Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a snowy December night when the car arrived, shiny and new, reminding him of a toy. It did not belong to any of the residents of the apartment, not to any contractors, not to the landlord who so rudely refused to give him more toys.

He watched with interest as the headlights shut off and three people emerged. A short green-haired woman, a tall curly-haired man, and… No, it couldn’t possibly be. It had been so long…

A child.

Oh, how long it had been since he had last seen the fresh innocence only children held. 

A young round face, freckles, green eyes, and curly green hair. Izuku Midoriya.

That night he finally got to work on a new toy.

Izuku was not happy with the move.

He understood it was a good opportunity and the extra money his dad would make would be good for them, but he wished they didn’t have to move prefectures away from the family he was close to and live in an entirely new place where he didn’t know anyone. It was winter break, so he wouldn’t start his new school until the new year, something his mother constantly said was a good thing.

“A fresh start for the New Year,” she told him with a smile on the long drive there.

The new apartment certainly didn’t look like something someone with a raise would live in. The pink paint was peeling, the roof was covered in moss and tiles were loose. He wouldn’t have been surprised if they found rotting wood and mold inside the walls. Then there were the withered trees and bushes, nothing like the garden in the pictures.

“I’m sure it’ll all grow back in the spring,” his father said when he pointed it out.

Looking over the new apartment was entertaining for bit. It was larger than their old one, just shabbier. It had been a day since they arrived and while they did have an impressive amount done, boxes still littered the rooms.

He helped his parents for a bit and was eventually excused to go unpack in his own room, but after a while, the silence began to feel eerie. He didn’t want to call family back home and admit he missed them. He was in his last year of middle school already, he couldn’t cry to them the way he used to. But he missed having people to talk to.

He decided to go on his phone for a bit, deciding that the noise it brought might be a comfort. Then he saw there was no internet.

“Mom,” he called out as he walked out of his room.

“She’s working. What do you need?” his dad asked from he was setting up the new kitchen table. They ate their breakfast on the floor earlier that morning.

“She’s working already? We just got here last night,” Izuku said, trying not to sound whiny. His mother had worked less than his father until recently when she decided to put in more hours. He missed being able to talk and spend time with her the way he used to.

“She has to work from home now that she can’t go to the office and she’s paranoid her work will slip up because of that. So don’t bother her when she’s working,” his father warned sternly.

Izuku nodded, not letting his disappointment show on his face. “I won’t. I was just wondering why the internet isn’t working.”

“What do you mean? It’s working just fine.”

Izuku checked his phone, which was still connected without internet.

“Huh, that’s weird,” which was the beginning of his dad’s mutterstorm about internet connections and phones.

Izuku had the same habit, though his tended to be about manga series he really liked. In the end, his phone was given back to him after a half hour of fiddling and still no connection.

“You’ve had this for a while, so it could have just stopped working the way old things do. I’ll try again tomorrow when I have some time before we get a new one though,” his dad explained, already turning back to the table.

“How am I supposed to talk to everyone back home now?” Izuku asked, upset.

His dad sighed, not turning from the table as he answered, “We’ll get it working again. In the meantime, why don’t you talk to the neighbors or explore the area? Not many people these days wander the woods you know.”

Izuku left before his dad could start going on about “kids these days” and decided to take his advice and meet the neighbors. Maybe there was another lonely kid his age he could make a friend with. His constant chatter about the things he liked made him off-putting to others, so he had never really had friends.

He wandered outside and immediately lost all train of thought when he noticed a black cat cleaning itself at the end of the stairs. Its long thick fur was full of grass and dirt, it had a scar on it’s face, and was missing an eye and a leg, its remaining eye a piercing gold.

“Here kitty, kitty, kitty,” he cooed, slowly making his way down the stairs.

The cat took one look at him and bolted. Izuku chased after him, surprised at how fast the cat could run.

The cat eventually ran into the woods at the border of the property, it’s black fur easily blending in with the shadows. Panting, Izuku was going to make his way back home when he heard a squeal, like a hinge in need of oil.

He looked up the hill to see a person, their face covered with a motorcycle helmet, atop an old bike dressed all in black. The figure gestured toward him and began peddling down, which might have looked funny if he weren’t so scared. Izuku tried to run but tripped and fell in the mud.

The bike stopped next to his fallen body, and he heard the squelch of black boots in the mud. Finally, the person took the helmet off and Izuku was met with a blond boy that had to be around his age.

“Who the fuck are you and why are you trespassing?” the boy demanded.

Izuku sat up and slid away slightly from the boy’s glare. “I’m not trespassing!” he yelled, waving his hands around his face, “I-I-I live here. I just moved in!”

The boy raised a brow. “Really? Gramps doesn’t rent to families with kids. How old are you, ten?” he scoffed.

“I’m fifteen!” Izuku said indignantly. Then he realized, “Wait, how do I know you’re not trespassing?”

“Didn’t you hear me? I said my Gramps rents the place out. Technically, I’m not supposed to be here without him but I’m fifteen now, I don’t need his supervision,” he said.

Izuku stood up and wiped the mud off his pants. “Well, it was nice to meet you whoever you are, but I’m going back home.”

“I’m Bakugo Katsuki, soon to be greatest doctor in history. You should be glad you’ve met me now before I’m famous for curing cancer.”

“…Right. Okay. Nice to meet you, I’m Midoriya Izuku and I really need to go back-”

A movement in the shadows caught his eye and he saw the cat again. He gasped, drawing Bakugo’s attention.

“Is he yours,” Izuku asked. They both wore a lot of black after all.

Bakugo snorted. “Nah, that cat’s a pussy. Watch this,” he cupped a handful of mud and threw it towards the cat. It landed about a foot away from the cat but it still yowled and jumped back.

“PUSSY!” Bakugou shouted again with a slight laugh then turned back to Izuku. “Anyway, I guess I’ll be seeing you around,” he said, jumping back on his bike and peddling away.

Izuku nodded and said goodbye, quickly making his way back to the house, unaware of the three-legged cat following.

Izuku had an odd dream where all he saw was darkness and he heard an odd mouse-like squeaking coming from behind a small, closed door that glowed a slight white. The keyhole leaked a mysterious red light and the squeaking grew louder…

 It all made sense when he woke up to a mouse next to his pillow. He screamed and ran out the room, still in his pajamas, to see his father cooking breakfast.

“Quiet! Your mom is working,” Hisashi hissed, glancing at the door that led to her office.

“Already? It’s seven in the morning on a Saturday. Who works at that time?” Izuku whispered as loud as he could.

“You ran out screaming at seven in the morning on a Saturday. Not something most people do either” his dad pointed out.

“There was a mouse on my pillow. It was right next to my face!”

“Did it bite you?”

“Well, no but-”

His dad sighed. “Listen Izuku, I know it’s tough, but we have to make the best of this situation. Here, have some breakfast.”

He was handed a bowl of gray slop that may have been rice porridge. He wrinkled his nose, also missing his mother’s cooking.

“I think I’ll go talk to the neighbors,” he said, handing the bowl back. Maybe one of them would help out with the rat problem.

The sky was still dark, and he was immediately attacked by freezing air that easily seeped through his thin pajamas.

“After I get dressed,” he added, turning around to go back to his room.

Now properly dressed in a long sleeve, jacket, pants, and boots that wouldn’t slip on the frost that had appeared on the wood, Izuku carefully made his way downstairs and knocked. Having just moved in yesterday, he wasn’t sure what to expect of his neighbors and wasn’t very successful in hiding his reaction when he saw the man who opened the door.

He was so tall he narrowly avoided hitting his head on the door frame, a few strands of blond hair barely brushing against it, and even then, it was only because of his hunched back. He was so thin Izuku could see his bones and his blue eyes seemed to glow from where they were shadowed in his face. Despite all that, he had a wide and comforting smile as he greeted the boy who had jumped back slightly and barely held back a scream.

“Hello! You must be one of my new neighbors.”

He nodded and stammered out an introduction. He heard barking coming from the inside and was greeted by a black French bulldog trying to jump on him.

“Paris Smash! Down boy, down,” the man said, frantically calling the dog over to him.

“No, no, it’s okay, I like dogs,” Izuku reassured, leaning down to pet the dog and almost getting headbutted as it tried to jump up and lick his face.

“Well, he likes you, so that’s a good thing. Would you like to come in for tea?”

He accepted the invitation, almost tripping over the dog as it rushed around him barking and trying to lick him. The man, who introduced himself as Yagi Toshinori, handed him a cup of tea, apologizing for his lack of cream and sugar.

“It’s fine, I don’t really like milk or sugar in green tea anyway,” Izuku reassured. That was a lie but he didn’t want to make Yagi-san feel like a bad host.

“I’ll have to buy some more anyway. The fellow upstairs likes cream and sugar as well. Have you met him?”

“No not yet, we just moved in yesterday. Is he nice?”

“Very. A little odd and obsessed with mice, but he’s a kind person.”

“Does, does he own any mice?” Izuku asked suspiciously.

“Plenty. When he finds a mouse, he takes it in. They’re all his pets.”

Izuku glared at the table, remembering his earlier scare. “Well, one of them got out and decided to sleep next to me. I had a weird dream because of that.”

Yagi-san laughed. “I guess animals must really like you, my boy. What was the dream about?”

“It was really weird. I heard all these mice squeaking, which makes sense now, that’s not the weird part. The weird part was this door. It was all dark but the outline of the door was glowing white and it had a keyhole but that was glowing red for some reason. And the squeaking was coming from behind the door, and I was getting closer and closer to opening it, but I woke up before I could. What do you think it means? Um, Yagi-san?”

