Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The air is stale, mold speckling the roof like homemade stars. It’s cold, and teeth chattering is audible through footsteps emerging from down the hall.

A door swings open, marking the wall with another hole as a woman steps into the eerie room, huffing at the sight before her.

“What did I tell you, sweetheart?”

On the floor, in the corner, was a boy.

“..To hide them.”

And furled out behind him like a cloak were dark green wings. 

Izuku Midoriya was young when he learned that not all men were created equal. 

He had thought that once his quirk manifested, he could be.

Oh, how he wished he wasn’t so naive.

Izuku shifts uncomfortably to the feeling of the tight binding squeezing his chest. His labored, but quiet breaths part between his lips as he forces himself to sit still during his class. 

He can feel the constriction on his back and the joints of his wings are plagued with the tremors down to the soles of his feet. Sighing out another wave of discomfort, Izuku tries to focus on writing something down on his worksheet but finds it blank. 

The pen in his hand jitters softly to the vice grip he has on it, willing that the clicking of the clock in front of him moves faster. He silently wishes to himself that he can make it back home in time to avoid another night of laying on the cold wooden floor, riding out the deep-rooted agony of his neglect to his wings.

Being forced to bind them tightly, Izuku often experiences aches due to the restriction of his wings. Pulled close and firm to his back for the majority of the hours each day leading to serious chronic pain. From this Izuku has had sleepless nights where all he had known to do was mumble his cries into a sheeted bed on the ground and hope the cool floor brought comfort to the cramping.

However, despite the suffering, Izuku was forced to rebind his wings before school by his mother. Though Izuku believes that she would rather him never take it off to begin with. 

Overhead the bell rings, signaling the end to the day and Izuku couldn't help crying a little in relief. Quick to pack up his belongings into his worn, yellow rucksack, he picks up his notebook, moving to put it away when a hand slams down onto the surface of his desk.

Startling Izuku from his excitement to leave, a hand reached over and snatched his book straight from his grasp. 

Izuku hears Bakugou bark out a loud laugh as he reads over the title to his group of lackeys. 

“Give that back, Kacchan!” Izuku cries a little, reaching up to grab his notebook from the blonde. 

“This is pathetic, Deku. Don’t tell me you think note-taking will get you into the hero course at UA?” Bakugou says, taunting it over his head as if reminding Izuku of what his quirk could do to it.

Frowning at what he said, Izuku inwardly sank lower into his seat. Willing away the tears that spark at the jab to his dream, Izuku takes a steady breath and looks down at his hands. 

Furled around the edge of his shirt, he shrinks into himself and just begs for their laughter to stop ringing in his head.

“Hey, don’t ignore me, Deku. Do you take being a hero as a joke? Or is that what all you quirkless losers think?” Bakugou says, slamming the notebook harshly on the top of his desk. He sneers at Izuku when he whimpers in response to the onslaught of questions. “Freak.” He mumbles out and marches past Izuku’s desk.

Shaking slightly, Izuku tries blinking away the tears pooling on his lashes, clenching his trembling lips.

Izuku hears the laughing of Bakugou and the boys trailing him, listening as it stops by the doorway of the classroom. 

“Oh, yeah.” The blonde suddenly announces, as if the thought was left unsaid until now. “I might know how you can become a better hero.”

Looking up slightly, he sees the small giggles coming from the lackeys and the smirk falling over Bakugou's lips as he watches Izuku break down at his words. 

“Pray for a quirk in your next life before jumping off the roof of a building. Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to get one worthy enough to be a hero!” Bakugou barks out and walks out of the classroom.

For a while, Izuku just sits at his desk, wide-eyed and trembling. Sniffling, Izuku says, “Would you have said the same knowing I had one?” 

Although Izuku has previously been excited to go home and take off the binding on his wings, that same feeling has faded as he climbs his way up a flight of stairs.

It was almost sundown by the time Izuku made his way out onto the terrace rooftop. A cool breeze of the evening flitted through his hair as he stepped out into the open area. 

He had wanted to go home, but the very thought of seeing his mother made his heart clog up in his throat and die on his tongue. 

She always fretted to him about the importance of binding his wings to his back. “People will see them as valuable and will try to take them from you. Your wings are very unique, dear.”

“You are disgusted by them, aren’t you, mother?”

Izuku swears he can hear her defiance, only to mistake it for the chatter of people down below. 

“Promise me you’ll bind them. No one can know. Okay, Izuku dear?”

Sniffling, Izuku begins untying his shoes. “Yeah, right.” He takes them off and places them side by side as if he were leaving them by the genkan. Placing his bag down alongside the red shoes, Izuku begins unclipping his school shirt. 

Taking it off reveals a black fabric hugging his torso, pressing down on the appendages bound to his back. It was a gift from his last birthday as he had grown out of the one he got as a child. Just the thought that it had been the only thing he unwrapped that morning sent a sob out of his mouth. 

Peeling off its velcro, Izuku throws it to the ground in an action akin to disgust. His wings immediately droop out of the tight confines and fall to his side unnaturally. Sighing in relief, Izuku glances over his shoulder and frowns at them. Over the years Izuku had only groomed his feathers a measly handful of times, causing them to look unruly and unkept and quite sadly, looking broken. 

He knew they looked hideous, but despite that, he couldn’t help but feel the pain in his chest at how he had let this happen. Now shirtless and numbing a bit to the breeze, Izuku steps up towards the edge indefinitely and admires the orange hues fading behind the other buildings around him. 

Lights around him began twinkling, lighting up the city as if welcoming the night. 

Izuku couldn’t help but fall back into the thoughts of what Bakugou had said. Maybe he was right, his dream was hopeless and as someone who was quirkless , highly unachievable. At least in his words. 

The idea of jumping off the roof has plagued him all through his walk to the tallest building he could find. And Izuku is now substantially positive in the fact that he would be following along with the advice.

Shaking, Izuku stumbles over the railing and feels amused to think of how these could even prevent a death. 

Placing his hands on the bars behind him, Izuku leans over a little to look at the pavement. A fall from this height would be sure to kill anyone, quirkless or not. Briefly, he knows his wings will try to catch him on instinct, but they are flimsy and unreliable due to the neglect forced onto him. 

He frowns to himself knowing that not even his own body is strong enough to save himself. 

A sudden thought to leave a note by his belongings crosses his mind, but he discards the thought just as quickly as he remembers no one would truly miss him that long that they’d need something as pivotal as a suicide note. Although it’s usually in good conscience to write one, Izuku finds himself to not care. 

A sudden rush of his heartbeat thumps under his ears as he leans further forward, letting one hand go from the railing to swipe at the tears cascading down his cheeks. 

His lips tremble as he remembers the suffering he had endured due to the status of his quirk. Quirklessness , even. All those horrible things his mother tried drilling into his head, her ensuring that she loved him despite how she would check up on him hourly to make sure the bindings were still on. 

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t have hidden me the way you did.”

He remembers Bakugou’s sweaty hand on his chest before the explosions pop in his face and charring his skin black. The harsh things yelled at him and the request to kill himself. It all comes flooding back as a sudden knock of wind slams into his wings, igniting a painful gasp. 

Izuku’s fingers begin peeling off the bar as he leans forward more. 

Briefly, he thinks what Bakugou will think when his face is on the news about a suicide attempt. A sadness befalls Izuku thinking that he wouldn’t care, he would be unfazed by the death of his childhood friend caused by his own, sparking hands.

Swallowing the dryness in his throat, Izuku lets the last pump of adrenaline fill his body as he fully lets go of the railing. He drops over the ledge as if he was shot from the sky.

The feeling of cold air feels exhilarating against his wings and skin, making the feathers fan out to slow his fall. But as weak as they were, they flail uselessly behind and for a moment Izuku wants to think this is what flying feels like. 

Between his half-lidded eyes, he sees the pavement come closer. He hears the screams of people below.

A sad, small smile covers his lips as closes his eyes and descends to the ground. The rushing in his ears deafens him, shaking the insides of his head and clogging it up. 

Screaming grows closer and closer and Izuku knows he’s close to his death. But in a sudden rush, the wind is knocked from his chest and his fall stops immutability. 

He heaved as he felt himself lowered to the ground gently. Voices calls out to him and hands are on his shoulder, holding him gently.

Only after he catches his breath through choked sobs does he open his eyes. Something similar to a wobbled gasp passes through Izuku’s lips as he sees who had prevented his fall.

Because standing in front of him is no one other than the number three hero, Hawks.

“Alright everyone, step back please!” Hawks says, glancing to his right at the crowd of civilians gathered to witness.

Izuku couldn’t help but sit there in stunned silence as he observed the hero before him. 

Crouching down Hawks pulls Izuku closer to him and wraps his red wings around the two, a makeshift barrier to secure some sort of privacy. But in all honesty, Izuku was more comforted by the action.

“Are you alright, kid?” The winged hero asks softly, grasping Izuku close with unconcealed concern. 

Izuku nodded dumbly, unable to form words. The shock of falling off a roof barely caught up to his sluggish brain as Hawks looked all over his body. He can’t help but watch as the hero frowns at the state of his wings, a clear difference from the big red ones on his back. Izuku knows he must think how disgusting they look compared to his own. However, it might be his job to make sure he was alright, it still warmed his heart that someone had even thought to spare him a glance long enough to see if he was okay, even if they saw his ruined wings.

His eyes begin to pool with more unshed tears, and a racked sobs spill from his mouth as Izuku dips to the floor and grasps at the pavement. His chest shakes and his wings jitters to his sorrow. 

Hawks could only frown at Izuku, seeming to sense the deep-rooted pain radiating to the heavy cries falling from his lips. 

“Hey, hey. It’s okay, Baby Bird.” Izuku hears Hawks whisper to him. Gloved hands cup at the sides of his face and wipe at the tears on his cheeks. 

Izuku couldn’t help the tears streaming from his eyes, a trembling in his lips and he tried to nod at the hero’s words. The sudden guilt of attempting to kill himself hits full swing and his chest seizes in regret. 

It seems that the hero understood the implications of his fitful crying as his head was soon brought to Hawks' chest. A hand rests on hair as it is rubbed and soothed. Hawks begin to chitter softly at him, mimicking the comforting sounds of a mother bird. 

It takes a while for Izuku to calm himself to form a coherent sentence, but once he does he regrettably pulls away from the hero. The red wings get folded back to Hawks’ back and only now Izuku realised that they were alone. 

“S-sorry.” Is the first thing Izuku can muster to say. And he is shamelessly sorry.

“No need for that, Baby Bird. There’s nothing to be sorry for.” Hawk says as he pats Izuku’s back a few times before standing. Izuku scrambles to his feet, suddenly feeling the cold of the night in his skin so he wraps himself in his arms. “There is an ambulance here for a mandatory check-up. Don’t worry, it's only routine, okay?”

Izuku can’t help but admire the soft way Hawks was talking to him. But he once again nods silently and follows the hero to those on standby. 

