"WHY WERE YOU WALKING WITH TODOROKI?"

Izuku winced from his seat at the cafeteria as Uraraka all but shouted in his ear. He supposed he should have already been expecting this. It was shocking enough that Uraraka even lasted this long, considering the look she'd had when Izuku caught her watching him enter the school gates from their third-floor classroom window.

"Uraraka, please contain yourself, this is most improper," Iida said sternly, as Uraraka sat back down. It was clear she wasn't letting the topic go, however. Izuku wondered how long she would keep seated and stay (relatively) calm before she was shouting again.

"I just ran into him on the way to school," Izuku tried to dismiss, wondering if his lying had gotten any better since that morning's fiasco at Todoroki's house. Then again, it's not like he was lying completely, after all…just leaving some unimportant details out. His friends seemed to consider this. Uraraka seemed less than convinced. Still, if it was enough for them to stop asking how he and Todoroki ran into each other, that'd be great.

"What was it like? He didn't try to do anything to you, did he?" Uraraka narrowed her eyes as she started hovering over Izuku. Honestly, sometimes Izuku wondered if Uraraka was a thug in a past life.

"No…he was…nice?" Izuku wondered if nice was a word anyone in their school had ever used to describe Todoroki.

Iida hummed, gaining their attention. "That is quite interesting…almost unexpected," he said, as he prodded at his rice. "There were a lot of rumors going around near the end of last year that he was usually…less than amicable."

"You mean less than usual?" Uraraka questioned, her bias against Todoroki clear on her face.

Had something happened with Todoroki last year? Why hadn't Izuku heard these rumors? All he'd ever seen Todoroki do was stare at him and nap.

Uraraka apparently hadn't heard the rumors either, so she asked Iida to continue. Iida leaned in, beckoning them to do the same. Izuku chuckled inwardly at Iida's guarded expression, shooting glances around before he said anything more.

"I heard this from that one boy in class today – Monoma, I think was his name. He said that some girls from the year just below us went up to Todoroki on the last day of school, and one of them confessed to him. When she tried to embrace him," Iida cringed, as if the next part physically pained him to recount, "he pushed her to the ground and ran away. Most impolite behavior if it was true."

Uraraka gasped, seeming to have been personally offended by Todoroki's actions. Izuku admitted, something like that would be have been strange – not that people confessed to Todoroki, Izuku could admit that Todoroki was objectively attractive, all things considered, but the reaction was so…forceful. Why would he have had to go as far as to push someone away?

"Don't look now," Uraraka whispered to their table, "but there he is, with Yaomomo too."

Izuku, idiot that he was, shot up and looked to the cafeteria entrance, where he saw a distinct head of red and white, beside a hair of wild black hair. What he didn't quite expect was to find Todoroki already looking at him. He quickly ducked, cutting off whatever connection they shared quickly. Somewhere in the pit of his stomach, he felt something rising. Probably fear – Todoroki had seemed mad when they separated earlier, but would he really be that angry over some dumb cat story?

"I don't get what his deal with you is," Uraraka muttered, frustration laced in her voice. "Just this morning you seemed all buddy-buddy, and now he's back to trying to send eye lasers at you." She snorted as she bit back a laugh. "Hey, you don't think that might be his quirk? One of these days, you might actually just die with how hard he stares at you."

Izuku didn't want to think of it. He'd been on the receiving end of a lot of quirks, but that had been years ago – hardly a golden age he'd like to relive.

"Uraraka, you're frightening him," Iida scolded, rather lamely considering he himself looked like he was amused by the thought. After a few moments of chuckling at the thought of Izuku getting shot by eye lasers (what kind of friends were they anyway?), Iida cleared his throat. Iida gave Izuku a steady look, the kind that screamed big-brother-mode. "Anyway, how are things with your father? Are you settling nicely at his home?"

