Someone else was here. There was a real person here and they were likely very hurt. The realization jolted them both go into pro-hero mode.

"Let's try the red door, someone could have run in there to hide." Shouta turned to the door, and tried to turn the knob, but it was locked. Because of course it was. They tried to see through the window, but it was too darkly tinted to make anything out.

Hizashi banged his hand against the wood. "Hey! Anyone alive in there? We're human, and pro-heroes, we can help!" When there was no reply, Hizashi pressed his ear against the door.

"You hear someone?" Shouta asked when he saw Hizashi frown.

"I can tell that something is making noise in there, just not sure what." He pulled away with a grimace. "That could mean a lot of things, and none of them good."

Shouta nodded in agreement. "Breaking down doors and windows doesn't seem to work in this place. Let's go see if we can find a key instead."

There had been no key among the green petals, so the two ran back into the square room with the vase. The room was small, and it didn't take long for them to determine that no key was on the floor and the singular painting in the room held no secrets. They went through the door on the right and entered a long hallway.

Hizashi gasped and Shouta's heart skipped a beat. Only a short ways down the hall there was a body laying face down on the floor, a small body.

They raced forward. Hizashi slid down onto his knees next to the body, but Shouta stood, ready to defend them against any threat. Hizashi pressed his fingers to the small person's neck, and was relieved to find a heartbeat. It was slow and faint, but it was there. He couldn't see sign of broken bones, so he took the risk of carefully moving the person onto their back.

The moment he saw the person's face Hizashi's suspicions were confirmed. This was a kid, a middle school student at the oldest, probably younger. His face was pale, which highlighted the freckles scattered across his cheeks and contrasted greatly with his curly green hair. Red welts covered his exposed skin, just like the one Shouta had gained earlier, and there was a cut on his face that slowly oozed blood.

"Kid? Kid, can you hear me?" Hizashi asked. When he got no response, he tried shaking the kid's shoulder, which earned him a groan of pain.

"Kid! Come on, wake up! Can you tell me if your hurt?"

The kid's eyes opened slowly, as though even doing that caused him a great amount of strain.

"Talk to me kid, where does it hurt?"

"...ev...everywhere..." The kid's voice was barely audible, and Hizashi had to lean in close to hear it.

"You're gonna be okay. We're going to help you. But I need information first. What's your name?"

"Izuku..."

"Okay Izuku, you found a rose earlier right? Where is it now?"

"Blue Lady...took it..."

Hizashi's heart clenched.

"Izuku, did you find a key anywhere?"

"Yeah...before..."

"Do you still have it?"

"mmhmm..."

Hizashi quickly looked over the kid's outfit, just a t-shirt and shorts. He dipped his hands into the kid's pockets and one came out with a small key.

"Think I found it Shouta." He held the key up to his husband, who grabbed it. That left Hizashi free to pick up Izuku. The boy let out a cry of pain as he was moved, which tapered off into whimpers as Hizashi cradled him. "I know, I know Izuku, I'm sorry, but we're gonna move you to a safer room and then we're gonna get you feeling better. Just hang on a bit longer."

They hurried back into the square room. Hizashi set Izuku down with his back to the wall and his head resting against the leg of the vase's table. When Hizashi started to straighten up, the kid tried to keep a hold of him.

"no...don't."

"We're gonna be right back, okay Izuku?" He said, gently removing the kid's hands from his shirt. "We're gonna go get something to make you feel better and then we'll be back."

Izuku didn't offer anymore protest. Hizashi wasn't sure if that was because the kid understood, or because he didn't have the energy to do anything else. Either way, he couldn't dwell on it.

Shouta lead the way back into the room with the locked door. He slid the newfound key into the lock. It turned easily, and Hizashi felt relief wash over him. There was a display area in front of them showing off a sculpture, but that barely registered compared to what occupied the spacious area to the left. A creature, similar to the one that had attacked Hizashi, was huddled in the corner, eagerly digging into flower in her hands.

