This is the sequel to Replacement and was posted on AO3 June 9th 2021. I'm finally posting it here.

Sooooo… I started the doc for this on like 9/25/2020. And I finally said fuck it, time to finish and post. It's not that long I'm afraid. But well, I'm down with y'all yelling at me ;)

BANG

Izuku jolted violently from his spot on the floor. His comic fell from his grasp as the second bang became louder than the first.

That… has never happened before.

Another big boom. One that shook the whole room.

Panicking, Izuku ran to his bed. If there was one good thing about it, it was the fact that it had enough space for him to crawl under it. Once he shoved the comics out.

Good timing too. Because the moment he squeezed in, the vault door was blown in. Instinctively, Izuku shut his eyes tight, trying to make himself smaller under the bed. A strong wind blew through due to the force. Smoke blew in, along with it came a scent of… caramel. Sweet and familiar. The scent of his childhood.

"… what the hell?" A rough, familiar voice made Izuku's eyes snap open. One that he hadn't heard in what felt like ages.

Slowly poking his head out, Izuku saw him.

Kacchan.

Quickly, Izuku looked his childhood friend over. He… he looked the same. Confusion and possibly disgust were written on his face. No doubt at the state of his room- no, his cell. How… plush it was. How comfortable Izuku should be but wasn't. Izuku couldn't be comfortable in such a place when he knew the reason why it was like that. Wait no, Izuku shouldn't be thinking about that. He needed to focus on Kacchan.

No modifications to Kacchan's hero costume as far as Izuku could tell. It looked the same, just like Kacchan. So… surely it hasn't been that long since Izuku was taken… right?

(He wasn't quite sure how to feel about that.)

Disbelief filled within him. Was… was it too much to hope? To hope that he was real? That Izuku could be saved? That Kacchan was there to take him away from his prison?

He was too weak to break out himself. And he couldn't easily sneak out. Tried to escape once and it didn't quite go so well. Even without the Quirk suppressants, Izuku could very well blow his limbs off if he tried to brute force his way out.

His body is no longer able to use One For All as it is.

He was really, truly, useless.

Their eyes met.

"Who the fuck are you?" Kacchan snarled.

Izuku jolted. Was he really all that surprised that Kacchan didn't recognize him? Apparently he was…

Izuku shook his head and slowly crawled out from underneath the bed.

"If you don't know who I am…" Izuku's voice quivered as he spoke. "I suppose this means you didn't actually come here to rescue me."

But like hell will he stay there.

He watched as Kacchan's face was unreadable until it screwed up in anger. "That fucker stole you too?"

Izuku nodded, already knowing who his childhood friend was talking about.

"Well then let's fucking go!" He snarled, walking closer to grab Izuku's hand.

He let him.

(Izuku was very… passive these days. And why wouldn't he? He didn't like it when Izuku got aggressive. )

He didn't miss how Kacchan glanced down to his feet. "Got any shoes?"

"No." The whole room was pretty self explanatory. Especially since he had his own little bathroom area built in after that… one escape attempt.

Izuku involuntarily shivered as he remembered that one and only escape attempt. Because, without the exception of having his meals brought to him, he really had everything he needed in there. It was basically an apartment at that point.

A low grade apartment at that.

Kacchan only grunted in response. He just pulled Izuku out of the cell.

And then Izuku nearly tripped the moment he crossed out from the vault. His heart pounded hard the moment he tripped. He felt shame run through him. After all, just tripping could cost them time to run.

But Kacchan caught him. Saved him from falling face flat onto the floor.

(Izuku was pathetic.)

"Come on, let's go." Kacchan told him, turning away, making sure their hands were still holding each other. (He had to make sure the civilian was right by him, and make sure the civilian doesn't get hurt. Izuku was only a civilian in this scenario. There's no way he could be a hero. )

Some part of him wasn't surprised to see a dingy hallway once he was helped back up. It would make sense, make the place look abandoned to keep people uninterested in the 'treasure' inside. Which they would think would be gone by that point. But it was completely empty. Was Izuku all alone?

A pull stole him away from his thoughts before they could go any further. Kacchan was scowling at him, trying to make sure he moved.

