Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Everything changed that day for Izumi.

Quirkless.

Her whole world cracked to its very foundations. All her hopes. All her aspirations. All her dreams.

Quirkless.

The doctor offered empty platitudes. Her mother tried to ease the pain. And Bakugou…

Bakugou had always been rough around the edges, but their shared admiration and respect for All Might brought them together. Their shared dream of becoming heroes. Everything would work. Izumi looked up to Bakugou. Fearless, unstoppable Bakugou. And while he would often dismiss her claims of being number one, he never diminished her hopes of being a hero.

“You’ll just have to settle for number two!” Bakugou would yell. “You can stand with me and we’ll stand at the top!”

Everything fell apart.

Everything changed.

At first she feared Bakugou would become distant. Abandon her. But he didn’t. She now wishes that he had. The mere sight of her infuriated him. He became physically violent, made worse by his volatile quirk. She was already isolated at school, the addition of the charismatic but antagonistic Bakugou didn’t help. After a particularly bad day, a seven year old Izumi dropped onto a park bench, grasping all of her school supplies in her arms. Someone had turned her backpack inside out then filled it with trash, leaving it unsalvageable. The sound of footsteps caught her attention.

“...K-Kacchan…” Izumi quickly wiped her eyes.

Bakugou just stood in front of her, his normal entourage missing. She could feel the heat from his glare.

“I’m sorry Kacchan…”

“What the hell are you sorry for?” Bakugou clenched a fist and clicked his tongue.

“Our plans…”

“‘ Our ’ plans? Ha. My plans are still the same.” He crossed his arms. “I’m still gonna become the number one hero.”

Izumi felt her heart drop into her gut. “B-but...Kaccha--”

“SHUT IT!” A series of small explosions cracked and popped around his hands, which had been thrown to his sides. “I’m not ‘Kacchan’ to you anymore!”

“Wha--?”

“You really think the future number one hero would want to hang around with a useless, quirkless nerd?” The way he snarled the word ‘quirkless’ caused Izumi to physically flinch.

Bakugou turned around and started to walk away. “From now on, don’t talk to me, Dummi.”

Sorrow rippled through Izumi. She dropped her supplies and notebooks, standing to chase after him. Izumi reached out and grabbed his sleeve, “W-wait! Kacchan, ple--”

“I said don’t talk to me!” He shook off her hand and refused to turn around. When he felt a tiny hand grab at his shirt he snapped.

“GET OFF ME, DUMMI!”

The scream that passed through his ears was gut wrenching. For a moment, his mind was blank. The smell of smoke filled the air, heat washing over his arm. He didn’t even feel or hear his quirk going off. He had just felt...angry. And now, Izumi was on the ground, clutching her left eye and sobbing uncontrollably. Bakugou look at her then his outstretched hand.

Had he done this?

“Hey, hey! Du--Izumi!” Panic crept into his voice as he dropped to her side. “Hey! Let me see--”

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Izumi tried to push him away, blood running from under her hand.

He had done this.

“You stupid--” Bakugou swallowed down the rest of his words. He had messed up bad enough already. “We need to get you to Auntie Inko.”

Despite her struggling, he lifted her into his arms and started running towards her home. He would glance down at her every once in a while. She was getting really pale and stopped trying to fight him. Bakugou fought the urge to throw up.

He had really messed up.

Finally arriving at the Apartment complex the Midoriya’s lived at, Bakugou rushed up the steps as carefully as he could.

“Auntie! Auntie, open the door!” His heart rate was through the roof.

Inko hurriedly opened the door, confused at the boys urgency until she saw her daughter in his arms.

“O-oh my god, Katsuki what happened?!” Inko brushed away Izumi’s hair and lifted the girls hand.

Bakugou couldn’t bring himself to look but the sharp inhale from Inko told him enough. He couldn’t bring himself to answer but she had already rushed to the phone to call for an ambulance. Once they were on the way, Inko returned to the entrance where Bakugou was still holding Izumi.

“You can set her down, Katsuki.” Her voice was shaky but she tried her best to maintain a calm expression.

“No, I’m fine….Auntie--” Bakugou was cut off by Izumi stirring in his arms.

“Izumi? Izumi! Can you hear me?” Inko had her hand on the young girls hair. “Izumi, what happened?”

Bakugou felt like he was going to pass out. He knew that his dream of being a hero was over. Not only had he used his quirk, but he had hurt someone. He hurt Izumi. Terribly. He opened his mouth to answer Inko’s question when Izumi’s quiet voice squeaked out.

“S-some...some older kids I’ve never seen...before.” She swallowed as new tears started tracking through the dirt on her face. “...Kacchan chased them away…”

“Is that true, Katsuki?” Inko’s worried eyes never left Izumi.

“Y-yeah.” The answer was out of his mouth before he could stop. Bakugou felt worse; absolutely sick to his stomach as the words left his mouth. “I...I didn’t get a good look at them but...I chased them off and rushed to bring Izumi here…”

“Thank you. Oh, thank you, Katsuki!” Inko brought him and Izumi into a light hug.

The sound of the ambulance pushed them back into action. The medics took Izumi from his arms and loaded her onto the gurney. Inko quickly packed some things for Izumi and ushered Katsuki to the car. They drove to the hospital and arrived shortly after the ambulance. Izumi was rushed to surgery immediately. Inko called Mitsuki to let her know what happened before returning to sit with Bakugou in the waiting area. About an hour later, Mitsuki and Masaru arrived.

“Inko, are you okay?” Mitsuki pulled her friend into a hug.

“I-I’m fine.” Inko blinked back the tears that threaten to come spilling out. “I’m just worried. Thank goodness Katsuki was there.”

Bakugou simply nodded as his father placed a hand on his head as he sat down. Mitsuki sat between Bakugou and Inko. The police arrived to take a statement, forcing Bakugou to repeat what Izumi had stated earlier: a group of older kids did something to Izumi so Bakugou chased them off. The police officer taking notes asked if Bakugou used his quirk. Sensing the young boys hesitation, the police officer reassured him that even if he did use his quirk, given that a child had already been injured, Bakugou would not be in any trouble.

“It’s okay Katsuki.” Mitsuki put a hand on his shoulder.

“I...I used it to scare them off.” Bakugou could barely make eye contact with the officer, however the older man took it as simple nerves.

“Well, given that they had already injured someone, you did the right thing.”

After informing Inko that an officer would be back later to take Izumi’s statement, the Bakugous and her were once again waiting silently for news about Izumi. Several more hours passed before a doctor arrived to provide them with news.

“Inko Midoriya?” The doctor pushed up her glasses as she stopped in front of the group.

“Yes? That’s me. My daughter, how is my Izumi?” Inko quickly stood with Mitsuki right behind her.

“She’s stable with no danger to her life, but…” Inko did a complete flip from relief back to concern. “We were unable to save her eye.”

Tears streamed down Inko’s face as Mitsuki squeezed her shoulder.

“Can we see her?” asked the blonde woman.

“Yes, we had our best healer available at the time so Izumi should be resting comfortably.”

They all entered quietly, careful not to disturb the sleeping girl. Inko took a seat to Izumi’s right, gently taking hold of the girl’s small hand. Mitsuki stood behind Inko while Masaru stood behind Bakugou, who in turn had taken the seat on the left side of the bed. Bakugou could barely manage to look at Izumi. She was still terribly pale, the bandages and gauze covering her eye serving as a reminder of what he had done. After a few moments, Masaru stood as he ruffled Bakugou’s hair. He needed to leave soon to return to work, so he gave his wife a quick peck and Inko a hug before he made his way out of the room.

“Let me know if you need me, I’ll be back in a flash.” Leaving those reassuring words, he shut the door behind him.

Mitsuki and Inko spoke quietly while Bakugou struggled to stay calm. Thoughts of how his future could be ruined forever plagued him. Only the light touch of a small hand snapped him out of it.

“Izumi…?” he muttered.

Inko immediately turned from Mitsuki to Bakugou then to her daughter. “Oh, Izumi! Are you okay?”

On the verge of tears again, Inko gently brushed her hand through her daughters wavy locks. Mitsuki smirked despite the glassiness of her own eyes.

“You’ve gave us quite the scare, Izu.”

The small girl blinked out her sleepiness and gave her mother and Mitsuki a small smile. “I’m okay…”

“Oh, Izumi!” Inko pulled her into a hug and started bawling her eyes out. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“I-I’m sorry, mama…” Tears pooled in Izumi’s good eye.

“No, no, no, shoosh.” Inko smoothed back the hair from Izumi’s face and brushed the tears using her thumb. “You did nothing wrong, do you understand? Nothing.”

Izumi nodded, sniffling a bit as Mitsuki reached over and ruffled her green hair. A knock at the door had heads turning as a different, female officer poked her head into the room. Mitsuki and her son stepped out of the room as the officer took Izumi’s statement. A moment later, Inko exited the room with the officer and had Bakugou go in to keep Izumi company while the adults talked. An awkward silence filled the room as the young boy sat by the bed. He didn’t know what to say, what he could say. Everything was wrong and it had his mind spinning. Every glance he would steal at her bandaged eye made his stomach hurt.

“How did it feel…?”

Bakugou startled a bit at the soft voice. “What?”

“How did it feel...to know that you might never be able to be a hero?”

Inhaling sharply, Bakugou turned to look at Izumi. His eyes widened at the look on her face. Her eye was glazed over, a deep sadness apparent on her face. He clenched his hands into fists as his heart sank into his stomach.

“It didn’t feel good, did it?” Izumi continue to stare him down.

“I-I’m sorry…” Bakugou could feel the tears welling up and it upset him even more. He didn’t cry, not ever.

“I don’t care if you’re sorry.” The cold sting in her words made him jump. “You were right.”

“Wha--?”

“I can’t ever be a hero. Not a useless,

quirkless ,

nerd like me.”

Bakugou could feel the nausea building with each word. “Izumi--”

“Stop...” Tears streamed down her face. “I can’t be a hero...but you can.”

He could feel his own tears start to drip and he quickly wiped them away. “Izumi…”

“Just...promise me you’ll be better, Kacchan.” She turned away. “Like a real hero…”

Everything changed.

Junior High school proved to be worse for Izumi, for a whole new world of reasons.

“Hey, have you guys seen Midoriya?” A boy with spiky brown hair asked.

“You mean that quirkleth girl?” replied a boy with striped skin and large fangs. “Yeah, sthe’th in my clath.”

“Man, she’s so cute!”

“What? You serious, man?” A third boy with long wispy hair cut in. “Even though she’s quirkless?”

“Yeah, and she’s always mumbling to herself. It’s kind of creepy honestly.” Added a fourth. “And that eyepatch…”

“You guys just can’t see past a bad habit.” The first boy raised hand and started counting off on his fingers. “She’s cute and quiet. She’s smart, always scoring at the top of our grade. And…”

The boy looked around and pull the group in closer, dropping his voice to a whisper.

“I’m pretty sure she has an amazing figure. It’s hard to tell since she’s always slouching and curled up on herself. I think we can all agree that a great figure overwrites an eyepatch.”

“No way!”

“Seriously?”

“Ssssshhh, keep your voices down!”

“But sthill, sthe’th quirkleth, you know?” The striped boy nervously tapped on his protruding fang. “And altho, weird. You’re gonna get dragged into her trouble.”

“Trouble?” The wispy haired boy raised an eyebrow.

“I heard from thome girlth that went to elementary sthchool with her.” He stopped tapping on his fang and quickly glanced around. “I heard sthe was bullied pretty badly.”

“Huh, no wonder she’s so quiet.” The fourth boy pondered.

“Not only that, I altho heard sthe’th a childhood friend of Bakugou.”

“Wha--!! You mean the guy with the explosion quirk?!” The spiky haired boy was absolutely stunned.

“You sure they were friends? I can’t imagine him hanging out with someone quirkless.”

“I’m not thure. I just know that he knew her for a long time. They don’t theem to talk much.”

“Hmm...well, it can’t hurt to talk to her...can it?”

“Eh, it’s up to you dude.”

“Yeah, let us know how it goes.”

“You guys are no help!”

Izumi walked into class after lunch with a busted lip and a bruise forming on her left cheek. Clutching her notebooks, several of which seemed to be torn, she quickly and quietly returned to her seat at the front of the class near the window. While a few students in the back chuckled and snickered amongst themselves, the rest of the class looked on with pity. The only exception was Bakugou, who scowled as he watched her stuff her notebooks and scraps of paper into her back. The teacher walked in a few moments later and frowned when he saw Izumi. However, he started his lesson as usual. Afterwards, as the students were packing up and moving to their next classes, the teacher pulled Izumi aside. Bakugou couldn’t hear what was being said in the hushed tones but given how Izumi managed to curl up even smaller than usual, he could imagine. As someone who frequently got into fights he knew what it meant to go crying to a teacher. He also knew the leeway given to students with particularly strong quirks. He knew that if she snitched on her bullies, they would get a slap on the wrist and things would just escalate. Izumi bowed to the teacher and quickly left the classroom, leaving the older man to sigh and shake his head.

Afterschool, on her way home, Izumi was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She instinctively flinched and quickly spun around while bringing her arms up in defense.

“It’s just me.” Bakugou frowned at that reaction but pushed down his frustrations. “Who did it?”

Izumi opened her eye and gave Bakugou a confused look. “W-what?”

“Tch, I asked who did it?” His eyes dropped to her lip, still red and cracked.

“It...it doesn’t matter…” Izumi tightened her grip on the straps of her backpack and turned to walk away.

He could feel the vein pulse in his forehead as he grabbed her by the shoulder again. “Are you fucking kidding me, Izumi?!”

“What, what are you gonna do?” Her brow furrowed as she looked back at him with tears in her eye. “Are you really gonna beat up a group of girls?”

“You think I care?!” She flinched at the volume of his voice. “If they’re able to beat on someone weaker than them then they sure as fuck better be prepared to get shit on!”

Izumi chewed on her lip despite the ache and simply turned back around, shaking off his hand. “I already told you before: you need to be better, Kacchan.”

Bakugou clenched his fists until they bled, grinding his teeth as Izumi walk away.

“What kind of fucking hero am I if I can’t even protect you…?”

“K-Kacchan…” Izumi buried her face in his chest, tears pouring down her face.

Bakugou kept his hands to his sides, looking off into the distance. The service had ended an hour ago but Izumi was still crying. He couldn’t blame her. As he watched her sob and hiccup into his shirt, hands scrunched up in his suit jacket, he wondered how he would have handled it.

How he would have handled losing a parent.

A week ago, Izumi received the devastating news that her mother had been involved in a villain attack. The police were unable to provide any more information than that so Izumi was forced to do her own research. Through tears and a sleepless night, what she was able to learn gutted her. Three heroes had been present before All Might finally arrived to take down the villain. Three . But they did nothing, something about ‘waiting for a hero with a suitable quirk’. Izumi wanted to throw up. She did throw up. Her mother was gone because three ‘heroes’ decided they needed to wait for the Symbol of Peace to handle a single villain. Izumi thought she had long given up on being a hero, but she felt what was left of her aspirations turning to dust alongside her heart.

The day after the funeral service for her mother, Izumi was moved to the Bakugou residence, given that Mitsuki and Inko had been lifelong friends. A spare bedroom used for storage was cleared out so that she had a room to herself. Missing a week of school had set her behind but Izumi was able to catch back up. News of her mother’s death spread quickly but it did little to stop the bullying. In most cases it just became another weapon used to torment her. Bakugou became much more proactive in handling bullies because of this. The first time he had caught someone throw her mother’s death in Izumi’s face, Bakugou let loose an explosion that shook the school.

“Let me fucking help you!” Bakugou clenched his jaw when Izumi refused to look at him.

“Kacchan…” The green haired girl reached out and grabbed his sleeve. “If you really want to help me…”

Bakugou’s crimson eyes widened in horror as Izumi finally made eye contact. He felt a cover shiver run down his spine as he stared into that emerald eye. Where there used to be hope there was now an empty darkness. She stepped close; too close. Bakugou instinctively took a step back and hated himself for how weak it looked.

“If you really want to help me, then become a hero. A real hero.” She scowled in a way that he never thought she could and spat out her next words. “Become a better hero than those fakes that let my mother die!”

Izumi turned and left, leaving Bakugou absolutely shell shocked. He had never thought he would see the day that Izumi, the ultimate hero nerd, would say anything even remotely negative about heroes. And then it struck him, like molten metal through his gut, after all this: did she even like heroes anymore?

Several days after her move to the Bakugou’s, Izumi received a call from a detective named Tsukauchi. He informed her that the number one hero All Might had been trying to get a hold of her after the incident with her mother. She agreed and Tsukauchi arrived to pick her up. A small bit of hope in her heart was reignited as she nervously started muttering to herself in the back seat.

I can’t believe I’m about to meet All Might! What will I say? Should I have changed my clothes? My All Might hoodie was in the wash...I wonder what he wants to see me for? Is he worried about me blaming him for my mother? Why would I do that? It wasn’t his fault…

Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow as he watched the girl through the rearview mirror, picking up bits and pieces of her muttering. His mouth twitched up in a smile when he caught the bit about not blaming his long time friend. Well, that was one worry he could bin. The detective hoped that her forgiveness would be enough to get Toshinori through this. The ‘Symbol of Peace’ took the times where he couldn’t save someone too hard. A few moments later and they arrived at the police station.

“Am...am I in trouble?” Izumi fretted about behind Tsukauchi as they made their way through the busy station.

“What? Oh, no, you’re not in trouble.” The detective chuckled to himself as he leaned down to whisper. “Don’t tell anyone, but I handle All Might’s paperwork for him so he can focus on saving more people. He was so bad at it.”

Izumi’s eyes widened a bit at this new revelation. Tsukauchi gave her a wink and Izumi could feel herself filling up with her old enthusiasm. Relieved to see the girl less nervous and more excited, Tsukauchi led her to the roof through the access doors. Standing in the middle of a helipad was the towering figure of the number one hero. The detective chuckled again as he watched the short girl go completely bug-eyed. He gently pushed her forward and closed the doors behind him as he left to give them some privacy.

Hearing the doors shut, All Might turned to face Izumi. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she went as stiff as a board. Here he was, the Symbol of Peace. Her hands started to pull on tufts of her hair while the mumbles went into overdrive. All Might raised an eyebrow but never let his trademark smile falter.

“Ahem, Young Midoriya, I presume?” His booming voice snapped her out of her daze.

“Uh, uh, ah, y-yes!” Izumi scurried closer but not too close. “I-it’s a great honor to meet you, All Might...uh, sir!”

“Hahaha, please, relax!” He smiled and held up a hand. “There is no need for formalities.”

Izumi’s face burned bright red but she was still smiling. Her face hurt a bit from how long it’s been since she had smiled this much.

“Um, to start, I would like to apologize for how long it has taken for this meeting to happen.” All Might smoothed a hand over his blonde hair. “Eventually I asked my friend, Tsukauchi, to track you down.”

“O-oh no, it’s no problem.” she panicked at how apologetic the hero appeared. “I know how busy you must be!”

His smile grew a bit larger, “Regardless, I have wanted to meet with you, face to face, to offer my sincere apologies and condolences for your terrible loss.”

All Might stepped forward and bowed deeply at the waist.

“No! Please, you don’t have to do this!” Izumi felt tears in her eyes, watching her lifelong hero blame himself. “It’s not your fault and I don’t blame you either!”

All Might slowly rose, the surprise on his face evident despite his efforts.

“The...one of the first things t-they teach pro heroes is that...is that you can’t save everyone.” Izumi bit her lip. “It’s unrealistic to expect you or any other hero to save everyone all the time.”

The determined look in her eye showed him that she was being sincere and he felt a small amount of relief wash over him.

“But...as long...a-as long as you try your best.” Izumi stood tall, causing All Might to raise his eyebrows at how resolved the young girl appeared. “As long as you try your best and keep trying...that’s all we can ask for. All we can ask is that you give us hope that everything will be alright...and because of that I can forgive you.”

“Thank you, Young Midoriya. Your kind and passionate words are more than I deserve.” He stood tall and placed a fist to his chest. “That you would find it in your heart to be so understanding and to even forgive us is--”

“Us?” Izumi furrowed her brow at his choice of word.

All Might gave her a puzzled look, “I meant me and the other heroes that were--”

“No. I forgive you because it wasn’t your fault...it was those other heroes.”

The pro hero found himself completely nonplussed by the serious expression on her face. “But...you just said…”

“I said that you can’t save everyone but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try!” Izumi could feel something terrible building in her gut. “I’ve researched everything about what happened: news articles, reports, the quirks of the heroes who were there. I even researched where you were before the incident and there was no way you could have made it there in time!”

All Might started to frown, concerned at the manic tone that was starting to leak into her words.

“They said they had to wait for someone with a suitable quirk! Three pro heroes decided to wait for someone else to save my mom.” The girl started to pulled on her hair again, just a bit harder than before. “I was able to come up with any number of ways they could have used their quirks to at least buy time for you if not to just outright save my mother!”

“Young Midoriya, it’s...it’s not fair to only blame--”

“NO!” He started at the sudden outburst. “Y-you can’t be seriously trying to defend them...a-are you?”

When the pro hero couldn’t answer, Izumi could feel that icy dread in her stomach rise to her heart, freezing it over slowly. She could feel the tears returning as she ran her fingers into her messy hair and struggled to breath as the mumbling started.

Why? Why? Why why why why why?! No. Nononononononononononono. There’s no way he could be defending them. They were there. They could have done anything. They could have tried! I know for a fact that if they had at least tried to save my mom I wouldn’t feel this way. But they didn’t do anything ! How can they call themselves heroes? Why? Why...not? This is All Might! The number one hero! He’s too nice. Too good. Of course he would defend them, he would defend anyone. It’s not his fault. They’re taking advantage of his kindness!

“Young Midoriya! Are you okay?” All Might stepped forward to place a hand on her shoulder when her hand snapped out and slapped it away. “I--I am sorry...:”

The dejected and worried look on his face snapped Izumi out of her spiral. “No! No, I-I’m sorry! It’s just...you must know that they were wrong, right?”

The desperate tinge to her question caused All Might to hesitate, “Well, they were--”

“They were wrong!!” The psychotic rage she harnessed to emphasis that word put All Might on edge more than any recent villain attack.

Izumi clutched at her skirt as she burned a hole in the ground with her glare. Then she relaxed.

“I’m sorry.”

“Ah...no, no it is fine. You have been through alot…” All Might was about to relax himself when a shiver ran down his spine.

“I shouldn’t be taking this out on you. It’s not your fault, you’re a real hero. An example to be followed…it’s everyone else who is wrong.”

“Young Midoriya…”

“No, it’s true...all of these fake heroes, parading themselves for the media...all of these ‘aspiring heroes’ that beat and bully anyone who’s weaker than them…”

All Might scowled at her words, “I don’t think anyone aspiring to be a hero would do such thing.”

Izumi felt that cold fury bubble up again as she pulled off her medical patch and stared down her hero, “A person aiming to be the next number one hero did this to me!”

Abject horror and anger swept across his features as he took in the girls face. Her left eye was replaced by scar tissue, healed shut leaving only the outline of where her eye would be. The scar tissue radiated outward, the pink contrasting against her pale skin. Izumi found herself smiling.

“You really are too good. Too nice.” She slipped her patch back on and blushed. “The fact that you’re concerned for a quirkless nobody like me…that you can get angry for me…”

The word ‘quirkless’ hit All Might in the chest like a heavy blow. Izumi looked up at her hero and smiled.

“I’m glad I was able to meet you, a real hero.” She giggled a bit and the sound made All Might’s jaw clench. “I can relax knowing you and heroes like you are out there.

We don’t need fake heroes.”

He met her gaze and felt his blood run cold as his entire body tensed reflexively. Her one eye was cold and distant, something bubbling behind the foggy green color. He had seen a look just like it once before. He knew what was behind that look and it frightened him. Those last words as she bowed and excused herself left him rooted where he was. He needed to stop her. Talk to her. Do anything to pull her off the path she was on. He could feel it in his gut. All of his instincts were screaming at him. It wasn’t until Tsukauchi grabbed him by the shoulder that he was snapped out of his thoughts and released the breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

“Toshinori, you okay?” Concern was plain as day on the man’s face.

“Naomasa...aren’t you taking her home?” Toshinori felt an ache from his neck down to his injured side.

“Hm? No, she said she needed to stop by somewhere so she could get home on her own.” The detective studied his friend.

“Is...is she really quirkless?”

Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow at the sudden question but thought for a moment, “Well, I believe so. It came up briefly when I was trying to find her for you, but I haven’t looked into her medical records or anything.”

The detectives eyes suddenly grew wide, “Are you thinking of--?”

“No!” The word came out with more bite than the hero meant. “Sorry.”

“Really, are you okay? I’ve never seen you wound up like this.” He took off his hat and scratched his head. “I’d think you had just faced off with a villain or something.”

He tried to laugh off that comment but when the pro hero in front of him clenched his jaw, the detective realized his joke had hit the mark.

“You’re kidding. She’s a thirteen year old junior high student with no quirk! Judging by how nervous she was on the way here I’d say she worships the ground you walk on.”

“I never said she was a villain, Naomasa…” The way his friend painted the girl, Toshinori found himself feeling a bit guilty.

It must have shown on his face because Tsukauchi motioned for Toshinori to follow him. They exited the roof and made their way to the detective’s office. After closing the door and sitting behind his desk, he watched his friend collapse into the opposite chair before shrinking from his muscular form into an almost skeletal figure. The office was silent for a few moments as Toshinori gathered his thoughts.

“What was your impression of Young Midoriya. Naomasa?”

“Pretty plain, to tell you the truth.” Tsukauchi tossed his hat onto a nearby coat rack. “The epitome of average, if not a little creepy.”

“Creepy?” Toshinori sat up a bit.

“Hmm, creepy might not be the right word for it. She was mumbling on the ride here.” He smirked a bit as he thought back on it. “I only picked up bits and pieces but she seemed to be worried about why you wanted to meet her. Seems like a nervous habit...like when her thoughts are racing they just spill out. I think I do it sometimes but not to that degree.”

“Hm...she started to mumble a few times when we were on the roof, but it was hard to hear.” The thin man leaned back and sighed. “I don’t even know where to start...Young Midoriya has a dangerously skewed view of heroes…”

Dangerously skewed?” Tsukauchi leaned forward onto his desk. “What do you mean?”

“It’s...I can’t begin to explain it...she doesn’t blame me for her mother…” The detective nodded. “But she blames the heroes who were there before me. She absolutely believes that they failed in their duties.”

“Huh...what did she say, exactly?” Tsukauchi could see where this was going.

“She said she did her own research and found that the heroes present let her mother die. They chose not to act in favor of waiting for a hero with a suitable quirk to arrive.”

“That’s…”

“When I tried to explain why they made that decision...it set her off.”

“I could imagine so. Though, why didn’t they act? I haven’t seen the reports.”

“Well, from what I was told, none of their quirks were suitable to handling the villain.”

Tsukauchi furrowed his brow. “So, they just waited until you showed up.”

The look on his friends face and the way he simply made a statement rather than ask a question caused Toshinori to furrow his own brow.

“I’m...I’m sorry, Toshinori, but...I think I’d have to agree with the girl.”

“What? How could you say they just let someone die? Their quirks--”

“Is a quirk all that makes a hero?” Tsukauchi leaned back and frowned. “I would have thought that you of all people would know the answer to that question. From where I stand, as an officer of the law, those heroes may have been right that their quirks would be ineffective against the villain...but where they were wrong was their failure to recognize that their complete inaction was...at best gross negligence or at worst purposeful cowardice.”

Toshinori had sunk into his chair, mouth agape. “You...you’re right…”

“She’s right...what’s the point of being a professional hero if you fail to act when you’re needed. Of course, it never helps to be reckless but in that situation...they could have at least tried to buy time for you to arrive…”

The pro hero smiled bitterly, “She said that too. It was hard to catch in her mutterings but she said she would have understood if her mother had died despite their best efforts...as long as they tried.

But they didn’t try.”

He rubbed his face with his hands as he sighed heavily. When had he become so jaded to the inconsistencies and shortcomings of professional heroes.

“She’s right.” Toshinori looked concerned..

“You don’t sound too happy about that…” Tsukauchi looked puzzled.

“I don’t know--can’t imagine what she has been through due to being quirkless...but she’s starting to...break.”

“Break?”

“You didn’t hear her voice...when she would...crack. The look in her eye…” Toshinori sat upright in the chair before leaning forward. “There is a deep, twisted, hateful fury in that girl.”

Tsukauchi narrowed his eyes, “I don’t...know what to say to that. She seemed like a normal, albeit awkward, girl to me.”

“Maybe for now but she’s on a bad path. Every instinct in me was screaming at me to stop her on that roof.” Toshinori closed his eyes. “The feeling that I got from her…it was the same feeling I got from him .”

It took a moment to realize who his friend was speaking of but when he did, the detective clenched his fists until his knuckles were white. He wanted to ask his friend if he was serious but he knew better. He knew that, after everything he has lost, All Might would never make a claim like this lightly.

“What should we do?”

Toshinori stood up and tried to stretch the tension out of his shoulders.

“I honestly don’t know, Naomasa. I don’t know.”

Despite the bumps along the way, Izumi was still undeniably running on the high of meeting her childhood hero. She had met All Might! Incredible. She struggled with the frequent urge to skip as she made her way to the mall nearby. Arriving at a popular electronics store, Izumi quickly made her way to where they kept the computers. Izumi carefully inspected and compared the various laptops, netbooks and tablets. She had a notebook full of research in her room and had managed to narrow down her options, but it never hurt to browse.

Not finding anything she hadn’t already found during her explorations online, Izumi went straight to a small two-in-one tablet. The detachable keyboard allowed it to serve as a small laptop alongside the touch screen. It was sufficiently powerful for being so compact but what had grabbed her attention was the exceptional battery life. The fact there was an All Might case that fit the tablet perfectly was a bonus. The tablet was a pricey purchase but she had long since saved up the money before...well it was something she had been planning to buy.

When Izumi returned to the Bakugou residence, she was greeted by Masaru. “Hey there Izumi, is everything okay? I heard you were picked up by a police detective?”

“Oh, everything is fine, Uncle Masaru.” Izumi could barely contain her smile, “I can tell you and Auntie more at dinner.”

Watching the young girl practically skip up the stairs to her room, Masaru found himself sighing in relief. It had been a long time since he had last seen her smile so genuinely. A kind, warm smile.

“Was that Izu?” Mitsuki’s voice floated from the kitchen.

“Yes it was. She seemed to be in a great mood.” He returned to the kitchen to help with dinner. “I hadn’t realized how much I missed that smile of hers.”

Mitsuki’s face brightened at the news, “Hmm, must have been something.”

Bakugou and Izumi were called down for dinner and the blonde immediately noticed the smiled on the green haired girl’s face. He had been actively avoiding her at school, so he couldn’t be sure if something good had happened there. The blonde highly doubted it given the circumstances. He had been telling himself that avoiding her was the best play, since it gave one less reason for anyone to go after her. That’s what he told himself. The truth was something he couldn’t bring himself to face. While he was content to scare as many people away from her as he could, Bakugou found it difficult to be around her himself. Ever since her disturbing outburst about heroes, something inside...something in his gut would clench up. But he wasn’t afraid of her. No way. How in the world could he be afraid of the world’s tiniest nerd?

No way.

Dinner with the Bakugou family was an event. Calm and soothing conversation from Masaru alongside rapid fire vitriol between Mitsuki and her son. And of course, the spicy food. The spiciest food.

“It impresses me every time, Izu.” Mitsuki gave an approving nod as she watched the small girl scoop her way through a large helping of ‘Devil Curry’ as Bakugou calls it. “Not many people can handle that kind of heat.”

“I’m more impressed with how much food she can put away.” Masaru remarked with a chuckle.

If her cheeks weren’t already hot from the spice, Izumi would have blushed.

“Oh, so you were going to tell us what has you in such a good mood today?” Masaru felt his own smile grow as her face lit up.

Despite himself, Bakugou was curious and his mother gave him a knowing smirk. He clicked his tongue and scowled at her, which was quickly returned as they glared across the table. She couldn’t understand why her son felt like he needed to hide his concern. Such a brat.

“I-I got to meet him.” Her face was practically beaming. “I got to meet All Might!”

Silence.

“What in the actual fuck ?”

“Hey! Watch your fucking mouth you, brat!”

“What?! How about you watch your own fucking mouth you hag?” Then Bakugou turned to the girl next to him, “You mean to tell me you met fucking All Might and didn’t think to tell me? Maybe bring me along?”

