"Kids, this is Detective Tsukachi. He will be interviewing you both individually," Nezu explained, introducing the unassuming man beside him. "I understand that at this time, you will likely not want to tell us everything, and that is okay. But we need some information on the League to show that you are serious about this agreement we have. Does that make sense?"

Toga and Deku both nodded, looking nervously at the cop. This time, Toga was the one trying to hide behind Deku. She'd had many encounters with the police, none of them good, leaving her nervous about them.

Tsukachi didn't seem to mind her shyness though. He gave them a kind smile before speaking. "You both have been through a lot recently, so I won't be questioning you for long. Mostly, I will just be asking about future plans that the League has. I will also be asking about some of the members. Deku, I understand that you write analysis. I am hoping that you can do full write ups on the League members for you and I to review together."

"I have those done already," Deku said in a quiet voice. "I just need my notebook."

Nezu pulled open a drawer on his desk and handed the notebook to Tsukachi.

"I have reviewed what you had written, Deku, and I am quite impressed," the principal said with a smile. "I am so impressed that I will be adding private lessons with me to your schedule so that we can improve upon your skills."

Tsukachi flipped through the notebook, his brows steadily rising in surprise.

"You wrote all this?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's been a hobby of mine since I was little. I… I have a question," Deku said nervously. "We got help from someone to escape, but if it got out that they helped us, they would get killed. I know you're going to ask about how we got here, but I'd rather not tell the police because then it has to go into your report and it could get leaked pretty easily. I told Nezu about it though, so is that enough?"

Tsukachi nodded. "That's enough for me. I understand that this is a unique situation. Come on, how about we go in the next room and we can discuss everything together."

Deku and the detective left together, Toga's eyes following them until she couldn't see them anymore. As soon as they left her line of sight, her attention snapped to Nezu.

Nezu gave her a smile before holding out a cup of tea for her. When she took it, she picked up the smell of pig's blood mixed with the ginger tea.

Toga found herself smiling back at him.

--

After dropping off the two teens with the principal, Mic went in search of his husband. It wasn't hard to find him; he just had to follow the sound of muffled cursing.

"Uh, Sho? What are you doing?" Mic asked, standing in the door of their home office.

Aizawa looked up, still awkwardly bent trying to lift their desk. His hair was pulled back into a messy bun and his shirt was starting to cling to him from his sweat. With a huff, he dropped the desk and straightened, a slight blush forming on his cheeks.

"I'm cleaning out the room."

"Want to tell me why you didn't ask for help?"

"Figured I could do it myself."

"Uh huh. You grab that end, I'll take the other."

Together, they moved the heavy desk into the corner of the living room, tucked out of the way. It took them only a few minutes after that to clear out the office, leaving the room empty.

Mic nodded and put his hands on his hips, feeling rather proud.

"Now we just need a bed, a dresser, and maybe a side table, and this should be all set for Eri!" Mic said. "How is she, by the way?"

Aizawa sighed, letting his head fall. "She's exhausted. She's been sleeping for a while now. She should wake up by tomorrow morning though. We can take Deku and Toga to see her then. She was pretty freaked out about being away from them."

"Does she know she'll be staying with us?"

"Not yet. We'll tell her later. I'll be honest, I'm worried about her and Deku both staying with us. I know it's for the best, but I'm worried about what influence he may have over her."

Running a hand up Aizawa's arm, Mic let his husband lean into him. Aizawa pressed his head up under Mic's chin, much like a cat would. Mic smiled as he put his arms around him.

"It'll all be okay. I know Deku and Toga were with the League, and I know Toga hurt your students, but I can't help being reminded of us when I look at them. It's like seeing you, me, Nemuri, and Oboro all wrapped up into two kids."

"You think I don't see that too? When I looked at Deku, all I saw was him . With the big eyes and the messy hair and the banged up face… It was like I had been thrown back in time. I don't want to see a repeat of Oboro."

"I know, Sho. It's going to be okay. We'll help them. With all of us pitching in, I think we could set them straight and keep them from getting hurt any worse than they already have been. I mean, I really don't think either of them particularly wanted to be criminals, and they obviously don't want Eri on the same path as they were. They gave up a lot for her. I don't think we need to worry about them teaching her anything too bad. At least, not worse than anything you would teach her."