Izuku swallowed, and stared intently at his half-eaten bowl of katsudon. He hadn't told them, or anyone, about his situation. After his mom died just before summer, it was only a few weeks before the landlord of their old house kicked him out. He told everyone he was going to contact his estranged father, and he did…or at least tried to. It was with a lot of hesitation that he went through his mom's old stuff, looking for old addresses or contact details. He eventually found something – an old phone number – but it was to a place his dad had worked at years ago. The person he talked to over the phone promised to try to get in touch with his dad, and Izuku gave her his contact details along with the name of his school. Nothing happened, though – complete radio silence. He could only assume that he was ignored – then again, what had he expected after some fifteen years of absence?

If Izuku was being honest, part of him didn't even want to really reconnect with his dad. He'd only seen his dad in old photos his mom might have forgotten to get rid of. Izuku's mind churned, recalling how all the neighbors and people at school talked about him and his mom, joking that they were just the "other family" – left behind when his mom was going to have Izuku. He never did get to ask his mom if the rumors were true, and he doubted he would have ever wanted to.

For as long as he could remember, it had always just been him and his mom, so he had no other family he could have called to for help. He knew that if he just asked, Uraraka and Iida would move heaven and earth to make his life easier, but he couldn't impose on them – Uraraka lived in a small flat in the city while her parents worked overseas, and Iida's family was just now recovering from hard times, and he couldn't add more worries to their plate. So, he just told them (and everyone else who bothered to ask) that his father had graciously taken him in. He figured it wouldn't be long until he found some sort of job that would allow him to rent even just a bed somewhere in the city. He could live independently, and everyone would be none the wiser.

Still, it was never pleasant to have to lie, least of all to his best friends. Deciding he had stared long enough at his cutlet, he looked back up at them, trying his best to control his voice, hoping it didn't betray his nerves.

"Yeah, everything's great…it was awkward at first, but things are getting better."

Izuku put on the biggest smile he could muster, wishing it would be enough to settle the matter. The less he said, the better.

The rest of the school day was relatively uneventful – or at least Izuku hoped it was. After lunch, his headaches only got worse – too distracting for him to pay attention to what was going on for the most part. After bidding Iida and Uraraka goodbye, dismissing their worried looks at him and assuring them that he just needed more sleep, he began his dazed walk back to his tent.

The late afternoon sun tinted the sky a pale orange. Somewhere deep in his mind, Izuku mused at how quickly the days were shortening as autumn took over. It seemed like just yesterday when they were all in their last weeks of junior high school, eager for summer to come, but fearing the exams that they'd have to face before freedom. Izuku hummed to himself, letting his tired body bask in the warmth of the soft light – the exams hadn't even been that bad. At least for Izuku, they went without incident except for that one exam when he had to be called out because –

Oh. Right.

Izuku scrambled to pull himself out of his memories, blinking away tears he felt building behind his eyes. Think of something else, Izuku – something more recent? What assignments do we have to do this week?

That made Izuku grumble. For all that it was the first day of classes, they already had two assignments due by the end of the week. What topics were they on, again?

Izuku struggled to try to remember anything he could about his earlier classes, but had little success. All he could remember was…something about a substitute teacher? And their real homeroom advisor coming in later that week…or was it next week?

Izuku sighed. He hadn't even been able to really notice who else was in their class aside from the ones he ended up talking to. He'd have to pay more attention tomorrow – maybe he'd get lucky and be able to make friends with some of them. The thought made him feel lighter…but that might just have been his headache.

The walk back "home" had taken much longer than he thought, but he did get lost in the forest again for good hour. Izuku, to his chagrin, was completely knackered by the time he pushed through the flap of his humble tent. The sun had already set when he got back, so Izuku had to plan the rest of his evening carefully if he wanted to be able to get everything ready for the next day. He wondered hopefully if he could get a head start on his schoolwork.

