carried her out the door.

Deku hesitated, but he didn't turn back. When she lifted her head to catch a glimpse of his face, he was wearing a strange look, as if for a moment, he didn't know where or who he was. He took a breath and that look faded away into a smile as he twisted his head to look back. The smile looked much more strained than normal. "Of course, Shoto! I won't let anything happen to her."

Without getting out of the chair, Dabi leaned over to open the door and Deku carried Uraraka out of the room. She kept her eyes on Todoroki until the door shut behind them and then leaned the side of her face against his Deku's shoulder. It was strangely comforting despite everything and she clung to him more than she should have, afraid that he'd change again if she let him go.

He walked to his room in silence, his muscles tense as he held onto her a little too tightly. There was a displeased air around him despite the smile and cheery voice he'd used moments before. He was still angry over what had happened, but was trying to hide it, maybe out of embarrassment for losing himself so thoroughly.

After entering his room, he carried her over to the bed and gently set her down on the edge. Before she could thank him, he said in a miserable voice, "I'm so sorry, Ochako." His head was hanging and he was looking at his feet, shame written in every line of his body. "I...I let you get hurt. I promised you I wouldn't. I even swore to Todoroki and Kacchan that you would be safer with me and I failed you."

Uraraka cupped his face and lifted his head so that he could look her in the eyes, but then Deku pulled away from her instead of leaning in like she'd come to expect. His rejection of her comfort strangely stung and worried her. If he grew distant with her, she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to reach him. His gaze landed on her neck and stayed there, as if he couldn't look away from the bruises that had formed. She saw a flicker of anger in his eyes again before it was replaced with guilt.

"Does it hurt?" Deku asked, reaching out to gently brush his fingertips over her neck.

"A little," Uraraka admitted.

The guilt poured over into his face and he stepped into her again, slipping his arms around her and burying his face against her shoulder. "I'm so sorry," Deku repeated, his voice muffled. "If I'd known he was a threat to you, I never would have let him get close to you in the first place." Meaning he would have killed Murai before he'd had the chance to hurt her. "I didn't protect you. You're supposed to safe with me and now..." He lifted his head enough so that he could see the marks.

"The bruises will fade," Uraraka told him. "That's not what's bothering me though."

Deku pulled back, his brow furrowed as he gazed at her in confusion. "You were attacked. I failed you."

"I've been attacked before, Deku," Uraraka said. "I'm a hero." She dropped her hands in her lap and looked down, having trouble looking him in the eyes when she could see the ghost of the boy she remembered in them. "But I didn't feel like one today. You scared me."

"I scared you?" Deku took a step back. She didn't want to admit that the space helped her breathe, but it did.

"Deku, you murdered that man," Uraraka stressed in a pained voice.

He scoffed, suddenly very different. There was no more apparent shame. He didn't feel guilty for what he'd done, just for what he hadn't. "He hurt you. Everyone was given specific instructions to not harm you and he didn't listen. He deserved to die." He shook his head. "Besides, he was a villain. What does it matter if he's dead?"

Uraraka formed fists on top of her thighs. "I've never seen you like that before." She closed her eyes, her thoughts flashing back to Deku repeatedly punching Murai over and over again and then to when Deku had been lording over Bakugou with a knife in his hands. Two extremes, but on different ends of the spectrum. There had been more pain than anger with Bakugou. "If I ever made you mad…"

Deku paled. "Ochako, you can't think that. I would never do that to you. I would never hurt you. It would kill me."

"Would it?" Uraraka hid her face in her hands, trying to stop the tears. She was done crying. But witnessing him so out of control couldn't be anything but terrifying. No one could've stopped him in that moment. She had barely been able to stop him from hurting Bakugou any further, but if he was ever like that again, there was nothing that could be done short of…

Short of killing him.

"You have to believe me, Ochako," Deku pleaded, returning to her so that he could peel her hands away from her face and hold them in his. "I would never."

Despite his conviction, fear and grief bubbled their way to the surface and Uraraka couldn't hold them back. It was one thing to know that Deku had killed before for her; it was quite another to see it firsthand. He had been… Oh gods, he had been a monster. She hadn't recognized him in that moment. What if there came a time when she couldn't recognize him at all? What would she do then?

