"I died?!"

There hadn't been a lot of discussion in the moments following Flygon's sudden coming back to awareness in the underground cavern. Ryukyu had come down, fetched both him and Sir Nighteye and carried them both back up to the surface. No one had answered his questions, not even why he couldn't just fly himself. His hands were fucked up but his wings were perfectly fine. He didn't understand. Ryukyu had left him behind, still busy helping to coordinate and organise the restraint and arrest of the Yakuza thugs and the villains.

It was only when paramedics were looking him over did they actually tell him. Not that the paramedics were of much use. They didn't have a damn clue what to do other than make sure nothing bad happened again. His vitals were all over the place and they had no baseline to work from in his case, and if they had, it would've been wildly off from what they thought of as normal.

Eraserhead and Deku had trouble looking him in the eye. But Eraserhead forced himself to do so. "A lot of different circumstances folded over one another. You were already severely injured when you activated your trump card. You got more injuries in the course of the fight." The underground hero nodded at the bloody mess of his fists now wrapped in bandages. "And then suddenly your quirk's regeneration was completely shut off."

Realisation clicked. Eraserhead had recovered and used his quirk in the middle of the fight with Overhaul. It was a rational play. Overhaul was helpless without his quirk. Lemillion and Deku were in absurd physical condition, and Flygon was still superhuman even without his quirk. It would've given them all the advantages and left Overhaul with nothing, if Flygon weren't already in a state in which his quirk was keeping him alive. The Mega Formula took his body to the brink. It was what it was designed to do. That, plus pushing his body even further with mounting injuries, and then his loss of regeneration... "Oh shit, I never even considered that."

Eraser grimaced. "It can happen. That's the thing about quirks. They can make a battlefield chaotic. You don't always know how one will affect another in the moment until it happens. Still..." An awkward pause saw the hero settle into a resolve that awaited judgement. "I know more about your quirk and how you're using it than anyone but you. I had the best chance of seeing that reaction coming than anyone. I didn't. I'm sorry."

"Oh. Well... Thanks. I reserve the right to be pissed off later because right now I'm just glad to be alive, but I appreciate it." Another hero passed through the wall of another ambulance, and Flygon was more than happy to accept the distraction. "Lemillion!"

Deku's attention seemed to split cleanly down the middle, half on Flygon for being unwilling to take her eyes off him, and half on her coworker. "How's Nighteye?"

"They're taking him to the hospital. He should be fine, but he's gonna need surgery to set his bones properly. Bubble Girl is going with him," the blond hero said, pointing a thumb at the ambulance as its doors closed and the engine started. "Deku, Centipeder is taking us back to the office. Uh..." He looked at Flygon, at Deku who still continued to keep him in her vision as much as she could without being rude. "I can tell him you need a minute?"

She looked ready to thank him. But Flygon cut in before she could. "It's fine." He hopped off the gurney to the disgruntlement of the paramedics.." I should go find Ryukyu anyway."

Deku wasn't happy about it, but they were very much still on the job, no matter the circumstances. "Alright. Just be careful, alright?"

"Come on! You know me! I bounce back from anything!"

The look she shot him told him exactly what she thought of that statement. He shot her a satisfied smile in return. Her eyes didn't leave him until she was walking with Lemillion to Centipeder's car. She smiled at him, then climbed in.

Only then did he let the smile drop. Let his shoulders sag. Let out a weary sigh. It took him an extra second to realise Eraserhead was right there. "Really takes it out of you, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah." That was all the teacher had to say about the facade his student was putting on. "Walk with me." Eraserhead led him away from the ambulances and police officers to a place that was the closest to a place for a private conversation without walking blocks away. The moment they were alone, the man seemed to age a decade in a moment. "I need to apologise properly, Saisei."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... I made a mistake back there and it almost got you killed. But I misrepresented how big of a mistake it was. Your wings." Flygon blinked, his wings emerged from his back. In the same moment, Eraserhead's eyes flashed red and his hair rose. The proud set of wings stayed proud, straight and up instead of hanging limply as they should have with an erased quirk. "My quirk doesn't automatically erase every quirk in my sight. I can choose whose quirk I erase."

"... You could've just erased Overhaul's."

Eraserhead grimaced. "I lost my composure and acted irrationally. I got sidelined by that villain's quirk, you took that hit for me, and then I was left helpless knowing my students were fighting near enough alone." His hair dropped again as he looked away, no longer able to look Flygon in the eye. "When I recovered, I didn't hesitate. I used my quirk indiscriminately, knowing Overhaul's was the most dangerous in the fight. But I should've hesitated. Should've thought. I didn't have to hit all of you, but in a panic I just used it on everyone in my sight and because of that–"

"I almost died."