Izuku sat at the edge of his tent. It's not so bad, he thought to himself. It was the kind that could fit two sleeping adults, and there was enough space beside where he had laid his green sleeping bag to do some school work if he shifted the few boxes of belongings he had around. By the head of his sleeping bag was a photograph of his mom. Well, he knew it was a photograph, but it was all wrapped up in brown paper. Izuku still couldn't bear to look at it months after her death without his heart breaking all over again. Laid beside the picture was a necklace – a simple cotton cord with four dark wooden beads threaded through them.

Prayer beads, mom had called them.

His mom gave it to him as a gift when he was five, but she always said she was just asked to pass it on to him. Izuku never got clear answer from his mom on that one…then again, maybe she was just trying to make a story out of it.

Izuku stared longingly at the sleeping bag – it was hardly comfortable, but he was so, so tired…maybe he could sneak in just a few minutes of…

"No!" he shouted, surprising even himself. Izuku sighed. He couldn't afford to be sick. He had to get his schoolwork done as soon as possible so that he could use his free time trying to find a job – that's what he needed for plan-independent-Izuku to take off. He rubbed his face, and tried to shake his tiredness off, convincing himself that all he needed was to wash his face before getting to work.

He rummaged through one of his boxes for a while before finding what he needed – a towel, some soap, fresh clothes. He tried checking the time on his phone only to find that it had run out of battery. He had been planning to charge it during school hours, but it must've slipped his mind, much to Izuku's frustration.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to be careful to not to overslee-

There was a rustle from outside.

Izuku's head shot toward the closed flap of his tent. Relax, Izuku, it was just windy today…maybe the leaves are just blowing about and –

Footsteps. Getting louder and closer. If that wasn't enough to convince Izuku that his worry was justified, there was also the silhouette of two figures, soft against the moonlight, approaching his tent.

Oh no. This is how I die. Murdered in the woods by psychopaths…Mom, I'll be seeing you soon…

Izuku's heart stopped as one of the silhouettes crouched just in front of his tent. He tried to even his breathing and make as little sound as possible. He waited for the figure to strike, to pounce, to rip at his tent, to do anything but –

Nothing was happening.

For what seemed like an eternity, Izuku just stared, frozen by feverish panic as two black figures postured just outside his tent. He swallowed.

Izuku, you're a brave boy…you can do this. Maybe you can just run out of the tent as quickly as possible – you're not a tasty meal for forest cannibals anyway…maybe they won't chase you…

Izuku unattentively grabbed at the prayer beads beside his sleeping bag, and wore them on his neck, as if they were some sort of protective amulet. He slowly crawled toward the tent, trying to build a plan in his aching head. I'm going to push the flap open, and then…and then…

He didn't know what he was going to do, but whatever it was would be better than waiting, right?

He reached up, and deciding to just get it over with, flung open the tiny curtain dividing him from his doom, and faced his attacker's -

Eyes.

One grey. One blue.

Izuku thought he heard a familiar deep voice utter his name in confusion, but before he could reply, he felt his head falling, darkness clouding his vision completely.

"Izuku, dear, stop playing with your necklace, you might break it."

Izuku's hand froze at his chest, where he had just been fiddling with –

What was he fiddling with –

He looked down, both to avoid the questioning gaze being directed toward him, as well as to check what it was he had been toying with.

Things were blurry at first, but they slowly came into focus – his necklace of beads, hanging close to his chest. He touched the wooden spheres one last time, almost prayerfully, before letting his hands rest on his lap.

The leaves littered around his feet sounded satisfyingly crunchy as he swung his legs back and forth from atop the bench.

A bench? Where were they –

He surveyed his surroundings, details still fuzzy, but materializing in the distance bit by bit, as if conjured only when he bothered to looked. He was at a park near their house – their old house. He remembers this one – he went here almost every year: always during autumn, when leaves covered the ground like a fiery sea. The first time was when he was three or four, and he was with his –

Izuku swallows. He doesn't have to look beside him to see who's there. He's not sure he wants to.

