"Regular speech,"

"Flashback speech,"

'Inner dialogue,'

'Phone Text Chat'

Izuku quietly walked along, aided by Himiko, as they made their way to his apartment, the dream still weighing heavily on his mind.

'What was that about? It felt like… memories, and that was definitely Himiko in my dream. But why did she react like that? Wasn't the first time she tasted blood when we first met?'

His head was spinning; the dull throb of the bites on his neck and scratches all over his body didn't help him focus at all. The sun had set nearly thirty minutes ago, and the nice dry night was a godsend for the bites that they had bandaged before leaving. If he'd had to put up with the sweltering, sticky heat of the sun, then he didn't think he could've stayed up for long.

Himiko's bites were nice, but he always felt woozy because of the sudden loss of blood. That was why he was currently being supported by the girl as they walked through the streets of Musutafu.

Izuku sighed and turned his thoughts away from what were most likely meaningless dreams. "Did Mom say what she was doing to celebrate?"

Himiko hummed lightly; her step was light and happy, and it was plainly apparent to him that her bloodlust had been satiated, along with her regular lust, "Mm, not really, but I bet she's going to make a bit of everyone's favorite stuff to eat. She does that whenever she wants to celebrate."

He laughed weakly as he took another wobbly step, "Well, I guess that means we can expect some Katsudon for me, some kind of pomegranate thing for you, and candied apples for Eri. Maybe we should make something for her sometime. She kinda has to put up with us a lot, and I'm told, quite often, that we're problem children."

Himiko guffawed, "Don't forget delinquents; the old fart called us delinquents when he first saw us."

Izuku sighed and could feel a small cloud of gloom grow over his head, "why do so many adults think we're so unruly? I try my hardest not to cause too much trouble."

She giggled at his dejected sigh, "Well, your arms are covered in healed bite marks, and now so are both of your shoulders. And I just kinda look like a troublemaker; I think it's in the eyes. I'm always looking around super shiftily, but that's cause it's always a good idea to know the exits in any given room."

He huffed and gestured at the bites all along his arms, "And whose fault is that?"

She just smiled cheekily, "Don't pretend you don't like it. If I recall correctly, you had me bite you just before we both—"

Izuku's hand shot over her mouth as they passed another couple walking down the sidewalk. The couple looked at Izuku and Himiko quizzically, noticing how Izuku's hand had clamped firmly around the blonde girl's mouth. Izuku waved awkwardly at the pair, and so did Himiko.

Once they were out of sight, Izuku sighed and pulled his hand away. "S-sorry. I get your point, though."

"Good. Now, let's head up. I bet Inko and Eri are getting worried. We kind of took a little longer than we said," Himiko pointed up at Izuku's apartment building, and as they entered, she headed straight for the elevator.

The journey up wasn't as… amorous as the one they had had in Himiko's elevator, but the silence was nice. And the way Himiko gripped his hand grounded him a bit more. They left the elevator and went to his apartment; Izuku fished out his keys and opened the door.

"Welcome home, and congratulations on finishing your exams!" His Mom enthused.

"Welcome! Congratu— rations?" Eri looked up at his mom confusedly and then at Izuku and Himiko.

He chuckled and scooped the girl up into his arms. Eri snuggled close into Izuku's chest. Her horn seemed a bit bigger than Izuku remembered, but the little smile on her face drew his attention more. "Were you guys waiting long?"

Eri's little hands gripped Izuku's shirt, "uh huh, grandma was getting worried. She kept moving the plates and adjusting the forks and stuff."

Himiko stooped slightly and rubbed the tip of her nose against Eri's, "I guess we'll have to go in and mess up all her hard work. Won't we, Eri?"

The little girl giggled and wiggled toward Himiko, so that she was being held by her instead of Izuku. "You're silly, mama."

Izuku laughed, "Yeah, she is."

Himiko pouted and repositioned Eri in her arms, "No ganging up on me; it's not nice!"

Mom seemed to be in a pitying mood because she laughed and ushered them all into the kitchen. The table was set for four people. One plate was between two others, while the last one was on the other side of the table.

Izuku looked at his mom quizzically.

