Izuku, after being left on the roof by All Might, had accepted the fact that he couldn't be a hero. It had hurt-fuck, it had ached like a gaping wound in his chest for months afterwards, but he had accepted it. Instead, he focused on the Intelligence and Analytics course at UA. It hadn't been what he had dreamed when he was little, but at the same time, using the skills he had cultivated over years to help people? He hadn't even realized it had been an option until All Might had crushed his dreams on that rooftop, so in a strange way he was almost grateful, because he was proud of what he did.

He was even more proud of the fact that he'd immediately been signed onto an Underground agency after graduating from UA. Analysis could be helpful to Limelight heroes, certainly, but it was far more useful for Underground heroes since they tended to go for low key, quiet takedowns. And, better yet, most Underground heroes didn't give a damn if he was Quirkless, because over half of the time their own Quirks turned out to be useless with the types of villains they fought.

And if it made Izuku bitter that maybe, just maybe, he could have flourished in Underground Heroics, well. Some things were best left alone after so many years-something that his therapist actually agreed with him on. "Focus on the things you can change for yourself," Abe-San had said serenely. "Accept the anger over the past, but do not allow it to control your future." Izuku took that very seriously.

He had been doing great in the Underground circuit, people thought his analysis was insightful and useful, which was fantastic, and his life was settling down into a nice routine-and then Aizawa Shouta came strolling through the door with Shinsou Hitoshi.

Here was the thing.

Izuku liked Hitoshi-would even consider the boy one of his closest friends. Unfortunately, Hitoshi's form of friendship was cheerful teasing-especially about the huge fucking crush Izuku had been nursing on Eraserhead ever since hormones smacked him in the face when he'd turned fifteen. So the wide smile that crossed the purple haired boy's face when he caught sight of Izuku was telling, and he was not having it today.

"No." Izuku pointed a stern finger at Hitoshi, ignoring the way Eraserhead paused and arched an eyebrow. He did not have time for his hormones to sit up and take notice of the older man right now. He needed to stop Hitoshi at the pass, before he could even start today.

"Aw, Izu, you're no fun." Hitoshi's grin just widened to an almost alarming degree. He knew all too well how invested Izuku was in making sure Eraserhead was entirely unaware of his crush, and he was actually very kind about it. They both knew he wouldn't actually out Izuku's crush, but it was part and parcel of their relationship at this point to pretend that he was on the verge of spilling the beans.

Izuku felt his own lips twitch when he heard someone whisper, "Gods be good, it's like a fucking miniature Eraserhead," but he kept a stern face.

"No," he repeated. "You know my version of fun? Sparring with you while you pretend to be half decent at dodging me."

Hitoshi huffed and pouted then. "No thank you. We can schedule an ass beating session for the tenth of never as far as I'm concerned," he grumbled.

Izuku barely bit back an amused laugh. "Sparring session," he corrected, carefully keeping half his attention on his surroundings, because Underground heroes liked to make sure their lessons stick, and Eraserhead was easing out of Hitoshi's range. Being bullied for basically the entirety of his childhood had left its mark, and working at an Underground agency had just honed those skills further. He could tell when someone was planning something-and when a trap was about to be sprung.

"Eh," Hitoshi shrugged. "Sparring session, ass beating session, either way I end up with more bruises than I did when I kicked Blasty's ass in the Sports Festival."

That time Izuku did let a brief grin surface-he had enjoyed that particular Sports Festival in a deeply petty, spiteful way-before he launched himself backwards as several Underground heroes sprang at them at a subtle signal from Eraserhead.

Hitoshi yelped loudly, ducking and tossing one over his hip. "You traitor," he called out laughingly, spinning and knocking two other heroes out quickly, before ducking and taking the final one out at the knees using a dirty trick Izuku had taught him at their last sparring session.

"You're a hero Toshi, it's good practice," Izuku said brightly, propping a hip up on the edge of his desk.

Eraserhead hummed, arching an eyebrow at the two of them. "I didn't teach you that last move," he said, voice and face completely expressionless.

"Yeah," Hitoshi shrugged. "Izu taught me that at our last ass beating session," he smiled in vicious triumph at the irritated noise from his friend. "He said it would probably come in handy at some point."