He keeps his eyes trained on the golden leaves around his red shoes. His legs stop swinging. He catches movement from his periphery, hears crisp leaves crackling as something darts just past where he can see. He turns to look only a little too late, but he swears he catches the sight of golden hair running into the trees.

He can't stop his hand instinctively reaching to the beads on his chest again. Izuku opens his mouth, and it takes a while for sound to come out.

"Mom, can you tell me again where these beads came from?" The sound that comes from his mouth is a voice that's not his – at least it hasn't been his for years now.

She hums a soft laugh beside him. Izuku doesn't dare look, but he knows she's smiling warmly.

"It was a gift," she begins, in that soft, soothing voice that Izuku longs to hear outside his own imagination, "a gift from someone we knew once, long ago."

Her voice drifts away. Izuku wishes she would tell him more. She does.

"A friend. He moved away, but I'm sure he would have wanted you to have it."

The scenery changes quickly – leaves blowing about and fading away, the sun setting at breakneck speed – until Izuku sits on the bench, alone, surrounded by nothing but darkness.

In the distance he sees a faint glow of…red? Red eyes? The figure of a dark animal – a wolf? A dog?

The glow calls to him, beckons him to keep looking, to come closer.

He does, and with every step, he feels something shifting inside him – like the curtains of a long since abandoned stage slowly rising.

Consciousness pulled at Izuku gently. He was comfortable – more comfortable than he had been in days. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking to adjust to the dim moonlight filtering around him. The weight of wooden beads on his chest kept him calm for the few moments it took to try to remember how he'd gotten home. Whatever sleep was still in his body was wiped away as he realized that he wasn't home – this wasn't any room he was familiar with. He tried to sit up, stopping only when he felt the pounding in his head and the tired ache of his joints. Izuku relented, instead laying himself back down on an unfamiliar futon. He stared at the plain, wooden ceiling, as if it had the answers to all his questions.

Where am I? How did I get here?

He heard the muffled sound of footsteps somewhere nearby. Muted light scattered around him as a wooden door slowly slid open across where he laid. Izuku adjusted his position, this time avoiding any potential headaches from moving too quickly, to try to get a look at who or – he gulped – what was peeking in. He squinted, and it was a few seconds before Izuku made out a head of two-toned hair – red and white – along with a pair of mismatched eyes that were staring straight at him from the gap.

"Midoriya, is everything alright?" the boy at the opening asked, voice low and steady.

He gaped for a moment before it all came back to him – where he was, and how he had ended up there.

Was this – was he at Todoroki's house? Izuku had vague memories of Todoroki crouched outside his tent, though he himself wasn't sure if he had merely imagined the amused expression of Todoroki's companion – Aizawa – as he (embarrassingly) passed out.

"Midoriya, is everything alright?" Todoroki repeated himself from where he stood, peeking through the gap in the wall. The voice brought Izuku back to reality, but it wasn't enough to jump-start his brain.

"Todoroki?" Izuku asked dumbly.

Izuku heard a soft sigh coming from the door, and he didn't have to guess that if he could see any better, Todoroki would be sporting a grimace. Todoroki slid the door further open, and Izuku turned away to avoid the bright lights from the room beyond. Todoroki made his way to the side of the futon Izuku was on, and quietly seated himself on the wooden floor. Izuku angled himself toward the newcomer slowly, not sure what to say.

"How's your fever?" Todoroki asked in a soft voice, unlike anything Izuku had expected from the boy before. It sounded far too intimate and familiar to have possibly come from Todoroki, but somehow, Izuku found himself thinking, it sounded correct – as if it were the voice of someone he'd known all his life.

"I take it by your spacing out that your fever's still quite bad."

Todoroki, leaned over him. Izuku couldn't even argue with his classmate - his head was throbbing, and his body ached all over. The boy was considering him again, sending him something not unlike the glare he'd shot at Izuku in junior high school, but now that Izuku bothered to look, it didn't seem to be a glare - at least not this time. There was something about it, like the two of them shared a big secret, and Izuku couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his face.