After the check-up and clear to go from the nurses in the ambulance, Izuku begins walking back over to the entrance of the building, preparing himself to climb another flight of stairs.

However, Hawks beat him to it. 

“Rest here a moment. I’ll fetch your things from the rooftop.”

Izuku couldn’t even ponder the fact that Hawks knew what he was going back up for before the hero returned with his bag, shirt, shoes and sadly, his wing binder. Hawks passed everything along to him except the binder and waited patiently for him to redress himself.

The articles of his missing clothing made him feel a little warmer, but only slightly as the air was starting to chill more in the night. 

Izuku watches as Hawks visibly frowns at him as his wings are tucked halfway under the clothing instead of having customised wind slots in the shirt.

Looking down in shame, Izuku clutches his bag in his hand loosely and waits to get scolded by the hero. But instead, he hears a soft, almost sad-sounding chirp.

“Baby Bird,” Hawks starts, holding out the binder in front of him as if getting too close it’ll burn him. “Why do you have this?”

Izuku didn’t need to look up to know what Hawks was referencing. 

“It’s dangerous for wings to be bound, you know?” Hawks said softly. Placing a hand on Izuku’s shoulder, he asked again. “Who gave this to you?”

Barely containing a sniffle, he looks up at the concerned hero and stutters out his response. “My… m-mother.” He whispers.

Nothing can stop the small gasp that comes from the hero. But Izuku just hunches in on himself, conscious of the way it makes his mother sound. “S-she does it to p-protect me.”

He hears Hawks grunt in disagreement. “Do you know why?” He asks gently.

Before Izuku can say too much, he snatches the binder from the hero’s hand and runs down the path. It had gotten late after all and his mother would go frantic if he wasn’t back soon.

Izuku hears Hawks calling after him, but with relief, he does not hear the sound of wings following behind him. 

The run back home exhausted Izuku, even if he wasn’t bound with the black fabric he held in his hands. He is standing at the front door, breathing shallowly as he takes off his shirt to put the binder back on. He would rather not deal with the consequences of being caught without it on outside of the house.

After readjusting his appearance, Izuku unlocks the front door with his keys, steps inside and closes it behind him with a soft click. 

There is a soft glow down the hall where the kitchen is and as Izuku steps into the room, he sees his mother standing at the stovetop preparing a meal. She turns around as soon as she hears his footsteps.

“Izu, honey! Where have you been?” She asks softly, but Izuku it’s not nearly as comforted by it compared to when Hawks softly spoke to him. 

“Got distracted by another villain attack. You know how I am with heroes, I just got too ahead of myself and forgot to text you!” Izuku chuckles nervously and grasps at the side of his head. 

Inko giggled along too, scraping at something in a pan. She looks over her shoulder at Izuku and asks, “Did anyone see? You know you aren’t allowed to take them out of the bindings.” 

Izuku shakes his head silently and neglects to tell her that someone did saw, multiple people in fact, specifically one of them being a pro hero nonetheless. 

He watched Inko smile at him, but her eyes still held that warning to him about the condition of his wings. He tries to smile back the best he can, but he finds it hard to pull off a decent one after the events of the day. 

“Well, I’ll go shower before dinner is ready,” Izuku says and walks out of the kitchen. He hears his mother tell him to make it quick as the food will be ready soon. 

Discarding most things onto his bedroom floor, Izuku makes his way to the bathroom and takes off the restriction of the clothes and binding. The small mirror above the sink is barely low enough for Izuku to catch his wings in the mirror, but he tries anyway and he frowns at how they look. He could feel the ache teetering into the muscles of his wings after the strenuous attempt to stop his fall earlier. Izuku can already feel the long night of pain ahead. 

Quickly washing, drying and clothing himself again, Izuku steps out of the bathroom and back to the kitchen. His mother is just serving dinner as he seats himself at the table.

She brings it over to him and sits across from him. At home he lets his wings out of the binding, however with no help from his mother as all the shirts she’s bought him were for people without wings. He has to cut holes in the back with a pair of scissors, refusing to hide them away in the comfort of his home. 

Izuku can tell his mother is still visibly disturbed by his wings being out of the bindings. A twitch in her brow as she looks at him to indicate that fact. He can tell she’s trying to not get bothered by it, but yet she’s still making it obvious that she is.

Sighing, Izuku eats in silence as if his mother's disgust towards him doesn’t hurt. 

After dinner, he goes upstairs to his room and shuts the door for privacy. The moment he’s alone he can feel the urge to sob once again resurface. It had been somewhat of a miracle that his mother hadn't noticed his red, puffy eyes. Or maybe she had but didn’t care to bring it up. Izuku doesn’t know what hurts the most out of those two possibilities.

Flopping onto his bed, Izuku lays on his stomach and grasps at his face as shameful dread washes over him. 

He tried to kill himself today.

Was it because of what Bakugou had said? Or was everything piling up overall? 

Izuku isn’t quite sure what has caused him to snap the way he did, and he regrets it immensely either way. If Hawks hadn't been there to save him, Izuku would be dead. 

Seeing his mother now just makes the guilt worse. Even if she pushes the binding on his wings, disgusted by them, he knows deep down that she still loves him. That he loves her. 

Izuku would also like to think he and Bakugou were still friends or still had small reminders of their friendship. Although it had broken up due to him being quirkless , Izuku likes to remember the hero dream they had shared. But it seems that time had eroded that, taking Izuku with it.

But seeing Hawks tonight lit a small fire in Izuku. He reminded him that it is still possible for him to be a hero, even if it begins with saving himself first.

A few weeks went by since the incident, as Izuku wanted to remember it. Nothing more than an incident. His mother still enforced the binding on his wings and it felt as if the aches in his wings were growing considerably worse with each passing day.

But Izuku still obeys her wishes. A part of him still held that love for her to trust her words despite the physical pain it brought him. He wants to have trust in something.

Bakugou’s bullying doesn’t cease any less than the day he told Izuku to kill himself. It’s still once a week he’d get a burn from the blonde, and it sits uncomfortably alongside his wings throughout the early stages of getting it as it slowly heals itself. He was refused treatment by the school's nurse. Being quirkless had no advantages. 

It has been excruciating, but nothing worse than what he feels daily from binding his wings.

His suicide had not been broadcasted on live television, much to his comfort as he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t be able to lie his way out of that one with his mother. And he especially didn’t want to feel her anger at him taking his bindings off in public. The first and only time it happened he was forced to wear it all the time, even sleeping and it had caused him immense back problems early on in his childhood, seeming to stunt his growth a bit. 

He knew better than to take it off if he knew she'd find out about it. 

It was towards the end of the fifth week when Izuku saw the Hawks again. This time from a bystander's view as he caught him stopping low-ranked villains trying to rob a grocery store. With any regulation to the bag of shopping outside the store on the floor, it was safe for Izuku to assume that Hawks had been inside when they first tried. Unfortunately for them.

After it was over and the police took away the criminals, Hawks was immediately flooded by the civilians asking for autographs and pictures. Izuku took that moment to slip away unnoticed, itching to make the rest of his way home to write theories of what he observed with Hawks' fighting style. It was undoubtedly interesting to theorise about all the possibilities regarding his wings and feathers. What is the extent he could do with them? Can he see and hear through them or was it just a feeling? Izuku has so many questions and so few answers.

“Yes, Baby Bird. To answer your question, it’s more of a feeling with my feathers.” A voice behind him says.

Izuku jumps a few feet in the air and whips around to see Hawks behind him, carrying the groceries Izuku had initially suspected to be his. 

“D-don't do that!” Izuku cries, turning to face the hero full-on, his face going red. He sees Hawks smile at him and relax his wings behind him. Izuku suddenly finds himself to be a little jealous. “Were you f-following me?”

Hawks chirps a light laugh at him. “Nah, more like trying to catch up to you. You’re slippery, you know? I blinked and you were gone from the crowd.”

Izuku regards him with a half-amused stare, but also internally freaking out because Hawks was talking to him, seeking him out no less and acting as if they were best friends. Izuku would think he’d be super busy being an upcoming hero and all, he’s surprised he had the time to approach Izuku like this. He guesses he’s glad that he caught Izuku in a more secluded part of his neighbourhood. But then again, come to think of it, why was Hawks in his Musutafu? He’s not originally from here. Had he come looking for him? Izuku doesn’t quite know so instead he raises his eyebrows as Hawks stops to step in front of him. 

“How have you been, Baby Bird?” Hawks asks, his smile forming into something more like a look of concern. Izuku couldn’t help but notice how Hawks looked behind him for his wings, noticing how they were not visible like his own red ones. 

“F-fine?” Izuku replies, almost hesitantly. “But… um, if you d-don’t mind me asking? Why are you here, H-Hawks? This isn’t your usual patrol route…” Izuku instantly covers his mouth with his hands when he realises what he had said. Fear sweat drops from his brows, thinking that now the number three hero will think he’s a weirdly obsessed fan or something, not that he is denying it or anything. Just having your inspirations know that is embarrassing, to him at least.

Amused by his response, Hawks chuckled at him. “Just hanging around, I suppose.” 

Unsatisfied with that answer, Izuku gives him a shy, pointed look. 

Hawks held up his free hand in a guilty motion. “Shoot, got me again, huh?” He smiles at Izuku, reaching over to grip his neck. “Well actually, I was hoping I could see you again.” 

Izuku watches as his smile drops after his response. And he didn’t dare ask why.

“I noticed your wings are bound again, Baby Bird. When was the last time you flew with them?” Hawks asks.

Face heating up, Izuku looks at his red shoes, thinking how they are a similar colour to Hawks’ wings before he looks back up at the hero. “I uh… I’ve never t-tried. Flying, I mean.” He whispers out.

Izuku manages to see Hawks’ shocked expression before he ducks his head back down. Shame fills him again and the hero must think he’s weak. Izuku can tell by the silence that he’s connecting the dots to his unique condition with his wings. The binding and lack of flying are obvious. 

He doesn’t move as he feels a hand rest on top of his head, ruffling it a bit and then sitting still there.

“I guess we should change that, then?” Hawks says, smiling at him as Izuku dares to sneak a look up at the hero. 

“B-but I’ve never learnt,” Izuku says meekly as Hawks smile turns into one more fond. The hero chirps lightly at him and ruffles his hair one last time before pulling away. “My w-wings, they’re frail and weak. There’s no hope.” He said sadly.

“It’s okay, Baby Bird. I’ll teach you. Train you, too. And then I’ll help you get enrolled in UA. How does that sound?” Hawks says and Izuku couldn’t help but see how his jaw falls to the floor. 

His face is a bright red mess and he’s so shocked he can’t even respond. Hawks chitters at him in excitement before reaching into his pocket and handing him a piece of paper.

“My contact details.” Hawks supplies before he can even understand what it is. Izuku looks up at the hero in a mix of shock and admiration. “I’ll text you when and where, Baby Bird. I’ll see you soon.” 