Izumi frowned a bit, “W-well, he called me out to a-apologize...about my...my m-mother so…”

Bakugou clenched his jaw before mumbling something about not needing to meet the guy until he had surpassed him as number one. Mitsuki snorted at her son’s poor attempt to backtrack.

“That’s great, Izu, but...are you okay?” The blonde woman gave the girl in front of her a concerned smile.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine!” When Izumi smiled back at her, Mitsuki could tell that it was the truth. “I actually feel...great. All Might was everything I’d always imagined and I’m glad I was able to tell him that I...I don’t blame him...I think he was feeling guilty…”

Masaru’s eyebrows were raised as he glanced at his wife. She simply nodded with a smile. “That’s just like you Izu, always helping people. Even the Symbol of Peace.”

Izumi’s face turned as red as the curry causing the table to erupt into laughter. Bakugou still felt a bit uneasy (and a bit annoyed that he missed out on meeting All Might) but seeing Izumi smiling easily helped him relax a bit. He wasn’t sure how to broach the topic of heroes but seeing her gush about All Might brought him back to a better time. It wasn’t until later that evening, after dinner and homework, that Bakugou could feel that same knot form in his stomach. As he laid in his bed, he scowled as that thought of better times made his eyes shimmer. He knew that what he had with her was ruined beyond repair. And the anger he felt at himself started to bubble over, consuming that knot and burning it to nothing.

Everything would be different.

The second year of junior high ended fairly uneventfully. While always near the top for exam scores, after her meeting with All Might, Izumi thoroughly dominated her classmates. Bakugou was both shocked and impressed that he was now number two, at least when it came to exams, but said nothing about it out loud. Despite always generally being in the top five, the sudden and domineering rise to first was enough of an improvement to catch the attention of the teachers. Izumi’s homeroom teacher called her in after school one day to ask about the sudden shift in performance.

“I-I was hoping t-to improve enough to get into t-the general education course a-at UA…” She had a hard time making eye contact with the older man, expecting him to laugh or dismiss her goal. To her pleasant surprise he simply nodded.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Midoriya. Getting into UA, even if it’s just the general education course, is rough.” He flipped through her recent exam scores. “However...your scores are exceptional.”

Izumi felt like her eyes were the size of saucers at his words.

“If you can maintain this kind of performance through your third year, you could very well get into UA.” He smiled a bit at her expression.

“R-really?!” The green haired girl felt like she was going to pass out.

“Really. I’m not sure what happened but keep up the hard work and it’ll take you far.”

“T-t-t-thank you very much!” Izumi bowed deep and rushed out of the office area.

Her homeroom teacher chuckled as he leaned back in his chair and sighed. A female teacher at the desk next to his leaned back and raised an eyebrow. “You okay?”

“I’m...just relieved…” He turned to his co-worker and received a confused look. “I was worried she was trying to get into the hero course when she mentioned UA…”

“Ah, that would definitely be difficult without a quirk.” The woman tapped on her mouth with a pen.

“To put it lightly…” The man picked up the sheet with her exam scores. “She has the dedication...with scores like these she can easily make it into the general education course.”

“You made it sound like her chances would be worse.” She grabbed the sheet as her curiosity peaked.

“I didn’t want her getting complacent...though I guess I should have been more concerned with her getting discouraged.” He scratched the back of his head before smirking. “Heh, with scores like those she can get into any school she wants.”

The female teacher dropped her pen as her eyes scanned across the sheet.

Perfect scores in all subjects.

Bored. She was so bored. Too bored. All the bored.

The blonde girl made her way down the back alleys of the city, trying to contain how bored she was. It was finally summer. She had decided to head out into the city after the last day of school ended. This was the first day of months of fun. The only problem though...was a serious lack of friends. She quickly stopped, swallowed and shoved down those pesky feelings. Blinking a few times, she smiled brightly and continued onward. She didn’t get sad. She wasn’t lonely.

And she definitely didn’t cry.

The sky was showing the first red shades of evening, which was her favorite time. She enjoyed the night but the shades of reds across the sky as the sun set really did it for her.

“M-Mii, I think you’re goin’ a bit too f-far…” A voice came from the alley.

“She’s right, Miki...she’s not not fighting back so we should just go.”

Curious, the blonde girl carefully crept along until she was safely hidden behind a dumpster. She wrinkled her nose at the many smells as she peeked around the edge. A group of girls were arguing. The one seemingly in charge, ‘Miki’, was standing over a smaller girl, slumped against the wall. Her face was bruised and bloody, tears cutting tracks through the grime.

“Are you two chickening out now? Of course she’s not fighting back.” Miki spat in the girls green hair. “How would you expect this quirkless loser to fight back?”

The blonde girl had since pulled out her phone and started recording. It never hurt to have video evidence, especially when it could ruin someone’s life. She didn’t recognized the girls so they weren’t from her school. Her eyebrows peaked when the leader called the girl on the ground quirkless.

“She’s been getting too far ahead of herself...knocking my Ka--ahem, knocking Bakugou from first place in the exams…” Wind spun around her foot as she aimed the air powered kick at the girls chest. “No friends, no quirk, what makes you think you need to try?”

The green haired girl clutched her chest with one hand, the other covered her face. The blonde girl’s golden eyes widened. She chewed on her lip, mulling over what to do. Dealing with her own bullies was bad enough. Why should she get involved in some strangers problem. Even if they were alike, in a lot of ways. Her thoughts were cut short as Miki sent another wind propelled kick into the girls gut. The girl on the ground made a choked sound before vomiting.

“Hey! Come on, Mii, isn’t this enough?”

“Yeah you’re gonna kill her at this rate!” Both girls tried to grab her by the arms but Miki shook them off with a burst of wind.

“And? You think anyone’s gonna miss this nobody?”

The blonde girl squeezed her eyes shut. She knew she shouldn’t. It was going to be a hassle. She saved the video and pocketed her phone, simultaneously checking if she still had her box cutter on her. As she slowly stood to step out from behind the dumpster, a hand on her shoulder held her in place. She quickly turned, managing to hold in her gasp, and was met with two bloodshot eyes.

“Wait here.” The girl nodded, feeling the intensity of his gaze.

The man, black hair long and unkempt, stepped forward silently until he was only a few feet from the arguing girls. He looked down at the girl they had attacked and grit his teeth.

“Hey!” He furrowed his brow. “The police are already on the way, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t escalate the situation.

“Shit!” Miki jumped at the sudden appearance of the man. She lashed out with her arm to try and knock him back with a gust of air...only nothing happened. “Wha--?”

Glowing red eyes pierced through the dark alley, the man’s hair rising around him. The wraps around his neck shot forward wrapping up the girls. They struggled for a moment before they realized they couldn’t use their quirks. He quickly took out his phone and snapped a picture of the three girl’s faces.

“I’m going to unwrap you three. I’m a pro hero. I know your faces and now I have pics. You try to fight or run and it will only make this situation worse. Especially for you .” He zeroed in on Miki and tears started to puddle in her eyes. “Crying isn’t gonna help you.”

He let the girls go and ordered them to sit against the wall. As he started to kneel to check on the green haired girl, he gestured for the blonde girl to come over and watch his prisoners. She practically bounced from her hiding place, much to the shock of the three girls. He carefully placed a hand on the injured girl’s shoulder. Giving her a gently shake he tried to get a response.

“Hey...hey, can you hear me?” He narrowed his eyes placed his fingers under her nose then at her neck to check for breath and pulse. His eyes went wide when he found neither.

The man quickly positioned the girl on her back, only pausing to wipe her mouth and check that she wasn’t choking on any vomit. He started emergency CPR, tuning out the panicked sobs of the three girls. He breathed air into the girl and returned to the chest compressions.

“Blondie, I need you on the street to wave down the police and paramedics. Make sure there’s no delay.” While she didn’t like the spur of the moment nickname, she quickly jogged towards the street. “And you three better not move an inch.”

He wasn’t sure how long it had been, but it certainly felt too long. The lack of sirens in the distance didn’t help his stress levels either. It wasn’t until the girl took a desperate gasp for air that he even considered relaxing. She weakly tried to pushing him away before turning her head and coughing up blood.

“Hey, hey! You’re safe now, I’m not gonna hurt you!” She was in no shape to hurt him but he was more worried that she would exacerbate her injuries. “Help is on the way.”

The green eyed girl calmed down, her breathing labored and wheezy. “S-sorry…”

He raised an eyebrow in confusion but the sound of sirens caught his attention. A few moments later, the blonde girl was jogging back as two EMTs rushed over with a stretcher.

The green haired girl grabbed the man by his sleeve, her eyes hazy and out of focus, “A-are...are you Eraser...head?”

Caught off guard at both the question and the fact that someone recognized him despite his underground status, the pro hero Eraserhead was only able to nod. The girl gave him a small smile before losing consciousness again. The medics loaded her on the stretcher after performing emergency treatment. The police had the three girls in handcuffs but he knew he’d have to stick around deal with the aftermath. Luckily for him, the blonde girl offered to ride along in the ambulance. Eraserhead watched the ambulance drive away and let out an exhausted sigh. The fact that students --children-- were capable of beating a fellow student literally to death sickened him. A small part of him was thankful that those girls weren’t wearing his school’s uniform.

“Tch, shouldn’t matter what uniform they’re wearing…” He pinched the bridge of his nose as he stifled a yawn. “What an un-teacher like thing to think.”

Eraserhead once again pulled out his small flip phone, checking the time. It was going to be a long night, as usual.

Tsukauchi wished he kept a bottle of anything in his office as he placed the phone down on the receiver. He had just returned from a villain incident when he received the call about what was, for the moment, being referred to as an attempted homicide with suspected illegal quirk use. He was directed to Musutafu General, the biggest hospital in the city. In the lobby he was greeted by one of the police officers that had been at the scene as well as a nurse. The detective knew that he would never stop being surprised by the cases that came across his desk but when he learned that this particular case involved children his stomach tightened. If he managed to retire without at least one ulcer it would be a miracle. His hopes of living out his days ulcer free sunk as he saw the name on the notes taken with the initial report.

“You have got to be kidding me…” Tsukauchi turned to the officer. “Have you contacted her guardians?”

“Yes sir, they are on their way.”

“And the girl, how is Midoriya?”

“Uh…” The officer turned to the nurse who had stayed silent until now. “She sustained heavy internal damage along with several fracture and broken ribs. Thankfully, Recovery Girl was here making her rounds.”

Tsukauchi raised his eyebrows and nodded. He had forgotten that the healing heroine would rotate through the local hospitals during the summer since the school she worked at was less busy.

“Midoriya is resting, she may not wake until tomorrow.” The nurse asked the officers if they needed anything else before returning to her work.

The detective sighed, scratching at the stubble that had started to darken his face. “Well, I guess we wait. Is there anything else in the meantime?”

“Well, there is another girl. She was witness to the crime and rode along with the victim.” The officer waved over a blonde girl with catlike eyes.

Tsukauchi introduced himself and listened to the events as seen by the girl. She also sent him the video she had taken with her phone. Watching it before she deleted it off of her own phone was...difficult, to say the least. Why the wind quirk girl felt that it was necessary, let alone acceptable, to use her powerful ability on someone without a quirk baffled the detective. The audio mentioned who he assumed was a classmate of theirs, most likely male. This kind of brutal attack over a boy? He shook his head and thanked the girl for her statement and the video. As he turned away from the girl, the Bakugou family entered the lobby.

Wait...Bakugou? Tsukauchi let his eyes fall on the red eyed boy as he approached the family.

Mitsuki caught sight of the police officer and detective and proceeded to stomp her way towards them. The officer took an involuntary step back at the aggressive stance the woman had taken but Tsukauchi could see the contrasting worry on her face.

“Where is she? Is she okay?” She scowled at the detective but he could see that the woman was on the verge, harnessing all of her strong will to hold the tears back.

“I have been told that she is fine and currently resting,” Tsukauchi noted the slight release of tension from the woman’s body.

“Can we see her?” Mitsuki relaxed a bit more as she saw her husband walk through the automatic doors after parking the car.

“You’ll have to speak with one of the doctors about that...however,” He turned to Bakugou, who had been off to the side scowling and tapping his foot impatiently. “With your permission, I believe I need to have a word with your son.”

“With Katsuki, why?” She turned to her son who had the same confused look as her.

“We can speak over here.” Tsukauchi led the family to an area by the windows. “Now, I want to start with assurance that your son is not in trouble, this is not an interrogation, I just wanted to ask some questions. If that is alright.”

Masaru and Mitsuki turned to their son. Bakugou narrowed his eyes, “Shoot.”

Tsukauchi pulled up the video on his phone, “Do you know these girls? They seemed to know you.”

Despite the video being paused, Bakugou saw enough in that single frame to cause small sparks to crackle off his hands. The sight of Izumi collapsed on the ground against the wall with some no name extra standing over her almost sent him over the edge.

“No idea who they are. I might have seen them at school but fuck if I know their names.” He clenched his fists. “Did they get away?”

Tsukauchi put his phone away and sighed, not entirely happy that Bakugou was telling the truth. The fact that this kind of brutal attack happened over a boy who didn’t even know their names was insane.

“No. A pro hero arrived in time to detain the girls and--” The detective abruptly caught himself, hoping his slip would go unnoticed.

Unfortunately for him, Mitsuki was no slouch. “And?”

“I...was told that emergency resuscitation was needed…” His brow furrowed at the devastated reactions from the parents. The utter bloodlust radiating off the son made him continue. “We have them in custody and between video evidence, eye witness accounts, and the testimony of a pro hero...well, the rest of their lives have been thoroughly decided.”

The finality of his words let Bakugou relax a bit. A very tiny bit. A heavy silence fell amidst the group until Masaru spoke up.

“Is there anything else you need? We’d like to see Izumi now.”

“Ah, of course, I’m sorry about the questions but I wanted to make sure I had all the information I could get.”

“I understand, detective.” Masaru held out a hand and gave Tsukauchi a firm handshake. “We appreciate your efforts.”

“It’s my job…” The detective paused as he turned and saw the dark clothed figure of Eraserhead entire the lobby. “...as well as his.”

Away from the lobby, the blonde girl had managed to sneak her way into the room of one Izumi Midoriya, as her medical chart indicated. The girl pulled up a seat and leaned onto the bed with her elbows, face resting on the palms of her hands. Her golden eyes traveled from the unconscious girls fluffy green hair, down to the medical patch across her eye, down a bit further to the freckles dotting her face. To the blonde girl, the eye patch just served to increase how adorable she was.

Her mind wandered back to what she heard in the alley. No friends. Quirkless? The girl is not entirely sure if that’s better or worse than her situation. But it was very similar. A cheshire smile stretched across her face, revealing sharp canine teeth. She leaned in a sniffed the sleeping girl, causing Izumi to stir a bit, scrunching her face a bit before returning to rest.

“Nice to meetcha, Izumi Midoriya…” Her toothy grin grew a few teeth larger. “I’m Himiko Toga. I know we’ll get along just great~!”

Her eyes shining bright above her blushed cheeks, Himiko was determined to get to know this absolute cutie. And she had the whole summer to do it. Everything would change.

Everything.

Chapter Text

Aizawa stepped through the emergency room entrance and scanned the room for a police officer. His tired eyes landed on Detective Tsukauchi and who, the pro hero assumed, at first, was the victim’s family. As he got closer though, he noticed the distinct lack of familial resemblance.

“Tsukauchi.” Aizawa nodded to the detective.

“Eraser Head.” Tsukauchi returned the nod and gestured to Aizawa before turning back to the family. “He was the Hero to arrive on scene.”

“Eraser Head…” Bakugou raised an eyebrow at the name. “You’re an underground hero, right?”

Aizawa was surprised for a second time that he had been recognized. It must have shown on his face, causing Bakugou to elaborate.

“Izumi has an entire extra collection of notebooks filled with info on underground heroes...their quirks and stuff…” The boy let his eyes drop to the floor as he trailed off.

Masaru placed a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder before stepping forward and offering the other to Aizawa. “Thank you...for saving Izumi.”

The pro hero took the offered hand and simply nodded, not knowing what to say in these emotional situations. Saying that it was his job seemed inappropriate and insufficient. Masaru and Bakugou left to find a doctor as Mitsuki bowed to thank the detective and hero once again. Before she left, Tsukauchi stopped her with an apologetic look on his face.

“I’m terribly sorry about this, but once Ms. Midoriya is awake her statement needs to be taken...” Mitsuki crinkled her face into a scowl before the detective quickly raised his hands. “Of course, only once she’s ready and with you and your husband present.”

“...I understand, detective.” Mitsuki sighed as her scowl softened. “I...I just...”

“It’s fine. I know what Ms. Midoriya has been through.” Both Mitsuki and Eraser Head raised eyebrows at this. “I was the one who picked her up to meet with All Might. He had me track her down after the...incident.”

“O-oh...I see.” The blonde woman let out a sigh before smiling. “Thank you...and if you can, tell All Might thank you as well. Izumi was...happier that day than I’ve seen in too long…”

Tsukauchi smiled and nodded as Mitsuki excused herself and followed after her family. Aizawa waited until the woman was out of earshot before speaking up.

“What incident were you talking about?”

“It was that villian attack a ways back that ended with a civilian casualty. All Might arrived to subdue the villain but…”

“ That incident…” Eraser Head formed a scowl of his own. “That was a fucking embarrassment Pro Heroes...wait…”

Tsukauchi caught the widening eyes of the hero and nodded. “The woman who was killed was her mother.”

Aizawa narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue.

“I agree…” The detective let out a long sigh. “It feels like the universe is trying its hardest to crush this girl.”

“Do you know why those girls even attacked her? And what is her quirk...Midoriya was it?” The attack seemed completely one sided to the hero. “I don’t think she even tried to defend herself.”

“I don’t know the exact reason but from what I’ve been able to gather it was a mundane and utterly worthless one.” He furrowed his brow before clenching his jaw a bit. “And for her...she couldn’t defend herself from a powerful quirk like that even if she wanted to. She’s quirkless.”

“Wha--” Aizawa suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

“Yes. Like I said.” Tsukauchi removed his hat and smoothed a hand through his hair. “It’s like the universe is throwing everything it can at that girl…”

Bakugou was using every once of willpower he could muster to keep himself from letting loose any large scale explosions in the hospital. This was his fault. He had let this happen. The nurses and patients gave him a wide berth, sensing the tension seeping off the boy. His mother and father let him be for once. They understood what he was feeling. The nurse leading them stopped at the room where Izumi was resting and nervously bowed before scurrying away. The explosive boy clicked his tongue and took a deep breath before he opened the door. The first thing he saw was Izumi’s small form laying in the hospital bed, wires and monitors surrounding her. The antagonistic look on his face dissolved almost immediately. He took a few more steps into the room before his red eyes met golden ones.

“Who the fuck are you?” His signature scowl was back as his parents entered after him. Mitsuki would have smacked him if she wasn’t also curious.

Bakugou watched this strange girl carefully. She also seemed to be silently evaluating him. Her blonde hair, pulled into two messy buns, bobbed as she tilted her head and smiled. He didn’t recognize the uniform she was wearing so she wasn’t from their school. His eyes narrowed but the girl seemed completely unaffected.

“Nice to meet you!” She quickly covered her mouth, realizing she was a bit too excited. “I’m Himiko Toga.”

She stood and bowed politely.

“How did you get in here?” Masaru asked as his wife moved to the opposite side of the bed to sit with Izumi.

“I rode with her in the ambulance.” She tilted her head in thought and added. “Then I just walked in once they moved her here.”

“You were in the ambulance with her?” Mitsuki gently brushed back some of Izumi’s hair. “Then...you were there when it happened?”

“Yeah, I was the first one to find her being...bullied.” Himiko pulled out her phone. “I was the one who took the video.”

“So you mean you just fucking stood there and watched?!” He kept his voice low but the deep growl it added to his words just made them more menacing.

“Katsuki!” Mitsuki gave him a warning glare.

“Ah, yeah, but I figured they would just stop and leave her alone once they got bored...that’s how bullies usually work, right?” The blonde girl got a distant look in her eyes that didn’t go unnoticed by Bakugou. “I decided to record them and take it to the police...but then the leader wasn’t stopping.”

Small pops sparked off Bakugou’s hands but he stayed silent. Himiko felt herself blush a little bit more.

“S-so I was going to step in and maybe try to scare them off but then a Pro Hero arrived and stopped me.” She made circles with her index fingers and thumbs and put them over her eyes. “He had these goggles that hid his eyes and was all scruffy and spooky lookin’.”

Mitsuki chuckled a bit at the girls excited motions. “Well, thank you. For watching out for our Izumi.”

“Yes, thank you.” Masaru placed a hand on her shoulder.

Himiko’s seemingly permanent smile grew wide, revealing sharp canines. She glanced back at the sleeping girl.

“Is it okay if I come back tomorrow? To visit her.” Himiko seemed to practically vibrate with excitement. “I feel like Izumi and I can be great friends.”

Masaru raised his eyebrows and turned to his wife. “Well, I don’t see why not. You can come back tomorrow and give a proper introduction if Izumi is up to it.”

“Thank you very much!” She practically skipped out of the room, throwing one last glance at Izumi before closing the door behind her.

“She seemed...nice.” Masaru scratched his chin as he took a seat next to his wife.

“More like crazy.” Bakugou took the empty seat where Himiko had been sitting. Something about the girl didn’t sit well with him.

“Don’t make me reach across this bed, you brat.” She scowled at him. “I swear you have the manners of a trash can.”

“That’s cuz I get them from you, you fuckin’ hag!” He scowled right back at her.

“You watch your fucking mouth you little shit!”

Masaru simply chuckled and placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder while waving down his son. A slight shuffling and quiet mumbling caught their attention. A green eye slowly cracked open, causing Izumi to flinch at the sudden brightness.

“Izumi?” Bakugou’s anger quickly dissipated.

“Izu?” Mitsuki was equally calmed as she carefully watched the small girl.

Izumi managed to open her eye and silently scanned her surroundings as her vision adjusted. She was in a hospital room. Her whole body ached but she was alive. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Bakugou must have caught the disappointment in her eyes. He grabbed her hand and squeezed, the warmth spreading up her arm. She turned to him and smiled. He relaxed a bit but shot her his own look, warning her to never think anything like that again. Izumi nodded just a bit before turning to her right.

“Auntie...Uncle…” Her voice was dry and raspy.

“Oh...Izu!” Mitsuki pulled the girl into a hug as gently as possible. Masaru stood and wrapped the two in his arms. “We’re so glad you’re okay!”

Bakugou held onto Izumi’s hand and felt all the tension he had been holding in evaporate. She was fine. The people responsible were going to be punished, even if it wasn’t the way he would do it. He squeezed her hand again.

“How long…” Izumi tried to clear her throat. “...have I been asleep?”

“Not too long.” Masaru patted her on the head. “They had Recovery Girl herself here today.”

Izumi was about to shoot out of her bed before Bakugou raised his hand. “You’re gonna hurt yourself, you nerd!”

“Ah...s-sorry, Kacchan.” Izumi relaxed back into the bed.

As if summoned by her hero name, Chiyo Shuzenji entered the room. She made her way around to the side where Bakugou was seated. Both he and Izumi were gobsmacked at the sudden appearance of the Youthful Heroine.

“My, my. I wasn’t expecting you to be awake so soon, Izumi dear.” Recovery Girl took note of the data from the monitors and pulled a small container out of her pocket. “Here, have some gummies.”

Izumi, unable to speak, took the gummies and chewed them as her mind tried to catch up.

“She appears to be healing nicely, though I want to keep her for a day or two to monitor her.” The older woman scooted Bakugou to the side as she reached up to adjust one of the IV drips. “You should make a full recovery though.”

“T-t-t-t-t-thank you very much, R-r-r-r-recovery Girl!” The green haired girl’s mind had finally processed what was happening.

Mitsuki and Masaru laughed at Izumi’s flustered gratitude and gave their own thanks. Bakugou smirked, though he kept it hidden. Seeing her nerd out over heroes always helped him relax, bringing a sense of normalcy.

“Oh man, I wish I had my notebooks for an autograph but I don’t want to bother her or have someone go through the trouble of bringing them to me but if I wait too long or after I’m discharged then it’ll be harder to get a hold of her and more awkward this is the worst and I also need to get Eraser Head’s autograph but will I even see him again…”

A torrent of mumbles started to leak out of Izumi as she stared off into space with a hand over her mouth.

“My, my. I’ll be here tomorrow if you want an autograph.” She smiled as the girl’s eye lit up, putting a stop to her rambling. “And I’m sure I can convince Eraser Head to stop by tomorrow.”

“I-if it’s no trouble.” Izumi was practically beaming.

“Be sure to rest up.” Recovery Girl made her exit, leaving the family to discuss what had happened.

Bakugou kept his cool, only releasing minor sparkles every once in a while. After plans were made to return home to bring Izumi some items for her overnight stay, Masaru left to grab the detective. It was decided that it would be better to get her talk with the police over with now rather than later. And Izumi said she was up for it. Tsukauchi removed his hat as he entered the room. The detective had been about to leave before he was stopped in the lobby.

“It is nice to see you again, Ms. Midoriya. Though I wish the circumstances were different.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Mr. Tsukauchi.” Izumi tried to sit herself up before the detective held up his hand.

“Please, relax. This is, for the most part, a formality with the overwhelming amount of evidence against your attackers.” The detective pulled a notepad from the inside of his coat. “So this should be quick.”

Taking Izumi’s statement was indeed quick and the detective offered his guarantee that justice would be served before leaving. As the Bakugou family prepared to leave, Izumi reminded the youngest Bakugou to grab the right notebooks.

“Yeah, yeah, I know which ones…” Bakugou hesitated before turning. “You better fucking rest up, you nerd.”

As he closed the door behind him, Izumi couldn’t help but smile at his bristled nature. Her thoughts drifted to what she had been told about the girl who stumbled across the scene. While the prospect of someone wanting to be her friend made her happy, the fact that the girl was a complete stranger made her wonder why. The fact that this girl was a stranger also made Izumi feel slightly pathetic for being so excited so quickly. She let out a sigh as she reflected on her depressing, friendless history and decided that the only thing she could do now was wait.

And hope.

Bakugou and his family arrived home and the first thing he did was head to Izumi’s room. He wanted to make sure to set aside the two notebooks she wanted and the last thing he needed was to forget. The moment he opened the door he was met with the subtle sweet smell that he had come to associate with Izumi. He brutally beat down the blush that threatened to cover his cheeks as he quickly made his way across the room. The far bookshelf was filled with dozens of composite notebooks of varying colors, organized into orderly groups. He couldn’t be bothered to keep up with her organization system but Izumi told him which color and volumes to bring so he grabbed the two notebooks and was about to make a speedy retreat when he stopped to take note of her room. It had been a long time since he had spent any time in her room, possibly not since they were much younger. He would catch glimpses if he happened to walk by when her door was open or when he had to tell her dinner was ready but he never bothered to take a good look.

He let out a small sigh as he took in the various hero posters and paraphernalia spread across the room. The room he remembered from their childhood was almost exclusively All Might. But now, the spread included a wide variety of pro heroes and heroines ranging from the Dragoon Hero Ryukyu and the Ninja Hero Edgeshot to more rescue oriented heroes such as the Space Hero Thirteen and Backdraft. Her collection was definitely larger than he expected but it once again put him at ease to see that she still loved heroes. As he made to leave the room, his mother walked in. She was planning to pack a change of clothes or two for Izumi in preparation for tomorrow. A devilish smirk immediately made itself known on her face when she saw her son.

“Oh? Were you planning to pack Izu’s things for her?” The older Bakugou crossed her arms and leaned back. “I didn’t know my own son was bold enough to pick out a girl’s undergarments.”

A hefty vein popped in the younger Bakugou’s forehead.

“Why don’t you just keep your smart ass comments to yourself, you old hag?!” He made a hasty retreat back to his room. “Why the fuck would I pack that nerd’s bags for her, I’m not her fucking maid.”

Barely three steps passed the woman and an heavy impact across the back of his head nearly sent him tumbling forward.

“Call me a hag again you little shit!” He looked ready to fire back but quickly reconsidered as Mitsuki raised her iron fist. “One of these days I won’t hold back and I’ll beat the sass out of you once and for all.”

“Tch. You’re all talk.” Bakugou quickly made his way to his room and slammed the door.

Mitsuki chuckled to herself. Despite all his bluster, her son made sure to prioritize those notebooks for Izumi. She shook her head and entered the girl’s room to pack.

“Idiot son needs to stop dragging his feet before he misses his chance with her…”

Himiko Toga considered herself a simple girl with simple tastes. She didn’t need a lot of money or fancy clothes. Cheap ramen and discount pastries were just as good as anything more expensive. No, Himiko Toga just wanted to live free and do whatever she felt like doing. She didn’t have any grandiose plans or even any short to long term plans. She took each day as it came. Well, she did have a few hopeful ideas but what teenage girl didn’t? A boyfriend wouldn’t hurt. Or a girlfriend, Himiko wasn’t picky. Normal teenage girl things, if you ignored her fascination with blood. The blonde haired, cat-eyed girl just loved blood. Something about the color, viscosity, taste ; it just made the crimson liquid irresistible to her. The need for blood for her quirk was a big part of her obsession but tough luck convincing her peers that it was anything other than villainous.

Middle school was kind of awful for her because of her quirk. The fact that, by ingesting someone’s blood, she could disguise herself as them seemed pretty cool on paper. To her at least. But her classmates saw things differently. They got caught up on the fact that she needed to ingest blood. They were convinced that she would get ahold of their blood and cause trouble with their faces. Like a villain would. Because that’s all her quirk was good for.

It was a villain’s quirk.

Himiko wasn’t bothered, though. She had already faced the worst of what could come of that when her parents abandoned her out of...fear? Disgust? Shame? Whichever it was, she had long ago decided that it was not worth the effort to worry about it. This was her life to live and she wasn’t going to let any past baggage ruin things. She was comfortable with her current arrangement at a non profit orphanage. Everything is dandy. Just dandy.

Something hot dripped down her cheek and she immediately wiped it away. She looked up and saw a bright, clear sky. Himiko shook her head and continued on her way to the hospital. There was no time to be worrying about the past when a bright future was at her fingertips. A friend. Her first friend. Hopefully. No, definitely! The cat-eyed girl developed a skip in her step as she thought about her new friend. There’s no way Izumi would turn her away...right? Right. Of course not. They were kindred souls. Honestly, Himiko had a harder time imagining having no quirk at all rather than a weak or ‘evil’ quirk. She had never met a quirkless person before and had honestly forgotten that that could happen.

The hustle and bustle of the city area died away in the background as Himiko stopped to check herself in a store window. Her smile was bright and her cheeks dusted with their usual blush. She patted her hair buns and gave a satisfied wink before resuming her skip down the street. A few back alley shortcuts later and the blonde girl found herself in front of Musutafu General Hospital. She bounced in place for a few moments before entering the lobby and checking for the...Izumi’s...family? Himiko took a seat in the lobby and slightly tilted her head as she wondered who they were. Family seemed like a safe assumption and she could always ask. The man and woman seemed nice enough but the boy had peaked her interest. She never knew someone who could switch so quickly between worried and annoyed.

Checking the time, Himiko figured that there was no harm in heading to Izumi alone. She had gotten here rather early but visiting hours were in effect. A friendly nurse lead her to the room even though Himiko already knew where it was and, after checking if Izumi was okay with it, allowed Himiko to enter. The green haired target of her friendship was seated upright in her bed, supported by a few pillows. Himiko smiled and waved, earning a smaller, more bashful wave from Izumi.

“How are you feeling?” Himiko skipped over to the same seat she used the previous day. “Better?”

“A-ah, I’m feeling...fine, now.” Her green eye struggled to maintain contact with the bubbly girl in front of her. “I-I should be, be able to leave today...hopefully.”

Himiko’s smile was growing by the second, her eyes sparkling at the adorable sight that was a nervous Izumi.

“I’m Himiko Toga! It’s nice to meet you! Uh, for real this time.” Her sharp canines caught the other girl’s eye and incited a mini moment of mumbling about whether or not her teeth were related to her quirk. “Izumi?”

“Oh! Uh, i-it’s nice to meet you too, T-Toga. I’m Izumi Midoriya...but I guess you knew that already…” The green haired girl chuckled as she nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “U-um...Toga…?”

“Himiko. You can call me Himiko and I’ll call you Izumi! That’s what friends do, yeah?” Himiko was practically vibrating in the chair. “Ask me anything you want and then I can ask you some questions if that’s okay with you.”