Yagi-san stared at him with his jaw open, his teacup trembling in his hands. He started, bringing the tea to his lips and avoiding eye contact. “What a weird dream indeed. I say you should be careful. You may never know what lies on the other side.”

Izuku was taken aback at the sudden seriousness of his tone. “What if there’s something good behind that door?” He wasn’t sure why he was asking, but it was too late now.

In answer, the man stood up and rifled through the shelves in search of something. He knocked over a few old VHS tapes, which Izuku quickly picked up.

“All Might’s Amazing Adventure,” he read.

“Oh, those old things. I used to be an actor, though that was long ago. I retired after a car accident where I lost several important organs. I was no longer considered attractive enough for the previous roles I loved, so I decided to quit and rest on my laurels,” he explained, popping the tape into the player.

Judging by the quality of the movie as it began to play, Izuku deduced it must have been around thirty years ago. He watched as a tall, young, buff, blond man appeared on the screen with a familiar pair of hair tufts.

“Yes, that was me thirty years ago. The accident happened soon after the movie was released. I played other roles, but my most famous, and my favorite, was my role as a superhero named All Might for the Hero Academy movies.”

Izuku gasped at the name, remembering how the mangaka of his favorite series had cited those movies as one of his main sources of inspiration. He was about to unleash a barrage of questions on the poor old man, but was interrupted by a loud shout from above.

“HEY BABY-FACED NERD! I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU!”

Izuku would have ignored him had it not been for that last sentence. Now he was curious about what Bakugo could have and worried that his shouting would disturb his mother. He hurriedly said goodbye to Yagi-san and Paris Smash and ran out the door, not hearing the man’s shout.

“Young Midoriya, wait I-” the door shut, “…have something for you,” he finished taking out the stone the cat had given to him after the last time.

Hopefully, the boy would still be in the world tomorrow.

“Fucking finally,” Bakugo said as he saw Izuku walking up the stairs, “I thought you ran after that pussy cat again or something.”

“How do you know where I live?”

“The middle apartment has been empty for a while, so obviously you would have moved into this one. I’m not a dumbass like you.”

Izuku sighed. “Why are you here?”

“Gramps asked me to look through his closet for some old photo album he wanted to look at, which is how I found this,” he said triumphantly, pulling out an old cloth doll.

Its hair was curly and green, with freckles on its face. Its outfit looked like a simplified version of the clothes Izuku had worn the day before, in a blue T-shirt and jeans, with red shoes. The creepiest thing about it had to be the eyes. Something about the green button eyes unnerved him.

“This thing has to be fucking sixty years old, and it looks just like you. I figured you should have it,” he explained, handing Izuku the doll, “A Doll Izuku. Deku,” he laughed.

Izuku ignored the comment, too focused on the doll. It was filled with sawdust, making it heavier than it looked. He squeezed it, feeling a warmth coming from it. Probably from when it had been held earlier. “Uh-huh. Won’t your grandpa notice the doll is missing?”

Bakugo snorted. “The man doesn’t even notice he’s not wearing pants unless someone points it out. He won’t miss some old doll. Anyway, I gotta go or I’ll miss my stupid fucking music lessons.”

He peddled away, leaving Izuku standing outside alone with the doll. He shivered, suddenly feeling cold and quickly walked inside. By now it was lunch, and his father had cooked again, though now his mother was sitting at the table. He sat down, putting the doll right next to his plate. Neither of his parents batted an eye.

“So… I had a weird dream last night,” he began. His mother was hurriedly shoveling food while his father looked at something on his phone. Okay, that wasn’t working.

“Hey Dad, how’s my phone doing?”

It took him a few moments to look up. “Oh yeah. I hate to spend money unnecessarily so if I still can’t get it to work by the time you go shopping for the new school, we’ll just buy a new one while we’re there.”

Izuku nodded along, watching him go back to his phone while his mother finished eating and went back to her office.

“Mom-”

“I have a big project that’s due soon. I can’t talk right now Izuku,” she told him, not turning or even slowing her pace.

He sighed and took the doll. It felt a little childish, but it also made him feel less lonely as he showed the doll around the house. At least the doll paid attention to him.

When he went to sleep, he decided to put the doll right next to him, where the mouse had been earlier that day as a sort of guardian. His parents hadn’t bothered to say goodnight, his mother busy at the computer in her office while his father was still up working on some other part of the house.

“Goodnight Deku,” he said, green button eyes the last thing he saw as he drifted off.

Izuku woke to the sound of skittering. The room was completely dark except for a red glow coming from the closed door, illuminating the silhouettes of a few mice, dragging Deku away.

“Hey wait,” he shouted, running after the mice.

The doll stared at him, eyes unblinking and smile unwavering, though the strings holding it together were starting to become frayed. The mice ran faster into the darkness where he could no longer see them, only a trail of sawdust that Deku must have left behind.

He followed it blindly into the dark, the dust somehow visible in the pitch black as it led him to a small door with peeling wallpaper. The same door as his last dream. Again, the keyhole shone with a red light, sawdust falling out of it. As he got closer, the stream of sawdust stopped and the door slowly creaked open.

Deku fell out of it, completely drained of sawdust and button eyes pulled out.

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up with a small shriek, looking to his pillow where Deku sat, still in the same position he had been placed in last night. Panting slightly, he grabbed the doll, noting the warmth, as if someone had been holding it.

“Did mice try to get you?” he asked, smiling as he took the doll to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Maybe a mouse had been using it as a pillow before leaving.

Yellow counters that were once white, peeling wallpaper, (what were hopefully) water stains, and too much grout for comfort were what made up the bathroom. The doll was carefully placed next to the sink, watching and listening as he told the doll about the dream he had last night. No one else would listen.

The breakfast table was only set for two. Izuku sat down, placing the doll next to his plate.

“Your mom ate early,” his dad explained.

Izuku stared at the poor attempt at omurice and debated his chances on the Mouse Man upstairs being hospitable enough to serve him tea and cake. He took a bite and decided it would be better to go hungry.

“I’m going to go talk to the neighbors again,” he said hurriedly, grabbing Deku and running out before his dad could ask any questions.

“Wait, when did you get that doll?” his dad asked, too late as the door shut behind him.

Izuku knocked on the blue door, wondering if the person inside could even hear him with the music playing. It wasn’t too loud on the outside, a muffled melody through the wood, but inside it could be loud enough to cover up the sound. His worries were for naught as the door swung open, revealing the man inside.

He was muscular and incredibly tall, just a bit shorter than Yagi-san, though his hair, fluffy light blue strands seeming to float upwards, and his straight posture made him appear taller. He wore a pilot jacket and yellow goggles, holding a baton in one hand.

“You must be the new neighbor. Though I must say, you seem a little young to rent your own apartment.”

“I’m not - Well, I am - I mean the apartment isn’t mine, but I do live here. It’s my parent’s. My parents are the ones paying rent and they live here too,” Izuku stuttered. His plan had been to confront the man about the mice, but now that he was facing a human being and not his doll, all his confidence and the speech he prepared vanished.

The man laughed. “It was a joke kid. What’s your name?”

He nervously tightened his grip on the doll. “Midoriya Izuku.”

“Shirakumo Oboro. What brings you here?” At the same moment he asked, a mouse popped its head out of the pocket of his jacket.

“Um…”

He followed the boy’s eyes to the mouse and smiled. “Oh, this cutie? This is Himiko, she’s our little escape artist. She wants to meet everyone but not everyone is ready to meet her.”

“Was she the one who was in my room yesterday?” Izuku asked, staring accusingly at the blonde mouse.

“Probably. It doesn’t help that all the mice seem to be obsessed with that apartment. If I had known, I would have taken it and you could have moved up here,” his expression shifted but it was quickly replaced with a smile before Izuku could even decipher it, “But my lease wouldn’t let me. Besides, the mice like this apartment better. They’re all very intelligent, so I’ve been training them to do tricks.”

He was curious about what kind of tricks mice could do, but not curious enough to change the subject. “Why are the mice so obsessed with my apartment? Is there anything I can do to make them not obsessed?”

Shirakumo looked nervous, taking a step back. “Well, I wouldn’t call it obsessed per say. There’s just something there that’s enticing them is all. If it were gone, they would be happy to stay here. But I don’t know what it is and you shouldn’t go looking for it. It could be dangerous,” he warned.

“Wouldn’t it be more dangerous for the mice to leave the apartment with a cat on the loose?” Izuku challenged.

“You met the cat?” he asked loudly in shock, causing Himiko to go back into the pocket. He paused to comfort her and continued in a more measured tone, “You should be careful. It’s bad luck to cross paths with a black cat.”

“You’ve crossed paths with it though. How else would you know what color the cat was?”

He was in even more distress now, covering the pocket with his hand as he yelled, “Don’t follow the mice!”

The door was slammed in Izuku’s face.

Izuku didn’t want to bother his neighbors too much, like how he bothered his parents, so he went back to his apartment and made himself an early lunch. He would need the fuel for the next part of his day, which was completely disregarding the man’s warning and searching for what was attracting the mice.

“He implied that this has been happening before we moved in, and we don’t leave food lying around anyway. Maybe it’s something that smells like mouse pheromones? What even smells like that?” he muttered to the doll in his hand as he wandered through the silent apartment.

His dad had gone to work, and his mom was still in her office. Maybe he could ask her for help? She used to help him with things all the time before they moved, from school projects to whatever hobby he had decided to be interested in for the month. Then a week before his parents even started planning to move out, his mother sprained her ankle and when she returned from the hospital, she seemed distant. He tried to give her space, but he missed his mom.