That got a snort out of Aizawa.

"Nice to know my husband has such a high opinion of me."

"Oh, so you won't be teaching Eri how to throw a proper right hook? Or how to break someone's fingers?" When Aizawa said nothing, Mic laughed. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"How are you so calm about all this?"

"Oh I am not calm at all. I just put on a front. Inside, I am a mess of anxiety, energy drinks, and pure panic."

"That's really comforting, thanks. Doesn't make my own anxiety spike at all."

"Happy to comfort you any time, babe."

"Hey, does UA even have any clothes that will fit Eri?"

"... I'll go to the store later and get stuff for all three of them."

"That's probably a good idea."

--

Once both Toga and Deku finished their interviews with the Detective, Nezu walked them to the 1-B dorms, where they promptly hid away in Vlad King's apartment. They didn't want to run the risk of seeing any of the hero course students, especially since Nezu informed them on the walk over that they would be starting classes the next day.

"What about Eri?' Deku asked, his brow furrowed in concern. "When can I see her again?"

Nezu gave him a smile. "Tomorrow, I promise. I have arranged for you three to have breakfast in Recovery Girl's office, where Eri will be staying tonight. Vlad King will walk you both over first thing in the morning. Afterwards, he will walk you both to my office for you two to take some tests. We want to get an idea of where you are at in your studies so that, should you be behind, we can help you to catch up to your classmates. Once you have finished with me, you will join 1-A and 1-B for their lessons. Now, I know you are both concerned, but I promise you that you will both be safe. Your teachers will be making sure no one bothers either of you."

"And making sure we don't hurt anyone," Toga grumbled.

Nezu, either not noticing her frustration or not caring, nodded. "Yes, that as well. After lunch today, Recovery Girl will be coming to visit you both to check you over. Having been on your own for so long, it is possible that your health may have suffered. We want to make sure you are both well taken care of."

Toga gave Nezu an odd look, almost as though she didn't fully believe him, but she didn't argue.

Once the two were alone, Deku pressed a finger to his lips, gesturing for Toga to keep quiet. She gave a short nod, sitting down on the couch. Vlad King was out of his apartment, likely speaking with the other teachers preparing everything for them to join the classes. A teacher would probably be coming to sit with them soon, since they weren't supposed to be alone, at least not for long, so Deku knew he had to make this fast.

He did a quick sweep of the room, checking it for hidden cameras and microphones. Not finding anything, he faced Toga.

"I'm not telling them everything about the League," he said in a hushed voice.

Toga cocked her head. "What do you mean? I thought we have to tell them everything for the deal to work."

"Maybe I'll tell them the rest in the future, but I just don't feel like I have it all figured out yet. It's… it's like there are pieces of the puzzle missing, you know? It's like knowing where the end of the maze is but not being able to figure out the path to it, because it makes no sense. That's why I wanted to talk to you. You were with the League before me. What can you tell me about Shigaraki's Sensei?"

She shrugged, though she seemed to be mulling his question over in her head. "I've never seen him. Only ever heard his voice from the computer thingy. I think Shigaraki was like, raised by him or something, because I heard them talking about when Shigaraki was a kid once and it sounded like his Sensei had been there. Kurogiri basically took care of Shigaraki when he was a kid, I know that much."

"That's another thing," Deku said, starting to pace. "Usually when a quirk has a mutation aspect, it is related to the quirk's function. Kurogiri creates those warp gates, but why is his entire body covered in the stuff? We know he has a body under there, since he and Shigaraki mentioned once about him getting pinned and about how UA kids tried to use their quirk on his body. It would make more sense for him to cover himself in the wispy stuff only when he was going to do villain work, that way he could go to the store and stuff as a normal guy and not be recognized, but he is covered in it all the time. It's like the quirk took his body over."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Exactly! That's why I didn't bring it up. Same with Shigaraki's quirk. Something just seems… off about it. I can't put my finger on it. The others are pretty straight forward, though I didn't tell them everything about Dabi."

"Like the bullet?" Toga asked.