He'd blame it on the fever later, but the disarming closeness he suddenly felt with the boy pushed him to break the silence.

"I've been living in a tent for a while now…but I only moved to the woods here a few days ago. I had no idea anyone lived so close by." Izuku's voice was quiet, and even as he turned away from Todoroki to train his gaze at the ceiling again, something told him the other boy was listening intently to his every word.

In for a penny, in for a pound, Izuku whispered to himself. It didn't feel particularly difficult, and he wondered why it seemed so easy to keep talking about, well, everything now that he'd started. The other boy remained silent, and Izuku took that as his cue to keep talking. He talked – probably more than he should have. He talked about how after his mom died, he didn't really have anywhere to go where he wouldn't be a burden. He talked about his plan to camp until he could save enough to live properly on his own. Somehow, he even found himself talking about his failed attempts to reach out to his estranged father.

Perhaps it really was the fever, or maybe the darkness that made him feel comfortable just talking about all these things. In the back of his mind, he thought of how upset Iida and Uraraka would be if they ever found out Todoroki knew and they didn't, and wasn't that strange – Todoroki, of all people. Someone he'd barely said two words to until today. Something about this Todoroki, quiet and attentive in the dark of night, reminded him of things from a time long ago – children running through fields covered with sunset leaves without any cares in the world. Izuku thought to himself how it would have been nice to have had someone like the Todoroki seated beside him as a friend back in those childhood days, when all the other kids and their parents looked at him with pity and thinly veiled disgust.

Todoroki sat still through everything Izuku said. There was a moment of silence after Izuku had finished, before Todoroki finally spoke.

"We were wondering how you could live nearby," the boy spoke, tone of voice unreadable, "considering our family owns all the land in the area."

Izuku couldn't hold back a chuckle. He wondered if it was normal to find it funny to realize that he had been squatting for days without even knowing. He wondered what that meant for him, though – surely Todoroki's family didn't appreciate a wayward camper on their lands.

"I…I'll pack up as soon as I can, if you want," Izuku started. At the back of his mind, he wondered where he planned to go if Todoroki did ask him to move out of their land, but that was hardly Todoroki's problem. "You're already taking care of me now, I couldn't impose on you or your family any further."

He heard Todoroki shift a little. Izuku wondered what the boy thought of him now that Izuku had practically spilled his guts. Would he think Izuku was pathetic? Stupid for his plans to survive on his own?

"We can talk about how to deal with your situation tomorrow, with Aizawa," Todoroki said, sounding almost shy, "once you're better."

Todoroki's demeanor throughout the day had been surprising. Izuku was having a hard time reconciling this relatively soft-spoken boy and the evil-laser-eye-Todoroki he'd known in the past months.

Neither of them spoke after that, both simply rooted to the floor or the bed. The silence was making Izuku a bit restless – did Todoroki expect him to say something more? Hadn't he shared enough? He couldn't bring himself to sleep either – the boy's presence wasn't particularly calming to Izuku, not to mention the dull aches he still felt all over.

"Todoroki," Izuku said, pushing through his own misgivings. He figured he'd probably never get an opportunity to talk with the boy like this again. Todoroki seemed surprised that Izuku had said anything, and he quickly sat upright.

Izuku kept his gaze trained at the ceiling for just a moment longer, before looking at Todoroki.

"Do you really have a quirk?"

Todoroki raised an eyebrow at him, and Izuku seriously considered pretending that he was sleep talking. He cursed his treacherous brain – this topic seemed much less troublesome in his head just moments before.

"Um, I mean – " Izuku stammered, "you don't really have to answer that if you don't want to…I was just remembering the first few days since you transferred – "

"Yes, I do."

"Oh."

Well, at least he hadn't seemed to offend Todoroki. Izuku wondered if Todoroki would just leave it at that. If he did, Izuku decided he wouldn't prod, but he couldn't pretend that he wouldn't be disappointed.

