-x- Shoto -x-

Christmas was hard. He'd never had one with so many people. The only good thing was that he always was monotone and awkward, so he didn't need to act like he really was happy with the presents. They were kind of insensitive in a way. He got a new black thermos to put blood in, unneeded blood powder, sunglasses as a joke.

They were not meant in bad faith, but it was upsetting that all he got was vampire stuff. He was a vampire but also a person. It made him sad, and disappointed. Nobody but his two friends and Yaoyorozu seemed to notice. He didn't want to make anyone feel bad so he went and filled the thermos and dumped some blood powder into soda.

It was snowing outside, and they were all wearing Christmas pajamas. It was kind of strange, but also wholesome. Shoto opened a present that was mailed to him, from Touya. He opened to to himself, hoping he did nothing stupid. But the shirt was black and simply said, "Go fuck yourself."

Shoto sighed, there was no way he'd wear this anywhere. But it was extremely soft and light. Maybe he'd wear it as a sleep shirt. "Your brother's a real character, isn't he?" Sero asked. Shoto nodded. They had no idea.

He next opened the one from Izuku, and saw it was a moon lamp. To replace the giant spider nightlight that freaked out Izuku on a number of occasions. Again, another gift from Touya. He gave weird things to him, and Shoto really had no idea why. But he was happy with the lamp, which had its own stand and could have multiple colors with a remote.

"Thanks, best gift so far," Shoto said to him quietly. Izuku smiled, but there was a small hint of pity there. He opened Katsuki's present next. It was a heavy box, and he took the wrapping off neatly and saw it was shower curtains. Shoto didn't have one because he always forgot the moment he left the bathroom. "Thanks," he said. "I'll put them up later."

"You're lucky I didn't get the one that looks like a shark is on the wall."

"Thanks."

He'd (with Katsuki's help) gifted Izuku new hero gloves since his were all torn up, and Katsuki got a stack of new textbooks since he'd blown up his old ones. They had been expensive, but necessary. Now he didn't need to share with anyone anymore. Thankfully, he was happy with it. Textbooks for Christmas wasn't that great, but they were needed and expensive, so his two friends pooled their money to save him some.

The dinner and snacks were great, and Shoto was perfectly fine with no blood foods. He was already reminded enough that he wasn't human. By now, he couldn't really remember what it felt like to be human. To be safe under the sun. To not need to drink blood. Not to have super senses or needing to be careful with his strength at a near daily basis. And to not fear the pain of thirst if he was deprived for too long.

Christmas this year made him sad. He zoned out through most of the present opening, and spent much of it cleaning up the kitchen to get away and out of any attention. He was glad his boyfriend and best friend didn't follow him and make it seem like there was something seriously wrong and they had to take care of Shoto.

During the present opening, Aizawa came in with Eri. Shoto didn't feel like socializing with her, he wasn't in the mood. So he sat on the couch and watch from there. She was cute and so clueless about Christmas, never having one herself. But Shoto didn't go to her, didn't want to ruin her visit by being with a vampire. So, he stayed on the couch, sitting by himself like the loner he was.

After they'd cleaned up all the wrapping paper and all the leftovers were in the fridge or freezer, Shoto went upstairs with his gifts. He dumped the vampire themed ones in a box on the shelf in his closet, and put the moon lamp by his bed and set up the navy blue shower curtains. He put his weird new shirt in the closet closest to the wall and mostly out of sight.

He then drank a few bottles of blood, and managed to fall asleep, exhausted from socializing like that for hours.

In the morning, he had a text from Touya, thanking him for his present. He hadn't had a real Christmas in over a decade, and spent it alone with Hawks. He had no friends anyways and wasn't seeming to be on good terms so far with their siblings. Shoto didn't want that, he didn't want Touya bitter on his behalf.

But he didn't say this, because Touya would get offended for him, even if it was his own desire for no family drama. When he looked at his school emails to see if any notice was sent out regarding the snow storm that would be arriving later that day, he got a message from Endeavor, and he just sighed. So, so tired of him. He didn't read it before deleting it, and finally blocking him on all social media accounts he had, his phone, and his email.

Shoto didn't have active social media, he never posted anything anywhere. He just kept up on news on Twitter. And Tumblr since they had a lot of pro-vampire content that he was happy with. Katsuki knocked on the door and he opened it for him, Izuku still asleep in his room. He sat on the bed, and Shoto sat in his comfortable desk chair.

"Last night was shitty." Shoto was confused. "All they all got you was vampire shit. Pissed me off."

"You shouldn't get angry on my behalf."

"They ruined Christmas for you! You've gone through so much shit, you should have at least been able to enjoy fucking Christmas," he snapped, though he wasn't angry at Shoto, just the class.

"They probably didn't mean to come across insensitive," Shoto mumbled. "I got a few good gifts. Mikaela is sending me some stuff but it will come late." Katsuki huffed, still angry that Shoto didn't enjoy the holiday. It was him being protective. Shoto had enjoyed his Christmases after he was in the foster family.

This time, he'd felt so alone. He felt like some side show with all the vampire gifts. It felt stupid, he felt stupid for it. After a bit, Katsuki left and Shoto ate some blood pie left over. Then he laid on his bed, his black out curtains closed to not let any sunlight inside, even regardless of the special windows. He was safe in his room.

