Something sturdy to punch. That was his usual outlet. When something happened, pushed him into a corner, made him feel something he didn't know how to handle, that was what he would do. Get out of his shitty apartment, take a walk to clear his head, find something solid enough to take it, something no one would care about him damaging, and just go to town.

The downside of his training over the past few months. The amount of growth he had seen over the past few months. He was running out of solid objects that would do the job. Concrete had long since stopped being viable. Trees were good enough for a while after that. Metal seemed promising, but to get any worth it would need to be something truly sturdy. Things like that, people tended to get angry for someone beating the shit out of it, especially when over time it would actually do real damage.

With his influx of cash from the I-Island incident he had considered getting a pro-hero-grade heavy bag. The kind he had tried out in Mirko's training room. Built to take a super strength beating and not break.

It was something he had considered. In hindsight it was a good thing he never got around to buying one. The price tag was rough. And suddenly it seemed outside his means.

The aftermath of the Kamino Ward Incident as the press had dubbed it was a nightmare. He had been taken in by the police. Of course he had. He was an abduction victim. He had been at ground zero for everything that happened. They questioned him about the villains' attack on the training camp. They asked about what he did. They asked about what happened with Muscular. And then they asked about All for One.

At that point... Saiki had suddenly found himself unwilling to talk. He didn't know why. All of the things he had discovered. About the villain. About All Might. About Izuku. The connections between the three of them. It wasn't public knowledge. But why did he want to protect their secrets? He hated All for One. More than anyone else, the disfigured villain had treated Saiki as a thing so far beneath him, a thing to be used and discarded. But even so, even despite how it had been to play at Saiki's own insecurities, the young man couldn't dismiss the points he had made. How he had been played for a fool.

At the same time... All Might had come for him. Izuku had come for him. Just like they would for anyone else, those two came to rescue him. How betrayed could he feel in the face of that?

So... He had gone quiet. The cops hadn't liked that. They demanded answers. He stayed silent. They accused him of conspiring with All for One. He insisted he would only talk to All Might. They tried a good cop bad cop routine. One of them pretending to be a friend of All Might. He didn't buy into it for a second.

They had left him to stew for a time. But the next to visit him wasn't from a police officer. It was Principal Nezu. The small animal had offered sympathies and apologies for everything, from the training camp to right that moment. He had explained All Might couldn't talk to him as he was in intensive care due to the aftermath of the fight.

It had taken some cajoling. A display of trust. Nezu obliquely conveying he already knew full well what secrets had been revealed to Saiki. That was enough for the student to start talking, dancing around specifics regarding All Might and Izuku. He wasn't at all trusting that there weren't cops listening in and/or recording this conversation. But All for One? He told Nezu everything he learned about All for One. Everything the villain had done, from 'gifting' him a quirk to attempting to steal it back as well as Saiki's own.

He still felt the phantom sensations in whatever part of him the villain had touched. Of what he had tried to do.

After that, the police had let him go.

He went home.

He stewed in his apartment for hours. Processing everything.

It was during this time that he received a message from his boss at Smile Burger, asking him to come in when it was convenient. With nothing better to do, and with frustration at himself for having been wasting his time, he went immediately.

Fired.

No, that wasn't fair. He hadn't been fired. Technically. It was against the law to fire someone without any due cause and despite one incident the manager was still sure was Saiki's fault, he was a better than ideal worker doing the equivalent work of three part timers. But it had been decided that Saiki Saisei working at Smile Burger was bad for business. His notoriety too much of a draw for the wrong kind of attention. They couldn't fire him, but they could ask very politely for him to resign with a generous bonus for the hard work he had put in for them.

He could have fought it. Some might say he should have fought it. But after everything... Of all possible things, he couldn't bring himself to care about his wage slave fast food job. He would need to find something else eventually, but for the time being he had savings enough to keep himself afloat.

Shame about that heavy bag though.

A knock on the door stole his attention from... Nothing. All the nothing he had been doing. In more specific, the nothing he was doing staring into his mirror, two pairs of wings extended behind him. In his time of doing nothing, it was his most consistent activity. trying to wrap his mind around what had been done to him.

But he had company. The wings receded. He threw on a shirt and opened his door.

Two familiar faces he hadn't especially been expecting were on the other side of it. "Saisei."

"Mister Aizawa. And..." Well, to say both of them were familiar might have been overstating it. The second was one he had only seen once. His true face at least. "All Might."