"Eri wanted to sit between you two." Mom smiled, put a hand on her cheek, and gave him a teasing smile, "she really seems to love her mama and papa."

"Like she should!" Himiko beamed down at the girl in her arms proudly and placed her in the seat between Izuku and her.

He just sighed and went to help his mom get the food for everyone, "what did you end up making, Mom?"

She hurried over to the oven, handed him a few platters, and then started bustling around the table, giving everyone a few servings of rice from the cooker. "I made Katsudon for dinner, pomegranate cake for dessert, and if anyone doesn't like them, they can have a candied apple or two."

Izuku could see Himiko give him a smug grin out of the corner of his eye. She was gloating about getting dinner right.

Mom gave a pointed look to Eri, who was dutifully trying to cut her pork… with the side of her fork.

Izuku laughed and took the utensil from the girl as he sat at the table. "Here, let me get that for you, Eri."

He grabbed her knife and started cutting the pork into easy-to-eat strips. The girl had made great strides in her sociability since Izuku and Himiko had saved her. She even went out with Izuku's mom when she went grocery shopping every now and then, but it seemed utensils were a bit more difficult for her. And Izuku didn't even want to try introducing chopsticks at this point; it would just needlessly complicate things.

Izuku finished cutting up the girl's food and handed the fork back to her. He ran a hand through her hair as she ravenously devoured her food. "Eat slowly, Eri. There's no need to rush; your dessert won't be going anywhere."

She grinned up at him, her cute little red eyes sparkling with her wide smile and a bit of rice stuck to the side of her mouth. "Okay, thank you, papa!"

He felt his heart clench and his face scrunch up in adorable overdose. He was still a little flustered by the whole 'papa' thing; he had slowly gotten used to it, but moments like this always made him feel embarrassedly happy.

When Izuku looked up from the little girl to ask Himiko something, he saw that both she and his mother were staring at him with wide, teasing grins. "W-what?!"

His Mom just held her hands up in surrender, "It's nothing… papa."

Himiko poorly concealed her own grin behind her hand, "Y-yeah. Nothing at all, papa."

Eri just sat happily, eating her food with one hand and holding Himiko's with the other.

Izuku sighed and started on his own plate of food. Sometimes, it was better to know when to stop digging if you were already in a hole.

His mom seemed to get the hint, and she changed the subject, "So, how did your exams go? I know you've been taking all of your written exams since Monday, but today was supposed to be the practical, right?"

Izuku nodded and swallowed, "Yeah, I think I did fairly well on the written exams, but I don't know about the practical. Kacchan and I got into… a few fights."

Himiko laughed, "You call what you guys did 'a few fights'? From what Recovery Girl let me see, it looked more like a bunch of cheap shots on his part, a lot of insults on yours, and then a mean kick to the face to knock him out. Oh, but my favorite part was where you just tossed him over the finish line!"

Izuku's mom glanced at him worriedly, "what happened with Katsuki?"

He swallowed the mouthful of food he'd just taken. He set his fork down and glared at the plate in front of him, "Kacchan… made finishing the practical nearly impossible. He attacked me when I tried convincing him to work with me, and then when I tried tricking him into it, he attacked me again, so I decided I wasn't giving him a third chance. I still don't know if it was the right choice. Kacchan definitely hates me more than he did already, but it was the only way I could see to win."

His mom frowned, but instead of the placating looks and words of possible reconciliation he'd expected, she sighed and bit her lip, "Katsuki has been getting worse and worse; even Mitsuki is worried about his behavior. I'm sure he's had it tough in some ways, but that doesn't give him a right to hurt the people around him."

Izuku was sure his mom was extremely pissed if she was saying this. It sounded like a lukewarm reaction, but he knew his mom. She was the type to grin and bear it, but he knew from experience that people like that could only take it for so long.

He just wished she'd had enough when he showed up with burns and bruises from Kacchan's rough treatment back when it had first happened. This seemed like a case of too little, too late.

"It's fine, mom. I can handle Kacchan, I'm used to it."

He could see Himiko looking at him from the corner of his eye. What kind of look was that?

Izuku turned to look at her, but the expression was gone.

'Maybe it was my imagination.'

Himiko didn't like what Izu had said.

