Izuku has finally returned home, to many words, a few tears, and some moments of realization he needed. He has some conversations to get through first, but now, he's ready to move forward into the future.

Izuku sat in Recovery Girl's office, twining and entwining his fingers as he awaited Ochako's arrival. They had decided he'd do the 'bond' one at a time in her office just so she could monitor things, and they'd all made it very clear Ochako was coming first. The looks every one of his mentors shared at the mention of her name had him concerned for exactly how poorly she took his flight, but he resolved to face it head on and accept whatever she had to say. Even…even if she couldn't deal with him anymore, he'd…he'd accept it.

He knew that she'd put up with a lot by dating him. His constant issues, panic attacks, the fact he'd been hurting her this whole time. He knew she wasn't petty or anything but everyone had a breaking point, didn't they? He proved that time and again…and he was worried he'd pushed her over that line. But it didn't matter. If that's what she wanted, he'd accept it.

Or really, any of his class, if they wanted him somewhere else for their own safety he would completely understand. Yes, he heard what his teacher and his mentor had told him, about how they were worried and wanted him home, but he couldn't help but think of the worst case scenario.

And…Eri. How do you explain to a child he'd been taking from her? After what Chisaki had done to her? Even if the adults thought he wasn't at fault, she was a traumatized child, she might not understand it and be afraid of him. Well, maybe she would be better off with someone else watching her anyway. It's not like he knew how to be a father after all, and he'd listed a lot of good reasons for not being hers. So she could find an actual father, not some neurotic, broken, mess-

His spiraling thoughts were cut off by the door to the office opening, a glimpse of Aizawa holding it open for Ochako, before it shut behind the brunette as she stepped into the room. Emerald met brown as she stared at him with a blank expression on her face, emotionless and steady. He couldn't hold her gaze, looking down and away from her in shame. Seeing her just reinforced his mind…she wouldn't want to put up with him anymore. He took in a deep, bracing breath, squaring his shoulders as he prepared for her judgment and condemnation.

A few moments passed in silence, Izuku waiting for her to speak…but she said nothing. Eventually, the silence got to be too much and he chanced a look up at her, to see she had silently crossed the room to take a seat in the chair next to him, still staring at him blankly. After another second of silence, she opened her mouth and spoke softly. "Are you going to do the connection thing? Is this how you do it?"

"O-o-oh, r-right," he managed to stutter out. Stupid, stupid Izuku, of course he needed to do that, to return what he'd stolen first. She'd need her energy after all. He flickered his vision on, watching the chocolate strands of energy swirling between the two of them. Braiding them together as he'd done earlier, finding it much easier with that little practice, he found her pink singularity in his mind and tossed the end of the rope about it, watching it get grasped and drawn into the swirling event horizon.

He rose back out of his vestige world, watching as Ochako took in a breath and rolled her shoulders. She flexed her fingers, blinking a bit in curiosity. "Huh. That does feel better than before. Guess Sensei was telling the truth."

"Y-yeah…yeah. I-I'm glad I could return it to you," Izuku murmured, finding it really hard to avoid stuttering right now.

Silence fell over them once more. Ochako sighed, turning to look at Izuku directly. "Izu…we need to talk." She paused for a moment, narrowing her eyes at him as soon as she noticed him pale. "And stop that right now mister! I'm not breaking up with you or anything stupid like that so stop letting your anxiety freak you out and just listen to your girlfriend who still loves you very much and needs you to hear her out, okay?"

Izuku's jaw dropped as he stared at her in consternation at how easily she'd read his thoughts. After a second, he tamped down on the sudden surge of fear and pain that had rocketed up when she said those dreaded words and nodded. She wanted him to listen, and he owed her that much.

Ochako sighed once more, but Izuku couldn't help but feel heartened by her reaching out and taking his hand in her own gently, one pinky raised to avoid activating her Quirk on him. She cleared her throat. "Izuku…please…please, don't do that again. I know it's difficult for you, and I know it was instinctual, but you terrified me. You terrified us all. I need you to trust me, to trust us, all of us, when something goes wrong or goes bad just don't run. Stay with us…stay with me."

The weight of shame he felt at her practically begging him not to leave made it so, so difficult to lift his head up, staring down at his lap, ashamed. But a gentle touch on his chin lifted his gaze up to meet hers, forcing their eyes to meet, she whispered to him into the silence. "Do not go far from me. Stay. Trust. Believe in me. In everyone who loves you. We're here for you, just like you are for us."

