It felt surreal, walking down the streets of Mustafu unmolested, no yakuza to chase after him, no paid off heroes trying to turn him over to them, he could go get groceries and walk along with an easy gait.

Well, as easy as he could with the amount of people gawking at him. Whispers follow his every step.

"Isn't that?"

"It is,"

"Metal Bat."

"You think he's on patrol?"

"No way, he's not a hero, remember?"

"Maybe he's doing it in spite of that."

"Guys, he's got groceries, maybe calm down?"

Izuku rolled his eyes as he reached his apartment complex, taking the steps two at a time until he was in front of his door, raising an eyebrow when he saw Erasurehead leaning against the wall, "I already told him, I haven't decided on anything yet." he said as he unlocked his door and stepped in.

"He needs your answer soon." Aizawa said, stepping in after him, "classes start in a few days, after all."

"Who said you were invited in?" He questioned before a rebuking hand slapped the back of his head, "Ow." he grumbled as Aki stepped around the corner.

"Good morning Eraserhead." he greeted with a smile, "there's a fresh pot of coffee in the kitchen."

"Thank you," the shaggy haired man said, a rare smile adorning his visage as he slunk into the slightly hectic kitchen, papers strewn about on half of the small table, while the other half held freshly cooked breakfast foods.

"Are you hungry?" Aki asked, as Izuku began putting the groceries away, "John Henry will be here soon for breakfast."

"The coffee will be enough," Aizawa reassured, glancing at the papers as he prepared his thermos, "placement tests?" he questioned, looking over at Izuku who avoided his eyes.

"...Nezu sent them over, figured it wouldn't hurt to take them." he said with a shrug, "Not much else to do since I got fired for my 'week vacation',"

"I still can't believe Mr. Ken would do that to you." Aki said sympathetically as he placed a plate of eggs and sausage in front of him.

"Rain or shine, Villain attack or not," Izuku muttered sarcastically, then sighed, running a hand through his hair, "it's fine," he said, trying to sound upbeat, "the money from the bounties will keep the bills paid for the next several months, I can find work in that time frame."

"If you join UA-" Aizawa began.

"Drop it." Izuku muttered, making Aizawa hold his hands up in surrender.

"I'm just saying-"

"-well don't say it." Izuku snapped, taking another calming breath as Aki shot him a warning look, "I know, how serious this decision is." he said slowly, gritting his teeth, "but I can't just go jumping into this half-cocked, i've been out of classes for a year, I'm so far behind everyone else it's not even funny; so please, let me figure it out on my own."

Aizawa hesitated, then nodded, "truthfully I don't understand why Nezu is pushing it so hard." he said, "especially since you seem so unwilling."

"Not unwilling." izuku said quietly, "this IS my dream school we're talking about, I just…" he sighed, "it all feels like a dream. Like at any moment it's gonna be pulled away from me in some cruel joke."

"The Principal isn't one to pull those kinds of pranks." Aizawa said, "he wants you in his school, for whatever reason, and while I may not be your biggest supporter, I won't lie and say your chance is worse than anyone else's; you have the potential to match Melissa Shield in terms of raw strength, and your ability to think under pressure is definitely a bonus."

"I sense a 'but' somewhere in there." Izuku muttered.

"But-"

"-there it is-"

"-you're untrained, as you've said you've been out of school for over a year; to catch up alone would take up the majority of your time while in your first semester."

"And I know all of that." Izuku sighed, running a tired hand over his face, "one of these days someone's gonna tell me something I don't know."

Aizawa rolled his eyes, standing as a door opened down the hall.

Eri quietly padded into the kitchen, eyes half closed and a thick blanket wrapped around her small frame; with clumsy, clambering steps she carefully climbed into Izukus lap, asleep before her head even landed on his chest.

Izuku smiled a bit and adjusted her ever so slightly so he could continue to eat.

"How has she been?" Aizawa asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the young girl.

"She's not jumping at shadows anymore." Izuku responded, "no telling how she'd do outside of the house, but she knows this is a safe place."

"She's also comfortable enough to stay with me and Yorobi while Izuku goes off doing whatever he's been doing the past two weeks." Aki cut in, sitting down with his own plate as he began to eat.

