Before Izuku was completely awake, he heard beeping. It was similar to dreaming about the ringing of an alarm before you had school but much, much worse. The smell of purity infected his senses and it made him gag. A hospital. Again. Didn't he promise himself to never go in one again?

Green eyes opened. He winced. How was he not dead? Midoriya was pretty positive that he was supposed to be dead. He licked his lips, looking around in mild confusion.

The door opened.

Izuku let out a groan of frustration, his head falling back onto the pillow with a thud. Fuck his life.

"Midorikari."

He let out an aggravated breath, not looking away from the ceiling. Of course all this ended when he saved someone's life. Of fucking course. What better way to go out then like that? Like this?

The chair slid to the bed with a scrape. It hurt his ears.

"Midoriya."

He cursed, already annoyed with how this conversation was going. "What, Tsukauchi? You won. What else do you want? Just throw me in jail already. Ten years minimum by law."

The other let out a sigh, "I can't do that."

"Why the hell not?" he snarled.

The other didn't answer for a moment. When he did, his voice was almost sad. "You're just a kid. You're not even sixteen."

Izukus eyes filled with self-hate. The tears were stubborn and insistent but he didn't let them fall.

"You already knew this."

The cop rubbed his eyes. This wasn't how he thought this was going to go. The kid -seriously. Sometimes he didn't like the system. It wasn't fair. Not always.

He opened the file he gathered on the kid.

"Midoriya Izuku, age fifteen. Your birthday's July fifteenth. Your parents divorced when you were young and your mother passed away a year ago. Almost to the day."

He heard the boy swallow. "How long have I been out?"

He answered as flat as he could. "You've been asleep for a week. It's July seventeenth."

Izuku could feel his lip tremble and his eyes burned. The other continued.

"You were shot three times. We had to break your thumb again. It was healing wrong."

Tsukauchi didn't like the silence. But he didn't blame the kid. He sighed once more and scratched his head. He looked back at the teen who wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Komi-san has been worried. She didn't know you were doing hero work."

Izuku finally looked at him. He almost, almost wished that the other didn't.

"Hero work? You're kidding. Of course she doesn't know. I'm not that stupid."

The cop shrugged. "I guess we have different opinions on what a hero is."

The teen glared at him before turning away. He sighed, a small part of him relieved. Looking at the kid was painful, it was hard to believe that he was Midorikari. A vigilante, the vigilante, who's been doing more in his part of the city then the force and pros. Hard to believe that a fifteen year old, fourteen year old, who was quirkless on top of everything else, could step up when nobody else would.

"You don't have a quirk."

The kid didn't so much as twitch in acknowledgement.

"I'm not throwing you in jail. You're too young and I don't like the idea of putting you in juvie. You've done too much good for that."

The teen shook his head, at what? The elder didn't know. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know. He pulled out another piece of paper, looking at it when he spoke.

"We can't let you continue, not as you have been. But we don't want your talent and heart to go to waste – "

"I don't have a heart."

Tsukauchis brows furrowed, even with his quirk, he couldn't tell if he was kidding or not.

"So, we want to offer you a scholarship to UA. It would be a recommendation through myself and backed up by Pro Hero Eraser Head."

The kids eyes glassed over and he looked so put off it pained the cop. He hadn't heard the story from the kid but he had read the files. He had lived a hard life and seemed to expect the worst. He couldn't say it was a bad habit. It was just hard to see the light go out of a kid that young.

"I don't have a quirk."

Naomasa nodded, handing the paper to the teen.

"No, but you are a hero. We want to see you go far. We all do."

Izuku's eyes scanned the paper, not actually reading it.

"I can't."

The cop nodded in understanding. He didn't really understand though. "Why not?"

Izuku glanced at him. He seemed to have several reasons but he only said one.

"It's too far. It's four prefectures away. Trains are expensive."

Tsukauchi laughed lightly. He really shouldn't say this until the kid agreed but he knew the other wouldn't accept without a push. Without support.

"Ah, there is somebody who is willing to be your guardian. They live near the school."

The kids eyes went blank and Naomasa almost went to get a nurse. That wasn't normal. It disappeared as soon as it appeared.