He's used to it? She knew that asshole was verbally abusive to Izu, and she even had a suspicion their interactions had been physical in the past when Izu had no quirk. Hell, he himself had told her a few things about the way the boy used to treat him, but how bad had it actually been?

Izu wasn't the type to worry people with his problems, and Himiko could definitely see him suffering in silence while not wanting to bother anyone. But that worried Himiko. Sure, Izu was a lot different now; he wasn't some pushover, but that didn't mean his past didn't still affect him.

She knew better than anyone how the past can affect a person.

Himiko shuddered as memories of the shed her dad locked her in when she did something he didn't like surfaced, the way her mother would stare at her as if she were some kind of freak, and the beatings that had slowly escalated. She felt a deep resentment towards her parents, so she believed that Izu likely felt the same way about that arrogant asshole.

"Are you not hungry, mama?"

Himiko looked down at Eri. The little girl's wide, red eyes were innocent and inquisitive. She was so different from how Himiko had been at that age, but in some ways, she was the same.

When they first took her in, the girl wanted to wear her bandages all the time. She had been self-conscious of all the scars crisscrossing her arms and legs, but then Izu had shown her the bites Himiko had given him, and when no one was looking, Himiko had shown her own scars. Some were from her time on the streets after she'd left her parent's house, but others… had been from her time with them.

Izu had never asked about the scars, and Himiko, in turn, had never asked about the healed scorch marks on his body.

Eri often traced the scars along Himiko's arms when they were alone, her little hands trembling and frightened at the prospect of someone being able to hurt her mama.

But here she was despite everything she had suffered: bright, happy, and worried about someone else.

'In some ways, she's just like Izu too. I wonder if we had an actual child, would they be like Eri?'

No. Himiko loved Eri deeply, but she was just as hurt as Himiko. She would never subject a child of hers and Izu's to the same treatment that she or Eri had received.

"I'm fine, Eri. I'm just a little tired." Himiko smiled at her and squeezed her hand, "But how about we have some of the desserts Inko made?"

Eri beamed up at her from her chair and nodded furiously, "Yeah!"

"Now, Himiko, you should know better than to teach Eri such bad habits. Both of you finish your food first, and then you can have dessert," Inko chastised them, wagging her finger.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Okay, Grandma!"

The table lapsed into another silence, and Himiko let her eyes wander to Izu as he ate.

His eyes stared down at his food as he took bites, but his gaze couldn't have been further away. Maybe he was still thinking about what All Might had told him, or maybe he was worrying over the results he would get for the practical. Maybe he wasn't even thinking about that at all.

He had been dealing with so many things. Most of them were because of her: his instincts to protect her with a deadly edge that wasn't in his nature, his anger that he constantly had to battle, a bullying asshole that wanted to hurt him, and above it all, he had the looming threat of Shigaraki and whatever plans he had in store.

It wasn't fair. Izu was too good a person to deserve any of this.

Izuku yawned. Dinner had ended a few hours ago, Eri and Himiko had destroyed the desserts that had been prepared for them, and now they were all on the catch watching old movies together on the couch.

Mom had long since gone to bed, saying things like, "I have no idea how you have so much energy" and "Try not to keep Eri up too late."

That hadn't really become an issue because the girl was soundly sleeping between Izuku and Himiko, her chest rising and falling as she gripped his shirt. Himiko seemed just as tired, but she stayed awake with her head lightly resting against Izuku's shoulder.

She seemed to want to say something, but thus far, she appeared content to just lay on him in a comfortable silence.

The TV flashed, and explosions onscreen lit the room up for a few seconds. Izuku was very glad the volume was turned down because he was very certain that would've woken Eri up.

"Izu."

He looked down at Himiko.

Her eyes were worried, and how she clung to his shirt made her look like a lost little girl. This was very much out of character for Himiko, so what she wanted to say must be serious.

"Are you okay?" She stared up at him, her eyes fluttering as she bit her lip lightly, "It's just… I didn't want to say anything earlier because we were celebrating finishing the exams, but it must have been hard for you. And I said some more insensitive stuff about how you handled that assh— I mean, Bakugo, just like with the Hero Killer. I don't want you to be upset with me."

