Saiki had never been one to show excessive restraint. In fact, it could be said that he didn't show enough. In the past, he had barely been able to hold himself together, put on the mask of being a sensible human being with a functioning moral compass. Fighting to not reveal that he was a self-centred son of a bitch who would happily use those around him for his own gratification, and if those around him provided none they basically didn't exist. He had known that about himself, understood it, accepted it, and decided that it was all fair and decent so long as he didn't overstep. He had to be only so unacceptable that he was still broadly acceptable. Those who obeyed social contracts, the golden rule, all that kind of thing, they tended to end up doormats who got walked over by those who didn't. And he had refused to be a doormat. He could accept being a bad person if it meant not letting anyone step on him.

With the benefit of personal growth, some trauma, and a boatload of hindsight, he could comfortably say that was a bunch of defensive bullshit. It was less about being tough, standing proud, refusing to back down. It was more the fear that controlled him since he was little. He was afraid that he would end up like one of his parents. That fear, that defined his entire life, defined who he was. He didn't want to be his dad; the egotistical tough guy, too up his own ass to stop himself from getting into some shit he couldn't get out of. He didn't want to be his mom; someone who got so lost in being a good, responsible person that they trap themselves in their responsibilities, being there for those who don't care to reciprocate.

Had he succeeded?

... No. Not at all.

In the end, he had come to be both of them. He was a self-centred piece of shit who used people, so obsessed with looking like a big shot that he hurt everyone around him. And on the other hand, he had bent over backwards, put himself at so much risk for someone who had already turned her back on him. He had put so much on the line. His everything, his future, his ambitions. It wasn't even because it was the right thing to do. It was because it was her. He had become the worst of both of them. The only difference being... It seemed he had made much better choices for the people who surrounded him, that was all. If he had chosen a career path less steeped in altruism, he would probably have ended up repeating history.

It was a disappointing realisation for someone who so badly wanted to stand and succeed on his own. That he could only find success by accepting help from others. By learning from others. By relying on others. Pride was so important to him. The most important even. Yet now, aside from how it felt good to wallow in it, he couldn't for the life of him figure out why it was just so vital to his existence that he crumbled when it was challenged. He had known at one point, or at least he had felt like he knew, but if he really had, that understanding was lost.

Was that a good thing? Or a bad thing? He wasn't sure.

"Hey. Bro. You okay?"

Saiki blinked, confused as he looked around the dorm lounge, seeing more than a couple of his classmates giving him strange looks. Momo sitting in his lap didn't seem to mind, nor did Mei who was still chattering away about the adjustments she wanted to make to the wing dispersal system even when he obviously wasn't listening. Something about... Creating a flammable gas or powder or something? She did remember he was a hero, right?

His lips curved up for a fraction of a second, his arm holding Momo tighter to her appreciation. "Yeah. I'm good."

What even got him all introspective like that?

He looked across the room and realised. Katsumi. Sitting over there all petulant and fuckable. If he was thinking about parental influence and pride, Katsumi was about as messed up as he was, if in a different way. After all, he had painted each of Mitsuki's holes with his cum while Katsumi watched, and by all evidence she had used that experience to learn technique. Not that he was complaining. It was hot as hell and by her performance Katsumi had learned a lot from watching her mother get stuffed with cock. Her blowjobs in particular had seen vast improvement. And it was all down to her pride. She wanted to prove Saiki was hers. And she refused to be upstaged. What was going on in that girl's head at that moment, Saiki couldn't even begin to guess. Beyond it probably including a bunch of swearing.

"What were we talking about?" he asked, trying to pick up the thread of conversation.

"Mt Lady, Kamui Woods and Edgeshot forming a hero team, man!" Kaminari answered with a grin. "It's surprising! Guess they really connected during the whole Kamino thing." The Kamino thing that Saiki was at ground zero of, the blond seemed to realise only after he had said it. "Uh, I mean–"

"It's fine." It wasn't like Saiki would say he was over it, but he wasn't about to lose his shit just for somebody mentioning it. "I guess Mt Lady recovered pretty well." She took a bad hit during that thing.

"Hell yeah she did!" Kirishima confirmed. Though whether he actually knew that or was just trying to raise the energy in the room again was anyone's guess. "So whaddya think?"

"About?"

"Teams, man! Teams!"

"Uh... Well I guess you and that one steel guy from Class B would probably work?" Maybe a little redundant but team-ups were as often about image and theme as they were about having a group with varied abilities to excel in different situations.