"Who?"

He let out a relieved breath, hoping the other wouldn't be mad at him. Not when the hero actually liked the kid.

"His name is Aizawa Shouta."

Midoriyas eyebrows went to his hairline. "Erasure Head wants to adopt me?"

He could understand the disbelief. But the kid really shouldn't know the heroes real name. It was highly confidential. The question of how the other knew that was at the tip of his tongue but he held back.

"Yes."

The other looked at him with disbelief for a moment before he began to laugh. Only to wince, arms curling across his torso.

"Now that you're awake, the doctors will be able to do some more testing. Somebody will be stopping by tomorrow. Recovery Girls quirk is strong, she'll be able to heal you right up."

His eyes seemed to light up for a moment, "Recovery Girl is coming here?"

The cop forced a grin back. "Yes. But I don't think she'll be happy with you."

The other looked confused for a moment and it honestly looked adorable but then he paled. Yes, turning your body into a punching bag willingly would no doubt annoy any doctor.

"Will you take it? The scholarship? Nobody is pressing charges and the entire force is willing to sweep this all under the rug."

Disbelief sparkled in the others eyes and he looked back at the ceiling. Naomasa couldn't stop his foot from tapping.

"But -I -I -What I did was illegal. What -I -What I did was wrong."

"Do you regret it?"

The other glanced at him before turning away. His voice was quiet. "No."

He let out a relieved breath. He thought about how to phrase what he wanted to say.

"Being a hero isn't always easy, you know. Neither is being a police officer. We all do things we don't always like. But…sometimes things aren't always black and white. The line between good and evil, good or bad, isn't clear. Sometimes you have to go with your heart. That's what makes a hero a hero.

"You did it with good intentions, Midoriya. I believe that's what makes you a hero. We want to help you. You can help a lot of people. You've inspired people. I know that. People talk about you all over the city. You've done good, kid."

The teen took a shaky breath before gnawing on his lip. Naomasa caught a glint of pain in the others eyes before they shut. He wanted to ask so many questions but he refrained.

"I – fine. Ok."

His mothers words rang in his ears before he pushed it away. Izuku turned to the cop who looked happy and Midoriya was honestly so confused. But if Naomasa was willing to do this for him, he could give the other something as well.

"But -somebody. Somebody approached me. He said he was involved in an organization called the League of Villains. He tried to get me to join him."

The cop looked confused before he paled, pulling out a notebook. "Tell me everything you know."

Midoriya nodded, "It's really not a lot. He said his name was Tomura Shigaraki. He had this quirk that burned away anything he touched. I – I don't think he could be older than twenty. He looked sick. He wore a severed hand like a mask. I think it was real…"

The police force began stake outs at 49 Kyoko street that night.

XXX

It was halfway through summer vacation when he stood in front of an apartment building with Naomasa standing next to him. Izuku had nothing but his backpack and two boxes. The other was holding one and he grinned at the teen.

"Isn't this exciting?"

Izuku snorted, small smile on his face. He had seen the other a lot over the past week. Naomasa was…kind. Funny. Almost what he would have thought a father would be like if he thought about it hard.

He didn't like thinking about it.

He shifted the box, glad that he was able to use both hands normally. His feet felt stuck, however. It took a few more minutes for the other to convince him to follow him. He followed silently, only semi listening to the other talk.

It seemed crazy that Aizawa – freaking Eraser Head – was going to adopt him. That he was going to UA. After everything. He sometimes pictured that this was all a dream and he will just wake up.

But he didn't know how much of it was part of the nightmare, if that was true. How much of it was the dream. He hoped that if it was true – a dream, anyway – then he would wake up with his mother again.

It was a hard pill to swallow. The bitter truth.

"And here we are."

Midoriya inhaled sharply, looking emptily at the door. The door opened and, suddenly feeling sick, looked down at the box. It was a very pretty shade of brown…

"Naomasa. Child."

He heard a sigh, but he didn't know whose it was. They were talking but he only heard buzzing. Should he be worried about that?

"Midoriya?"

He flinched, turning away from the hand that came to his shoulder. The officer didn't show any sadness from the motion.

"Let's go inside."