"Young Saisei," the now retired hero said, the words seeming to take more effort. Delivered with an unsettling smile on his sunken face. It was impossible to miss the arm still bandaged in a sling. "It's good to see you doing well, despite everything."

"Well is relative, sir," the young man answered. "But... Thank you." The words meant a lot of things. Referred to a lot of things. Confused and uneasy as he might have felt about everything that happened, everything he learned, gratitude still trumped all of it. All Might came for him, just like so many others did. And in the end, he gave up everything. "I... Guess you want to come in?"

"Yes, we have some things we need to discuss with you," Eraserhead nodded, immediately taking the invitation of his student stepping aside, venturing into the small apartment.

The student winced as he followed the two teachers into his home. "Sorry about the mess." And broken furniture.

"It's fine," Aizawa assured him, "All Might, you can have the chair, I'm fine standing."

"I appreciate it," the skeletal hero spoke with gratitude, sitting heavily in the only intact seat aside from the bed as Aizawa leaned against the wall.

"So, what do you want?"

"Well–"

"Ah, first," All Might interrupted his colleague, "Before anything else, young Saisei I just wanted to apologise for your difficulties with the police. If I were able I would have been there in a heartbeat but... Well. I'm just glad the principal was able to assist in my stead."

"That's fine, sir."

"And... In future, Officer Tsukauchi, he really is one of my most trusted friends. If you ever do need to speak to someone on the police force, he has my utmost confidence."

So the cop hadn't been lying. "Understood."

"How are you holding up?" Aizawa asked.

He had been abducted, experimented on, had his body or soul or whatever quirks counted as violated, got interrogated by the cops and fired from his shitty job almost the moment he got out. "I'm peachy."

"Yeah..." The teacher knew better than to push. At least not at this moment. Instead, he focused on the reason for the visit. "In response to everything that happened since the school year started, the principal has decided to institute some changes to how UA operates. As a part of that, we've been visiting students and their families to reassure them that we're taking the threats to our students seriously. One of our earlier visits was to your relatives."

"Why?"

"In hindsight, that's a good question," the teacher admitted. "But we're making sure to do this right. Some have been harder to convince than others and we aren't willing to go ahead with this before making sure everyone is on board. We're instituting a new policy in which our hero course students will live on campus for the sake of their safety. Dorms are currently being constructed–"

Of course. Everything else wasn't already enough. "How much is tuition going up?"

"It isn't," All Might answered immediately, shattering the young man's expectations for how life would fuck him over again.

Saiki stared, uncomprehending at the blond, even as Aizawa continued to speak. "We're fully aware how much of the responsibility for the current circumstances rests on our shoulders. It's our duty to keep you safe while preparing you for the future and in that we have failed. Saisei," he spoke the boy's name, dragging his attention back, "We thought we had done everything we could to keep you students safe. It wasn't enough and you suffered for it. I'm sorry."

Genuine apologies from authority figures were a novel experience for Saiki, having received so few of them. It was such a strange thing to be on the receiving end of that he felt compelled to figure out whether it was really merited. Thinking about it, he couldn't decide. The villains were the ones at fault, obviously, but they were a known risk after the USJ and arguably even before then. He had thrown himself into greater danger but that was an attitude he and the rest of the class had been forced to take thanks to the USJ. Would he have done things differently? Could he have, from everything he had learned and been forced to learn? The answer was no. "Yeah," he responded to his teacher, accepting the apology. Their safety had been Aizawa's job, the school's responsibility, from day one. They had dropped the ball. "Thank you for the apology."

Aizawa nodded, understanding broadly the conclusions his student had drawn. It was an apology he had given many times that day.

"So..." The boy continued, unable to help himself. "I guess my folks are going to stop helping me pay my way." There had to be another shoe to drop. There had to be. There always was. If it wasn't tuition, it would be that. The agreement was–

"Your... Your relatives were clear in their intentions," All Might answered, uncomfortable. "They say they haven't changed. Supporting your basic living expenses until you finish school or..." He grimaced as he trailed off.

"You can finish, All Might," Saiki offered with a dismissive shrug. "You wouldn't be saying anything they haven't told me directly."

"I could but I won't," the hero stated firmly. "In any case, the fact that your living expenses and tuition will be the same thing from now on apparently doesn't make a difference to them. They'll just keep on as they were and not give it any more thought."