"... I didn't want to say anything in front of Midoriya. Not because I'm trying to hide. I believe in taking responsibility, but the results can be more important, and it's not up to me to decide what responsibility looks like. I'm sorry, Saisei. You deserve a real apology. And if you want a public one, you deserve that too."

"Then why shouldn't I want that?" That sounded like what he was angling for.

"It won't lose me my license or get me fired or anything like that if that's what you're asking, even if some will say that should happen for nearly killing my student. It'll hurt my reputation. If you think that's fair, then that's fair."

Flygon sighed, leaning back against the wall of the compound they were standing by. Eraserhead didn't care about his own reputation that much. Nor did Flygon. In real terms, that didn't matter. Hell, from the way Eraserhead was talking, he'd appreciate the condemnation and take it on the chin. But did Flygon care about that? "You weren't wrong," he said after a moment's thought. "It was a freak occurrence, a bad mix of quirks. That can happen."

"Even so–"

"Shut up. You want to hear what I say or talk over me?" In truth, the teacher wasn't talking over him. There was a long enough pause for Eraserhead to genuinely believe he was done. His understandable frustration was making him irritable. Yet... He looked at his bandaged hands. "You weren't the only one being irresponsible." The power had been intoxicating. He wasn't thinking about the consequences or his own limits. Hell, it had felt like he didn't even have limits. "I was taxing my regeneration already by being stupid and reckless with my body. But you know what? I do want another apology, but not for what happened, but why it happened."

Eraserhead nodded. "You're right. I should be able to control myself better than-"

"What did you insist we call you while in costume, Eraserhead?" The question was asked and answered in the same sentence. "And what have you been calling us this whole time? What am I wearing right now?" He gestured at his costume. "We're not bystanders. We're not civilians. When we're in costume we're not even your students. We're heroes, employed by agencies, deployed because our employers know we can do the job and take care of ourselves. Maybe we got there faster than you think we should've, and I know you feel guilty for that too. That doesn't matter. If you fearing we'll get hurt is getting us hurt, it needs to stop."

"... You're right."

"... That's it? Just 'you're right'? No snide remarks about what a mouthy, overconfident asshole I am?" Was it wrong that he was almost disappointed?

"No," the pro confirmed with a shake of his head. "You're right. Out here I can't take the responsibility of watching over you. That was wrong of me. It's only by circumstance that we were all on the same job at all and if we weren't, you might've been better off for it. I'm sorry. You're my students, but it was unprofessional for me to treat you like children. I'll do my best to ensure it doesn't happen again." He put his hands in his pockets, slouching into a more natural posture for him. "And thanks for taking the hit for me in the tunnels."

"Heh." Even after saying all that about treating each other as colleagues, it was still weird to have his teacher treat him with that kind of respect. "Tell you what, you can buy me a beer and we'll call it even."

"You're still underage."

"I could drain a keg and I wouldn't feel it."

Eraserhead turned and walked away. "I don't write the laws."

"Tch," the dragonfly hero tutted, following his senior back to the scene. "Old enough to die on the job, not old enough to drink. This is how villains are made." As they returned, they weren't the only ones getting back. Uravity and Froppy returned at near the same time with Nejire, the latter's costume cut open in places. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Himiko Toga," Froppy answered.

Their teacher's attention immediately swerved from his own troubles to theirs. "What?

"She was pretending to be Flygon," Uravity explained. "Before we broke into the cavern. I saw through it and tried to subdue her but she had Flygon's strength and speed too."

"I chased her down," Nejire continued. "I won the fight, to the point she was about to do...Something with a red vial. But Froppy showed up and smashed it before she could do whatever with it." The cheerful girl winced in guilt. "Then Compress got me."

Froppy looked equally down. "Toga and Twice held Nejire hostage as a little marble and threatened to kill her. I let them go."

Eraserhead sighed in relief. "Don't feel bad. You made the right call. The League are dangerous enough that I wouldn't want anyone taking them on alone. Definitely not three on one."

"That's what I keep saying!" Nejire exclaimed, turning to her junior. "You totally saved me, Froppy! If you hadn't come after me, who knows what would've happened!"

Dead or captured, Flygon answered silently. The former might have been the better of the two options. All for One was behind bars, so who knew what those League lunatics would do with her if they got hold of her.

Everyone nodding along with Nejire's words at least seemed to raise Froppy's spirits. Despite being somewhat rank and covered in substances no one wanted to consider, she still stood taller and prouder for having made a difference.

"Right. You'll need to give your own accounts to the cops so make sure you've got the events in line in your heads. I've gotta go do mine and get back to the kid. Someone has to keep her quirk locked down until she can learn to control it."

"Control it?" Uravity asked.