“Ah...oh, okay, um…” Izumi fidgeted awkwardly. “W-why do you want to be my friend? Not--not that I don’t want to be friends! I, uh, I mean...it’s…I’m…”

“Quirkless?”

Izumi’s head shot up and Himiko could see the disappointment, shame, fear all quickly flash across the girl’s one good eye. The cat-eyed girl held out a finger to Izumi’s lips.

“I overheard those girls who were bullying you. The leader called you quirkless but kept using her quirk on you.” An exaggerated pout and the decreasing distance between their faces caused Izumi to blush. “Hardly fair if you ask me.”

“You...you mean you don’t…?” Izumi clutched at the blanket covering her.

“Why should I care?” Himiko gestured wildly. “You’re such a cutie! Quirk or no quirk.”

“A-a-a-a-a c-c-c-cutie?!” Izumi’s face practically burst into flames. “I-I-I-I’m not...hnnghghfb…”

The fact that Izumi was hiding her face in her arms, steam practically pouring from the gaps just proved Himiko’s point.

“You’re just proving my point, Izu-Izu.” Before Izumi could react to the sudden nickname, Himiko’s wide grin shrank a bit as she continued. “I...know what it’s like...to have your quirk...or I guess in your case lack of quirk...become something that defines you...even…”

“Even when you had no control over it…” Izumi, though still blushing, relaxed a bit as she processed this sudden turn in the conversation. “Y-you’re...you’re like me?”

‘You’re alone’ was what Himiko took from that.

“Y-yeah...uh, sorry.” She tugged on her two buns. “Kinda killed the happy mood of our new friendship…”

“N-no, it’s...it’s fine…” Izumi chewed on her lower lip for a moment. “You...are you sure...um. are you sure that you want someone like m--”

“Yes!” Her answer may have come off a little more desperate than she would have liked but… “If it’s cool with you, I think we could be great friends!”

“Okay...I’d...I’d really like that…” A small smile graced her lips and relief caused Himiko to slump back into her chair. “C-can...can I ask you what your quirk is?”

Oh. Right. Himiko’s trademark smile stood strong across her features but just a hint of dread flickered behind her golden eyes. She had hoped that the details of her quirk were something that could be avoided for a while, if not forever.

“Uh, yeah, sure it’s…” Himiko swallowed and hoped her voice wouldn’t crack. “I can disguise myself as another person if I...uh, ingest their...blood…”

A few moments of silence passed and Himiko found it difficult to make eye contact. When she did, however, she was shocked at what she saw. A wide green eye sparkling with curiosity.

“That’s--that’s incredible! Is it a full transformation including their voice? Can you use their quirk while you’re transformed? Wow, there are so many applications for your quirk. You could easily become an undercover operative for the police or an underground hero. Or you could become an actress or a stuntwoman…” Izumi’s long winded ramble devolved into mumbles before crescendoing back into something understandable. “Are there any drawbacks? What kind of time limit do you have to work with? Is it tied to how much blood you get? I wonder…”

Himiko’s strained smile relaxed into a true and grateful one. Not one mention of how her quirk would be perfect for a villain. No nervous or forced smile hiding how uncomfortable she was. Izumi was wholly and truly curious and interested in her quirk. She giggled and watched the greenette mumble for a few minutes until Izumi finally caught herself and looked up with an apologetic look.

“S-sorry...it’s a habit I’ve been trying to fix but…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I just get...kind of enthusiastic about quirks…”

“Haha, no worries. Really.” Himiko reached out and grabbed Izumi’s hand. “It’s nice. Nicer than I would have thought to have someone hear about my quirk and...not just instantly think of how villainous it is…”

“No quirk is villainous.”

The sudden stern tone caused Himiko to flinch back as her eyes locked with Izumi’s.

“There are no good quirks or bad quirks. No hero quirks or villain quirks.” She clenched her free hand into a fist. “People define their quirks. You define your quirk, not the other way around. And strong or flashy quirks don’t make you a hero...”

Izumi sat up and looked out through the window in her room.

“What you do with your quirk is what matters. What’s in your heart matters. Or...or at least it should.”

Himiko sat with wide eyes as Izumi shifted nervously, a raging blush starting to spread across her face.

“A-at least...that’s what I think--”

The rest of her words were cut off as she was pulled into a hug.

“Thanks Izumi...I didn’t know I needed to hear that from someone…” Himiko leaned back and smiled brightly. “I knew we’d be great friends.”

“O-o-oh, you’re welcome...it was nothing really...just how I felt…” A small smile tugged at Izumi’s lips. “And...and I hope we can...get along more.”

“Of course! Now, to answer your questions…”

The two girls spent the next hour bouncing questions back and forth. While Izumi’s questions proved a challenge due to the lack of opportunity for Himiko to practice her quirk, Himiko’s questions proved just as challenging since Izumi didn’t have much in the way of hobbies outside of quirk analysis. Phone numbers were exchanged and promises were made to hang out as soon as Izumi was able. On her way out, Himiko ran into the Bakugou’s and bowed before skipping out of the hospital. Mitsuki was the first to see the smiling face of Izumi as the girl stared down at her phone.

“I take it things went well with that Himiko girl?” Mitsuki felt her heart warm at seeing Izumi so happy.

“Y-yes. She was...really nice. We plan to try and hang out more during this summer…”

“That’s great, Izumi.” Masaru took a seat and set down the bag containing Izumi’s change of clothes.

“Your notebooks.” Bakugou tossed the two notebooks on her lap, earning a glare from his mother. “How many of these fucking things do you have now? I don’t remember your shelves being so full before...”

“O-oh, not...not too many more…” She let her eye wander away from him as she scratched her cheek.

“Uh huh.” He narrowed his eyes but decided to drop the subject for now.

“Haha, well, we ran into Recovery Girl on our way in.” Masaru smiled in his normal calming fashion. “She said that Eraser Head should be here in about ten minutes.”

“Then after that she’ll be able to evaluate whether or not you can be discharged today.” Mitsuki took a seat across from her husband and ruffled Izumi’s fluffy green hair. “It’ll be good to have you home to balance out the brat.”

“Speak for yourself, you hag bat.”

“What did you call me you little punk?!” Mitsuki threw her meanest scowl only to have her son return it with change.

“Now, now.” Masaru raised his hands and smiled nervously.

While the tension between mother and son escalated, Recovery Girl entered the room. Cutting through the animosity like it was nothing, Recovery Girl looked over Izumi’s chart and took note of the information on the monitors. The older heroine shooed the family out of the room for a quick physical before bringing them back for her verdict.

“Eraser Head is running late so I decided to go ahead and check you over.” Recovery Girl adjusted her visor and smiled. “Once he’s here you can get your autographs and be free to return home.”

Izumi smiled and thanked Recovery Girl before handing her the notebook and a pen. Opened to the page containing the analysis of her quirk, the medical professional took a moment to take in what she was looking at. Sketches, charts, text. Observations, assumptions and conjecture about her quirk and its uses. Potential drawbacks and conceptual limits. Some references to events during her prime brought a smile to her face.

“My, my. This is very impressive.” She neatly signed a page with a picture taped to it. “This picture is quite nostalgic.”

“The one from your debut?” Izumi nervously smiled as she thought through the information she had found on that particular day.

“Yes, it was quite the adjustment, having everyone know who you were.” She smiled and handed the notebook back. “Thank you for bringing back some pleasant memories.”

“T-thank you for the autograph.” Izumi was absolutely beaming.

Mitsuki and Masaru shared a small look and smiled, thoroughly enjoying the sight of a happy Izumi. They had been worried but the greenette seemed to be getting through this most recent incident well. A quick couple of knocks on the door had Bakugou leaning over from his place on the wall to open the door. Eraser Head stepped into the room, tired eyes scanning the room quickly before landing on the notebooks in Izumi’s lap. He made his way to the side of the bed and held out his hand. It took a couple of seconds for Izumi to process.

“O-oh, here you go.” She quickly fumbled the notebook and pen into the pro hero’s hand. “A-and thank you...very much.”

Aizawa simply nodded and quickly signed his hero name under a sketch of him. He closed the notebook, handed it back to the girl and was about to leave before getting smacked across the calves by Recovery Girl and her cane.

“I know you’re not one for media attention but surely you can spare a few moments for one girl.” The scolding tone of her voice let him know that there was no negotiating to be done.

“I-it’s fine...the autograph is enough. I’m sure he’s busy.” Izumi smiled as she flipped through the notebook.

The small lump of guilt that formed in his gut was the final straw as the pro hero resisted the urge to sigh (and rub his aching calves).

“…” Aizawa awkwardly raked a hand through his messy hair. “Are there...any questions you have? About me or underground heroes.”

Mitsuki covered her mouth to hide her smirk, amused by the grisled hero’s discomfort, causing a bit of red to appear on his face. He was a hero. He fought villains. He taught future heroes. Dealing with a civilian girl was outside of his comfort zone. Knowing she was quirkless just made it more difficult. It was sure to be a sore subject and something he should avoid. Hopefully it wouldn’t be brought up and he could just answer her questions and get back to his tired existence.

“Um...well, I did have one question about your quirk…” She quickly flipped through some pages before scanning the text with her finger. “Y-you can erase quirks by, um, by maintaining direct line of sight with your targets...I was wondering if...if the effect was simply emitted from your eyes in whatever direction you were facing or if it was carried through light waves which would mean that you could potentially reflect the effect off mirrors though that could also result in you erasing your own quirk if that’s even possible...but if the focus is on the targets and not yourself then maybe it could…”

“Izumi!” The girl was snapped out of her trance by Bakugou. “You’re starting to mumble.”

“O-o-oh, s-sorry.” She closed the notebook and took a deep breath. “S-so, I just wanted to know if you could...bounce your quirk off mirrored surfaces...or something.”

“That’s…” Aizawa’s eyes widened as he let her question sink in.

He had never considered exactly how his quirk worked. He knew what it could do and what its limits were. Or at least he thought he knew the limits. Could he erase someone’s quirk that way?

“That’s a good question….” He looked at recovery girl who seemed simultaneously surprised and smug. “I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for you.”

“That’s, that’s fine. H-honestly I’m not entirely s-sure if it would be any use if you could do it.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “M-maybe with some support gear or...or something…”

Eraser Head found himself with a small smile. This girl was impressive. More impressive than most of the students he hadn’t expelled. He had gone to great lengths to keep himself out of the spotlight but some level of notoriety was unavoidable as a hero. To be able to pick up enough information on his quirk to speculate as she had…

“Any other question? Since I couldn’t answer the first.”

“...Do you--” Izumi quickly shut her mouth, earning curious looks from the adults.

Bakugou narrowed his eyes but held his tongue. He could guess what she was about to ask and it made his stomach turn.

You can’t ask him that. Her mind was going into overdrive. It’s a loaded, unfair question that you already know the answer to.

It was Aizawa’s turn to narrow his eyes. She looked conflicted and her eye was glazed over. He didn’t know much about her but considering her love of heroes pointed to one thing. Before he could even think of what to say he was cut off by the girl.

“N-nevermind! I...I don’t have any more q-questions…” She smiled brightly at the two heroes and bowed her head. “Thank you very much for your time.”

Neither Bakugou nor Aizawa were convinced by the brave face she put on. Despite himself, the Pro Hero felt a bit relieved that she spared him such a difficult question. As things wrapped up and he left the room with Recovery Girl, Aizawa felt a subtle, nagging thought trying to force its way to the forefront of his mind. A tiny voice telling him to turn back and tell her what she wanted to hear. What she probably needed to hear. He shook his head and exited the hospital, eager to return to his patrol. He had more important things to do than give false hope to the girl with reckless claims. No matter how badly she may want to, without a quirk…

“Shit…” Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose.

He was going to have this girl stuck in his thoughts for a while. If she had been born with a quirk-- any quirk--he had no doubts that he would be seeing her in the hero course at UA. The pro hero scowled more than usual as he turned off into one of the many back alleys in the city. That small voice echoed in his mind but he knew he could drown it out with work. She couldn’t be a hero and no matter how much that fact bothered him he couldn’t bring himself to lie to her. Or to tell her the truth. At least what he believed to be the truth.

The Erasure Hero would come to regret his decision.

Izumi was a bundle of nerves. After being released from the hospital, she took a day to relax and collect her thoughts on recent events. Despite the fact that she had apparently died, at least for a few moments, the greenette felt that she had managed to come out of this negative situation with some positives. At least two, the first being two new signatures added to her significant collection and the second being a friend. Or what Izumi hoped was a friend. Their meeting had happened rather quickly but she felt that the two of them had a small moment towards the end. Or maybe she was just that desperate. Day four of her post hospital life was halfway over and Izumi had yet to work up the nerve to even just text Himiko. The small girl had the beginnings of a message typed out but continuously doubted and second guessed her choice of words. Another hour passed before Izumi had had enough. Of herself.

“H-e-l-l-o...and...send!” She squeezed her eye shut as she tapped the send button before she could change her mind. “I..I did it…!”

The skulking dread that her text would go unanswered barely had a chance to make itself known before a reply sang out from her phone.

“O-o-oh--!” Izumi nearly dropped her phone, quickly fumbling it upright and tapping the new message.

Her green eye scanned the words several times before her brain finally finished processing. Himiko asked her if she was able to hang out. Hang out.

Hang out?

Izumi’s mind went into overdrive trying to remember what people did to ‘hang out’. She decided to give a positive reply and leave the details up to the other girl. A few moments passed before her phone beeped once again. Himiko wanted to know if she could come to her place. Oh. Izumi jumped out of her desk chair before making her way downstairs where Mitsuki was watching her daytime dramas.

“U-uhm, Auntie?” The green haired girl fidgeted behind the couch.

“Hmm? What is it Izu?” The older woman kept her eyes on the television while reaching back to poke Izumi in the side.

“O-oh, I...I was wondering if it was okay for...for H-Himiko to come over?” A small blush formed on Izumi’s face, both from the poking and the realization that she might be having a friend over.

“Hmmm, oh that girl from the hospital? Sure!” Mitsuki smiled and gave Izumi a playful swat. “Was wondering when you two were planning to hang out.”

Hang out.

The young girl has to remind herself that ‘hanging out’ is a normal event. She mumbles out a thank you before rushing back up the stairs and sending her reply. Once again, Himiko’s response was nearly immediate and Izumi was notified of her new friend’s impending arrival.

“Now what…” She mumbled.

Izumi flopped onto her bed and surveyed the room before her. Always organized and tidy, there were no issues on that front. However…

“What am I going to do…?”

Catch phrases. Trademark poses. Bright colors. The walls of the hero nerd’s room were covered from corner to corner with posters, news clippings, calendars, and anything else that could be put on a wall. Shelves and display cases supported countless figures, toys, and miscellaneous paraphernalia. There was no way she could even begin to try and hide her collection, especially since a good portion of it was already stored away in her closet and under her bed.

“I...I guess it’s fine…” She didn’t need to hide anything from her...friend.

Friend. The reminder that she just might not be as alone as she thought made Izumi smile.

My friend, Himiko.

My friend, Izumi!

Himiko giggled as she carefully wiped her box cutter on the dying man’s suit jacket. She ignored the gurgling and twitches, absentmindedly pushing his flailing hands away as she dug around for his wallet.

“Geez, you should really be putting pressure on that.” Her blush deepened as she eyed the ragged gash across the man’s throat. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter. You don’t have long anyway~!”

Claiming her prize, she quickly took what cash she could find as well as a couple of credit cards. With the wallet safely stashed in the nearby dumpster, she made a leisurely trip to the nearby convenience store where she bought some snacks as well as a gift for the Bakugous with the cards. The man had stopped moving once she returned, his eyes glazed over with tear tracks staining his face. Himiko blew a raspberry as she dropped the plastic money on his chest.

“It’s not cute when grown men cry…” She frowned in disgust.

His face didn’t even reflect any of the pain he must have been in, which took the wind out of Himiko’s sails. He must have given up. A quitter.

She hated quitters.

She much preferred people who fought until the end, getting hurt and injured until they could barely move and were covered in blood. Perfect. Her dampened mood carried through as the duration of her transformation petered out. Her stolen appearance, that of an older high school girl with long red hair, bright orange eyes, and a buxom figure, melted away leaving Himiko very much exposed to her surroundings. Shivering slightly, the twin bunned girl quickly gathered her own clothes, safely tucked away in this alley, before making herself decent and gathering her snacks. She felt herself perk up as she began her journey to her friend’s house. Her first trip to a friend’s house! All of the possible things they could do! Himiko wondered what kind of movies Izumi might like or what sort of games she enjoyed. Well, anything is more enjoyable with a friend.

“I wonder if she could handle violent movies…” Her golden eyes sparkled. “Probably not, but I just bet she would be adorable to watch!”

She skipped her way down the street, smiling as she lost herself in her daydreams. Before she knew it, the GPS on her phone had led Himiko to the modest two story, suburban home of the Bakugou family. A low whistle escaped her lips as she let herself through the small gate at the front. Three knocks on the door and Himiko found herself unable to contain the building energy in her as she bobbed up and down clasping the plastic bag to her chest.

“Hel--Oh! Toga, right?” Masaru gave the girl a warm smile. “Come in, come in!”

Himiko stepped into the house, removing her shoes and neatly arranging them before stepping further inside.

“Pardon the intrusion~!” She grinned as she took in the new sights and smells.

Photos of the family dotted the home, breaking up the modern decor. One particular photo caught Himiko’s eye as she leaned in for a closer look. It depicted two women and two children wearing All Might onesies. She could feel her scarlet cheeks burn as she tried to comprehend how someone could be so cute. Tiny Izumi was the best thing ever! The blonde recognized everyone else except the older green haired woman. She looked just like an older Izumi without the curly hair and freckles. Himiko stood straight and stopped at the foot of the stairs leading to the second story. Izumi waited at the top, giving her a small wave with an awkwardly shy smile. Their eyes met and for a moment time seemed to stop. Himiko quickly connected the dots, she was fairly smart when she wanted to be. She skipped up the steps and pulled Izumi into a hug, spinning them down the hallway a bit.

“T-To-ah, H-H-Hi-Himiko?!” The smaller girls face practically burst into flames. “A-are you okay?”

“Hmmm? I’m fiiine~” She rubbed her cheek against Izumi’s. “Just excited for our first friend date!”

“D-d-d-d-d-date?!” Izumi almost lost consciousness right there and then.

“ Friend date. Girl time. Whatever you want to call it!” Himiko released her friend and zeroed in on the All Might themed nameplate. “Is that your room~?”

“Yes--ah! W-wait!”

Mitsuki and Masaru smiled as they listened to the ruckus from the sofa on the first floor. Bakugou threw open his door, ready to snap over the loud racket. However, before he could open his mouth, the sound of a door being shut cut him off. He stomped over to Izumi’s door and planned to make his grievances known before another sound cut him off. Laughter, but not just any laugh. Izumi’s laugh. The explosive boy felt himself relax as he closed his eyes and simply listened. Izumi had a laugh that was clear and refreshing, like crystal windchimes. Bakugou found himself almost smiling. Almost. He might have if it wasn’t for the other voice in the room. It must have been that crazy bitch from the hospital. Backing away from the door, Bakugou made his way back to his room. He’d have to start keeping a closer eye on Izumi. And her new ‘friend’. Something in his gut told him that fang girl was trouble.

And his instincts were never wrong.

Behind the door, Himiko was busy taking in the room around her while also tickling her friend into submission. She decided to give Izumi a break as she released the greenette and moved to pull a notebook from the shelf. Her eyes nearly bugged out at all the information there was on heroes and their quirks and gear.

“I-Izu…are you…” Himiko kept her back turned to the other girl.

“Huh…?” Izumi’s mind went into pessimist overdrive as she thought of all the reasons why Himiko would find her notebooks creepy and weird and terrifying. “Ah, um, well, those...ah, uh”

“Are you...a genius?” The blonde slowly turned, a look of shock and admiration mixed on her face.

“...”

The two girls just stared in silence at each other before Himiko’s mouth twisted into a cheeky smirk. Izumi felt her cheeks burn as she smacked the other girl on the shoulder, an adorable pout puffing out her cheeks.

“Ohmygosh you’re so adorable~!” One hand pressed against her cheek, Himiko gushed at her friend while continuing to peruse the notebook. “But for real, these notebooks are incredible!”

“T-thank you...actually…” Izumi crawled over to the drawer of her desk and pulled out a fresh notebook. “I...I was wondering if we could...um, talk more about...about your quirk…? If that’s okay with you!”

It was different, for Himiko. It was new and somewhat refreshing to see someone so honestly interested in her quirk just for the sake of knowing. Izumi didn’t think her quirk was bad or evil. It wasn’t a villain’s quirk to her. Just an interesting one. And that had Himiko feeling more comfortable with her quirk than she ever had before.

“Of course. That’s what friends do…” Himiko cozied up next to Izumi as the greenette opened the new notebook and clicked her pen. “Friends hide nothing from each other. Ask me anything you want!”

Izumi found herself smiling just a bit wider than usual.

Bakugou hated a lot of things. He hates those worthless extras who try to attach themselves to him just because of his quirk. He hates those weaklings that try to make a name for themselves by picking fights with him. He hates many things, but most of all he hates himself. The sounds of explosions echoed around the dump heap formally known as Dagobah Municipal Beach Park. Currently, the combustion boy was attempting to work out if he could attempt limited flight with his explosions. Several hours in and he could already feel the dull ache of his wrists and shoulders, the telltale signs of quirk overuse.

“Kacchan, you should stop for today. Your detonations are starting to get smaller.”

He turned to the voice, rolling his shoulders. Izumi sat off to the side on an old washing machine, notebook in her lap. Her emerald eye watched his every move. Observing. Analyzing. He was starting to hate that she watched his training. That she was able to pick his quirk apart better than he could. But then he hated that he hated it. He was getting better. Stronger. Her insight was going to make him the best. He hated how weak that made him feel. He hated knowing that, if Izumi had a quirk of her own, no matter how weak or strong, she’d be a hero he’d struggle to keep up with. He hated that he didn’t think she could be a hero anyway.

“Actually, do you want to try one more thing? I had an idea on a new long ranged move for you...one with more accuracy...”

He raised an eyebrow as she started to mumble but nodded anyway. He watched her wrestle a sheet of scrap iron against a pile of garbage before checking to make sure the area was clear. The blonde boy fought back a smirk. The last move she came up for him had decimated a section of the beach dump, thoroughly spooking a couple of people scavenging for spare parts. They had to quickly vacate the area after they heard shouts of villains attacking and bombs. She jogged behind him and explained her idea. Basically he would try to form his explosions with his hands, mimicking the directional effect of shaped charges. He held out one hand flat while the other formed a cylinder in front. Focusing on the middle of his palm, Bakugou detonated the sweat that had gathered and watched as a white hot projectile pierced the metal sheet. His face was caught between a toothy grin and pained grimace as the success had him pumped but the harsh kickback aggravated his shoulder.

“I-it worked!” The small girl ran forward and examined the hole left by his shot, flinching back from the heat when she tried to touch it. “I think...I think it went pretty far into the pile...oh no I hope it didn’t go all the way through. Good thing we’re facing the ocean otherwise it could have been really bad…”

Her mumblings faded out as she jogged around the other side of the pile to check. Bakugou took this time to examine the plate himself. This opened up a whole new realm of strategic options for him. Besides the obvious long range uses, this could be used to breach rooms or serve as an armor piercing option against stronger villains or obstacles. Depending on how much power he could put into it…

“Armor piercing…” The boy found himself with a vicious grin as Izumi came walk back towards him. “Hey, Izumi...I think I have the perfect name for this new move.”

He smirked just a little bit wider when he saw her eye light up with interest.

“How does AP Shot sound to you?”

“That’s perfect! AP meaning ‘armor piercing’ right? I’m so glad this worked, there are so many possible applications…”

He grabbed a towel and water bottle that had been kept off to the side as Izumi listed through all the possibilities. While many matched up with his initial thoughts, she soon delved into the realm of creative ingenuity with the rest. He sighed and flexed his arms as the small green haired girl next to him lost herself in her ramblings, a smile on her face.

He didn’t hate that smile.

Himiko found herself staring off into the distance. Summer break was ending and she had way more on her mind than usual. The blonde girl considered herself fairly smart. If not book smart then at least street smart. She felt that she could, to a certain extent, read people fairly well. Her first meeting with ‘Kacchan’ told her a lot about his personality. Further meetings and being allowed to view his interactions with Izumi told her even more. Something had happened. She knew what guilt looked like. And ‘Kacchan’ was full to the brim with it. Himiko was a little disappointed when she first noticed how careful he was around Izumi, regardless of how much he cursed. Realizing that he wasn’t as abrasive and dangerous as she first thought, Himiko quickly found herself losing what interest she had in the rowdy boy. This loss of interest allowed her to refocus all of her attentions on her friend, possibly best friend, Izumi.

Himiko brought her hands to her cheeks and hummed contently as she thought of the green eyed girl. Izumi had been everything she could hope for in a friend. She was the cutest thing Himiko had ever seen. She was kind and gentle. She even liked Himiko’s quirk. She had even said that Himiko could use her blood to test her quirk more. No one had ever offered that kind of support to her before. Who would willingly give their blood to someone who could impersonate them? That was probably the most important aspect of Izumi. She trusted her. Himiko was her friend, someone she trusted. So, out of appreciation for the trust shown and also a bit of curiosity for some of Izumi’s theories, she took a bit of the greenette’s blood. A small pinprick to her fingertip was enough. Partaking straight from said fingertip, Himiko was unprepared for the sudden surge of lightning through her body.

Exquisite.

The cat eyed girl never thought she’d ever have a reason to use such a fancy word but the taste. The taste . She had never tasted blood like this before. It set her face on fire with the heat quickly dropping to her stomach. Izumi had wrinkled her brow in concern before Himiko assured her that she was fine. The transformation started and had Izumi furiously scribbling notes. Once complete, Himiko took a moment to adjust to the new body. She giggle at how small Izumi was...or so she thought.

“Wow, this is amazing...the possibilities for not just hero work but…” Izumi trailed off into mumbles before bringing her eyes back up to Himiko. “Wha--HIMI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

“Hmm?” Himiko looked up at her friend as her hands groped experimentally at her chest. “You’re a lot bigger than I thought Izu…”

“D-d-d-d-d-don’t do that!” Izumi quickly grabbed at the other girls wrists. “That’s, that’s so embarrassing!”

“Whaaa~ but it’s my body?” Her reply was punctuated by two more squeezes.

“No! It’s mine !” yelled the smaller girl as she wrestled Himiko to the ground, pinning her arms above her head.

“Oh my~! Izumi~! I didn’t know you were so possessive…” A quick wink came from the blonde girl as her voice became a breathy whisper. “And aggressive .”

“Huuu--”

At that moment, all major brain functions of one Izumi Midoriya ceased. Himiko found her flawless tomato impression adorable, smiling as she closely watched Izumi to see what she would do next.

“Izumi, the old hag made some snacks for you and--” Bakugou pushed the door open without a second thought before he froze at the sight before him.

Two green eyes looked up to meet his own. He could feel his face heat up and his mouth twitch as he grit his teeth.

“What the FUCK is going on here?!” He hissed. “Why are there two of you, you fucking nerd?!”

“Oh hey, Kacchan~” replied the Izumi pinned to the floor.

Hearing her say his name in that sing songy tone made his stomach hurt.

“K-K-Kacchan it’s not what it looks like!” The Izumi on top turned even redder, her mouth wobbling as she tried to explain. “It’s--she’s--I--uh--um--”

The bottom Izumi wrenched her arms free from the loosened grip and pulled her twin down into her chest.

“We were in the middle of something, Kacchan …” A cheshire smile spread across her face, cheeks burning red. “Don’t you know how to knock?”

The foreign expression on the...Izumi clone’s face and the fact that her ruined eye was on clear display had Bakugou’s blood running cold in his veins. He finally pulled himself out of the initial shock and connected the dots.

“Is this the crazy bitch’s quirk?” He scowled and tried to ignore how Himiko’s cheeks darkened just a bit from his words.

“K-Kacchan, don’t call her t-that!” Izumi looked absolutely scandalized.

“It’s fine, Izu-Izu. That’s just how Kacchan is.” Taking the opportunity to sit herself up, still holding Izumi close.

“Don’t you fucking call me that you toothy cunt!” His hands were primed at his sides, ready to unleash hellfire.

“Kacchan!”

“YOU KNOW WHAT?!” After a long moment of silence as he collected himself. “I don’t want to fucking know what was going on in here--”

“It’s not--”

“I DON’T--I don’t care!” He gripped his forehead with a hand and ignored the smug grin on Himiko’s face as best he could. “Just grab the fucking snacks from the kitchen.”

Izumi flinched as he slammed the door close, inciting a small shouting match between him and his mother. She frowned, mumbling to herself about wishing that Bakugou would be nicer to her friend.

“Awww~ You don’t need to worry about me, Izu-Izu!” Himiko rubbed her cheek against the girl in her lap. “Kacchan is just being Kacchan. I can handle it!”

“But still...ah.” Izumi reached up and wiped a blob of gray, clay-like material from Himiko’s cheek. “Is the transformation wearing off?”

“Ooh, yeah.” Himiko slid the other girl off her lap, resulting in a blushed and mumbly Izumi just realizing where she had been. “I’m not sure what this stuff actually is but it doesn’t stick around long. Like it evaporates or something.”

Grabbing her trusty notebook, Izumi jotted down some notes while playing with another handful of the clay as it started to shrink in her hand. After a few more minutes, all traces of the clay were gone, leaving Himiko as herself.

“Hmm, I noticed that you were still taller than me even after transforming…” Izumi twirl her pen around her thumb and then through her fingers.

Himiko was incredibly jealous of the pen twirling and had convinced Izumi to teach her.

“Really?” The blonde was still impressed that Izumi was managing to teach her new things about her own quirk.

“Yes...I think your quirk is able to add but not subtract.” She added some additional comments before closing the notebook. “So you could very easily mimic people much bigger than you, but would probably end up with some strange results should you try to copy say...a child.”

“Huh.”

“But the time you get out of just a drop is impressive! That had to be at least 10 minutes!”

Himiko bit back a giggle as she listened to Izumi speculate on the possible ratios of blood to transformation time and what the limitations would be for any tasks. The whole time the green haired girl talked she had a smile on her face. A smile that Himiko was slowly starting to cherish.

A small groan snapped Himiko back to the present. She leaned over the back of the sofa she was sitting on and watched as a woman slowly tried to drag herself out of the pool of her own blood. Himiko rolled her eyes and checked her phone.

“Right on time.” Mumbled the blonde as her transformation of an older business man started to sluff off her body. “Izu really is a genius~”

She stood in all her naked glory and walked over to the women before turning her over with a foot. Fear and confusion fought for dominance in the woman’s eyes as this strange girl hovered over her.

“You should be thankful! I wanted to wait until my quirk ran out before finishing you off.” The slow, menacing clicks of the boxcutter in her hand caught the woman’s attention. “You know...his last words were your name. Hana, right?”

More tears cut trails down Hana’s blood splattered face. Despite the fear and the pain, she also felt relief. Relief that her husband had not gone crazy. That he wasn’t her killer.

“He was a real hero, ya know? He was still alive after I transformed into him and I think he figured out what I was going to do next.” Gesturing to the current moment. “Can’t say how else he managed to summon up the strength to try and stop me. He was practically bloodless at that point....but I guess…love is a strange thing. He really loved you, Hana.”

Pained sobs distorted the older woman’s face.

“Sshhh, shh shh shh. Don’t worry. Don’t cry.” Himiko lifted the box cutter to Hana’s neck. “I’m sending you straight back into his arms~!”

Muffled screams and giggling filled the room. Himiko sat back to admire her work, drunk on her own bloodlust. She smeared a handful of blood across her chest and across her face causing her to shiver in ecstasy. Slowly pulling herself to her feet, she stumbled back over to the couch. The room was now completely silent, save for the sounds of Himiko’s breathing. A tear running down her face caused her smile to quickly shrink.

“Huh?” She tried to wipe it away but more kept falling. “Why?”

She knew why. Izumi was why. Her first and only true friend. Someone she wanted to trust with everything about herself. But how could she ever let Izumi know about this part of her? Izumi, the ultimate adorable bundle of hero nerdiness. Someone just as lonely as she was. And probably just as broken.

“She hides it well…” Himiko smirked as she mumbled quietly to herself, a bad habit from her cute Izumi no doubt.

Himiko knew better. She could see the tiny moments where the mask would slip or the small girl thought no one was watching. Her internal dilemma actually reminded her that she still didn’t know the story behind the eyepatch. Or why she was living with the Bakugous considering Himiko’s theory. She didn’t need to know. Wasn’t sure if she wanted to know. Fairly sure that Izumi didn’t want her to know, not yet at least. Himiko had thoughts, ideas, musings. But she couldn’t be sure. One thing she does know for sure is that Izumi, her friend, is on the brink.