A part of Hizashi's mind noted how fortunate it was that the 'Blue Lady' wasn't that intelligent. She'd been pawing at the flower instead of picking at it, which was probably the only reason it still has any petals still attached. Plus there was the fact that the creature has yet to notice them.

"You up for acting as a distraction?" Shouta asked in a low voice. Hizashi nodded. Shouta took up position in front of the display across from them, and stood at the ready with his scarf. He signaled to Hizashi, who took a deep breath and stepped further into the room.

"Hey ugly!"

In hindsight, the ugly comment may have been too much. The Lady's head shot up so fast it was a wonder her neck didn't snap. Her clawed hands ripped into the carpet as she scrambled across the floor, far faster than she should have been able to. Hizashi ran for the door, having no intention of getting cornered by this thing.

The plus side of the comment was that the Lady had eyes only for Hizashi. She didn't even notice Shouta until his capture weapon was lashed around her neck. He wrestled her back into the room far enough for Hizashi to get past and run to the green rose.

He gripped the stem gently, and brought up his other hand to cradle the head of the rose. Only two petals came with it, and only one of those was firmly attached. Hizashi held the rose close to his chest as he ran back out the room. He stood ready at the door, and when Shouta came barreling out a moment later he used his back to slam the door shut.

"You okay? You got it?" Shouta asked. Hizashi nodded, but also held the rose up for Shouta to see. The man's eyes went wide when he saw the state of it.

"That was too close, way too close."

"No kidding."

The sound of shattering glass had Hizashi pulling the rose back and Shouta whirling around. The Blue Lady lay on the floor, surrounded by the broken glass of the window.

"Are you kidding me?!" Hizashi shrieked as they turned and ran. "She can't open a door but smashing through a window is no problem?!"

"Less yelling, more running!"

They made it to the door with time to spare, and made sure it latched properly behind them, but they couldn't rest yet.

Izuku was where they left him, his body far too still for their comfort. Hizashi sent up a quiet prayer of gratitude to whomever may be listening that this vase's water hadn't vanished, and carefully lowered Izuku's rose into it. It was fascinating, watching the stem straighten out and the petals grow back into place, but that was nothing compared to seeing Izuku come back to life. The welts on his skin faded back to the boy's normal skin tone, and the cut on his face closed up.

As the last petal grew into place, the boy suddenly took in a deep breath of air and sat straight up. He opened his eyes, and relief washed over Hizashi once again. Izuku's eyes had been so dull before that Hizashi had thought they were gray. Now they were shining and green.

"I-what-who-" Izuku stuttered. Hizashi sat down next to him and put a steadying hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay Izuku, just take a minute to breath. Your safe here."

Izuku did as he was told. The boy looked around as his breath evened out, and he soon wore a frown.

"So it wasn't a dream?"

"If the dream your talking about was being stuck in a messed up version of an art gallery you were visiting, then no, it wasn't." Shouta said. "Any idea how you got here?"

The boy looked back and forth between the two of them uncertainly. "Mom says not to talk to strangers...but you did just help me..."

"Well of course we did, we are pro-heroes after all." Hizashi said with his trademark grin. The boy narrowed his eyes and leaned toward Hizashi, then his mouth dropped open in amazement.

"Are, are you Present Mic?!"

"The one and only!" Hizashi 'shot' him with a finger gun. "Never thought I'd meet a little listener in a place like this."

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh, it's you! You look different out of costume but it's still you! I called into your show one time! You were super nice! Can you use your quirk still without your speaker? Well, of course you can use it, but how much does the speaker help? Can you take villains down without it? I'm pretty sure it helps you magnify you quirk but I always wondered by how much and if it helps with direction and-"

"Hey, remember to breath kid." Shouta interrupted. That only served to shift Izuku's attention.

"Present Mic said you were pros, are you a hero too?"