"Job hunting." Izuku explained, "UA or not, I gotta pay bills."

"Only with UA there's a work study program that can help with that." Aizawa said, holding his hand up when Izuku glared at him, "relax," he droned, "that's free information, and another factor to consider in your choice."

Izuku sighed and went back to eating. Silence filled the apartment until the front door opened and Eri brought her head up at the noise.

"Morning all." Yorobi greeted, dressed in his hero uniform of a plate carrier, blue jeans and brown boots. His hammer hanging on a loop on his belt.

"Morning John." Izuku mumbled around a bite of pancakes.

"Morning sweetie." Aki greeted, standing and giving his fiance a peck on the cheek, "foods ready."

"Awesome." He said, returning the peck and moving to fix a plate, "Eraserhead, always a pleasure."

"Always. "Aizawa agreed dryly, "how was the night shift?"

"Slow." He grumbled, "with the Shie Hessaikai defunct, most criminals have ducked their heads."

"That won't last." Aizawa Warned, "that vacuum in power has to be filled sooner or later."

"And I'm sure Metal Bat here will smash them right back to the Edo Era." John teased Izuku as he ruffled his hair before sitting down with his plate.

"Oh yeah, I'll just go be a vigilante real quick and make sure there's peace in Mustafu forever more." izuku rolled his eyes.

"That's what the word on the street is, you've become a folk hero kid."

"And I can't wait to die into obscurity, I've had to outrun those news vultures three times now, gods forbid they find my actual address."

"If they do, just call the cops, they have no authority to be hanging around places like this, they'll disperse as soon as any kind of authority does show up." Aizawa reassured him, jumping to his feet. "I have to go, kid, Nezu is giving you until the end of the week, come to a decision by then." With that, the dark clad hero left.

Izuku quietly ate, smiling when Eri finally turned around in his arms, "will we get to see the funny bear again?" she asked quietly, eyes shining a bit."

"Yep," Izuku said, "end of the week, we can do whatever you want until then. Barring this afternoon."

Eri tilted her head.

"I have to turn these papers in," he said, "you'll be staying with Yorobi and Aki, they'll keep you safe okay?"

"Okay," she said uncertainty, though she'd grown a bit accustomed to others protecting her now that Izuku had entrusted several others in that task.

"Have you given it any thought?" Yorobi asked him.

"I have."

"...what have you decided?"

"I haven't."

Yorobi rolled his eyes, "gotta come to a decision sooner or later." he chided.

"That seems to be the general consensus." Izuku finished his food and stood up, gently placing Eri onto the table, "hungry Eri?"

"Y-yes."

"Let's get you a plate fixed up then."

Aki and Yorobi shared a look as Izuku busied himself with getting Eri fed.

WVWVW

He handed the placement tests to Hound Dog at the gate, promising a therapy session as soon as he made a decision before catching the train back into downtown Mustafu. The streets were tense, almost each one he passed had some kind of damage being fixed, heroes crawled the place like army ants. Needless to say crime was at an all time low for however long they would be here.

But Izuku wasn't wholly concerned with that. Instead his worries focused solely on the burnt out store front slowly being cleared by older men. The youngest among them being a middle aged man with salt and pepper hair. All of them raised a friendly hand to him as he approached. "Midoriya!"

"Hey guys," he greeted, settling his bat on his shoulder, figuring he'd bring it along just in case.

"Haven't seen you since before the blizzard." one said as Izuku immediately began helping them clear out the destroyed store, a few were already beginning to replace burnt boards and electrical.

"Been busy," he said lightly, "How's Mick?"

"He's alright son, should be by this afternoon, glad you came by to give a hand."

"Always happy to help Mick, especially since this is my fault."

"What?" they all looked at him in shock.

"The Yakuza were after me, I was protecting a little girl. They burned the place down because he helped me."

One of the older men shook his head, "back in my day the Shie Hessaikai had honor!" he grumbled, "burning a place down over a little girl, despicable."

"You know Micks willing to take whatever wrap he's got to, to help quirkless like us." another said, patting Izuku's back, "so that means we help him whenever we can as well, so put any self pity you got aside and lets get this place spruced up!"