Izuku watches as Hawks unfurls his wings, crouches his knees and takes off into the sky. He watches until he can’t see the hero anymore and just stands there, internally thrilled that Hawks wanted to help him. 

His walk home was one of enclosed joy. He tries to hide his gleaming face from his mother after their routine greeting and check-up on his binding. But Izuku didn’t dare care for that at the most as he took off the cloth constricting his wings. 

Hope bubbles under his skin as he lays on his back, staring at the ceiling. 

“Maybe I can be a hero, too.”

Chapter Text

A few days have passed since seeing Hawks when Izuku gets an anonymous message on his phone. How the hero had even gotten his number remains lost to him but Izuku was thrilled nonetheless.

9 pm at the Takoba beach is all that it reads and Izuku can feel himself bubbling with nerves. He’s at school right now, it’s lunchtime and he’s sitting on top of the roof by himself. The teachers don’t monitor up there and his bullies don’t know that he sits up there. Granted, Izuku felt lonely but it was really the only place he could go between classes without being burned or yelled at. 

Rubbing at his face to massage his smile from it, Izuku can’t help but feel genuinely excited for the first time in a while. No one ever had offered to help him. Though that notion alone makes him feel a twinge of sadness, Izuku however still couldn’t stop the bubbling of adoration he has to the number three hero. 

Opening up his bag, Izuku takes out his bento, sighing audibly as he picks at the small lunch his mother made him. The apple had browned by the time he could eat it, but he was glad to have gotten something from her. Some days his mother didn’t bother to prepare him lunch, not that it bothered Izuku much, it’s just that those days meant he had no food at all until dinner. Granted, he was old enough to prepare himself something, but he just didn’t know how. Instead of teaching him and bonding with him, his mother would rather belittle and hover, ensuring that the bindings were still on and drilling into his head the dangers of taking them off.

Izuku wanted to believe her, truly, but the reaction he had seen from Hawks that he hadn't flown before was starting to make him second guess himself. 

Thinking back, Izuku wonders if Hawks is scared of people trying to take his wings, but he brushes the thoughts off after witnessing his overzealous confidence. Jealousy ripples under his skin for a moment as Izuku takes another bite from the apple slice.

He can feel it in his chest as he fans his wings against the bindings under his uniform. The yearning to fly, just as Hawks can. 

For a long time, Izuku had watched Hawks through the screen of his phone, hoping, praying that he too one day could soar the skies as the hero does. Never once in his life had he wanted something more.

The sudden bell of the ending of lunch rings out and knocks Izuku out of his stupor. Blinking open his eyes, not even having realised he had closed them, he packs up the box and bag and makes his way to class. 

Although he was excited about tonight, that constant state of fear still lingered as he sat back down in his classroom and hunched his shoulders, hoping to be little enough that he remained unbothered. 

Sitting down at the firm desk and chair made his back and wings ache dully, a constant thumping down his spine. Trying to breathe through it, Izuku takes out his notebook and wills his hands to even write something down on the pages. 

Peering outside, Izuku sees the dark hues of the night sky. Eternally grateful his mother went to bed early tonight, Izuku pulls on his red shoes and leaves through the window in his bedroom. 

Making his way to the footpath, Izuku walks down to the beach a few minutes from his house. Why Hawks picked that specific one was suspicious to Izuku. Did the hero know he lived close? 

Overhead the sounds of owls call from the canopies of the trees, and a sudden instinct to call back emerges but Izuku bites down his tongue to stop himself. 

Izuku knows he’s close to the beach due to the obscuring views of the trash. A quick check from his phone tells him it was almost the time Hawks asked to meet. Making his way over to the steps, Izuku nervously waits for the hero to arrive. 

The evening breeze was a bit cold on his skin and ruffled the feathers on his back lightly. Izuku had chosen to wear a shirt with wing slits in it, assuming that Hawks wanted to see them as well as the safety of knowing he wouldn’t get recognised easily in the dark. If someone were to tell his mother what he was doing, he could only frown at the implications of punishment he may receive. 

A quiet thud lands behind him and Izuku looks over his shoulder to see the red-winged hero approach him, plastic bag in his hand. 

He smiles at Hawks as he approaches him, waving a hand in greeting. “Yo,” Hawks says, smiling at him as he notices his wings out of the binder.

Izuku tries not to fidget from his nerves as he turns around and returns a timid wave to Hawks. “H-hello.” 

The smell of food wafted through the air as Hawks got closer and Izuku couldn’t help but stare at the bag he had brought with him. 

“I hope you don’t mind, but I bought dinner with me.” Hawks grips at his neck and smiles sheepishly. “I didn’t have much time to eat before I left.”

Waving his hands out in front of his face, Izuku tries his best to grin at him. “N-no! Please, I don’t m-mind!” Izuku knows he must’ve been busy all day, being a new hero and all. He wonders if Hawks had gotten a break at all today.

“Sweet,” Hawks says and walks over to the seat by the entrance and sits down. Patting the spot next to him, Izuku hurried to follow and rest beside him. Opening the bag, Hawks takes out a takeaway container, and then another and hands it to Izuku. 

“O-oh, no I couldn’t…” Izuku fumbled nervously and went to hand it back to the hero. 

Hawks chuckles at his antics and shakes his head in amusement. “I got it for you, Baby Bird.” 

Izuku can feel the way his jaw parts slightly in shock, before looking down at the food in his hands. No one besides his mother had gotten him something before, at least not since he was little when the Bakugous had invited him for dinner while his mother worked late one night. 

Trying to blink back tears, he draws out a wobbly “ Thank you.” And opens up the container. The smell of freshly cooked pork and vegetables fills his nose as he looks down at the katsudon. His favourite.

Izuku knows that Hawks doesn’t know it was, but his chest swells with joy as he begins to eat it with the chopsticks the hero handed him a moment later. 

They both eat in silence and enjoy the evening and their food. 

Shifting a few times to be comfortable, Izuku couldn’t help but try to gaze at the hero next to him without it seeming too obvious. He looked relaxed, content even and Izuku couldn’t help but go teary-eyed at the level of comfort and generosity he was showing him. 

Trying to choke back a sob, Izuku fills his mouth with some of the rice in the tray, turning his eyes to his shoes. 

His wings felt itchy on his back and seemed to be twitching uncomfortably on the seat. He just couldn’t sit them right without them bothering Izuku. 

Hawks seemed to take notice as he turned to look at Izuku because of his needless movement. 

“You okay, Baby Bird?” 

Nodding, Izuku tries to occupy his answer with a mouthful of food, trying to ignore the intense, but concerned look from Hawks. 

Humming at his response, seemingly unconvinced, Hawks finishes his meal, setting the empty box on the floor. Izuku is soon to mimic the action once he is too full to eat any more.

A silence befalls itself over them once more as Izuku tries to avoid Hawks trying to catch his eyes. Hunching his shoulders again, he hopes that acting small would work for less attention from the hero just as it does with his bullies. 

Izuku knows he’s acting rather rudely, but he was just so nervous and shy that quite honestly, he didn’t even know why Hawks was bothering with him in the first place. He got if the hero was concerned after the night of his attempt, but it had been over a month since then and honestly, Izuku felt better. 

Yeah, the helplessness from Bakugou and his mother's words and actions still plagued him each day, but he didn’t want to try and stop the pain. Each day has been bad since he first met Hawks, but bearable enough to do it all over again the next day. The guilt of leaving his mother behind was too strong, even if at times she was the source of his torment. 

He felt rather weak that he wasn’t doing anything to stop what was happening, that he was tucking in his wings so easily like a frightened animal. He knows he wants to fly, wants to be free, but those frail feathers couldn’t even hold himself up on a chair. 

Sniffling suddenly, Izuku asks the floor, “Why are you helping me?”

Kneading at the bottom hem of his shirt, Izuku hunches in further on himself as he listens to the shuffling of Hawks next to him. 

A stray tear pools at his lashes as he waits for the anger to spill out of the hero, the disappointment and fear of his appearance to come from his mouth. 

Izuku doesn’t let Hawks reply as he continues mumbling into his chest. “Y-you don’t even know me… I’m just some w-weak kid you were obligated to rescue that n-night.” 

Squeezing his eyes, Izuku avoids the chance of seeing the disappointment on the hero’s face. He’s shaking slightly, feathers whispering out behind him in their own, broken way and suddenly all Izuku wants to do is go home. 

Feeling immense guilt from wasting Hawks’ time, Izuku goes to stand, trying to muffle out a, “ I should go.” From his mouth, but finds himself stunted as a light hand touches on his shoulder. 

Looking up at Hawks, despite the fear instilled in his chest, Izuku couldn’t help his eyes widen at the sad pinch on the hero’s face. 

A breath comes out of Hawks’ mouth, a frown on his lips as he regards Izuku delicately. 

“Baby Bird,” Hawks softly says, giving Izuku’s shoulder an encouraging squeeze. “I’m not here because I’m obliged to, I’m here because I care about you.”

Wiping at his nose, Izuku tries sitting up as he looks at Hawks in unconcealed confusion. “You don’t even k-know me.” 

Hawks tried to smile at that, and it felt so soft and genuine Izuku couldn’t stop that same feeling of adoration for the hero. 

The hero’s next words stump Izuku, stills him as he lets go of the tightened grip he has on his shirt. A small sob bubbles from his throat as he feels his chest throb. 

“I don’t need to know someone to see that they need to be saved.” 

Wide-eyed, Izuku watched as Hawks moved his hand from his shoulder to the top of his head. He ruffles his hair lightly and grins at Izuku as if nothing in the world mattered. 

Nodding slightly at his words, Izuku felt rather embarrassed by how he had just acted. Looking away again, he felt the warmth from his head disappear as Hawks rustled in the plastic bag again. 

He can hear the hero pull something out and a slight tap on his shoulder alerts Izuku of his required attention. Looking at what was in Hawks’ hands, he saw a tub of something and a pair of gloves in the other. 

Recognising the confusion on Izuku’s face, Hawks smiles at him. “It’s for grooming your feathers.” He says. “It’s what I use for mine, but I can tell yours haven’t been done for a while. Turn around for me please, Baby Bird?”

Izuku hums and complies with what Hawks asked and turns his body so his wings are fanned out in front of Hawks, instead of against the backrest of the seat.

He feels self-conscious knowing someone was so close to the unnatural look of his wings. He knows his mother thinks they are hideous, and sometimes he thinks they are too. But deep down Izuku knows Hawks won’t judge how they look, even offering to groom them for him. He must know that Izuku struggles, just by a first glance at how they look. 

Jumping slightly to the touch of Hawks’ hand on one of the wings, Izuku tries not to pull out of it as he wasn’t used to having them cared for, or touched, for that instance. 