"I keep thinking that I'm not giving you what you want," Uraraka rambled in a panic, the words pouring out of her as her heart raced in her chest, "that I'm going too slow and you're going to get frustrated with me or won't believe that I love you. You're going to get mad. And I'm scared, Deku. I'm really scared. I don't want to see Todoroki like that. I don't want to see you like that ever again. I don't want to be afraid of you."

"Listen to me," Deku said. A whimper escaped Uraraka and she took a shaky breath to stop herself from crying. She was getting too worked up, but she couldn't get the image of Deku covered in blood out of her head. "Listen to me, Ochako." She bit her lip, brown eyes locked on green ones. "I would rather die than hurt you. I might not be the hero I once was - and I'm grateful to be released from that - but I will never be your villain. Do you understand?"

Uraraka nodded her head. She thought she did. It made her think of what Deku had said about Bakugou: how Bakugou had been the hero of his own story, but because he had terrorized Deku, Bakugou had been the villain in his. Deku wouldn't be that to her. But then her fight with Bakugou in their first year Sports Festival came to mind as well: how people, even pro heroes, had called Bakugou a villain for the way he'd fought her, but she had seen a hero in him for treating her with respect and not going weak on her.

Standing up straight, Deku pressed a kiss to her forehead and said, "Let me take care of you." He let go of one of her hands and smoothed a hand down her head. "There's not much I can do for the bruises around your neck. I'll get you a hot towel so we can keep the swelling down. Maybe a scarf to cover them up if you like." His hand fell down to her neck again, his touch so gentle and loving. "I can at least wrap your ankle. It looks swollen already."

"Thank you," Uraraka managed in a hoarse whisper.

As Deku set about taking care of her, Uraraka sat on the bed in a strange limbo. After witnessing and hearing so much in such a small amount of time, she was too mentally and emotionally exhausted to do anything else. Deku was careful with her as he wrapped her ankle, resting on his knees at her feet. She closed her eyes and let out a breath as he delicately ran a hand up her calf and rested it on her knee. Her heart skipped a beat. It reminded her all too much of those nights when he had helped with her wounds at home after a rough villain takedown. He was gentle with her then too, his touch comforting and kind, sometimes turning into something more.

At the thought and as if sensing he was thinking the same thing, Uraraka pulled her leg up at the same time as Deku sat back. Heat flooded her face as she turned away from him slightly. Deku sat with his eyes closed. He swallowed down anything he might've said to her and then tiredly rubbed his face. It must have been exhausting to constantly hold himself back with everything, not just his quirk, but with her, Todoroki, the other villains, whatever he felt for Bakugou and his old friends. It was no wonder he had exploded with the villain that had tried to kill her.

"Are you afraid of me now?" Deku asked, not looking at her.

Uraraka hugged her legs to her chest. "No, not when you're like this - when I know you."

"When you know me," Deku repeated to himself. He pulled himself to his feet, his eyes shining with the need to be understood, to be known. "But you do know me. You saw me right from the start. You've always been intuitive and able to read people."

"Maybe," Uraraka replied, "but sometimes I don't know if it's you or if it's Kyōmu."

"It's me," Deku insisted, putting a hand over his heart. His tie was too short again, just as it had been the morning he'd broken into her apartment. He'd never outgrown the habit even after three years at U.A., something she'd always found cute. Not even Kyōmu's quirk could break him of it apparently or Kurogiri could teach him to tie them the right way. It was very him and it made Uraraka's heart drop into the pit of her stomach. "Kyōmu only opened the doors to a new life."

Uraraka stared back at him, too worn thin to hide from him. "I don't know if there's room for me in that life."

"I'll make room," Deku told her. "Just...be patient with me too." His eyes were so pained. "I need you by my side."

All she could do was nod her head in response. She could tell that he wanted to come back to her, so she stretched out her legs, lowering her feet to the floor, and Deku stepped forward to wrap his arms around her again and lay his cheek on top of her head. It was a solid hug, one of safety and care. It was the kind of hug that said, I'll take care of you. She closed her eyes and tried to revel in it, tried to accept it, tried to believe it.

This was Deku.

But if that had been Deku too, she didn't know what he expected of her. Todoroki was right. No matter what Deku said, it wouldn't be long before he asked something of her that she couldn't give or do.