Izuku sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I'm not upset with you. I'm just… second-guessing myself. Wondering if that really was the best way to handle the situation. I know I should try being the bigger person when Kacchan gets like that, but then I think, 'Why do I have to be the bigger person?' I've been the bigger person most of our lives. I've put up with his yelling, name-calling, and hitting for so long." He pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes and laughed hollowly, "But then again, is that being the bigger person? Isn't that just being a coward? Then that thought makes me angry, and stuff like today ends up happening. I don't know; maybe I just don't have it in me to try anymore, not with him anyway."

Himiko gave him a sad look. "You really wanted him to acknowledge you, didn't you? I don't understand the sentiment, not with someone like him, but it sounds like you wanted him to just see you as an equal."

"Maybe at one point, but I think I would rather he just leave me alone now and stop calling me Deku. I hate that name. It makes me feel like I'm still just that scared, quirkless kid again, and I hate that feeling. It makes me feel like I'm not good enough to be where I am, and it makes me think I don't deserve One for All."

"Izu." Her tone was heavy with warning and annoyance, "I don't think there is anyone more deserving than you. Anyone else would've beaten the shit out of that bully years ago. Honestly, I think you have the patience of a saint. All of this stuff happening and affecting you doesn't make you weak; it's just more than most people can handle, and you've handled all of the stress way better than anyone has the right to ask you to."

He smiled at her tiredly, "Thanks, Himi-chan. But what about you?"

She wobbled her head from side to side in thought, her chin dug into his chest as she did, "Well, I didn't have as bad a time as you during my practical. But…"

Izuku looked down at Himiko as her hand came up to cup his cheek.

Her hand was roughly calloused, no doubt from extensive training, but they were still soft against his skin. The pale white skin of her arm seemed to glow in the light of the TV screen, and his eyes traced sadly along patchworks of scars along her forearms and biceps.

"I have been worried about something." Izuku looked back to her catlike golden eyes, and he could see the worry that crinkled her brow, "I've been thinking more and more that… maybe you would've been better off if I'd never shown back up in your life."

Izuku frowned down at her and took her hand on his cheek in his. He studied her delicate fingers, the lines of her palm, and ran a thumb across her callouses, "maybe I wouldn't have done some of the things I've done if I hadn't ever met you, but not all of the things I've done are bad. I don't think I would've found Eri if I'd never met you again. I would've never been able to stand up to Kacchan, and I definitely would've died a long time ago. You literally saved me. I would've bled out in that dumpster you found me in if it wasn't for you. And I don't even want to think about what would've happened to you if we'd never met again."

He closed his eyes, trying to imagine a Himiko who had never been in his life again. Would she have continued running from the police, living day by day stealing the money from people she saw as criminals? Would she have become a villain eventually? Maybe, but that was a scenario he didn't need to worry about, at least, not so long as they could avoid Shigaraki.

'But then how long can we do that? He seems to have his sights set on us. He even talked about us with the Hero Killer and that Nomu that tried taking me. Was that Shigaraki's doing, or was it just a coincidence?'

And then there was that dream he'd had earlier. What was it about? Was it just his stupid brain messing with him because of all the stress, or did it mean something?

Himiko shuddered, "I hate how it happened, but I'm glad we found each other again."

Izuku placed his hand on the back of her head and pressed her into his chest. Her warm breath washed over his neck, and the sensation washing over his still-healing bite wound made him shudder. "I'm glad too, Himi-chan."

Depressed.

That was definitely the atmosphere of class 1-A when Izuku and Himiko entered the next day.

Everyone was gathered in the middle of the room save for the people who usually stayed on the outskirts of conversation, like Todoroki, Shoji, Tokoyami, and a very pissed-looking Kacchan.

"Midoriya!" Kaminari fell over Izuku, hanging onto him by his shoulders. Long trails of tears fell down his face in rivers, "you're depressed too, right? You're in the same boat as us, aren't you?!"

Izuku looked at him confusedly, "huh? What are you talking about?"

Ashido was the next to come over, followed by Sato and Kirishima. Ashido put a hand on Himiko's shoulder and gave her a thumbs up with a sorrowful expression, "We all failed the practical, so please, Himiko, tell us all the fun stories you get from the training camp."