-x- Izuku -x-

Izuku was down. It was New Years and he was spending it with his mom, the first time he'd seen her in far too long, even if they talked on the phone often. He couldn't stop thinking about Shoto watching him leave the dorms with such a sad face on. The holidays this year weren't going great for him.

Based on his past with the villains, he was not permitted to see his foster parents. Just to be safe. Izuku had felt awful when he left to see his mom, but knew Shoto would feel even worse if he was the reason Izuku had to pass off seeing his mother, a rare occurrence. Well, the only occurrence. He hadn't been with her since the dorms were instated.

"What's wrong, Izuku?" Inko asked, both of them at the kitchen table eating delicious food. His room there was empty, barebones. Nobody lived there, and he felt sad that his mother probably felt so lonely coming home every night to an otherwise empty apartment.

Izuku said, "Shoto wasn't allowed to go off campus to see his parents." Because Asahi and Mikaela were the real parents Shoto had. Izuku would always believe that, having seen the love and affection they'd had for the awkward and damaged boy. "Because of when he was kidnapped, and all. Even though AFO is gone, the others are still out there. He can only go off campus with another hero, and Shoto didn't want to ask Hawks or any of the teachers.

"Aizawa-sensei was sad for him, but his hands were full taking care of Eri and school work. Shoto's the only one at the dorms right now, everyone else got to go to their families for the day," he finished.

Inko was sad for him. "Poor Shoto," she sighed. That about summed up the situation. "How are everyone treating him about the vampire situation?"

"...It was really, really bad the other day. Class 1-B and us got in a shouting match over him being welcome. The other class was shouting about how awful he was. At least our class stood up for him. This was after he had his head smashed into the ground three times and give him a temporary concussion… mom, he was crying from it. He had a blindfold on for the headache, but I could smell the tears. Since Mineta is gone, and Uraraka chilled her attitude, everyone is doing alright.

"Though for Christmas, all the class got him were vampire related things. It made him feel like that was all he was to them, not even a person. Kacchan got really angry over them ruining Shoto's Christmas after the hell of a year he'd had."

The mother looked heartbroken for the teen that had changed Izuku's life for the better. "I'm scared for them to find out. Both because of what is at stake, but also because I lied outright so many times. Shoto never lied because nobody ever thought to ask. I helped be the reason one of our classmates was expelled."

"Izuku, he assaulted you. If you had been in vampire form, you could have been seriously injured! That kind of hero should not happen!" Izuku was bitter about a man who'd done worse than that was now the number one hero. They could ruin him so easily, but it would ruin Shoto as well and the trade off was just not worth it.

Just thinking of him, he got a text. I accidentally cut my hair. Now it looks bad.

Picture, Izuku replied.

The photo came and it was Shoto's hair looking very bad. Half of one side was cut shorter. How did you do that?!

I was trying to cook but fell. Knife stabbed my face and cut my hair. My face healed but not my hair. Izuku gasped at hearing a knife had gone through his face. I hope this distracts people from the vampire stuff.

We'll get it fixed.

It looks stupid, doesn't it?

Your hair will definitely need to be cut shorter.

:(

He texted with him through dinner, Inko understanding and gasping at seeing Shoto's hair sliced that way and some blood on the white strands. Even after so long of cooking with it, buying it, she still disliked the sight of blood. It was nothing personal, she'd always felt that way, even before Izuku was turned into a vampire.

When the sun was setting, the bus came to pick Izuku up, and Jiro, Shinso and Kaminari were already there, Jiro sleeping. Kaminari talked animatedly with Shinso, who looked bored and uncomfortable.

Izuku waited for everyone to be on the bus and heading back to the school before he prepared them. "Shoto had an accident and cut some of his hair." The wording was confusing. "He was trying to cook and fell down. The knife cut his face and his hair. His face healed just fine but not his hair.

"Yikes," Ashido said. "He stabbed his face?"

"Listen!" Kacchan shouted. "You all need to be more fucking considerate!"

"Kacchan-!"

"You fuckers need to realize Shoto is a damn person, too! He's not just some interesting vampire, got it?!" Kirishima was trying to calm him down, and Izuku looked at everyone's confused faces. "All you got him was vampire shit."

A look of sad realization came from those who had picked out his gifts. They looked ashamed. Shoto would be upset with Kacchan going off on them for that, but he couldn't take back his words now. "Don't mention this to Shoto, he appreciated the thought," Izuku said, trying to sooth the conversation. Damn it, Bakugo.

Izuku sent him an angry look and he looked challenging at him. The bus ride was quiet, oddly quiet. And awkward.

-x- Shoto -x-

He was so stupid. Who falls on a knife? It stabbed into his cheek pretty deep, and if he wasn't a vampire he probably would have needed work done on it. It was just lucky he could heal, though there had been a lot of blood and he needed to mop the floor. His own food he was cooking was tainted when he accidentally put the knife down on top of it.

He learned the hard way that drinking your own blood was a big no-no. Now he stared at himself in the mirror, looking at his sheared off hair. It was the white side. He'd need a haircut on both sides to fix it, but that meant he could no longer hide in his bangs. It wouldn't cover his scar, or hide his eyes.

Looking at the contact case he had, he made the decision to wear them during the work studies in a few days. When everyone came back, Shoto braved them. He couldn't get a haircut tonight, it was too late. He had spent New Years all alone but for a video chat with his foster family and then Touya, who was thoroughly drunk when he called and had some party hat on. It was ridiculous.