He can feel Hawks run his hand up and down the feathers, never pulling at them but picking at the loose ones that pull out as he brushes over the surface of his wings. Izuku wouldn’t deny it, but that feeling of someone petting him was nice and he found himself relaxing in the touch of the hero. Sighing he closes his eyes as he focuses on the warm and gentle hands. 

After Hawks had finished pulling out the loose feathers on his wings and brushing out the feathers lightly with his fingers, he lifted the lid off the small tub and dipped his finger into what he could smell as some form of feather oil. 

“I put this on my wings after pruning them. It’s just to restore the oils I rubbed off by accident and ensure structure and protection for my feathers.” Hawks explains as something cold is being rubbed into his wings. 

Izuku feels himself nodding loosely at the explanation, sighing quietly into the night. The cool air snips at his drying eyes uncomfortably and he has to wipe at them every now and again, but he feels less worried and confused than before. The thought that someone seemed to genuinely care for his well-being, despite not having to, makes Izuku feel warm in his chest.

Not used to being pampered and looked after, fondness bubbles in his heart as he allows Hawks to groom his wings for him. 

“I know you want to learn to fly, Baby Bird, but your wings need to be checked over first,” Hawks says after a moment of silence. He feels his wings being stretched open and closed as if Hawks were testing its movement. Fingers run over the long feathers at the tips of his wings and he’s glad to hear the satisfied hum coming from the hero. 

Hawks does this to both wings while inching forward and shifting the slits of his shirt to see the base of them. Izuku can almost see Hawks nodding to himself as he inspects them closely. 

After a while, he hears the hero close the lid of the jar and take off the single-use gloves before packing the rubbish away back into the plastic bag.

Slowly Izuku turned around to face the hero as he sensed that his wings didn’t need further inspection.

“They seem physically okay ,” Hawks explains to him. “And I say that very lightly knowing that they have little to no muscle mass. They are very frail, just as you said.”

“Okay,” Izuku mumbles as he chews on his lips. The cool breeze on his feathers makes him shiver slightly, but he tries to not let it get to him. “C-can I still learn to fly?” He asks shyly.

A smile breaks out on Hawks’ face, and that alone is his answer. Hope once again warms his body. 

Hawks can’t help but grin at Izuku’s contagious smile. “Yes, but not tonight, Baby Bird.” 

Izuku deflates a little at that but nods. He passes Hawks the rubbish from his food and the hero puts it in the plastic bag. 

“10 months,” Hawks randomly says, as the thought arose just at that moment. 

Looking into the hero’s eyes, Izuku squints his in slight confusion to the statement. Blinking and turning his head almost like a bird, he waits for the further explanation to come from Hawks. 

Hawks looks almost amused at the bird-like action, chirping lightly in response as he smiles down at him. “We have 10 months until the UA entrance exam.” 

Lips parting slightly, Izuku tries not to freak out at the implication of what Hawks is trying to say. Was he seriously going to apply to the hero course? Just as he had always dreamt of? He couldn’t help but wobbly smile at the hero.

Placing his hand on his heart, Izuku says in the most confident way he could muster, “I’ll do my b-best!” 

Chuckling softly at him, Hawks reaches out to ruffle his head once again. “That’s the spirit, Baby Bird.” One last pat to the head, Hawks pulls away and stands up from the seat, plastic bag once again in his hand. “It’ll be hard, considering you’ve never really used your wings before, but I know you can do it.” 

Enthusiastically, Izuku nods and goes to stand. His wings flutter behind him in their sort of excitement and he sees as Hawks’ wings do the same. Grateful that the hero had also yet to question more about the binding, Izuku is glad that the conversation was for a later day. 

He stammers out another, “Thank you.” And bows his head. He looks back up and sees a red flush of embarrassment on Hawks’ face as he struggles to reply. 

Waving his hands out in front of him, Hawks grins back at Izuku. “Don’t worry about it, Baby Bird.” Soon Hawks flicks a goodbye with two fingers and takes off into the night, and Izuku once again watches him until he disappears into the stars.

And Izuku couldn’t help but grin back, feeling that just maybe he could fly after him and be a hero as he’s always dreamt of. 

He and Hawks met four nights a week, usually around the same time. From 9 pm to 12 am as the older one of the two argued that Izuku should still get at least a few hours of sleep for school the next day. Although Izuku protested the imposed bedtime Hawks put on him, he still saw the logic of it nonetheless.

The first few days Hawks had him complete numerous warm-up activities for his wings, both knowing they are nowhere near a strength ready for attempting to at least hover for a few seconds. 

Hawks had him stretch his wings, flapping them up and down on the spot. Even as Izuku walked, he was told to continue the movement even though he was tired. Progress was slow, as it would be in any training, especially because he still had to bind his wings daily, a fact that Hawks was not impressed to hear about but there was nothing either could do about it (only because Hawks still doesn’t know why).

Soon Izuku found he could continuously flap his wings longer and longer each night. After the first month of just simple warm-ups and light strength-building activities, Hawks had Izuku try to mimic the movement of his body before taking off, not his wings as he prepared to fly.

“Bend your knees, don’t look at the ground, give your wings a little leverage before flying off. Make sure to jump off whatever surface you are on so your wings have something to work with and some momentum. Flying from the ground without assistance from your body is a bad idea, it could put too much strain on the wings.” 

Hawks told Izuku the fundamentals of body language before flight. And as one month bled into two, Hawks had Izuku try a slight hover.

It had taken a few nights to make progress on it, but as his muscles began to build, Izuku was able to jump off the ground and hold something akin to a hover for almost two seconds. 

Both of them had been ecstatic of course, Hawks even taking Izuku out for a late-night victory meal, which did regrettably consist of convenience store mochi, but who was there to judge? 

Hawks had ruffled his hair playfully and smiled at Izuku before telling him to go home for the rest of the night. 

It had all been going according to their plan. His mother had picked up later shifts at her job meaning she was more inclined to get to bed before their meeting time, meaning that sneaking out unnoticed was more than a cinch for Izuku. 

Though lately whenever Izuku did see his mother, she would be fretting over him with more insistent pestering about the wing binder. It felt as if they never really had many moments of content, at least to Izuku as the only time they would talk would be when she was reminding him about his wings.

“You know what will happen if someone sees you with wings, Izuku, dear. They’ll take you and cut them off. You don’t want that, do you? Listen to me, sweetheart and you will be safe.” 

“Nobody saw your wings today? Right? You didn’t tell anybody? I’ll be upset if you did, Izuku, dear.” 

Avoidant eyes. 

Even if he has begun to tuck them closer to his back at dinner times to be really cautious as she might pick up on their different appearance, Izuku is safe to believe she wouldn’t, not that she would willingly admire them anyway. He knows she’s disgusted by them. 

Izuku can feel his wings grow bigger with muscle and he’s scared to realise that he might need a new binder soon. His feathers seem to droop longer even if he tucks the wings as close to his back as he can. It was all just the efforts of the training with Hawks, it was beginning to show after a few months and the fear of his mother finding out sits heavy in the back of his mind. 

“You don’t want to be in trouble again, right, Izuku? Not like when you were little. Oh, you had been terribly upset. Don’t break the rules and I won’t have to punish you, hun.” 

He has felt himself nod each time, the excitement and confidence grown from Hawks dwindling and being snuffed out like a flame. What Izuku obtained from his mentor would be shoved back away behind the words of his mother and the thoughts in his head. But he supposes it was better this way, a drastic behaviour change would make his mother suspicious and that is the last thing he wanted. If she found out what he was doing while she was in bed asleep, he doesn’t know what he would do. 

He would have to somehow convince his mother that he got into UA without his wings, on the small chance he did. But Izuku knows that this is an issue for the future.

Alone in his room, binding off and shirt off, Izuku admires the life seeming to be brought back into his wings. Vibrant forest green feathers, although still a little misshapen due to being

binded, feels less thin and frail than they once had been. Once a month Hawks would groom his wings for him. He had tried teaching Izuku, even bought him a second set of products to take home with him, but he just couldn’t get a hang of it the same as the hero did. 

Especially not on nights such as this one. Izuku could tell it would be bad during the last hour of his school day. A constant twinge between his shoulder blades had plagued him all day. It felt that whenever Izuku breathed a wave of cramping threatened his back. 

It had only gotten worse towards their meeting time for training. Izuku had to text Hawks to cancel last minute as my mother is insistent on bothering me tonight , so they moved tomorrow's break into a session instead. He could tell Hawks didn’t buy the excuse very well, but Izuku couldn’t quite find it in himself to care at that moment as he tossed and turned in his sheets. 

Usually, he would sleep with a shirt on, but he was sweating from the aching in his wings and back.

Laying on his side he sees the feathers droop over him like a shadow, left side as it was the most comfortable position he could find himself in until his arm started to go numb from him laying on it. 

Sighing out in frustration, Izuku slowly slinks off the bed and into the cool wooden floor of his room. Momentarily he felt relief from the pain as he laid his stomach down on the cool surface. 

It was short-lived though as another, more harsh wave of cramping instilled itself all down his spines and even into the tips of his wings. Crying out quietly, Izuku curls up and bites down harshly on his knuckles. The last thing he needed was his mother walking into his room and seeing him on the floor in pain like this. 

Izuku wasn’t quite sure what caused his quirked wings and back to play up. It hasn’t since a few weeks before his attempt and that was almost three months ago. 

A cultivation of reasons played in his mind as he tried to think through his shaky breaths and tears. One of them is the possibility of quirk overuse, but that would be unlikely as he hasn’t been doing anything more than stretching his wings and attempting to hover off the ground. He wasn’t even that far into considering it a real use of his wings. 

But then again, it might be the additional binding of his wings, and it was putting too much stress on the appendages as his body didn’t seem to be able to understand what he was doing. The switching between no use at all to sudden use seemed to play up with the chronic pain he had after the punishment his mother enforced onto him as a child. 

A fresh wave of pain ebbed over his body, beginning to travel to his arms and legs and Izuku had to try and choke back a sob on his leaden tongue. 

Izuku immediately knew he would be getting next to no sleep. Soon the pain will travel to his fingers and feet and he would essentially not be able to move for a few hours. This had only happened a handful of times, pain this serious, but it seemed the stress on his back and wings had become too much the past few days and now Izuku has to suffer through the consequences of it. 

Dread fills his gut as the pain thumps under his skin like a heartbeat, knowing he’ll have to bind his wings sometime in the next few hours for school. 

Whimpering and chittering softly into the darkness of his room, Izuku didn't want the hero with him any more than he did now. 

Sobbing something muffled against his hand, Izuku had truly wished he was as quirkless as he said he was.

Chapter Text

The time of morning when Izuku had to get up for school came around slowly. Throughout the whole night, he felt as if he had gotten next to no sleep, the stabbing pain dulling into a lull in his body. It had felt like he had been running all night, but Izuku could only wish his body was painless enough to do so. 

Steadily peeling himself off his bedroom floor, Izuku took extra care packing his rucksack for school. Although annoying, he was glad for the distraction of looking for the textbooks and notebooks. It made him forget about the pain momentarily. 