Himiko looked at the pink girl with sympathy. Her hand came up and gripped Ashido's with a resolute look of solidarity, "of course. I'll bring back tons of stories for you, Mina-chan!"

"H-Himiko!" Ashido fell over Himiko in a fit of tears.

"Uh, I didn't fail, though." Izuku pointed at himself confusedly but cringed when they all rounded on him instantly.

"How the hell did you pass?! We got to see that dumpster fire of an exam you had with Bakugo!" Kaminari tried jabbing Izuku in the eyes, but he was able to block the attack narrowly.

"How'd you do it, bro?!" Kirishima shoved Kaminari to the side and started shaking Izuku.

"I don't know!" Izuku yelled, his brain rattling painfully in his skull at the boys shaking and Kaminari's rabid shouting.

The bell rang, and suddenly, Mr. Aizawa burst into the room. "All of you, be quiet. The bell just rang, so take your seats."

Reluctantly, Kirishima and Kaminari stopped their assault on Izuku, and everyone made their way to their seats.

"About your final exams… sadly, we did have some failures. As such…" Mr. Aizawa let the atmosphere of depression settle over the students who had failed before he spoke up, "You're all going to the summer training camp."

Ashido, Sato, Kirishima, and Kaminari all looked extremely rapturous at that declaration. Even Mr. Aizawa looked very pleased with himself having fooled them all.

"Everyone cleared the written exam, but as for the practical. Kaminari, Sato, Ashido, Kirishima, and Bakugo all failed." Mr. Aizawa turned to look at Izuku, "And as for you, my number one problem child class president. You barely passed the practical by the skin of your teeth. Arguing with, insulting, and fighting your partner are all things that deducted from your score, and worst of all, you did most of these things in front of the person you were both meant to face."

Izuku looked down at his hands in shame. He knew Mr. Aizawa and nearly everyone else had seen his and Kacchan's practical; they had gone over them as a class to see how everyone had performed, but having his failings so meticulously listed and criticized didn't feel good.

"However." He looked back up at the teacher, "Those circumstances weren't entirely your doing. You tried to convince Bakugo to work together to escape, but he struck first. Then you tried attacking with him, got in each other's way, and then tried tricking him into fighting with you with a few goading words. Obviously, that didn't work, and he attacked you again. I would've failed you if you'd completely abandoned him to escape on your own, but once All Might caught up with you, you went out of your way to incapacitate Bakugo and didn't leave him. You took the test seriously, as if it were a real battle, and evacuated your unruly ally first before capturing your enemy with a reckless but thought-out plan. It wasn't perfect, and I would've rather you both have worked together, but knowing when to cut your losses is important for a hero, too. Good job."

Himiko grabbed Izuku by the shoulders and excitedly shook him. "See, Izu! It wasn't the wrong move."

Izuku laughed nervously, "Y-yeah."

Izuku was curious about just how close he'd come to failing, though. Was there a scoring system, or did Mr. Aizawa determine if their performance was satisfactory on his own? Maybe the teachers who fought the students had some input on their scores.

Izuku raised his hand, "Sir, if it isn't too much trouble, can you tell us how you determined whether or not someone passed the test?"

Mr. Aizawa nodded, "We teachers had set parameters for you students to pass the test, even if you didn't manage to escape or capture us. Frankly, if we didn't, then none of you would have passed if we'd gone all out. That's why even though some of you escaped the stage, you still failed."

He sent a pointed look at Kacchan.

"Although, there was the exception we gave for you, Midoriya. It wasn't entirely your own fault your partner wouldn't work with you, and we were just as surprised when Bakugo attacked you. Honestly, All Might should've stopped the test the minute he knew teamwork was impossible, but he said you deserved the chance to turn the situation around. That being said, we never intended to exclude any of you students who didn't pass the practical from the training camp; that just wouldn't be logical."

All the students who had failed the practical cheered except Kacchan, who was glaring at the surface of his desk.

"But failure is still failure. You five will receive special supplemental lessons, and to be honest, they'll be far worse than summer school. Anyway, I'll be handing out camp manuals. Everyone, look them over, and be sure to follow the packing list to the letter."

