For the last time in what might be a long time, Izuku Midoriya readied herself for the day inside the home she shared with her mother. The news that the school was instituting an on-campus housing policy for hero students was unexpected. And after everything that had happened, the school had expected it to be a hard sell to parents. Permission wasn't required. The students were all adults capable of making their own choices. But given that with one notable exception it was the parents footing the bill for tuition, getting them on board would be better for everyone.

'Will that boy be returning?'

That was the question her mother had asked at the time. All Might in their home pleading his case on behalf of UA. Of how much better they would do in the future. Of how the safety of the students was their biggest concern. Showing his true form, of how much he had given up for the sake of keeping people safe. And all Inko Midoriya asked was if the boy they had allowed to be abducted would be returning to the school. At first it had seemed like it was valuing that boy's judgement. If even he would go back, trust them again, then she would too. But it wasn't that. It wasn't that at all.

"Are you all ready?" her mother asked, wringing her hands as she stood outside the bedroom door. The room almost entirely bare, Izuku's possessions packed away and delivered to the school the day before.

"Yeah." She folded the flap over her bag and latched it. It contained only a couple of essentials she could carry herself. She hooked it onto her shoulder, turning to face her mother.

"I, I knew this day would come sooner or later," the older woman admitted, looking at her daughter with a watery smile. "Gonna be a big adjustment!" she added with false cheer.

"It's not forever. And I can still visit," Izuku promised, her own eyes equally watery as she left the room, as her mother followed her to the front door.

"Izuku," her mother said, tone indicating the request that would follow. "I want to meet him."

"Mom..." She hoped this wouldn't come up again. "It's not like–" Her protest cut off in her throat, the words refusing to come. She never wanted to lie to her mother even when she had to. And here she didn't have to. 'It's not like that.' Was it? Wasn't it? She didn't know yet.

But her mother had no interest in that protest either. "I know you had problems, and he hurt you, and you didn't want to talk about it. I wish you would, but that's up to you. But... I want to meet him. All of that other stuff... I'm sorry baby but that doesn't change that I want to thank him for saving my baby girl."

And there it was. The real reason Inko Midoriya gave her consent for her daughter to return to UA. Not because of All Might's pleas. Not his assurances. The words of the symbol of peace did nothing to assuage her fears. By telling her the whole truth of what happened, Izuku had put in her mother's mind the idea that there was someone at the school who would protect her no matter what. Her faith didn't lie in the teachers, the pro heroes, it rested on Saiki Saisei. It seemed absurd. But he had done what the teachers should have done, swore up and down they would do.

And... It hurt. As much as Izuku understood, it still hurt. Her mother still saw her as someone who needed to be protected from the world. She wasn't the one who made it safe for others.

But... Maybe for her mom to see her that way... Maybe that was okay. "I'll think about it." She didn't want to leave on a sour note. Arguing how she didn't want to be the one protected... True as it might have been, Inko wanted her protected anyway.

Her words earned a bright, encouraging, but melancholy smile. "I know this is what you wanted more than anything. But, I want you to have a long and happy life. You owe me that as your mother. Take care of yourself, and be safe for me, okay Izuku?"

"I will!"

-(-)-

"Y-you're sure you have everything, right?"

"Ugh, for the last fucking time, yes!" Katsumi rolled her eyes at her father's dithering as she turned her back on him, heading toward the front door.

"Stay safe!"

"Yeah, whatever. See ya." The last thing she wanted for her last day at home was a big production of things. She was just going to school. It wasn't a big deal. She just wouldn't be coming back after.

Her lips pursed. She shook her head. Yeah, no big deal.

Her feet dropped a little harder than before as she entered the hallway, put on her outdoor shoes. In the time it took her to do that, Mitsuki Bakugo, her mother, had moved ahead of her and stood leaning against the front door. Shoes on, Katsumi moved toward her with a flat look. "What is this? Tell me you're not gonna get weepy on me."

"I gave you all this time," Mitsuki replied with the same irritability, adequately displaying who her daughter got it from. "You're just gonna leave without even talking about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about!" Katsumi snapped.