“I should get clean…” She stood and carefully made her way to the bathroom. “I should also stop stealing Izu’s cute habit.”

She could see it every time they would discuss heroes. Truthfully, it wasn’t her favorite subject but Izumi made it fun. There were even heroes that Himiko could admit to admiring, such as the sleepy looking Eraser Head. But behind the joy and excitement that the topic of heroes would bring Izumi, Himiko could see the desperation. The fragile hope, tucked deep down where it could be safe for just one more day. The same kind of desperation and hope Himiko sometimes saw in her victims.

Izumi wanted to be a hero. Himiko could support that dream. She honestly found it hard to understand why anyone would tell her she couldn’t. But the world was the way it was: difficult. If you didn’t fit the ideal, the world wanted nothing to do with you. You were useless. Worthless. Something to be cast aside. Even many heroes perpetuated this line of thinking. A few high and mighty heroes quickly came to the blonde girls mind. The thought of Izumi losing her dream terrified Himiko. At first she wasn’t sure why. But at first she thought that “Hero Analysis for the Future” was just a hobby. She very quickly realized the reality and now…

Now she knows that her dream isn’t something Izumi can afford to lose. And Himiko isn’t sure if she could afford to lose Izumi.

The steaming downpour from the shower head helped ease some of the tension from Himiko’s body. She’d never bothered to think so much about anything before. But Izumi was slowly becoming someone she couldn’t ignore. A small part of her mind tried to call befriending Izumi a mistake. An unnecessary difficulty. Himiko physically flinched when that stupid thought appeared. Izumi was the best thing to ever happen to her.

But was she the best thing for Izumi?

Probably not. Izumi wanted to be a hero and Himiko...was far from a hero. She could change though, right? She could be better, for Izumi. The worst obstacle would be her compulsions but even then, she could probably find a way to battle her obsession with blood. Probably. At this point, the cat eyed girls mind wandered back to the taste of Izumi’s blood. Just the memory caused her to tremble a little. For the brief moment it was on her finger, Himiko could have sworn that that single drop sparkled like a jewel. Delicious. She had been satiated for an entire week after that single drop.

Maybe she could convince Izumi. To give her just a little blood every week, no, month. Just a taste and she would be fine. Izumi is so kind and understanding. She would definitely agree. She might even let Himiko make the cuts herself. Yes, that would be good too. Just a few small cuts. Maybe some bigger ones for more blood. Ah, Izumi would look so great like that. So sweet. So delectable. So...perfect.

My Izumi all cut up and covered in blood .

I could hurt her. I could be her!

“ NO! ” Himiko’s horrified scream snapped her back to reality before her thoughts could spiral further out of control.

She sank to her knees, letting the water wash away her tears. She could still feel the rush from her delusions.

You can’t. You can’t, Himiko Toga. She pulled at her hair in desperation. Izumi is your friend. You may not be a hero but even villains can have friends. People to protect.

“Even if you have to protect them from yourself…”

Chapter Text

Izumi was tired. She stared blankly at her monitor as hero news and villain alerts flashed across it. Despite what people might think, Izumi was very perceptive. She was much more aware of herself and those around her than she let on. Sometimes too aware but she couldn’t help it. Knowledge was all she had at this point. Her one tool. Her one weapon. But she was getting more and more tired. Of everything. She could feel the cracks in her mask. A mask she had spent so much time and energy carefully crafting. A mask that could fool even those closest to her. She’d let just enough of her true feelings show to satisfy people like Bakugou, but everything else she kept hidden. Bottled up, wrapped tight, and buried deep down. But it wasn’t enough. She could see the precipice. She could feel herself being pushed towards it. She couldn’t begin to grasp the abyss at the bottom.

And that terrified her.

Izumi was smart. Smarter than anyone around her. Sometimes too smart for her own good. She had done her research and all the information pointed to one conclusion. So she did what she usually does. She struggled. She struggled and fought and scraped her way through each day. She lost herself in her hero research and studies. Helping Bakugou with his training was difficult but it was another thing she felt she had to do. Izumi had long decided that she would make sure he stayed on the path to becoming a hero. A real hero. She wished that he would put more effort in. That he would realize the real reason he should be a hero, not the selfish guilt soaked reason she could see on his face every time her looked at her. His arrogance and pride were going to cripple his success and possible cost someone their life. Watching him waste his powerful quirk would kill her. It was everything she could do to not let her darker thoughts seep through the locks and chains. The regret. The envy.

The hate .

Himiko entering her life had probably been the single greatest thing to happen to her in a long time. The blonde girl had quickly become an irreplaceable part of Izumi’s life. Someone she could talk to about anything. Almost anything. Izumi frowned as the usually cloud of anxiety and self doubt started to dim her usually bright eyes. She really needed to talk to Himiko but managed to back out every time opportunity arose. Hiding things from Himiko didn’t sit well with Izumi, but…

...she wasn’t the only one hiding things.

A quiet bell sound notified Izumi of a new message. Izumi had been a long time denizen of the deeper parts of the web. She found that information was more readily available as well as rare and valuable collectibles. Of course, traversing the darker portions of the web required caution and proper measures. During her time spent on various forums she had come across a person who had offered to help her learn how to protect herself online as well as access even more information. Being the intelligent girl that she was, Izumi was initially wary, but this stranger had commended her attitude and explained that they had taken an interest in some of her posts. Izumi had very quickly become a valued member of various online communities due to her unbiased and indiscriminate view of quirks and people in general. She tabbed into the special messenger program she had been recommended due to the fact that it was both secure and kept no records of conversations.

[D_Alexandre]: It is not often that you contact me first. I hope you are not in any trouble.

Izumi smiled a bit. While Alexandre had made it clear that she shouldn’t get attached to strangers online, Izumi couldn’t help but enjoy believing that he cared. If only a bit. Otherwise, why would he help her and ask nothing in return? She quickly typed out her reply, hoping that he could offer some advice.

[MightyGRN]: I’ve been struggling with certain doubts.

[MightyGRN]: I’ve always known that I needed to work harder than most but it’s getting harder and harder…

[D_Alexandre]: Judging from your ability to analyze and break down quirks, I can tell that you are extremely intelligent. And from the threads where you have helped people overcome their own insecurities and fears related to their quirks, your drive to help people is unquestionable.

Izumi couldn’t help the small blush that dusted her cheeks at the praise.

[D_Alexandre]: Are these doubts related to your own quirk? I would be surprised if that were the case.

[MightyGRN]: No I’m just not sure if I’m cut out for what I want to do.

[MightyGRN]: In the future.

Even just dodging the question of her absent quirk left a bad taste in her mouth. The speculation of her quirk was a hot topic on the forum. She did her best to try and avoid questions and most figured she was just private. The real fear of all her advice and insight being invalidated just because she was quirkless was enough to help her put up with any white lies that were necessary.

[D_Alexandre]: Well, if you wish to help people professionally as you have here in this forum then I can assure you that there is nothing to worry about.

[MightyGRN]: I do want to help people

[MightyGRN]: But my quirk is very very unsuited to what I want to do…

[D_Alexandre]: And what is it that you wish to do? With your sharp mind I find it hard to believe that you would not excel at anything you set yourself to.

Izumi sat for a few moments, weighing her words in her mind. It had been a long time since she had openly expressed her dream to anyone, even herself. Taking a deep breath she typed out the words she couldn’t bring herself to say out loud.

[MightyGRN]: I want to be a hero.

[MightyGRN]: But I’m not sure if I can.

[MIghtyGRN]: For personal reasons.

[D_Alexandre]: Well, from where I stand, and what information you have offered forth, I would say that the only thing holding you back is you. Do you have anyone who you can go to for support?

[D_Alexandre]: Becoming a Professional Hero is difficult for everyone. All you need is confidence in yourself.

[MightyGRN]: I have one friend, she’s been very good to me.

[D_Alexandre]: I see. I would start with this friend of yours. Having someone close that you can confide in is important. From what you have told me, this would be a good step in overcoming your insecurities.

While expected, Izumi could feel the anxiety churning in her gut. She knew Himiko would understand. Probably. But the fear of losing a friend was almost too much. Another ping tore her from her thoughts.

[D_Alexandre]: Speak with her and you will find yourself pleasantly surprised.

[D_Alexandre]: Do not fear the unknown. You simply move forward and act accordingly.

[D_Alexandre]: If you fail, stand and try again.

Izumi was relieved that Alexandre had offered as much support as they had. She offhandedly wondered if they were a teacher of sorts. They seemed very used to offering support, always concerned with her online activities but never one to try and restrict her. Izumi sent her thanks and closed the chat. She would be hanging out with Himiko on the weekend so maybe…

...maybe they could talk.

Nezu smiled to himself before a knock interrupted his reading.

“Please, come in.” The mousey principal continued reading through the forum posts as Aizawa entered his office.

“Here are a copy of the case files.” The Pro Hero collapsed onto one of the couches after dropping the files on the desk, letting the soft cushions cradle his aching body. “Tsukauchi sends both his thanks and regards.”

“Ah, yes. The exsanguination killings.” The large rodent chuckled to himself before finally reaching for the manila folder. “It’s not often the detective needs my assistance.”

“I believe it to be with good reason.” He fought back a yawn as he pulled out one of several bottles of prescription eye drops. “Several of those deaths happened on my patrol route. They’re quick and quiet despite the mess they leave behind…”

“I see…” Nezu quickly scanned through the information before him. “Hmm...this is not ideal. Not ideal at all…”

“You already have an idea of what we’re dealing with?”

“Of sorts. While it is extremely obvious that our culprit has an...unhealthy obsession with blood, I believe that the problem goes much deeper than that. I’d have to spend a bit more time but I should have a better idea by the end of the week.”

After a few more moments of browsing the case files, Nezu turned back to his computer. Aizawa narrowed his eyes as he observed the principal. It did not take much time as a teacher at U.A. for Aizawa to understand that anything that amused Nezu was a potential headache. Seeming to have read his thoughts, the Principal leaned back in his chair with a chuckle.

“There is nothing for you to be concerned about, Aizawa. A while ago I stumbled upon an...underground forum of sorts. A place for people who are confused, scared, or...ashamed of their quirks to gather and seek advice and support.” Nezu grinned as he rocked back and forth in his chair. “I’ve taken a particular interest in one of the boards members. They possess an impressive analytical mind and a...level of creativity when it comes to quirks that you rarely see despite the world we live in today.”

Aizawa’s mind instantly pulled up the imagine of a young green haired girl, bringing with it that nagging feeling in his chest. His tired eyes must have given him away because Nezu was studying his schooled features more than usual. He decided that dropping the girls name wouldn’t hurt.

“I met a girl at the request of Shuzenji. Izumi...Midoriya. She seemed to be a hero...fanatic?” He scratched at his stubble. “She had these notebooks full of information that she wanted us to autograph…”

“Oh? What kind of information?” Nezu clapped his paws together, the gears already turning in his exceptional mind.

“I...I didn’t really get a good look…”

“You mean you left your signature and made for a hasty retreat?” Nezu pulled a cup of tea from seemingly nowhere and snickered. “I’m sure that Shuzenji had something to say about that.”

Aizawa pulled on all his years of hero experience to keep himself from flinching at the phantom pains that creeped up his calves. “Anyhow...I told her she could ask me anything she wanted and she asked a question about my quirk that...I had never considered.”

Nezu simple sipped his tea and gestured for the teacher to continue.

“She asked if I could, effectively, bounce my quirk off reflective surfaces without erasing my own quirk. “After some testing with Power Loader, the answer is that I can but if I’m in the crossfire I’ll just erase my own quirk too.”

The principal nodded his head and tapped a paw on his desk, imagining all the potential support gear. “Ms. Midoriya may be this ‘MightyGRN’ I’ve been interested in. Did she mention anything about applying to U.A.?”

The Erasure Hero shifted uncomfortably before answering the principal. “I believe that there is no doubt that she wants to be a hero, however…”

“However?” Nezu wasn’t sure if he liked where this was going.

“She never explicitly stated that she wanted to be a hero...I believe that to be related to her being quirkless.”

“That’s…” For once the quirked animal was at a loss which must have showed on his face since Aizawa was staring at him with wide eyes. “That’s...unexpected, given her impressively extensive analysis of quirks...I find myself more and more impressed. I have seen a similarly intense admiration for heroes in her posts. I hope to see her application for the Hero or Support courses.”

Aizawa could feel that voice in the back of his head but decided to try and talk over it. “What makes you think she would apply for the Hero course?”

“Why shouldn’t she? With a mind like hers and proper support equipment, how different would she be from Professional Heroes such as yourself?” Nezu leaned back with a small frown. “I would have figured you of all people would have understood that quirks aren’t everything when it comes to being a hero.”

That voice was now screaming at him, fanning the flames of what he knew was going to be an awful headache. But, being as stubborn as he was, Aizawa continued to beat it down with logic and reason.

“If she’s meant to be a hero then I’ll see her at the entrance exam.” With that gruff retort and a short bow, the man in black exited the office.

Nezu could only sigh and shake his head as he returned to his online reading.

Her life was looking great. The cat-eyed blonde skipped down the street, travel bag of overnight essentials bouncing at her waist. It had been almost two weeks since she had indulged in her violent pastime. Her urges were few and far between, mostly thanks both to time spent theorycrafting and working on her quirk with Izumi, as well as just spending time with the green haired girl in general. A part of Himiko is mildly bitter to know that a steady supply of blood and some positive support was all it took to help her reign in her darker urges. But that was neither here nor there and there was nothing to do but move forward. She wasn’t one to get caught up in things she couldn’t change.

“Hi, Auntie!” Himiko gave Mitsuki her biggest smile as she bowed and took off her shoes. “You look pretty, as always!”

The older blonde smirked and ruffled the younger girls hair, “And you’re just as bright and cheerful as ever. Izumi is upstairs in her room.”

Red eyes glaring down at her from the second floor caught her attention but she simply smiled and waved. The sound of a clicking tongue and slammed door had Himiko giggling on her way up. She knocked on Izumi’s door before the quiet methodical mumbling she had become rather fond of radiated from the door. Himiko quietly opened the door and stepped into the room, closing it behind her. She tiptoed and placed her bag down before sitting on the bed. Leaning forward with her chin on her hands, she took in the startling new sight of Izumi in glasses. Himiko could feel her cheeks heating up, causing her to wonder if she had a thing for the ‘intelligent look’. But as Izumi continued to mumble and scrunch her face up, Himiko decided that she probably just has a thing for nerds.

“I-zu-mi~” The blonde girl slowly pushed herself off the bed and crept up to the desk.

The mumbling continued and Himiko decided that today was the day to be a bit bolder. Usually she would just blow some air in the smaller girls ear and enjoy the bumbling flustered mess it would make her. Today, however, she gave the green haired girls exposed ear a gentle nip followed quickly by a flick of her tongue. The high pitched squeak was probably the greatest reaction Himiko had managed to get out of the girl so far.

“H-H-H-Himi?! What are--? When did you get, huh? D-did you just--? Did...y-you just bite my e-ear?” Izumi was practically a furnace with how hot her face was burning. “A-and you...l-l-l-l-l-l-l-licked…”

As she continued to cover her face and malfunction, Himiko took the opportunity to climb into Izumi’s lap before gentle pulling the girl’s arms away.

“Himiko?” You could almost hear the neurons firing off behind her wide green eye.

“You never told me you wore glasses...they’re nice.” The blonde girl smiled warmly as she reached up and adjusted the frames on Izumi’s face.

“W-well...I usually only...only wear them at home…” She desperately tried to ignore the weight in her lap and the comfortable warmth coming from it. “It looks...weird. And silly since I only have one…”

Despite her words trailing off, Himiko was able to figure the rest out. There was no doubt in her mind that showing up to school or walking around with glasses and an eyepatch would get her even more stares and just add to her problems.

“Well I think you look great with glasses.” Himiko licked her lips and leaned in a bit. “Very intelligent and sophisticated.”

“I-I-I, uh, ah, um, t-thank you?” Izumi was trying to jumpstart her brain again.

Her green eye wandered anywhere but in front of her. Before long she found herself staring right at the girl currently straddling her. While this probably wouldn’t be the best time to bring up what Izumi wanted to discuss, the greenette wasn’t sure how to go about asking Himiko to get off her. Not that she wanted her to get off, at least she didn’t think she did. And now that was just one more thing on her mind. Is this what being friends is? Is this too touchy feely? Is this going beyond friends? Maybe. Was she okay with this? Maybe. How was she supposed to bring up all her other concerns with this added on top? How long has it been since she started this meandering train of thought? Himiko must think she’s a weirdo. Oh no, was she mumbling? She might be mumbling. Izumi slowly clenched her fists as she felt the anxiety bubbling up in her chest. What started out as a normal, for her, train of thought was quickly becoming a runaway locomotive of panic. She squeezed her eye shut as she felt her breathing becoming more and more uneven, her pulse pounding in her ears. Something warm was pressing against her face suddenly, a second, more stable beat resonating from it. Izumi could feeling a gentle sensation brushing through her hair and soothing patterns being drawn along her scalp.

“Izumi...you’re okay.” Himiko spoke quietly, holding the smaller girl to her chest, breathing deep, even breathes. “It’s okay.”

Izumi slowly regained awareness of her surroundings, letting the warmth ground her. She slowly wrapped her arms around Himiko, both to seek comfort and to hide her embarrassment. The tears were already falling as she pulled herself deeper into the embrace.

“I’m sorry…” Izumi managed to hiccup out an apology.

“Why?” Himiko continued to gently brush through Izumi’s wild hair. Normally it was held in line with two braids that fell to the middle of her back but at the moment it was loose and untamed. “I should be apologizing for making you uncomfortable.”

As Himiko made to stand up, a sudden squeeze kept her in place. She settled back down and returned the squeeze with one of her own.

“H-Himi…I...I need to tell you something...but…” Himiko could feel Izumi tensing up.

“You can tell me anything, Izu.”

“I...I’m scared…” Izumi leaned back and stared up at the blonde girl. “I’m...I’m afraid of…”

Of you. Himiko quickly stamped down her own insecurities, trying to focus on Izumi.

“I have so much...so much...anger...a-and, and hate…” More tears started running down her face. “I’m so bitter sometimes...so envious of people with quirks...any quirk.”

She sniffed and rubbed at her face, pushing her glasses up.

“I try to get passed it...try...t-try to tell myself that it’s...it’s not what a hero would feel…” Izumi choked back another sob, “I’m so broken and terrified...I...I think that…”

Himiko listened quietly, waiting for Izumi to organize her thoughts.

“I...I think they’re right...I don’t...I c-can’t…” Izumi trailed off into a whisper. “I-I can’t...be a h-he--”

“No!” Himiko grabbed the smaller girl by the shoulders and made sure she was looking at her. “I don’t want to hear that.”

The green haired girl stared up at Himiko with wide eyes, tears cutting tracks down her flushed face.

“You can be a hero, Izumi. You know why?” She paused for a bit to make sure Izumi was still listening but not enough for an answer. “Because you’re already a hero. Y-you’re...you’re my hero!”

Wobbly lips and more tears was the response that Izumi gave to such a powerful declaration. Himiko pulled her back into her chest, the rest of her words a low whisper into green locks of hair.

“I’m...I wasn’t...a good person. I...I did bad things to people who didn’t always deserve it…” The blonde girl swallowed back her own tears at her impromptu confession. “But...I’m getting better. I believe, no, I know I can be better...because of you.”

Izumi pushed away and stared up into golden eyes.

“You can do whatever you want. Those people? The World? None of that matters. Life is hard enough without worrying about what society thinks.” Himiko gently cupped Izumi’s face in her hands. “You saw me for me. Not my quirk. Not a villain. You told me as much when we first met.”

“Himiko…” Izumi brought up a sleeve to wipe at her face.

“Whatever you want to be or do...I know you can be the best.” Himiko wrapped her arms around the other girl and pulled her in for another hug. “I’ll be there every step of the way, always.”

Izumi nodded, quietly soaking in the warmth. Knowing that she not only had a friend but one who believed in her dream was a massive weight off her shoulders. The two girls sat in a comfortable silence before Himiko decided to speak up.

“So...did you want to move this to the bed?” The cat eyed girl leaned back and hit Izumi with a saucy wink.

“H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H--” Izumi sputtered out like an engine on fire before fainting.

“K-Kacchan...you don’t have to…”

“Huh?! I don’t have to what? I don’t have to fucking make sure none of these shitstain extras put you back in the hospital?” Bakugou had decided that his original approach of maintaining distance was a mistake. “Just make sure you have everything, I’m not gonna risk my perfect attendance over this.”

“A-alright…” Izumi double checked her backpack before saying goodbye to Mitsuki and jogging after the blonde boy. “Um, t-thank you, Kacchan.”

“I don’t need your fucking thanks…” He turned away from her before quietly adding, “A real hero doesn’t need it.”

Izumi smiled at his words, settling into the comfortable silence as they walked to school. As the two passed through the front gates, Izumi was hit by a sudden wave of anxiety, unsure of what to expect. A hand on her shoulder snapped her back quickly.

“Come on.” Bakugou pushed her forward as he ignored all the stares and whispers.

The first day of their final year was something he wanted to get over with. He’d make it known, with his presence, that things were going to be different. He wasn’t going to just hope the situation handled itself. As much as it pissed him off, his reputation was clearly not enough to protect her, so he’d have to do it the hard way. Which was fine by him. The mixed bag of expressions on the students were nothing to be considered as far as he was concerned. Some were surprised. Some were jealous. Some were confused. The ones that pissed him off were the students with pity in their eyes. Whether it was pity for him ‘having to take care of the school pariah’ or pity for the quirkless girl for being attacked, he couldn’t decide which pissed him off more. Of course it took a near death experience for these background characters to realize just how shit they all were.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE ALL YOU FUCKING EXTRAS LOOKING AT?! HUH?!” His outburst was punctuated by two relatively tame explosions from his palms.

The nearby students were startled into movement as they quickly dispersed. Izumi, while not quite sure about the method, appreciated having the attention drawn away from her, even for just a moment. Her only wish for her final year of middle school was to get through without incident. She would keep to herself as usual and focus on keeping up her grades. Bakugou had begrudgingly accepted that he was no longer number one in terms of grades but that was fine with him. Seeing the effort that Izumi put into studying lit a fire under him that kept him on his toes.

It was several weeks into the school year when the teacher brought up future career goals. The fanfare caused by the mention of hero work was quickly stamped out by Bakugou’s declaration of superiority, which led to the reveal that he had applied for U.A. High School. Unfortunately, it was also revealed that Izumi would be applying to the renowned hero academy as well. As the room went silent, the teacher at least had the awareness to look regretful. But before any of the laughter or jeering could start, a single small but potent explosion detonated from Bakugou’s clenched fist. It was all the warning the class needed to keep their thoughts to themselves and move on. Izumi gave the blonde boy a small but grateful smile, even as she felt that tangled string of anxiety pull tighter in her gut.

The school day ended with no incidents and Izumi was counting her blessings as she walked through the school gates with Bakugou.

“I can meet with Himiko on my own Kacchan.” Her green eye wandered over his shoulder to the two boys waiting behind him. “You can go with your friends...I’ll be fine…”

Bakugou looked like he wanted to argue a lot of things about her statement but he begrudgingly decided that Izumi would be fine. The toothy psychopath was many things but he knew that she wouldn’t let anything bad happen to Izumi if she could help it. Her crazy would be useful to chase off any no name pebbles that tried to bother her.

“Alright, but you better make fucking sure that you text me once you’re with that crazy bitch.” He turned around and walked away, ignoring Izumi’s complaints and insistence on him calling her by her name.

Like he’d ever bother remembering the name of some extra.

Izumi sighed and headed off to meet with Himiko to do some light shopping. She was low on empty notebooks and she wanted to make sure she didn’t run out. While her tablet was definitely superior for storing her notes, she felt uncomfortable taking it out and about with her on a regular basis. Especially if she was taking notes during an attack where it could get damaged. She didn’t have the money to buy a new one so she needed to be careful. Plus, after so many years of writing her notes by hand, it was still something she enjoyed to do. Her mind continued to wander through mundane thoughts and her mouth continued to leak those thoughts to the world. It wasn’t until a new voice bubbled forth from the shadows of the underpass that Izumi realized that she was no longer alone.

And no longer fine.

Bakugou made his way through the various back alleys that reduced the time it took to get to the arcade. The two sidekicks following him were talking about something. He wasn’t sure since he had long since deemed anything coming out of their mouths was worthless. That is until he heard a certain green haired girl’s name enter the conversation.

“What the fuck are you two on about?” He stopped and turned around to face the two idiots, hoping he wouldn’t need to put the fear in them.

“O-oh, well…” The taller boy scratched his head, not having expected Bakugou to be paying attention to them. “We were just talking about how lucky you are.”

“What?” Bakugou just scowled harder.

“Aren’t you dating Midoriya?” The shorter boy spoke up. “She’s one of the cutest girls at our school.”

“Yeah, with how much time you’ve been spending around her, all the guys figured that you two had finally become official.”

The look on the blonde boys face was a mix of confusion and anger that only he could pull off.

“The FUCK?! Is that what all you fucking nobodies think is going on?” Bakugou pushed down the mildly pleased part of him and covered it with anger. “And since when has the nerd been some kind of school idol?!”

The two boys shared a nervous look before carefully continuing.

“E-ever since the start of middle school. All the guys thought she was super pretty...but…” The taller boy trailed off.

“We were all afraid to say anything because of how close you two seemed…” Continued the other boy.

Bakugou could feel a trickle of pride that his posturing had at least kept one group of annoyances away. But thoughts of what could be, no, could have been weighed heavily on his ego. He clicked his tongue and turned to kick a random soda bottle into the wall.

“You’re really not dating Midoriya?” One of the boys bravely spoke up.

“No I’m not dating the fucking nerd!” Bakugou wanted to blow something up but they were too close to the street and he wouldn’t risk public quirk usage on his record. “And you two cucks better not get any fucking ideas, got it?!”

He turned back to face them, waiting for their reply but was met with two horrified expressions. The explosive blonde could almost hear the green haired hero fanatic spewing out statistics and reciting from memory all the times in interviews heroes had stated that reacting before thinking had saved their life. One quick ‘gentle’ explosion to push the two idiots out of danger and a second massive detonation behind him to buy him some time. Turning to meet the threat he needed to crush, Bakugou was only able to fully face the giant wall of slime before the world around him went dark.

How did she get here?

Everything had been fine. She had been fine. Today was going to be fine.

Nothing was fine.

There were heroes scolding her. Telling her how reckless it was for her to rush in there like she did. She noticed that they had very quickly set in on her once they learned that she ran in without a quirk. Izumi could feel that familiar dark, inky wrongness trying to force itself to the surface. She clenched her fists and bit her tongue to keep from having a meltdown in front of all these people. Her eye glanced over to Bakugou. Her jaw tightened as she listened to these heroes lay on the praise for his powerful quirk and how well he did lasting against the villain.

Pathetic.

Izumi wanted to cry. She wanted to throw up. The utter lack of self awareness; the idea that these people considered themselves heroes…

It was wrong. Everything about this situation was wrong. Praising Bakugou just because he had a powerful quirk. A powerful quirk that did nothing to get him free from the slime villain. Scolding Izumi because of her lack of quirk; because she ran in to give Bakugou the precious few moments of air he needed. While these heroes with quirks; these people with quirks stood by and did nothing but watch as a boy almost drowned to death in sewage.

We need to wait for a hero with the right quirk!

Izumi could feel the tears pooling in her eye. It almost happened again. These pathetic excuse for heroes were going to let another person die. They were so...so complacent . So comfortable in their ways that they couldn’t think outside of their little box if their lives depended on it.

Or anyone else’s for that matter.

Death Arms seemed to take offense to her seemingly ignoring him and to be fair she had tuned him out a while ago. She turned to face the Pro Hero again before making eye contact with Kamui Woods over his shoulder. The other hero had been surprisingly quiet once he learned that the young student who rushed into danger was quirkless. Izumi wouldn’t consider herself the best at reading people but she could recognize the look in his eyes.

Shame.

Izumi relaxed a bit, taking comfort that at least one hero was reflecting on what had happened.

“Hey! Are you even listening to me? You’ve got a lot of nerv--!” Death Arms, not one to be brushed off by a reckless wannabe vigilante grabbed the green haired girl by the shoulder.

The pure dread that went rippling down his spine caused his mouth to snap shut. The small girl had tensed right back up upon contact and was now staring him down. He easily dwarfed her, standing just shy of seven feet, but the pure hatred burning behind her large green eye caused him to take a step back. Kamui Woods quickly stepped in and pulled the other hero’s hand off the girl.

“I think that’s enough.” He hadn’t expected his fellow hero to get quite so upset and knew he needed to step in before things got ugly. “I apologize, miss.”

Izumi didn’t respond, a few tears cutting tracks down her face. It was at that moment that familiar blonde buns pushed their way through the crowd and to her side. Quickly bowing to the Pro Heroes, Himiko grabbed Izumi by her arm and carefully lead her away from the scene. The wood quirk hero watched the two girls disappear into an alley before turning to Death Arms.

“What the hell was that?” The wood of his arms creaked slightly as he crossed them. “I know what she did was reckless but did you really need to drive her to tears?”

“I...You’re.” The giant man swallowed dryly. “You’re right...I went too far. I guess I was just…”

“Frustrated.” Kamui Woods turned towards the giant mob of media surrounding the Number One Hero. “As much as it shames me to admit, that boy was dead if that girl hadn’t stepped up.”

Death Arms watched as All Might waved off a few reporters and disappeared to the rooftops. “But our quirks…”

“What kind of heroes are we if we can’t rise to the challenge.” Kamui Woods started on his way towards the police to get all the paperwork in order. “The reality is that our quirks weren’t the issue, we just needed to be better.”

Himiko was thoroughly pissed. It didn’t help that someone was trying to follow them. Probably some scummy reporter. She led Izumi through the labyrinth of back alleys and pathways until she was sure that no one was following them. It was then that Himiko pulled Izumi into a tight embrace. The blonde girl had been concerned when Izumi hadn’t shown up to their meeting spot but figured she was just running late. When the minutes continued to tick by and texts and calls went unanswered, Himiko was starting to regret never getting Kacchan’s number until the first explosion went off in the distance. Knowing Izumi’s penchant for trouble and die hard interest in heroes, she quickly took off towards the source. She had arrived just in time to witness Izumi leaping straight into the middle of danger in order to rescue the angry blonde. Her heart stopped as the slimy villain went in for the killing blow. Luckily All Might had arrived just in time to protect the two students before taking care of the villain.

Which brought them here: Izumi quietly crying into her chest. Himiko tried to comfort her as best she should, brushing a hand through her hair. One of her ties had gone missing, leaving her hair a wild mess. A bath was definitely in order but that and any innuendos could wait. Himiko fumbled her phone out to send a quick text to Mitsuki to let her know that Izumi was safe and with her and that she would get her home soon.Golden eyes narrowed as Himiko quietly stewed. She had caught the tail end of that bulky hero’s lecture and was tempted to gut him right there and then. To think he had the nerve to lecture her Izumi for being a hero! A better hero than any of them from what she saw. A quiet murmur brought her attention back to the girl in her arms.

“What was that Izu?” Himiko leaned down a bit. “I couldn’t--”

“I’m so tired , Himiko…” Izumi gently pushed the taller girl away. “Why? Why are things like this…?”

“I-Izumi…” Himiko wasn’t sure what to say so she kept quiet.

“I’m...I’m so sick and tired of everything being about quirks .” She pulled at her green hair and started to pace. “How strong a quirk is, how flashy a quirk is, how heroic a quirk is. It’s stupid, ridiculous nonsense that has nothing to do with being a hero. Four heroes, four and none of them could step outside of their own heads and think of a solution. Four quirks and they were going to let Kacchan die just like--”

Izumi choked back another sob, her fists clenched into her skirt.

“Why?! Why can those idiots be heroes?! Why can all these arrogant assholes be heroes?! Why can’t I be a hero?! Because I don’t have a quirk? All those people there with quirks were just going to watching someone die!!”

Izumi fell to her knees and Himiko just stood nearby , unable to say anything.

“It’s not fair! All of these people just wasting their potential! If I had a quirk--” A wet hiccup followed by more tears forced her to stop and breath. “I-If I had any quirk...I’d be…”

You really think the future number one hero would want to hang around with a useless, quirkless nerd?