Izuku grinned and nodded, soon they were back to work, and by the time Old Mick had limped into the store, it looked just like it had before.

"Welcome back Mick!" They all chorused. Much to the old man's amusement.

"All of you did this for me?" he asked with a happy smile, laughing a bit as the oldest among them came forth to pat his back. "I'll never be able to repay you all."

"Same to you Mick." Izuku said, stepping forward, the man's smile widened as he patted the boy's shoulder.

"Izuku! I was worried those monsters got their hands on you. Glad to see you made it son." he said, looking around, "where's John Henry? That lad doesn't usually skip out on things like this."

"I asked him to," Izuku reassured, "he's taking care of that little girl."

He nodded, "best not have her in a place like this again," he agreed, "not protected enough, did you give those bastards what for?"

Izuku chuckled as all the men were suddenly very interested in his answer.

"Heard you sent a couple through some buildings." one nudged him, "you awaken a quirk or something?"

"No idea what it is," Izuku said honestly, "I've just been stronger since that night."

"So that was you!" One of them cheered triumphantly, "I told Lin it was, but she didn't believe me."

'Hard to believe." another acquiesced, "I mean, everyone here's quirkless, for one to suddenly have power like that-"

"John Henry became a hero," Mick reminded them.

"Yeah, but he's always been a bruiser, Izuku's strong, don't get me wrong, but I didn't think-"

"You and me both." Izuku agreed, leaning against the counter and casually placing an envelope on it, "and now I got an invitation to try my luck at UA…I just don't know if I should."

"So Old Nezu invited you eh?" one asked, adjusting his spectacles and nodding," if he's got something good to say about you then I'm sure you deserve it."

"Still, he hasn't had schooling in over a year, he'll be behind."

"How about you boys go gossip in the back." Mick said pointedly, "I'm sure that old refrigerator is stalked up, so get to it!"

"Er-right, let's go fellas." the middle aged man said, ushering all the old men into the back, all of them still chattering about Izuku's chances.

"Sorry the gossips," Mick chuckled as he walked around the counter, making sure everything was there before sitting down in a stool with a wince, "so, you don't know if you'll accept?"

"...yeah, I don't even know what this power is, not to mention I'm a year behind."

"Fair, but you're a hard working guy, you'd be able to catch up." he said with a smile, looking at the envelope, pushing it back to Izuku, "use that for that little girl, get her room stocked up with everything she needs."

"Nah, I owe you for what happened-"

"-the Yakuza owe me, you owe me nothing." he cut him off, waving him away, "now, if you want to give me something, give me bragging rights on knowing the next number one hero."

Izuku started at that, "next number-now hold on a minute-"

"-you got the drive and the will to succeed." he cut him off again, "not only that, but now you got the strength to back it up, unknown power or hidden quirk, whatever it turns out to be, it's yours, and the way I see it, you're not one to sit idly by anyways; so I say you go out, grip this by the horns, and become the greatest hero ever."

Izuku blinked, "I…what If I fail?"

"Then you get up and try again, we'll all be there to cheer you on." he grinned, clapping the boy's shoulders, "come on, do it for us old quirkless fools, who never could quite get there."

Izuku smiled, "I have a meeting with Nezu friday, I still think i'm a fool for trying."

"You'll figure it out," he said, "for now, let's go join the others for a drink eh?"

Izuku nodded, smiling to hide the doubts he still felt.

WVWVW

A few streets away, a lanky blonde strolled down the street,hands in the pockets of his leather pants, his ruffled white shirt the only thing keeping the cold at bay as he puffed on a cigarette at the edge of his mouth, he slowed to a stop at a particularly destroyed building across from a laundromat ,"damn, guess I was wrong, this definitely wasn't Cabbage head's doin'...still, wonder who did do it." He looked around for a bit before continuing his stroll, "I'm sure if I stick around, I'll run into whoever it was, sooner or later."

Last snippet is a nod to a conversation I had with Animefan13579, I can't say i've made the decision yet, but certain characters will probably be showcasing in the next arc of this story, thank you for the inspiration bud!