He stared back at her for a moment, whispering "So…you're not mad?"

She shook her head slowly. "I am. A little bit at you, because I wish by now you'd trust us and let us help you, let us in. But I'm mostly mad at the world because you don't deserve this."

"Ochako-"

"Don't," she warned. "Don't argue with me about this. Just…don't. I love you, Izuku Midoriya, and nothing you say to me will change that or change the fact I hate how much you've been hurt. Just…just let me be mad for you, because we both know you won't be."

Izuku gaped at her for a moment, allowing a sad chuckle to escape him as he finally felt comfortable enough to lean over and press his shoulder against hers. "...thank you for always looking out for me," he murmured.

Ochako sniffled for a moment, pressing back as she lay her head on his shoulder. "Always, Izu…always." She was silent for a moment. Letting out a deep sigh, she lifted herself up and stood up, looking down at him. "I can't take up all your time, Himi's just as worried as I am. I'm gonna go let her in and get this settled so you can come back, okay?"

Izuku nodded. "Yeah…yeah, okay. I'll see you back at the dorms?" Ochako nodded, leaning down and pressing a kiss to his forehead softly. Giving him one more smile, she stepped to the door and opened it, stepping out and moving to close it behind her…but he could see Himiko's arm intercepting both her and the door. He couldn't hear what was said, but they spoke for a few seconds before Himiko kissed Ochako on the cheek and darted into the room. Izuku had no time to react before he found himself tackled onto the bed by the blonde woman, letting out an oomph at the force.

He found himself wrapping his arms about her, feeling her latched onto him like a limpet, nuzzling her face into his neck. Her voice muffled, she squeezed him tighter as she spoke. "Don't you ever do that again, okay?"

"...yeah. I know, Himi. I know."

She lifted herself up just enough for a single amber eye to meet his gaze, the flat expression on her facing cluing him in to how displeased she was right then. "You promise?"

He swallowed, letting out a deep sigh of his own before nodding slowly. "...yeah. I…I know what I did was stupid. I won't do that again. I'm sorry for hurting you."

"It's not me I was worried about you dork," she replied with a huff of air, plopping back on top of him and sighing into the crook of his neck. "Just do the connection thingy so we can go back quicker, okay?"

He nodded even though she couldn't see it, closing his eyes to begin the process. This was becoming significantly easier for him as he went, only taking him a half a minute to find the thread and twine it together, to send the rope into the orbit of the bubbling yellow star that shone in his mind's eye. As he finalized it, he felt Himiko shiver in his grasp for a brief second.

"Woah. That does feel a lot better. Damn Izu, if this is how this connection thing works, I think I wanna keep it going!"

Izuku didn't really know how to react to that, so he kept his mouth shut. He would rather this never happened to begin with…but when did he ever get anything he wanted when it came to his goddamned Quirk?

His musings were interrupted by a gentle nip on his neck making him jolt…not strong enough to break the skin, but strong enough he felt it and was taken aback. He blinked rapidly as she lifted herself up enough to gaze down on his prone form, her blonde hair loose and curtaining the two of them from the world. She gazed down at him and sighed deeply, closing her eyes and pressing her forehead against his. After a moment, she lifted herself back up to look into his eyes.

"I dunno what stupid thoughts you're having, but I can feel your heartbeat speeding up. You stop that, okay? Please?"

Izuku stared up at his girlfriend, emerald and amber locked together, letting out a deep sigh. "...I'll try. That's the best I can do, Himi."

She gave him a sharp nod, rolling off him and hopping to her feet as he sat back up. "Well, can't steal you all for myself no matter how much I wanna. I'll see you back home Izu!" She leaned down and gave him one last squeeze, sauntering out of the room, swapping places with…ah. Katsuki.

The blonde boy stomped over, flopping into the chair next to Izuku and waving his hand tiredly. "Do I gotta say anything?"

Izuku shook his head. "...no. Pretty sure they covered it."

Katsuki nodded. "Figured. Alright. Do the fucking thing then. Got a lot more to go, dumbass."

Izuku didn't respond, finding the rope and threading it together with ease, connecting the nova without any issue. He watched as Katsuki stretched, letting out a satisfied sigh, a smirk crossing his lips. "Ah, that's nice. Good shit."

Izuku waited for more, but was startled by Katsuki standing up, shoving his hands in his pockets and making his way to the door. He couldn't help it. "...that's it?"