He shifted his grip on the box and nodded. He followed the other, hesitating before kicking the door softly shut behind him. He swallowed looking between the two who turned to him. Erasure Head spoke. Midoriya couldn't help but think the man looked tired.

"Your room is the first on the right. Bathrooms on the left. Why don't you go look at it."

Not a question…

He went without a word. Naomasa already dropped one of the boxes here. His ears picked up more talking and he shut his own door. He looked at the lock for a solid minute before turning. He didn't want to give his new guardian any thoughts that he was hiding something from him.

He pulled out his phone and put the ear phones in. It was new, something he had only had for a few days. It was a joint gift from some of the cops and he honestly appreciated it.

He was still confused as hell though.

He rubbed his hair furiously, blinking away tears before fixing his beanie. He hands fell on the joggers he was wearing. He wiped his mouth and took a deep breath.

The room. His room. He could do this. And not panic. Easy.

He set the music a little higher, ignoring the warning that popped up on the device. He set to work. The closet had hangers, luckily. So, he hung up what needed to be, folding the rest before placing them in the simple dresser. There really wasn't a lot to it. The bed already had sheets and a light green comforter.

He placed his lock box under the bed, his laptop on the desk. He hung his empty backpack on the back of the door. That was quick.

No personal touches really showed in the room. He didn't know what really counted as personal in the first place. The cops had taken his costume, not that he was surprised. He didn't bring any weapons. Save for the staff, but that was sitting uselessly in the closet. The rest of his vigilante stuff was at the shed at the beach.

Most everything else was in the lockbox. But that was all information on USBs and flash drives.

He carefully sat on the bed. It was softer then he would have thought. It would take some getting used to.

He turned the music off, taking the headphones out and let his face fall into his hands.

He opened his phone again, looking at the time.

Midoriya rubbed his eyebrow, walking to the door and where he had left the other two. He was thirsty…

Somebody else was here.

The man was tall, almost freakishly so. Blond and had blue eyes. The suit was huge and quite frankly, tacky. He looked sick and if it wasn't for his frame, he would have looked a lot like somebody –

"No way."

His voice broke the other three out of their conversation. He didn't know what they were thinking about -didn't care- his eyes were stuck on the mans who he highly suspected was All Might.

The man's eyes widened and a look of panic entered his eyes. He probably wasn't supposed to know…whatever this was. Nope. He didn't even want to.

Midoriya ignored the other twos calls, turning placing his palms pointedly over his ears and walked back into the room. His room. He faceplanted.

His thoughts turned to the one time he had seen All Might in person.

It was maybe a week or two into the debut of his short career underground. The fight had been terrifying. All Might and who…whoever the other person was. They both just dropped. All Might was victorious. He always was. But in the dark alley he was in, he knew something was wrong.

He was only able to bring himself to watch a couple more news sightings on All Might because he knew. All Might was sick. He had changed. Something had gone wrong and nobody else knew. He hadn't done anything. He wasn't -he wasn't a hero. He couldn't do anything but he was just a ten year old kid who knew that Japans greatest hero was sick.

Those nightmares were the last time his mother held him. Before the hospital. Before she died.

" – bathrooms on the left. – "

Midoriya stood, palm covering his mouth and ran. He ran into somebody, he didn't know who, but he barely making it into the room before he threw up. Hands felt the glass of the toilet but he wasn't here. Colors danced in his eyes but he could only remember.

It made him sick.

Somebody patted his back and he threw himself away from the touch. Midoriya winced as his shoulder blades hit the bathtub roughly. He opened his eyes, closing them tightly when he met blue. Colors flashed again and he kneeled over the toilet. Again.

He was stupid. His mother would be worried and he was so stupid. It was late and he was tired. He had school tomorrow. He knew he shouldn't have come this far from home. But - he really wanted to get his mom something for her birthday. The necklace was perfect. But a lot of money.

He had done the job though. Just a transfer of goods. He didn't know what it was. It wasn't drugs, he knew that. He knew the smell enough given where he lived. He assumed it was money. He was almost to the train station when a loud -it was so loud and his ears rang- bang came from only down the street.