She could see them. All the tiny chips and cracks forming...

No friends, no quirk, what makes you think you need to try?

...spider-webbing across her mind...

No, I don’t believe you can be a hero without a quirk.

...until it shattered, dropping her into the abyss.

“Nononononono...no...NO…!” Izumi clutched at her head as Himiko panicked and dropped to her side. “NO NO NO NO NO !!!”

“Izumi! Izumi, I’m here!” She had absolutely no idea what to do, her own fears making it hard to think.

“It’s not fair! It’s not fair!!” The greenette struggled free from Himiko’s arms and pushed the girl away this time. “ IT’S NOT FAIR!!! ”

Himiko’s eyes went wide and her face completely flushed. The pressure surrounding Izumi had completely changed, sending electric shivers through her body. She met eyes with Izumi and her heart sank even as it started beating faster. Pure, cold hate. Depthless, corrupting despair. Fresh tears fell as Izumi curled up into a ball and let out a soul shattering scream. Himiko could feel her own tears starting to fall, even as a smile tugged at her lips. They had finally done it. The world, society. These heroes . They had broken down her hero.

Shattered her. Nothing would be the same.

Everything had changed.

Chapter Text

Bakugou really should have been more concerned about the recent villain attack on the campus of fucking U.A. of all places. His class had barely gotten their bearings after having been accepted into one of the best hero courses in the country before a villain attack had ruined their day. Luckily, the villains were as low tier as they were misinformed and the students were able to defend themselves long enough for All Might to arrive. Bakugou was pissed that the only actual threats had managed to escape but he’d take the win for what it was. Shitty Hair had been slowly weedling his way into the explosive boy’s space until he had altogether given up and begrudgingly accepted acquaintanceship. Which was a mistake since it apparently came with Raccoon Eyes, Soy Face, and Spark Plug as well. The five of them had just sat down for lunch when a soft voice called out to Bakugou.

“Kacchan!”

The boy didn’t bother to turn around as Izumi took a seat next to him, the blonde girl taking the spot on the other side of Izumi. He simply grunted and ignored the way that Raccoon Eyes gushed everytime his childhood nickname was used. The crazy bitc-- girl greeted the table with her usual enthusiasm, immediately combining powers with Raccoon Eyes to get Bakugou as angry as possible before Shitty Hair or Izumi had to step in to try and defuse the situation. His red eyes glanced over to the green eyed girl to his right. She smiled and chatted with Raccoon Eyes and that Toothy Cu--, that Toothy Chick. He internally grimaced but he had said he would make a concerted effort to be nicer to the blonde girl and she had, to his dismay, earned his respect in a way.

While he should have been more concerned with recent events, it was past events that still had his attention. He had watched Izumi his whole life basically. He felt that he could read her better than most and understood her struggles.

He was wrong.

Bakugou had lost track of Izumi immediately after the villain incident and was about to panic when his phone, which had somehow, against all odds, survived the attack started to buzz. He answered the call and was greeted with the ball busting concern that only Mitsuki Bakugou could dish out. She told him to head straight home after any police business was handled and that Toothy (yeah let’s go with Toothy) was with Izumi. Bakugou didn’t like the girl but he was grateful. He knew that this whole bullshit scenario was probably bringing up some bad memories for the greenette. It didn’t help that these two bit hero wannabes were trying to praise him for doing jack shit.

Bakugou would learn later from Toothy that they had also tried to scold the one person who had acted before All Might had arrived. He never quite understood why she was so upset about ‘wasted potential’ but now, it couldn’t be more clear to him. All those heroes. All those people with quirks. His own quirk.

Useless.

He quickly made his way home, having shrugged off the media and scaring off anyone else with the look on his face. The only thing that stopped Mitsuki from wrapping her son in a deathlock of a hug was the stench and leftover slime coating his clothes. Bakugou quickly headed upstairs and violently scrubbed himself clean. Once back downstairs he was pulled into that hug and quietly listened to his mother alternate between scolding him and fretting over him. He had managed to get home before Izumi and Toothy so he sat on the couch with his arms crossed waiting. When Masaru had rushed through the door and gathered his wife and son in his arms, Bakugou was starting to get worried that something had happened to the girls. Another thirty minutes had passed before the Bakugou family was jolted out of their silence by the opening of the front door.

“Izumi?!” Mitsuki was already up and on the move.

Not caring this time about the sludge, the older woman pulled the two girls into her arms. Izumi was unresponsive, needing Toothy to guide her upstairs to get clean. Bakugou remained quiet the whole time as his mother and father did their best to give Izumi some space. He expected tears and hugs but all that happened was a quiet ‘I’m okay’ and the green haired girls quick retreat to her room.

“U-um, Auntie?” The blonde girl nervously watched her friend disappear upstairs. “I-Is it okay if I spend the night...I don’t…”

Mitsuki seemed to understand the younger girls worries and ruffled her hair like usual. “Of course you can...you’re welcome here whenever you want.”

She pulled Himiko into a quick hug and whispered, “Thank you for being her friend.”

Himiko gave a shaky smile before quickly ascending the stairs and entering Izumi’s room. As the door shut behind her Masaru sat down next to his son and put an arm around his shoulders. Bakugou and his mother may have had the temperament to challenge demons, but both were rather sensitive underneath their hard exteriors.

“It’s not fair…”

“Katsuki?” Masaru raised an eyebrow as his son tensed up and clenched his feet.

“It’s not fucking fair. All those fucking people. Those fucking heroes .” He kept his voice low, an uncharacteristic move that had his parents on edge. “She was the only one who...she’d…”

As the first tear spilled down his cheek, Bakugou finally found the resolve to admit out loud the one thing he swore he never would.

“I...I’m no hero...not yet. But I will be. I’ll be the best--the next Number One Hero.” The explosive boy glared at the wall. “But Izumi...would have been a better hero than I ever could. If...if only…”

If only she had a quirk.

Mitsuki sat on the other side of the boy and wrapped her arms around him. Her husband sighed and wrapped his arms around the two of them. He and his wife had long ago realized that Izumi still held onto her dream of becoming a hero. It was hard to miss just how much she idolized Heroes but after learning she was quirkless and Inko’s death, they were unsure if that dream had survived. Apparently it had but this recent event might have been the final nail.

Spark Plug dropping some terrible meme into the conversation snapped Bakugou back to the present. His scowl deepened as he shoveled another bite of his lunch into his mouth. His red eyes drifted to his right towards the green haired girl next to him. She was quietly eating, smiling and laughing as Raccoon Eyes and Toothy went on about something. Probably something stupid. She had come a long way since that shitty incident with that shit tier villain but he couldn’t help but think that he was missing something. As much as he just wanted to accept that she was moving forward and that everything was all right, the sinking feeling in his gut wouldn’t let him. He trusted his instincts. They had never failed him before. But when it came to Izumi…

He didn’t like what they were telling him.

More like, he didn’t know what they were telling him. Every time she would tilt her head, staring up at him with her emerald eye. Every time she would smile at him...a cold shiver would go down his spine. Something had changed. As he moved his eyes up a bit, he caught the attention of Toothy. She gave him a slightly apprehensive smile, as if she could read his thoughts. He wanted to ask her what was going on with Izumi. He needed to know what had happened outside of the villain attack, but it would be a chilly fucking day in hell before he’d ask for help. The explosive boys scowl deepened as he finished off the rest of his lunch.

“Kacchan, you shouldn’t eat so fast.” Izumi frowned, noting how everyone else was still halfway through their meals.

“Yeah? Well maybe I’d take longer if I ate as much as you did.” Bakugou took his last bite but remained seated, merely pulling out his phone. Izumi pouted before going back to her own meal, blushing at the cooing sounds both Himiko and Ashido made.

“Aw, I don’t know how you managed to get cuter and cuter, Midori!”

“Izu Izu is unmatched when it comes to cute!” Himiko made her declaration just a bit louder than Izumi would have liked but their table was already well known as one of the nosier ones. 

The entire cafeteria had been louder than usual due to the upcoming Sports Festival. Class 1-A had been training even harder in preparation.

“Man, Bakubro you gotta tell me how you did it?” Kaminari leaned in and whispered, causing the other two boys to do the same. Bakugou simply kept his eyes on his phone.

“What the fuck are you on about?”

“You got two amazingly cute girls living in your home! I’m crazy jealous dude!”

“That’s fucking news to me.” Bakugou scoffed and stood up to bus his tray.

Kaminari gave his best mock look of shock as Kirishima just chuckled and went back to his food. 

Himiko had overheard the boys talking and smiled as she brought her attention back to the girl’s conversation. Izumi was going over Ashido’s quirk and various new ways she could probably use it for the upcoming event. Her smile faltered a bit as she watched the green haired girl smile brightly. It was convincing. Too convincing for Himiko’s tastes. Her thoughts wandered to the last ten months. All of the heartache, the struggles. Himiko had learned a lot about Izumi during that time. She learned about Inko, a woman she would have loved to meet. She learned about how Izumi lost Inko; about how she was failed by people claiming to be Heroes. She had even learned about Izumi’s eye, though she had managed to connect the dots well enough on her own.

Pulling the small girl from the brink had taken all of Himiko’s time. She spent every moment she could at the Bakugou residence, trying to make sure that Izumi was eating and sleeping. It had gotten to the point that Mitsuki and Masaru had decided to become her official guardians, allowing the blonde girl to move out of the orphanage to live with them. Himiko had expressed her gratitude but Mitsuki waved it off. Not only had the older woman gained another cute daughter, she was well aware that Izumi was not in a great place. Crying could be heard from the greenette’s room on the nights where Himiko had decided not to sleep over, so it was decided that the Bakugou’s would claim custody of Himiko and have her stay in Izumi’s room. 

Each passing day had been a battle but something tipped the balance in Himiko’s favor. Izumi wouldn’t mention what but something had given her a push. The two girls started to train, heading to the gym every other day. The change did not go unnoticed by the rest of the household but it was definitely welcomed. Though, Himiko’s new concern was that the green haired girl would work herself into the dirt. After constantly pestering her friend, Izumi finally explained what had gotten her so motivated.

“W-well, there’s this person...I talk to online…” Izumi flinched under the dubious gaze Himiko leveled at her. “I-I know it sounds s-suspicious but I think they’re a teacher...at...at U.A.”

“Whoa, really?” Her golden eyes widened as she cupped her face with her hands.

“Uh, um...w-well I’m n-not entirely...sure but they seem very used to teaching and, um, they told me...” Izumi nervously played with one of her twin braids. “...that instead of...of the entrance exam...I could just go into General Education…”

Himiko scowled, thinking that this mystery person had told her friend she couldn’t get into the Hero Course.

“O-oh! No, they just suggested that...that if I didn’t feel ready...I...we could...the Sports Festival is where we could...t-try to move up into the H-Hero Courses…”

“Huh, that’s weird.” The blonde girl tapped her cheek as she reclined back against their shared bed. “Is there a reason you can transfer in later?”

“I...I think it has to do with the practical portion of the entrance exam. I’ve heard that it’s not very...favorable to people with less, um, combat oriented quirks...or no quirk...in my case…”

“Hmmmm.” Himiko tilted her head before smiling. “So we’ll both take the extra time to train and then show them what we can do later?”

“Y-yeah…” Izumi continued to fiddle with her hair before rising from her desk chair to sit on the floor next to her friend. “We’ll have to study hard to make sure we can get through the written portion…”

“Bleh…” The cat eyed girl slumped over onto Izumi. “Studying is the worst...but I can do it.”

“Thank you…” Izumi smiled as she continued to play with her hair, plans for the months leading up to the entrance exam swirling in her mind.

“Miko! Earth to Miko?” Mina waved her hand in the blonde girls face, bringing her back to the present. “You okay?”

“Huh, oh, yeah I’m fine. Was just doing some daydreaming.” Himiko grinned and placed a hand on her cheek.

“Oh ho, was it about a boy~?” The pink haired girl was eager to distract herself with her favorite pastime. “Hit me with the romantic deets!”

Himiko blushed a little more than usual but just gave Mina the most smug smile she could muster.

Listening to Ashido attempt to extract what information she could from Himiko was entertaining as well as eye opening to Izumi. She had never thought about what kind of person her best friend would be interested in. Izumi offhandedly wondered if Himiko would tell her later. She would have to remember to ask. But more than that, Izumi realized that she wasn’t very...informed on how to be a teenage girl. Listening to the girls in 1-C talk about the latest fashion or newest J-Pop group was like listening to aliens speak. She turned to look at her friend and wondered if she was ever bored talking to her. All the green haired Hero nerd could talk about was quirks. Well, quirks and spicy foods thanks to living with the Bakugou family. At some point her thoughts had started to spill out of her head in the form of mumbling, catching the attention of the table.

“Izu Izu, you’re mumbling again~!” The sing songy tune to her words showed that they were more affectionate than exasperated. “A yen for your thoughts?”

“Oh, uh, I was, um...just thinking that I’ve...never really done this before…” Seeing their confused looks, Izumi quickly elaborated, “Uh, um, girl talk. I’ve never really…”

Himiko silently commiserated with her friend as Ashido struggled to understand how that was possible.

“No way?! But you’re so cute and super smart! That’s like the one, two combo for popularity!” The pink skinned girl seemed utterly baffled.

Something flickered across the greenette’s face that had Himiko slightly concerned. She slipped a hand under the table, taking Izumi’s hand in hers. The gesture startled the girl a bit but she quickly recovered and smiled at Ashido.

“W-well...I, I was fairly unpopular...amongst the girls at least…” Izumi nervously poked at her food with her free hand. “Being...q-quirkless didn’t, uh...help…”

Ashido’s eyes widened as she seemed to just now remember that particular detail. Izumi gave her a warm smile before continuing.

“Don’t worry...to you, it was such a small detail that you didn’t even remember…” She gave Himiko’s hand a squeeze under the table. “You’re a really good person, Ashido.”

The pink haired girl clutched her chest as her eyes became misty. “Oh my gosh! You’re too precious for this world!”

The three girls laughed and continued to talk, their conversation meandered from topic to topic. It was a welcomed distraction as Izumi fought to keep her darker thoughts at bay. She had found the Hero Course students that attached themselves to Bakugou extremely easy to talk to since her thoughts and suggestions relating to their quirks were welcomed. After the intensely awkward introductions of class 1-C, Izumi was disappointed to find that even U.A. students were quick to dismiss those at the bottom of the quirk hierarchy, even if they were more subtle about it.

From the moment the words ‘I’m quirkless’ left her mouth, there had been a distinct shift in how she was treated by her classmates. A few treated her fairly normally, with just a touch of pity in their eyes. A few others could barely hide the contempt in their eyes and did everything in their power to avoid her, not that she ever made any attempts to interact with them. The rest were indifferent, ignoring her when possible but not outright against working with her for assignments. The green eyed girl was just happy that her classmates were smart enough not to do anything in a school full of Pro Heroes.

The only student in her class that seemed to understand her situation was the purple haired boy named Shinsou. She sometimes wondered which was worse: being called a villain despite wanting to be a hero or being considered too useless to be either. The two classmates had shared a few words, with Izumi’s thirst for knowledge regarding quirks overwhelming the sensible part of her brain. The barely noticeable twitch of his mouth when she started listing off all the ways his quirk could be used for heroism was worth it.

Himiko being in class 1-D was a bit disappointing but she had assured Izumi that everything would be fine. Apparently her quirk had only ever been registered as transformation, the finer details having been unavailable when her quirk first manifested. So after some half truths about how using her quirk makes her sick, Himiko was able to avoid the stigma of her quirk. The result was that the cat eyed girl got on well enough with her class.

Izumi found herself lost in her thoughts as Mina continued to interrogate Himiko. The greenette found that her mind would always default to quirk analysis these days. She slowly worked her gaze across the sea of students, working out whether physical mutations were directly related to their quirk or simply inherited. Trying to deduce quirks with no obvious physical attributes. Her eye eventually landed on a few of the Hero Course students from 1-A. The girl with the ear mutation, Kyouka Jirou, was sitting next to the creation quirk user, Momo Yaoyorozu. Izumi found the second quirk to be especially fascinating. She had been able to find the chance to talk with Yaoyorozu about her quirk and offer some exciting perspectives. In her own time, Izumi wondered just what the physical limits of her quirk were. The creation quirk user needed to manage her intake to provide suitable fuel for her quirk. What would happen if she was unable to replenish that fuel. She was fairly certain that a quirk like Iida’s would simply stop functioning properly once he was out of fuel. But since Yaoyorozu’s quirk pulled from her own fat cells, could she be pushed past her limits? Jirou started twirling her jacks with her finger. Before she could catch herself, Izumi was wondering if they would grow back if removed. That particularly dark thought, amongst the rest of them, brought her back into the light.

Himiko was still holding her hand under the table and Izumi used the pressure to ground herself. Her quirk analysis had taken a noticeably dark turn since...since that time. The greenette pulled out her phone and checked her calendar. An appointment with her therapist was scheduled for after school. Her last appointment. She tapped it closed and finished up the rest of her lunch.

Once the school day was finished, the two girls split off from Bakugou as he left to go home. Himiko and Izumi took the train into the city area of Musutafu. It had been a regular routine for Himiko to accompany her friend to her therapy appointments. While Mitsuki had no doubts that Izumi was a strong girl, she still insisted that both her and her son got some help after that incident with the slime villain. The blonde girl wasn’t too fond of therapists but if it helped Izumi then she could understand their use. After they arrived at the office, Himiko waited in the lobby, getting a good portion of her homework finished during her wait. A few more points on the exam and she could have been in the same class as Izumi. She’d never been so frustrated over school stuff in her whole life. Himiko has just packed up the rest of her things when Izumi stepped out into the lobby with a smile on her face.

As much as Himiko enjoyed that smile...she couldn’t help but frown when she saw it. It was a small frown, quickly replaced by her biggest smile. The two girls did a bit of window shopping before heading home. They walked in a comfortable silence, both enjoying the company and letting their private thoughts take hold. Himiko was certain that the therapy sessions didn’t help. They had never helped her, and they hadn’t help Izumi. The mask was back. Piece by piece it had been put back together, smooth and undamaged on the outside but weaker than it had ever been on the inside. Physically, Izumi was reaching new heights, moving further and further from the scrawny girl she once was. Mentally, however, Izumi was in freefall and Himiko dreaded what new depths her friend might reach. She dreaded that she wouldn’t be able to save the one person who had saved her.

The two girls announced their return home and went to their separate rooms. Himiko’s room was formerly used for storage but had been transformed into a ‘fucking girly atrocity’ according to her explosive neighbor. Izumi closed the door to her room and set her bag aside as she turned on her computer. By the time she had changed out of her school uniform and then took a seat, her computer was on and she opened a browser and several apps to check the latest Hero news. Most of it was just the standard news, some rescues and arrests. Her whole body froze when she got to the local news.

The Ringing Hero: Bug Bell Moves to Musutafu!

The world around her seemed to fall away into darkness. Her fists were clenched tight, turning her knuckles white and drawing blood. She could feel the rage bubbling up. She clenched her jaw until she could almost hear her teeth creaking.

It was her.

One of the ‘heroes’ who let her mother die. Izumi could barely believe what she was reading. This fake hero was a ‘rising star’ and wanted to ‘return to her roots’. Izumi wanted to puke. A few tears dripped down her face as the greenette started to shake. Everything was getting better. She was getting better. She had made it into U.A. and the Sports Festival would be her chance at the Hero Course. She heard a small cracking sound and she looked down to see what looked like chipped pieces of porcelain on her desk. Her hands quickly went to her face but she couldn’t feel anything wrong. She quickly stood up from her chair and rushed to the full body mirror on her door. There were no cracks. Why would there be?

“Everything is fine. Everything is fine. Everything is fine…” Izumi whispered her new favorite mantra as she returned to her desk and continued to browse the news, trying to ignore the clean surface of her desk.

Trying to ignore that, in fact, nothing was fine.

Chapter Text

Everything was getting better.

Himiko peeled the sweat soaked sheets from her body and sat herself up and out of bed. She was absolutely drenched but decided against showering at three in the morning. After toweling herself off, the blonde girl changed into a new set of pajamas and sat at her desk. She ran a hand through her hair as she thought about what to do.

The urges are back…

She chewed on her lip as she felt the anxiety bubbling up in her stomach. The nightmares brought on by her...thirst, were becoming more frequent. The voices weren’t back but her head ached just thinking about the moment when they do. Willpower alone was proving to be insufficient in curbing the need to drink. She had long since stopped receiving blood from Izumi once they had exhausted all the ideas the quirk genius could come up with.

Her blood was the best. Rich and delicious--

Himiko bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood before licking up the mess. That train of thought was dangerous and Himiko knew exactly where it would take her. More than one of her nightmares involved her snapping out of her bloodlust only to find Izumi cut to shreds underneath her, absolutely painted in her own blood. Face contorted in pain and horror. Himiko wanted to puke, not just because of how gruesome the image was but because of how...arousing she found it. She continued to lick at the blood dripping down her chin. Her own blood didn’t cut it. Himiko idly wondered if that was because she couldn’t process her own blood with her quirk. Izumi’s inquisitive nature was contagious.

After wiping her mouth, Himiko changed into some old clothes along with a large hoodie she had been given as a hand me down. She opened the top draw of her desk and reached far into the back until she found what she wanted. The old pink box cutter felt disturbingly right in her hand. Himiko quietly opened her window. Her window was the only one mostly blocked by the tree in the backyard, which was the main reason the room was used for storage. With practice grace, Himiko let herself out through the window before shutting it behind her. The leap from the window sill to the strongest nearby branch was easy work for the blonde girl and she proceeded to make her way safely to the ground.

Himiko hesitated for just a moment before pulling up her hood and hopping the fence. She was most definitely going to kill someone tonight. There was no avoiding it. But it was better than the alternative.

“Better a stranger than Izumi…”

Thirty minutes of walking found Himiko wandering the back alleys of the city that she knew so well. It didn’t take long for her to find what she wanted: a quick and easy target. A pair of easy targets in fact. A couple, obviously and terribly inebriated, had cut into the back alleys to try and get some privacy. Himiko frowned as she lamented her lack of foresight. Bringing some containers or something for all the blood she was about to spill might have helped to get some extra mileage out of this trip.

“Where would I even store it…?” She quietly mumbled to herself.

Maybe she would need to invest in a mini-fridge for her room. She’d have to do some research on storing blood. Deciding that she had wasted enough time, the cat eyed girl took a deep breath before holding it. She waited another moment, just long enough, apparently, for the woman to try and pull the man’s shirt over his head. Himiko sprang forward from her hiding spot and swiped her blade across the woman’s throat. Blood sprayed from the wound as the woman collapsed against the wall, wide eyed and confused. Her hands wrapped around her neck but it was already too late. Himiko had backed away to avoid the mess but the same could not be said for the man. He was still drunkenly struggling with his shirt over his head, making comments about how he hoped that she hadn’t just puked all over him.

Himiko patiently watched the man struggle, trying her best to hold in her giggles. However, the moment his neck was exposed, she flicked out her arm for the lethal finish. The man staggered back against the opposite wall, his panicked gurgles reflected in his renewed struggled to get his arms free. Himiko ignored him for now, choosing to drink her fill from the woman who had since died. She was careful to roll up her sleeves first, trying hard not to be disappointed that she couldn’t just bathe herself in blood as usual. Only ten minutes had passed since Himiko had started her work and she was now finished, carefully cleaning her box cutter on the man’s shirt as well as wiping her mouth clean with some napkins from the woman’s purse. She pocketed the napkins as well as some cash and quickly made her way from the scene.

It wasn’t until she had successfully climbed back up the tree and into the safety of her room that Himiko was able to relax. She felt sated, the growing urges satisfied for now. But as she changed back into her pajamas, carefully checking her hoodie and shoes for blood, she felt the euphoria quickly fading. As her head hit the pillow, the only thing Himiko could do as she drifted off to sleep was cry.

“Are you sure this is best?” Toshinori leaned back onto the couch in Nezu’s office and sighed. “I feel like I should do something…”

The genius rodent sipped on his tea before also leaning back in his seat.

“To be fair, you always feel the need to ‘do something’, an admirable trait in moderation, but for now I believe you have done enough.”

The giant of a man seemed to shrink a bit at those words, prompting the principal to continue.

“I believe you are acceptably remorseful of your actions, and the amount of guilt you’ll likely heap on yourself will be sufficient as punishment...for now.” Another sip of tea gave pause to the growing tension. “However, I am still quite...frustrated. Both at you and Aizawa. You two are quite possibly the last Heroes I would have expected to have such little faith in a student just because they’re quirkless.”

“I...I have no real excuse. I allowed my own demons to poison my views of what being a Hero is truly about.” All Might clenched his fists. “I need to make this right. I missed my chance after the slime villain incident but…”

“For now, you can focus on the Hero Course students. I know you want to help Ms. Midoriya, but for now I need you to wait.” Nezu brought up a transfer application on one of his many monitors and swiveled it to face the Pro Hero. “As you can see, Ms. Midoriya has submitted the proper documents in her attempt to transfer into the Hero Course after the Sports Festival. I think for now we can just wait and see what she accomplishes. I believe you and the other teachers will be pleasantly surprised.”

Toshinori’s blue eyes widened a bit in surprise before his face split in a grin. He stood to his feet and into his buff form and made to leave the office.

“I look forward to it.”

Nezu continued to smile until the doors to his office closed. His smile quickly dropped into a small frown as he returned the monitor to its original position. The principal of U.A. liked to believe he had an excellent eye for talent and everything about one Izumi Midoriya just screamed untapped potential. Her deep and easy to understand analysis of quirks online told him of a uniquely gifted mind. Given the chance to expand her fields of knowledge and Nezu could easily see her being at the top of whatever field she chose, including being a Hero.

He brought up the rest of her file and refilled his cup of tea as his mind went over the likely outcome of the Sports Festival. Her grades were top notch, easily competing with the top students in the Hero Course. Her physical performance in gym class had also improved by leaps and bounds when compared to her middle school records.

“Excellent, excellent.” the white rodent cackled as his mind crunched the probabilities.

His observations of her interactions with other students showed that she was already acquainted with a handful of the Hero Course students. He had some slight concerns about her obvious lack of interaction with her own class beyond one Hitoshi Shinsou, but he figured that there wasn’t much he could do about that at the moment.

“She’ll most likely perform quite beyond the expectations of her naysayers.” Nezu sighed as he leaned back to enjoy his tea. “While it is regrettable that she’ll likely hit her limits in the finals...well, that would be more than enough to have her transferred into the Hero Course.”

With the right motivation and guidance, she could be one of the greatest heroes of her generation. Nezu found that he too was looking forward to it.

“Bakugou.”

Two red eyes looked up from his packing with clear annoyance reflected in them.

“What do you want, Half ‘n Half?” Bakugou went back to packing up his backpack.

“You’re...close...with Midoriya, right?” Todoroki calmly started.

Bakugou’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly before he relaxed back into his normal scowl.

“What’s it to you?”

The usually stoic student shifted uncomfortably for just a moment before continuing.

“I’m just concerned that I might have offended her at some point.” Todoroki frowned as he once again tried to think of when he would have interacted with the green haired girl. “I’m not sure when it could have happened but…”

“Oh. That might have been my fault, actually.” The scowl was now gone from Bakugou’s face only to appear on Todoroki’s.

“Care to explain?” The temperature around the quiet boy might have dropped a few degrees.

“She asked me about your quirk and I told her you used ice.” Bakugou pulled his backpack on as he stood and faced Todoroki. “Then after seeing you and remembering who your father is, she worked out that ice was probably only half your quirk.”

At the mention of his father and the other hated part of his quirk, Todoroki found his fists and teeth clenched in anger. Noticing the change, Bakugou continued before any misunderstandings could form.

“Her problem with you has nothing to do with your shitty old man.” The moderately surprised look on Todoroki’s face almost made Bakugou chuckle. “Yeah, she spends a lot of time online, too much if you ask me. But all that time has showed her some interesting things.”

Bakugou sat back on top of his desk and crossed his arms.

“She has first hand experience that backs up that not all Pro Heroes are...heroes. That’s all beside the point. You asked why she has a problem with you? It’s because you’re not putting your all into being a hero.”

“ What? ” Todoroki looked like he was about to frost the entire classroom.

“Her words, not mine. I’ve seen you melt your ice so she was right on the money. I’ve also seen the toll the ice half of your quirk takes on you. You’re wasting everyone’s time if you just plan on half assing your way through the Hero Course.”

“You don’t know anything about me.” Came the icy reply.

“I don’t need to fucking know anything about you. I couldn’t give a flaming pile of fucks about your personal problems. What I do know is that none of that matters if you plan to be a hero.” Bakugou pushed off from the desk and got in the other boys face. “Being a real hero means being responsible for the lives of other people. I’ve seen first hand what happens when ‘heroes’ can’t use their heads and decide that their quirk isn’t enough, even if they didn’t need their quirk to solve the problem. But what I think is even worse is someone like you, someone obviously capable, not using their quirk to the fullest. Not knowing everything about their quirk.”

Bakugou clicked his tongue and pushed his way passed Todoroki.

“One of these days you’re gonna run into a situation where the only way through it is to use your quirk. All of your quirk. I hope for your sake that no one else loses their life because of your fucking issues.”

Todoroki was left alone in the classroom for a few moments before Bakugou popped his head back into the classroom.

“And you stay the fuck away from Izumi!” That final warning was quick and out of nowhere, leaving Todoroki slightly more confused than angry.

Her fingers danced across her keyboard as she collected, organized, and analyzed her data. Her desktop was filled with windows, folders and documents open across her three monitors. She had been meaning to figure out a way to fit a fourth one for more space, but decided that it would never end if she kept getting more. Izumi had been working hard acquiring information on Bug Bell. Already, various folders full of spreadsheets and documents were neatly organized in one master folder. Information about her quirk, her career, her personal life. Whatever Izumi could find, no matter how seemingly ordinary. A perfectly reasonable way to spend a Sunday morning.

It wasn’t until a notification from her message app beeped in her headphones that she decided that a break wouldn’t hurt. She checked the username and wrinkled her nose in confusion.

“DaRealKD? What the heck…?” Izumi tried to think of anyone she knew who would go by that name.

To: [MightyGRN]

Need emergency quirk consultation. Contact me via a secure method for more information. Will pay.

Izumi read the message a few more times while going over the possible implications in her head. Bringing up her various VPN and security programs, Izumi established as secure connection as she knew how and sent an instant message.

[    ]: Hello?

[DaRealKD]: Pretty fast response, I appreciate it. Empty username to protect your identity is smart too

[DaRealKD]: I’ll get right to it

[DaRealKD]: I’m the vigilante Knuckleduster, you may have heard of me

…

[DaRealKD]: Hello? You still there?

[    ]: Yes! I’m still here. Sorry I was just kind of shocked. It’s an honor to speak with you. I’ve heard good things about all the good work you’re doing. I was wondering if I could get an autograph

[    ]: Sorry Im rambling but this was very unexpected and I’ll stop now.

[    ]: Sorry.

[DaRealKD]: It’s fine, glad to know I have another fan. This should make this somewhat easier.

[File(s) Uploaded]: (img027.png, img028.png, img0…) <Open> <Download>

[DaRealKD]: We’ve been tracking a villain, fairly new to the game and real low on the rankings.

[DaRealKD]: I wouldn’t put him higher than D. We think his quirk might be some kind of emitter but not sure

[DaRealKD]: He’s our only lead for a pretty big bust we’ve been working on. I’d like to tell you more but asking for your help with this is already too much risk to you for my tastes

[    ]: You said it was an emergency quirk analysis?

[DaRealKD]: Yes, your reputation as an excellent quirk analyst has spread farther than you might know. If you could, at the least, give us a better idea of his quirk so we can make better preparations.

[    ]: Oh.

[    ]: I can do that. Do you know if he’s ever been processed by the police?

[DaRealKD]: Yes, a few times. Send me your preferred method of payment. And let me know if you need anything else.

[     ]: Okay, I’ll get in touch with you when I’m done.

[DaRealKD]: Don’t do anything dangerous. Good luck.

Izumi slumped back in her chair and tugged on her two braids. She quietly thanked the gods that she didn’t have to do that face to face or even over the phone. Text gave her plenty of time to freak out in peace before responding. The greenette wasn’t sure what compelled her to reply to that message but the part of her that wants to become a Hero is glad that she did. It was true that vigilantes operated in a more ambiguous part of the law, but she knew that Knuckleduster and his associates were upstanding people. The idea that her reputation for quirk analysis was spreading all over the net left her with mixed feelings. 