Putting his binder on was a different challenge. He found it discarded by the side of his bed and Izuku could already feel the dread forming in his chest at being forced to wear it again. 

But deciding to slip on a sleep shirt instead, Izuku planned to stall on putting it on as late as he could. 

Taking a step out of his room, Izuku walks to the kitchen and sees his mother on the bench, nursing a cup of tea. 

She turns to bid him good morning but Izuku can immediately see a frown on her face as she sees him still out of his uniform with his wings unbinded.

Trying to not look hurt from her reaction, but as well as to not show the leftover wisps of his suffering earlier that day, Izuku walks to the fridge to take out the carton of milk. 

He planned to have a glass, not feeling much for tea at the moment as his mother was. 

“Good morning, Izuku.” She says to him and Izuku can tell how strained it was. He knows she’ll say something about his wings before he can leave the kitchen. But at the moment, he opts to mumble out his good morning while facing the sink, away from her. He just didn’t want to see the disgusted look on her face, at least not this morning.

Izuku makes sure to take time to drink his glass, drawing out the minutes until he’s forced to put on the wing binder. 

Rinsing the cup and setting it in the sink once he was done, he returned the carton to the fridge, still intentionally trying not to look at her. He could feel the glare burning the back of his head, knowing that it wasn’t like for him to come downstairs without it on in the morning, or more like it was unlike for her to see his wings in the morning. 

Almost feeling like luck was at his side, Izuku freezes in the doorway as his mother's voice cuts him from retreating to his room. 

“Why don’t you have your binder on, hun .”

Chills travel up his spine, in coercion to the pain in it. Izuku dares to look over his shoulder at his mother. Her lips are drawn straight and she has a crick in her eyebrow. 

Fumbling, Izuku says, “I-I just thought to put it on before I left.” He can feel the sweat drops going down his forehead as his mother eyes him with a calculated look. “S-sorry, mother. I won't do it a-again.” Izuku curses himself for stuttering, his tongue feeling like it is led in his mouth. 

“Alright,” she replies. But Izuku can tell alone that it was a warning. There was a silent do it again and see what happens in the air but Izuku doesn’t stick around long enough to swallow that fear down. 

Going back to his room as if he was chased there, he was quick to put the binder back on and get dressed for school. He puts his shoes on with shaky hands and walks right out the front door, throwing a goodbye over his shoulder. 

He knows his mother is mad at him for having his wings out in the morning. He didn’t even bother to grab his lunch because he knew there was no lunch to grab. Not when she looked so angry and disgusted at him. At his wings.

Shivering and chittering lowly to himself, he wonders how worse the morning could get. The deep throbbing pain of his back still insisted its presence in his body, the taught binding suffocating his chest. 

He can feel the restriction in his throat as he tries to calm himself. He can feel it as he tries to talk and nothing but strangled noises come out. Feeling pitiful and weak, Izuku hid until it was homeroom, coming in a few minutes late and ignored the scolding of his teacher as he sat down at his seat.

Ignoring the eyes burning a hole into the side of his head, Izuku folds his wings tighter and wishes he could disappear into the floor. 

He sees Hawks later that night, deciding not to skip out the last second like he thought he would. Izuku’s back was still aching, but if he wanted to be strong he’d have to work through the pain. 

Even each time he moved the pain struck down his spine in constant waves, Izuku used his stiff tongue to subdue the hisses that threatened to spill past his lips. 

He knew his face must’ve looked drawn and taut to Hawks, but he couldn’t find himself worrying much about it as he continued to try and lift objects off the ground and try to fly over to make new piles. One for scrapped and one for thrown. Hawks had someone come and pick up the pile they deemed as still usable every few days and slowly the beach was beginning to clear. 

Sweat beats down the side of Izuku’s face as he tries lifting a microwave, the beating of his wings shaking from overuse as he steadies a few seconds and glides down the mountain of landfill. Hawks was standing at the bottom, hand over his chin as he seemed to be deeply in thought about something. 

Eyes following Izuku as he worked, he never strayed far from him in case of any danger. It initially warmed his heart, but then again set Izuku on edge because he knows for sure that Hawks suspects something is wrong.

He hasn’t asked why he skipped on him last night, not that Izuku was quite ready to explain, but he could also tell Hawks was contemplating speaking. Izuku knows it must be something to do with his wings, it always is with anyone.

Since this morning Izuku had stifled, sparse words. He just couldn’t seem to speak through the lump in his throat and he hoped Hawks didn’t see him as rude for it. He tried before he left his home, but it just seemed like he couldn’t speak.

It happened to him sometimes. Words could be hard, especially when no one particularly wanted to listen to them, so sometimes his throat would clog up and he wouldn’t speak for hours or days on end. 

Izuku doesn’t know why it happens, but sometimes he thinks having no one to talk to leaves him to be in his own company. Talking to yourself was weird, wasn’t it?

Feeling his wings shake, Izuku places down the microwave before making his way over to the bottle of water Hawks had brought for him. He appreciated the gesture as his body felt warm and sweaty due to him working it for the past two hours.

Hawks is standing almost beside him when he finishes taking a mouthful of the water. Izuku can tell by the firm look on his face that Hawks seemed to find it in himself to talk to Izuku, as in really talk. 

It scared Izuku and he couldn’t find the words to make an excuse as he stood against the hero. 

Trying to avoid lasting eye contact, Izuku looks away and begins fiddling with the cap of the bottle. He knows what it must look like to Hawks, but Izuku just wanted to shy away from him and everyone around him.

He has come tonight to train in hopes it would distract his mind from his mother's anger and the glares he has received from Bakugou all day. Izuku wasn't too lucky to walk away free from the blonde, a few nasty words and a sparking of hands later and he had a new burn on his shoulder. 

He had purposely worn a longer-sleeved shirt, not that it hurt much, but just to hide it from Hawks.

Snapping Izuku out of his stupor of thoughts, Hawks suddenly says, “Is everything okay, Baby Bird? You’ve been quieter than usual.”

Izuku immediately nods to his response, smiling a strained-lipped reassurance to the hero. Hawks can only frown at him, quiet but with thoughts louder than words. It said, I know you are lying, but Izuku didn’t want to elaborate on his response, or lack thereof.

Feeling that his wings had rested enough to return to a few more attempts of floating (but really, it was an excuse), Izuku is quick to bound off again. He knows his silence and avoidance spoke volumes, but really, what can Hawks do without knowing the history of his quirklessness ?

He hoped it was nothing. You can’t build something without the correct materials. At least that’s what Izuku likes to think.

Izuku is thankful that Hawks was trying to help him, but sometimes that fear of his mother steals his voice. Even if he wanted to tell Hawks, he couldn’t.

Last night he had wanted to, so , so, desperately. The pain had been excruciating and he would’ve given anything to have Hawks by his side, nursing him as if he was his child. But after what happened with his mother, Izuku thinks that maybe being tight-lipped on his problems would be for the better. 

No one liked to bother with quirkless people, after all. 

The simple thought of that made Izuku feel a sense of sadness in his heart, because when has a person's life suddenly been determined by their quirk? Someone made a mistake, and it cost Izuku immensely. 

Sometimes he wants to blame his mother for his wings, who had done her so wrong that the wings made her frown at her son in disgust? But then, sometimes in the darkness of his room, Izuku blames himself. 

It was well past midnight when Hawks called Izuku down to head home for the night. Izuku agrees hastily, feeling the throb all over his body as he waves goodbye to the hero and begins walking down the path.

Izuku feels it’s going to be another one of those nights where he doesn’t sleep much, even despite how exhausted he feels.

By the halfway mark before the entrance exam, Izuku could now hold himself up with his wings and remain air-born for almost a full ten seconds. Hawks and himself had celebrated, of course, this time with late-night ice cream and a walk to the park, but Izuku had still felt his training was feeling rather slow.

He may even call his wings useless with how little he could fly for, but then Izuku also knows it takes time to go from no use to full use. 

Hawks had told him he was proud, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and squeezing Izuku into something akin to a side hug. 

During their walk, Hawks told Izuku that he would be teaching him basic techniques and skills for combat. Explaining to Izuku to not fall so reliant on his wings, a few days later he had Izuku learn basic blocks and punches. Not that Izuku was very good at it, to begin with, but the rush after successfully pulling one off amounted to the worth of learning. 

The seventh month came by just as fast and Izuku was able to fly up onto ledges and higher mountains of trash. The beach had come to be almost done despite the three months remaining. 

His wings and back hadn’t had another attack in a while, but Izuku just assumed that was because of his body’s newly formed muscles. 

However, this led to Izuku needing to ask his mother for a larger wing binder. They had simply just grown too large to fit in his old one due to the strength built in them. 

Thankfully, his mother didn’t question it, rather seemed thrilled in fact to Izuku asking for one. It was sick, but he could tell his mother felt proud of him. 

It made him feel awful. 

Now with his wings growing from barely longer than his legs, thin and fragile into almost floor length and growing in thickness, Izuku himself felt a mixture of hope and disgust. 

It had hurt to stuff his wings into the small binder, it had hurt to see that sickly fake smile on his mother's face, and it had hurt to see Hawks, happy for him despite that he knew Izuku was keeping things from him. 

How the hero hasn’t given up on Izuku was beyond him, but his presence in his life had almost caused a complete turnaround in his acceptance of his quirk. 

Legally, known by most that he was quirkless, the similarities he found in Hawks had almost made him come to like the big appendages on his back. 

Almost.

The entrance exam was coming up faster than anticipated. Izuku could feel it in the atmosphere while he was at school, every room or place that had Bakugou in it, the air felt tense and the glares he had received seemed doubled.

Some days all Izuku would get was the burning of eyes, staring him down as if he was something to kill. Those days Izuku longed for the most when he attended school, it meant that Bakugou played more passive in his bullying. It was easier to get through the day when he was like this.

However, while those rare days occurred, it just seemed to Izuku, that is made Bakugou more relentless in his argument that stupid, quirkless Deku had no chance of getting into a hero course, and sometimes though it wasn’t legally true, Izuku felt it to be the likelihood.

But then he’d speak with Hawks about it, about feeling that worthlessness he so often did, the same drive and hope of his training and his quirk seemed to reignite the desire to prove Bakugou wrong. Because even if he was scared, quirkless people can become heroes.

“Hey,” A loud voice says in front of him. Izuku peers his eyes out from underneath his hair, seeing Bakugou. Before he could get a word in, the blonde grabbed the notebook off his desk, the one he had been nose-deep in writing in. 

Izuku can already feel himself shrink into his chair as he watches him flick through the pages. The previous one had been finished and he was onto the next one, with only a few heroes catalogued. 

He watches Bakugou sneer at the words, trying to make sense of the illegible scribble he knew was on the paper. 

Wringing his hands nervously, Izuku feels his bound wings twitch at the suspense. Almost chittering softly to soothe himself, (an action he had to forcefully stop him from doing), Izuku sees Bakugou click his tongue and glare at him.