“I don’t know, do you think I should ask Mom?” he asked the doll. 

He was taking laps from the kitchen to the living room, which were separated by a space of plain wall between them. During one lap, he heard a small squeak and saw a mouse scrabbling at the wall.

“Himiko!” he called out, spooking the mouse. 

She skittered away but he didn’t chase after her, instead he looked at the portion of the wall she had been scrabbling away at. Her small claws had caused some tears in the old wallpaper, revealing dark wood. Looking closer, he saw that there was a faint outline behind the wallpaper. When tracing his finger along it, he felt a small lock.

“It’s a door!” he said to Deku, who felt warmer than usual. He must have held him for too long. “Whatever is behind it must be what’s attracting the mice. That’s it, I’ve gotta tell mom.”

The doll grew colder after he said that, but he paid little attention to it as he ran to his mother’s office.

“Mom,” he said, panting slightly, “I figured it out, you’re never going to believe this-”

She slammed her laptop shut and spun around to face him. “What Izuku, what is so important?” she snapped.

He took a step back in surprise at the anger in her tone. “I-I- The mice. I figured out what the mice want.”

“And it couldn’t wait until I was done?”

“Do you want an apartment full of mice eating our food,” Izuku snapped back.

He regretted it immediately, but rather than get angrier, she sighed. “Show me.”

He led her to the wall, explaining everything he had been told by the man upstairs. “There’s a lock so we need a key to see what’s behind it.”

Inko sighed and made her way to what they called “the old junk drawer”. It was full of small old things they found in the house that Hisashi insisted might be useful one day. She sifted through rusty screws, crumpled papers, and buttons, when one of them caught her eye. Unlike the other buttons in the drawer, this one was shiny and black. When she took it out, she realized it was a key.

She used the key to tear the wallpaper around the door and then put it in the lock. Izuku held his breath as she twisted the key and he heard it unlock. The door slowly swung open… Red brick blocked it off.

“Looks like your father is going to be picking up mouse traps on his way home,” Inko said, dusting herself off as she got up from the floor.

“What?” Izuku wasn’t the biggest fan of the mice, but hurting someone’s pet didn’t leave a good a taste in his mouth. “There’s gotta be something we can do. If we just tear the brick down-”

“And get kicked out for vandalism? If that man can’t keep his mice under control, then he doesn’t deserve them!” She yelled, stomping back to her office.

Izuku glared at her retreating figure until she was gone, then went outside, slamming the front door shut on his way out.

The cat was at the bottom of the creaky steps. Its eye focused on the doll in Izuku’s hand, hackles raised, and teeth bared as it growled. Normally, he would be a lot more patient but his frustration with his mother boiled over and spilled onto the cat.

“Bakugou was right, you are a pussy,” he yelled, throwing the doll in a way that would purposely miss but still go close enough to spook it. It yowled and ran away.

In his anger, Izuku forgot that some of the earlier snow and frost had melted, creating a muddy earth. When he went to pick Deku up, he saw the doll was covered in mud, and though he tried to wipe it up, it was clear that he had stained it.

He cursed and blinked back hot tears as he went back inside to try and wash it off. Then he remembered he had no phone to look up how to wash it, because he knew a machine would tear it apart. He taped a note on his door saying he would skip dinner and not to bother him, something he rarely did and was always respected.

He wanted to be angry and scream and shout, but looking at Deku’s mud-covered body, he couldn’t do it.

“I’m sorry Deku. I shouldn’t have done that to you.” It felt weird to apologize to the doll, but he couldn’t talk to his mom, and he didn’t know where the cat went. “I was just angry at Mom. She’s not normally like this but I don’t know what changed and that makes me angry. I just want her to talk to me again.”

He flopped onto the bed, putting Deku in his usual spot. He meant to only take a short nap, but he soon found himself drifting into a deeper sleep, the kind that felt as if he were floating away, completely unaware of the shadow at his window.

Chapter Text

Scritch, scritch.

The mice were being annoying again, scratching at his doorway. He grabbed Deku and ran after them, chasing the mice away. They ran until they reached the small door in the wall, which was no longer blocked off by brick but instead open to reveal a dark tunnel that glowed a soft red.

He followed the mice down the tunnel, which was strangely warm and damp. Rather than a light on the other side, it only seemed to grow darker and darker until even the light fur of the mice was no longer visible in the dark. He leaped after them and found himself falling, surrounded by nothing but a warm pitch black. 

Izuku turned and covered his ears with a pillow, not quite ready to deal with the morning yet. He could feel a ray of sunlight warming up his body despite it being the middle of winter and got up with a sigh, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep.

“Huh,” was all he said, staring at the room.

His room was mainly empty. They had set up the bed and some of the larger furniture, but he hadn’t had the time to fully unpack yet. His room was bare with peeling white paint, empty shelves, and a maze of boxes he had to step around.

The room he woke up in was the complete opposite of that, with perfect white paint, a clear floor, and shelves and walls completely decorated with everything he had bought with him. Most of which were memorabilia from his favorite manga series.

He turned to the doll beside him, who was still stained.

“Too bad my dream couldn’t fix you,” he said, deciding that this was in fact, a dream. It had to be.

He remembered the scratching sound that had woken him up earlier and wondered if that meant the mice had broken into his room in the real world. Again. He grabbed Deku and walked out of his bedroom, wondering what the rest of the dream was like.

The white paint of the rest of the house was perfect and any wallpaper was no longer peeling but looked as if it had just been put on. The old wooden floors shone, and the carpet looked as if it had just been bought. All the boxes were gone, the living room perfectly decorated.

He took a deep breath and smelled something he hadn’t had in a while. He ran for the kitchen and saw his mom looking over a sizzling pan.

“Mom,” he greeted happily, running to hug her.

She turned around and he froze in his tracks. He hadn’t been able to tell with her long green hair covering her neck and usual long-sleeve shirt, but her skin no longer looked like human skin, instead having an odd fabric-like quality to it. There were even visible stitches around her mouth, keeping her lips in a smile. However, the thing that surprised him the most, were her eyes.

“Mom, your eyes, the-they-they’re b-b-bu-bu—” he stuttered, unable to finish his sentence from the horror he felt, seeing her dark green button eyes.

“Buttons?” she finished for him in her usual kind tone he rarely heard these days, “Why of course they are. What else would they be?

He stuttered through another answer, when the door opened, and his father walked in. Except, it wasn’t. Like his mother, he also had buttons for eyes, red ones, though the rest of him seemed normal.

“Smells delicious,” his not-father complimented, then turned to Izuku, a too wide smile spreading across his face, “And Izuku, you’re here! I was worried you would be late for dinner, then it would be all cold.”

“Who are you?” he asked, clutching the doll tighter. It had gone from warm to hot.

“I’m your father of course.”

“No you’re not. My father doesn’t have buttons for eyes.”

The man smiled. “I’m your Other Father. May I?” he asked, reaching for the doll.

Izuku gave it, still holding onto hope that this was all a dream. Other Father waved his around the muddy stain. It faded away, leaving no mark.

“All fixed. Now go sit down, it’s time for dinner.”

Izuku barely had the time to admire his completely fixed doll before he was ushered into a chair. The table had seemed to grow twice as long to accommodate all the food it held. From sides of rice and soup to a fully cooked pig with an apple in its mouth. Speaking of fruit, the platters of sliced fruits and vegetables seemed mouthwateringly perfect with not a single spot on them. The crown jewel of the meal, however, was the dish his mother finished preparing.

She put the plate of katsudon down at the opposite of the table and he watched in amazement as it spun around to him.

“Well go on, eat. You wouldn’t want it to get cold,” his Other Father said in amusement on his left. His Other Mother sat on his right, staring at him expectantly.

He tentatively took a bite, unsure of how dream food might taste. To his surprise, it tasted exactly like his real mother’s katsudon, something he hadn’t had in months.

“It’s amazing,” he said between hurried bites.

“Well, there’s more where that came from. Have some steak. There’s some onigiri. Oh, how about some oranges,” Other Father said, putting each item on his plate. “Don’t be shy, there’s more where that came from. We have an entire garden of food after all.”

“We do?”

“Of course we do. Inko manages it. She’ll have to show you sometime, for now, it’s time for dessert,” he said.

In two blinks, the two quickly stripped the table of all the food, including his half-finished plate, and his Other Mother came back carrying a cake. She set it down on the table and gave him a hug that he gladly returned. Her skin was fabric, but she was so warm. He hadn’t hugged his mother in a while…

Other Father lit the candles on the cake and turned to ruffle his hair, something he gladly leaned into. He looked at the cake, which was mostly blue except for some words in red icing.

“Welcome Home,” he read aloud, confused.

Other Father put a warm hand on his shoulder. “You’re home now. We’ve been so lonely, waiting for you to come here, but now we can spend time together, as a family.”

“Really?” Izuku asked excitedly.

“What do you want to do first? We could watch a movie, or go out to the garden, there’s a piano we could play.”

“I can’t play piano.”

“I can teach you.”

The cozy light of the chandelier reflected off of Other Father’s button eyes, reminding him of where he really was. He backed away nervously, clinging to the doll for support.

“Um, thanks, but I really should be getting back to my other father.”

He pouted. “But I’m your Other Father.”

“My other, Other Father. I’m sorry, but they really will be worried about me,” he said, backing away but feeling too nervous to turn his back and run.