"Oh yeah?" The older blonde asked challengingly, cocking her hip. "Let me tell you something. Your father and I did our best raising you and you still turned out to be the littlest asshole."

"Is this what you consider a goodbye speech?!"

"Shut the hell up! All the other parents saying how proud we should be of you while I watched you treat everyone else like shit. I tried to teach you better and I failed. Everybody constantly swelling that giant ego didn't help but maybe your father and I could've done more. I don't know."

The younger blonde's teeth grit hard, her neck stretching in a way that made her look like the delinquent she could so easily have been if things were different. "If all you've got to say is a damn lecture then get the hell out of my way!"

"I'm trying to say I'm proud of you, you little asshole!" Mitsuki snapped at her. "You scared me out of my god damned mind when I saw you on TV in the middle of that shitshow in Kamino! I thought I was gonna see you..." Her words stopped, silenced. Punctuated by a thick and effortful swallow. "And then I saw that boy. He's the one, isn't he? The one you've been crushing on since spring."

"What the hell kind of moron would have a crush on him?!"

"Yeah, by now I guess it's more than that, huh?" her mother supposed, much of the harshness gone from her voice. "You went to save him. And it wasn't because you wanted to win, or be the best, or any of that other crap you won't shut your trap about. You put everything on the line. Your career, your future, your life. All to save someone else." She shook her head, her lips twisting in a parent's anguish. "Katsumi, that still scares the shit out of me, but I've never been more proud of you for it."

For once, Katsumi didn't have a quick and irritable comeback for her mother. A clearer sign of the positive change in her than Mitsuki could ever ask for.

Of course, it not being quick didn't mean it wouldn't come. "You think you could've just said that and skipped all that other bullshit?!"

"You think you stopped needing your ego checked just 'cos you care about your boyfriend more than how great you think you are?!" her mother answered without missing a beat.

"He's not my fucking boyfriend! He's fucking like four other girls or some shit!"

"Oh?" The shameless woman asked, delighted by that little admission. " Other, huh? That so? Guess you take after your father in something after all." She delighted in the widening of her daughter's eyes at the realisation. "Maybe it's time you bring him by. I think I wanna know this boy more intimately."

"Don't you fucking dare you old hag!"

"Maybe he'd like a peek at the future," Mitsuki asked 'innocently', raising her arms and accentuating her provocative pose. "You think he'll like what he'll see?"

"You bitch–!"

Mitsuki grinned in victory. "Have fun at school. Don't start too much shit." She stepped aside, pulling the door open for her daughter as she did then standing there arms folded under her bust.

The riled up teenager gave her mother a dirty look as she stomped past, through the door, not even willing to speak to her after all that.

"Katsumi, take care of yourself okay."

The emotion in the words was enough to stop her for a moment. A blush to rise to her cheeks. So rarely did they exchange any words that heartfelt. "Yeah, whatever. I guess."

With a proud and happy smile, Mitsuki shut the door. Immediately she went to find her husband. After all they had the house to themselves and she was sure she could get him as riled up as she was.

Meanwhile, outside... "Kacchan?"

Katsumi's strange mood wasn't improved by seeing her... By seeing Deku walking with the same destination as hers. "Deku."

"Do you... Wanna walk to the station together?"

"... Fine, whatever."

-(-)-

It shouldn't have felt strange. It shouldn't have felt like a sad moment, Saiki looking on his apartment one final time. The shitty and broken furniture for the landlord to deal with as they saw fit was all that remained in the room. All of the personal touches... Well, they never existed in the first place really. The room looked freshly moved in for his entire time living there and aside from the damage his tantrums caused in the past week, it looked the same. His clothes were gone. His computer was gone. That was about it.

What did he have to feel sad about in leaving this shithole? He'd said aloud on multiple occasions how much he hated this apartment. The one thing he ever liked about it was Juri living two doors down but she was long gone. He guessed... Maybe there were some good memories. Maybe that was it. The apartment was where he tamed Katsumi, after all. Where he took her first kiss. Two of her virginities. Where he pounded her into a puddle after her stupid denial play until they were both grinning like morons.