"Yeah, I doubt you've heard of me though."

"He goes by Eraserhead." Hizashi supplied. Izuku's brow knit together and his lips pursed into a kind of thoughtful pout. Shouta would never admit that it was kind of adorable.

"Eraser...Eraserhead...oh yeah! I heard about you once! You took down a villain, but the reporter didn't get a chance to talk to you because you left right after handing off the villain and they said that was common for underground heroes. Is being and underground hero different than being a regular pro? Do you have an agency or just work with the police or-"

"Tell you what kid." Shouta interrupted again, now kneeling down to be on Izuku's level. "You wanna know about us right? Well, we need to figure out some stuff too. So how about this: We'll ask you a question, and when you answer it you'll get to ask us a question. We'll take turns and get to know each other. But you gotta answer honestly, and only one question at a time. Sound like a deal?"

Izuku nodded rapidly, and waited to be questioned.

"First off, what's your full name?"

"Midoriya Izuku. Um, I guess I should ask what you guy's names are, cuz I only know your hero names. Should I call you your hero names?"

"I prefer Aizawa."

"You can call me Present Mic, or Mic, or Yamada, or Hizashi. Whatever floats your boat little listener."

"Okay, Mr. Aizawa and Mr. Mic."

"Oooo, Mr. Mic, I like that!" Hizashi grinned as he tested out his new nickname. Izuku ducked his head and smiled, but if Shouta let himself get caught up in how cute that was they would never get through this.

"Now that introductions are out of the way, how did you get here Midoriya?"

Bit by bit, and interspersed with factoids about themselves, Hizashi and Shouta get a story very similar to their own.

Midoriya Izuku had been visiting the art gallery with his mother. He ended up going into one room a little bit ahead of her, the one that held the mural of the Fabricated World. Izuku hadn't known that's what it was called, he didn't know many words in English and didn't get a chance to ask for a translation before the lights flickered and he was suddenly alone in the gallery. Like them, he had run through the building trying to find someone and had come up empty. The doors wouldn't open for him either, and when he got back to the Fabricated World there was paint on the wall that hadn't been there before. Izuku had only understood the word 'COME', but then painting footprints had appeared. He followed them, not knowing what else to do, but instead of being brought to the underwater painting he'd been lead to a painting that stood in the same room as it.

"It looked like a squiggly version of a lady teaching a kid piano." Izuku explained. "When I got too close to it, it sorta sucked me in. And suddenly I was in that red room and found the green rose. I couldn't read the signs well, but I just, felt like I should take it? I don't know how to describe it, but after I took it the Blue Lady came to life and chased after me. When she got the rose she went into the room and I shut it behind her so she couldn't chase after me more, but then when I started running away suddenly everything started to hurt so much I couldn't run anymore. And, that's when you guys found me, right?"

"Sounds about right." Shouta murmured, his mind going over the new information.

"You both saved me, didn't you?" Tears welled up at the corner of Izuku's eyes. "Thank you! Thank you both so much!"

"Hey, hey, it was no problem little listener. We're heroes, it's what we do." Hizashi dug into his pocket and produced a handkerchief for Izuku to use.

"I'm kinda confused though." Izuku admitted once his face was dry. "Why did I start hurting so much? And how did you know how to help?"

They explained to Izuku what the signs had said about the roses, and what they had discovered about how the flowers worked in relation to their own health and well-being. They also shared what they had read about the women in the gallery.

"So the Blue Lady really was trying to kill me?" Izuku asked with wide eyes. His lip trembled, and Hizashi gave him a one-armed side hug.

"Basically, yeah. Not sure if they have the smarts to know what they are doing when they grab the flowers, but that would be the end result if they had their way. But we're here now, and we won't let them get to you."

"But you'll have to be vigilant too. You'll get hurt again if you aren't careful with your rose." Shouta plucked Izuku's rose out of the vase, and handed it too him. "So, you got an idea of how to keep it safe?"