Other Father sighed. “Alright but let us put you to bed.”

Izuku nodded and the Other Father took his hand and lead him back to his room. Other Mother tucked him in and kissed his forehead, while his Other Father tucked his doll in. It felt a bit childish, but when was the last time he got so much attention? When was the last time they even looked at him with anything other than annoyance.

He sighed, feeling the Other Father’s hand on his forehead as he drifted into sleep.

Izuku woke up to a cold, empty room with peeling paint. He looked at the maze of boxes he would need to step over to reach the one with his clothes in it and sighed.

Then he turned to his doll. His perfectly clean doll. Not a hint of a stain on it.

“It was real!” he cried in disbelief, practically leaping out of bed.

He tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground with a loud thud. As he got up, the door opened to reveal his father, his real father, standing there with a plate of… Something.

“Oh, you’re up. We were starting to get worried. But please, be quiet your mother is working. We just talked about this yesterday,” Hisashi said, annoyed. He looked at the plate in his hands and remembered, “Oh yeah, I made breakfast. You’re going to have to microwave it, but the eggs will still taste good.”

He looked at the black goo on the plate, trying to figure out how his dad somehow managed to burn and undercook eggs at the same time. He thought back to the feast he had in the other world and sighed. He took the plate and thanked his dad, thinking he would leave after, and he could throw the food out the window.

“Before I leave, remember that your mom wants to take you out shopping for your new school. You’ll be leaving before lunch, so I guess you two are eating out,” he said, shutting the door behind him.

Izuku hugged Deku closely. “Finally, food that won’t make me gag. You’ll be staying here though. I don’t want you to get dirty again.”

He could have sworn the doll seemed almost sad and cold when he said that, but he shook that thought away. Instead, he quickly got ready for the day out with his mom. This was the first time in a while they would be spending time together and he couldn’t help but feel just a bit of hope.

Chapter Text

Izuku had woken up at seven, which unfortunately left another five hours until it was time to go.

“At least we have some time to spend together,” he said, trying to sound optimistic as he stepped outside with the doll.

Wanting to hear more about the old movies he had learned about the previous day, Izuku decided to visit the old man downstairs. The moment the door opened, Paris Smash jumped on him, trying to reach his face on stubby bulldog legs.

“Young Midoriya, thank goodness you’re here. I had something I needed to give you,” he said, handing him a rock.

It was a small rock, easily able to fit in his pocket. It was muted in color, as if it had once been gold but time had sanded it down to a smooth beige. The triangular stone had a hole in the middle, about the size of his eye.

“Um, thank you,” he said, wondering if the old man was going senile.

He laughed. “Not what you were expecting, huh? It’s an adder stone. Since ancient times they’ve been used for warding off evil. It’s good luck, so keep it on you,” he warned, his tone oddly serious at the last part as he poured some tea.

Izuku nodded nervously, putting the stone in his left pocket. It was also the side where the doll was on. It fell on the floor and Paris Smash took one sniff before backing away, growling and hackles raised. He apologized profusely as he picked it up and kept it high above the dog, close to his chest.

“That doll is your spitting image. Where did you get it?” Yagi asked, his voice straining to sound casual.

“It was a gift from some kid who lives around here.”

“Who?”

Izuku blanked. “I think it was, uh, Baboon? No. Bombyougo? No. It started with a B for sure,” he muttered to himself, trying to remember.

At that moment, a shout rang through the air. “HEY NERD!”

“Bakugo,” Toshinori said, sighing. He was a good kid at heart but he really needed to learn the art of timing.

“Yeah, that was it! I should go see what he wants,” Izuku said, apologetically backing away.

He ran up, feeling annoyed at once again being interrupted while talking to the former actor.

“Did you need anything?” he grit.

“Did you see the cat last night? He normally comes to me for dinner, but I didn’t see him.”

Izuku remembered how he had thrown the doll at the cat. Had he scared it that much? He opened his mouth to admit what he had done, only to notice a shadow move. No, not a shadow, it was the cat.

“There it is!” he pointed.

The cat regarded them with a lazy golden eye as he padded across the withered, muddy grass, to reach a muted patch of sunlight on the concrete sidewalk.

“Oh.” Bakugo looked disappointed for a moment, as if he had been hoping for an adventurous search, before his usual arrogant look came back. “Well, thanks for nothing then.”

“I’m the one who pointed it out! You didn’t do anything.”

“I asked!”

“And I answered. Your head is so far up your own ass, you can’t see anything other than the shit coming out of you! If I hadn’t pointed that cat out, you would have never seen it!” Izuku shouted, stomping back up to his house before anything else could happen.

It was only when he lay down on his bed did he begin to feel guilty. That was a rude thing to say and definitely not something his mother would approve. But…

“Would she even care at this point? Probably not,” he sighed, clutching the doll for support. “I mean, I’ve barely seen her since we got here. She used to check up on me a lot. It was kind of annoying, but I miss it now.”

He checked the time. It was 8:30. Just three and a half hours and he could spend some time with his mom again.

“Maybe things will go back to normal after this,” he said hopefully.

Twelve arrived and Izuku was standing eagerly by the door while his mom got her keys.

“New school, new supplies,” his mother said, more to herself, as they left, though a small smile did appear.

Izuku sat eagerly beside her, trying to think of something to say. Hey Mom, why have you been so rude and snappy lately? Not the best conversation starter. He ended up staying silent until his mother spoke.

“We should get lunch first. I know your father isn’t the best cook,” she said apologetically.

He nodded in agreement, tempted to add something about how he missed her cooking, and she hadn’t cooked in weeks, but decided not to bring down the mood. She still wasn’t back to her usual self, but it was clear she was trying and he was going to try and appreciate the effort.

Neither of them knew anything about this new town, including the restaurants, so they stopped at a familiar chain restaurant for a light lunch.

“This place is pretty good,” Izuku commented after taking a bite of his sandwich. Of course, the place was from the same company as the old one they frequented, but still.

“Yes, it is. D-Do you have a list for what you need?” Inko asked, a little awkward.

He politely ignored that. “It’s pretty much the same stuff we had to get when I first started. Pencils, notebooks, that kind of thing.”

“Okay. I also want to get you some new clothes.”

“But my old ones fit me just fine,” he said in confusion, “And the school already sent us some uniforms.”

“It’s a new place. I think we should get some new clothes to celebrate that,” she said in a tone that implied it was not up for discussion.

“Alright. And my phone? I thought we could get a new one since Dad still hasn’t gotten it to work.”

“I was thinking about it, but it feels like such a waste. It worked just fine before we got here, but I promise that if it’s not working by the time school starts, we’ll get a new one.”

He nodded reluctantly and opened his mouth to make a snarky comment about how maybe his phone not working was a sign when the waiter came with the bill. That gave him enough time to think and decide it wasn’t worth it. They hadn’t even gotten the supplies after all.

In the store, he had more time to think. After his visit to the other world last night, seeing his mother with her real eyes and human skin felt jarring. He kept glancing at her, half expecting to see the florescent lights of the store reflecting off button eyes.

Then his mother smiled as she showed him a pencil case based off his favorite manga and he pushed the thought away. His Other parents were nice but this was his real mother. She had just been busy was all.

It felt as if she had never been busy though, they easily fell back into their usual patterns. He would excitedly point out what seemed interesting to him and she considered whether or not they could get it, though most of the time, they did. It was nice, spending time with her.

Then they got to the clothes section. He picked the things he normally did, clothes with awful puns or with the characters from his favorite manga (it was a popular one) but one shirt caught his eye. A black T-shirt with a graphic white design that looked like a stitched up smile across it. It reminded him so much of the other world, he was tempted to get it.

His mother saw the shirt he was considering and shook her head. “No. It’s too creepy.”

Admittedly, he had only been considering it but, “It’s not that bad,” he argued.

“I don’t want it in my house. Put it back,” she snapped.

He grumbled and put it back on the rack. “Bet my Other Mother would have let me get it,” he muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly, walking ahead to another aisle.

Other Mother. That was what that had sounded like, but that was impossible. She must have misheard. You don’t deserve them. She felt her vision blur, the white walls and harsh lighting of the store becoming a hospital room with a glaring nurse looming over her. Then Izuku called out for her to look at a shirt that read “dress shirt”. She pushed the thought out of her mind and went to her son.

In the rack behind them, a woman with light green hair and matching eyes was ruffling through the clothes. She came across the shirt with the stitched smile and stared at it for a moment, considering. Then she felt a soft tap on her shoulder.

“Excuse me,” a man’s voice said, “May I take a look?”

She stepped aside to let him look, marveling at how tall he was, though his face was hidden behind the shadow of a hat. He took the shirt off the rack and turned to smile at her. She didn’t even have time to scream. In less than a blink, they were gone.

Inko and Izuku obliviously continued their shopping, a little tenser than before. On their way out the store, neither would notice the bloody, lifeless, light green eyes rolling onto the concrete behind them. No one would, as they were soon squished by a car when they rolled onto the road.

Izuku felt awful. How could he let a shirt ruin the good mood his mom had? The one good mood she’d had since they moved here! Though he did think she was more snappy than usual. Even if she didn’t like a shirt he picked out, she never jumped straight to “put it back”.

He tried to ignore that, but the rest of the trip was still tense. By the time they got back, the sun was setting. (Which meant it was four in the afternoon. Thank you, December.) When they opened the door, they were greeted with the scent of burned rice and platefuls of food that was both burned and gloopy.