He had seen a glimmer of Hawks in the background, who also seemed smashed. Well, adults drank a lot of New Years. The call had been short, thankfully. Hearing Touya slur about his
"favorite party hat ever" would probably need to be taken to the grave or he'd be utterly humiliated and angry.

When he came into sight of others, he was unsurprised by the looked of cringe at his ruined hair. Izuku walked over and hugged him. "Happy New Years," he said quietly.

"Happy New Years," Shoto replied, hugging him back, putting his face on his shoulder. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah. I missed mom a lot. Did you talk to anyone?"

"Yeah. They were nice. I was still lonely. Then Touya called but he was really drunk, so it wasn't that long of a call."

"I can imagine what a mess Touya must be drunk," Izuku chuckled.

"He may or may not have bragged about the party hat he had on. Hawks was pretty smashed, too. Don't say anything about it." Izuku nodded. Shoto had already made dinner, normal dinner since his personal one was ruined, and it was late. He had been told by Aizawa that there were fireworks to go off at midnight. He didn't really like fireworks. They were too noisy. The boom made his ears ring a bit.

Izuku felt the same, so when it was near midnight, the four of them snuck up onto the roof, wearing noise canceling headphones, and watched the fireworks blow apart in the sky. Katsuki and Kirishima were the only ones not needing headphones. Katsuki had gone to Kirishima's house for New Years dinner, so he was with them for the midnight fireworks. It was pretty, and didn't hurt their eyes.

"Sorry we weren't here, Shoto," Katsuki said. "Shitty to leave you all by yourself."

"It would have been worse if you gave up the opportunity to see your family. Well, meet you lover's family." His friend's face turned bright red.

"Don't- don't call it that," he said, sounding completely flustered. Izuku giggled. Shoto nodded. He knew that Katsuki and Kirishima had had sex before, and it was always obvious when they were planning because the blonde would ask for them to either put headphones on, earplugs, or to go downstairs. And the two teens with super senses did so, understanding it would be very awkward to know both could easily hear them through the walls.

It was a nice time up there, and Izuku stayed the night in Shoto's room.

In the morning, Shoto was getting his haircut, Aizawa had called someone to do so. Probably thinking Shoto didn't deserve even more judging. Shoto knew his class wouldn't mean to be rude, but they kept crying at his completely uneven hair. And not uneven by the coloring, but the length.

He had it done in the bath house on the first floor that nobody really used much since they all had private bathrooms in their dorm rooms. Shoto's hair was washed first, and then cut. The hair stylist's hands were soft and she was gentle, no hair pulling at all. He hadn't known what to cut it, so he just asked she do it something that would look alright. He put his trust in a complete stranger, but he really didn't know anything about hair. He'd had the same style for as long as he could remember.

When it was blow dried, he saw that she'd done a more modern haircut. Shorter on the sides and fluffier and messy on the top. Not a pompadour and nothing severe or shocking. It looked nice, very, very different than what he was used to. He had no more bangs. "It'll be much easier to style. Your hair type is good for this look."

"Thanks," he said simply. But he was sad that he couldn't have little braids anymore, and that his scar was so much more stark. It would grow out, this was only temporary. She was not bothered by his bare bones reaction and straight face. She collected her things, and Shoto cleaned up the hair. It was all just on a trash bag that had been set up below to not make a mess.

He was nervous what the others would think. Well, what Izuku would think. Would he still be pretty to him? The vampire left the room behind the stylist, and Izuku was waiting in their room, since he knew Shoto would want his opinion first. When he knocked on the door before entering, Izuku looked up, and his face turned a bright red, eyes wide.

"How does it look?" Shoto asked.

"It - it looks good."

"Your face doesn't show that…"

"I really, really like it, Shoto," he said, no trace of a lie. "It looks so nice, and you're so pretty…" he sounded bashful, and Shoto smiled. "Too bad about the braids, though," he said, sounding a bit more down.

"It'll grow out eventually. You can do it then," he said. "It's okay to show everyone? It's not awful?"

"It's the opposite of awful, it alone is making me all hot and bothered," he said honestly. Shoto flushed a bit, and Izuku laughed in good nature when some frost showed up on the vampire's arm. "You have a new look to start the work studies. Touya is gonna love it." He nodded.

Shoto said, "I'm planning to wear my contacts again, when working. If my own peers thought so badly of me, I'd rather just hide it and not cause problems." Izuku looked lost in looking at his boyfriend. "Do you really like it that much?" Izuku noticed he was staring, and shyly nodded. "Was my old hair… bad?" he asked in worry. "I had it the same all my life."

"No! No, I loved your old hair, too. This hair just shows more of your beautiful face." Shoto gave another smile and nodded, looking at his feet. "Don't be surprised if girls start flirting with you."

"Or boys."

"Yes, or boys," Izuku chuckled.

"You're the only one for me… don't worry."

"I don't worry, you're the most loyal person I've ever known." Shoto felt so nice under the praise at both his appearance and him as a person. "Wanna go show the others?" Shoto nodded and they headed downstairs. He hoped it didn't cause a scene or anything. He felt bad that he'd kept his hair that way when it didn't look good. At least, not as good to Izuku.

When they entered the kitchen from the hallway, everyone looked over curiously. Shoto had heard them all worrying that his hair would come out awful, but when some of the girls squealed, he assumed it wasn't only Izuku. "You look so good!" Ashido shouted. "Who was the stylist? Tell me!"