"Oh I am never telling them about that. Dabi hates Endeavor, and not in the way he hates other false heroes. That is some personal shit that I don't really want to unpack. And after seeing Endeavor yell at his youngest son at the Sports Festival, I think I have an idea of why Dabi hates Endeavor."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Not yet. Like I said, I'm missing pieces of the puzzle. I need to figure some things out. Just, don't tell them what I just told you and don't tell them about Dabi's quirk hurting his body. At least not yet."

Toga straightened in her seat, looking concerned. "What do you mean it's hurting him?"

Deku sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "The fire is too hot for his body. I don't know if it's that Dabi wasn't born with fireproof skin or if it's some other problem but basically his quirk is burning him. I've told him a million times that he needs to get a support item or medication or something to help with it, but he always just blew me off. To be honest, I'm pretty sure he thinks that he isn't going to survive taking out Endeavor."

"Maybe with the bullet, he can."

"Maybe. Out of everyone that was left at the League, he was the least shitty," Deku laughed.

"Twice was cool."

"Yeah, I guess he wasn't too bad."

A knock at the door caught their attention, promptly ending the conversation. Before either could say anything, the door creaked open and Midnight poked her head in.

"Hey guys, I brought some UA school uniforms for you two to try on. Once we figure out what size you wear, we can get you a couple pairs so you have enough during the weeks. That sound good?"

They took turns in the spare bedroom, which was to be Toga's room, trying on the school uniforms. When they would step out for Midnight to check the uniform over, making sure it fit them right, she would get an odd look on her face.

Deku narrowed his eyes at her while she fussed over his uniform jacket. Toga was eyeing him carefully, picking up his discomfort.

"Why do you pity us?" he asked, his voice harsh.

Midnight looked taken aback at his words. "What?"

"I can see it on your face. I don't know what we did to make you pity us and I want to know why."

"Oh… hun, I don't pity you. Not at all. I'm worried about you both."

Toga tensed beside Deku. "Worried about us? Why?"

"How do I say this nicely," Midnight mumbled, frowning. "Listen, you two are… really skinny. You guys are underweight. Concerningly so. And the uniforms are loose on you in a way that it shows how skinny you both are."

"Yeah, but why are you worried about us? We're villains."

With a small smile, Midnight reached out to run her hand over Toga's hair.

Toga flinched away.

Midnight froze, seeing the fear in Toga's eyes. Her smile turned sad as she let her hand fall.

"Because above everything else, you guys are kids. Sure, you made bad choices, and we can't trust you just yet, but with some work on both of our ends, we'll get you guys on the right path. Now change out of those so you don't mess them up. I'll text Vlad to pick up some more in these sizes for the two of you. Recovery Girl should be here soon to give you guys check ups. While we wait, I can make you two something to eat and we can watch TV. How does that sound?"

"Can I use a computer?" Deku asked, giving her a faux innocent smile.

"Nice try. Go get changed."

Recovery Girl arrived not long after they finished eating to give them a full check over. As she worked, her frown grew deeper and deeper. She looked at all of their scars, new and old, along with drawing some blood to run some tests. Toga had to forcefully drag her gaze away from the tubes of blood to focus on Recovery Girl inspecting her limbs and joints. Once Recovery Girl was done, she gave both teens a handful of vitamins and supplement pills before pulling Midnight into the hall to talk. As soon as the door shut behind them Toga and Deku were scurrying across the room and pressing their ears to the door. It was muffled, but they managed to make out what the women were saying.

"Those two are far too thin. And the amount of scars they have, especially the boy, is concerning. He has scorch marks on his body that appear to be old. Eraserhead mentioned that you know the boy's identity now. Any idea where those marks came from?" Recovery Girl asked, worry laced in her voice.

"Were the scars normal burn marks or were they starburst shaped?"

"Starburst. How did you know?"

Midnight sighed. "Bakugou and Deku were childhood friends and it seems that Deku was bullied by Bakugou. Mercilessly so. We'll need to talk to Nezu about what to do. And both Deku and Toga have been homeless for a while, Toga for much longer, so it's not a surprise that they are thin. How bad is it though?"