The sound of wind sweeping through what must have been bamboo from outside the walls of the room echoed around him. Todoroki looked like he was trying to read Izuku's mind with the intense stare trained at him (great, back to this again). Izuku swallowed (painfully, thanks to his sick body), and, contrary to what he had just decided, prodded.

"What is it?"

He fully expected Todoroki to just up and leave, or if he was unlucky, maybe kick him out of the room, so it was a small shock when Todoroki instead just closed his eyes slowly, as if considering.

"I'll show you if you turn around."

Izuku wasn't sure what to make of the request, but he was far too curious to pass up the opportunity. He slowly flipped himself over as requested, and waited. A few seconds passed. Minutes. Hours it seemed, but the anticipation was probably just stretching time for him. He was about to turn back around to ask Todoroki exactly what was supposed to happen, just as he felt something – fingers? – touch his nape. The pads felt strange – cool – and ghosted over his skin, as if asking for permission.

"Go ahead," Izuku mumbled into the sheets, his voice breathier than he had intended.

He heard his classmate inhale, and felt Todoroki's hands start rubbing at his nape. There was a cold about his hands that was strange at first, but not uncomfortable. If anything, it was almost soothing against burning fever he was suffering. Was this Todoroki's quirk then – cold hands?

"I can make ice," the boy answered, and Izuku cursed himself again for his inability to keep his thoughts in his head.

"Oh." He answered simply. Izuku didn't know how long they stayed like that, but he didn't think it was long before he felt the pull of sleep tugging at the edges of his mind as cool fingers rubbed tentatively on his neck.

It was sunlight hitting his face that roused Izuku awake this time around. He opened his eyes slowly, taking in the room around him. There were faint sounds of talking and laughter outside the room. It sounded like something from a television. Izuku jumped out of the futon in alarm.

What time is it? It's too bright to still be early morning! Am I late? Did I miss class? How long have I been asleep!?

Izuku made a quick dash to the door, sparing just a moment to be thankful for the fact that he felt much better now than he had the previous day. Opening the door, he was greeted by the sight of Todoroki, in shorts and a casual dark blue button-down. Todoroki looked perfectly content as he sat on a pillow, eyes on the television, hand absently reaching inside a bag of chips laying on the short-legged table that was at the center of what seemed to be a living room.

Wonders never cease, Izuku thought to himself as he took in the sight. He'd never have imagined his classmate could look relaxed. Todoroki apparently noticed Izuku's entrance, and gave him a quick glance and nod before turning his attention back to the variety show on the television.

"It's good to see you're up."

"What time is it?"

Todoroki checked his phone on the table. "Just past one o'clock."

Izuku's knees wobbled a bit, and he let himself slide down to the ground, hand on his face.

"You…you…you let me miss school?" Izuku asked, careful not to sound too exasperated at the one who owned the house.

The only response he got from Todoroki was a hum, but it was all the confirmation Izuku needed.

Great. You missed the second day of class. Things are going so well, Izuku. Izuku almost rubbed his face off.

As if sensing his frustration, Todoroki turned the television off and turned his attention to Izuku.

"Don't worry about it so much, I – "

Izuku looked up at Todoroki, not quite expecting the bashful expression on the boy's face.

"I told our teachers that you were sick, and I have all the work from school for you." Todoroki cleared his throat, apparently now finding the wall beside him very interesting with how hard he stared at it.

Well, Izuku much preferred that Todoroki glared at walls rather than at him. Anyway, it's not as if Todoroki hadn't made the right call – he's not sure he would have been able to go to school if he had tried to wake up earlier. Pushing his frustrations (mostly directed at himself and his immune system) aside, he sighed and tried to put on a smile at Todoroki.

"Thanks, Todoroki."