"I forgot her name," Shoto said honestly. He scratched his cheek a bit, embarrassed but also glad it didn't turn out bad.

"Man, you should have sheared your hair off a long time ago," Sero joked.

"It looks very nice, Shoto-san," Yaoyorozu said politely. Everyone else nodded, and Shoto was feeling pretty happy that he wasn't uglier than than he was before.

-x-

The three got off the train and Hawks picked them up, the three of them carrying their costume cases, ready to start work. "Whoa, digging the haircut!"

"I accidentally cut some so this is damage control," Shoto said. He was tired of people telling him they liked it because it made him feel like he was ugly the whole rest of his life. Hawks commented on his contacts. "I don't want to ruin patrol. They'd just complicate things," the vampire replied.

"I see," Hawks mused. "Touya's gonna flip."

"He's… strange when he's drunk," Shoto said.

"He called you when he was drunk?"

"Yeah, and you were in the shot, too."

"Hmmm, it's all a blank for me," the hero said brightly. "Ah well, I had the next day off, so did Touya, so we celebrated!"

Katsuki looked irate. He was the only one who hadn't met Touya yet. And also the one who'd felt the man's hand clamped around his neck. Shoto hoped things went alright. His friend had been hearing stories about him for awhile now, about the good parts of him that were resurfacing lately. Shoto didn't think it would be a mess, but Katsuki would definitely glare, and Touya would be a little shit, too. He always was.

On their way, a lot of fans swamped Hawks. They pretty much shoved the other three away to take photos or get signage. "Jesus, I'd rather be seen a monster than deal with this every fucking day," Katsuki muttered. The other two nodded. Once they were gone, Hawks acted as if it hadn't happened.

"This happen to you all the time?"

"Yup! Being the number two hero and looking quite savvy gets me lots of attention. I have to admit it can quite… taxing. I hope to soon become number one and dethrone a terrible man." Shoto smiled lightly. They had to interact with more fans before they got to the agency, the three teens in their school uniforms. Shoto was the most patient, he didn't complain. Touya had complained over them getting interrupted at dates, and Shoto knew it must be very frustrating for Hawks.

Unlike some heroes, he seemed to be marketed as the playboy cool guy. Shoto wasn't always that good at reading people, but even he could see when Hawks got annoyed. His gloved hands would clench at every batch of fans. Eventually, he flew up onto the roofs, the other three following.

Katsuki had been able to blast his way up in the air to keep up with his vampire best friends. They walked along the roofs, and jumped from one to another since they were all pretty compacted. When they did make it to his agency, Touya was just getting there. He had a baseball cap on, looking grumpy.

"You're a lot less ugly than you were before," was Katsuki's first words, arms crossed and glowering.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in kids."

"You fucker, that's not what I meant and you know it!" he exploded, making quite the scene.

"Touya, be the adult," Hawks said in annoyance. "In, in - you're causing a scene." They went inside, Shoto completely unsurprised with Touya's response. "Go on and change. Oh yeah, I have to sign that paperwork, don't I?" His feathers went into their backpacks easily, him barely paying attention.

When Shoto and Izuku didn't react in surprise, Katsuki managed to not blow up about Hawks touching things that weren't his. The three went to change into their hero outfits. Shoto had trouble reaching the clip on his back, but Katsuki stormed over and did it for him while Izuku was pulling his shirt over his head.

"Thanks. We already warned you about Touya. Try… to not let him get to you."

"He's an asshole."

"You can be too, Kacchan. You're the one that started it," Izuku pointed out. The explosive teen huffed and pulled his gauntlets on.

He said, "I was thinking of having them downsized." Both others were surprised. "These are clunky and are hard to rescue people with," he admitted. "I made it when I was just wanting to stand out and all."

"You stand out with your angry faces," Shoto said calmly. "Nobody looks like you." Izuku snickered.

"I'd get mad if I knew you're not clueless about insulting people."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Shoto replied.

Katsuki glared at him more before he said, "I hate that you have to wear those fucking contacts. Lots of people have red eyes."

"Mine are blood red. They're creepy, I know that," he murmured. "I just would rather less drama. About being a vampire. Me without my memory was stupidly brave," he sighed, disappointed in that version of himself. Sure, he was braver and bolder, but Shoto could have hidden it and things would be better. Not everyone were those little kids from the make up provisional license sessions.

Izuku said, "They'll always be pretty to your friends and family," and kissed his cheek. It felt weird to not need to brush his hair out of his eyes. He didn't hate the haircut, it was just different and difficult to get used to. He'd lost a fidget, he used to play with his hair a lot, and now he couldn't really do it.

They walked out and found Hawks with their papers, the threes' backpacks in the lockers with their school uniforms. Touya looked at Shoto in a judgemental way, having not seen his hero outfit yet. At least not in person. "Much better than spandex and lava lamps."

Katsuki barked out a laugh at Touya calling Endeavor's hero costume "lava lamps". "You're costume is the worst out of the three of you. What's with the bunny ears, Midoriya?"

"Touya," Shoto said in slight annoyance.

"What? Just socializing."

"Touya, it's a work day, don't harass my interns. He's my intern right now, relinquish your annoying brother duties." Touya waved his hand flippantly and left. Shoto heard him head upstairs and out of the busy lobby. "Sorry, Bakugo. He's got a nasty attitude sometimes."