Yeah, that had to be it. It wasn't much, but he had some good times in this place at least. Just memories though, and he'd carry those with him. Nothing of substance. With that realisation he could be happy to leave it behind. After all, everything that mattered to him was at his destination. Everyone that mattered to him.

He shut and locked the door to his apartment, leaving it behind forever, leaving the keys in the landlord's drop box.

Heights Alliance. The new dorms built for the hero course students. Each building assigned to a different class of the hero course. Built over the course of three days because that's what you can do when you have someone on staff who can near-effortlessly set concrete in whatever shape you want.

Though why they named it Heights Alliance remained completely lost on Saiki.

Walking onto campus in the early days of summer break was a strange experience. Doing so in uniform was near surreal. It just had an odd wrongness, like they were all going against the natural order going to school in late July. Even more so for how few people were around. He had to assume they were handling all of the students moving in in sections, class by class throughout the day.

"Hey, it's Saisei!"

There was already a crowd waiting just inside the gate. The gathered members of Class 1-A who all turned to look thanks to Kirishima's shout.

"Saiki!" Momo exclaimed, rushing toward him and wrapping him in a hug, public propriety be damned. "Are you okay? Of course, you said you were working things out and I don't want to be the pushy girlfriend, but are you okay?"

The short outpouring of worry came with an appropriately genuine look of uncertainty and hope. A look he couldn't deny he appreciated. "I think I'm okay. Maybe even better than I've been in a long time." Old instincts died hard, so he immediately realised the one person who wasn't as happy to see him. Iida's frosty stare was something to see and a hostility Saiki had no understanding of. But he was also the only one with even the appearance of antagonism.

"That's great to hear, man!" Kirishima responded as the class almost as one moved toward him and Momo. "We were all worried!"

"Yeah," Saiki acknowledged, looking from Momo to another face in the group. "There's a bunch of people I need to thank, who I wouldn't be here without." Strangely, Kyoka didn't react with any kind of acknowledgement of his words in any way he would expect. In fact she seemed conflicted if anything. But he could ask her about that later. "Hey, Kirishima."

"Yeah, man?"

"I, uhh," he scratched at his neck, grimacing, "You think the dorms have a training space? I remember I offered you some help with your fighting style at the sports festival but I never made good on that." At the time it was an offer made in... Solidarity, he supposed. From one guy relegated to the background to another. But now... Maybe it was still in solidarity, but a solidarity that had shed the resignation it had previously been packaged with.

"Oh, hell yeah, I'm down for that!" the redhead answered with typical enthusiasm.

"We should be able to use the school gyms more easily now," Momo supposed, still with her boyfriend in her arms, "Though there is a curfew in effect for the dorms so it would be beneficial to have such a space within them."

"Already know the rules, huh?" Saiki asked her with a squeeze.

"I am our class representative."

He wasn't the last student to arrive inside the front gate, but it was close. Izuku and Katsumi arrived a minute or so after he did.

"Looks like everyone's already here!" Izuku smiled at her gathered classmates.

"Looks like it," Aizawa agreed, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. "Good. All of you follow me."

"Yes sir!"

The gathered students dutifully followed their teacher up the main path leading to the main school building before taking a detour to the left. From there, past multiple buildings, each labelled as 'Heights Alliance' with a class designation. 3-A, 3-B, 2A, 2B, then finally theirs. The first year dorms the furthest away from the school's main entrance and, several of the more aware students noticed, closest to the staff and security offices.

"Wow, it's beautiful!" Mina gushed, closed hands up to her face as she grinned up at the building. Granted they had seen a few just like it already but this one was effectively theirs.

"This is where you'll all be staying for the rest of your time studying at UA," Aizawa informed them flatly. "The school's response to the growing security concerns. Just like we said when we came to visit all of you at your homes, we're committed to making sure you can finish your education as safely as possible. That being said. Midoriya. Bakugo. Yaoyorozu. Jiro." He seemed to stare at all four of them at once, despite them being split among the crowd. "You four decided it was best for you to jump into a dangerous operation in progress. Putting yourselves in danger in a situation in which you had no business involving yourselves. If it weren't for our current circumstances, I'd expel all four of you right now."

"Ex-fucking-scuse me?" Saiki near-snarled the words as he broke from Momo's grip and from the crowd with steps toward their teacher.