The boy believed once again All Might was editing the exact words. But he didn't care. They weren't cutting him loose? And tuition costs weren't changing? That meant... He ran the numbers in his head. He had gotten very good at keeping his budget in mind out of pure necessity. So in that second or two of silence he was able to come to a startling conclusion. Assuming they sent him the same amount per month... He would actually be better off than before. With it as the only cost, it would be more than enough to pay off his tuition. "I..." What? What could he say? What other ill twist of fate could he expect? There was nothing else. His concerns about money... They weren't gone. After living so frugally for so long it would likely always be a concern for him. But if he kept on as he was, he could put enough money away to have the savings he needed by the time he graduated.

Aizawa took in his student's disbelieving expression, the faintest hint of relief in it. "In the end, it's your choice whether to continue your education at UA. If you're still willing to put faith in us, we're arranging for belongings to be moved to the new dorm facilities on Friday."

"I... Yeah. Yes." He wanted his agreement to be more declarative. More forceful. Like maybe, 'I'll do it!' or 'I'll count on you.' His spirit wouldn't have been in it.

"Good." Class 1-A's homeroom teacher nodded sharply at the agreement. "We'll message you a time to have your things ready. You'll be moving in on Saturday." He pushed himself off of the wall, removed his hands from his pockets and bowed low. "Thank you for giving us another chance."

"Right..." That was what it was to them, wasn't it. Giving them another chance. But for himself, did he really want to...? "All Might," he spoke again as the diminished form of the symbol of peace rose from his chair. "What All for One did to me... Can it be reversed?" He didn't know everything, but he knew enough to know All Might and that villain had some sort of connection. If anyone would know, it would be him.

The weary and troubled sigh the hero let out did not promise the answer he wanted to hear. "I'm sorry, young man. I don't think that's possible anymore."

"Anymore? But–!"

"All for One has the power to give and take quirks. It's a fearsome power he can use without consequence to himself. But on others... Holding more than one quirk is dangerous. It does damage to the body. It seems All for One discovered a way around that limitation with modifications, like the Nomu from the USJ attack. Thanks to studying them, quirk doctors have a better idea what to look for in what they call 'quirk overload syndrome'." The regret for not giving the answer his student wanted was moved aside for the sake of the seriousness of the information he was about to relay. Information he didn't necessarily have permission to share. But information the young man deserved to know. "Your quirk had a different reaction than most. In reaction to the damage the second quirk caused, your own absorbed it, adapted to the strain like it does for everything else. To get rid of your second quirk we would have needed to put you and All for One in the same room and let him use his quirk, something we would never do. But even that won't work anymore. Your own quirk and that quirk... They're now one in the same. Losing one would mean losing both."

"That's why he wanted me, isn't it." Saiki's voice was dull, his tone empty for having been told that no, there was no going back. What was done could not be undone.

"If you'd agreed, he probably would've loaded you up with quirks and turned you into his perfect soldier. Or given you a whole host of powers that your quirk would gradually integrate into one incredibly powerful quirk that he could take back whenever he felt like it. Whatever it would've been, it would've been solely so he could have more power. It's all he lives for." With uncertain, cautious motions, the diminished hero put his unbroken hand on his student's shoulder. "It might have been the right choice for you too. But it was still a very brave thing you did, staring into the face of evil and standing defiant. Whatever doubts you might be feeling right now, you proved you have the heart of a hero. Never doubt that." He took his hand away and walked for the door, seeing his colleague had already gone to the car. "Geez, you'd think he'd go a little easier on me in my condition."

"All Might." Saiki called out one last time. "I won't tell anyone. About you and Izuku."

The broken symbol smiled. Even with his withered form, the hero in training could see the light of the hero he had been. "That's just it, young Saisei. I'll never doubt it either."

-(-)-

It would be just a couple of days. Soon he would be facing everyone again. The people who helped him. The people who didn't. All of them. He had received messages from almost everyone in the class. He was barely able to manage more than a couple of words of acknowledgement. That he was fine. That he would see them soon. He didn't know what to say to any of them. It was like his experiences had shaken him. The abduction was one thing. He knew with a certainty how he would respond to those responsible. What he would do if he got the chance. But the people who rescued him... Pro heroes, sure. But Mirko, after whatever the hell their relationship was. And Katsumi, Izuku, Momo, Kyoka. They had no business being there. No business coming for him, rescuing him. And yet, they threw themselves into danger for his sake. Because they cared about him.

He genuinely, honestly had no idea what to do with that.

But that wasn't the problem he was intent on solving at this moment as he got off the train in Jonosu. He wouldn't have a choice but to figure all that other stuff out when he moved into the dorm. For now, his concern was much more personal to him. To his own well-being.

He walked up to the familiar gate, hit the buzzer. "Rgh, what?"