"Better than being how he used to be," the blonde teen said.

"Very true. Well, we're going on a patrol. And you three will interact with the civilians." Izuku and Shoto nodded while Katsuki groaned. "Would you rather be an Endeavor, or an All Might?" Hawks asked Katsuki. "Because being bad with people will just make you into some variation of an Endeavor."

Katsuki nodded, losing his anger as best as he was able. "Right, we're going on our way. When fans come to greet me, I will introduce you to them, and you will interact, too. No matter how annoyed you get, do not blow anybody up." He was looking at Katsuki when he said this. He just nodded, didn't argue, even if he looked unhappy about having their patrol be about socializing. "Be prepared with your hero names." Katsuki still didn't have one picked, so all three of them were using their first name.

They quickly found most of the fans, which were women, were gravitating towards Shoto. He kept looking to Izuku or Katsuki for help. He was glad it didn't look like it upset his boyfriend. "Um," was his go to answer when someone asked him a question, asked for a photo with him. He never actually said okay to photos, and he didn't smile in any of them. He knew he probably came across as panicked or confused.

After two hours, Shoto was mentally exhausted. "Why do guys like girls?" Shoto asked, tired of the stench of perfume. All three of the others shrugged. The whole lot of them were gay, what were the odds? "Their perfume is awful." Izuku nodded, he could tell too, but it wasn't shoved into his face. "Is it really my hair?" he asked, touching his messy hair.

"You were pretty before," Izuku said nicely. The four of them were at a coffee shop that catered to heroes and had a back room for heroes to enjoy their drinks or desserts in private, away from fans or followers. Shoto knew it would probably be different if he had his red eyes. They were intimidating.

After the day was over, they only had a single hero related instance, which greatly confused Hawks. There was always more crime than there was that day. "Maybe we got lucky today," Izuku said.

"Not lucky, I want to beat villain ass, not prance around with paparazzi," Katsuki grumbled into his espresso. Shoto drank his chocolate milk silently. "I'd rather be an Endeavor than you."

"Well, that is abundantly clear," Hawks said lightly. "But you can only be an asshole when you're worth the work. Nobody will work with you if you're a dick and have no receipts for being useful anywhere else. You'll need to do more than another hero to make up for your bad attitude. Make it worth it to be around you."

Katsuki nodded, taking this advice. "So, I have to fucking play nice for the first couple years, then?"

"You won't need to be a sweet, perfect angel, just don't threaten people and demean them. You work to protect the public, which means you work for the public. After All Might retired, rankings have been all over the place. Endeavor's tanked for a bit, but after he started doing hero work, his past accomplishments brought him back up. And he had a spike of pity approval from citizens, being one armed and all," Hawks explained, pouring quite a bit of sugar into his tea. "The only rankings you should really worry about is how the public sees you. There are thousands of competent heroes out there, but you only know a few names off the top of your heads. Okay, not you, Midoriya. But most people.

"You'd only be known if the public knows about you. Don't ruin it right off the bat," he said. "So, be, at least, tolerable at this stage." Katsuki huffed and took a violent sip of his drink. Shoto was drinking out of a straw. It was pretty good, didn't just taste like chocolate syrup mixed with milk. He would have added blood powder from his belt, but he wasn't thirsty and drank plenty before this.

After they finished their drinks, the four went back to the agency, but by the roofs, and Hawks made a race between the three of them. Shoto was sure any other two teens would have been shoved out of the way or blasted in the face. Shoto didn't use his vampire strength, instead using the move Hawks had first showed him, using and melting the ice instantly.

"Hey, you're using my tip!" the winged hero said brightly.

"It was a good one," Shoto replied. Izuku just jumped from place to place. Their fully human friend would definitely be feeling some pain in his hands after they got back. Using many blasts one after another would take its toll on him. They got to the agency quickly, Shoto leaving puddles everywhere he went.

When they got back, Shoto could tell Touya was gone. No longer in the building. "Good work today, kiddos. We'll start some traditional hero work next time. Rest up, Bakugo." He stopped using their hero names, now. "Midoriya, you should have your shoes refitted. They're hindering your movement."

"Whoa, you noticed?" Izuku asked in awe.

Hawks nodded with a proud look on. "Your gait was off on the left foot."

"The metal toe started to fall off," he said awkwardly.

"Now that you guys are in my agency, I'll update equipment immediately. UA takes a long time with forms and permissions, blah blah yada yada. You two got any improvements you need?" he asked the others. Shoto shook his head.

"I want less bulky gauntlets. Just a little, they still have to look badass," Katsuki answered. Hawks told him to email him what he wanted made. Shoto's outfit was boring. All it needed was to handle his ice and fire, which he hadn't used in months. Izuku didn't need it really, but having metal shoes delivered more blows. Though Shooo hadn't seen him in action, really, with those boots. He hadn't been around for most of the super move training and had been absent for the provisional license exam he passed the first time. He was excited to see him in action.

Remembering him when he was quirkless and weak. So long ago. Izuku could only be a hero because he was a vampire. He couldn't have gotten this far with being a quirkless human. But none of them ever said that. Though this fact made him much less bitter about his condition than Shoto.

Hawks walked them back to the train station. "Good job, guys. See you in two days, yeah?" They nodded.

Izuku bowed. "Thank you for you time and advice!"

