Izuku woke up with a groan, feeling heavy all over. His morning breath reeked of blood and smoke. He opened his eyes to a blue morning sky. As he became more awake, he realized that his hoodie was gone, and he was in the compression shirt he wore underneath. And draped over him was a fluffy snow-white blanket and a grey pillow lifting his head up.

"H-Hello." a soft voice said beside the bench he spent the night on. Izuku whipped his head to see a nervous-looking woman with white hair and grey eyes. "Um, hi." Izuku said while raising up his guard. He saw that she was holding his green and black hoodie, though it looked much cleaner. The woman jolted slightly when she realized where his eyes were. "S-Sorry, this is yours." she said while shoving it in his hands.

Izuku accepted his belonging and looked back at the woman who fidgeted nervously. "I-I found you on the bench looking hurt so I tried to help." Izuku lifted his compression shirt to find bandages and the smell of ointment on his bruised midsection. He also felt a patch on his cheek where he was cut. 'She went through the trouble of helping a complete stranger herself? We're right in front of a hospital, she could get help from there.'

"Do you need anything else?" Before Izuku could answer, his stomach started to growl. The white-haired lady rushed into the hospital to get some food. Izuku sighed and put his hoodie back on. 'Is she a patient or a nurse here? She doesn't seem to be quite all there, but... at least she's nice.' Izuku took a minute to view his surroundings. He realized something that made him feel shock and a twinge of sadness.

He's sitting outside the hospital his father used to work at!

"Dad..." Izuku clutched his chest to try and stop his heart from ripping itself open. He got up in a sitting position and hunched, letting a few tears leak out of his eyes. Suddenly, he felt something soft and fluffy on his back and two hands on his shoulders. He looked back to see the woman that helped him returned and put the blanket on him and was rubbing his shoulders to try and calm him down. "What's wrong?" she asked gently.

Izuku took a deep breath and let the walls down for a second. His voice was soft and strangled, telling the woman that he was in a very difficult place. "...My dad used to work here. I miss him." The woman sat down on the bench next to him with a bowl of soup in her lap. "What was he like?" she asked. Izuku was surprised by the question but didn't push her away. "Nice. Really nice. He taught me how to read and write. He always made good meals. I miss my dad." Another tear ran down his cheek, but this time the woman wiped it away.

She then held out the bowl of soup for him to take. "My name is Rei." she finally introduced herself. "Zu." He accepted the bowl and began eating. Rei stayed beside him the whole time. Throughout that morning, Izuku felt strangely at peace with the woman. She found him hurt and alone, and nursed him, fed him, let him vent. He never asked for that, but she knew he needed it. And she didn't get the hospital staff involved which would risk his identity. 'Is this what having a mom feels like? It's nice...'

A thought then popped in his head. Rei had seen his face. He had no mask or hair dye to conceal himself. Besides the scar on his right cheek and the bags under his eyes, he's an exact match to the missing person posters. Despite that, Rei didn't seem to be familiar with him at all. Granted, she doesn't seem to be 100%. Then it clicked with Izuku. 'She must be a psychiatric patient. That would explain why she's in the hospital without any apparent sickness or injuries.'

Izuku finished his soup and gave Rei the bowl. "Thank you very much, Ms Rei." "You're welcome. Can I ask how you got hurt?" Zu placed a hand on his stomach. "I... didn't have anyone looking out for me." He looked down at his feet. Rei frowned and stood up. "I'll get you a water." She went back inside. Soon after, she came back with a tall glass of water in hand, but no Zu in sight. All she saw left on the bench was the blanket and pillow she gave him.

...

Izuku hopped over the rooftops, feeling invigorated yet also deflated. Perhaps it was leaving the first person to give him a taste of motherly affection. Perhaps it was the weight of having killed yet another person sinking in. It might've been his injuries that were far from healed. Whatever the case, he felt fine enough to get moving before he could be put in danger again. He landed on the ground and walked out of an alley, putting on his hoodie to hide his hair. He also grabbed his bright yellow back pack. "Right where I left it." He was getting pretty familiar with the back alley spaces of Musutafu.