"It's Evo. I wanted to–"

"It isn't Sunday."

Really? Even after everything that happened she thought he was coming over for a booty call? "No, I wanted to talk to you about–"

He heard a long, irritated sigh through the speaker. "Door's open. You got ten seconds before I lock it again. I'm in the bunker."

It was oddly comforting, Mirko talking to him like that, so dismissively. It wouldn't be her if she had any time for his shit. Or rather, if she considered giving up her time for his shit to be anything other than an inconvenience.

He quickly hopped over the gate, not wasting the limited time he had to open it, then rushed through the unlocked door. A couple of seconds later he heard the automated locks snap shut again. His feet carried him, hands in his pockets, down the stairs into Mirko's purpose-built training space. Oddly nostalgic for the half week he spent getting beat to shit inside it. He recognised some of his own old bloodstains. Good times.

Mirko herself seemed to have been in the middle of a workout when she let him in and hadn't let it stop her. She was still going doing reps on a chest press, her deep bronze skin shining with sweat.

And bearing some mild yet noticeable burn scars. "Whatever got you to drag yourself all the way out here, it better be important. That said, if whatever it is interrupts my workout I'm gonna be pissed."

"Thanks," he said before anything else. "For coming to save me."

"It's what a hero does, dipshit. And you know I don't do it for thanks."

"I don't really know for sure why you do it," he admitted easily. He had never cared to ask or consider it. For the rush, maybe. "But you sure went far out of your way to get involved. I wanted to thank you for that."

"You're reading too much into it," she grunted, continuing her exercise without missing a beat. "That operation was a big deal. Working with the top three heroes? You're damn right I'd get myself involved in that. Nothing else to it."

He wasn't sure how true that was but he knew better than to push her on it. She'd just kick him out if he tried. Probably literally.

"Do I need to give you a time limit for how much you're allowed to waste?" she asked. "Spit it out already. What's the problem?"

"You know what happened to me, right?" he asked. "What All for One did."

"Something about handing you a second quirk as an incentive to join Team Dumbass Villain. So what'd he give you? Laser eyes? Something cool?"

He frowned, removed his upper clothing and let his wings burst from his back, not even wincing at the pain. It wasn't that bad for his tolerance even at first and had only lessened since. The wings began to vibrate furiously, taking him an inch, then two, then ten off of the floor of the bunker.

"Huh," the rabbit hero grunted. "Not what I would've guessed. But hey, at least it makes you a little more flashy. Heh, never would've thought I'd see bug wings as girly though. Do you have to do that thing with bending your knees?"

"Tch," he looked away. Even so, he tried to let his legs relax, only to immediately give it up. "It feels more natural to keep my legs tense than to leave them dangling."

"Makes sense," she nodded between reps, "I'd say it's a bad habit that'd tire you out, but you being you, that's probably not a problem. So... What is the problem? You can fly now. That seems pretty kickass to me."

He let himself drop back to the floor a little awkwardly, though didn't recede his wings. "It isn't mine," he grunted. "Just somebody else's power stapled onto me. I earned everything I got through my own blood and sweat. I'm proud of that. No matter what else happened, nobody ever handed me anything. I busted my ass to get stronger, to get good grades, to pay for school, to excel, to be better than anybody who could try to say I didn't deserve it! I put the work in so I didn't need to even think anything they said was more than petty bullshit from people who wished they were me! But this?" his hand gestured at the wings fluttering lightly on his back as he began to pace. "I didn't earn this. This is just some sick fuck's idea of a signing bonus and now I find out I can't get rid of it. And the worst part? I know if I didn't use it I'd be a complete moron. It changes everything about what I'm capable of. I can fly now for fuck's sake! If I just ignore it then I'm just holding myself back like that dumbass Todoroki! I want to live in a way I'm proud of, but now I'm either a loser who needed help or a moron who wouldn't accept it!"

"You're a moron either way."

Her voice was closer than he expected. He turned to look at her–

And saw only stars. A sensation far below the pain of a broken jaw, soon followed by a new and unique pain as he landed in a roll, the fragile wings on his back breaking from the impact and pressure alone. He hissed in pain, blinked hard as he looked up at the hero who just flash kicked him in the face.

"So what? You worked hard on your own and wanted it to stay that way forever? No help?" she asked sardonically. "Guess you know what you gotta do then. Quit UA. First thing. If going it alone is that important to you. Quit UA, find some kind of memory wiping quirk and get them to delete it all. That goes for everything I taught you too."