"Sure thing! Bakugo, you managed not to attack Touya, good job." It was teasing.

"Shut up!" and the train doors slid shut and they were on their way back to UA. It was a long day, and Shoto fell asleep on the ride back. Izuku carried him on his back to the meeting place in the station, and then the bus that took class 1-A back to the school. Shoto stayed asleep, so light in Izuku's arms.

-x- Izuku -x-

Izuku was exhausted. Their second day with Hawks had been… a learning experience. Back to back emergencies plagued their group patrol. It was spent chasing after Hawks, with Kacchan barely able to keep up with them. Shoto didn't use his speed, so he wasn't as fast as Izuku and Hawks. His flight was such an advantage in so many ways.

And unlike the time before, this time, people noticed his lack of a shadow. The first time they'd been in a group, constantly around others, their shadows made up for Shoto's missing one. But today, people stared. Izuku didn't think anyone came up with the correct answer as to where it went, since Shoto's case was very, very rare.

There was no officially recorded case like his in Japan. Not right now, at least. Hawks had used his agency's base to check and see; at Touya's request, not theirs. He looked out for Shoto. Izuku didn't know if Touya thought he was responsible for what happened to Shoto. To the scar stretching across his face.

Thankfully, it seemed that scar was not to detrimental to his hero work. After all, he was swarmed by girls and Hawks' fans. So he saw that his scar didn't make him ugly. Both scars, really. He hated them, wished he could hide them with his hair, but the rest of the world did not think he was ugly because of them.

It was dinner time and he was helping to make food. Shoto was sleeping upstairs in his room. Kacchan was with Kirishima on the couch. Izuku was working beside Jiro, both of them being the best at skinning vegetables the fastest. That night was stir fry. The batch portions always needed to be massive and usually took up all six burners if they were using the oven. After all, there were twenty mouths to feed.

Izuku gave a slow, tired blink as he skinned the carrots, and the knife missed and left a deep, messy cut on his hand. "Midoriya!" Jiro shouted in shock, and hurried to get a paper towel. Izuku knew this was it. He was found out, and he wasn't close enough to Jiro to have her keep his secret, she was too loud, and there was a lot of blood before it healed over.

"Wha-?" she asked, holding the paper towel.

"What happened?!" Sero asked, turning to see the mess after he was working on the sauce. Izuku didn't make eye contact, he just cleaned up the mess, and then washed his unharmed hand under the water.

"Wait…" Sero said. But everyone already saw the amount of blood Izuku was washing off of his perfectly fine hand.

"You're a vampire, too, aren't you?" Ojiro asked.

Izuku sighed. "Kind of," he said, and wiped down the counter where the blood had spilled, luckily not having spoiled any of the food.

"Kind of? So, Mineta was right?"

"Kind of."

"How many people knew this time?" Aoyama asked. Uraraka looked sick as she stared at him. She'd had a crush on a vampire, and now she probably hated herself for it.

Kacchan said, "Obviously me, Shoto and Kirishima." He was hesitant to out the others.

"I knew, too." Momo shared a look with Iida, who also came out as knowing.

"I had a hunch after Shoto came out. Your wounds at the summer camp healed fast," Tokoyami stated. Shoji nodded in agreement. "Can you explain further? You are… very different than Shoto is."

Izuku stopped any cooking, and Kacchan shooed him away and took his place. Kirishima called Shoto come down, and a few seconds later, he walked into the kitchen. "What happened?" he asked, yawning.

"Midoriya got found out," Kirishima said bluntly.

"Oh."

"You… you can't tell anybody outside of class. Nobody at school. Only you all and the teachers know. You have to promise me, it's really important." They all nodded sagely. A show of support was Aoyama closing all the curtains at the vast glass wall. "I'm only part vampire. I flip flop between human and not. There's no real telling when I'll switch. Nobody has any idea why. You understand why I can't let people know."

"Lab rat," Kaminari said, earning a smack on the arm from Ashido. But it was the right conclusion, and Izuku nodded.

"But you didn't burn in the sun after Mineta tried to burn you," Sato stated.

"Because he was a human at that time," Shoto said for him. The class looked sick.

"So… if you'd been a vampire at that time, you would have burned like Shoto?" Izuku nodded, and the class took this in for a moment. Izuku could have been seriously injured, Shoto still had black burn scars on his body from being exposed and not having immediate treatment. "Then, Shoto can only drink from you when you are a human, and not as a vampire." Izuku nodded, Tsu summing it up perfectly.

"Are your powers from being a vampire, too?" Hagakure wondered.

"No, I already had a strength quirk. It just made me faster, and have better senses, like Shoto." He would take his being quirkless to the grave. Even Kirishima didn't know. Only Izuku's closest friends, some of teachers and his immediate family.

"Uh, how long have you been one?"

"Six years. Two years shorter than Shoto. We both met at a vampire rehab center. I hope you can all understand why I lied to you," he said. They agreed, but Uraraka stood up, looking very upset.

"Then - then you were a vampire this whole time?" Shoto spared him having to answer.

"He's been Izuku this whole time. Like I've been Shoto the whole time. Well… different version when I lost my memories.

"I trusted you, and you told others before me!"