“Still think note-taking will get you into UA, nerd?” Bakugou grunts out, his words mixing into the laughter of the classroom around him. 

Suddenly feeling very small, he tries to shake his head. Tongue stiff in his mouth, he tries to explain, “It’s j-just a hobby, Kacchan.”

Izuku can visibly see Bakugou get angry at the nickname. “I told you to stop calling me that stupid shit.” He says, narrowing his eyes down at him. 

He knows he should’ve grown out of it by now, it’s not like Bakugou and himself were friends or anything anymore, at least not since he got his quirk. But Izuku supposes he still grips onto a small form of hope with Bakugou, that maybe their dream can still be true. 

“S-sorry,” Izuku mumbles out. 

Bakugou clicks his tongue at him, slamming the book down onto the table before levelling him with a stare that felt as if he was biting holes into his eyes. 

“You’re weak, Deku. Don’t even bother trying for UA, they don’t accept quirkless weaklings like you.” He says, and turns to walk back to his seat. 

Izuku just tries to ignore how hurtful those words were despite that when they were kids, applying to the hero course together was all they could think about.

The remainder of school is rather uneventful. His walk home is even more so. His mother was already home when he got back, which Izuku thought to be strange as usually she would work a little later. However, he didn’t pay much mind to it as he greeted her at the doorway before going up to his room. 

Once the door closed, Izuku took his wings out of the binder and gave them a stretch. Instant relief washed over and he hunched forward as the stiff strain on his back had been removed. 

Going to sit at his desk after putting on different clothes, Izuku gingerly opens up the drawer and takes out a notebook. He brushes the cover lightly as if dust had collected over it before opening it up. 

Inside were the words , personal quirk analysis , with an update from a few months ago of his quirk’s development. He had originally bought the notebook to write about the spotlight heroes he saw, but inside Izuku found himself writing about his wings. 

Although technically his wings were more of a mutation than a quirk, Izuku wanted to believe that there was more to it than just having wings. 

Izuku only suspected this because of observations he made on Hawks’ wings. Although it was wings, the hero could manipulate the use of his feathers. 

Briefly Izuku wondered if he could do the same, but then he remembered that every quirk is unique to its own individual and he definitely wouldn’t have the same ability as his winged mentor. 

Izuku wrote down his notes and logged his progress with his wings. He had been a bit slack on it lately, but his last entry was only a few months ago so it wasn’t completely outdated like he’d assumed.

Quick to scribble down the new developments of his wings' endurance, as well as the increase in size and mass, Izuku catalogued further theories on what else his wings could do in the future, besides allowing him to fly around. 

It fell short as really, they were all just theories , and Izuku couldn’t possibly know after he gained more experience when using his wings. 

But he did hope it would be something.

Tonight was Izuku’s rest night, so he didn’t have to worry about meeting Hawks, which he supposed was good timing as his mother wouldn’t be in bed before their meeting time. 

Later, after his dinner and shower, Izuku came back into his room to relax. He was now wearing a white singlet, wings pulled through the slits in the back and they swayed slightly as he walked over to his window. 

Looking out, Izuku admired the night sky. The slight breeze that came through the crack in his window kissed his face, a cool but welcome comfort. 

With the stars and moon gleaming, Izuku wished he could experience it truly when flying. He knows he would reach his hand out and try to touch the darkness, only to find it just out of his reach. 

Sighing, he pulled away and walked over to the centre part of the clear space in his bedroom. His ceiling wasn’t super high, a fan dangling in the middle, but Izuku felt that maybe he could practise his flying just a little bit more. 

Spreading out his wings as far as he could, Izuku couldn’t help but notice how they were reasonably growing close to touching the sides of his room. Though his room was a rectangle, he couldn’t think of it as not a possibility. Maybe once he was an adult, he could. 

Feeling his feathers ripple out in glee, he gives them a test flap. The piece of paper resting on his desk shudders as the unexpected wave of air rushes through the room.

Smiling, Izuku bends his knees, just as Hawks told him to do, and just a slight jump. Not too high that he’s hit his head, but enough leverage to give his wings something to work with as he tested his ability to fly. 

His wings pump out large gusts as he tries to hold himself off the ground. Izuku counts ten seconds, surprised that he doesn’t feel his wings tire. That ten turned into twenty. Then thirty, and Izuku couldn’t help how a smile broke across his face. It was the longest he had even been off the ground before. And at exactly forty-two seconds, his wings gave out and he dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. 

Quickly scrambling up off the floor, Izuku grabs his phone and sends an excited, I can hover in the air for 42 seconds! to Hawks before falling over the sheets in his bed.

The appendages were now aching just a little, but Izuku was far too ecstatic at his accomplishment to notice the dull throb. 

It doesn’t seem to take the number three hero long to reply, as said in his response, good job baby bird! mochi run tomorrow night before training? :> 

Izuku couldn’t stop the smile that spread over his mouth as he read the message. He eagerly replied with his enthusiasm for the treat, before setting his phone onto the pillow beside him. 

He knows his mother wouldn’t be impressed with him if she found out he had been flying in his room, but his door was closed and he could still hear the soft murmur of the television in the other room so Izuku couldn’t find it in himself to care. 

That night Izuku managed to get a full night's worth of sleep. The first one he had in a week or so. 

As another month passed, just two before the entrance exam, Izuku flew for the first time. Though he couldn’t quite call it that, it was the first time he used his wings for speed, rather than just staying limited to small side-to-side movements and only up and down flexibility. 

Hawks had him chasing him through the remainder of the trash mountains in a sort of game of tag. Although Izuku didn’t win at all, he found himself more confident in the use of his wings and he wasn’t doing too bad at keeping up with the hero, (but he knew that Hawks had been going easy on him). 

Izuku thought it was fun, like they were playing and he couldn’t help the chirp of excitement that came out of his mouth once they came back together to discuss his progress. 

Although he had been embarrassed, Hawks was quick to chirp his sentiment back to him. It warmed his heart. 

Eventually, after almost ten months of training his wings, Izuku was able to fly. The beach was cleaned, he could fly properly for almost ten minutes and Hawks had even promised him an evening flight a few days before the entrance exam. 

Izuku was beyond thrilled, and he could not help but how he barreled into Hawks, chittering his happiness and gratitude into the hero’s chest. 

He knew it might’ve been inappropriate of him to do so, but he couldn’t help but be drawn into hugging his mentor. Over almost a year, Izuku had gone from the weak, small wings into powerful tools that would no doubt help him get points easily in the exam. 

“Thank you, t-thank you so much, Hawks!” Izuku almost cried out, gripping the older bird's jacket. It might’ve seemed childish, to others at least, but he has grown fond of Hawks. If asked, Izuku wouldn’t be super shy about announcing the hero as his older brother. 

And when Izuku told him that one night, Hawks had all but flushed in embarrassment, though still adoring a grin that rivalled the number one hero’s. 

It was small, but a little family nonetheless. Hawks, his mentor, but now seemingly his brother, had brought him purpose. 

Chapter Text

A few days before the entrance exam, Izuku met with Hawks to go on the night fly, which his mentor had promised him. 

It was a cool night, the moon bright in the sky and its glow was cascading down his face as he admired it while he walked to the beach. It was clear, save for a few clouds and stars, a breeze brushing against his wings and arms as if beckoning him further. 

Izuku had been bubbling with excitement all day. He felt it in his feet, almost wanting to run there with his wings bouncing behind him in their own enthusiasm. Izuku couldn’t help the chittering he was making from his mouth, body responding to the eagerness, the yearning to fly.

Hawks had sent him a message that morning saying, wanna have that flight together tonight, baby bird? :> and Izuku giggled at the little emoji before replying. 

Smiling lightly to himself, he approached the stairs that descended to the beach below. It was easy to see the shoreline from where he was walking, the sand now clear of the wasteland it was a few months prior. 

Izuku spotted Hawks waiting by the entrance, a hand resting on his hip as he leaned sideways against the railing. He stood up straight as he saw he was approaching, waving a salute by his head in greeting.

Speeding up, almost tripping on his feet in excitement, Izuku bounded his way over with a wave and a grin. 

“You ready, Baby Bird?” Hawks asks him once he is close enough, grinning as Izuku nods eagerly, bouncing on his knees and wringing his hands. 

After getting the understanding to stick by me at all times, and leave at any sign of danger, into his head, Izuku flexed his wings, curling the feathers as he prepared to follow the hero.

Grinning at his enthusiasm, Hawks walks off and leaps into the air, flying up and waiting for Izuku to join him. 

Spreading his wings and jumping up, Izuku allowed his wings to catch himself as he caught up with Hawks. 

They start slowly, gliding over the city and letting the night bask into their bodies. Izuku’s eyes had been darting around, looking at all the life in the streets below him. Grin on his face and tears in his eyes, Izuku couldn’t help the happy chirping spilling from his lips as he flew side by side with Hawks. 

Looking up briefly at the hero, Izuku saw a glance of fondness in Hawks’ expression as he watched Izuku. He glided just a little in front of him, turning his head back as Izuku cried out happily. 

The cool breeze from earlier was brushing up against his body, a feeling of lightness under his wings as it took him over to the rooftop of a building. The sensation rattled in his chest, but one of adoration. Not once had Izuku felt the physical sense of freedom, he had longed for it for so many years, it being just out of his reach, but now as he took another push with his wings as he trailed behind Hawks, he hadn’t felt more alive.

Izuku watched the cars below gleam brightly. Lights of buildings, lamps and stores illuminated the ground like earth-bound stars. 

Lifting his hand in front of his face, Izuku reaches out for it, as if he could grasp it into the palm of his hand. Instead, the wave of the night blew between his fingertips, making them tingle.

Closing his eyes, Izuku allows himself to fall into the embrace of the sky. A sense of peace washes over him as the smells of the world around him fill him with contentment. The gentle lulling of flapping wings, his own and Hawks’.

After a while, he could feel his wings beginning to tire at the ten-minute mark. Hawks followed him down onto a rooftop and they both landed softly with a thud. 

After Izuku rested for a while, they leapt off the building again. He watched with a look of awe as Hawks folded his wings close as he dived down to gain speed. It wasn't something Izuku knew how to do well, but he tried it as well and the feeling of the wind flying past his body was liberating. Childlike laughter spewed from his mouth as he weaved between structures behind Hawks.

Trying to catch up, Izuku couldn’t stop the massive grin on his face as they played an unannounced game of air tag. He could hear Hawks’ own laughs of joy as Izuku tugged his arm, ducking away from being tapped again and taking off down behind a ledge. 

Izuku could hear the sound of Hawks calling his name playfully, and his wings twitched. Just as he was about to move from his spot, something smooth brushed against his face and a red feather soothingly rubbed his cheek. A feather. Moments later Hawks appeared next to him, smiling brightly as they took off again.