"That's not the same–" he murmured through his broken jaw.

"It's not? Where's the line drawn then? Where's the line between power you earned and power that was handed to you?"

"I don't know but it's before some asshole giving me wings!"

"Some asshole that only noticed you because you won that sports festival, same as me. The sports festival you only participated in because you worked your ass off to get into UA. Something that was only a possibility because you worked your ass off to make your quirk halfway decent." She walked over to him, stood over him. Surprisingly menacingly for a woman of her height, but he had experience of what it was like to be beneath her. "The way I see it, the only reason you have those stupid wings is because of the work you put in so you'd be strong enough people would take notice. For once your persecution complex riddled ass got some kind of lucky break. That happens. It can even happen to you, believe it or not. Take it for what it's worth."

She stepped on his chest, pushed him down. Not as a show of dominance, but because it would crush his wings even more. "And look how impressive those wings are now. One hit and you're back to being regular ground-bound asshole Saiki Saisei. Acting like this gives you a huge leg up in being great. Fucking dumbass."

This was why he didn't like to let himself be vulnerable. Every time he did, someone would come along and rip open that vulnerability, make him feel like shit for having it in the first place. But this was the second time he had experienced that from someone he felt he could trust. Someone he felt had his best interests in mind. The first had been Ragdoll, who at the time had given him very similar criticism even if it was far less direct. But her current situation never even crossed his mind when he discarded her as the one he would seek advice from. He hadn't seen it when he first went to intern under Mirko, but he had come to learn. He wanted to be the best. Number one. But of all heroes he wanted to be like... Mirko was probably top of the list. They had different goals, different drives, but similar mindsets. Talking to her was like talking to an older and wiser version of himself. One who could call him on his bullshit.

Take it for what it's worth, huh?

"Got your head on straight yet?" the rabbit hero asked, receiving a nod before she removed her foot to let him up.

"Guh," the student grunted in pain, fixing his jaw as best he could. "Did you have to fucking kick me though?"

"I warned you about interrupting my workout," she grinned down at him, then up at him as he got to his feet. She looked behind him to see the dragonfly wings crumpled and bent at odd angles. "Man, those sure are flimsy."

"Yeah..." He let out a hiss of pain as they retracted into his back, forcibly straightening them in the process. "I'll need to work on that."

"Guess so," Mirko shrugged, dismissing him with a turn as she returned to her workout on the bench press. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

He sniffed and grunted, accepting the brush off for what it was. She was done with indulging him and he got what he came for. He sat contemplatively on the long train ride home, staring at his phone as he read news stories about UA's new student housing policy. Pundits asking whether it would be enough to renew the people's faith in the school's administration. Not whether it would solve the problem, but whether people would believe it solved the problem.

Arriving back in his apartment, he once again returned to an activity he had engaged in so often since his rescue. He walked over to his mirror. Stared at it. Discarded his shirt on the bed and let his wings free.

Good as new. Fragile but small. Quick to heal. He ran a finger along the upper edge of one. "Too fragile," he said to himself. To his quirk. He gripped the gossamer thin membrane and twisted, shredding the sensitive material in his hand. He breathed hard as his hand moved to the next one. "These wings... My wings need to be stronger." Another painful twist. "More durable." Again and once more, he finished systematically breaking his wings before forcibly straightening them, retracting them into his body to heal.

They weren't his. The power wasn't his. But he would treat them the same as he treated every other part of himself. Break them and rebuild them stronger and stronger. They weren't his. But he would make them his.

-(-)-

A/N: And so we come to the end. The end of the already published chapters, that is. As I expected when I started posting this story, I got my fair share of people reading chapter 1 and 2, some getting as far as 4 and bouncing off hard. Angry reactions. Fair enough. I don't begrudge people that. I gave the relevant warnings so if it pissed 'em off, that's more on them than on me. But for the people who stuck around this far, I hope you now understand what I meant when I said in the beginning that Saiki has probably had the most and best character growth I've written in a story. With DxD Lelouch getting a decent second place.

Anyway, this story is one of several on my GREAT FORBIDDEN P page where people can support me if they like. There is a weekly poll for what story gets an update, the winner cycled out for two subsequent polls. And you can see new chapters a week early. If you're interested, googling my username is probably the fastest way to find it. I also have more stories on Questionable Questing that will never be published on this site. Whether because the content is rougher or because it requires context that this site does not allow for.

Whether you're interested in any of that or not, thanks for reading this far. Story's far from done, but this is the end of daily updates. I know. I'm sad too.