"No offense, but why the hell do you think he'd have told you after how you've behaved around Shoto, even before he came out?" Bakugo asked harshly. "And the others all found out on accident. Mineta found out on accident. Boo hoo, we made him feel crazy, who the fuck cares? He was willing to mutilate Izuku to prove himself right. Iida fought together against Stain with Shoto and Izuku, and already knew something was up. I asked Yaoyorozu for help fabricating some of the lies we made against Mineta to shut him up. Shoji and Tokoyami found out on accident too. There was zero reason to tell somebody like you," and he went back to chopping the ingredients quickly.

Uraraka ran to her room, and Tsu hurried after. Bakugo was right, but that was pretty harsh. "Why aren't your eyes red?" Izuku shrugged. "Then, you drink blood, too?" Kaminari asked, sounding excitedly curious if nothing else. Shinso stayed quiet, still very much an outsider in the class.

Izuku nodded. "Only when I'm in a vampire state. Otherwise, it makes me sick. Blood… tastes pretty shitty to humans." He sat at the bar counter, and Shoto ran his fingers through his curly hair softly.

"How can we know? When you're a vampire or human?" Ashido asked.

"Only me and Shoto can tell. Even Kacchan isn't able to tell. Or my mom," Izuku stated. "Shoto can tell by the change in scent." The full vampire nodded in confirmation. "I know you all did your best for Shoto's case. Please, treat me like a human. I'm not either, but I want to be treated like I'm a full human." His voice was begging.

"I mean, you fooled us pretty well!" Sero said loudly.

"Are you all mad I lied?"

"Kind of glad, actually. That got Mineta to go away," Jiro said. "Then all the teachers know?" Izuku nodded. Kacchan was diligently working to make dinner work while the others were distracted and not doing their job.

He snapped, "Bitches! We have a meal to make!"

"R-right, sorry!" Jiro said, and the dinner resumed. After a bit, Uraraka and Tsu came back down. The gravity girl refused to even look at him. Any positive relationship they still had was gone this time, for good.

Shoto had been a test run, really. They all avoided the subject, they didn't pry him for questions, even though his case was much more interesting than Shoto was. He was not a human in any way. His body, at least. Izuku was. Sometimes, at least. It was a stressful dinner for Izuku. When everyone was retiring after cleaning up the kitchen, Izuku pulled aside those who'd kept his secret, or at least were quiet on suspicions, and thanked them.

"It was not our place to say."

"I think you should be treated like any other person. You and Shoto-san," Yaoyorozu said. Izuku smiled and nodded. He headed up with Shoto, and when they got to Izuku's room, he couldn't help but cry his eyes out. Shoto was there for him, him being able to understand Izuku well. He was now in the same position. Unnatural completely. A side show. He just hoped his class were well versed enough in vampire etiquette to treat him normally.

-x- Shoto -x-

"It is not your father's power," Hawks said while Shoto pouted in the break room. He'd accidentally used his fire during a villain chase, and was unhappy with it. "Quirks are inherited, yes, but that doesn't mean your parents own it."

"I know, but I'm still not gonna use it. I don't want any tie to the old man, I don't want anyone coming up with similarities." His words came across much less intimidating or firm due to his quiet and droopy tone.

"And that is your choice. It's your quirk and you get to decide if you use it or not," Hawks said brightly. He took a sip of his canned coffee. Izuku had taken a mental break day, and Hawks encouraged this. He said heroes should have rest times. Shoto was sure it was him projecting what he wanted, but could not have.

Nobody but Shoto and Touya knew of Hawks's mission. Shoto didn't even know if it was still ongoing, and didn't ask. It wasn't his business. He started nervously tracing his face scar. Trailing his fingers from the top to the bottom, across his face and over his nose. It was his new fidget since he lost his hair.

Shoto stiffened when he was about to exit the room, going to the locker room to get his outfit. Bakugo was waiting in the lobby for their talk to be over. "What is it?" Hawks asked.

"Endeavor is here. He's in the lobby. Touya's in the lobby, too," Shoto said. It wasn't a second before Hawks was running out of the office, Shoto following, but hiding behind a desk. Touya stood in front of his estranged father, but Endeavor didn't know who he was. And Touya was being an absolute shit. Touya looked how he used to, but Endeaor thought he was dead, and it didn't click for him.

"Heh, the hero rankings have fallen low if they let a cripple be number one," Touya taunted. "Betcha can't use your quirk with that weak ass fake arm." Hawks was angry, walked in front of Touya, between him and his furious father.

"Out!" he said, pointing to the exit. Touya was stubborn. Hawks' eyes flitted in the direction of Shoto, reminding Touya he was there.

"Ugh, fine," Touya said in an immature voice, putting his hands in his pockets. He sauntered away, giving an obnoxious wave to Endeavor before he disappeared down the hall.

"What the hell are you doing having someone like that in your agency?!" Endeavor boomed.

"He's a little shit, but he's not a hero, so your intimidation won't work. What are you here for, Endeavor?" Hawks asked, thoroughly annoyed with Touya's antics. He was whipped, though. If Touya's nasty attitude hadn't deterred him yet, it wouldn't now. After all, it wasn't like Hawks and Endeavor had any sort of friendship.

Endeavor's fire calmed more, though he was clearly very annoyed. "I heard you had some interns."

"Endeavor. You do realize that Shoto has a restraining order against you, correct? Therefore, you being here is a violation of the law. You will stay away from my interns or I'll be encouraging your son to sue you and make it public," Hawks said firmly. He looked to Bakugo, who was watching from a couch with raised brows, just watching, and said, "Go out the back. Shoto's waiting. I'll be there to walk you back to the station in a few."