Izuku watched Himiko swing Ashido's hands from side to side excitedly as the other girl looked like some sort of desiccated alien mummy, "Yay! You get to go to camp, Mina-chan!"

Ashido gave a weak cheer, "B-but I've got summer school hell too."

Uraraka came over and smiled at the pink girl, "I'm sure it won't be as bad as Mr. Aizawa made it out to be."

Kirishima looked a lot paler than usual, "you're talking about the guy who expelled someone on our first day. I don't think Mr. Aizawa exaggerates a lot."

Kaminari frowned down at the packing list, "And then there's this list. I don't have swim trunks, and I'm going to have to go out and buy a lot of this stuff."

Toru sauntered over, her school uniform moving excitedly, "Oh, I know! We should all go to the mall in a group and buy the stuff together tomorrow!"

Himiko bounced excitedly in place, "That sounds fun! I can bring Eri too! She needed some new clothes, and it would be the perfect excuse to get her out of the house."

Izuku grinned at her, "That sounds good. When we're done shopping for Eri, we can get the stuff we'll need."

Ashido smirked at the pair, "Oh? Gonna go shopping for that little girl of yours, huh?"

Toru was the next one to come over with a teasing tone, "Aren't you both just the perfect picture of doting parents?!"

Izuku looked at them both with a very dry, serious expression. His eyes were blank and lifeless. "No amount of teasing from you can embarrass me any more than my mom and Himiko already do."

Kirishima looked at him worriedly, "You okay, man?

Izuku suppressed a tear and smiled through the pain, "just… used to it at this point."

Kaminari cringed but slung an arm around Izuku's shoulder, "The dangers of committed relationships, I guess, but don't worry, Midoriya! If you can't have fun with any ladies, I'll have enough fun for both of us!"

"T-Thanks? I guess?"

"Don't thank him, Midoriya!" Iida chopped his hand aggressively.

"Boys are so dumb," Jiro shook her head.

"The dumbest," Ashido nodded solemnly.

"I don't know. Izu isn't all bad, but then again, I have him well-trained," Himiko smiled at him and ruffled his hair as if he were a rambunctious puppy.

Izuku sighed and stepped away from the conversation to check on his most stoic friend.

"Hey, Todoroki! Are you going to come with all of us?" Izuku walked over and smiled at the boy as he saw him packing his school supplies away.

Todoroki looked up with his blank expression, but Izuku had managed to pick up on his slight facial tics and could see the apology in his otherwise blank facade, "Sorry, I've been going to visit someone on my days off."

Izuku shook his head. "No, that's alright. I just wanted to ask if it feels like it's been a while since we've talked since…"

Todoroki looked down at his desk, "The Hero Killer."

"Yeah," Izuku nodded and grimaced down at his shoes. So much had changed just because of that one encounter, and now Izuku didn't know what to make of himself anymore.

"I've… been going to see my mom. That's who I was talking about seeing, I mean. It's not much, but she hasn't turned me away yet."

Izuku smiled at his friend, "I'm glad, Todoroki. I know it must be difficult, but things worth doing usually are."

He gave Izuku a light smile and nodded as he headed toward the door, "I suppose you're right."

"Himi-chan, are you sure this is necessary?" Izuku grimaced as he walked with Eri between them. The girl swung happily as they held both of her hands. But that wasn't what was making him cringe internally so hard.

"Of course it is, Izu~!" Himiko gave him a wide, fanged grin.

"Oh my god!" Izuku winced as Ashido, Uraraka, and Toru all gushed over Eri and her outfit.

Himiko found the idea of all three of them wearing matching outfits hilarious. Izuku wore a white T-shirt with kanji that said, "Dress Shirt." Himiko wore an oversized one that said, "Dress," and Eri had one similar to Himiko's. All of them wore some kind of shorts; Izuku had his regular workout shorts, Himiko had a pair of compression shorts that were hidden by her long shirt, and Eri wore a simple pair of black kids' shorts.

"You all match, and oh my god! Eri is so cute!" Ashido crouched down to get a good look at the girl, but she quickly hid behind Izuku's legs. Her head peaked out to stare at his classmates who had gathered.