Oh yeah he was-he was actually escaping.

But what does that mean for-

"Where is he?" Izuku hissed quietly as anxiety spiked through him. His bare feet padded against dust covered concrete. "You- he -please tell me he isn't here."

Kacchan glanced back. "Of fucking course he isn't here. Do you think we're stupid?"

Izuku quickly shook his head. "Of course not! I just-I just… when he finds out I'm gone…" Izuku knew that his face went paler than it was before. "Trust me that he wouldn't like it that I'm gone."

A fear grew within him. What if he uses Search to find him and then kills everyone?

Wh-why did he never have this thought until now?

Izuku felt like he was going to puke.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Kacchan cut through Izuku's fearful thoughts with that simple sentence. "Your 'room' doesn't look like a typical prison cell."

"No…" Izuku agreed. "But it might be even worse than that."

Kacchan just grunted.

And they just continued their way.

Uninterrupted.

Was Izuku truly alone in the building? With the last escape attempt, he thought it was some sort of scare tactic. He was the only one he saw. The only one who captured him.

(Izuku was so sickly, so fragile. Anyone other than him could accidentally hurt him if they weren't careful.)

Izuku's feet were cold. They stung with each tiny pebble that embedded itself into his skin. His lungs burned. He tried to quiet his labored breathing. He was shaking. He wasn't entirely sure this was real.

'The heroes always win.' He couldn't help but think. 'The heroes have to win.'

(This was real life. This was reality. The heroes do not always win. He will make sure of that.)

He couldn't stop a few tears that left his eyes.

Was… was it all that surprising that it was his childhood friend who would be the one to save him? The one who always held power in the palm of his hands while Izuku was given it years later?

No. Not really.

God why were the hallways so long?

They turned around a corner and Izuku nearly leapt up two feet off of the ground by the sudden entrance of Eraserhead.

The man looked so ragged. He knew his teacher had a hard time with getting sleep, but just looking at the messy, greasy hair just made him realize that the man wasn't doing well. And, unfortunately, since he had his goggles on, Izuku couldn't see what his eyes looked like. If they were more bloodshot than usual. If there were any serious bags underneath them.

"Who's that?" His teacher deadpanned. His voice was even a little more scratchy than usual.

"Not fucking Deku." Kacchan growled softly.

Izuku jolted at that. "Y-you're…" he mumbled.

They… they were actually looking for him. And they'd found him.

They just… they just didn't recognize him.

(Poor weak Izuku. Nothing but skin and bones. He knows who he was. He knows who he is now.)

Oh and they're looking at him. Blood rushed to Izuku's face.

"Sorry. I-It's just… you-you're Eraserhead." Yep. His teacher. The underground hero that people should hardly know. He just. Couldn't tell them he was who they were looking for. He didn't look anything like he did before. He didn't sound like he did before.

There's no way they would believe him.

Izuku shook his head. "I-we need to get out of here. Before he comes back. Please."

The two paused, and looked at him. Really looked at him.

"I'd ask you who you are." His teacher said, probably eyeing him underneath his goggles, suspicious. "But an explanation will have to wait."

Izuku nodded. "I-I'll do my best."

Without another word, they went up a continuous spiral of staircases. Each landing showed that the building had multiple levels, and Izuku was unsure if there was even an elevator. Each step felt gritty. His thighs burned as they continued up.

Before he could properly put his foot down on the next landing, Izuku's ankle twisted on the crumbling edge. He cried out as he tripped forward, useless to catch himself.

Familiar white fabric wrapped around his body, stopping him from eating dust. Eraserhead was gentle with setting him down to the ground.

"Let me look at that." He heard the man say.

Izuku didn't need his limb to be looked at to know it was twisted. He was familiar with the pain. Still couldn't stop the hiss when his swelling ankle was being prodded, however.

Eraserhead cursed. "Looks like you won't be able to stand on it for a while."

"God fucking shitty hell." Kacchan growled.

The professional hero pursed his lips. Maybe he shot a look at Kacchan, maybe he didn't. The goggles were still on. Either way the man told Izuku, "I'm going to carry you on my back. These stairs are too cumbersome."