"They are malnourished and dehydrated. I will be creating meal plans for them both to work on getting them back to a healthy weight. Toga may also have a few toes, maybe a finger, that were broken in the past and healed wrong. Once she has her strength up, I will want to realign those. She has symptoms of anemia, but I think that is due to the lack of blood in her diet. That can be easily fixed. I'll want to run some tests on the samples I took to make sure they don't have any illnesses, but besides that, I think they are physically okay. Emotionally and mentally could be another story. They are incredibly distrustful of adults, especially authority figures. Therapy could help, but it will take time before they feel safe enough to open up."

"What do you suggest we do to help them get comfortable here?" Midnight asked.

"To be honest, I have no idea. The best advice I can give is to be patient."

There was a shuffling noise, which Deku recognized as Recovery Girl leaving. He grabbed Toga's arm and yanked her back to the couch, where they quickly began acting as though they had been discussing vitamins the whole time. Midnight came back in seconds later, smiling at them both, and offering to get them glasses of water to wash down the pills.

Vlad King arrived not long after, bags in hand. Trotting along beside him was a wrinkly, grumpy faced bulldog with an underbite that rivaled Vlad's. When Toga saw the dog, she shrieked and jumped up from the couch, flailing her hands excitedly. She didn't rush the dog, thankfully, since Deku figured that would have startled Vlad King and possibly gotten her in trouble.

"A puppy!" she screeched, her eyes sparkling. "What's his name?! Does he know any tricks?!"

"This is Captain," Vlad King said, eyeing Toga cautiously. "He knows how to sit, but that's it. He doesn't do much, really."

Midnight laughed. "Yeah, Captain is too lazy. All he wants to do is eat and sleep."

Captain, almost as if he was trying to prove Midnight's point, waddled further into the apartment and collapsed onto the carpet. Within seconds, he was snoring.

"Can I pet him?" Toga asked, dancing from foot to foot like she couldn't contain her excitement. When Vlad gave her a nod, she dropped to the floor next to Captain and gently ran a hand over his head. He cracked one eye open, glanced at her, and then closed it again. Toga stared in awe. Since most animals were scared of her, the fact that Captain wasn't growling or moving away from her was like a miracle to her. Leaning down, Toga began whispering to him. "You are amazing, Captain. I would kill anyone for you, cuz you're such a good boy! I'd even die for you. We're going to be best friends, okay?"

Deku looked up at Vlad and in a deadpan voice, said, "Congratulations. Captain has a guardian for life now."

Vlad blinked at them a few times, trying to take in everything they had said, before awkwardly holding out the bags.

"These have your uniforms and supplies in them. I also got some extra blankets and pillows for you both. Dek- I mean, Midori- I mean… kid, what do I call you?"

Deku frowned, averting his eyes. He gave a small shrug.

"Aw, Deku-kun, it's okay!" Toga said, coming to give him a hug. "Do you still want to be Deku? I know it might be weird, since Bakugou was the one who called you that. We can have everyone call you Midoriya, or if that feels weird, we can call you Izuku. It'll be like the old days!"

"I think Deku is fine for now. I mean, I'm still kind of a criminal, you know?"

"Having people continue to call you Deku won't inspire them to trust you," Vlad said. "You might want to go by your legal name so they learn to separate you from what the League called you."

"Kach- I mean, Bakugou will call me Deku no matter what, so it doesn't matter. Just call me whatever you want."

With a sigh, Vlad nodded. "Well, if you're okay with it, I'll call you Midoriya. But listen, since you'll be staying here for a while, until you move to the 1-A dorms, I also got you a couple pairs of pajamas. You can keep them and the extra blankets and stuff here for when you feel like coming to stay with Toga. You're welcome over here whenever you want, just give me a heads up and have someone walk you over, got it?"

Deku nodded, taking the bags from Vlad's hands. They were heavier than they looked, dwarfed in Vlad King's massive hands. Deku's arms dropped as he took the weight of the bags, huffing as he tried to lift them. Toga hurried over and took a few from him.

"We have all the paperwork set up for you two to start school tomorrow," Vlad continued. "Nezu is still working to track down any living family members you two have so we can alert them about where you are. And - hey, don't make those faces, we have to tell them where you are and that you are now wards of UA. It's literally the law. Go unpack the stuff and get settled."