"No, man. I mean you! What do you think? Anyone you'd form a team with?"

He hummed in thought. "If you're hinting at something, I think you're barking up the wrong tree. Wouldn't wanna upstage you and make you look like a sidekick."

"Ha!"

Katsumi's bark of laughter aside, Kirishima didn't appear to appreciate what was supposed to be a joke. "Yeah, no. Come on, man. You've never thought about it?"

"Forming a team? Not really. Wasn't exactly great at the cooperation thing until recently." Way back in basic training he basically told Momo what to do then did the entire thing on his own. In the sports festival he chafed at everything Todoroki said. Final exams... Oof. Only during the Hassaikai raid did he feel like he was actually working with other people. Genuinely working with them. In that sense... "Lemillion would be alright, I guess. Can definitely do things I can't."

"Lemillion? Oh, that flasher guy!"

"Yeah, him. He's actually a pretty reliable guy. Wouldn't have thought it when I met him and definitely when I first heard about him." That particular grudge was well and truly gone, not that it was that strong to begin with. "I wouldn't mind forming a team with him. And..." He felt Momo's peach wiggling atop him. Oh. Oh crap. Okay, needed to find a way around this that wouldn't make her feel bad. "Yeah, probably not Izuku or Katsumi."

"Damn right," Katsumi agreed, pretending to only half listen to the conversation. "Gonna be better than you could ever be. Not gonna let you hold me down."

"Again," Saiki added to her statement with a smirk, to which she flipped him off. "Yeah, doesn't play well with others. Izuku is... Well, she's doing her own thing and teaming up long-term would probably step on that. Hell, teaming up with anyone long-term would go against my goals too." Here we go. "But for people I'd want to work with on a regular basis..." He squeezed his girlfriend tighter, kissing her on the neck. "I can think of a couple other people." Momo with her ability to make anything. Kyoka for scouting and suppression, while he was the heavy hitter. Now that he thought about it, even though he intended to let his girlfriend down gently, he actually didn't mind the idea of working with her at all.

How all that would work logistically speaking and in terms of position... Well, that wasn't something that he really needed to consider yet at all. The idea was floated. That was good enough. They could figure out if anything would come of it farther in the future.

-(-)-

"This feels weird."

"Saiki, come on, it's not a big deal. It's just a hospital visit."

"Yeah, that's what's weird about it."

Aizawa had sent out the call to the three of them. Izuku, Saiki and Mirio. It wasn't an obligation, but... Well, it was an implied obligation. Eri Chisa–… Eri, was finally able to have visitors after her week long stay in hospital. She had been mostly isolated aside from visits for tests from doctors under the supervision of Eraserhead. She was a little girl who had a hard life, and the teacher thought it would be good for her to have visitors. And since there was no one else who would go see her, her parents dead, her grandfather comatose, and her former guardian could rot in the pits of Tartarus for eternity (both metaphorically and very literally). It would be nice if her three favourite heroes would come for a visit.

Mirio and Izuku were all about it. Saiki though, he had misgivings.

"The only times I've been in hospital have been because I fucked myself up from training. I don't really get the whole visiting thing."

"It's not complicated, Flygon," Mirio said, walking with his hands behind his head and a big smile on his face. "You visit someone going through a bad spot to make 'em feel better! So they know they're not alone! That you're there cheering them on to get better! Remember, you're a hero! You'll be doing this kind of thing a lot, cheering up sick kids!"

"That's true!" Izuku agreed. "As part of his charity work, All Might has done over ten thousand visits to children in intensive care!"

"Hadn't really thought about that," Saiki muttered. This wasn't a part of the job he ever really thought about. Whenever he heard about sob stories like that he always just assumed it was for publicity and filed it under his fake smile training. That he'd probably do it, but he'd do what he thought everyone else did. Pretend he cared, then go find someone fun to do. Now he knew it not only probably wasn't fake, but also that his whole fake smile training was worth about as much as the smile itself. Nothing. He had to be genuine? He didn't know how to do that. "Even if I want to do that kind of thing right, I don't really know how. When life deals me a shitty hand I handle it by myself until I figure I've got better shit to do and get over it."

"Wow! That sounds super unhealthy!" Mirio said with an honest to god smile on his face. "Are you okay?"

Saiki gaped at him. "... Yeah, I've decided I don't like you again."

"Harsh!"