"Yup," Katsuki said, got up and left. When they were out of hearing range, the blonde cracked up. "He's fucking growing on me!" he said about Touya's attitude. "He's even worse than we were when me and Izuku were shouting at him about being a shit father. It was when we were still kids."

"It's all he can really do," Shoto said quietly. "He can't exactly kill Endeavor anymore."

"Heh, but he sure could rub salt in the wound of the thing he'd made," Katsuki snickered quietly. "I don't know what he does to keep Hawks putting up with him."

"Many could ask the same as us about you," Shoto mused. Katsuki rolled his eyes, and they waited in the back room that had the laundry machines. Hawks came over, huffing, and walked them back, both in their day clothes with their costumes in their cases. Katsuki was really appreciating the thinner gauntlets. Same style but much less bulky and restricting.

"How do you put up with Touya?" Katsuki wondered.

"His good times are worth his bad. Besides, I can't blame him for that, he has a reason to hate him. Besides, it isn't like he has a job to worry about. Endeavor has no influence over a retail worker," Hawks answered. "Both of you, good job today, though. Shoto-kun, remember what I said."

"Yeah."

When they got to the station, the walk very familiar now, he said goodbye to them, ignoring the mass of fans around him. The train doors shut, and he disappeared as the two went speeding away and across Japan. "That was a blast," Katsuki said. He looked down to see Shoto's eyes wide, jaw clamped shut and spit coming out from between his pursed lips.

Katsuki grabbed him and sprinted through the train and to the small bathroom. He shoved the rabid looking Shoto inside and rummaged around in the backpack for his blood bottle. Shoto chugged it. "Hey, wait!" Katsuki shouted when he fumbled to get the blood powder out of his belt pocket. "You can't, you'll get sick as fuck." They were making a racket in there. "What's going on, how can I help?"

"We need… to get off the train." Katsuki nodded, and he ran out of the bathroom to get their bags and met Shoto at the door.

"Let's go." He grabbed onto Shoto's back and the vampire ran out of the room, pried open the door with his strength, and jumped out. His passenger screamed before they landed lightly on a building. Katsuki got on the phone with Aizawa immediately. "Sensei, we need help. Shoto's having trouble with his thirst all of the sudden."

Shoto could hear Aizawa asking about where they were, about what happened, and Katsuki explained it. Shoto could smell every person in the building. This hadn't happened in so long that the feeling was foreign. Having active thirst for living people was something that rarely happened anymore.

The only thing he could think of to tide this off, was to hurt himself so he was out of commission. Too weak to do anything. Because he was starting to really hear the pulse in his best friend's neck. It was pounding, he could hear his heart thudding nervously. There was absolutely no way he would ever hurt Katsuki, so he slammed his head into the ground over and over until his head was bleeding.

"Fuck, Shoto!" Katsuki shouted. "Aizawa, hurry!"

Shoto took no blood to heal himself. He let his head hurt. But there was a pressure in his head. He'd cracked his skull, an blood was seeping out. He'd looked up head injures before, after his first incident at the battles against class 1-B. His brain was bleeding. Shit. shit, things were starting to blur.

He was pretty sure blood was coming out of his ears, and everything was fading. Then the scent of blood came and Bakugo's arm was in his mouth. "Fucking drink, you idiot!" Katsuki shouted. "C'mon, I'm not gonna let you fucking die from slamming your own head in the ground!" He sounded panicked, but Shoto bit down hard.

It took all of his limited focus to not suck harshly. He hadn't fed off a human in months besides Izuku, who could handle losing a lot of blood. He only drank enough to make the pressure go away, and he left himself with the confusion and disorientation. He hadn't had that much. Katsuki tasted disgusting, so that was a relief.

While Shoto laid on the roof, dazed and confused, Katsuki got the medicine he carried around in his costume pocket and smeared it over the nasty bite mark he had, stopping the bleeding and activating healing. What the hell happened to him?

He woke up in an ambulance, his wrists and ankles strapped to the bed inside. Aizawa and his best friend were both there, hunched over and looking conflicted. The teacher had a crate full of blood bottles, and helped Shoto to drink all of them. Katsuki was holding Shoto's left hand, looking worried.

"What happened?" he asked them.

"We should be asking you that question," Aizawa said with a sigh. "Shoto, what caused this? Bakugo said you got ravenous and then you both left the train. You slammed your head in the ground and then he gave you blood. What happened?"

Shoto looked up, and could feel blood crusted on his face. "I don't know. I drank what I needed this morning," he said softly. "I can't remember the trigger. I'm so sorry, Katsuki."

"It's okay. We got away and nobody was hurt. The medicine you carried around in your costume belt stopped any bleeding from the bite wound. And I was the one to offer, and you stopped on your own."

"You taste bad." Aizawa huffed out a scoff. "I'm sorry. To worry everyone…"

"We need to find out what triggered it so we can avoid it from happening again."

"I want my choker back," Shoto said. Aizawa never liked it, but it would be a good tool until they found out what happened and how to fix it.

"Alright. I'll get a new one made. Same with the wrist cuffs you used to wear." Shoto teared up in his good eye. Aizawa took his unoccupied hand. "I'll be okay, Shoto. We'll figure it out," he said in an encouraging voice.

Shoto didn't know about that.