Oh why was his saliva so thick? It was so hard to swallow it down.

Almost unwillingly he remembered once when he was really young; he realized that his mouth continuously filled with water. And one night he had trouble sleeping so he blamed it on the "water" that kept on gathering in his mouth. Eventually his child mind decided to leave his bed and just spat out a mouthful of saliva into the bathroom sink. It had continued going like that until his mother found him doing it and explained that he can't spit out his saliva into the sink whenever his mouth was full.

And for some reason he felt like… he felt like there was someone else there. Like… like a…

Taking a shaky deep breath, Izuku nodded.

He never did like that memory.

With a quick carefulness, Eraserhead brought Izuku onto his back.

A wave of uselessness washed over him. They were going to go slower now that he twisted his ankle. They were going to get caught, and he was going to punish them, maybe even kill them and he was… Izuku was going to never see the light of day again.

But well, if he stayed in that vault that would've been his fate either way.

Izuku… thought he might've dissociated for a moment. It really felt like he was watching from the outside while the three of them started to run back up the stairs. Thankfully the low sounds of Kacchan cursing had brought him back.

Who else was there searching for Midoriya Izuku? Who else would be disappointed in finding him and not the student?

He didn't want to dwell on that. Not when he was so close to freedom.

They eventually went into what looked like the main floor. It looked like an abandoned warehouse. Which made sense if he didn't want any attention. It could've been easily done somewhere else though. Why something so… so… cliché?

How did they even find this place anyway?

Why did Izuku feel so sick? Why was… everything tilting? He was on Eraserhead's back so why-?

Everything went dark.

Ever so slowly did Izuku wake back up.

The bed felt… different. As did the sheets. Did he change them?

Wait.

Heartbeat spiking, Izuku jolted upwards into a sitting position. Frantically he searched the room. He needed to know if he dreamt it or not.

If he escaped or not.

His eyes finally registered that the room looked like ones in a hospital.

And that Eraserhead and Kacchan were sitting next to him.

"Y-your here?" He whispered. "Did-did we make it?"

He needed to know he needed to know this was real he needed-

"Of fucking course we did." Kacchan snorted. "Where the fuck else would we be?"

Mouth dry as a desert, Izuku said nothing. He could think of plenty of places they could be.

None of them good.

Small tremors shook their way around his body as relief began to bloom. "R-really?"

Eraserhead nodded.

Body weak, Izuku flopped back down onto the bed. Tears gathered to fall as his smile tentatively appeared.

He was gone. He had escaped. He was free.

Laughter bubbled up.

"I'm… I'm free. I'm free." The words tasted so sweet on his tongue. "I'm finally away from that hellhole."

He continued to laugh and cry.

No one stopped him. They just let him naturally calm down. He was so thankful for that.

And then there was silence.

"So." Eraserhead spoke back up. "Who are you."

Green eyes looked over at tired black ones. Aizawa-sensei looked so, so, so tired. The tiredest Izuku had ever seen the man. And not a single bit of recognition was in those tired eyes.

Izuku had to look away.

"I'm…" the words were fighting to stay. They were fighting to be spoken. "I was born an only child. But I… apparently I was never meant to be me."

More silence.

"…haa?" Kacchan's voice was filled with confusion in his own brash way. He didn't like that answer. It was nonsense.

Izuku didn't need to see Eraserhead shoot Kacchan a glare. He could feel the disapproval that only Aizawa-sensei could create.

"I'm… meant to be. I was always meant to be a replacement. O-or a vessel." He could feel his mouth own eyes dim as he repeated the phrase that was ingrained into his head. "I'm Shigaraki Izuku. All For One's younger brother."

He finally turned his head to fully look at the heroes. They were tense. Shocked. Kacchan looked like he was about to explode.

"But I'm not him, not really. He died over two hundred years ago or so. However my name is Izuku."

A hollow smile.

An adult's hand reaching out to a teen's gloved one.

"Kacchan." Izuku said, tears dripping from his always green eyes. A pair of red eyes widened.

"Thank you."

"… Deku?"