"Saiki," Izuku grabbed his hand and squeezed. "It's not complicated. Just... She's doing okay. You don't need to worry about getting this wrong. You want to see her doing better, right? That's all you have to do. Just say what you feel about her. And then talk to her."

"Right! And kids are easier than you think!" Mirio agreed with typical exuberance. "They're not different! They're just little people! After being cooped up here for so long she'll probably talk our ears off!"

Saiki hoped it would be that easy. After Todoroki's stories of his remedial training for his hero license, he had maybe become a little more wary of kids than he had been previously.

True to his word, Aizawa was stood waiting outside the ward where Eri was being kept. Leaning against the wall in full hero costume as if to make a statement of why he was there. He was probably one of the very few heroes who could treat wearing his full costume as meaning 'don't bother me'. Any other hero would get autograph requests. Nobody cared about Eraserhead, and that was just how he wanted it. "Good, you're here." He pushed himself off the wall. "Follow me."

"How is she, Mister Aizawa?" Izuku asked as she followed him onto the ward.

"She's doing well today," he answered, not looking back. "Might have something to do with me telling her she'd get visitors. So I'm glad you all decided to show."

All of them knew. Only one of them was in question. Izuku and Mirio were too invested in the girl to ever consider ignoring the request. But aside from looking mildly uncomfortable, Saiki didn't comment.

The four stopped outside a room, the window letting them see the little girl inside. Either doodling or colouring, it was difficult to tell from outside with her hunched over whatever it was she was working on. "See the horn?" Aizawa asked. "That's the focal point of her quirk."

"It's smaller," Saiki noted.

"Right. What Chisaki was doing, he basically forced her quirk to constantly go haywire, trying to get his perfect anti-quirk drug through vicious experimentation. Now that she's away from that, it's stabilised a little. The smaller size means it's less likely to go out of control." The teacher turned around, staring at the three students. "However, that doesn't mean it can't happen. I'll be in there with you, so I can shut it down if something happens."

The reassurance was spoken aloud, the warning was left unsaid. The warning to remain cautious just in case things went wrong. To treat her like she was a danger. To treat her like at any moment, something could rub her the wrong way and she would lash out because of what she was.

Saiki didn't remember clenching his fists.

"You ready?" the teacher asked, getting nods from the students. He nodded back, grabbing the handle for the door and turning it. "Eri, I brought you some visitors."

"Huh?" The white-haired little girl looked up from her crayons, seeing the familiar face of the hero and teacher as he entered the room. But then also three more familiar faces. Her eyes lit up, her mouth opened in a wide smile as she let in a deep breath. "Flygon!" she exclaimed. "Mister Million! Deku!" She awkwardly hopped off the chair that was a little too tall for her, running over before they could even fully enter the room. "You came! You really really came!"

"Hey there, Eri! We– Uh?" Izuku started to say.

Only to stop as she saw her boyfriend stoop down and greet the little girl by grabbing her by the waist and lifting her up. "Of course we did, kid! You thought we wouldn't?"

"Heehee!"

He set her down again, catching Eraserhead's eye almost challengingly. As if to tell him where he could shove his warnings. The teacher rolled his eyes in response. Not surprised at all that this particular student would take such a warning as a challenge but glad it at least had a positive outcome this time.

"Look look! I did a picture!" the little girl insisted, running back over to the table she had been sitting at and pulling the paper off of it. Holding it up for them to see. "See?!" It was a drawing done in crayon. Flygon, Lemillion and Deku, all in costume, standing around her as if shielding her from what might hurt her. "It's not finished. I wanted it to have you all saying stuff but the nurse got mad when I asked how to write it."

"Oh?" None of them knew what to make of that. Eraserhead in particular seemed suddenly intent on asking some pointed questions of the nursing staff. But Izuku pushed past it for the moment as she squatted down to the girl's level. "Of course we'll help! What did you want them to say?"

"Well, Mister Million has to say..." She took a deep breath, before bellowing, "POWERRRRR!"

"Nice! Loud and proud!" Mirio cheered her on.

Eri giggled at the praise, pointing to the figure that vaguely resembled Deku next. "Deku says 'We're your heroes'!"

Izuku's eyes welled up with tears, overcome with emotion. She had to look away to wipe her eyes. "Okay!"

"And Flygon has to say 'SHUT THE FUCK UP, ASSHOLE'!"

...

Silence. From within the room and without. Just a moment of stillness, a little girl grinning proudly as she quoted one of her favourite heroes. Words said in the moment when she was saved from the man who brought her only pain. Words she heard when she was finally allowed to feel hope again.