"He's not wrong." Eraserhead turned and looked at Izuku, frowning a little then. "I recognize you," he said, almost to himself.

Izuku smiled wryly. "I'm sure you do. I was in the Intelligence and Analytics course at UA." It was an open secret that Eraserhead taught at UA, but Izuku was aware enough to not say his civilian name out loud-just in case. The line between Underground Hero, vigilante, and villain could be thin sometimes, so it was best to keep things like that quiet, even if a lot of people were already aware of it.

The older man let out a startled noise of realization. "You were the personal student Nedzu took on as a first year," he said, tipping his head to the side and looking more intensely now, as if he could see why Nedzu took him on. If he came to any sort of conclusion, hopefully he'd share, because Izuku was still hopelessly confused about it.

Hitoshi bit back a laugh-badly-and Izuku narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Yeah, next time you're off we're having another ass beating session," he said flatly. It was just rude to laugh at your friend when his crush was staring at him like he wanted to peel his skin off and see what made him tick-It was oddly attractive, for being slightly disturbing, and Izuku was suddenly very concerned about his taste in men.

"Whoa, I thought they were sparring sessions," the other boy teased, only to pale slightly at Izuku's perfectly pleasant, sweet little smile.

"Not when you're laughing at me they're not!" He said cheerily, channeling Nedzu at his most sadistic . Izuku let his smile fade into something more genuine after a moment. "I think they're ready for the two of you now." He gestured towards the door that had just clicked open slightly,

secretly delighting in the - very slightly-impressed look Eraserhead offered.

Hitoshi was not nearly as subtle as his mentor. "It's kick ass you notice stuff like that-but also

super creepy," the purple haired boy said, perfectly dry.

Izuku rolled his eyes, his smile widening just slightly. Being called creepy didn't hurt coming from Hitoshi, because Izuku knew that the other boy meant it as a weird compliment. It was an entirely different story with some people, however. Izuku couldn't help but like his eyes trail over Eraserhead as the man ushered his student into the room in front of him, and he smiled faintly. It was always nice to see his friend, especially when his friend brought gifts that had such a nice ass.

The meeting didn't take long at all-according to the talk around the proverbial water cooler (because underground heroes wouldn't leave anything like that around when it's so easily poisoned) it was just Eraserhead getting his young mentee into the swing of what it means to be fully Pro in the Underground. But it took long enough that Izuku was busy looking at crime scene photos and blurry underground villain shots, trying to make a coherent analysis for the heroes who had requested them when Hitoshi and Eraserhead came out of the room.

His eyes flicked up and met with purple. Hitoshi's face was slightly pale, and there was an odd slant to his mouth that Izuku didn't quite know what to think of. "You good?" He asked quietly, smiling at the flat affirmation he received back. "I'm glad, I know those briefings can be rough sometimes."

Hitoshi wandered closer to the desk, leaning against and and fully prepared to start teasing again when he saw the pictures on the desk. "Gods," he muttered, his already pale face shading towards green. "That's not something I wanted to see this evening."

Izuku laughed, but casually covered the images and the analysis he was working on. This wasn't a project he could readily share with the purple haired boy. "Well, I don't know that seeing it in the morning would be any better," he joked. He had been keeping an eye on Eraserhead, monitoring him to see if he was irritated over the chatter and loitering Hitoshi was doing, but he seemed pleased more than anything as he slowly drifted closer.

"Sorry Sensei!" Hitoshi apologized as he turned towards his mentor. "I forgot to introduce you, this is Midoriya Izuku." Izuku smiled in greeting at the older man, thankful his friend had the presence of mind to pitch his voice so only the three of them could hear it when giving out his name. He didn't necessarily distrust the Underground heroes in this Agency, but even though he was just an analyst the same reasoning for not saying Eraserhead's full name applied to Hitoshi saying Izuku's full name as well. It was just best not to.

Eraserhead dipped his head in acknowledgement, watching the two of them for a few moments before interrupting in a lull in the conversation. "I would like, at some point, to be able to watch one of those sparring-"

"Ass beating," Hitoshi interrupted drolly.

"Sessions," he finished with a flat look at his student.