It was both flattering and worrying. It was fine if good guys like Knuckleduster reached out to her but what about bad guys? This must be why Alexandre showed her how to take all the proper safety measures to avoid people finding out who she was. Speaking of, Izumi frowned as she realized that Alexandre would probably not approve of her current idea to get the information the vigilantes wanted. Maybe.

In her journey for quirk knowledge, Izumi had come across the idea to…’browse’ the archives kept by the police and various Hero agencies. This was incredibly illegal but she was fairly confident that even if she couldn’t crack their security, they wouldn’t be able to tie it back to her. Especially if she stuck to just low level villains and their quirks. She would hope that information on the police and heroes were under the best security.

“Hmm, I really hope I don’t get in trouble.” It would be a shame to be arrested a couple of days before the Sports Festival.

Izumi decided to get up and stretch and maybe grab a snack before starting. It was already fairly late at night and she had school the next day, but Izumi had already become accustomed to less sleep. She often wondered if this was how Mr. Aizawa felt. A noise from outside caught her attention. Pulling her curtains open just a bit revealed a hooded figure climbing down the tree in the backyard before disappearing over the fence. Her grip on the heavy material tightened before pulling the curtain shut again. She collapsed back into her chair and brought up a browser window full of open tabs that she hadn’t had to look at in a while. Various news articles about murder victims. The primary cause of death:

Exsanguination.

“Oh, Himiko…” Izumi minimized the window and got to work on her request. “What am I going to do about you?”

The one eyed girl knew she needed to confront her, but was terrified of driving away her closest friend. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Himiko was caught or forced to go on the run. Izumi wondered if she should have been more bothered by the killings. She probably should have been, but Himiko needed her.

And Izumi would do anything for her friend.

Chapter Text

Mirio Togata was having a pretty great day. It was the day before the Sports Festival and he was excited to see how the first years performed. He had already heard all the rumors about Class 1-A and their encounter with villains but seeing them for himself would give him a better idea. Of course, challenging them all to a friendly spar would be even better but he wasn’t allowed to take that approach. Yet.

On his way to meet up with the other two of the Big Three, Mirio noticed a lone student walking towards him. She was a small girl, hunched over with a few notebooks clutched close to her chest. Her wild green hair was tied into two braids that trailed behind her as she made her way down the hallway. Her most noticeable feature was the eyepatch covering her left eye. The third year student didn’t recognize her from any of the Hero Courses so he figured she must have been from one of the other courses.

He gave her a nod and his best smile and received a quick, nervous nod from the girl before she ducked her head back down and continued to her destination. The older student felt his smile shrink just a bit but shrugged it off. It’s not like they knew each other after all. Mirio turned a corner to find his two friends waiting for him.

“Hey, hey, Mirio! Did you see that cute, green haired girl? I wonder what course she’s in? And what happened to her eye--”

“Nejire, you better not ask her that if you see her again.” Tamaki pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head.

“I--I know that!” The blue haired girl pouted as she kicked at the ground. “But you can’t tell me you’re not curious…”

“Doesn’t matter if you’re curious or not, it’s none of our business.” Mirio placed a hand on the Nejire’s head and gave her a few pats. “Now come on, we have some training to do and then we can enjoy the first years competing tomorrow!”

Nezu was rather excited. Today, he was meeting with the students who wished to transfer into the Hero Course. The reason was to get a better idea of their personalities and motivations, and to finalize any paperwork and determine if they meet all requirements outside of their performance during the festival. Quite a few students had to be rejected until they managed to get their grades up. If their academics were struggling now, the Principal didn’t want to think of how their grades would suffer with the addition of Hero Training.

A few students simply had the wrong motivations. While the reasons behind wanting to be a Hero differed from person to person, there was always an underlying motivation that spoke volumes of their potential and future as a Hero. While there are rarely people who were outright ill suited for Heroics, there were students who, after an eye opening conversation with Nezu, found that their passions or goals were better  served elsewhere. Not everyone is cut out to be a Hero, but more importantly, not everyone needs to be a Hero.

The quirked rodent let out a small sigh. The spectacle of being a Hero often resulted in students simply following the trend and applying for Hero schools or trying to get into the Hero Course only to find that it really wasn’t what they wanted. With these meetings, he hoped to help these students either reaffirm their desire to be Heroes or to help them get on track to what they truly desire.

His last meeting had been with one Hitoshi Shinsou and Nezu had found it quite enjoyable. Here was a  young man who had struggled against the stigma that came with his quirk and wanted to be a Hero. He had no delusions of ever being in the top ten, understanding that his quirk would be better suited to underground work. He had even started and maintained a moderately intense training regime, though he admits that it was suggested to him by a classmate. Nezu had already forwarded this student’s files to Aizawa. The underground hero would be an excellent mentor for Shinsou pending the results of the festival.

However, despite all the interesting conversations he has had with the various applicants, the one he was about to have with one Izumi Midoriya had him the most excited. The Principal had spent many an enjoyable night browsing the many forums of the deep web, hungry for knowledge and anything to stave off the boredom he often found himself in. The day he stumbled across Ms. Midoriya’s quirk analysis was one of the best things to ever happen to the mysterious mammal. A keen intellect and a desire to use that intelligence to the benefit of others? Nezu had no doubts that she would be an excellent hero, if given the chance.

And then, if that wasn’t all, it turns out that this young woman was quirkless! Nezu didn’t think she could be any more impressive but he had been wrong.

And Nezu wasn’t wrong very often.

It was a curious thing for him. While being proven to be incorrect could be frustrating, so could being correct most of the time. The unknown was very much something that Nezu enjoyed exploring. His assumptions that she must have had some intelligence quirk were wrong. Midoriya was very impressive indeed. He had already heard of these ‘Quirk Analysis’ notebooks from Shuzenji and Aizawa, so he politely asked that she bring a few with her to their meeting.

“Hahaha, I wonder when was the last time I had been this excited about something.” Nezu chuckled quietly as he sipped his tea.

He took another glance at her profile on his computer monitor, noting the eyepatch over her left eye. The mouse absently rubbed a paw across his own scar and he sighed again, though with much less excitement than before.

“I’ll never understand why humans enjoy the torment of others so much.”

A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts and brought back his cheer.

“Please, come in!” Nezu stood from his seat and walked over to the sofas.

The door slowly opened to reveal the very nervous Izumi. She bowed before closing the door behind her.

“Please, have a seat. Would you like some tea?”

“Uh, um, no, thank you.” Izumi took a seat on the couch opposite from the Principal, still clutching her notebooks to her chest. “Ah, h-here are some of my notebooks. T-they’re...kind of old but…”

“Ah, thank you very much for bringing these.” He reached his small arms across the table as Izumi slid them over.

A few minutes were spent in silence as Nezu flipped through the notebooks. They did indeed seem older, less refined than what he knew she was capable of now. But, they were still very impressive, possibly more so depending on the age she was when she wrote these. The information was a bit unorganized but still thorough and understandable. The next book was the one that contained the signature of Recovery Girl. There was a stark improvement in the organization of the information with various charts and clips added to better visualize the various ideas and concepts of how these quirks could be improved.

“First of all, I must say that these books are very, very impressive.” Nezu placed the notebooks on the table and finished off his tea. “Your analytical skills are probably some of the best I have ever come across.”

“O-oh. T-thank you very much, sir.” Izumi turned bright red at the praise. “That...t-that means a lot coming from y-you.”

“Secondly, and you do not need to answer this, but, is there a reason you had no more recent notebooks to bring?”

“Ah, um, w-well…” The greenette averted her eye as she thought about what to say.

Nezu took the time to pour himself another cup of tea.

“W-well, all of my notebooks...a-after that one…” She pointed to the volume containing Recovery Girls information. “I started u-using a...s-special code to, uh, encrypt all of my n-notes. A-after someone, uh, I mean, after a notebook went...m-missing...I figured it would be b-better…”

The Principal nodded slowly, not missing the correction towards the end of her explanation. Her history of being bullied was not unknown to him and he had already added Aldera Middle School to his ‘special list’. He put this new knowledge and his questions on how she encrypted her notes to the side for later.

“I see, I see. Given that the majority of your analysis seems to be on Heroes, that was a very prudent decision.” His smile and praise seemed to put the young girl at ease, at least a bit. “Now, onto the main reason for this meeting. I wanted to ask you some questions regarding your desire to transfer to the Hero Course. If you feel uncomfortable answering any of my questions, know that you do not have to answer them and, except for any extenuating circumstances, none of your answers will be held against you. Is this fine with you?”

“Y-yes.” The determined look in her eye was another point in her favor in the Principals mind.

“Excellent! Now, the first question is a rather straightforward one: Why do you want to be a Hero?”

“I want to help people.”

The immediate and simple answer took Nezu by surprise, if just for a moment. He smiled at the lack of stuttering or hesitation.

“Is there a specific reason you want to do that through Heroics rather than say, the Support Course?”

Izumi stared at him quietly for a few moments, her timid demeanor suddenly hardening into something much colder. The Principal of U.A. managed to keep the smile on his face while his mind tried to process this sudden change. While he knew that the question would potentially upset Ms. Midoriya, he did not expect a reaction like this.

“I don’t see...why I shouldn’t at least try…” She averted her gaze as her nervousness bubbled back up to the surface, drowning out whatever that oppressive atmosphere had been.

“That’s...that’s very true.” Nezu had to stop himself from wiping at his forehead. “I do apologize if my question offended you. Believe me when I say that your quirklessness has no bearing on whether or not you can be a Hero.”

“O-oh...thank you, Principal Nezu.” A small smile formed on her face and allowed for the last bits of tension to disappear.

Nezu smiled back but made sure to file that disturbing change away for later. It might have been nothing serious, given her probable long history of discrimination, but something about the...intensity nagged at the back of his mind. Something instinctual. He shook those thoughts from his head and clapped his paws together.

“Now, for the next question…”

Izumi was glad to have a chance to relax. Her meeting with the Principal had her anxiety on full throttle, but by the end of it she felt more confident in her ability to make an impression. Tomorrow was her chance to show everyone that she deserved to be a Hero. Now, she was relaxing on her bed after Bakugou told the two girls that they should rest today. Himiko and Izumi had doubled down on some of their training so the break was rather welcome. A soft knock on her door caught the green haired girls attention.

“Come in.” Izumi rolled onto her stomach as Himiko stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. 

The blonde girl twirled over to the bed before flopping on top of her friend. She rested there a minute before rolling off to the side on her stomach. A comfortable silence settled before Izumi rolled onto her side to face her friend. 

“I guess...that we need to talk...about a few things.”

“Yeah...would probably be for the best…” Himiko turned to face Izumi. “S-should I...go first?”

“I know.” Came the blurted statement.

Himiko startled at the sudden declaration.

“W-what?”

“I know.” Izumi reached out and grabbed the other girls hand, forcing the words out before she could chicken out. “I know about everything. The killings. The effect your quirk has on your mind…”

With every word, Himiko became paler and paler, tears already pooling in her eyes. She blinked them away as she prepared herself for the coming rejection, trying to figure out where she could go if the police weren’t already involved.

“What I don’t know is...how much you’ve been suffering…” Izumi tried to wipe her own tears away. “I’m sorry...I-I should have...I should have stopped you. I should have talked to you…”

And now Himiko was confused, stunned into further silence by the unexpected apology.

“You needed my help and I was too...too weak to just reach out and help you.”

“Izumi!” The greenette was pulled into her arms as both girls started to sob. “It’s not your fault. I don’t know how you could ever think that my...p-problems were ever your fault.”

“But I knew! I knew and…”

“Shush. I...I was too scared of what you might think...about my d-dependence on...blood.” Himiko pressed her face deeper into Izumi’s hair, “I...I didn’t trust you. Even after you’ve shown me that you would never judge me.”

“Of course I couldn’t judge you...it’s not your fault.” Izumi pushed herself back and cupped Himiko’s face with her hands, brushing away the tears with her thumbs. “The effects of your quirk, both physical and mental, are not your fault. You have no control beyond the measures you can try to take to mitigate them.”

Himiko gave Izumi a lopsided smile, letting the warmth of her best friend’s hands seep into her.

“You’re too good for me…” Himiko pressed her forehead against Izumi’s. “I-I’m sorry…”

Izumi wrapped her arms around her friend and the two girls cried in silence for a long while until they finally calmed down. Himiko idly thought about how soft and warm Izumi was as her fluffy green hair tickled her nose. She breathed in the scent of apples and cinnamon and sighed.

“What are we gonna do…?”

“Don’t worry, Himiko.” Izumi nestled herself in closer to Himiko. “I’ll figure something out, but for now...if you need...b-blood...you can just take some from me.”

“But--” Himiko frowned before she was cut off.

“No buts.” Izumi squeezed the girl in her arms a bit tighter. “I trust you.”

Himiko sighed again and relented.

“I trust you too, Izumi.”

Bakugou stepped down from the podium after giving his riveting declaration to be number one. He ignored the outraged cries of the background characters and focused on the explanation Midnight was currently giving about the first event. While many would take his speech as rude, the explosive boy knew that anyone worth their salt would see it for what it was: a challenge. An invitation for those that wish to stand at the top to bring everything they have at him.

He had always wanted to be the best hero; the number one hero. Nothing about that goal had changed except for how and why. How was he going to be the best? By giving it his all to be a proper Hero. He wasn’t going to be another Endeavor or Captain Celebrity. The suffering that he caused, that he’s witnessed, had opened his eyes. For her sake, and his, he was going to be the best Hero he could be.

His red eyes drifted from the Pro Hero on stage to the green haired girl mixed amongst the General Education students. The purple haired guy was standing a bit too close for Bakugou’s liking before he leaned down and whispered something in Izumi’s ear. The only response she gave was a small nod before her face settled in a familiar, determined look.

Bakugou already knew that Izumi was trying to get into the Hero Course. He thought that his first instinct would to be angry. To tell her that she would be putting herself in danger and that she should just settle for the Support Course or something. But to his surprise, his first reaction was relief. He was relieved that even after everything that has happened to her, Izumi still wanted to be a Hero. So when she told him her plan, he just nodded and told her not to get in his way. He could still remember the smile on her face when he had pretty much given her his unspoken support.

The various courses gathered in the tunnel, waiting for the signal to start the obstacle course. Bakugou could feel the temperature starting to drop as Half ‘n Half got ready. The explosive blonde cracked his knuckles and flexed his hands and arms as he got ready to blast his way over the incoming ice. He put Izumi to the back of his mind for the moment.

He had a race to win.

Shouto wasn’t sure what frustrated him more: the fact that he lost not only to Bakugou but a quirkless girl, or the fact that he wouldn’t hear the end of it from his bastard of a father. His left side pulsed as he worked the cold from his body, hands clenched into fists as his eyes drifted to the small green haired girl. She was currently being hugged by tenth place, a blonde girl with two buns in her hair while the purple haired boy who had declared war on his class stood by and smiled.

He waited quietly off by himself as the rest of the students finished the course. Once the second event was announced and the rules were explained, Shouto knew exactly which of his classmates he wanted. After a quick overview of their quirks, the ice quirk user spent the rest of the time discussing strategy. Iida’s speed would be key for high mobility while Kaminari’s quirk would be a strong defensive deterrent. Yaoyorozu’s quirk offered the most flexibility, in both offense and defense, and would hopefully allow them to respond to any and all situations.

“Our main target is Midoriya. Tokoyami will be a problem but if we can get past dark shadow and deal with that Support Course student, there’s nothing that she can do to stop us from taking the one million points.” His face twisted in a scowl. “Not without a quirk.”

Both Yaoyorozu and Iida formed their own smaller scowls at the last bit of the heterochromatic teen’s words, feeling the detail unnecessary. Kaminari, while he silently agreed, still felt uncomfortable at the more negative implications and simply stood off to the side with a frown. A few more minutes of planning and the group joined the rest of the students as the riders took their places and waited for the signal to begin.

Momo was overcome with relief when the second round ended. Her team had made it through despite the chaotic melee that the Cavalry Battle had devolved into. She stretched her back, looking forward to the lunch break before she noticed Todoroki leaving the field with Bakugou following close behind. Considering Todoroki’s declaration in the waiting room, Momo was not surprised to see the two of them leaving to have words.

“Izu~! You’re incredible!”

The sudden cheer caught the hero student’s attention. She turned just in time to see a small green haired girl get swept up by a blonde with her hair done up in buns. Momo covered her mouth to hide her smile. From the moment they had first met, Momo had been somewhat entranced with how small and adorable Midoriya was, though she kept those thoughts to herself. The two girls had first met in the library, having literally run into each other. After a lengthy back and forth of apologies the two fell into some polite conversation as they found a table with their books. 

However, once the topic of quirks came up, Momo found herself, for once, outmatched. It was astounding to listen and discuss the topic of quirks and their applications with Midoriya. The small girl’s face and eye would light up, like she was a different person. Momo spent many nights going over the notes she was able to make as the two girls discussed her own quirk. Possible ways to increase the speed of her creations using alternate materials or even sacrificing some structural integrity for single use items. It  was a very enlightening afternoon.

While Midoriya was very excited to discuss the quirks of others, the greenette seemed hesitant to speak of her own so Momo politely avoided the topic. It wasn’t until later when she asked Bakugou about Midoriya’s quirk that her admiration for the General Education student skyrocketed.

“Her quirk? What the fuck are you talking about?”

Momo sighed in her mind, already becoming accustomed to her volatile classmate’s vulgar language and attitude.

“I was just curious about her quirk.” The creation quirk user placed a hand on the side of her face. “We had the chance to talk about my quirk but not hers--”

“That’s because she doesn’t have one.” Bakugou continued to pack up his stuff before slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

“Excuse me? She doesn’t have what?”

“A fucking quirk, Ponytail.” He shoved passed her and opened the classroom door to leave. “She’s quirkless.”

Quirkless. The thought never even crossed her mind. Momo was vaguely aware of how the quirkless population was treated and that only made her respect for Midoriya grow. She left the field after meeting up with her friend Kyouka and started going over the key points from the notes on her quirk. A few training sessions had shown noticeable improvements that left Momo feeling more confident in her ability to perform well.

I’ll have to thank Midoriya for her help, and perhaps invite her to talk more about quirks over some tea.

Shinsou sat and ate quietly as the blonde girl across from him talked animatedly with her green haired friend. He wasn’t sure how he got here but what he was sure of was that he owed a good part of it to Midoriya. The purple haired bow had always figured that he had it rough, given his quirk and how people usually responded to it. But then he met this tiny green haired girl with no quirk at all. It kind of blew his mind that that was a possibility: to be born with no quirk at all.

Which is worse? To be labeled a villain when all you want to be is a hero? Or to be branded too useless to be either?

Her harsh words and criticisms of his inaction snapped him out of his bitterness. For the most part. He was still bitter but it was slowly falling away as he trained. And boy did he train. The idea of training his body never even crossed his mind and he could only kick himself in hindsight at how entitled it made him look. He railed against how unfair the entrance exam was for him just because he couldn’t use his quirk but made no effort to succeed without it. His idol, the underground hero Eraser Head, pretty much did all of his hero work quirkless, simply evening the playing field with his quirk.

His self reflection was interrupted as the lunch break ended and the matchups for the final round were displayed on various monitors across the stadium.

“Hanta...Sero, huh?” If he remembered correctly, that was the boy with the tape in his elbows. “Good. He looks like a talker.”

Shinsou continued reading and just barely held back the flinch when he saw who Midoriya was matched against.

“I don’t give a fuck about your shitty home life.” Bakugou sneered as Todoroki finished his story. “So what if your old man is a piece of shit? Has nothing to do with you and your half and half-assed effort.”

Todoroki remained quiet, though his eyes narrowed as he listened to the explosive blonde.

“If you’re here to be a hero then you better give it your fucking all.” The two boys squared off and Bakugou stepped into Todoroki’s space leaving them chest to chest. “And that means using your quirk to its fucking full potential. Bring the heat or I’ll remember you fondly as just another stepping stone on my way to becoming number one.”

Todoroki called on his ice to try and help calm himself. Today was just one thing after another, the most frustrating of them being the green haired girl standing in front of him. It was like the entire festival had been designed to mock him. He lost to her in the first round. He failed to eliminate her in the second. And now, here in the third and final round, he’s expected to have a serious, one on one match against a quirkless girl.

Ridiculous.

His heterochromatic eyes drifted into the stands, briefly meeting the blue of his father’s. He quickly averted his eyes and focused back on the match. The cold he was slowly building in his body did the trick in calming him down. He probably would have just thrown an iceberg at the quirkless girl out of frustration. No, overwhelming someone who couldn’t even fight back wouldn’t prove anything. Immobilize; that would be his strategy.

Midnight raised her arm in the air

No. Nonononono. It can’t end like this!

Izumi pounded her fists against the solid ice dome that had trapped her. It had happened so quickly and now she was stuck. Panic gave way to anger as she continued to beat and claw at the ice, the unforgiving surface tearing at her hands and fingers. Warm tears trailed down her rapidly paling face, the cold starting to take effect despite the adrenaline pumping through her veins.

No...this isn’t… Izumi dragged her bloody fingers down the ice as she fell to her knees. Is this...all I can do?

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there before the iced wall started to melt. It must not have been that long considering how obvious it should have been that she couldn’t break free. The warmth radiating from Todoroki was enough to push away the numbness from her hands, causing a few new tears to form as the pain started to register. Her green eye looked up and met the turquoise and grey eyes of the victor. Izumi wonder what her face must have looked like, given how guilty the hero course student looked.

She must have looked pathetic.

He reached down and helped her up and out of the ice dome before leading her to the exits. She just let him guide her along as the reality of what happened continued to bear down on her.

I really am useless...I can’t…

“Don’t let this pathetic victory get to your head, boy.”

The deep, growling voice of the Number Two Hero shocked the small girl out of her thoughts. She looked up for just a moment before flinching away. Shouto released his hold on the girl and stepped forward in front of her.

“What do you want?”

Izumi, unsure of the situation, tried to slink around and away before things got out of hand. The sudden heat flaring off Endeavor, however, forced her to stay in place.

What is happening?!

The greenette just quietly stood there, listening to the two Todorokis exchange words. She always knew that Endeavor was barely a hero but having a front row seat to his arrogance and selfishness was something else.

“U-um, c-can I get by? P-please?” She wondered for a moment if she was heard before a scoff caused her to flinch again.

“You’ll speak when spoken to, girl. If you want to get by then go ahead.” The massive man smirked as he crossed his arms and let his flames grow.

Shouto scowled and let his right side chill, “I think that's enough.”

“Strong words from the person who humiliated her.” Endeavor’s crooked smile grew larger. “Hmph, why doesn't she tell me herself what she thinks?”

Izumi was on the verge of panic. Her hands were really starting to hurt and she just wanted to curl up and cry. But beneath the panic and anxiety something else was trying to break through. That darkness she could always feel bubbling beneath the surface. The anger and resentment. And here she was, standing before the epitome of everything wrong with the current generation of Heroes.

“P-please, just move...I n-need to…” A few tears slipped down her face as she bit her lip.

“Pathetic. How someone like you was able to get to the final round let alone beating out so many of the Hero course students while you did so...” Endeavor’s smirk turned into his own signature scowl. “This year’s batch is obviously subpar. An embarrassment to all he--”

“Move.”

Shouto was the first to notice the shift in the air, an unfamiliar chill racing across his skin. His father scowled even deeper before taking a step forward, causing the younger Todoroki to step forward as well.

“What did you say to me? Are you trying to give me orde—”

“I saID MOVE!! ”

Despite himself the Pro Hero took a step back, his flames diminishing a bit. The small girl took her chance and rushed past the man and down the hallway. As she disappeared around a corner, Endeavor recovered enough for his flames to grow with renewed anger. Shouto stared wide eyed down the hall, unable to figure out what had just happened. The dual colored boy was already regretting the match. He didn’t take it seriously; he didn’t take her seriously. She was nothing to him.

And that made him just like his father.

The guilt of his mistake hit him the moment he saw her face once he melted his ice. He took it easy on her. She knew it. He knew it. And worst of all, the crowd knew it. But still, she was unable to do anything about it. He could have hit her with a controlled freeze, completely and undeniably trapping her without giving her any chance. Not even many of his classmates would have been able to deal with that. It would have been a better showing.

If you’re here to be a hero than you better give it your fucking all.

Bakugou’s words echoed in his head.

Consider this a declaration of war.

That purple haired student mentioned something about other students being able to get into the Hero Course. There were other students trying their hardest just to get into the Hero Course, let alone become heroes. What was he doing? Shouto lifted his left hand and glared. He also took this chance to push past his father to return to the stands with the rest of his class.

The walk back was uneventful with his father making no effort to stop him. The moment he arrived at his class, however, was a bit more exciting. The fist caught him off guard but he immediately understood what was happening. He could hear Iida and a few others in the background but he raised his hand before things could get too out of control.

“I’m fine. I had it coming…”

“Damn straight you did.” Bakugou returned to his seat next to Kirishima in silence, the red headed teen nervously glancing between the two power houses. The rest of the class relaxed a bit, now that they could see that a serious fight wasn’t going to happen.

“Um, Todoroki?” Yaoyorozu tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. “How is Midoriya? I noticed she needed help off the field.”

“I...I’m not sure. We ran into my...father...and she went on ahead to Recovery Girl.”

“Oh, I see…” The girl looked conflicted, unsure if going to visit her would be too forward considering they were acquaintances at best.

“She’ll be fine, High Class.” Bakugou huffed a bit in an uncharacteristic show of emotion. “Toothy is already heading over to her.”

“O-oh, okay. That’s good...” Toothy ? The explosive boy’s crude and unflattering nicknames really made things more difficult.

Himiko held her breath as the two-toned student passed her by without notice. She leaned back around the corner and saw the giant mean fire man silently fuming, so took the chance to cross the hallway and rush after Izumi. While she hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, what she heard confirmed what she already figured about the Number Two Hero: he was an asshole.

The small girl was speed walking down the hall, rubbing at her face. It wasn’t until Himiko reached out and pulled the girl into a hug that Izumi realized she was there.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” The blonde girl spun her friend around. “Do you nee--!”

Himiko trailed off as her face started to heat up.

“Himi…? I-I’m fine...I just need to see Recovery Girl.” Izumi tilted her head before wiping her nose again, smearing more blood across her mouth and face. “Himiko…?”

The whole world seemed to close in as Himiko stared at the blood covering Izumi’s face and hands. Her mouth was suddenly dry and she could hear her blood pumping in her ears. Without another word, she grabbed the greenette by the wrist and dragged her to the nearest bathroom. As soon as they entered the bathroom and Izumi was in front of a mirror, she finally realized the state she was in.

“O-oh, I’m a mess.” Izumi moved towards the sink to wash her face but was stopped by Himiko.

The taller girl grabbed her by the shoulders, her breathing was heavy and her face was more flushed than usual. It took a few more moments for Izumi to realize what was wrong. She raised a hand and held her bloody finger up to her friend’s mouth. Himiko wasted no time in licking the offered digit, savoring the taste of the finest blood she’s ever had.

“Are...are you okay now, Himiko?” Izumi’s face was bright red, still embarrassed from having her finger licked.

“I-Izumi…” Himiko backed the shorter girl against the counter. “I…”

“Himi…?”

Izumi could only stare like a deer in the headlights as Himiko leaned closer and closer. Her ears started to burn as she felt the blondes breath on her lips. So many questions were going through her head: is this really happening? Is it because of her quirk and my blood? Do I like girls? Do I like Himiko? Should I stop her? Just as all her thoughts were about to spill out into the real world, the greenette felt a soft pressure seal her lips.

For a moment, Izumi was stunned. Her mind had gone blank and her face could have probably melted her free from Todoroki’s ice. Her entire body froze up, going tense as her brain tried to kickstart the parts responsible for decision making. The feeling of something warm and wet flicking across her lips was the final pushed needed.

“U-u-u-u-u-u-um, H-H-H-H-Himiko?!” Izumi’s one good eye started spinning as she grabbed the other girl by her sweater. “I...you...we...uh...um...what?”

To her credit, Himiko simply smiled before reaching around her friend to get some paper towels. She wet them in some water and started to wipe Izumi’s face of the smeared blood before wiping her hands. Izumi had started mumbling something under her breath so Himiko continued to clean her up before turning to the bathroom mirror. Some of Izumi’s blood had smeared onto her lips from their shared kiss. Himiko made quick work of that blood with her tongue, enjoying the tingle the taste gave her.

“Come on, Izumi. Let’s get you to Recovery Girl.” She gives her friend a saucy wink. “We can continue this later~!”

Lucky for Himiko, Izumi was rather light and was easy to carry the rest of the way to the nurse when the nervous girl passed out.

Chapter Text

“Thank you.”

Bakugou accepted the medal with little fuss. He didn’t smile but he rarely did outside of combat. So to all the world he appeared stoic as All Might placed the medal around his neck. A text confirming that Izumi was with Toothy put him at ease a bit before his own match with Half and Half. Turns out he would have been fine either way.

Disappointing.

That was the only word that came to Bakugou’s mind as he won his match. The candy cane fucker never did try to use his fire, even when his ice was proven ineffective. Guess his shitty match with Izumi shook him up more than he thought. Well, it wasn’t his problem. Just one less obstacle on his way to number one. The moment he was able, Bakugou made his way to the nurse’s office to check on Izumi. The sound of Toothy chatting away with someone caught his ear. Opening the door revealed the other person as the purple haired boy from earlier.

“Oh! Kacchan, congratulations!” Toothy seemed a bit too happy. He’d have to figure out why later.

“Don’t call me that you bi--” A short cough from Recovery Girl had the insult dying on his tongue. “How’s Izumi?”

The elder heroine spoke up at the question. “She’s fine. Some scrapes and cuts on her hands and fingers along with a few lost fingernails but nothing my quirk couldn’t patch up. She’ll just need to rest for a while and then she can head home.”

“I already let Auntie know that we’ll probably be home later than we thought.” The blonde girl swayed from side to side as she played with Izumi’s hair.

Bakugou gave her an affirmative grunt before turning to the purple boy. “Who the...who are you, Eyebags?”

“I made it all the way to the third event and you have no idea what my name is?” The purple boy could only raise an eyebrow at the question.

“I have no time to bother remembering all the side characters I run into.”

“Wow...I thought Toga was exaggerating when she said you were grumpy.” A small smirk appeared on the boy’s face. “Hitoshi Shinsou. A pleasure.”

“What the f--, what the hell have you been telling people about me you toothy c--...” The sound of Bakugou’s teeth grinding was almost audible.

“I only tell people about your best qualities, hahaha!” Her wide grin was always enough to set his blood on fire. “Plus, he’s Izu’s classmate and a friend.”

“Tch.” Bakugou dropped himself in a chair and crossed his arms. “Whatever.”

“See? He talks big but he’s still nice enough to wait until Izu wakes up to walk us both home~” The stage whisper had its intended effect as the sound of crackling could be heard.

“Oh, so he’s a tsundere.” 

The smug smile on Eyebag’s face was enough to set the explosive boy off.

She was so stupid. Why she ever thought she could directly compete with people with quirks, Izumi would probably never know. Perhaps it was the same lack of self awareness that had her believing that she could be a Hero if she studied Heroes hard enough.

Ridiculous.

Her fingers tapped at the keyboard as she researched support gear. Her options were limitless in terms of variety but her lack of weapons training and engineering knowledge left her wanting. Izumi tugged at her braids as she fought back more tears. She didn’t have the time to cry. She had cried enough after the Sports Festival. She was already so far behind.

And it might already be too late.

Her anxiety was running on full blast as a little voice echoed in the back of her mind.

You messed up. You wasted your chance. You’re useless .

She tried to drown it out with researching, studying, and analyzing. Things she knew she was good at. She had even had a quick talk with Alexandre. Izumi was only slightly surprised when it was revealed that Alexandre had figured out who she was and was pleased at her performance at the festival. They had assured her that if anyone deserved to be a Hero, it was Izumi. That bit of praise had brightened her day a bit before her own self doubts dragged her back into the darkness.

After arriving at the nurse’s office, Izumi had been awake long enough after her treatment to watch the match between Iida and Hatsume. It seemed so obvious, watching the pink haired Support student lead the Hero Course student by the nose as she advertised her equipment. Plenty of Professional Heroes needed support gear, whether to supplement the downsides of their quirk or to simply make their quirk safe to use at all.

“I’m so stupid sometimes…”

She had tons of notebooks full of support gear suggestions for Heroes and Sidekicks. Ways to overcome the weaknesses of their quirks. New ways to utilize their quirks. That extra bit of help so that they could save more people. A notification from one of her screens caught her attention. As she went to open the first message another notification appeared.