"You have a problem with what I said, Saisei?" Aizawa asked, sounding very much like he expected him to take issue with it.

"You–! They did what they felt they had to, because that's what they learned at this school! From the USJ to I-Island to the training camp we had to step up to defend ourselves and everyone else! When you came to my apartment, you apologised and I thought that meant you got it! That you understood! They got involved because everything we've been through said they had to and if they hadn't, I might not even be here!"

"And if Iida hadn't informed the police of their intentions they would have stumbled into an operation in progress and put it in jeopardy," Aizawa easily countered. "Instead, they were allowed to take part in a support capacity, something one disregarded and put herself in the line of fire right alongside you, leaving the heroes to save two instead of just one." His eyes flicked to Bakugo, challenging her to say anything in her own defense. She quickly looked away.

"Yes," he continued, returning his attention to his understandably distressed student. "We take responsibility for the lesson you had to learn and the dire circumstances in which you learned it. However, just because you learned it doesn't make it good or appropriate conduct for a hero and especially not for a student without even a provisional license. Being a hero doesn't mean doing whatever you want, thinking it'll all work out because you have good intentions. Yes, those four, you four ended up being more help than hindrance, but you could've just as easily gotten Saisei or one of the heroes killed. Remember that." He looked to the ornery student again. "Anything more to say, Saisei?"

He felt like he had been played. Like he had walked into a trap. His anger got the better of him, Aizawa's words had sounded to his ears like he was saying it would have been better if they all stayed good students and let Saiki suffer the consequences. It had been hard to tolerate such things before, but after everything that happened... And coming from someone he kind of respected... It had been too much. He had lashed out, defended the people who came to save him, but now those same people were looking shamefaced for their actions. "... No." It was a difficult admission. A difficult submission. Especially with the proud, maybe even pompous look on Iida's face like he had just been proven right.

"As I was saying," Aizawa continued, "Your actions were reckless. But the school understands where they stem from. We had predicted situations like this, which was why we were holding the training camp in the first place, to prepare you to earn your provisional hero licenses at the end of summer. With them you'll be able to act to defend yourselves or others should you need to. Better you all learn now that recklessness has no place among heroes. The real world is far less lenient than UA for heroes who don't measure up."

"Anyway, all that out of the way, once our last stragglers are here we can show you your new home."

"Man, super psyched about that now..." Kaminari groaned.

"... Sorry," Saiki muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Wow, you're different," Sero noted with a grin. "It's kinda freakin' me out a little, not gonna lie."

"Hey, give him a break!" Kirishima cut in, putting a hand on Saiki's shoulder. "He's a new man with a new outlook on life!"

"That's maybe a little much," the blue-haired boy decided with a frown.

"Okay, that's cool!" the redhead acknowledged, backing off.

"Oh good, they're here," Aizawa sighed looking behind the crowd at the distinctive appearance of Power Loader and two more students. Two very recognisable students.

"Hatsume?!"

"Melissa?!"

The pink haired girl seemed largely uninterested in paying Izuku's exclamation of her name any mind. Fidgeting and looking at the main school building. The blonde beside her however, lit up in a smile at a certain electric blond's delight at seeing her.

"Hi, Denki."

"Denki?" Kirishima echoed.

"Melissa, I can't believe you're here!" he said as he ran over, taking her hands in his. "And in our uniform! What's going on?!"

"I wanted it to be a surprise," she answered with a little embarrassment.

"Miss Shield has elected to transfer to UA from I-Island Academy," Aizawa explained listlessly. "With how quickly the arrangements were made, it was decided having her move onto campus in the hero course dorms would save a lot of headaches all around."

"And since we were doing that for one student," Power Loader continued for his colleague, "We hoped we could get Hatsume to stop sleeping out in the development studio if she had a room on campus to sleep." The half-man, half-excavator gave his student a serious look. Well, as serious as he could while wearing an excavator helmet. "Which she will sleep in. Understand me, Hatsume? You sleep here. Not in the studio. Here."

"Yeah yeah yeah," the hyperfocused girl answered dismissively. "Let's get this over with so I can get back to work!"