Apparently, his father had decided to try and make a meal in the rice cooker, like he’d seen on the internet. He didn’t put in enough water and somehow managed to make the monstrosity that now sat on their plates. Inko went right to her room, claiming a headache.

Already feeling bad about upsetting his mom, Izuku sat down and took a few slimy, crunchy bites. He thought he deserved an award for not gagging and spitting it out. Then he claimed a large lunch and went to his room.

Maybe it was the sun setting early or the tenseness of earlier, but the moment he saw his soft bed, he suddenly felt exhausted. He curled up in the blankets, clutching Deku for support.

“I messed up again. It was going really well, but now we’re back to where we started. I just don’t know what to do. At least Other Mother was nice. Way nicer…” he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up in the Other world, surrounded by merchandise that he had yet to unpack in his world. He eagerly jumped out of bed, taking Deku with him to talk to his Other parents.

Again, his Other Mother was cooking something on the stove. She turned to smile, and though the button eyes did make him take an automatic step back, he was too caught up in her smile to fully register the fear. She was happy to see him.

He eagerly sat down just as his Other Father came in and they were both served with a feast just as large as last time.

“Don’t eat too much Izuku,” he cautioned, “You don’t want to be tired when he comes to visit.”

Izuku, who had already eaten half the plate after skipping dinner, quickly swallowed a large mouthful to ask what he meant. He didn’t have to as the doorbell rang, and his Other Father got up to answer. Curious, he followed and saw a familiar head of blond hair on their doorstep.

“Ba— Bah!” he shouted as the Other Bakugo came fully into view. Like his mother, his skin looked as if it were fabric and he had red button eyes, but the thing that surprised him the most was the mouth. It was in a smile that looked unnatural on someone who constantly grimaced, lips closed and stitches at each corner of his mouth.

“I thought you might like it if he couldn’t talk. Too loud anyway,” his Other Father laughed, practically pushing him out the door before he could ask what he meant.

The door slammed and he was left alone in the dark with the living doll.

“So, got any ideas on what to do?” Izuku asked.

He shrugged and pointed down to where Yagi’s apartment was. Wondering what the man would look like, he headed down the steps, Bakugo just behind him.

The moment he opened the door to the apartment, he knew it wouldn’t be like anything he could imagine. It was a giant theater, with rows and rows of seats all filled up by the same French bulldog, as if someone had cloned Paris Smash hundreds of times. The two walked to the front, where there were two empty seats, and sat down as the curtain opened.

A platform opened and he could hear the gears squeaking and turning below as a figure slowly rose up. It was too dim to see the man properly and only a very tall and muscular silhouette was able to be seen. He struck a pose, with one fist raised and finally two spotlights shone on him, illuminating the man.

It was a doll version of Yagi-san, but of his younger self from when he used to be an actor, wearing nothing but a red cape and matching speedo.

“I AM HERE!” he announced.

Izuku wasn’t sure if he was supposed to laugh or clap. 

A monster, clearly made of wood, rolled in and he punched it to pieces. Not metaphorically, but literally. His fist connected with the wood and turned it into splinters. Izuku clapped loudly as he bowed and candies rained down from the ceiling, the curtains closing once more.

As they left, Izuku heard a familiar and noticed a small blond mouse rushing past. Forgetting about Other Bakugo, he chased after it, up the stairs to Shirakumo’s door.

The door swung open on its own and the mouse swiftly crawled in, Izuku and Other Bakugo right behind it. The apartment was set up with what looked like a miniature circus. There was a tiny circle of seats around a section of floor that was set up with things like a tightrope and a trapeze.

The Other Shirakumo appeared in a cloud of dark purple smoke, wearing a ringmaster’s outfit.

“Welcome to the Circus of Mice! For our first act, we have our knife thrower, Himiko!”

The blond mouse they had followed scampered to the center where a bucket of toothpicks made to look like knives were. She took one in her mouth and threw it at the target. It landed perfectly.

As a reward for her trick, Other Shirakumo gave her a piece of vibrant fruit, which she gladly took in her mouth before scampering off as the next act was announced. A magician mouse named Mr. Compress who could juggle marbles.

When all the mice had finished their acts, the two left with smiles and cotton candy stuck to their mouths.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten so much. I think Mom mentioned having dessert after this. Do you want to come in?” he asked. Maybe he should have found it strange that he was closer to a doll version of a real person, but this doll was kind and not annoying. Of course he preferred it.

To his surprise, Other Bakugo scowled and shook his head, taking a step back. He was confused but shrugged it off and headed inside. “Alright, it’s your loss.”

Other Father was standing just out of range from the door he swung open, ruffling his hair and giving him a smile. He smiled back and walked inside to the delicious smell of a freshly baked cake. He would miss the murderous glare his Other Father gave to the frowning doll.

Back in the real world, Izuku had a terrible day. Something that was becoming normal now.

He didn’t see his mother until dinner that night, when his father managed to coax her out of her office. He had skipped breakfast and lunch and was too hungry to skip a third meal, though he knew he would get a feast in the Other World, he couldn’t fall asleep and get there if he was awake from hunger.

He planned to silently eat just enough he could sleep, but then his mother spoke.

“Izuku, school starts soon. Do you have everything ready?”

He jumped in surprise but nodded carefully, watching her strain to smile. (Other Mother didn’t have to strain.)

“I just don’t want you bringing nothing but action figures,” she said, her smile growing a little less strained at the memory.

If he were normal, he would have laughed along with her. Maybe said something sarcastic about how he knew better now. But things weren’t normal. All he could think of was how much better his Other parents were. They actually spent time with him and gave him food that didn’t make him want to throw up. Why did he even have to be here with them?

He stood up, shoving his plate away. “Maybe I will since it’s not like you’re going to be here to check! You’re never here anymore and honestly Mom, I think I like it better without you,” he shouted, stomping away to his room.

Inko got up, stared at his retreating figure for a moment, before running to her room in tears. Hisashi looked at the empty table and sighed as he cleaned up their plates.

Izuku was finally full after yet another meal from his Other Mother. His Other Father suggested he go walk it off while he prepared a surprise.

He walked through the garden he had been told Other Mother cared for. His real mother also liked to garden but she had yet to do something with their yard. This yard seemed well-cared for and full of beautiful flowers despite it being winter. From camellias, hydrangeas, and violets, to snapdragons and even entire trees.

He admired a plum tree, which was in the early stages of bearing fruit, when he saw a shadow move. A pair of gold eyes that seemed to glow in the dim light of night were staring at him. He jumped, feeling his heart rate increase as the shadow jumped as well, until it fully stepped into the moonlight and he realized it was a cat.

“Oh, you must be the Other Cat,” he laughed.

“No. I’m the same as I ever was,” the cat responded in a deep voice, making him jump. The cat seemed to smirk, “Not a pussy now, huh?”

He stuttered something, but even he couldn’t tell what he was trying to say. The cat sighed and began to make his way out the garden, Izuku following behind him.

“I’m the same cat as in your world, but for some reason, I can talk in this one. I figured I should warn you against coming back.”

“What, why? This place is great.”

“For now. But that thing loves to play with no regard for his toys. You should leave and stay away, before it’s too late.”

Izuku had more questions for the cat but just as he tried to follow it, he heard his Other Father shout.

“Izuku, your surprise is ready!”

He took one last look at the woods where the cat had gone before running over. Other Father put his rather large hands over his eyes, the skin strangely hard and cold, like metal. 

He was led to the dinner table and he carefully sat down. Other Father sat next to him and pushed a small, flat gold box with a glittering bow over to him.

“Well? Go on, open it.”

With his Other Parents on each side, waiting with such warm smiles, Izuku eagerly lifted the lid off the box. Inside were a pair of large black buttons, a needle, and a spool of white thread.

“What’s this?” he asked, feeling something in his stomach drop. The air seemed to still as Other Father smiled widely.

“Your new eyes of course. In order to stay here with us, I’ll need to sew buttons into your eyes.”

Izuku’s heart was running a marathon inside his chest. His Other Parents continued to smile calmly at him. “So, if I let you sew buttons into my eyes, I’ll get to stay here, forever?”

“That’s right. No going back to your old home, full of misery and woe. You can stay here with us.”

“But, what about my parents? My mom and dad—” he gasped and flinched as Other Father reached up and gently cupped his chin, the light glinting off his red button eyes in a way that reminded him of fire.

“Izuku, I am your father,” he said his kind tone not quite masking the steel beneath it.

He nodded nervously. “Yeah, right, of course. It’s just uh, this is a big decision. I-I think I need to sleep on it,” he said, while slowly backing away.

“Of course, Son. We’ll be waiting.”

Izuku ran to his room, gasping for air. He locked the door, half expecting Other Father to materialize any moment with the needle above his eye. He turned and buried his face in the pillow, clutching the Deku doll tightly and trying to slow his breathing. In the morning, he would wake up in his world and follow the cat’s advice to never return again.

He felt his eyelids twitch after a few hours in peaceful sleep and quickly shot up, excited for the first time to see his blank wall and rows of boxes.

The posters and figures were still scattered in their neat pattern around the room. The floor was clear.

He was still in the Other world.

Chapter Text

Inko sobbed into her hands.

“He was right. I’m never there. I can’t be there for him like I was. I’m terrible,” she sniffed as her husband patted her back while they lay in bed.

“It’s not your fault. Considering what happened…” he trailed off, not really sure how to continue. It was painful for both of them, but Inko especially.

“But it is my fault! I should be handling this better, but instead I’m lashing out at my son.”