For almost two hours, despite the constant ten-minute resting, Izuku’s body had worn out by the time he landed at the front of his house. His wings ached slightly after the strain of using them, but Izuku didn’t mind. The feeling of flying had been worth the backlash of using them. 

Izuku could see the curiosity in Hawks’ posture as he looked around the neighborhood. During his excitement, he had forgotten to take the detour to the beach, leading the hero straight to his home. 

Hawks paced around the front of the apartment complexes. The hero finds himself mumbling out to Izuku as he turns to look at him, “Is this where you live?” 

He dumbly nodded at Hawks and gripped his neck nervously, embarrassment flushing his cheeks red. “Y-yeah, uh… I didn’t mean to bring you h-here.” He replies, feeling upset that he was too caught up in the evening that he’d revealed to the hero where he lived.

“Sweet,” is all Hawks says as he walks over to Izuku. He tries nodding back but finds himself stumped.

The moment Hawks got close he reached over to ruffle his hair. Izuku couldn’t help but wonder how he leaned into the affection, and that made his blush grow darker. 

A few beats of silence pass before Hawks fills it. “I’m proud of you, Baby Bird,” he chirps softly. 

Izuku couldn’t stop the movement of his wings flicking in happiness to hear those words. Ducking his head to look at his shoes again, feeling a sense of deja vu, he wrings his hands anxiously.

“It’s uh, it’s I-Izuku.” He mumbles to Hawks, looking up slowly to gauge the reaction of the hero. 

He sees his mouth part slowly before his eyes crinkle and he smiles down at him. That same feeling of fondness bubbles in his chest, long after Hawks retracts his arm to reach for something from his pocket. 

Pulling out a case, he hands it to Izuku and he can’t help but feel the way his mouth falls open. 

“N-no, I couldn’t, Hawks,” he stutters, rolling around the case in his hands. 

Shaking his head, Hawks says, “Open it up, Izuku . It’s for you.”

Nodding, despite the almost stupor he found himself in, he unlatched the small case and opened it. Tears pool on his lashes as he digs out a similar pair of shades, almost rivalling the ones on Hawks’ face. Although his was tinted a dark shade of green, Izuku couldn’t stop himself from holding it to his chest as if it were fragile, priceless. 

Looking up at the hero, he tries to speak through the clog on his tongue as Hawks smiles at him. 

“I had my agency make a pair for you. I just thought it would be cool to get a head start for your hero costume.” 

Dropping his eyes from him to his hands, he thumbs the side of it before nodding, lips wobbling.

“Thank y-you, Hawks.” 

“Keigo,” Hawks says right after and smiles. 

Izuku couldn’t help but grin back at the hero. He puts the shades on, noticing how the green obscures the colours around him but smiles, nonetheless. 

“Thank you, Keigo .” 

When the day of the entrance exam came around Izuku had been a pit full of nerves. He found himself constantly wringing his hands and gripping the bottom of his shirt. The fluttering in his chest had his throat close up and Izuku knew he wouldn’t be able to talk much today. 

During the written test he had all but flown through the questions. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the bubbling of anxiety in his chest or the pressure to perform well, but he had managed to finish well before the rest of the participants in the room. 

As he waited for the other individuals to finish, he made himself take a step outside to calm the rapid pumping in his heart. Rereading the good luck message from Hawks, Izuku was able to dial down his panicking enough to feel the clogging in his throat dissolve.

Currently, his wings are bound. At the entrance gate to the school, Izuku had nervously wondered if he was going to use them at all. But he ended up deciding that he’d take them out just before the practical exam. He wasn't sure he’d be able to withstand the constriction all day.

Izuku could feel the flutter in wings as he began walking over to the group of students. The right side of the binding pressed another ache into his back as he stood rigid. 

As the day went on and the practical started, Izuku made sure to have taken the binder off, pulling a half mask over his mouth. Giving his wings a test flex and stretch, he swallowed down the lump at the base of his tongue and unclenched his fingers from his side. 

The sun was beating down heavily on his back, a warm blanket resting on his shoulders and wings. At the time it had felt comforting, like the earth had given him a sense of content before the alarms sounded.

Flying over the people below him, Izuku took ahead of the lead as he tried spotting the mechanical point between the rubble and buildings. 

Practicing techniques taught to him by Hawks, Izuku managed to earn himself a handful of broken robots. And towards the end of the exam, Izuku hesitantly wanted to admit that he had done good. 

His wings ached duly as he landed back down, dreadfully wrapping himself back up into the binder he left by the door. 

The wait for his results left him more nervous than he went for the actual test. At some point during the week, Hawks had taken him out again for another flight, burning off the pent-up anxiety that had run its course through his body. 

Hawks had told him not to stress so much on it, saying in almost a knowing tone that he had gotten in. Izuku smiled something strained and went home that night. He was grateful to the hero for attempting to cheer him up, but the minimal sleep and nervous wreck he became hindered him from being able to wind down. 

By the end of the week, after he had come home from school, his mother had greeted him early at the door, waving an envelope and grinning broadly at her son. 

They opened it up together at the bench, celebrating with his favourite, katsudon, for dinner to the acceptance letter from the school. 

He was quick to tell Hawks that night, and they had flown off together and spent the late evening lounging on a roof with a soda they had gotten from the convenience store a few streets from his house. 

Hawks had started to make an effort to meet him at the beach still. Izuku had told him to not come to his place unless it was dire. He didn’t want to explain to his mother why the red-winged hero was at their front door, so keeping them at a distance was the safest thing he could do.

The hero never asked why, just seemed to accept that Izuku wouldn’t open up until he was ready and truly, he was grateful.

After his graduation and the break before the fresh school year started, Izuku continued to train with Hawks. Over the duration of the few weeks of training, sometimes five or six nights a week, Izuku could say he was almost ready for the hero course.

He had been put into the top class for the first years, but if he wanted to feel as if he earned it, he kept working on his combat and flying skills.

On his first day at UA, Izuku found that he wasn’t as nervous as he had been for the exam. Words found him a little easier, although not up to normal speech, he was able to speak through the tightness in his throat if he had to.

The only thing Izuku was most worried about was seeing Bakugou again. He knows that he had, without a doubt, gotten into the hero course, and Izuku wouldn’t be surprised that he had gotten into his class as well. Although it made him nervous to see his bully again, Izuku had reminded himself that this was his fresh start, his chance at accomplishing the dream he held dear to him since he was young. 

He knew he wasn’t going to let the blonde bother him anymore. He wasn’t the same quirkless weakling he had been a year ago, and he has Hawks to thank for that. 

Before he left for school, his mother had pampered him with affection, while she was doting on his success in applying for UA, she had also been extra needy on Izuku and binding his wings. All throughout that morning she had checked on him to make sure he was wearing it and that just because it’s a different school, doesn’t mean the rules have changed.

Izuku knew his mother was under the assumption that he had applied to the school registered quirkless, as well as took the exam with his wings binded. It wasn’t the case; anyone could tell him that as he knew someone had to connect his wings to his face, even if it was half hidden by the black mask. 

It would be hard to keep the secret from his classmates, especially now because he knows pro heroes work throughout the entirety of the school. Izuku knows that someone might catch on, but as long as the truth of his quirk didn’t come to light then everything should be fine. 

He planned to wear the binder per his mother's instructions, just like in Aldera, as that lingering fear remained in his chest as his mother glared a look of disgust every night. He knew that at some point he’d start believing her words about him, that he’d feel it come from his mouth as his mirrored self would stare at him in his bathroom. 

Izuku knew his wings were hideous to look at, and despite that they were being well maintained by Hawks, it was all he saw when he took off the binding. Even now he knows they are still a bit crooked, misshapen and unlike the ones of his mentor, so really, hiding them might also be for himself, and not his mother. 

Even if it saddened him and lulled aches throughout his body, Izuku couldn’t think of anything worse than seeing the reactions of not just his mother, but everyone around him if he were to let them out of the confines of his binding.  

Walking into the classroom, chest tightly squeezed and hands gripping the straps of his bag, Izuku takes a few seconds to admire the atmosphere before finding a seat at the back of the room. He had come in just a little bit before home room, not wanting to draw any attention to himself as he sat his belongings on the floor.

The people around him were loud, talkative and unlike what he was used to in school. It seemed that no one had qualms about speaking to each other, save for the handful of strays in the back. Excluding himself, what he could see was a duel-haired boy and another one with a bird mutation. 

On the other side of the room was the popping of explosions and a glare he had forgotten he was familiar with. Bakugou was staring at him with a firm line on his lips and an angry, arched brow. 

He knows the blonde would be absolutely seething at seeing him here because he wouldn’t have expected the little quirkless loser to get into the hero course. Izuku knew he was being less aggressive, Bakugou was smart like that. Until he established his place of authority with the classmates around him, he would be tight-lipped on the bullying towards him, or really, he would be subtle about it. If people were scared of him, no one would stop him. 

No one ever helped the quirkless kids.

Sneering at him in disgust, Bakugou turns away from glaring harshly at Izuku in favour of levelling the boy in front of him, who seemed to be scolding the blonde, a stare of utter boredom.

Soon a rather gravely man rises off the floor of the classroom, (had he been there the whole time?) and announces himself to the class, (although later than desired as these people did not stop talking).

Everyone gawks at his appearance, mouth ajar as he unzips himself from a sleeping bag and dumps it onto the floor.

“It took you all eight seconds to shut up. That’s not going to work, Time is precious, rational students would understand that.” Pushing his long, black hair from his face, the man then says, “My name is Shouta Aizawa, your teacher.”

After telling everyone to be dressed in their gym uniform found in the drawer of their desks and to meet him outside in two minutes, he turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the class behind in a little stupor of their own.

“I’ll be assessing you on your limits. Throw this ball with your quirks, anything goes, just stay in the circle.” 

Izuku couldn’t help but how his shoulders sunk in at that. He didn’t have a quirk, at least to them, but he could feel the binder pressing deep into his ribs uncomfortably and squeezing his chest all the same. A painful reminder he did have one, but if he used it, his mother would punish him. That fear sent him walking up almost last to the field, ball in his hand. 

He could feel the eyes of his teacher and his classmates burn a hole into the side of his head as he stepped inside the circle. He knows they are curious about what his quirk could be, his potential, but Izuku just bites down on his lips at knowing how disappointed they’ll be when he can only throw the ball a measly few metres or so. 

Just as he was drawing his arm back, he heard Bakugou behind him click his tongue loudly. 

Holding a hand up at Izuku to wait, Aizawa turned to face the blonde, a glare in his eyes at the interruption. 

“Have something to say, Bakugou?” His teacher's tired voice asked, half buried in the scarf around his neck.

Bakugou looks past Aizawa and sneers at him before crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ll all be disappointed to know that his performance will excite none of you.” The blonde says. 

A murmur rolls around the class, then a quiet voice Izuku remembers to be Uraraka, asks, “Why is that?”