He could only watch in horror as the building only across the street fell. And All Might – oh god, it was All Might – flew through the building. And not in a good way.

Despite himself, despite logic, he walked closer, staying close to the walls.

"This is the end, All Might."

His eyebrows scrunched. Was – was this person trying to kill All Might? That was crazy! Why would –

"No, it is yours, All for One."

The man laughed, a terrifying sound that wracked storms down a small spine.

"Nana certainly found a determined one. Did I hit a nerve? Do you not like me talking about your weak, pathetic predecessor? Did it hurt when you found her? Strung up on that wire? She hung very well, such a pretty symbol. A symbol to you. Symbol of Peace."

"Shut up!"

He held his hands tightly over his mouth to stifle his sobs. His eyes were wide, green darker with tears and seemed to glow in the dark. Neither noticed.

They punched and kicked. Buildings fell and glass broke. How did the man have so many quirks? It – it shouldn't be possible. A small seed of envy rooted in his stomach. He didn't have a quirk. How was it fair that the other man had so many?

The envy fell empty when All Might lay limp in a crater made to fit his body. He could feel his lips moving, muttering and he had to work on that, his hands pushed harder against his mouth.

Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up, All Might! You need to get up! You need to get up! Get up!

He keened, seeing the large hero stand. He was bleeding. Bad. That wasn't good. Based on where it was, it was were a lung was. But he couldn't be sure. Nevertheless, bleeding -that much- wasn't good.

All Mights fist reared back but the only other laughed. Midoriya didn't know how the other didn't see how mad the hero was. He had never seen All Might – any hero – that upset.

His eyes went blank, his heart stopped, when the villain dropped. Like a puppet master cutting the strings. It was…over? Just like that?

Smoke and dust covered the large empty area that used to house homes and businesses alike. Midoriya made sure to stay quiet, sirens could be heard and helicopters flew overhead. Izuku could only watch as the hero grimaced, blood falling down his chin and onto the already dirty and ripped suit.

His large armed wrapped around his stomach and he fell to his knees. Izuku made a move to step forward but froze, the hero faceplanting. His heart thudded in his ears and the only reason he wasn't coughing was because of the gas mask he was wearing. His eyes burned, everything and nothing in them as he stared at the hero.

All Might couldn't be dead. He couldn't.

He swallowed, seeing the police cars squeal to a stop. He needed to go. Now. He managed to turn around walking only a few steps. He picked up the officers terrified shouts for an EMT.

Coming to the end of the alley, he turned to watch All Might get lifted onto a stretcher as a cop – shit, that was Naomasa – followed into the ambulance.

Izuku climbed the ladder, mind whirling. Two hours later, he climbed up the emergency stairwell and into his room. He changed robotically. Once he was in bed, he recognized he was crying. He stared blankly at the ceiling, not seeing the cracks but rather All Mights fallen form.

His last thought was on what he had heard. One for All. All for One. Were they different? Did he hear wrong?

It didn't matter anyway. Not when All Might may be dead.

Since that night, his room was stripped of All Might and anything related. His hero was sick and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"Midoriya, how do you know that name?"

He bit his tongue roughly. The voice breaking him out of his memory, thankfully. But he still fucking muttered. He thought he had grown out of the habit. Green eyes opened blearily. He pushed down more bile when he saw how pink the toilet was. He hadn't had anything to eat today. It was just acid.

He turned, seeing the three males looking at him with the same expression. He turned back to the toilet, flushing it and watching it flush.

He didn't give a fuck anymore. They knew he was a vigilante. But they didn't know he worked in the dark for years. He didn't give a fuck anymore. He had nothing to lose anyway.

XXX

The tea was bland, but he was pretty sure it was just him. The other three were kind enough to let him take a breath before he talked. And he did.

The tea was disgusting. He wondered if Aizawa had honey.

"You were there?"

Midoriya nodded, looking into the glass and not at the one who had spoken. He could feel Naomasas nerves from here.

"Yeah. Trust me, if I could take it back I would."

Aizawa sighed, green eyes glanced at him before looking back.

"What were you involved in?"

He was smart, but Midoriya already knew that Eraser Head was. It wasn't anything new.