Izuku ducked his head and hid his laughter for a moment before straightening up and nodding. "That's totally fine, I get that you need to make sure I'm not teaching him any bad habits." He shrugged. "Besides, something that works for me may not work as well for someone doing hero work." And Eraserhead was probably curious about how an analyst kept up with a Pro Hero. "But I don't have observers when I'm sparring. You come, you spar," Izuku said, offering an easy smile.

"Or," Hitoshi said dramatically, "In my case you get your ass beat, curl up and cry while wondering how you actually managed to pass your hero licensing exam."

Izuku choked on his laughter. "I am not that bad," he defended himself.

Eraserhead had a small smile curving his lips, and Izuku tipped his head, because that smile looked like he'd won something, which made no sense at all. "I understand. Tell me when, and I'll be there-and ready to spar," he added, his smile widening slightly.

Izuku bravely fought the urge to bounce in his seat. A chance to not only spar with Eraserhead, but potentially get some honest feedback from him and see him in workout gear? It was like his birthday and Christmas came all at once. "Awesome," he said cheerfully. "Toshi can give you the details once we've worked them out." He wanted, desperately, to suggest that Eraserhead give him his number so they could work things out as well, but he valiantly refrained.

"Sounds good." Eraserhead gave him another nod, and then looked to Hitoshi. "I'm going to be just outside going over patrol routes with a few people, come find me when you're done." Something about his stern jaw seemed to soften a little, then. "Take your time, Hitoshi. It's good to see you with a friend."

Izuku watched the man disappear with a pleasant smile plastered on his face, and once he was gone dropped his head on the desk with a loud ' thunk ' amid Hitoshi's loud laughter. "I need to return these hormones please, I do not have time to be drooling over Eraserhead right now."

Hitoshi continued to cackle, and Izuku decided to make their next sparring session decidedly unpleasant for his friend. "Look Izu," he managed after a moment, "As much as I'm really enjoying you thirsting over Sensei, you're actually an adult-and not one that he ever really taught for more than a class or two. You could just ask him for his number, or ask him out to drinks or something."

"Sure, I could do that-and then crash and burn because what would a man like that want with someone like me?" Izuku asked drily. "He's hot like fire burning, and I'm..." He shrugged. "I'm me. Anyway, I plan to keep my thirst on the down low, so there shouldn't be any problems." The green haired man narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Right, Hitoshi?"

He held up his hands defensively. "Whoa, no need to pull out the 'agree with me or die' voice Izu, I'm not going to say anything to him." He smirked. "I'm going to tease you relentlessly, but I won't say anything to him about it, ok?" He knew Izuku knew that, but a reminder never hurt.

Izuku huffed, but couldn't help the affectionate smile pulling at his lips. "Thanks Toshi," he said quietly. "The last thing I need is Eraserhead aware of-" He waved a hand. "All my nonsense."

Hitoshi sighed, looking exasperated and amused at the same time. "I think you're being dumb, but fine. My lips are sealed unless you tell me otherwise." He glanced at his watch and grimaced. "Sorry Izu, I've got to get going. Eraser might have said to take my time, but we do still have patrol tonight."

Izuku waved him off. "Go, be a hero. Stop bothering me," he ordered jokingly.

"Ha, just for that I'm going to text you like a thousand times tonight," was the reply as Hitoshi made his way out the door.

Izuku shook his head, laughing fondly at his friend. The two of them were wildly opposite when they'd first met, but Hitoshi had calmed Izuku down, and Izuku had encouraged Hitoshi to open

up. It had been a wild ride, especially since Hitoshi had spent so much time trying to convince Izuku to try and transfer into the Hero course at UA after they'd started training together. But it had been made clear a long time ago that he'd be a liability in the field, so he'd firmly refused every time, and focused on making sure Hitoshi was able to kick ass and take names.

By the time his shift at the Agency had ended, Izuku was tired and his eyes were dry and gritty. "Thank you," the Underground Hero known as Nite-Lite breathed out, holding his analysis like it was gold. "This is-just thank you."

Izuku smiled faintly. "I'm happy I was able to help," he said, careful to not say, 'If you hadn't already alerted them by trying a takedown before the rest of your team was ready, we wouldn't have three heavily injured Underground Heroes and a need for my analysis you dumb fuck.' Because while it might be true, it was also the sort of thing that might see the goodwill towards Izuku rapidly decline, which wasn't something he could afford. Yet. But he had plans.