Katsuki stopped at the doorway, his hand on the knob and his back to Izuku. After a second, he spoke, his voice nearly a whisper in the room. "I've known you my whole life, Zu. I know what kind of fucking moron you are. I'm used to this stupid shit. I wish I wasn't, and I wish you understood how much I fucking hate it, but I'm used to it. And before you get all mopey, I'm not putting it on you…if anyone knows how hard it is for you to deal, it's me. I get it. I just don't like it. Besides…the squirt's next, and you need to be at your best for her."

"Wait, Eri? D-does she-"

"She knows. We explained it. She's a smart kid, Zu. She gets the basics and doesn't care, she just wants to see her Dad. So give her the damned hugs she needs, fix up that connection, fix the class, and come home already so we can just move on. Hurry the fuck up, I'm making dinner tonight." Katsuki nearly ripped the door from its hinges with how swiftly he yanked it open, giving Izuku no time to respond before he slipped out…and Eri bolted in and leapt onto the bed next to Izuku.

"Daddy! I missed you!" she cried out as she latched onto his side, Izuku automatically wrapping his arms about her and pulling her into his lap. He didn't wait for her words, finalizing the connection with ease and watching as the slight shivering she had been doing vanished, her body relaxing into his side as she let out a contented sigh.

"I missed you too, sweetheart," he whispered, keeping his voice as level as possible. He felt the tears pricking at his eyes but did his best to blink them back, not wanting to make this any harder on her than he already had been.

She looked up at him and beamed, her smile soothing the aches in his heart like few others could. He smiled back at her as genuinely as he could, hugging her tighter to him as she squirmed in place for a moment before settling into his arms, relaxing back against his chest. After a few moments, she looked up at him once more and tilted her head to the side.

"When we get back, can I beat up Den at Hero Fighter again? He said it's not fair and won't play me anymore, but Hanta says he's just scared."

Izuku couldn't help it. He giggled. For what felt like the first time in weeks, he found himself laughing, the sheer frustration and the pouting expression on Eri's face too much for him to not react. His laughter only grew at how she glared up at him cutely for his laughter, her pout only getting more pronounced as she tried to punch him on the arm. "Daaaaaaddd, c'mon, it's not funny! I wanna beat up Denki more!"

Izuku's eyes were full of tears as he fell backwards on the bed, taking Eri with him as he laughed harder and harder. He wanted to assure her but he could not get the words past the laughter bubbling up from within. He was laughing so hard he didn't notice the door opening, Ochako, Shoto, Himiko, and Katsuki's confused expressions looking around the doorway, the other members of the class behind them trying to peer in at his sudden uproarious laughter.

After a moment, he finally managed to calm himself, opening his eyes to see Eri staring at him, her arms crossed over her chest as she sat on his chest and glared at him, looking so much like a miniature Katsuki he burst into peals of laughter once more. Eri let out an annoyed snort of air at him, only making him giggle harder before she finally gave up and flopped down onto his chest, clinging onto him and hugging him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Daddy, you're silly," she murmured into his chest.

"Y-yeah, I guess I am," he managed to get out, his giggles slightly fading away as he gave her a gentle squeeze. "I'll um…I'll talk to Denki for you, okay? Can't promise he'll play, its his choice, but I'll talk to him. How's that?"

She wiggled in his grasp, managing to escape his lax grip and stared up at him with a brilliant smile on her face. "Really?! Really really?"

He gave her a solemn nod, the effect ruined by the chuckle escaping his mouth. "Really really."

"Yay! I'm gonna go tell Mom and Mama!" she cried out, hopping off the bed and running to the cracked open door, Izuku finally noticing it wasn't fully closed as she bolted out of the room.

He blinked at her enthusiasm, a smile still on his face as Shoto stepped into view. "Izuku. May I come in?"

"Of course," Izuku nodded, enough cheer still in him to smile at Shoto's placid face. The split-haired young man gave him a miniscule smile in return, taking a seat on the chair beside Izuku and sitting upright. Izuku didn't wait for words, twining the thread together and finalizing the connection…but as he flipped his Quirk vision on, he noted he could see a few more threads floating through the door.

With effort, he narrowed his focus, realizing that with all of them just outside the door and the door open…the effect was active, and he could just…do more of them at once. Swiftly, he started tying the threads together…Tenya's, Tsu's, Mina's, Fumikage's, Momo, Toru…one by one, he started to twist and braid them together, finding their object in his mind and finalizing the connection, able to hear the steadily growing murmur from beyond the doorframe of his friends and partners as they found their energy returned to them.