The boy nodded, promptly fixing his attention back at the half-empty bag of chips on the table. Izuku stayed where he was, seated near the door to the room he had stayed at, not entirely sure what to do or where to go. He entertained himself by looking around the living room. The walls were wooden and lined with paintings – Aizawa's work? - and there were shelves scattered about the perimeter. A large portion of the wall behind where Todoroki looked like a sliding door to somewhere. Light shone from its translucent surface – did that lead to the porch where he met Aizawa? Upon recalling yesterday's incident, Midoriya found himself wondering where Todoroki's cousin even was, but before he could ask, his classmate spoke up.

"Midoriya, there's something you have to know."

Todoroki sounded much more serious now, and Izuku wasn't sure what to make of it. He nodded for his classmate to continue.

"Early this morning, there was a landslide near the area you pitched your tent at. Your tent was completely buried."

It took a few seconds for Izuku to digest what Todoroki had said.

The first thing that came to his mind was: 'Wow, that was pretty blunt.'

After that came a barrage of many, much more panicked thoughts, and he was pretty sure he was gaping like a terrified idiot. I could have died! If I had slept away in that tent last night, I would be buried in rubble right now! Wait – what about everything that was in the tent? Damn, is my luck so bad that I would have lost everything within three days of my plan starting?

"They're in those boxes over there," Todoroki said calmly.

"What?"

"Your belongings – most of what we could find, anyway – they're in those boxes over there," Todoroki clarified, gesturing toward a corner of the room opposite Izuku, where two brown boxes stood.

Izuku stood from his spot, and slowly made his way to the boxes. He wasn't entirely sure if he believed Todoroki – this could be some prank, or some trick, after all – it didn't make sense. How could they have gotten anything from his tent if it was buried? Why would they bother? And who was they, anyway? Was it Todoroki and Aizawa?

He opened one of the boxes, half-expecting something frightening to jump at him, but saw only some of the towels and cloths he had packed in his tent, stacked on top what was probably his other belongings. Izuku wasn't sure how to react, still apprehensive.

If there really was a landslide, how was this possible? Was it the work of their quirks? Izuku looked through the boxes, trying to be organized as he transferred items onto the floor to see what things were placed further inside. He also rummaged his mind for ways Todoroki might have used an ice quirk to dig through an avalanche. Or maybe it was Aizawa's quirk?

He decided to ask about it when he ran into Aizawa again, if he ran into Aizawa again. Izuku caught himself – in all his apprehension, he must have seemed a bit ungrateful. Regardless of how it happened, Todoroki (and Aizawa, if he was part of they) didn't have to do anything like this for an illegal settler like him.

"Thank you." He said softly, smiling at his luck (maybe he was getting lucky now?). He still hadn't found the one thing he was looking for, though.

"Todoroki, you wouldn't happen to have found a box wrapped in brown paper at my tent, would you?"

For all that Izuku hadn't looked at the photo, he didn't know what he would do if he had lost it. He knew he'd want to look at it one day, when he was in a better place.

Todoroki seemed to consider his question, scratching his chin lightly. Todoroki sighed, and though that was enough to answer Izuku's question, his heart still dropped when Todoroki spoke.

"I'm sorry Midoriya, I don't think we found anything like – "

Before Todoroki could finish, he was interrupted by a low explosion from outside, and, before either of them could react, what seemed like a battle cry, a loud rip, and the sound of wood breaking filled the room as something – someone – came flying in through the door behind Todoroki. Izuku let out a yelp, and it was all he could do before he saw Todoroki calmly lean to his left, avoiding the intruder's flying kick. Izuku didn't know if Todoroki had meant for things to go that way, and part of him was hoping it was an accident, but Todoroki's dodge meant that the kick instead flew straight toward Izuku.

Izuku's hands tried to shield his head, and his back hit the wall behind him with a loud thud as he felt the intruder's foot clip his side. He heard Todoroki shout his name in surprise, but Izuku felt his head ache at the collision.

"Goddammit half and half, fight me!"