“Confirmation of payment...oh.” The second message confirmed her thoughts as she read through the quick thank you and hopes to work together in the future. “I can’t believe it. I helped Knuckleduster catch a villain?”

A bright smile slowly spread across her face. Maybe this was it, something she could do to learn and catch up. The knock at the door caused the greenette to squeak a bit. She quickly locked her computer and answered her door.

“Oh, Kacchan? Did you need something?”

Red eyes met green before a stack of papers broke the connection. “These are my offers.”

Izumi tilted her head in confusion for a moment before realization dawned on her face. Her excitement was contagious as Bakugou followed her downstairs with a smirk on his face. He needed to make the most of his internship and he couldn’t think of a better nerd to help him pick the right one.

“How bad were we hit?”

Naomasa listened intently as a technician briefed him on the minor security breach of their servers.

“We’re honestly not sure.” The tech shuffled through some papers before handing one to the detective. “Only the low level servers were breached as far as we can tell. C-Rank villains and lower.”

“Hmm, they didn’t alter or destroy any data…did they copy any data?” The detective stopped for a moment as the technician shook her head. “Wait, how do we even know there was a breach at all?”

“Uh-um...well…” The technician nervously tugged at her drooped rabbit ears. “They left...a note.”

“A note?” The incredulous look on the normally serious detective’s face would have made the technician laugh on any other day.

“Yes, we’re not sure if it was intended to be sarcastic, but a small note was left in the logs…an, uh, apology note.”

Naomasa had seen enough in his time in the police force to only be mildly surprised before his mind started to consider the implications. A taunt? Guilt? Were they forced to do this and hoping to leave behind clues or was it simply what it appeared to be? The detective took some notes before turning his attention back to the technician.

“Once you’ve figured out how they managed to get into our system, cross reference any...any news reports, arrests, incidents...anything that involves any villains from the affected database who aren’t in prison. Parolees, escapees, anything.” Naomasa stood from his desk and grabbed his coat. “They were after information on one or multiple villains. We’ll have to keep our eyes and ears open if we want to figure out why.”

“Y-yes sir!”

Naomasa watched the technician scurry away before letting a scowl appear on his face. He grabbed his hat and made his way out of the station. His first stop would have to be to the Hero Public Safety Commission. All B-Rank and higher Villain data was kept secure at the Commission and asking if there had been any breaches lately didn’t seem like the kind of conversation to have over the phone with a hacker involved.

The detective took a moment once he was in the car to address the heavy weight in his gut. As a veteran detective, Naomasa had learned to trust his instincts over the years and through the countless times they saved his life or the lives of others. And those instincts were telling him that something was wrong, despite the more obvious, harmless possibilities. This could have been some new hacker testing their abilities. This could be some harmless prank or a new quirk gone haywire. But something in his gut told Naomasa it was none of those. It didn’t help that there was currently someone hunting Heroes and someone else hunting civilians. The detective let out a sigh and fastened his seat belt before pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

With all the Vigilantes already running around, the last thing he needed was another one hunting Villains.

To say that Nezu was disappointed would be the understatement of a lifetime. The Principal of U.A. watched the ongoing debate amongst his staff with a smile on his face but inside he was…

Upset.

As he predicted, the candidates for transfer to the Hero Course came down to two names: Hitoshi Shinsou and Izumi Midoriya. The discussion over Shinsou had been fairly straightforward. His ability to end conflict before it even began and his clear desire to be a Hero made the decision to place him in the Hero Course (provisionally at first) a simple one. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Midoriya. It had been the better part of an hour since they had begun their discussion on whether or not Midoriya should be allowed to transfer to the Hero Course. The spread of opinions was the first hurdle.

All Might was firmly on the side of Midoriya. How much of that was guilt versus actual faith, Nezu could only give the Number One Hero the benefit of the doubt. However, regardless of his motivations, having All Might in her corner was a decent start.

Eraser Head had chosen to remain silent for the moment as the rest of the faculty went back and forth.

Present Mic, while obviously waiting for his friend to make his opinion known, offered that they could just give the girl a chance. The transfer is subject to change anyway so what harm could come of letting her in? If it's too much then she can just return to the General Course.

Midnight was fervently in favor of allowing her to join and wondered why they were even discussing it.

Ectoplasm was another vote in favor of Midoriya, stating that to ignore all of her efforts to get to this point would be disrespectful and disingenuous of them as both Heroes and teachers.

Vlad King, Snipe, Thirteen, and Hound Dog formed the group arguing against her transfer. The main argument being the danger inherently involved in Hero work. Cementoss and Power Loader agreed but countered that the same can be said for all the Hero Course students. Recovery Girl made her own concerns known but stood with Ectoplasm in her decision to allow Midoriya into the Hero Course.

Nezu allowed this to continue for a few moments longer before finally clapping his paws together. Silence was immediate as the faculty sensed the true feelings lingering behind the Principal’s signature smile.

“I must say that...well, haha.” A few of the staff members visibly shuddered at the rare moment of Nezu being at a loss for words. “All I can say is that I did not expect the shameful, borderline bigoted arguments against Ms. Midoriya’s transfer to the Hero Course.”

A few, like Vlad King, looked offended at the accusation but a held up paw cut off any response.

“Please, do not try and paint your arguments as anything less than biased. While none of you have come out and said it directly...I think we can all see what the main issue is: her quirklessness.” Nezu sat back in his specialized chair and continued. “Let me pick apart your arguments so that we may begin to correct these stifling biases.

“From her intellect and grades alone, she well surpasses many already in the Hero Course. Add to that her powerful analytical abilities and you have a dangerous mix. You might be asking, ‘why not just join the Support Course and work behind the scenes’? And I would ask why should she? A powerful mind is as much a weapon as any offensive quirk or support item. Which brings me to the next flaw…

“There seems to be some misunderstanding as to what makes a Hero. I guess all a Hero is...is their quirk, yes? Quirks that around half of active Pro Heroes couldn’t use safely in public without support gear or years of training. Quirks that have no direct offensive utility and also need to be supplemented with support gear. I guess it's no wonder we have situations like the Slime villain incident.”

All Might clenched his jaw as he fought to keep the smile on his face. His own words to Midoriya continue to haunt him to this day.

“Multiple Heroes, all with quirks. Quirks that seem to be key to being a Hero, yes?” The words were dripping with sarcasm by this point, but were no less scathing in their intent. “And in the end, it took a quirkless girl to take action. Action that likely saved a life. A life that would have been blood on the hands of all those Heroes who did nothing while hoping a more suitable quirk arrived. Ah, my apologies, I meant until a different Hero arrived.”

By this point, Nezu was no longer smiling.

“The final relevant point would have to be the results of her match against Endeavor’s son? Ridiculous. How many of the Hero course students, let alone any student with a quirk, would have been able to stand against Todoroki? Better yet, how many of you would have been able to deal with the same level of his quirk that he used against Midoriya, let alone the all out assault anyone with a quirk most likely would have received?”

Judging by the looks on the faces of everyone in the room, Nezu decided that they had been lectured enough for one day.

“It pains me that the mere prospect of a person, who wants to be a Hero in order to help others, would come under any resistance at all because of something as illogical as lacking a quirk. Something she had no control of and ultimately means nothing when it comes to what it means to be a Hero. I am truly disappointed.”

Nezu took one last look at his staff before deciding that this particular topic was over.

“I believe there is no further need to discuss whether or not Ms. Midoriya will be allowed to transfer to the Hero Course. Like Mr. Shinsou, she will undergo a provisional period during which, should she fail to keep up with the curriculum, she will be placed back in the General Course. She will be given the chance to try, as anyone should. Given there are two transfers, each Hero Course will receive one student. I am sure Aizawa and Kan can work out those details.

“The transfer applicants have already been notified that they’ll receive their results over the summer, so we may account for any new incidents that may affect their eligibility. We also need to plan out the summer training that our two transfers will undertake before starting the new semester in the Hero Course. Nothing stringent but something to help ease them into the new setting. That...should be everything concerning the transfers.”

The atmosphere was noticeably relaxed as they continued on to other topics such as the internships and finals, but once the meeting was over there was a lot for many of the Heroes of U.A. to reflect on.

Himiko enjoyed the particularly bright shade of red her friend turned whenever she would flirt with her. Before it had been for fun, to fluster the girl. Now…

Now she was serious.

Ever since that kiss, Himiko’s thoughts were filled with nothing but Izumi. The day they got home, Himiko managed to get through dinner and the rest of that night before collapsing onto her bed in a panic. Past experiences ramped up her anxiety as she waited for the bloodlust to take over. She was curled up into a ball preparing herself to fight down the urges that were sure to come. After tasting Izumi’s blood, it was only a matter of time. Himiko played it off in the moment and even felt fine. She felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, knowing that her feelings were separate from her quirk. Now, though, everything felt like a mistake.

The night passed and morning arrived, causing a startled and confused Himiko to jolt awake. When had she fallen asleep? A quick check and pat down of her person revealed the unexpected: she was clean. No blood or viscera. Checking the time, Himiko quietly rushed out of her room and down the hall. At four thirty in the morning, not even the angry pom-pom would be up and about. Carefully opening the door, Himiko tip toed her way into Izumi’s room. The subtle scent of apples and cinnamon immediately calmed her down. Her friend’s room was still in order. Everything was clean, no blood in sight. The rise and fall of Izumi’s Gang Orca comforter had Himiko collapsing to her knees at the sudden surge of relief.

“ She’s alive, she’s safe. You didn’t… ” Himiko could feel a few tears escape as she crawled across the floor and under the covers.

Izumi groggily twisted to see what had woken her up. “Hi...miko…? Are--are you okay?”

Yawns punctuated her question as Himiko just snuggled in closer. The greenette could feel her friend nodding and decided that they could talk later. She turned around completely and wrapped her arms around her friend, before slipping back into sleep.

Chapter Text

Himiko was skipping on cloud nine. Everything seemed brighter and she just couldn't help but smile. Of course, there was the need to properly talk about what happened with Izumi, but for now she would just enjoy the euphoria while it lasted. Who knew that a single quick kiss would be enough to change everything. She had known for a while that Izumi held a special place in her heart but was never quite sure just how deep those feelings ran. She was definitely a friend, probably her first real one. Definitely best friends; there was no doubt of that. Something more...? 

Now is the time for her to explore that question. 

For a while there was the worry that her growing attraction to the green haired girl was because of her blood. It was definitely the most delicious blood that she's ever tasted. But is she attracted to Izumi because of her blood? Or is her blood only tasty because she's attracted to Izumi? After that kiss, Himiko is very much leaning toward the latter.

The beeping of the microwave let her know that the popcorn was finished and that the beginning of a long night of movies was ahead of her. And Izumi. Was this a date? Probably not but it would still be enjoyable. Maybe they would even work out what kind of relationship they would have going forward. Himiko would probably be okay with just staying the best of friends, but being Izumi's girlfriend was definitely more appealing.

HERO KILLER STRIKES AGAIN IN HOSU!

Every news site was flooded with information on the attack on Hosu. Theories and speculation on the possible collaboration of the League of Villains and Stain were on every forum that Izumi frequented and then some. However, what Izumi was concerned with were all the bits that the Hero Commission were trying their best to scrub from the web. The official news stories had already been heavily sanitized, so the deep web was where Izumi went for a more accurate depiction of events.

“N-no way…” The greenette clicked through the myriad of tabs, cross checking and confirming the information from as many sources as she could. “...Iida…”

More tabs and some additional searching revealed that the Hero student had chosen to intern with Manual, who was based in Hosu. Why? He most definitely received better offers.

So why would U.A. let him go to the last known location of the man who crippled his brother?

Even in the short time she had known him, she could tell that he absolutely idolized Ingenium. So, why? Why let him go to Hosu when it should have been obvious what his intentions were? Even if his intentions were harmless, why take the chance? Leave this...child to face the temptation; to face the consequences. Izumi could feel her blood pressure rising and she clenched her hands into fists. U.A. is better than this! They should be better than this.

“Wasn’t Eraser Head the teacher for 1-A? How…?” Izumi tugged on her braids and began to pace in her room. “This doesn’t make any sense…”

A few steps into her mumblings, Izumi stopped abruptly and chewed on her lip.

“And Stain...even children aren’t safe?” Her pacing continued back and forth across her room. “He claims to idolize All Might...though, he never claims to be a Hero himself…”

She stopped again and tilted her head. A small bit of blood dripped down her chin after she bit just a bit too hard. Returning to her desk and going through an article about the video on Stain’s Ideals allowed for Izumi to try and rationalize the school’s actions, or rather lack thereof. 

“It’s not important. I can’t keep getting distracted.”

A new notification from one of the many news sites she follows grabbed her attention. Izumi wasn’t prepared for the blindingly hot rage that burst forth in her chest. The corners of her vision started to go gray as she put every part of her being into not screaming and trashing her desk. She had never wanted a quirk so bad in her life, if only to put her computer monitor through the wall. The tears came before she could try and choke them back. She tried to stand but felt dizzy and could barely stumble over to her bed. Hatred and despair battled for dominance as all the green haired girl could do was cry. The multiple articles open on her browser repeating the same name: Bell Bug.

Why?! Why do people like her get to be Heroes?! 

She heard her door open and close before a pair of arms wrapped around her, followed by the smell of popcorn.

“Izumi?”

Izumi just let Himiko hold her while she cried, not having the energy to do much else. Once she was too tired to even cry she quietly explained what had upset her so much. 

“It’ll be okay, Izu.” Himiko whispered softly as she ran her fingers through the other girl’s hair. “You’re already a better Hero than her. You’re my Hero.”

I let myself get distracted!

Aizawa pulled in as much air as he could with each breath. His gray tank top was soaked through with perspiration and blood flowed freely from his knuckles. Ignoring the ache in his muscles from the intense workout, the Pro Hero was about to continue when a familiar voice called out.

“I think that’s enough for now.”

Kayama entered his field of view holding a towel. The concerned look on her face was enough to stop him from just ignoring her. He accepted the towel and dropped onto the ground next to his water bottle.

“It’s not your fault you know…” The female Hero took a seat on the ground next to him.

“I know.” Aizawa replied as he wiped down his face and pulled his hair out of the loose ponytail it was in.

“Do you?” Her question was filled with skepticism.

“No.” In an uncharacteristic fit of rage, Aizawa launched his water bottle at the training dummy he had been brutalizing while activating his quirk. “No, I don’t.”

“Shouta…”

“He might have made the decision to go after the Hero Killer. He might have made the decision to let his anger blind him; to guide his actions. But we should have seen it. We could have taken away the chance for him to make all of those poor decisions.” The Pro Hero grit his teeth. “ I could have stopped this.”

“It got past all of us, Shouta.” She reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a small squeeze. “He was an earnest and strict student, a stickler for the rules...who could have thought…?”

His silence earned a sigh from the female Hero. The two sat in silence for a few moments before Nemuri asked another question.

“What is happening…?” The context wasn’t immediately clear to Shouta but she continued, “All Might’s injury, the USJ...and now this? What is happening? Why does it feel like things are just going to get worse…?”

“That’s because they are going to get worse.” Shouta rose to his feet and paused to offer a hand to his colleague, “We’ve become complacent...but that stops now.”

Bakugou stood off to the side as the funeral came to a close. He and the other members of 1-A had been asked to attend by the Iida family. It was a mockingly sunny day with clear skies and a slight breeze. Bakugou wasn’t sure what to feel, even as he watched his classmates talk quietly among themselves. Round Face was with Frog Legs talking to Ingenium. The sight of the former Pro Hero in his wheelchair had the explosive teen subconsciously clenching his hands. He had heard more ideas than he was comfortable with from Izumi about how his quirk could be disabled, both temporarily and...permanently. He had struggled to sleep well for a few days after that particular conversation.

But the reality was now firmly settled on his shoulders. The USJ should have been the real wake up call but it had been brushed off as just a bump. Now though, Bakugou was finding himself rethinking his approach to Heroics. It had always seemed so simple to him. All he had to do was beat the villains and save the civilians. The former had used to take precedence over the latter but Izumi had managed to beat that out of him for the most part. The USJ had reinforced that when he realized that not all of his classmates would be able to defend themselves in a straightforward confrontation with multiple villains. He had heard of the close call that Frog Legs had with that crusty looking villain with the hand on his face.

He could die. They could all die. One wrong move. One moment of arrogance or overconfidence and it's over.

Kirishima bumping shoulders with him snapped the blonde from his thoughts. Parts of the class seemed to be taking the news better than others. He might have been the first of his classmates to know what really happened that day in Hosu due to the information gathering skills Izumi had been developing. He had been on his way back early from his internship with Gang Orca when he got the text message. It took a lot of willpower not to set his quirk off in the middle of the train car but he managed to keep his calm until he got off the train and into a more secluded area. He wanted to believe it was a mistake but Izumi wouldn’t lie about something like this. Once he arrived home, and confirmed with his parents that he was fine, Bakugou made his way to Izumi’s room to get answers.

An hour later Bakugou found himself in his own room, collapsed on his bed as he processed everything he had been told. Apparently Glas--Iida had gone chasing revenge and ended up finding it.

What would I have done?

While he wanted to believe that he would have been able to beat Stain, that was just the kind of arrogance that he needed to get a grip on. He also wanted to believe that he would have chosen to run if he couldn’t win but he wasn’t so sure.

His thoughts switched to Izumi, as they usually did. Her ability to find information was starting to worry him but it was also a valuable skill as a Hero. He would just have to make sure she wasn’t getting involved with anything sketchy or illegal.

Or at least make sure that she knew not to get caught.

Bakugou understood that Heroics wasn’t black and white. Sometimes, the rules needed to be bent in order to stop the villains. You had to be careful not to cross any lines, but as long as you know just how close you could get, he figured it would be alright. Aizawa came to mind.

I’ll have to ask him about that…

With a grunt, Bakugou decided that his time would be better spent training. He couldn’t afford to lose after all. He had a promise to keep.

“Mmm~! You should try this, Izu!”

Himiko smiled as Izumi nervously took the offered bite from her fork. The two girls had decided to try out a new American ‘country style’ restaurant that had opened up near them. Izumi had ordered the breakfast platter while Himiko went for the chicken fried steak with gravy and biscuits. The greenette’s eye widened in approval, even as her cheeks flushed pink. She seemed to hesitate as she looked from her plate to Himiko.

“H-here, Himi…” A forkful of pancake made its way shakily across the table.

“Oh! Ahh~!” Himiko took the offered bite and let out a low hum as she placed her hands on her cheeks. “Mmm, these pancakes are great, too!”

They continued to eat and chat about whatever came to mind before splitting the bill and heading to the beach to walk off their meal. While they had never managed to completely clean the beach on their own, their efforts eventually inspired the rest of the area to pitch in and finish the job. Himiko was all smiles as she stepped through the water, swinging her shoes back and forth in her hands. The sun was starting to set and the romantic atmosphere was more than she could hope for, however, the small, nagging voice in the back of her head was casting doubt.

Honestly, Himiko wasn’t exactly sure how her friend felt. Izumi would get red in the face and sputter cutely whenever Himiko would flirt but that seemed to be a reaction stemming more from the greenettes innate personality rather than any shared feelings. So, to eliminate any misunderstanding, Himiko was going to take this moment to make her feelings crystal clear. No more hesitation. She was going to take every shred of happiness she could whenever she could. And Izumi made her happy.

“H-hey, Izu. You know I l-like you, right?” Himiko couldn’t help the flinch at how not smooth she sounded.

“Hm? Oh...well I like you too, Himi!” The reply came with a bright smile from Izumi.

Himiko almost got her hopes up before quickly reasserting what she actually meant.

“No, I mean...I like you, Izumi. R-romantically.”

“Oh.” Izumi’s cheeks started to burn as she fidgeted awkwardly. “S-so that...t-that k-k-kiss from b-before…?”

“Mhm.” Himiko moved her shoes to one hand and locked her newly freed fingers with Izumi’s..

“Why?”

The simple question almost broke her heart. She couldn’t understand how Izumi could fail to see how lucky anyone would be to have her in their life. Himiko dropped her shoes into the shallow water and cupped the shorter girl’s face before kissing her softly.

“You make me happy.” Himiko licked her lips after the short but sweet kiss. “You give me hope that I can have the carefree life I’ve always wanted. I can have happiness and life freely as long as you’re with me.”

She leaned in and placed another gentle kiss on Izumi’s cheek, catching one of the many tears that were starting to pour down her face.

“Like I said before...you’re my Hero. And I want to stay with you...be with you...if you’d let me…”

Izumi’s smile broke through the tears as the two girls shared another kiss before embracing each other.

“Thank you, Himiko.” The greenette squeezed her just a bit tighter. “I...l-like you too...a lot…”

The deep blush covering Izumi’s face was more delightful than ever, leaving Himiko feeling like she was once again floating on her own cloud. Though, this time, she wouldn’t be alone.

[MightyGRN]: A lot of this is conjecture but his pattern of ambushing lone Heroes suggests that his quirk isn’t suited for combat directly, possibly requiring some prior setup or specific conditions to be effective.

[MightyGRN]: but it is definitely a powerful quirk. At least when it is unknown.

[MightyGRN]: Stain has a strong penchant for bladed weapons. So strong that I believe it is related to his quirk.

[MightyGRN]: Many of the Heroes killed suffered from only a few minor cuts before a single fatal blow was dealt, leading me to believe that a cut is required for his quirk to take effect. I’m still not sure if it’s something he applies to his blades, or a quirk that takes effect through objects. A few Heroes only suffered a single cut before the fatal wound.

[MightyGRN]: There is a chance that it may be a blood quirk, but I don’t want to make any assumptions. He could easily be quirkless with some powerful chemical compound he puts on his weapons. Most likely some kind of paralytic.

[D_Alexandre]: What makes you believe he uses a paralytic?

[MightyGRN]: The killing wounds tend to be clean. Too clean to be reliably executed on a moving or struggling target. So after he inflicts the first hit, Stain is able to immobilize his victim.

[MightyGRN]: I haven’t been able to find any information about poisons or chemicals being used. And there is no obvious quirk use, like residues or something. So I can only assume that it’s a quirk but it leaves no obvious evidence. Some type of emission quirk, maybe similar to Midnight’s sleeping gas.

[MightyGRN]: that’s all I have at the moment.

[D_Alexandre]: As always, your analysis is impeccable. I find myself impressed each and every time.

Izumi couldn’t help but once again blush at the praise. It felt nice having someone acknowledge her abilities who wasn’t her age.

[D_Alexandre]: Though, I must ask, there is some information that I do not believe has been made public. Such as the lack of physical evidence of quirk use or the number of wounds each victim suffered.

The greenette paled a bit, but before she could type out a response, a new message arrived.

[D_Alexandre]: I am not condemning your actions. If anything, you should be proud. You made excellent use of your available abilities and resources. Skills that you’ll need in order to be a Hero.

Izumi felt conflicted. She was glad that she wasn’t in trouble but she wasn’t sure if what she did was heroic.

[MightyGRN]: Is it really okay?

[D_Alexandre]: What do you mean?

[MightyGRN]: Is it really okay to bend or break the law as a Hero? Even if it’s to do good or save people?

[D_Alexandre]: That is a difficult question. A rather deep question with varied answers depending on who you ask. Remind me, why do you wish to be a Hero?

[MightyGRN]: I wanted to help people.

[D_Alexandre]: Wanted?

Her green eye widened as her brain caught up with what she typed.

[D_Alexandre]: You’re still having doubts. May I ask why?

[MightyGRN]: I’m just a bit disillusioned. The more I’ve seen and learned about Heroics the more I worry.

[D_Alexandre]: Any specific example?

She only hesitated a moment before deciding to trust Alexandre with her findings on Bell Bug. Izumi had been struggling on what to do with all the evidence she had gathered against the Pro Hero. A majority of it was obtained illegally, and the rest was circumstantial at best. It painted a rather unflattering picture of the lauded Hero and also started off many slippery slopes of collusion and negligence. Quite a few high ranking officials and middle to low rank Heroes and sidekicks would get caught up in the fallout should she decide to go public.

They were all bad people and the thought of ruining their lives and careers barely tickled her conscious. It probably should but Heroes needed to be heroic. No, Izumi’s main concern was that she would be ignored and all of this evidence would get swept under a rug. She couldn’t reveal who she was without killing any chance at being a Hero. And even if she gave up her dream and pushed forward, who would believe some quirkless girl? Izumi could already imagine all of the built in motives her quirk status would give them.

She was just jealous of a real Hero.

Quirk envy motivated her actions.

She was trying to ruin a great Hero’s career out of spite.

It wouldn’t solve the problem and would just tip off those involved, allowing them to flee further into the shadows of Hero Society and be even harder to uncover later. Izumi held her breath as she waited for a reply.

[D_Alexandre]: I can understand your frustrations.

[D_Alexandre]: Especially given your propensity for heroic actions.

[MightyGRN]: It feels wrong to just ignore it.

[MightyGRN]: To just leave it to someone else. But I don’t know what to do without risking my one chance at being a Hero.

[D_Alexandre]: You’ve given your reason for wanting to be a Hero. So let me ask this: Why do you want to help people?

[MightyGRN]: Because it's the right thing to do. If they need help then I’ll help them.

[D_Alexandre]: An excellent, immediate answer.

[D_Alexandre]: Now, can you tell me how you can help people?

Izumi was momentarily stumped by the question. She almost replied instinctively with ‘by becoming a Hero’, but that no longer seemed like a good enough answer. The more she thought about it, the harder it became to formulate an answer. It must have taken her longer than she thought to try and answer because Alexandre continued.

[D_Alexandre]: I’m not surprised by your inability to answer. Hero’s today are a far cry from their original glory.

[D_Alexandre]: Where they used to fight for some sense of justice, they now fight for fame and fortune. 

[D_Alexandre]: But I digress. I ask ‘how’ can you help people in order to guide you to an answer.

[D_Alexandre]: Let me be clear, there is no doubt that you would be a great Hero. Undoubtedly better than most current ‘Heroes’. However, I believe that Heroics is not the only path available to someone with your potential. Someone who could achieve so much if only given the right tools and the right opportunity.

[MightyGRN]: What kind of opportunity?

[D_Alexandre]: I believe it would be easier to discuss in person, if you are willing to trust me. I believe a meeting is long overdue.

There were a lot of reasons why Izumi should have said no. Why she should have politely declined and continued on with her day. But those reasons weren’t enough to dissuade her. To squelch her curiosity. She would be the first to acknowledge the risk she would be taking, but it was a risk that was worth it. Alexandre had been nothing but supportive of her dream. They were one of a small handful of people who believed that she could be a Hero. Not just a Hero but a great one.

With all the doubt and frustration stirring in her chest, she needed a new viewpoint. She needed to learn more about the world of Heroes, the parts that the public rarely got to see. She needed guidance. She needed...

...a teacher.

[MightyGRN]: Okay. I want to learn more.

[D_Alexandre]: Excellent.

Chapter Text

“I’m afraid there’s not much else I can give you.”

Nezu sipped his tea while the detective let out a heavy sigh.

“No, it’s understandable.” The detective finished off his own tea in hopes that the caffeine could keep him going until he could get some strong coffee. “I just wish we could have solved one problem for now…”

“Yes, it is quite unfortunate. For now, we can only hope that they’ve overcome their issues with their quirk.” The Principal tapped his paw on his desk while leaning forward in his modified chair. “The victim’s families may not get any closure but quirk induced mental instability cases are often tragedies for everyone involved. The best that can be done is to monitor blood banks and hospitals for any suspicious incidents, such as blood and medical supplies going missing.”

“Alright…” Tsukauchi didn’t even bother hiding his frustrations from the all seeing Principal so he just finished off the notes for this case before moving onto the next one. “This case is fairly benign as far as I’m concerned.”

“Ah, yes, the cyber vigilante.” Nezu had been quite intrigued by the little incident with the police department's secure servers.

“So you believe it to be a vigilante?”

“It appears to be the most likely case. They went straight for the records on petty, low level villains.” The rodent sipped his tea before continuing. “They didn’t even attempt to attain any other information, though that could have just been because they lacked the skill. However, following their successful breach, I understand there has been an increase in the number of villains subdued by vigilantes, yes?”

“That’s right.”

“There is not enough information to suggest that these criminals were taken down by the same vigilante, in fact, it is more likely that we’re dealing with a team or, at least, a cooperative effort.” Nezu tapped away at his special keyboard before turning his monitor for the detective to see. “Using the locations where these criminals were taken down, along with the known vigilantes in those areas, we can get a general idea of who we’re dealing with.”

Tsukauchi nodded as he finished up his notes and took a moment to double check them. A new vigilante was probably the least of their problems and the detective would take that over this new ‘League of Villains’ any day of the week.

“Thank you, again, Nezu for your insights.” 

“Of course.” The rodent paused for a moment before asking, “Though, I must ask, why hasn’t your own computer forensics department been in charge of this case. All in all, it seems pretty straightforward.”

“They were in charge of this case but...they were unable to make any...significant headway.” The detective smoothed back his hair before sighing once again. “If it weren’t for that apology note left behind, I’m not convinced they would have realized we had a breach at all.”

“Really?” Nezu found himself far more intrigued in this case than he had before. “So they might be far more skilled than we first believed.”

“Yes.”

“Skilled, yet not arrogant enough to aim for the more well protected information…” The Principal reached for his cup only to find it empty. “A dangerous combination, ability tempered by patience.”

“I had the same concern which is why…”

“...you brought this case to me. I understand completely now!” Nezu clapped his paws together in delight. “I will reach out to my sources to see if there is any information about a new cyber vigilante.”

“Thank you again, Nezu.” Tsukauchi rose and offered a handshake to the Principal. “I’ll be in touch.”

“It’s no problem, detective.” Nezu hopped onto his desk and took the offered hand with his paw. “And do be sure to take care of yourself. We can’t have you burning out.”

“Haha, I’ll try my best.”

“That’s all any of us can do.”

Hitoshi would consider himself fairly modest, but there were a few things he prided himself on. The fact that he didn’t give up on being a Hero, the fact that the insane workout regimen he's on to catch up hasn’t killed him yet, and the fact that his observational skills were well above average.

Years of ostracization has given him exceptional people watching skills, as sad as that may be. He had a pretty decent grasp on body language and it was surprising how much you could learn about someone just by how they moved. He was also pretty decent at just melting into the background, the eternally sleepy aura he exuded helping people to forget that he was around or aware.

And it was these observational skills that allowed Hitoshi to key into a new development rather quickly. He had been walking to lunch with his two friends when it finally clicked just what had changed between them. Izumi excused herself to the restroom on the way and it gave Hitoshi a chance to put on his best smug face.

“Congratulations.” The confused look on Himiko’s face prompted him to continue. “On your new relationship.”

The mix of surprise, panic, and red faced embarrassment was an interesting combination on the normally flighty girl. Her face finally settled on a small, shy smile.

“How did you know?” While she asked that, her eyes asked, ‘Were we that obvious?’.

“I pay attention. It helps that I spend pretty much all of my time at school and out with you two.” His smile became less smug and more kind. “I’m happy for you two. Hopefully you can help Izumi out of whatever funk she’s been in.”

“You noticed that too, huh?” Himiko sighed as she allowed her usual smile to drop completely. “She hasn’t told me what's bothering her this time. I’m a bit worried.”

Hitoshi shrugged, “I could tell that something has been on her mind lately, but other than that she’s pretty hard to read.”

“Mhm...oh well!” The twin bunned girl patted her cheeks before smiling. “I just need to make sure I’m there when she’s ready to tell me! With hugs and kisses and cuddles~!”

And now Hitoshi had to derail that train of thought as quickly as he could. A catchphrase from one of his favorite manga characters came to mind as Izumi returned and he followed after his two friends.

“Troublesome.”

Bakugou ducked the round house kick thrown his way while getting ready to counter. However, his opponent pivoted on their standing foot and continued their previous attack into an axe kick as their leg swung up then down. The explosive student clicked his tongue before bringing his arms up to tank the hit. He threw the leg off and, in his frustration, went for the right hook. Even as he threw the punch, his brain was chastising him for the mistake. His opponent grabbed the arm and proceeded to throw him over their shoulder, knocking the air out of him as he hit the mats.

“Kacchan…”

He could hear the exasperation in her voice and responded the only way he knew how.

“Fuck off! I know what I did wrong…”

Izumi could only huff as she watched the blonde boy rise to his feet.

“You really need to work on your temper...you have such great battle instincts…” Bakugou felt himself preen a bit at the praise. “...but then your temper makes you stupid.”

“Wha--?! Did you just call me stupid? You fucking nerd--” He was stopped in his tracks by the look on her face.