Zu walked among the people again, noticing something concerning. There were more officers and pros patrolling. In an area he'd never seen receive so much attention. Izuku tried to keep to himself and not raise suspicion. He walked until he found a large TV on a building with some shocking news.

"The Green Devil's barbarism seems to know no bounds. Even other criminals are seeking him for his power, and suffer agonizing deaths. This is video footage from just last night. The following image is extremely disturbing, and it is advised that all minors look away."

The news showed a video recording of the Green Devil piercing the powered up villain and horrifically burning him to death from the inside. Many wandering people gasped, gagged or looked away. The news then switched to people who had witnessed the event.

Formerly Endangered Woman:
"It was brutal from start to finish. T-That villain with metal armor had a quirk booster drug. H-He was a monster! The Devil was beaten bloody by that guy, until he managed to go for the kill. The sound of those roaring flames, the agonizing screams, the loud crashing. Those sounds haunt my nightmares."

Teenage Blogger:
"That was the sickest fight I've ever seen! The Green Devil was getting his ass kicked and I thought he was dead, then we'd all be dead! But then the guy starts looking like a wraith from Hell! That takedown is gonna bring me so many followers; the guy's a hero! Oh and he saved my life, too. Why don't the heroes do sick executions like that? We'd have less shitbags on the street."

Middle-aged Man:
"I don't know much about that young man, and I can't say I condone his methods. But he saved my life. Unlike the pros, he acted knowing he would receive no reward, risking his life for a complete stranger. He nearly died in that fight for us. For me. If you can see me, boy, please know I'm extremely grateful to you. If the heroes arrest you, or you turn yourself in, I hope you channel your power toward helping people in a more acceptable manner."

Izuku felt his heavy heart start to lighten. It was nice to see his work being appreciated, even if he himself agrees that some of it shouldn't be condoned. Namely being the walking local crematorium. The screen switched back to the news reporter, who closed off saying that a dangerous child is still a child nonetheless. He needs help before he crosses the line. Zu scoffed and walked away from the billboard TV.

'If I do end up crossing that line, it's because I was pushed that far.'

The Next Day

Ever since the report about the Green Devil's brutal execution, the streets have been quiet. Yes there were more police and heroes on patrol, but there was no suspicious activity to investigate. Izuku had sent a wave of fear into the criminal world, and it seems the heroes felt it too. Although, this development wasn't felt much or at all by Rei. Her room didn't have a TV, and she wasn't allowed more than ten feet away from the hospital. They were that paranoid about keeping her stable.

The same time every morning and evening, she would go on a limited stroll and breathe in some fresh air. She had about an hour of outside time before having to go back inside, and she always used it to its last second. While on her evening stroll, she spotted a head of green hair sitting against the wall and instinctively approached it.

Izuku breathed in through his nose and out his mouth. He dug through his pocket and pulled out a small picture of Hisashi. 'I miss you, Dad...' He put it back in his pocket when he heard footsteps approaching. He calmed down a bit when it was a familiar cold temperature. "Hello." she greeted him. "Hi." "What are you doing back here?" Izuku didn't have it in him to send her away, and just sighed. "I wanted to visit the place my dad worked. Don't have anywhere else I want to remember him."

Rei sat down next to him. "What about your home?" Zu squeezed his arm. "They don't need me." He laid his head in his knees. His body began heating up in response to his emotions. He didn't do it on purpose, but didn't try to stop it. If the heat drove Rei away, so be it. But instead of hearing her shuffle away, he felt a cooling sensation on his back. He looked up and saw Rei had begun using her quirk to keep him from burning too hot. "I don't think that's true."

Izuku looked at her in surprise at what she had begun doing. Once he was at a comfortable temperature, Rei pulled away her hand which had a frosty mist coming from it. A frost quirk. Fitting for someone who can cool him down. "My family isn't the prettiest either, but not every one is bad. Isn't there someone in yours you've turned to for help?"

Izuku was speechless for a time. Two figures immediately popped in his mind as Rei said that. Nana and Hisashi. His deceased father and grandmother. He didn't realize it, but he let a tear slide down his cheek. Rei was there to wipe it off. "T-There was... but I ended up stuck with the worst of them until I couldn't take it anymore." Izuku placed his scarred right hand over his face. Without thinking, Rei wrapped an arm around his head and held him closer to her. Her motherly side kicked in on its own around Zu.