Kaminari crouched down and gave her a big goofy grin, "Hey, little lady. You having fun being out with your big bro and big sis?"

Eri shyly looked up at Izuku and then Himiko, "They're Mama and Papa."

Kirishima seemed about to faint in embarrassment on behalf of Izuku. Kaminari looked up at him like he wanted to strangle him for some reason, and all of the girls seemed to be having a hard time keeping their noise down.

"Good grief, you all need to keep your chaotic revelry contained," Tokoyami stepped forward, his eyes as fierce as his chunnibyou tendencies.

Izuku thanked the boy for his odd but well-meaning attempt at calming everyone. But a sudden tight grip on his leg and the feeling of nails digging into his skin made Izuku wince.

Looking down, he saw an utter look of sheer fright on Eri's face. She was staring, horrified, at Tokoyami. Her entire body was shaking, and he could see tears threatening to spill over.

"Eri!" Izuku crouched down and cupped the girl's face. His thumbs rubbed frantic circles into her cheeks as he shielded her from the crowd. "What's wrong?! Why are you so scared?"

"T-The bird man is gonna get me. H-He's going to tell them w-where I am and have them take me back to the others like him."

Himiko crouched down and pulled the girl into her arms. "Hey, hey! No one is taking you anywhere. The edgy bird is just one of our classmates. He's completely harmless, so you don't need to worry about a single thing."

Eri gripped the fabric of Himiko's shirt and buried her face in her neck, "I'm scared, mama."

Izuku's heart hurt at the girl's frightened whisper, and he could feel the stirrings of that same familiar rage in him. It gnawed, thrashed, and beat itself against his mental barriers, wanting nothing more than to break free and savage whoever had hurt the little girl. His little girl.

'Is this what it feels like to be a parent? Like I would do anything and hurt anyone who hurt her so that she would be safe?'

It didn't feel entirely dissimilar to how he usually felt when Himiko was being threatened, but in a way, it felt sharper, more… frantic. He knew Himiko could protect herself; she could beat Izuku nine times out of ten, but Eri was different. She was vulnerable in a way that neither Izuku nor Himiko were, and that angered him.

'What kind of bastard does this to a little girl?'

Himiko looked at him worriedly as she stood cradling the little girl's head to her chest. "I'm going to take her to the first store. Let everyone know we're okay, and then come join us when you're ready."

Izuku nodded and gave everyone an apologetic look, "Sorry, everyone. Eri's had a tough life, and I guess I didn't know about how scared she was of certain people." He looked at Tokoyami and bowed his head, "I'm sorry about that, Tokoyami. It's not your fault; she didn't mean any harm."

The boy shook his head and held a hand up, "It's quite alright, Midoriya. I'm well aware my countenance can be quite freighting for children."

Izuku looked at the boy as if he were the one who needed to be comforted before he bowed at everyone again, "Sorry. I'm going to go find Himiko and Eri. We'll meet up with everyone once we finish shopping for Eri."

"Okay! Make sure Eri is okay, Midoriya!" Ashido waved as everyone slowly made their way further into the mall.

Izuku sighed and worriedly hurried toward the second level of the mall. He was fairly certain that was where the first store they needed to look through was, but just to make sure, he stopped in front of one of the mall directory maps and looked it over.

An arm fell around Izuku's shoulders, and he flinched at the contact, "Hey, you're that kid from the sports festival, Izuku Midoriya, right? I'm a huge fan!"

Izuku's shoulders relaxed a fraction, "O-oh, yeah? I'm glad, but I've got to go find—"

The man's hand wrapped around Izuku's throat, one of the digits hovering just above the skin. Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku caught sight of a cracked and scarred grin, cold, elated red eyes, and dusty pale grey-white hair, "Himiko Toga and that adorable little girl that was with you guys, right? But see, I was hoping to get a word with you about something, so how about you follow me? We can have a little chat first, yeah?"

His breath hitched, his heart started to race, and Izuku grit his teeth as he clenched his fists, "Tomura Shigaraki."

A/N: This chapter had some miscellaneous scenes, but I liked a lot of the cute interactions between Izuku and Himiko and then I really loved their interactions with Eri. Izuku is very much an overprotective dad lol.

I hope you enjoyed!!!