"I agree," Aizawa nodded, "Let's get this over with. Everyone follow me."

What followed was a brief tour of the building's facilities. Common area, kitchen and bathing facilities on the ground floor. Male bedrooms in the west wing. Female bedrooms in the east. Room assignments were handed out, the teacher happy to tell them all of their things were waiting in their rooms for them to unpack. Happy to tell them because it was the last thing he needed to say before he could leave and get some shut-eye.

"This is so cool! I'm living in a mansion!" Ochako breathed, overwhelmed by the spaciousness.

"The rooms are barely the size of the closets at home," Momo whined gently, "But I suppose I can manage. We should all go unpack our things right away to get settled in!"

"That's reasonable," Todoroki agreed with her.

"Hold on a second." The one who spoke was once again Saiki, intentionally standing apart from the group. "There's something I need to tell all of you. I can't really hide it and I don't want to."

Izuku saw the distress well enough to realise what he was talking about. "What All for One did to you. They never told us." Even All Might had refused to tell her, saying it was Saiki's business to reveal it when he felt he was ready. It seemed that moment had come.

The boy took a deep breath. "When he had me, he gave me something, said it was a gift. He was trying to convince me to join him. To–" His eyes flicked to Izuku. "To betray all of you." With that brief explanation, he removed his blazer, his shirt and tie.

"Uhh," Mina uttered, eyes wide as she watched her classmate strip. "Not... Really sure where this is goin–" Her words came to an abrupt halt as the shirtless young man rolled his shoulders and four fragile-looking wings burst from his back. "Oh."

"His idea of a gift was to give me a quirk he stole from someone else. I asked All Might and... Even if they were willing to let All for One take it back, which they aren't, it wouldn't work anymore. My own quirk pretty much absorbed it is the way he explained it. So... Now..." He swallowed thickly. So much had changed over just the past week. Izuku, Katsumi, Momo, Kyoka, they had proven it. They cared about him, genuinely, with no ulterior motives. Whether he deserved it or not. "This is why I won't hide it from any of you. Whether I like it or not, this is a part of me now."

A silence drew out. Twenty different people coming to grips with what they had heard in their own ways. All of them leaving Saiki in the terrible limbo awaiting their responses.

"They're kinda girly."

The silence... Changed. The atmosphere in which it sat took an entirely different shape as every set of eyes in the room turned to regard Kaminari with complete bewilderment.

The boy himself looked around in equal confusion for their reactions. "What?"

"Pfft..." Several sets of eyes returned to the winged student at the strange sound. A sound that grew stranger still. The flexing of his abdomen clear to see as he held back and then failed to hold back, "Ahahahahahaha!" A full-throated, uncontrollable laughter. "Ahahaha, you, you-huhu, a crazy villain gave me a quirk so I'd help him in his diabolical schemes and that's your reaction?! Hahahaha!" Tears leaked from his eyes from just how hard he was laughing.

Not just from the absurdity, but also from relief.

Mina walked toward him, reaching out to touch. "They're not that girly, Kaminari. But they are kind of pretty– Oh!" her fingers reared back from brushing the edge. "Sharper than I thought too."

"Yeah, I decided if they're mine then I should– Ack!" He reared back in surprise, which did nothing at all to dislodge the tongue that had slapped and then stuck to his cheek. "What the hell?!"

"Thorry!" Tsuyu apologised with an open mouth, looking about as confused as he was.

With effort, the tongue was dislodged. But it was just another event that thoroughly shattered what little tension was left in the room.

Even this, even for something that by all rights should have made them wary of him, they still supported him. They still accepted him. It felt...

"Oooooooh!"

Was someone fondling his back?

He turned around but whoever it was just moved with him like he was in some cartoon comedy routine. "Ooooooh!" Someone was definitely feeling up his back, specifically where the wings emerged from either side of his spine. Then he could feel the hands move along the wings. Finally managed to get a look at the creepy pink haired girl staring at his new appendages, analysing every inch of them. "Ooh-hoohoohoo! Interesting!"

-(-)-

A/N: This chapter voted for and seen a week early by my generous supporters on THE GREAT FORBIDDEN P! Fear the P! Love the P!