Shoto tilted his head at him, then glanced over at the door. "Are you…doing more connections?" he asked.

Izuku nodded. "Yeah…with the door open I can see the others and just…figured I'd get them all done as soon as possible?"

Shoto nodded sharply. "Good. Then you can come back to the dorms, right?"

Izuku's shoulders slumped at the tone in Shoto's voice. Most people wouldn't notice it, with how deadpan it was, but Izuku could hear the slight anger in his voice. "Y-yeah. I will."

"Good. I think it is only right for me to inform you I am very upset with you right now. But I still wish to date you. I expect many hugs from you to make up for the worry you caused me."

Izuku snapped his head up to look at Shoto, the very unusual direct demand odd for the other boy. He narrowed his eyes at the heterochromatic teen. "...did Mina tell you to say that?"

"No, she told me to demand many kisses, which I did consider, but I thought that I would rather any kiss between us be for a better reason. So I have chosen hugs."

Izuku blinked rapidly at Shoto, feeling his face heat up as the boy spoke so bluntly. Not that he was against it (who looked at Shoto and didn't have those thoughts?) but…well, he wasn't exactly expecting that level of blunt. Which, in hindsight, he should have. It was very Shoto to just blurt things like that out.

His train of thought was derailed by a loud, annoyed groan from outside the door. Shoto and Izuku both turned to stare at the door as Mina's face popped into view, pouting at Izuku. "You fixed the connections with us all already?" At Izuku's confused nod, she sighed. "Aww, I wanted my solo moment with Midori to complain about him being dumb!"

"You can give him your critique's back at the dorms!" Momo's voice insisted, a visible hand from the taller teen reaching out to grab Mina by the collar and pull her away from the doorframe. After a moment, her head appeared around the frame with a nervous smile. "My apologies. Since it appears all connections are finished for the class, we'll head back to the dorms and wait for you."

Izuku gulped. Though Momo was smiling…he could tell she had some things to say to him as well from how her black eyes glittered when they met his gaze. But…well, to be honest, it didn't bother him now that he thought about it. The fact they were so worried gave him a small bit of cheer, knowing how much they cared. So he simply nodded, giving her a small smile, the taller woman's smile growing as she nodded and disappeared once more, her voice cajoling the rest to leave.

Shoto stood up, awkwardly patting Izuku on the shoulder. "I'll return to the dorms as well, Izuku. I believe with the class taken care of, it is only Hatsume left. I know Sensei went to fetch her, so it should not be long."

"O-oh, right. Yeah. Okay," Izuku murmured. He reached up his hand to grasp Shoto's in his own, the cool touch lingering for a moment as Shoto glanced down at their clasped hands with the faintest blush visible on his face. Izuku made sure to smile up at his boyfriend, the split-haired teenager managing a wobbly smile of his own before he nodded and left, his fingers slipping out of Izuku's, and exiting the room, the door shutting softly behind him.

Izuku took a moment to catch his breath. That was only five of the many conversations he knew he was going to have to get through…and he had another apology to make to Mei. Whatever anyone else had said, he'd hurt Mei a lot in their last interaction, and all while he was trying so hard to show her she could trust him and the other members of Class 1-A. He owed her a big apology at the very least.

One which it seemed like he would get the chance to give, since the door slammed open and he jumped with a start, eyes wide at seeing Mei bolt over to him, a weird looking helmet stuck to her head. It resembled a miner's helmet, except instead of a flashlight, it seemed to have some sort of scanner atop it, with a dozen gears and displays surrounding it that made Izuku have to look away after a moment from all the bright, flashing lights.

"Ten Mill!" she shouted, skidding to a stop in front of him and leaning forward into his personal space, the helmet letting out a series of beeps as she got closer.

"Um…hi, Mei? Uh, just give me a sec," he began, but she cut him off.

"Not yet! I wanna get more data before you fix it!" she said, a wide smile on her face as the helmet continued to beep. She pulled out what resembled a small tablet from her pocket and began to poke at it, nodding towards it as the helmet started beeping more rapidly. "Hmm, yeah, okay. Consistency, huh? So I guess the touch was what caused the massive drop? Does it occur with every touch? Okay, Izuku, touch me!"

Izuku sputtered as she leaned into his personal space once more, wishing upon every god he'd heard of she had any idea of the way she sounded to people. Luckily for her, he supposed, he knew what she really was trying to do…trying to figure out the speed of drain from his overactive Quirk, and she had remembered the incident at the dorms. That said…he had no desire to repeat that, and he decided to tell her that.