It was therapeutic for Izuku, sitting in silence as a gentle woman held him. He would've stayed there for the whole night if he could, and he gets the feeling Rei wouldn't mind, but a staff member came out looking for her. Izuku had managed to slip away in time, and Rei was found asleep on the floor. She was woken up and taken back to her room. Despite the nurse's gentle scorn, she didn't feel remorse. All she felt was... 'I hope you keep coming back, Zu.' Worry.

Police Department

"Tsukauchi, sir!" an officer burst into the detective's office. "What is it!? Who's dead now? One of our own!?" he asked frantically with an empty coffee mug on his desk. It's been a week since the Green Devil's obscene murder and the police and heroes were working overtime to bring him in. "Sir, I encountered the Green Devil! I tried to arrest him, but he used his fear fire and threw me off." the officer admitted shamefully.

Tsukauchi was more concerned about his co-worker. He was alone in the streets with a murderer. But unlike others, he didn't seem physically injured. "What happened?" "Sir, he... he didn't do anything. He shot cold flames at me and disappeared from my line of sight. I was honestly expecting to die, but here I am." Tsukauchi looked surprised at this. The vigilante had another development. This time it wasn't anything to do with the Yagi's. The vigilante actually became more gentle.

'This is wishful thinking, but maybe he's on a road to healing. If we're lucky, a good hero will be able to convince him to come quietly, and we can give him a better life!' Wishful thinking indeed.

...

Over the next two weeks, Izuku would continue to visit the hospital his father once worked at. At first, it was solely so he could feel like he was still with him. But then he quickly came to realize it was to see Rei. They talked, ate and stayed close to each other for many evenings. It was always nice to share a bowl of soup under the pink and orange evening sky. Rei had quickly worked her way into Izuku's heart as the mother figure he was missing. She let him vent about how awful his life was. He kept some details hidden, like his vigilantism, misdiagnosis and the identity of All Might, but told her most of everything else. And it was very nice to have someone to help him lighten his heart.

In return, he lent an ear to Rei when she felt like talking. Izuku learned about her family, how she was basically sold to Endeavor and forced to be a baby machine for the man to reach his dream of surpassing All Might. The maddeningly stressful life she had before shattered her mind and landed her in a mental hospital. And now she has to live with the guilt of scarring her youngest child. Izuku let her cry on his shoulder that night.

As Rei cried, Izuku felt a new hatred for the number 2 hero rising up within him. Breeding children for the sole purpose of your own glory? Then discarding your own creations for not meeting your ideal standards? How could someone like him possibly be called a hero!? And to make it worse, he was chasing after a huge hypocrite. He and All Might aren't so different when it comes to being fathers. The top two heroes are now the top two scumbags to Izuku, not counting Izumi and Bakugo. His body began burning up as he held Rei.

Rei didn't use her quirk to cool him down. When she had put together Zu had a heat quirk, it reminded her of Enji, which she was afraid of. But she saw a sad boy filled with pain. That burning was from open, untreated wounds. So she decided to treat them, and never got burned once. For the first time in years, she let herself be held by the heat of a fire quirk user, but it was very different from Endeavor. This heat was... protective, comforting and just the right temperature. They both found much-needed comfort in each other.

...

'Hi Dad. Sorry I haven't talked to you in a while. I've... been preoccupied. I have an awesome quirk but it attracts attention from the wrong crowd. And now I don't think I even want to be part of the "right" crowd. I know you and Grandma are disappointed in me. But I genuinely don't know if I can ever go back to who I was. The Yagi's are still favoring their only child and complete strangers treat me so much better than they did. I don't know what to do, but I'll figure it out.'

Izuku stood up from his knees as he finished his prayer. A few tears fell down his face but he wiped them away. He was on the roof of the hospital. He decided it would be a good spot to pray to Hisashi without interruptions. With that done, he could jump down and begin his evening talks with Rei, the highlight of his day. He walked to the edge of the building, feeling a little less foggy. But then a voice stopped him. An infuriatingly familiar voice.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"