She stared down at her stomach. She missed how happy their family had been, how easy things had been until last month. She would have been in the end of her first trimester by now. The picture of the ultrasound done at the two month mark was kept carefully hidden in a small box in her closet, along with everything else that had to do with the baby. 

Hisashi had been ecstatic when she told him and the two had planned to tell Izuku along with everyone else in the family at the weekly dinner her mother hosted. Being 40 years old put her in the high risk category, but she still hadn’t expected to miscarry the day before the dinner.

She was at work when it happened. She knew exactly what was happening the moment she felt that first awful cramp. The cramps were accompanied by blood dripping down her legs. Tears blurred everything and she wasn’t sure who called the ambulance, but the next thing she remembered was laying in a hospital bed and being informed her child was gone.

Her clearest memory was what the nurse said to her as she lay in the hospital bed, processing the news.

“Really, it’s a good thing you miscarried. It’s a sign that you aren’t going to be a good mother. You clearly have some bad habits that you need to fix first.”

It took her a moment to respond. Even then all she could muster was, “But, I already have a son. He would have had a sibling,” she cried again at the thought.

“Then he must have been a mistake. You don’t deserve them. Or any more children until you fix yourself. The excessive crying is probably the first thing you should work on.”

She kept those words to herself, played them on repeat with every action she did. She knew she was messing up and with every mistake, she retreated further into her work, which had been kind enough to allow her to work from home.

Only Hisashi knew what happened and he agreed not to tell anyone. She told everyone she twisted her ankle, but the weight of the lie and her own failure made being around everyone even more difficult. A week after the ordeal, her husband got a promotion and the offer to move to a different prefecture.

 Instead of being a good mother and caring for her son while he dealt with the move, she hid away and ignored him or made things worse between them.

“Inko, I think you should tell him what happened. Not all of it, but I think he deserves to know that you didn’t suddenly decide to ignore him one day. That there was a reason behind it.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to put this all on him.”

“So we let him keep thinking that his mother decided to ignore him one day? There’s a difference between asking him to understand and…”

She began to tune out the rest of her husband’s argument as she stared at the dresser next to her side of the bed. The large mirror attached to it was a normal mirror. It was dark in their room, but it should have still reflected them. Instead, it was completely dark, like a TV screen. As she continued to stare, the middle began to grow foggy, as if someone had exhaled on the glass. The fog spread and the mirror almost seemed to ripple.

Hisashi had stopped talking, staring at the mirror with apprehension. They both tensed as the fog reached the corners of the glass, mirror rippling. Then a piece of metal, with scraps of fabric and stuffing clinging to it, reached out.

They didn’t have time to scream.

Izuku clutched the Deku doll to his chest, trying to count his breaths. Or count how long he breathed? He couldn’t remember. It was all he could do to lean against his nightstand for support as his knees weakened in horror.

He was still in the Other World. Did that mean he was too late? No, he couldn’t be. The Other Father had said he needed buttons sewn into his eyes before he could stay forever. He had to think. There had to be another way to get out.

He stared at the bed and suddenly, the memory of waking up with a mouse in his face popped into his head. The mice who were always trying to get through that little door. Of course! That door had to be the only other way to go between worlds.

The only problem was that to get to the door, he would have to go past the kitchen where the Other Father was sure to be waiting with the buttons. What if he caught him and sewed the buttons in? No wait. If he wanted to do it by force, he obviously could have. It was clear the Other Father had some kind of power, but all power had limits. Maybe it was like vampires, who couldn’t enter a home without permission, except he needed permission to sew buttons in his eyes. As long as Izuku didn’t give in and ran quickly for the door, he should be fine.

Doing his best to hold onto the drop of confidence he had given himself, he straightened up and marched for the kitchen.

Still sitting there was Other Father, though Other Mother was noticeably absent. Upon seeing him, Other Father smiled warmly, though it didn’t reach his button eyes. And had he grown taller since last night?

Izuku ignored that and took the offered seat, staring tensely at the open box.

“Now that you’ve had some time to think it over, I think it’s time we got to talking. I mean, there’s so much decision to make. You can have the eyes in classic black, or maybe they could match your pretty green, or even my red,” as he spoke, the buttons switched to the colors he named, “But really, there’s any color you want. Pink, blue, chartreuse.”

“No thank you. I don’t want buttons in my eyes,” he said as confidently as he could.

Other Father looked at him in surprise. Then he chuckled in the way people did when trying to smooth things over. “Izuku, you can’t stay here without buttons in your eyes. I understand the pain may be off-putting, but it’s really a little pinch and then you can stay here forever.”

He gulped nervously. “I don’t want to stay here forever. I want to go back to my family.”

“Izuku, I am your family.”

“No, you’re not!” he said so forcefully it surprised himself, “You’re just some shallow copy of my real dad. He and my mom are a thousand times better than you.”

That was as far as he got in his speech before Other Father’s face changed. He grimaced, not in a normal human way, but his mouth stretched farther and deeper than a human’s ever could. “I see I’ve spoiled you too much.”

He got up from his chair and Izuku ran for the little door. He made it a few steps before those cold hands grabbed him, lifting him up by the scruff of his shirt.

“YOU’RE GROUNDED!”

He was thrown backwards, in the direction of a mirror. He braced himself for a crash and for glass to pierce his skin, but instead he went through it, as if it were made of Jell-O and landed on concrete.

The other side of the mirror, like in a story he had once read. Though unlike the story, this mirror led to a dark room and grimy room. There was a dirty mattress atop a rusty, bent iron frame that dipped to one side, a single frayed blanket for warmth. Maybe it was all the stone, but he really did feel colder.

He sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands as he began to panic, his quick shallow breaths visible in the cold air.

“Don’t be scared Mister,” a small voice said eventually.

He jumped off the mattress, looking around for the source. “Hello?” he asked. It wasn’t as if there were many hiding spots in the small room.

A white wisp floated up and through the mattress. Then a red one. Then a blue one. Each one solidified into the shape of a doll-like boy.

The one who glowed white seemed to be the youngest and and was missing a hand, stuffing on the verge of spilling out. The one who glowed red had short, slightly wavy hair and tears in the fabric of his face, and seemed to be around eight. The blue one looked to be the eldest at eleven with large singes on the fabric of his body.

Each of them had buttons for eyes.

“All For One got you two huh?” said the white one.

“All For One?” Izuku repeated.

“The one who threw you in here. Don’t feel bad, he’s gotten all of us too,” reassured the red one.

“He gave us wonderful things and told us everything we wanted to hear. He would use the dolls to gather information. When he asked to sew buttons in our eyes, of course we said yes. We wanted to stay forever and we have,” the blue one sighed.

“He would play with us and give us all the attention we wanted afterwards, but he plays too rough. Something would go wrong and when we weren’t interesting enough anymore, he would throw us away,” said the white one, his young voice filled with pain someone so young shouldn’t know.

“That’s awful,” Izuku said, “But you’re ghosts aren’t you? Can’t you just, float through the door to escape?”

They shook their heads sadly. “All For One has great power,” the red one said, “So long as he has our eyes, our souls are stuck here. If you can find our eyes and take them with you to the real world, we’ll be free.”

“Okay then, I’ll do that. When I get out of here, I’ll find all six eyes!”

They shook their heads. “One eye for each of us,” the blue one corrected, “The rest of our bodies have been destroyed, except for a single eye.”

Izuku shuddered at the thought of how their bodies might have been destroyed. “Alright then, I’ll find all three eyes. I just need to escape first. Any ideas?”

They shook their heads. The blue one scoffed. “If we had figured something out, do you think we would be here?”

Izuku sighed, sinking to the floor. He couldn’t let All For One sew buttons into his eyes but he also couldn’t waste away until he became a ghost. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, holding onto the useless spy doll, when the mirror rippled.

He scrambled back as someone began to enter, staring in horror at the red plastic button eyes. His eyes adjusted and he was horrified for an entirely different reason.

It was Other Bakugo, but instead of just the stitches at the corner of his mouth, his entire mouth and part of his cheeks had been stitched up to form a permanent smile.

“Wha-What happened?” he said, forgetting he couldn’t talk.

The white ghost sighed. “It looks like he pulled a long face. All For One doesn’t like long faces.”

Other Bakugo extended his hand, using the other to make a “sh” gesture. Izuku slowly got up.

“You’re helping me?”

He nodded.

“But,” he turned to the ghost kids who all smiled encouragingly.

“Go ahead Mister, get out and grab our eyes,” the red one said.

Izuku took a deep breath and looked at the three of them. “You got it,” he said, grabbing Other Bakugo’s hand and jumping through the mirror.

Strangely, Other Father hadn’t caught them at all and Izuku easily reached the small door. He quickly crawled through the warm, glowing red space and slammed the door shut behind once he made it out.

“MOM! DAD!” he shouted, running for their room. He threw the door open, only to find it empty, the blankets were thrown aside, as if they had gotten up and left.

He searched the rest of the house, throwing open every door he could and calling for them. Living room, kitchen, bathroom, even his bedroom, they were all empty. The car was still parked in the parking lot, so there was no chance of them going out on a late night drive.

He felt a flash of warmth and suddenly realized he was still holding the doll. The doll All For One used to spy on him, the never-changing smile mocking him.

“You did this. You took my parents from me!” he shouted at the doll, “You should have stayed muddy!”

There was a knock at the door. He ran, wondering if maybe his parents had just gone on a walk. Instead, he was met with the sight of the real Bakugo, who seemed unhappier than usual.

“Hey nerd, I need that doll back. Turns out, my grandpa did notice it was gone. I guess it belonged to his friend who went missing sixty years ago. So, give it back. …Please,” he added as if that word physically hurt to say.