"I'd…I'd rather not do that again, Mei. I don't like hurting my friends," he said quietly.

She waved dismissively at him. "C'mon, it didn't actually hurt me! I just got really tired is all. Besides, I need the data! I'm making an algorithm to plot out the rate of drain so we can determine how much your passive drain impacts, that way we can figure out a baby to control it!"

He blinked at her. "You think a support item can help me control it?"

She nodded rapidly. "Absolutely! Or at least, the data might help you figure out how to control it on your own. But even if so, you'll want something to help you use it!"

He sputtered in protest. "I don't want to use it, I want it to stop!"

Mei stopped her bouncing around for a moment to stare at him, her yellow, unblinking gaze almost unnerving as she spoke quietly. "Izuku…why not? Imagine how quickly you could stop a villain if you could just…exhaust them with a single touch? Even the most dangerous villain has a limited amount of energy to use. If you could drain a controllable amount in an instant, you'd be able to win nearly any fight, stop any villain in their tracks. Isn't that something you'd want?"

Izuku gaped at her for a moment, before shaking his head. "I can only use it on people I care about though."

"For now. But once you get a handle on it, I bet it'd work on anyone!"

"...I don't share your confidence on that," he muttered, looking away from her.

Her eyes narrowed at him. "That's stupid. You're smarter than that. You've got one of the most versatile energy manipulation Quirk's in history and you're assuming you won't be able to control it to work at will on the choice of your target. Aren't you the one who told me not to let all my bad past experiences ruin my future? Well, take your own advice! Before I build a baby to make you!"

"How would you-"

"Dunno but I'd figure it out!"

"...I hate that I actually believe you'd find a way."

Mei smirked for a moment, before the smirk faded and she glanced down at her tablet. Nodding, she gestured at Izuku to take her hand again. "C'mon. Just once, I need the data."

Izuku worked his jaw as he thought about it, finally sighing. "Fine, but sit down first. Don't want you to get hurt. Put the tablet down too."

She rolled her eyes, flopping down into the chair and setting the tablet on the stand next to him. "Fine! Now, do it, no more delay! I got babies to build!"

With a very uncertain expression, Izuku took a deep breath before reaching out and placing his hand on hers…and winced as he watched her slump in the chair, her eyes going half-lidded almost immediately. Hurriedly, he let go of her and swiftly grabbed the tablet, shoving it into her now lax hand. "Did you get what you needed?" he demanded, already flipping his vision so he could see the thread and starting to braid to it together in his mind.

Mei yawned, glancing down at the tablet tiredly. "Hmm, yep, s-seems so. Okay, do the thing."

He didn't wait any further, tying the thread together and finding her place in his mindscape (a pink pulsar), and sending the connection into its orbit. He decided to try something new…since she was clearly more drained from him touching her hand, he focused on the threads connecting them and tried to force more into her, like when he tapped on his classmates to give them a boost.

"Woah!" she cried out, jolting to her feet, eyes wide. "That's what it feels like? Really? Everyone else seemed so calm!"

"Um…I added a bit more, because you had me do the experiment with the drain thing," Izuku replied softly.

"So you can now just give us energy at will? How far away can you do it?"

Izuku went to respond, but paused as the question actually hit him. He…wasn't actually sure. At the USJ he'd gotten the entire class, but he also thought he was dying. During the finals he had as well, but he'd been right next to them all. He took a moment and closed his eyes, seeking the threads connecting him to everyone and could see them still. Not where the end of them was, once passed a certain point they faded into the distance but…well, worth a shot? He focused, gathering his energy, pouring a large amount into it and decided to just…send it out, to all his classmates. He felt the energy take hold and zip out, watching it in his mindscape spiral into the various celestial bodies orbits.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and shrugged at Mei. "Don't know for sure. I just sent some to the class so, we'll have to see-"

His words were interrupted by a sudden noise from down the hall of…an engine? A split second later, Tenya came skidding into the room, his feet nearly slipping on the smooth floor. Izuku and Mei stared at him for a moment, the tall, blue-haired teen adjusting himself quickly. Pushing his glasses up, he glanced over at Izuku. "Are you alright?"

"Um…yeah?" Izuku replied, confused.

Tenya cleared his throat. "The class felt a sudden surge of energy within us, so we wished to verify your condition and they sent me ahead to check."

"Oh…um…we were testing how far away I could send it?" Izuku replied sheepishly, only now realizing how it could be taken when they got a sudden burst of his energy from nowhere.