"One of the officers played patty-cake with her. He's two years younger now. I doubt he's gonna complain about it, but if she does something like that by accident?" The dour hero shook his head. "She's been under the kind of quirk training you kids have, but at six years old. No control because Chisaki didn't want her to control it. So I'll be helping her along. In fact... Flygon. You mind helping me with something?"

Sure, I guess. I'll just check in with Ryukyu real quick."

It was only a brief momentary check with his boss. As their agency would now be coordinating with the police now that Nighteye was momentarily out of the picture, they had a long day ahead of them. Following that check, Flygon headed straight for a police van that the cops were giving a wide berth, only Eraserhead getting close.

"Flygon!" A tiny white-haired girl bounced out of the back of the van, wearing a megawatt smile. The officers closest took notable steps backward, but the girl didn't pay them any attention. "You're okay! Mister Eraser said you were! But... You're hurt!" she exclaimed, seeing the state of his hands and the bandages under his costume. The tiny horn on her head grew and glowed with an internal light.

And just as suddenly as it began, it stopped. Eraserhead's hair rising to give the reason.

"I'm okay, see?" he patted his bandaged hand against his bandaged chest, suppressing any kind of pained reaction. He really would be fine with a night's rest. But that rest was a while away yet.

"But you got hurt... Because of me..."

"I got hurt because of me," he corrected her gently. "Being dumb and reckless. It's a problem I have. But there's no hurt I can't come back from." Once again, he saw the bandages covering the girl's body. "Same as you, huh? The bad stuff isn't who we are. We can always come back from it."

The way she stared up at him, it was like he was watching the whole world open up through her eyes. An open-mouthed smile crossed her face, tears in her eyes. "Mm-hm!" she said with a nod.

He heard a rustle at his side and saw Eraserhead holding a tissue. Flygon took it, and gently wiped at the girl's eyes. "Stay strong, okay Eri? And next time we meet I can see you smile without needing these."

"Mm..." She had been restraining herself, but couldn't hold back anymore. She wrapped her tiny arms around the back of his neck. "Thank you."

... Oh fuck, this wasn't fair. He patted her on the shoulder as she let him go, then turned away. Horrorstruck at the assault of cuteness he had endured.

"Didn't think you'd be the type to be good with kids," Eraserhead mused aloud.

"How 'bout you shut up. I just said the kind of thing I always wanted to say when I imagined myself as a real hero." He glanced back at the traumatised little girl. "It just turned out a little more poignant than I expected."

"Yeah? Looks like she thought so too." The two men saw the girl smiling and waving at them. "Your first fan."

"Hnnnn..."

"Take it from another aloof, detached type. Sometimes you can't be that. Sometimes you have to really be there for people because that's what they need as much as someone who'll put themselves in danger for their sake." The teacher gave him a glance. "It's good you have the capacity for that. Gonna be honest. For the longest time I didn't think you had it in you."

"Oh yeah, I'm just a font of personal growth and all that shit."

"Hm."

If Flygon didn't know any better, he'd think that the noise Eraserhead made was almost a laugh.

-(-)-

True to Saiki's expectations, it had been a long, exhausting day. First dealing with the scene. Getting everyone where they needed to go. Fully clearing the building so the cops could do a proper investigation into the Hassaikai's activities and put them in a deep dark hole for a long time. Then when all that was done and the cops were cleared to take over, it was back to the office to coordinate with the Nighteye Agency on followup operations, hoping to pick up stragglers of the yakuza organisation. It wasn't likely they'd come to much, but it was better than letting experienced gangsters filter into other outfits and grace them with their experience and expertise.

The Hassaikai didn't survive so long by being idiots. It took sharp people to keep things together and seemingly above board in the age of All Might. Letting those people take over their own outfits wouldn't be a good thing, especially in such turbulent times.

It was nice to get back to the office and be treated like legitimate heroes instead of superpowered interns. It was less nice to learn of what happened with Chisaki in real time. The League of Villains attacking the police convoy. For what it was worth, Saiki didn't exactly feel bad that the bastard got his hands cut off, leaving him unable to use his quirk ever again. On the other hand, seeing Muscular bodyslam an armoured car and kill everyone in it... It made him itch.

The police should've destroyed those anti-quirk bullets while they had the chance. Nothing good would come from them being in the League's hands. It was a disheartening note to end the day on. Ryukyu had kept Nejire working, but sent the first year students home. And for once, Saiki appreciated someone looking out for his need to rest. He hadn't felt this tired in... Years. Easily.

"Yo! They're back!"

Which was maybe why he had to put on a polite smile when he walked into the dorms with Ochako, Tsuyu, Izuku and Kirishima. Kaminari had called them out as soon as he saw them and so everyone present rushed them the moment they were through the doors.