Heading towards the door, he pulled his phone out as it vibrated rapidly.

Hitoshi: Izu, I created a new group chat with Eraser so we could all decide when the next ass beating session should be.

Izuku: Sounds good, I just got off shift, so let me grab some coffee and we can decide.

Shouta: You just got off shift? Are you walking home this late?

Izuku couldn't help the slight flutter in his stomach that the obvious concern in that text message caused.

Izuku: Yeah, I don't live that far from the Agency so it's not a big deal.

Hitoshi: Don't you normally get off work like 3 hours ago?

Izuku: Yeah, there was an emergency analysis needed.

Hitoshi: lol I recognize that tone of text. Someone did some stupid shit and you had to clean up after them, huh?

Izuku: You should recognize this tone of text, since you're normally the one doing stupid shit I have to clean up after.

Izuku had paused to text, but didn't receive another reply for several minutes. Just a moment after he'd started walking again, he felt eyes on him, stopping in his tracked when he saw Aizawa, looking far, far too attractive in a dark t-shirt and jeans, his hair caught in a bun at the nape of his neck. "Just in the neighborhood, Eraserhead?" Izuku asked drily, licking his lips when the man slouched against the wall.

"When I'm not in costume you can call me Shouta," he said quietly, entirely avoiding the question.

Unfortunately for him, Izuku wasn't that easily distracted. "Thank you," he said politely. Then, "Just in the neighborhood, Shouta?"

A small huff of what might have been laughter escaped the dark haired man. "No," he admitted. "I got worried about you walking home this late by yourself."

Izuku's lips pressed together tightly as he considered the offense of thinking he couldn't take care of himself versus the deep seated pleasure that the other man had taken time out of his evening to

come walk him home. Finally, sighing deeply, he warned, "Do not make this a habit." He let his lips quirk up faintly then. "But thank you, this is a lot later than I'm used to walking home."

Shouta pushed himself off of the wall, looking pleased. "I'd be more than happy to walk with you if you get off this late again," the man offered as they started down the sidewalk again.

'Didn't I just say to not get used to this, ' Izuku thought, slightly amused although he glanced away to hide the twitch of his lips. "We'll see," is all he said after a moment. "Hopefully it will be a non-issue, since this hasn't happened before."

Shouta sighed. "Midoriya..." he trailed off, sounding frustrated.

"Call me Izuku," he murmured, shoving his hands in his pockets. "If it'll make you feel better, if I get off this late again, I'll toss it in the group chat, ok? That way you and Hitoshi will both know." Izuku was a sucker for this man, obviously. But that was still the only bone he was going to throw him on this topic at the moment.

Watching Shouta out of the corner of his eye, he saw how the man's face darkened, just slightly when he mentioned putting it in the group chat. But all he said was, "Thank you Izuku, I appreciate that."

Izuku hummed in acknowledgement, curious about that odd expression he'd caught, and the rest of the walk passed by in companionable silence, Izuku chewing on the inside of his mouth to avoid the muttering most people thought was unbearably creepy. He had assumed that Shouta would leave him in front of the slightly run-down apartment building, but instead the taller man ushered him inside, the corners of his mouth gone tight.

If it were anyone else, Izuku would shake them off and leave them outside, but this is Eraserhead . So he lead the man to his door, and leaned up against it. "Thank you," he said finally. "I really do appreciate this."

Shouta nodded slowly, eyes trained on him. "Remember what I said, Izuku. Say something if you're going to be out this late again."

"I will," he promised. With that, he unlocked the door and slipped inside. Something settled inside of him when he only heard Shouta move away from the door once the deadbolt clicked into place. He flicked another quick glance at his phone, quiet suspicion winding its way through him when he realized that Hitoshi hadn't texted back after Shouta had shown up.

Well, even if Hitoshi had sent Shouta after him, the man hadn't had to be as concerned as he obviously was, or as kind.

Having people care about him wasn't something he was used to, but it was nice. Maybe, he dared to think, someday he and Shouta could be friends.