Tenya's unimpressed stare told him everything he probably needed to know, the taller teenager staring for a moment before letting out an annoyed sigh. "Very well. False alarm, I suppose. Izuku, please do not worry us for an experiment. And Hatsume, don't encourage him, he's more reckless than you."

"Hmm, you have a point, Engines. His calibrations are all off and he does appear to lack self-preservation programming. I'll keep that in mind!"

Izuku glared at both of them. "I am not reckless, and I'm not a malfunctioning machine either!"

"Yes, you are."

"Yeah, you really are."

"...I hate both of you."

"Energy drain connection says you don't!"

Tenya shrugged at the two of them. "Well, if you're all done…perhaps you can come back to the dorms, Izuku? Everyone is waiting for you."

Mei hopped up, shoving her tablet into her pocket. "Yeah you do that! I got work to do with this data, I can make so many babies I bet! See you guys later!" Without letting either young man reply, she bolted out of the room.

Izuku stared at the door for a moment, but found his gaze drawn back to Tenya as the other teen held out his hand. "Well…come along then. Time to go home."

Izuku paused for a moment…a small smile crossing his face as he took Tenya's hand and let the other teen pull him to his feet. "Yeah. Let's go home."

"So…is it your turn to lecture me?" Izuku asked, arching an eyebrow at Mina who had flopped across his lap as soon as he sat down on the couch and was currently reading a magazine.

She licked her finger and turned the page, not looking up at him. "Nah. Toru, me, Kyo, and Tsu all agreed we'd leave the lecturing to Ocha and Momo, and whatever else Himi and Shoto did."

"Momo?" Izuku asked, blinking, as he'd yet to hear from her.

"Yes, me," came the teen in question's voice, making Izuku glance up to see her looming over him with a stern expression. After a moment, her face softened and she collapsed into the seat next to him. "I…believe Ochako likely made it clear to you how we all felt, so I will not rehash what she said. I just wish to reiterate it…not only from the perspective of one of your…partners," Momo visibly flushed at the word, but continued on. "But also as a classmate, your vice representative…and your friend. You are part of us, Izuku. So don't toss us aside because you are afraid, okay?"

Mina nodded, still resolutely not looking up from her magazine, but Izuku could easily feel the hurricane of emotions she was hiding behind her veil of nonchalance. Not that she was the only one…the entire class was a strange combination of anger, frustration, joy, worry, embarrassment, and concern that sent his head spinning as he tried to reign in his instinctual response to the flood of emotion filling the room.

He let out a deep breath, one hand taking Momo's and squeezing it while the other gently stroked Mina's hair. "Yeah…I know. I won't. Not again. I promise."

"We'll hold you to that Izu!" Toru said, clambering onto the couch to lay half atop Mina, the pink-skinned teen just wrapping her arms about her girlfriend in response.

"Indeed. I may not be one of your paramours, but I would rather you were here. As would Dark Shadow," Fumikage said softly, curled up on one of the armchairs. A split second later, the shadowy form of Dark Shadow appeared and nodded at Izuku rapidly.

"Yeah, what Fumi said!" it said, posing dramatically. Yugo appeared behind it, mirroring the pose, the two taking a moment to offer the other a high five as Fumikage facepalmed.

Izuku snorted at the sight, offering a grin to the trio trying to be cheerful. He knew what they were doing and couldn't help but find it amusing.

"Enough of the mushy shit, dinner's almost done, everyone to the table," Katsuki growled from the kitchen where he was busy turning dials off.

Izuku glanced at his classmates, his friends, his family, and it just suddenly hit him. His family. Watching as Eri got placed in a seat between Himiko and Ochako, as Denki swooned into Hitoshi's lap while the purple-haired teen rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's antics. Watched Mezo placing a dozen plates at once, Kyoka in the corner messing with the sound system to get some music playing for background noise. Koji was speaking softly to his rabbit, Rikido finishing icing what looked like a cake of some kind. Each and every one of the class, all together once more, waiting…for him.

Maybe he didn't have control over this tower yet, this energy siphoning ability. Maybe he still feared his Quirk could someday overcharge and take everything from him once more. Maybe he didn't trust himself as much as he should. But, he trusted them…and that was enough. That was finally, finally, enough for him.

"Zu, you coming?" Katsuki asked, leaning against the doorframe and looking at the green-haired teen, Izuku jolted upright, the moment he realized everyone else was already seated. Izuki smiled at his brother, wide, honest, happy.

"Yeah. Yeah, I am."