In the haze of the collision, Izuku had somehow landed on his back. He glanced up to see his attacker – blond hair, angry red eyes, black tank top – standing beside him, knees bent, looking ready to pounce again. It seemed that the boy hadn't noticed him at all.

"You're an idiot, and you're getting other people hurt." Todoroki sounded so…cold.

"You saying I'm stupid? What do you mean other – "

It was only then that the other boy seemed to notice the other figure sprawled on the floor beside him. He quickly shot a glance at Izuku and froze.

"…d-Deku?"

The blonde's expression was full of shock as he jumped away from Izuku like the proximity burnt him. Deku? What was that supposed to mean?

Izuku slowly tried to get up, thankful that his headaches were receding again. The blonde quickly turned to Todoroki, pointed at Izuku, and started screaming.

"What is he doing here?"

Todoroki looked completely unimpressed as the blonde slowly approached him, shouting and pointing uninterrupted.

"Why is that any of your business?"

"Why don't you answer the fucking question?"

"Why don't you go back to the mountains? It's not like anybody missed you."

Izuku watched them go at each other. Well this was…odd? Did he know this blonde boy? Was he supposed to know this blonde boy? Come to think of it, something about him did seem familiar? Maybe he'd run into him at the mall once before? Beyond that, something about watching Todoroki and the other bicker seemed…familiar too – though that might have just been because they looked like children ready to start a brawl.

Without thinking about it too much, Izuku decided he'd try to step in and stop them from getting violent (well, more violent than it already was).

"Hey, Todoroki, uhh…other guy," he said tentatively, taking a few steps forward. He doubted he was getting heard above the shouting match the two had engaged in. With a sigh, he walked on with more confidence, though he didn't get very far before tripping on one of the clothes he'd put on the floor as he was rummaging through the boxes.

"Did your stupid hair dye finally seep into your brain? What were you thinking bringing him here?" was the last thing Izuku heard the blonde shouting before Izuku himself let out an embarrassingly high-pitched squeal as he tumbled onto the two other boys. They all fell over onto the floor – or at least Izuku thought they did, but before he could check, there was some smoke – where did that come from? Was there a fire now too? Great, cause that's exactly what the situation needed – and two loud popping sounds.

It was a comfort, Izuku thought grimly, that not many people had – to be able to pinpoint the exact moment their brains had given up and decided to go insane. It was a small comfort, but it was also the only comfort he could hold on to as he looked with horror past the smoke that faded just as quickly as it had come.

An abandoned tank top on the floor. A blue button-down shirt slowly falling through the air. Empty clothes, and no sign of Todoroki, nor of the loud blonde boy, but –

A yellow cat, and a red rat, both somehow looking much more exasperated than any animal Izuku had ever seen in his life.

Different thoughts came slamming into his mind after a moment of gaping – the loudest among them made Izuku smile despite the chaos around him.

Could this be my quirk?

"No, you useless idiot, you're quirkless, Deku!" the cat spat out.

Well that was mean, but how did he know I was quirkless?

Also, wait...what? Did the cat just…just talk?

Izuku was done. Goodbye Uraraka and Iida, goodbye dreams of independent living, I'll see all of you at the mental hospital.

There was a loud sigh from his side. Izuku looked to its source, and found a red rat slouching. "You really can't shut up for even a few seconds, can you, you stupid cat?" the rat said.

Izuku's brain was starting to whiz back to life, dots starting to connect – if the cat was the one calling him deku, then that must mean the red rat was –

Izuku's eyes widened, as he looked at the rat.

"Todoroki?"

All three of them – one boy, two animals – froze at the sound of another loud sigh, this time from the shattered doorway. Aizawa stood, wearing an all-black suit, plastic bag in one hand, the other hand pinching his nose lightly.

"I was gone for one hour. One. Hour."

Autumn Leaves, Eddie Higgins Trio: watch?v=tAXjTnKQi8w