“That’s it! That’s who the ghost boy was! There’s this guy, this thing, behind a door but he’s not a doll and not human and he lures kids in using dolls like this! He used this doll to lure your grandpa’s friend in and sew buttons into his eyes,” Izuku said, gasping for air.

Bakugo did not look convinced. If anything, he seemed weirded out. “Ugh fine, keep the damn thing,” he said, quickly jumping on his bike and peddling away.

Izuku sighed. He supposed giving back a cursed doll wasn’t good but, “How do I get rid of you?”

He heard a meow and looked down to see the cat. Once he had his attention, the cat walked inside the house as if he owned the place and led him back to the small door.

“Oh. I guess the best way to get rid of this, is to give it back.”

The cat nodded. Izuku gulped and steeled himself before opening the door to reveal the red glow in the darkness. He crawled in, shuddering despite the warm humidity of the tunnel, the walls seeming to wrinkle and relax in a way that reminded him too much of a throat.

“Ah, this is much better,” said a familiar deep voice, “You’re a smart kid but it’s easier to communicate like this. Now listen, you want your parents back right?”

“More than anything.”

“Then ask to play a game. That thing loves games. If you can beat it in a game, you should be able to ask for your parents back as a prize.”

He nodded. They reached the Other Door and opened it, crawling back into the Other World. The cat ran off and he was left to go to the kitchen alone. Some help.

He felt as if an anchor was tied to each of his ankles as he walked to the kitchen where All For One was waiting, standing at the head of the table with two glasses of water.

“Izuku, welcome back. Have you learned your lesson yet?” he asked, as if he were three and not fifteen.

He put the doll on the table and took a deep breath, trying to get his thoughts in order. “I want to play a game.”

All For One seemed to perk up at the thought. “Oh, what game? Monopoly? Candyland? Uno?” he said, each game appearing on the table as he said its name.

“A treasure hunt. If I can find the eyes of the ghost children and my parents, then I get to keep them and leave peacefully.”

“And if you lose?”

“Then I’ll let you sew buttons in my eyes and stay here with you forever.”

All For One stared at him in amusement, as if he were a three-year-old who just said he wanted to be a cowboy. Finally, he extended his cool hand. Izuku grabbed it and they shook once.

“It’s a deal.”

Chapter Text

Izuku left out the back door where he was immediately greeted by the distant sound of sobs and gagging. The cat came back, keeping pace with him as he looked around for the source of the noise.

It didn’t take long as he soon noticed Other Mother standing in the garden. She was wailing, but every so often, she would begin to gag and soil mixed with a liquid that looked suspiciously like blood would spray out her mouth, landing on the plants that had grown to impossible heights.

“Maybe I should apologize. They say us black cats are bad luck. Unless you have a good luck charm on you,” the cat said, staring apprehensively ahead.

Izuku was about to say no, when he remembered the stone in his jacket pocket. He pulled it out and held it to his face, looking out the hole in the middle. To his surprise, the world turned a muted gray, except for a glowing white spot in Other Mother’s pocket. He thought of what fate his real mother might be facing and ran to confront her.

Upon seeing him, she cried harder, knees trembling. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. He made me,” she cried, turning her head to gag more soil-blood on a patch of roses. The thorns whipped at him and he rolled away.

She slowly reached a shaking hand for the garden trowel at her side, her buttons reflecting the moonlight in a way that reminded him of teary eyes.

“MOM!” he shouted, unable to help himself, even if her fabric skin was now covered in dirt and worms. She still looked and sounded too much like the real one.

She leaped at him with the trowel, and he dodged again, the trowel getting stuck in the ground. With one hand she tugged on the garden instrument while the other reached for her pocket where the eye was.

“When he copies… He changes,” she panted, holding the out for him to grab, “But I didn’t change much. She loves you. So much.”

Just before he could get the eye however, her arm spasmed and she screamed in pain. The cat tried to run after it, but it rolled down and into a patch of eight-foot-tall snapdragons that actually snapped with shark teeth around their petals. He meowed and jumped back as Izuku skidded across the ground and grabbed the eye. A snapdragon wrapped itself around his arm, the flower part trying to grab his face as he struggled away.

Other Mother screamed and threw herself onto the flower patch. The stem was cut off his arm and he shook it off, standing to the side as the flowers wrapped around her instead.

“IZUKU, RUN!”

“C’mon kid,” the cat added, breaking out into a sprint.

He gulped and turned away, keeping his firmly on the ground in front of him. He didn’t turn back, not even when he heard more screams. Not when he heard the sound of tearing fabric and flesh. Not even to check back when the sounds stopped.

He glanced at the rubbery white ball in his palm, a bit like a bouncy ball, and rubbed the dirt off it. A reflection appeared in the surface of the youngest boy.

“You’ve freed me Mister! Only two more to go.”

He looked at the front of the building where the emptied body of Other Bakugo was hung, hanging in the wind. 

Only two more to go.

Izuku didn’t make much of a conscious decision really. His foot moved forward on their own for a few steps until he realized he was heading for Yagi-san’s apartment next. His body made the decision of where to find the next eye for him, he supposed.

He carefully opened the door and found that all the seats were empty, the curtain withdrawn to reveal nothing but a strange golden cocoon on stage. He felt something drip onto his hair and saw that the Paris Smash clones were now bat-dogs that hung from the ceiling. Shuddering, he continued and used the adder stone again, noticing a glowing red ball in the cocoon.

“Cover me,” he said to the cat as he climbed up on stage.

He plunged a hand within the cocoon, which broke easily. He just had to grab the ball he was holding and get out. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be that simple. The moment he had the eye in his hand, he felt the body inside squirm, the cocoon shaking violently. It began to crack and eventually split apart as the thing inside drew itself up to its full height.

Other Yagi now had sickly yellow butterfly wings sprouting from his back, the fabric around his bulging muscles beginning to rip, sawdust spilling out in red clumps. Along his side, there was an especially large hole dripping sawdust, blood, and what looked like real human organs. The rusty scent of blood filled his nose, and he redirected his attention to the red ball in his hand.

He pulled but the doll was strong and pulled back, screaming unintelligibly. Izuku looked at the blood making its way down the fabric arms and got an idea. He used his free hand to grab the fabric he could reach and rip it off. Blood sprayed and dripped down like a fountain, causing Other Yagi’s grip on the eye to slip and Izuku wrenched it out of his grasp.

He jumped off the stage and continued running, the cat at his heels as the doll roared and the bat-dogs flew after them, snarling and barking. He grabbed the doorknob and leaped out, slamming the door shut behind him. There were a few thuds as they crashed into the door, but it eventually went quiet.

He wiped the blood off the eye, which was a bright red, reminding him of a tomato. A reflection of the eight-year-old appeared in it.

“I’m free now! Only one more left.”

He stared up at the very top apartment. There weren’t even that many stairs, yet somehow, he felt as apprehensive as if there were fifty stairs. He shook his head and began the climb up.

Again there was music coming through the door, louder than the previous times he had been there. When he opened the door, he saw the interior had transformed into a real circus.

The door led right into the main stage, rows of seats surrounding them. In the middle of the stage, was Other Shirakumo, illuminated by a spotlight and dressed in the ringmaster outfit, but was surrounded by a purple smoke.

A spotlight shone down on him as Other Shirakumo pointed his cane at him. Izuku put the stone to his eye and saw the ball at the top of the cane glowed blue. It was the last eye.

“I see an audience member wants a closer look. Very well then, time for our first act,” he announced, slamming the cane on the ground.

Cannons wheeled in from seemingly nowhere, shooting mice out at Izuku as he ran for the cane. The cat yowled and caught one in midair, throwing it at another mouse aiming for his face.

Izuku kicked aside all the mice he could, determined not to let himself get distracted. The cat took care of a majority of them. He was close enough to Other Shirakumo that he could grab the cane when suddenly, a purple puff blew out. He ran through it and was suddenly at the top of the tent, his stomach getting that awful whoosh feeling as he fell.

Desperate not to fall flat on the ground, Izuku noticed the tightrope and reached out, his hand barely grasping the rope. He was sure he had a burn on his hand from the friction, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about that as he swung from the rope, gaining more momentum with each swing, until eventually, he launched himself off into a somersault.

The Other Shirakumo was distracted, trying to direct the mice against the cat and Izuku crashed right into him, knocking him out. He grabbed the cane and took eye off.

When the doll was knocked out, the mice froze and scattered, running out the door.

“With their master dead, they have no want or reason to be here anymore,” the cat told him as they made their way out.

He looked at the blue ball in his eye, not much like an eye at all, but soon the last reflection appeared.

“We’re all free now! But be careful, your last trial has yet to begin.”

He put the eye in his pocket along with the other two and the stone. He was at the door to his Other apartment now.

The cat rubbed himself against his legs again, giving him a reassuring look. He pet the cat, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

Chapter Text

The floorboards creaked beneath his feet as Izuku walked through the dimly lit house. The only bright light came from the kitchen, where All For One sat at the head of the table, looking smug.

“I found all the eyes,” Izuku announced, standing in the doorway.

“Good job, but that’s not all. You still have to find your parents. Unless, you give up.”

“Not a chance. I know where they are.”

He had realized it on his way to the kitchen. If the ghost eyes were hidden in the other apartments and garden, then his parents had to be hidden somewhere in the house, but not somewhere obvious. He couldn’t just open a door and find them sitting on the bed. All For One was smarter than that.