Izuku held the rose carefully, staring at it with a mixture of fear and awe. "W-well, if I just carry it, I could accidentally drop it or leave it somewhere if I ever need to use both my hands. But I don't think my hair is long enough to put it up like yours...Oh!" Izuku reached into a small pocket on the front of his t-shirt. A finger poked out the bottom, revealing the pocket had a small hole. "I can put the rose in here! If I stick the stem through the little hole, then it should stay in there even if I'm running. Right?"

He looked up at them for approval. Shouta nodded and Hizashi gave him a double thumbs up.

"Sounds like a great plan, little listener!"

Izuku beamed from the praise, and quickly stashed his rose into his safe spot.

"So, do you know how to get out?" Izuku asked hopefully.

"Well, we haven't found the exit yet, but we've been through a lot of different rooms already. If we keep looking then we're bound to find the right one eventually. We just gotta press on." Hizashi said with absolute confidence. He stood up and offered a hand to Izuku, who happily took it. The group of them walked into the right hallway, where Izuku had collapsed. Izuku walked in the middle with Hizashi on his left and Shouta on his right.

"How old are you, kid?" Shouta asked.

"I'm eleven."

"Wow, eleven? You'll be in middle school before you know it. You nervous about going to a new school?" Hizashi asked.

"Nah, I'll see most of the same people, so it will be about the same as elementary. Just new things to learn."

"That's a good attitude to have." Shouta gave an approving nod, while keeping an eye and the hallway paintings.

"Well, I wanna be a hero someday, so I can't be scared of stuff like school right? Because heroes aren't scared of anything!"

At that moment, a painting of a silly face spat a glob of paint at them. It landed in front of Hizashi, and the man shrieked and leaped back so fast he nearly fell over. Shouta burst out laughing and Izuku gaped at him.

"Um, I think it was just paint Mr. Mic. It's okay."

"I realize that." Hizashi said, straightening up and trying to regain his dignity. It was hard to do with Shouta still laughing. "It just startled me is all. Well, that and it sort of looked like a bug at first..."

"You're afraid of bugs?" Izuku asked.

"Not all bugs! Just the ones that actually get on me. And for goodness sake Shouta, stop laughing!"

The two pros managed to regain their composure and started walking again. Izuku looked sort of like a little kid who had just been told that his Mom's name wasn't actually 'Mom'.

The end of the hallway lead into another rectangular room. Once again it had a singular red door for an exit, but this one was being blocked by a black mannequin statue. The two pros gave each other a look, and then Hizashi turned to Izuku.

"Midoriya, we have an important job for you."

"What is it?"

"We never know what will come to life in here, so while Aizawa and I push the statue, we need you to keep a close eye on it and warn us if it starts to move. Got it?"

Izuku gave him a determined nod, then marched over and planted himself across from the mannequin. He stood with his hands on his hips and stared at it so hard it looked like he was trying to move it with his mind.

"Good placement." Shouta said, dragging a cooing Hizashi along.

The mannequin was heavier than expected. They didn't want to break it, who knew how the gallery would respond to that, so they each took an arm and slid it out of the way. Izuku continued to stare at the mannequin as he walked over to join them. Shouta turned the knob, and thankfully, for once, it wasn't locked.

"Well, let's go see what new horrors await us."

"Challenges, Shouta. Let's see what new challenges await us."

"Same difference."

Izuku giggled, and the uplifting sound carried them into the next area.

A.N.

Izuku's rose color was chosen both because of how highly associated he is with that color and because green roses signify "life, abundant growth, and constant renewal of life and energy...Green is also a very pleasing color and is often said it can impart a sense of balance, stability and peace to the human mind." (from same flower site mentioned in chapter 2)

Also, there is actual artwork of Izuku holding green roses on twitter!

/aitaikimochi/status/1052219608185233413

/artbooksnat/status/951581860139847680