Izuku scratched his calf before answering. He sniffed.

"My mom worked two jobs. She had to quit one when I turned ten. But – we didn't always have a whole lot of money. Most of the time we didn't have enough."

Midoriya looked up, rubbing the bottom of his nose before he continued. He refrained from looking at Naomasa. And All Might. And Aizawa. The wall was interesting.

"I started doing these…jobs, when I was about nine? Maybe ten? I honestly don't remember. But all I know was that my dad stopped paying child support and my mom was getting thinner. I wanted to help.

"It wasn't that I was involved in villains or anything but – I did get into some pretty shady stuff. Well, that's a bit of a lie. Anyway, but – I was – I took this job. It was paying a lot and it was far but my moms birthday was coming up. I wanted to get her something nice. That meant money that we didn't have, or that I didn't have, so I snuck onto a train. Delivered what I needed to and – then you were there."

His eyes turned to All Mights, the sickly man who looked even paler as he listened. Midoriya couldn't feel guilty, the incident had caused him nightmares and changed his views on heroes and villains all together.

"The fight was pretty brutal, I admit. Having a front seat was…interesting. Bloody terrifying. Particularly since he beat you like a doll. I heard stuff, cried a bit and went home. Got the necklace for my mom, she loved it. Never saw her take it off…"

Midoriya shrugged, swallowing and looked away again. "Had nightmares for a few months and stopped looking you up on the internet. I thought you died, wouldn't have been surprised. But you were sick and nobody seemed to notice but I knew something was wrong. It was a lot for a kid to take in so I stopped looking into heroes. The end."

"Dear lord."

Midoriya drank the gross tea anyway and ignored Aizawas comment. He looked around the kitchen instead on the other three. This was awkward.

"How much did you hear?"

Midoriya turned back to the man. His voice was serious and Naomasa stepped up behind the blonde. Izuku rose a brow.

"How much am I allowed to know?"

The man seemed to droop, eyes glazing over as he held a hand over his mouth. Izuku shifted in discomfort, he didn't need to offer the other any relief but – shit. He had even gone through the trouble of keeping the whole fight under wraps so the least he could do for the guy was talk. Right?

The beanie hit the table and hair was rubbed.

"Uh, I – I'm guessing these two already know something about…all this. So, I didn't really hear a lot. I mean, I was watching Japans greatest hero become a bouncy ball. Wow, tact, that exists. Ha." Midoriya winced, he needed to stay on track.

"Um, something about All for One, that's what you called the mummy guy. He referenced somebody called Nana and One for All. That's about it. My mind was in another place but – I mean I have thought about it. Pretty sure the guy had a base quirk that allowed him to steal others quirks. That's the only thing that makes sense. And I'm guessing that yours is called One for all. Your quirk, I mean. And I'm rambling. That's nice."

Aizawa looked about ready to have a stroke. And All Mights eyes were blown wide. Naomasa looked at him seriously.

"Have you told anyone about this?"

Izuku wasn't sure why – and he knew it was stupid – but it hurt to be asked that by the officer. He was smarter than that. He – god, did they think he would just tell everybody? Did the cop think that low of him?

He scoffed, eyes burning and he easily redirected the hurt to anger.

"No. I haven't told anybody about this. In case you haven't been able to tell, Naomasa, I've had other shit going on! It wasn't any of my business. I figured the fucking hero covered it all up for a reason. I thought you knew me better than that but – god. No, I didn't fucking tell anybody. And I don't plan to."

Midoriya stood, ignoring the other threes startled looks as his chair fell back. The door flew open and the teen slammed it behind him. His teeth ground together painfully and he jogged down the staircase before he found himself on a street. He ran.

Back in the apartment, the underground hero groaned.

"He is such a problem child."

He ignored Naomasas look. He didn't mean it in a bad way and the cop knew that. Aizawa palmed his eyes. He didn't regret taking the kid in. He wasn't much of a parental figure but he knew the other kid needed help. And he had potential he didn't see very often.

Aizawa shook his head at All Mights rambling. Yes, he agreed that it could have gone better but no, he didn't regret this.

He didn't think he would come to regret it if you were to ask him.