"Can't believe you were out there doing real hero shit!" the blond exclaimed as multiple girls rushed through to what was easily personal space. "A multi-agency and police sting on the freaking yakuza! Holy shit!"

Momo instantly glued herself to Saiki's side the moment she got close, wrapping her body around his left arm. "I'm so proud of you!"

"You looked pretty cool on the news," Kyoka said as she more subtly but in no way less sincerely gravitated to his right arm. Trying to pretend she wasn't as enthusiastic as the buxom girl on the other side.

Izuku meanwhile was getting her own close contact. Mina taking her hands with an apologetic expression. "Izuku, I'm so sorry! I had no idea! I got it so, so wrong in the cafeteria that time, are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks," the verdette answered sheepishly. Not happy to be reminded of something so embarrassing. "I got a little overwhelmed back then. Sorry."

The handholding quickly morphed into a hug that left Izuku even more uncertain and flustered. "Don't be! I'm just glad someone was there to understand better!"

Mei leapt through the crowd like an overeager puppy. "Hey! Your suit looked messed up! Does that mean I get to do more work on it?!"

"HEY!" The obvious outlier in the pile-up of people was a frustrated blonde. "Where the hell do you all get off going on real hero operations while I'm stuck doing patrols with a denim fetishist, huh?!"

Saiki smiled. "Well, you know how it goes."

... Oh wow. He was tired. Didn't even have it in him to give a real comeback. And he wasn't the only one who noticed. "Give 'em some room, idiots!" the caustic blonde demanded, making a hole by shoving people out of the way. "You're supposed to be heroes, not lame fan extras!"

Momo likewise took a closer look at her boyfriend, backing off a little after getting a proper look. "Do you need anything?" she asked, not just him. "Any of you? Come on, everyone! Let's give them space!"

"Some real food sounds good," Ochako said, her feet dragging her toward the kitchen.

" I can whip something up," Sato offered. "And I think I got some leftover pastries in the fridge if you guys want 'em."

"Thanks," Saiki said as he wrapped an arm around both girls in appreciation, and offered the more standoffish third a grateful smile. "Right now I think I just want some sl–" His phone buzzed. With eyes closed, he pulled it out of his pocket and checked the message. "Sleep."

Recovery Girl.

'You. My office. Now.'

"But that has to wait. I'll be back soon. Hopefully."

Once again he headed out of the dorm, dragged his way over to the school building and the nurse's office.

"I told you to be careful! I told you! Did I tell you?!"

"You told me–" His answer was aborted as he had to leap out of the way of her swinging cane.

"Be careful! Use it responsibly! That's what I said! And then Aizawa comes to me and tells me exactly how reckless you were!"

Was Aizawa trying to pin it on him? "Did he also tell you–?"

"HE DIDN'T HAVE TO!" the hero turned nurse shouted over him. "I've known him far longer than you have, young man! What happened today will weigh on him and don't you doubt it! But his mistakes don't excuse yours! I told you to be careful and you were more reckless than ever! S11 doesn't make you invincible, it makes you more vulnerable! One injury in the wrong place and your body chemistry will collapse under the pressure! Do you understand?! If it wasn't Erasure, it could've been a hundred other things, not least of which you having been stabbed already!" The old woman poked his injuries to make a point. Put pressure on them. "Say you understand."

"I understand."

"Make me believe it!"

"I understand, okay?!" he repeated. "I almost died–"

"You did die!"

"Yeah! And that got the message across better than any yelling is going to!"

"... Good." The cane lowered, supporting the nurse as she waddled over to a cabinet and pulled out the specialised hypodermic needles for drawing his blood. "Now we're going to run through every test I can think of, and we're going to make sure you're recovering properly."

"The paramedics already–"

"Back-talk me again, sonny. See what happens." She pointed at one of the infirmary beds. "Now you're going to sit there until I'm satisfied that my charge won't keel over from something I gave him! You can consider it your punishment for being so stupidly reckless! Getting stronger doesn't mean a thing if you die today!"

It was a long couple of hours, sitting there letting the nurse prick, poke and prod at him with any assessment she could come up with. Only then was he allowed to return to the dorms. He didn't stop in the lounge. He didn't speak to a single person. He simply dragged himself up the stairs to his room. Closed the door behind him and put this whole day in the rear view mirror.

"Saiki?"

Or not. He turned back around to see Izuku sitting on his bed. "What?" Not a question for her. A question of how this happened. His door was locked.

But she had the answer anyway. "Um, Momo gave me her key to your room."

He experienced a strange feeling of deja vu. But that was far less important than, "Why does Momo have a key to my room?"

-(-)-

A/N: This chapter seen very very early on THE GREAT FORBIDDEN P! FEAR THE P! LOVE THE P!