But... But the words, though...

"Pfffff!" Saiki had tried to hold it in, he really had. But he couldn't help himself. And explosion of air burst over his lips as he laughed into his arm. Fighting so hard to keep it contained it felt like his abs were getting a workout.

"Of course," Aizawa sighed, no longer holding ill intent for the nurses. Suddenly he understood.

"Eri! Where did you hear that kind of language?!" Mirio asked.

"From Flygon! The bad man tried to take me and he was yelling, and then Flygon shouted 'SHUT THE FUCK UP, ASSHOLE'!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Saiki stop laughing!"

"Can't! Too–! Too good! Hahahahaha! Oh, it hurts! I can't breathe!"

Izuku huffed at her boyfriend finding a small child swearing like that to be the funniest thing he ever heard. "Okay, Eri. We'll start with the first two and... We'll come back to that last one."

"Okay!"

"Do you want to write 'POWER' in English or Japanese?"

"English?" the little girl asked.

"Yeah, power is an English word."

"Okay! English, please!"

"Alright," Izuku said as she sat down next to Eri with a fresh sheet of paper. "I'll write it down here, and you can copy it, okay?"

"Okay!"

It wasn't a fast process. After all, Eri was only six and hadn't exactly learned anything from her former guardian that anyone deserved to learn. And on top of that, being a small child who didn't get to talk to people much, she was eager to tell her favourite heroes all about what had been happening and how she was doing. As well as asking about what being a hero was like. All in all, a lot of delays on something fairly simple, but none of them were particularly put out by it. She was just so excited about everything, excited for there being so much she could experience now that she was free.

After an hour had passed, the drawing was complete to Eri's satisfaction. She held it up proudly for everyone to see. Saiki managed to hide his disappointment that Izuku had elected not to teach her to swear in writing, and instead had tamed his words down to 'shut up, jerk'.

It was easy to hide that disappointment as she walked over and handed him the picture. "What's this? You worked hard on this. Don't you want to keep it?"

"Yeah! I worked hard on it, so I want you to have it!"

It felt like something had grabbed his insides and twisted. A pain, a good pain, that he couldn't remember ever feeling before. There were no ulterior motives, no outside complications. This was the simplest, purest thing in the world. Gratitude. She was so young there couldn't be more than that. He had done right by her. They had saved her. He had saved her. And it didn't matter that he wasn't a good person. It didn't matter that he taught her to swear. It didn't matter that he struggled to be genuine. Whatever else he might have been, she didn't care. She was grateful that he was her hero.

"I–U-h," he stammered even on filler words, his voice no longer cooperating with him as his eyes felt wet and his sinuses burned. "Thank you, Eri." He pressed his arm over his eyes for a moment, forcing himself to calm. "But we can't just take this and not return the favour. Eraser, you got a camera?"

"... Sure."

Soon after, the four of them were posing together, the little girl held up between the three of them in an imitation of her drawing. "On three, everyone say 'shut the fuck up, asshole'! One!"

"Saiki, I'm not saying that!"

"Two!"

"That's inappropriate for a–!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, ASSHOLE!" Saiki and Eri exclaimed, both of them grinning like idiots at the camera as Izuku and Mirio tried to argue.

"... Perfect," Aizawa said, lowering his phone. It was hard to tell whether it was genuine or sarcastic. It could easily have been both.

"You'll visit again, right?!" Eri asked.

"Of course!"

The three students left, Aizawa staying behind as there were more tests scheduled for the afternoon.

Saiki couldn't stop staring at the crayon drawing. "I shouldn't have this. One of you guys should have this."

"Saiki?"

"What are you talking about, Flygon?" Mirio asked with an easy smile on his face. "She gave it to you, she wanted you to have it. It's fine with me."

"It's not," the younger man insisted. "You two, you were out of your minds with worry for her! You did everything you could, you fought like hell and I–"

... Didn't. He hadn't cared. She was just another kid who got a raw deal.

But she wasn't anymore.

"This means so much more to you than it does to me."

It had to.

"Saiki," Izuku said as she stood in front of him, holding his hands as they held the paper. "That's not true. And I think you know that. She wanted you to have it because she wanted to thank you." She kissed him on the cheek. "It's yours. Because you're a hero."

...

Hours later, the drawing was pinned to Saiki's otherwise bare bedroom wall. A lone bit of decoration in the home of a man who hadn't allowed himself to care about anything but success.

He didn't know how long he sat staring at it.

-(-)-

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