“I know you’re not stupid Kacchan, but you need to understand that everyone has weaknesses. And all it can take in the field is a single mistake.”

Bakugou could see the concern on her face and felt his anger slowly seep away. He knew she was right; she was always right. It used to infuriate him but now…

Now he understood.

Even back during the sludge incident, as much as he’d like to forget it, her knowledge of Hero battles and strategy had probably bought him the time needed to not immediately be captured and to allow his two tagalongs to escape. That in turn allowed him to cause enough of a ruckus to attract Heroes. That single moment of no hesitation made a huge difference.

And she had only continued to be right.

“Weakness isn’t something to ignore or run from.” Izumi wagged a finger at him while her other hand rested on her hip. “It’s--”

“Something to overcome...just like fear. I fucking get it…” Bakugou let out a sigh and walked over to grab a towel and his water bottle. “...thanks.”

Izumi smiled as she grabbed her own towel and bottle. While not widely known, the various gyms and training rooms outside of the highly specialized ones, were open for all students to use. Whether to just keep in shape or to train their quirk, these resources were available should any student need it. And it was in one of these rooms that Bakugou and Izumi would spar twice a week.

Past Bakugou would have once scoffed at the idea of quirkless sparring. He had a strong quirk so what was the point of not using it. Present Bakugou had the combined experience of having his ass repeatedly kicked by their teacher who could erase quirks and being repeatedly told of all the ways his quirk could be disabled with a sharp object and various liquids by his friend who could pick apart quirks like they were toys.

Now, he would take any advantage he could get. Even after only a few spars, he could feel himself improving and learning things about his fighting style that he never would have discovered before. It was a bit eye opening realizing just how much he relied on his quirk for movement and power in his strikes. And as much as he liked to believe in the strength of his quirk, he also knew that a strong, cold rain is all it could take to weaken if not just outright disable his quirk.

Izumi had actually had them test that in fact. They spent one afternoon sparring in the rain and it had turned out exactly as they thought. He could get some sparks, albeit weak and pathetic ones, but his explosions were almost completely neutralized as the rain washed away his sweat and the cold dampened his ability to create more. So, he needed to be able to fight without his quirk. He needed to be able to put power and speed into his strikes without the aid of his explosions.

His support gear offset a bit of his problems and he was already working with some pink haired sociopath on further improvements. She annoyed the shit out of him but he needed someone crazy enough to implement some of the ideas he had. He could also appreciate someone aiming to be the best.

“Are you ready to go?” Izumi walked up to him with her stuff packed away. “Himiko said that she and Hitoshi are at the gates.”

“Yea, I’m ready.” Bakugou grabbed his own bag and followed after the green haired girl.

A small smile graced his features as he felt the dull ache in his arms from blocking that kick.

She’s going to prove everyone wrong...including me.

“That kind of looked like one of Mirko’s moves, didn’t it?”

Aizawa rewound the footage and played back the axe kick in slow motion. Nemuri and Hizashi sat on either side of him as he reviewed footage from Midoriya training with Bakugou. It had been decided that Midoriya would be placed in 1-A and Shinsou in 1-B. The other potential students had been dropped from the transfer due to, as Nezu put it, ‘a gross lack of motivation to improve themselves further and beyond’. Aizawa found that he agreed when he and Kan compared notes on the activities of the students following the Sports Festival and them being notified that they were eligible for transfer. Only Midoriya and Shinsou continued to dedicate themselves to training both in and out of school. Nezu supplied the teachers with footage (they would never ask how) and they had taken to reviewing the progress of the Hero course candidates.

“It’s a bit rough but it’s definitely at least inspired by her.” Aizawa scratched at his stubble before replaying the clip one more time.

“How long has she been using the training facilities?” asked Hizashi.

“Since the beginning of the year, or close to it.” replied Nemuri. “She asked me if non Hero Course students could use the gyms. I check in on her and her girlfriend from time to time.”

“Wait! You mean thEY FINAlly--?!” The loud Hero was unfazed by the erasure of his quirk by his grumpy friend. “I’ve been waiting for something to happen! Oh, it must have been Toga, right? Had to have been.”

“Mhm~! Oh, it took everything I had not to start gushing when I noticed the change. I think they’re keeping it quiet for now but I’m so happy!” Midnight was bouncing in place along with Present Mic.

“Another successful departure from the harbor of love~!” They sang together.

“If you two are going to do this then you can leave.” Aizawa mumbled as he applied his eye drops. “I wonder why Toga didn’t also apply to the Hero course…”

“What’s her quirk?” Nemuri grabbed the blonde girl’s file and flipped through it. “Transformation: can take another person’s appearance, including voice...limit is one minute...reported feeling physically ill when overused when she was younger. Her last check up was at the beginning of the year and no changes reported.”

“Huh, what a shame.” Hizashi tilted his head towards Shouta, “That sounds like it would have been great for an Underground Hero.”

The resident Underground Hero only grunted as he quickly skipped through some footage of Toga and Shinsou sparring.

“Maybe she’s considering going into law enforcement? Why bother training otherwise?” Hizashi received a flick to the forehead from his female friend.

“It’s always good to know some self defense, especially for a young woman!” Her smile took on a more alluring tone as she continued, “ Plus, it’s a great way to stay in shape and maintain one’s figure.”

Aizawa tuned them out as he went back to the recordings. He had noticed that Bakugou seemed to be leading the pack when it came to sparring, especially when no quirks were allowed. There were many students who lacked any sort of formal training at all and then there were students who had either trained or developed their own style, but not using their quirk would throw them off. Bakugou might not have had formal training but he seemed to have developed a style well suited to his quirk but also still functional and effective without it.

He idly wondered if Midoriya helped him develop it after overhearing Bakugou mention that the idea for his costume and his gauntlets came from her. A fiercely analytical mind like that would be an asset all its own in the Hero world. Aizawa found himself feeling both ashamed that he could be so short sighted towards a student’s potential, but also somewhat vindicated by his decision to support her anyway.

You sometimes have to trust your instincts no matter how illogical they may seem.

This is so stupid…

Izumi slowly made her way using the directions given to her by Alexandre. They had her winding through the dark back alleys of downtown Musutafu.

This is so, so , stupid...but...I need answers…I have so many questions…

She became lost in her thoughts as she navigated her way using her phone. It wasn’t until she heard a cry for help that she was snapped back to reality. Once again her body acted without permission, rushing her forward towards the shouts. It was lost on her that the calls were leading her to her destination. She turned a corner to find someone laying on their back, deathly still.

A Hero…?

Their bright costume stood out against the dark background of the alley. Izumi nervously glanced around for any sign of the people who might have attacked the Hero.

If they could take out a Pro Hero then I doubt I could handle them…

Izumi cautiously made her way closer to the Hero, her footsteps alerted them to her presence.

“Who’s there?!” The gruff voice sounded out, though they continued to lay still on the ground. “Who are you?!”

Though startled, Izumi managed to reply, “I-I’m just a c-civilian...are you okay?”

A relieved chuckle escaped the man on the ground.

“I’m just peachy.” His reply dripped with sarcasm. “Some two bit villain got the drop on me and paralyzed me with his quirk. I need you to call 119...since I’m not sure what exactly his quirk did to me.”

“O-okay!” Izumi rushed over to the Hero, fumbling with her phone as she started to dial. “You’re--?!”

The sound of a phone dropping to the ground had the Hero sweating, concerned that whatever villain who had ambushed him had come back to finish the job.

“You’re Double Ironfist: Fullbody…”

Hearing that it was the same civilian girl who found him allowed him to relax and also bask a bit in being recognized.

Heh, must be one of my many fangirls. Maybe this day can end on a high note.

The girl in question finally stepped into his view and he had to admit, besides the eyepatch, she was quite the beauty. Perhaps a bit on the young side but that had never stopped him before.

“Listen, I understand the shock of meeting a famous Hero, but you can get my autograph after the meds fix me up. Maybe we can even finish the night off with dinner, on me.”

The girl just looked down at him and his confidence started to wane as he felt something off. The look in her eye wasn’t the admiration of a fan. It was…

Hate? Why would she hate me?

The teen stepped over his body before dropping on his chest. In any other situation he would be filled with anticipation but the look in her eye.

“Listen, I don’t know what your deal is but we can sort it out after you call an ambulance!”

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was starting to panic. Whatever quirk did this to him didn’t seem to be wearing off. He was about to start yelling at the girl before she spoke up.

“You killed my mom.”

That gave the Hero pause. He had no idea who this girl was, let alone her mother. Sure, sometimes people died in villain attacks but he couldn’t save everyone.

He wasn’t All Might after all.

“You and three other Heroes just stood by and did nothing while a villain held her hostage, ultimately resulting in her death.”

Now he remembered.

“You can’t blame that on me! He had a hostage, what was I supposed to--GRk?!” The fist that crashed into his nose hit harder than he would have thought considering the girl’s size. “B-bitch!”

Izumi could see his mouth moving but whatever he was saying was lost over the sound of blood pumping in her ears. Her breathing became erratic and her vision started to darken at the edges.

“You should have done your job.”

“Y-you’re crazy! I wasn’t the only fucking Hero ther--GUH!!”

The sickening squelch of his already broken nose echoed in his head. He still couldn’t move and his panic was full blown knowing that he was at the mercy of a psychopathic teen.

“G-GET THE FUCK OFF ME YOU PSYC--HRK!!” 

He choked on his words and blood as the third blow connected with his throat.

“I know all about all of you.” She punched him across the jaw. “None of you deserve to be Heroes.”

Her left fist crashed across his temple. Her right fist smashed in his ruined nose.

“Bribery, harassment, larceny, abuse of power, excessive force…”

Her left fist cracked his jaw. Her right fist loosened a tooth.

“Corrupt, all of you. You...you don’t deserve to be Heroes.”

Tears blurred her vision as she continued to pummel the man in a blind fury.

“You. don’t. deserve. to. be. Heroes!”

The alley echoed with the sound of her fists impacting flesh. All she could see was red as over a decade of hate, resentment, and rage spilled over. That dark feeling in her chest, that ominous presence that she could always feel in the back of her mind. The voice that whispered in her ear:

You can’t be a Hero. You are powerless. You are worthless.

Even after finding friendship and love with Himiko, the voice did not leave. Even after becoming just a bit stronger through training, the voice did not leave. Even after getting into U.A. and getting to the final round of the Sports Festival, the voice did not leave. The closer she got to fulfilling her dream of being a Hero, the more she would question herself. While the voice never left, what it would whisper began to change:

Do you really want to be a Hero? Why bother? Why save those who think you’re worthless?

Her doubts only became worse as she became more and more aware of the corruption and politics within the Hero community. Bribes and cover ups were plentiful and the number of complicit Heroes and officials was something Izumi still struggled to accept. And now, confronted with one of those corrupt Heroes, one of the people who let her mother die, she finally let go. She let go and accepted that she had already fallen into the abyss.

He’s not a real Hero. He deserves it. He deserves it. He deserves it.

She raised her right fist, bruised and bloody, and was about to bring it down before a hand flashed out and grabbed her. Izumi turned to the new person, rage in her eye, before she gasped.

“Stain…!”

The Hero Killer stood silent, his gaze shifting from her to the Hero on the ground and back. He pulled her up by the arm, off the Hero before letting her go and checking the Hero’s vitals. His face was beyond recognition, the left side practically caved in with teeth scattered around his head.

“He’s dead.”

Stain turned to face the girl, expecting her to be...something. Shocked, appalled, sickened. Something other than what he was seeing right now.

“Oh.”

Apathy. She seemed completely apathetic to what she had just done. Her one eye was glazed over, staring at the now deceased Hero like one would stare at trash littering the street.

“You killed him.” Stain continued to analyze her face. “You understand that right?”

Izumi looked up at the vigilante...or was he a villain...before looking back down at the man she just killed. She tilted her head in thought before looking back at Stain and shrugging.

“I...guess I didn’t mean to but...he was a bad person,” She kicked at his boots with her foot. “He was a bad Hero.”

She sniffled a bit, some tears finally rolling down her face.

“I guess this answers one of my questions though…”

Stain raised an eyebrow, his silence prompted her to continue.

“...I really can’t be a Hero now…”

The Hero Killer, Chizome Akaguro, stood by as the girl wiped at her tears. He had run into a lot of people in his time, both Heroes and Villains and everything in between. He had met narcissists, sociopaths, psychopaths, sadists, masochists, and every possible fucked up combination. Mix that with other mental illnesses, drugs, and alcohol and you often get rather chaotic results. The girl in front of him was far from being the most unstable person he had ever met, but something about how quickly and completely she was able to disassociate from the situation bothered him.

“I understand that your meeting with my young student was less than pleasant. He still has much to learn after all, but my business with you is unrelated and should align with your own goals rather well.”

The Hero Killer shifted warily in his seat, idly wondering if he made a mistake in coming here. His host continued, either unaware or uncaring of his guest’s concerns.

“All I wish for you to do is to be at a specific location at a specific time. A certain Hero will be there. Use your quirk on him and then leave, but stay nearby.”

“Why?” Stain narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“A test, for someone who I have found to have great potential. I wish for you to wait nearby. Your evaluation would be most appreciated.”

“Why should I help you with your games?” He didn’t have time to waste when there were fakes still breathing the same air as real Heroes.

“Hahaha, you are certainly not one to hold back. Truly refreshing. As I see it, you have nothing to lose. If she does not show up then you can simply remove another corrupt Hero from the world. If she does, I suspect you’ll find a...kindred soul, of sorts.”

“I don’t need any more useless ‘fans’. I have enough as it is.” The scowl that crossed his face was enough to pull another chuckle from his host.

“No, no. I wouldn’t call her a fan. I would say that she is very much like you and others in that she is a product of the failings of both the Hero system and society at large.”

“And what do you think you know about me?”

“I like to believe that I know a great deal about you...Stendhal.”

Akaguro clenched his teeth at the memory but quickly relaxed. As much as he might have despised that brat, his master was a force all his own. And he could not deny that he had been allowed to talk back and allowed to leave. If the vigilante turned Villain had refused to go along with this ‘test’, he had no doubts that he wouldn’t have lived past that final refusal.

“Why did you want to be a Hero?” The question left his mouth before he could catch himself.

“I wanted to help people...to save them and give them hope…” Izumi sniffed and furiously wiped her face with her upper arms, avoiding her bloody hands. “With a smile, like All Might…”

A kindred soul.

“And now? No one knows about this.” He kicked the leg of the dead hero for effect. “He’ll just be another kill to my name. You could still be a Hero.”

“That’s...that’s not right…” Her green eye focused on the deceased Hero’s face. “I wouldn’t...it wouldn’t be right…I don’t want to be like...like these Heroes. No regard for consequences…”

A product of the failings of both the Hero System and society at large.

Stain found himself reconsidering his initial misgivings before a dark, hazy portal opened. Izumi jumped in place, her skittish nature slowly returning as the adrenaline left her system. Her eye widened as she recognized the description given to her by Bakugou of a warp quirk used at the USJ attack.

“Ms. Midoriya, I am Kurogiri.” The mist villain bowed slightly before gesturing to the portal. “My Master, who you may know as Alexandre, is ready to meet with you, if you please.”

She almost hesitated, but she gathered her courage. There were questions that she had and she needed answers. Izumi would look back on this moment as a turning point. So many different decisions could have been made. She would never be sure what the right decision had been. But in the end, the decision she made would be hers. Her choice.

And she would face the consequences.

The Hero Killer watched as the young girl steeled herself and stepped through the portal. Kurogiri spared him a quick glance before stepping through and closing the portal behind him. A part of Stain wondered if he should have stopped her. If he should have warned her of what waited for her on the other side. A different part, however, was morbidly curious as to what might happen. Curious about what had just been set into motion.

“I guess I’ll just wait until he finds me again...”

Stain drew his sword and removed Fullbody’s head. No need to leave any potential evidence that could tie the body to the girl.

I guess I’ll be removing some heads going forward.

Toshinori was relaxing in his home, having used up his time for the day. He was about to take a drink of his tea before a dull ache in his chest stopped him. It wasn’t terrible and didn’t seem to be from his injury. He frowned as he rubbed his chest, turning to look out the window. While he was no stranger to pain, this was something different. He could almost hear them; faint whispers at the back of his mind. One of them sounded familiar but the harder he tried to listen, the quieter they became, until he was left with nothing but silence. 

Silence and a profound feeling of loss.

Chapter Text

Despite what many would believe, he was a simple man.

He enjoyed the basic comforts and never felt the need to live in excess. He enjoyed a nice, well tailored suit, but avoided the expensive watches or rings. He didn’t need to flaunt the extent of his wealth in order to intimidate or impress.

He didn’t need such useless trinkets to prove his worth.

He went by many names. He was called the ‘devil’ by some and a ‘saint’ by others, depending on which side they stood. He was called the ‘boogeyman’ of the Underworld, an urban legend used to scare the uninitiated. He was called the ‘Symbol of Evil’ as the current ‘Symbol of Peace’ rose to prominence. He was called many things over his many years, but despite everything, he was still a simple man.

His real name was forgotten to all but himself. But that was fine. It was his name and he didn’t need any fancy titles to know who he was or what he stood for.

And because he was a simple man, he could admit that he was also a flawed man. He had his pride; his ego. He wouldn’t deny the satisfaction of a plan well executed. The subtle rush from knowing he had outwitted all challengers. It was probably his most dangerous flaw.

Hubris.

He was self-aware enough, and intelligent enough, to admit to this. Many times he would choose the more complicated solutions to his many problems simply because he knew he could. Why simply kill a competitor when he could orchestrate their willing transfer of power to him? Why destroy a Hero when he can easily have them destroy themselves? With great power came an abundance of choice.

And more often than not, he would choose challenge over ease.

Despite his many machinations, his many schemes, and his grand aspirations, at his core, he was a simple man. However, continued success over decades and decades only exacerbated his flaws. The power and influence he wielded, the followers he gathered, the enemies he made; all of it built up his ego like a great tower. And the higher that tower went, the more he started to lose sight of where he started.

Where it all began.

“And who are they to condemn us?! To judge us as dangerous, yet lesser than them! They treat us like monsters despite our lack of choice in how we were born! No more! I refuse to bow down to those who would grind me beneath their heels if given the chance!”

The gathered crowd were mesmerized by his words; words that reflected their own feelings and experiences. They watched as the white haired man paced across the makeshift stage. His suit was threadbare and worn, but he stood proud all the same.

“I won’t deny them their fears. There are those among us who have chosen to use their powers for their own gain and we should condemn those who would do so! However, there are those of us who have recognized that the current system is ill prepared to deal with these malcontents and have risen to the occasion in its defense! And what would our leaders do? They would label them criminals unless they bend the knee! Vigilantes they’d call them! Those that come to their aid to defend the innocents are treated like Villains when they should be treated like Heroes !”

The man took a moment to catch his breath and allow his audience to soak in his words.

“Well, so be it! That’s what I say! If they wish to reject us? So be it! If they wish to push away those of us who wish to help? So be it! If they wish to label us Villains?! So. Be. It! Where they have turned you all away, I come to you to offer you a choice! Those of you who have been turned away because of your powers, lend me your strength! Those of you with no power, or weak powers, let us protect you! Divided, we give them the ability to control and abuse us! United, we stand as one to be the architects of our own futures!

So stand! Stand with your neighbors, your family, your friends. Stand together as brothers and sisters united as one!”

The crowd was in an absolute fervor, cheering for him despite not yet knowing his name. He should probably fix that.

“Some of you may yet wonder, ‘Why should we trust him, this stranger who promises the world, yet offers nothing but words?’. And you would be right to doubt me! Do not follow me solely on my words, but also on my actions!”

The man lifted his arms at his sides, letting black and white lightning crackle across his body.

“Those that wish to be a part of the change our world is currently undergoing, follow me!”

His muscles bulged and he seemed to grow another foot as wind and fire started to dance at his fingertips.

“With my power I can turn my words into action! I can give you all the future we deserve!”

The people in the crowd were awestruck, eyes widening at the display of what seemed to be multiple powers. 

Someone in the crowd asked, “What do we call you?”

The man thought for a moment. His name would be one that would go down in history, of that he was certain. But he wanted more than just a name…

...he wanted a legacy .

In a moment of inspiration, a certain book came to mind, as well as the specifics of his power. He almost chuckled.

Two birds with one stone , he thought to himself.

He let his powers swell before cutting them off completely.

“All for One!”

He was pulled back to the present by the familiar whirl of a portal opening before him. A quick smoothing of his suit had All for One leaning back in his chair. Slowly of course, since quick movements were a quick way to become extremely uncomfortable these days. The girl of the hour stepped through the portal, hunched and nervous. Completely different from how she was mere moments ago as she beat a Hero to death with her bare hands.

His research into her background was extremely revealing, even when there were those who tried their best to hide the truth. It was ironic to him, how the tables had turned. At the dawn of quirks, those with powers were the minority and struggled to find their place in the world. Now, those without powers, the quirkless, were the minority. And his own experiences painted a clear enough picture and filled in the blanks of how one Izumi Midoriya was treated throughout her life.

Her school records were highly sanitized, though he was able to easily piece together most of the incidents of bullying and who the culprits were. A lot of her grades were also questionable. It wasn’t until middle school that she started receiving proper credit for her academic abilities. One Katsuki Bakugou also started taking a more active role in stopping bullies. His efforts seemed unsuccessful though, considering the major incident that led her to meeting her friend, Himiko Toga.

All for One had kept an eye on her and had considered it an unfortunate recruitment loss when she had been taken into the Bakugou household. But now, the likelihood of her following Izumi into the fold was very high. The vampiric girl came off as someone who loved deeply and that kind of loyalty could not be easily broken.

If only Tomura could inspire that kind of loyalty on his own.

Izumi quietly took a seat at the table while Kurogiri poured out some tea for the both of them.

“T-th-thank you…” 

So polite, even in the face of such danger. All for One suppressed a chuckle.

Even though her body was hunched over and nervous, her eye was clear and focused. She was quickly taking in her surroundings, sweeping her gaze over the abundance of medical equipment in the background as well the computers and servers. Her eye met what would have been his own and he could practically hear the gears turning away in her exceptional mind.

Why does he need this equipment? Backlash from his quirk? An injury? Both? How powerful would a quirk need to be to cause this backlash?

Those were just a few of the myriad of questions and speculations that started to spill out of her mouth as she looked down at her cup of chamomile.

Fascinating. Truly astounding.

While he was content to let the young woman continue, he figured that theirs was a conversation long overdue.

“Ahem. While I find your analytical abilities remarkable, I believe that you are here to...have some questions answered?” He brought his own cup of tea to his mouth. Small sips only.

“O-oh, um, I-I uh, s-sorry.” The greenette paused to take a deep breath as she turned her cup back and forth in her hands. “Um…”

“Do not worry about offending me, Izumi. If you ask a question I do not wish to answer, I will tell you as much.”

The highschooler nodded before taking another calming breath.

“A-are...are you a Villain…?”

“Yes.”

No hesitation.

“Why?”

All for One nodded his head slowly, a hum of approval sounding out. Most people would usually recoil from the idea that they were talking with a villain, even if there was no hostility at first. 

“Well, in order to properly answer your question, I’ll have to start at the beginning.” The masked man leaned back, just a bit, in his chair. “Tell me, what do you know about the Dawn of Quirks?”

“Um...there’s not a whole lot of information available from that period of time...” She slowly turned the cup in her hands a few more times before continuing. “I can’t be sure how much was just lost in the c-chaos or how much is part of...of cover ups and sabotage but...I do know that it wasn’t...a very nice time.”

“No, no it was not. When the first quirks started to appear, people responded in the usual ways. You had the extremists, raising these new ‘meta-humans’ up as the next step for mankind, or in some cases, as literal gods. And on the other end, condemning these people as dangerous; as monsters. Mutation quirks definitely took the brunt of that line of thought.

“Then you had the various governments and their agencies hoping to gather as many of these new super-powered humans for themselves. Some were more forceful than others, resorting to blackmail or threats of violence. Others were able to use misguided patriotism to rally quirked individuals to their side.

“And finally you had the individuals and private groups, the category I fall into. Motivations varied, ranging from wanting to stay under the radar to avoid trouble and breaking out into the open in order to defend ourselves from the turbulent times. The earliest Villains and Heroes would come from this category. Villains saw the opportunity to take what they wanted and wreak havoc with their new powers. The Heroes, who would come to be known as Vigilantes or even Villains once the Hero Commission was established, were those people who rose up in response to the first Villains. They would protect their neighborhoods and cities, clashing in often brutal combat. The first Hero-Villain fights were very much bloody battles to the death in most cases.

“I believe this is due to the raw nature of the first quirks. We’ve since had many generations of mutations and evolution to temper quirks to be easier to handle, both in use and on the body. Back then, quirks were often uncontrollable and dangerous, even lethal, to their users if left unchecked. A good number of deaths were purely from accidental quirk discharges, passive quirks that simply wore away at the health of the person, and active quirks that would destroy a person's body at full power.”

Izumi, at this point, was entirely enthralled by such a detailed retelling of an era lost to time. Her tea long abandoned, her fingers twitched for something to take notes with. Her mind was abuzz with theories on how generations of quirks were refined. It definitely made sense with what she knew to be true currently. If a child received one of their parents' quirks, it was usually stronger. If they received a combination it could vary. Mutations that resulted in entirely new quirks also varied but tended to be more extreme in those variations, ranging from extremely weak to overwhelmingly strong. And of course, there were methodical ways to control the progress and outcome of quirks but she preferred to put those kinds of thoughts out of her head.

“How do you know so much?” The question popped out of her mouth before she could stop it.

“I know because I lived it.” He took another sip of his tea while she processed.

“A longevity quirk…?” Izumi’s mind filtered through all the possible known quirks that could keep someone alive well over two centuries.

“Close but not quite.” The amusement was clear in his voice.

She pondered on that for a while longer before asking her next question. “What should I call you?”

“Ah, forgive me. We’ve been exchanging correspondence for so long that it slipped my mind. As you know, my online handle is just that. My enemies and allies know me by my chosen title: All for One.”

“...like that book about those three men?”

“Haha, yes! I am surprised someone as young as you is familiar with it. It is a particularly...old book.” All for One could barely contain the pleased tone in his voice.

“I...um, I may have done some research on your username...out of curiosity…” She trailed off as she realized how stalkerish that sounded and started to fiddle with her tea cup once again.

“As you should. Despite our living in a world of super human power and achievement, there stands a truth that has survived the tests of time.” The masked man leaned forward in his seat. “Knowledge. Information. Secrets.

“Knowing all that you can.

“Having as much information as you can.

“Learning the secrets of those around you as well as being able to safeguard your own.

“There is no challenge, no opponent, no obstacle that cannot be overcome with enough information. With information and knowledge and wisdom comes the ability to prepare. And with the ability to prepare you can be ready for the unexpected and dominate what you know is coming.”

“Is that why you would quiz me on fights between Heroes and Villains? And different disaster scenarios?” Izumi furrowed her brow as she started to think back on all of their conversations which she now realized were very much like lessons.

“Indeed. Your analytical skills are simply fascinating. The speed with which you can break down a situation is impeccable.” The super villain couldn’t help but gush like a proud parent. “And your ability to analyze quirks may put you among the top minds in that field.”

“O-oh, I...I’m not that...that great. I-It’s just…” She tried to fight down her blush while taking another sip of her tea. “It’s just...a hobby…”

“And that is what makes you exceptional. I’ve already started you on the path but imagine what you could achieve if you applied even more of your significant intellect into your analysis skills.” All for One rose from his chair and started to pace, just a bit. “I am branded a Villain by the Commission and society for my various crimes, but what about their crime of allowing such potential to be wasted?

“And that is why I have asked for you to meet with me. I wish to give you the chance to cultivate your skills and become more than what you believe you can be. More than what the ignorant children and adults in your life have tried to tear you down to. More than what society tries to convince you of.

“I wish to give you the tools and the resources to reach your peak. I wish to help you achieve what you’ve always wanted.”

“What I’ve always wanted…?” The quiet whispers in her mind came to a stop, as if expecting an answer they have been waiting for.

“Yes. I do not presume to speak for you but through our talks and seeing you during the Sports Festival...and speaking to you now, in person? I believe that what you want is the same as what I want. It is the same as what many people who have had to suffer and fight their way from the bottom want. I believe that because I can see myself in you.

“I can see a person who wishes to fight against the injustice and unfairness of the world. To rise up as a symbol to lead others towards a better future!”

Izumi could hardly breathe as she listened to his words. Words that seemed to resonate with her very being.

“What you want...is change!” All for One reached out his hand before clenching it into a fist. “What you want is to see the world that would deny you, and those like you, change for the better! To see the injustice of corrupt power defeated!

“Is that not why you looked up to Heroes in the first place? To the masses, Heroes are a beacon; a symbol! They are the light in the darkness that promises safety. But even Heroes are not infallible. The public forgets that they, too, are people. They hold their own biases and prejudices and are just as susceptible to corruption and greed as the average person.”

“I-I…” Tears pooled in her eye as she tried to process what she was hearing.

All for One took as deep a breath as his equipment would allow before settling in his chair. Even that short time standing and speaking put a strain on him.

“Of course, I could be wrong. But that is what I believe and so, I ask you two things: what do you want? And how can I help you?”

The silence after those two questions seemed to drag on for ages.

“I...I want…” Izumi placed her hands on the table before slowly closing them into fists.

“Do not hesitate. Do not be afraid of appearing selfish or greedy. Think about what you want.”

“I want...to change…” She squeezed her eye shut as she forced out the words, fighting against all of her doubts and insecurities.

“What do you want to change?”

“EVERYTHING!”

Izumi slammed her fists on the table, knocking over her tea, before jumping to her feet.

“I want to change everything ! I want to change the way people view quirkless people! I want to change the way people view quirks in general! I want to change the Hero system! I want to change everything!

“I’m tired! I’m tired of pretending to be okay! I’m tired of having to work so much harder than everyone around me and still being doubted. I’m tired of trying so hard just to get into the Hero Course when I know that once school is finished...once I graduate...I’ll have the whole world working against me…!

“I’m tired of how unfair everything is...I’m tired of having to fight just to prove I’m worth something...I want to change it all...I want to change everything…”

All for One leaned back in his chair and threaded his hands in his lap as the young girl calmed down.

“And how can I help you?” His voice was soft. “What do you need?”

The silence returned as Izumi sat back down in her chair. A few more moments passed before she had her answer. The look on her face as she leaned forward brought a smile to his face.

Himiko rocked back and forth quietly on Izumi’s bed. She had come in during the night for some cuddles and discovered the empty room. Her girlfriend had been acting strangely for a while and this was a major red flag for her. Her shy, nerdy, cinnamon bun didn’t just sneak out into the night.

Not like me.

A soft windy noise started to fill the room. She had been sitting in the dark to avoid attracting any attention in case someone else was up this late. Holding her breath, Himiko tried to sit completely still, her muscles tensing as a dark portal opened in the middle of Izumi’s room. She was shocked to see the girl in question stepping out of the portal before it closed behind her. The smell of blood instantly hit Himiko’s nose, causing her eyes to widen. The faint bit of moonlight entering through the window. She quickly, but silently made her way from the bed to Izumi.

“Himi--?!” Her startled cry was cut off with a deep kiss before she was pulled into a bone crushing hug.

“Izumi, where were you?!” Himiko hissed.

She patted the smaller girl down a bit, taking in the blood stains, and making sure none of it was hers. The heady feeling of the scent of all that blood was making it harder and harder for Himiko to focus.

“I-I’m sorry, Himiko. I’ll explain...everything to you but first I...I need to ask you something.”

The serious look on Izumi’s face gained her attention.

“You can ask me anything, Izu…” Himiko brought her hands to cup the shorter girl’s face. “...you know that, right?”

“I...I know but this...this is different. I finally know what I want to be...what I want to do and...I don’t know how yet, I’m...I’m still working on that, but what I do know is that I can’t do it without you…” Izumi covered the hands on her face with her own. “What I want, no, what I need to do won’t be easy...it...it won’t be good...god…”

Tears started to slip down her face.

“It isn’t fair to ask this of you but I...I just can’t do this on my own...not without you.” Izumi closed her eye and took a deep breath before continuing. “I have to ask you...will you come with me? Do you...trust me? Trust me with everything…?”

Himiko searched Izumi’s face for something. Some sign of what was going on behind that emerald eye. Her golden eyes brightened at what she saw.

“I trust you with everything and more.” She pulled Izumi into another kiss, softer this time, before hugging her. “Nothing could stop me from following you; from being with you. Nothing at all.”