On his way to the kitchen, he had passed the living room, where a small mirror sat on the mantle. It seemed normal, but as he passed it, he realized it didn’t reflect him.

He lead All For One out to the living room and prepared to point to the mirror when he realized something. What guarantee was there that he would keep his word? He liked to play games, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t cheat.

He pointed to a snowglobe on the mantle instead. “They’re in there.”

All For One smirked as he grabbed the globe, slowly raising it up. “Are you sure?”

Just as he threw it on the ground, Izuku darted forward and grabbed the mirror, making a run for the small door.

All For One screamed, a sharp, inhuman sound.

The house seemed to rearrange itself, furniture growing longer, wider, straining to catch him. He tripped over a floorboard and chanced a look back, immediately regretting it.

All For One had grown even taller, his head almost brushing the ceiling. The button eyes had fallen off, two streams of blood where they once were. Most of his face was gone, the wrinkles reminding him of a potato, except for his mouth which was fixed in a snarl. The fabric-like skin had mostly fallen off, revealing a metal body beneath his torn clothes.

Izuku yelped in surprise and horror, scrambling to get up. The cat was beside him, hackles raised and trying to nudge him up. He got to his knees, desperately lunging forward.

All For One screamed again and he felt the floor disappear from beneath his feet, his stomach swooping in his stomach as if he were on a rollercoaster taking a nosedive. His feet and hands were tangled in a thick, dark webbing.

The too-white teeth glinted in the eerie lighting as his face arranged into an expression he realized must be joy. “There’s my Izuku. Now come here before you make Father angry.”

“NO WAY!” he shouted, grabbing the cat and throwing him at the monster.

The cat yowled and clung to All For One’s face, claws shredding at the skin. Izuku climbed the web as if it were a ladder, which led right to the little door he had first crawled through. He didn’t hesitate to throw it open and crawl as quickly as he could, the tunnel feeling warm and humid.

He could hear more screaming and the skittering of tiny things, but he didn’t turn back. The cat eventually caught up and raced beside him as they made their way to the other side.

He tumbled out the door and slammed it shut. He had to strain and push it as something pounded against it, but he eventually manage to close it with a particularly hard push. He had never been happier to hear that satisfying click. He fished the button key out of his pocket and locked it for good measure.

He heard a meow and noticed the cat with a grumpier expression than usual.

“Sorry Cat, I couldn’t think of any other way to distract him. I’ll make it up to you. I think we’ve got some salmon in the fridge,” he offered.

Before that however, he noticed something missing on the mantle. The mirror that he figured his parents must have been trapped in. He took it out of his jacket and placed it back where it was.

“I hope that works,” he muttered as he lead the cat to the kitchen.

While fixing a midnight snack for himself and the cat, he heard two pairs of footsteps. He froze, heart pounding as two figures made their way into the kitchen.

His mom and dad. The real ones, with their real, human eyes. He dropped his fork and rushed to hug them.

Inko stiffened in surprise but hugged them back. “Izuku are you alright? Is that a cat sitting at our dinner table?”

“I’m fine. And sorry about the cat, he looked hungry,” Izuku apologized, looking them over. They seemed fine and he had a feeling they’d mention being kidnapped by a living doll, so he decided not to bring it up as they didn’t seem to remember it.

“We were actually going to get a snack ourselves. But while we’re here, the craziest thing happened,” his father began. Izuku stiffened. “I noticed your phone was working perfectly. I don’t know why now but I guess it’s better than having to get a new one.”

His shoulders slumped in relief as he smiled. “That’s awesome Dad. Oh, Mom, let me help,” he said, turning to see his mother taking over the kitchen.

She shook her head. “No, I’m fine. It’s been a while since I last made you something. Besides, there’s something I need to tell you. If you’re feeling up to it.”

The adrenaline in his veins from the Other World had yet to fade. “Yeah, I think I’m up to it. I’m not sure I’ll be going to bed for a while.”

Two hours later, Izuku stumbled to his bedroom, the adrenaline having faded and leaving him exhausted. He wasn’t injured, but outrunning a monster and that conversation with his mother left him feeling mentally drained.

It did explain a lot and though he had been upset at not being told, he understood.

“I’m just glad she doesn’t hate me,” he said to the cat, who had curled up beside his pillow. A cat was much better to sleep next to than a doll.

He felt as if he were drifting away into the dark yet comforting realm of sleep. Then he felt a shift as if he were floating up into the night sky.

Stars twinkled all around him and three figures swooped down to meet him. The ghost kids, now human, though they still glowed and now had wings on their backs.

“Thank you for freeing us Mister,” said the youngest.

“But I’m afraid your journey is not yet over. All For One is not a good sport,” warned the middle.

“His hand still roams this real, in search of the key to keep luring in children,” the eldest said.

Izuku was suddenly taken back to when he was trying to push the door close. He hadn’t noticed it then, but he must have been closing the door over the arm and severed the hand.

“I’ll take care of it. I’ll make sure that hand doesn’t get the key,” he promised.

They nodded, smiling now that they could be truly at peace.

“Goodbye Izuku Midoriya, and thank you.”

Their three voices melted together as the world blurred and his eyes blinked open to the sight of his plain white ceiling. He sat up and froze. Rifling through the boxes on the floor was a metal hand.

He had fallen asleep in his clothes, which meant the key was still in his pocket. The cat was up, hackles raised and hissing lowly.

Izuku shakily stood up, taking the key out of his pocket.

“You want this? Then come get it!” he teased, running out the door. His parents were still asleep and thankfully out of range of the hand, which was now focused on him.

He ran down the stairs and into the woods, his breath fogging his vision. Twigs cracked and leaves crunched as the hand skittered through the woods, chasing after him. He vaguely remembered reading about an old well somewhere in the woodland and decided that was his best hope.

He found the old stone well quicker than he thought, the mossy structure in the middle of the clearing. He paused in relief, letting his guard down for just a moment, which was enough for the hand to strike. It jumped and grabbed onto his neck, holding it tightly.

He gasped and struggled against it, the cold metal digging into the veins of his neck, dark spots appearing in his vision. Just as he felt his circulation being cut off for what might have been for good, the pressure was lifted. He gasped for air, his vision returning enough for him to see Bakugo grappling with the hand.

“The well!” he gasped out.

Bakugo nodded and ran for the well, throwing the hand down. It clanged off the walls for a bit before finally reaching the bottom. Izuku picked up a large, dense rock and dropped it down the well for good measure. It wasn’t until he heard the crunch of metal did he feel his shoulders slump in relief.

“So, I guess the thing was real after all,” Bakugo began, looking disgruntled.

Izuku showed him the key and explained how he find the door to the Other World, the Other versions and how he hadn’t realized Other Father was a monster until he was thrown in the mirror where he met the ghost kids. He described the trials he went through to find the eyes and how he finally escaped, only to be told that the hand was still out there.

When the story was finished, the only thing he had to say was, “And you still have the key? What if some other dumbass finds it and uses it?”

“Right. We have to hide this somewhere no one will ever find it.”

“Nah.” Bakugo went over to his bike and grabbed a hammer from the basket in the front. “We gotta destroy it.”

Izuku decided not to ask why he carried a hammer around and got to smacking the key with it. It didn’t break.

They stomped on it. Smashed it with rocks. Not a scratch.

Bakugo hopped on his bike. “Put it in the tire. If it gets twisted up, no one can use it.”

“But what about your bike?”

“I’ve been wanting to get a new one.”

The plan kind of worked. The key did get tangled up in the wires of the tire, but there was no way to untangle it. In the end, they buried the key, bike and all.

They gave each other a nod, the kind of nod one gave when burying the key to another world. A nod of secrecy and begrudging respect.

They went their separate ways after that, Izuku returning home to the smell of freshly cooked eggs and saw a plate of food on the table that didn’t make him want to gag.

“Izuku, there you are. You’re all muddy. Where have you been?” his mother asked.

“Oh, I was, uh, with a friend,” he said, surprising himself. But strangely, the word didn’t feel wrong. “Yeah, a friend.”

Over the next week, Izuku slowly saw the house begin to improve as they unpacked and straightened things out. His room might not have been as perfect as the Other Room, but it was his, and the floor was finally clear of boxes he had unpacked.

The cat had come by so often, that the Midoriya’s decided to adopt him. He didn’t seem upset by the decision, most likely because they still let him roam, though now he wore a gray collar that read Shouta on it.

Bakugo also came by more often under the pretense of seeing Shouta (“He was mine first you know”) but ended up hanging out with Izuku more. They were close enough for nicknames now. Well, Kacchan argued loudly against that but didn’t do anything to really stop him.

On New Year’s Eve, his mother decided to throw a party for everyone, to get to know their new neighbors. That day, Izuku ran around the withered garden, straightening blankets and putting out food for the evening celebration. The notebook in his jacket felt as if it were made of lead.

His mother was cooing over Shirakumo’s mice and Yagi was talking to his father about his time as an actor. He was tempted to join, but the sound of footsteps on the cobblestone path caught his attention.

Kacchan had arrived with his grandfather, an old man in his late sixties with wrinkles and gray hair, though like his grandson, his hair was spiky and red eyes seemed full of life. The only thing that betrayed the past Izuku suspected was the large scar across his face.

They were introduced to each other and Izuku took the man to the red blanket he had laid out for this moment. He took out the notebook and glanced at the script he had written to help him. Then he looked back at the old man’s deep red eyes and put the notebook down, though he made sure the other two letters inside were safe.

“Kudou-san, I have to tell you something about your old friend…”