Bakugou couldn’t help but bark a quick laugh at him as he lowered his eyes in warning. “You see, Deku here, he’s quirkless .” 

A few gasps waft through his class and he feels his shoulders hunch in as he holds the balls near his chest. Words suddenly dying in his mouth, he ashamedly looks down at the dirt field. 

He wasn’t quirkless, he just wasn’t allowed to use it. 

But, Bakugou didn’t know that.

“Alright, that’s enough.” His teacher's voice calls out, almost annoyed. “Midoriya, it’s your turn.”

Nodding his head, he swings his arm back and throws—the machine in Aizawa’s hand beeps, reading out forty metres to the classroom. 

Embarrassed and feeling rather dejected, Izuku goes back to standing with everyone, holding himself as he waits for the rest of everyone’s turns. He knows talking will be hard for the rest of the day. 

The next few days Izuku kept to himself. In school, at some point, his classmate had tried to come up to him and talk to him, but he struggled to get any words out and it always left him being looked at strangely before being left alone. Because of this, Izuku internally snuffed down on his confidence as the week went along.

When the day of the unforeseen simulation joint came by, Izuku had tried to feel excitement for it, but while he sat alone on the bus, he couldn’t see himself smiling as widely as those around him. 

Walking inside, Izuku however, couldn't not to admire the building. Inside were a selection of different zones purposely designed to mimic possible scenarios during hero work. He could tell it was made with common factors in mind. 

Stepping over to peer down the large staircases with his class, they listen to Aizawa as he introduces the hero, Thirteen, who had come along to aid in teaching the class. All Might had been unable to attend, due to circumstances that none of the students knew, much to their dismay.

But just as Thirteen was explaining the fundamentals of the functions of the facility, Izuku glanced away and down to the centre where he felt his feathers bristle under his hero costume. 

Just as the sensation subsided, purple warps began appearing around and came through were people. As explained to the class by Aizawa, they were villains and the students were to evacuate. It was not a test.

Pulling on his goggles, Izuku watched in horror as his teacher jumped down and began fighting the lowly villains. He knew that Aizawa’s quirk was not built well for direct attack, and his worry began to bubble in his heart as he watched.

This is what led to the separation of Aizawa, as well as the distribution of everyone throughout the place as his teacher was too distracted to use his quirk on the warping villain. Izuku has been thrown in the water with two of his classmates, one he learned was Tsyuu who had an animal quirk, a frog , and Mineta, who Izuku just wondered how he even got into the hero course with all his crying. 

With a plan to wound the approaching villains up into one area and attack, they somehow successfully pulled it off with nothing short of a miracle. 

When the three made their way back up the top, Iida had apparently ran off to find help from the school. Pro heroes littered the room, putting an end to what he overheard was the League of Villains’ plan to kill the number one hero. 

Izuku had been concerned for his teacher's well-being, feeling useless as he went home that afternoon, knowing that he got seriously injured while protecting everyone. Izuku couldn’t help but feel immense guilt as he was unable to even save anyone. If he used his wings, he could’ve carried Aizawa to safety and he wouldn’t have gotten so hurt.

Feeling like a failure as he walked inside his house, his mother greeted him outside of his room, worried half to death after watching the news on the attack. 

He all but mumbled that he was alright and he just wanted to be alone for a bit. Laying down on his bed after taking his wings out of the bindings, he rested there for a while. He felt so much guilt for his teacher. If he had been stronger, not quirkless—

Texting Hawks if they could meet that night, he distracted his worries with the heroes fretting, who also in fact saw the news as well. 

His teacher returned to school a few days later, heavily bandaged and limping. Izuku frowned at him all morning until it seemed Aizawa had noticed. Asking him to stay behind after class, he beckoned Izuku over.

“What is it, Midoriya?” He asks, shifting the bandages around his eyes. Izuku could tell by his voice alone that he was exhausted.

Gnawing on his lips as he shifts his eyes to look down at his shoes, he mumbles out, “S-sorry. That you got hurt s-saving us.” 

With the way the wrapping around his forehead moved, Izuku assumed that Aizawa had raised his eyebrows at him.

Clasping his hands at the side of his shirt, he does not stray his eyes long at the hero. A silence befalls them for a moment until it is broken by the hearty sigh of his teacher. 

Rustling from gear, Izuku then feels a hand drop onto his shoulder, giving it an encouraging squeeze. 

“I don’t know what you’re apologising for, kid. But whatever it is, stop beating yourself up over it.” His teacher says, not leaving the contact long as he pulls away. 

The action warmed him slightly, finding it similar to Hawks, but then Izuku also had a suspicion that Aizawa was not used to comforting someone, let alone a teenager. But he couldn’t help but smile lightly at him regardless. 

“It’s a teacher's job to protect his students, don’t think that you were obligated to step in. The situation was dangerous, you do the right thing.” 

He tries nodding, but the motion seizes up his back for a moment. The pain goes down his spine and he pulls a taut expression on his face. He tries not to cry out as he feels his wings cramping underneath the bindings.

“Midoriya?” Aizawa asks, looking as if he is about to reach out for Izuku again but falls short of it as he takes a step back from his teacher. 

“I’m f-fine,” he squeaks out between a hiss. “Thank y-you.”

The answer does not stop the look of concern on his teacher's face, but Izuku just gives him a wobbly smile as he walks over to the door, heading out down the hall to the direction of the bathrooms. 

He’d have to be even more cautious around his teacher. 

Chapter Text

Following the week of the attack from the League of Villains , the media had been in what Izuku thought to be a state of uproar. 

It wasn’t one day after the infiltration that Izuku hadn’t been bothered walking into school. There had been arms grabbing at him, and people screaming and it all but made Izuku’s wings bristle and his throat close up.

In class he would sit quietly to himself, shoulders hunched and he would make small talk with those around him. His classmates hadn’t acted too differently despite knowing he was quirkless, but that didn’t mean he hadn't caught curious glances during training.

Izuku knows they must wonder how he was accepted into the hero course. How did a quirkless, wimp like him rack up enough points without the assistance of a quirk? He knew it had been a burning question in their minds, on the top of their tongues as he walked by to hide in the stairwell, apple in hand. 

Their curiosity had been challenging his ability to lie, to deceive and to mislead answers. Izuku had been surprised he could even get the words out of his mouth between the lengthy breaths from his binding. It had felt like he’d been double short on breath lately.

Are you really quirkless? Yes, but not because I want to be.

Did you cheat? No, I took the exams like everyone else.

Do you think you can become a hero without one? I want to believe I can.

His chest seized uncomfortably as he felt his classmates crowd him around his desk. He had tried sinking his shoulders in, scribbling in his notebook, ignoring them, but they were just as constant as his mother was about his binding. 

Izuku knows he must look strange, he can see it in their eyes, feel it in their stares and he wishes the floor would open up to swallow him so they would just stop asking him about his quirklessness.

On occasions, his teacher had been a participant in the probing of his condition. Though silent, wrapped in the sleeping bag by the door, Izuku knew he was always listening. 

What other reason than for himself or his mother, but for a pro hero, than to be silent about it all? The last thing Izuku needed was for his teacher to know. He’d be expelled for lying about his quirk's nature, he’s registered legally as quirkless and if they find out he had been lying for years, his chance at passing the hero course was as good as over. 

It was a prospect he had wondered about overnights since starting at UA. Izuku wanted to trust them, truly, but he couldn’t take the chances without something retaliating. 

So all Izuku could do was keep to himself and hope it would blow over. 

Aizawa had announced to the class one morning that despite what happened with the villains, they would be proceeding with the sports festival. Izuku and his classmates were told that they considered cancelling for their protection as the dangers of another possible attack could be high, but they later disregarded that fear in order to show that UA’s security and perseverance were reliable.

During the whole conversation, Izuku couldn’t help but see how his teacher's eyes kept drifting to him as he told the class that it was an excellent opportunity to showcase their quirks and draw out potential work-study offers.

His classroom had been ecstatic to hear that they could show off their abilities, but Izuku had all but wilted in on himself as he sat at his seat, tapping his foot on the floor while he willed the class to move on from the subject. He hoped no one would say anything to him, he was barely holding himself together to begin with.

When he got home, Izuku had told Hawks all about it over the phone during the hero’s brief break. He had heard the high static of wind through the speakers of the phone, and he giggled lightly at Hawks as he shushed him playfully. 

That night they met up at the beach, deciding to relax on the shore and watch the waves lull over each other. He asked Hawks if he should use his wings in the festival, telling him that he felt like he was an anomaly in his class.

“They don’t understand, Izuku, and they won’t unless you tell them the truth.”

Izuku just nodded and sniffled, making shapes in the sand as his wings relaxed on his back, falling on top of the cool, grainy surface. “I know.” He whispers, of course, he knows. “I-I just… can’t.”

Hawks gave him a look, almost as if he was pouting. Reaching his hand over, he rests it on Izuku’s knee. “Why can’t you, Baby Bird?” 

He shakes his head and runs at his nose. He can feel himself physically deflate at the question, a heavy feeling in his chest as he blinks away angry, frustrated tears. 

A hand rubs soothly up and down his leg. He knows Hawks won’t push for him to respond, he hasn’t in the whole time he’d known him. It is what really made Izuku appreciate him. Not once did he pry for anything, and it made him feel more understood and cared for than he let on to the hero.

“I just c-can’t. Not now… n-not ever. I’ll get in t-trouble if I do.” He swipes at his nose again, chirping slowly under his breath. 

He can hear Hawks respond, before giving his knee an encouraging sneeze. Izuku knows he should tell Hawks about his mother, what she’s done to him and his wings, and what she continues to do, but just as he willed himself, the words die on his tongue. 

Clamping his jaw shut, he whispers again. “At least not now.” 

The festival came up fast as the weeks progressed. It was a sunny day, clouds barely littering the horizon as he made his way into the large stadium. He was instructed to change into his practical uniform, not his hero costume, as he was led out to meet with the other participants. 

Sticking close by to his classmates, but no one really in particular, Izuku waited for the announcements by Present Mic to commence. Subtly shifting his binder through his shirt, Izuku huffs a shaky breath as he tries to calm himself through the constraints on his chest. 

Izuku knows today will be painful for his binded wings. He suspects at some point there might be sparring, and he wasn’t looking forward to it at all. Though Hawks had taught him how, through many nights of combat and defensive training, Izuku knew his wings would hinder him. 

It’s hard enough to stand in it, let alone fight in it. Izuku dreads the day as he folds his arms over his chest and waits for the announcements to be done. 

Bakugou had been invited on stage to present a speech, but on all honestly made a fool of his class. Izuku audibly sighed at him, trying hard not to smile at the whole thing. Trying hard because he’s not meant to like Bakugou, especially not after Aldera. 

The first round was declared to be a race, though filled with multiple obstacles to overcome. Lining up at the doors, he waits, then takes off down the hallway. His classmate, who he came to know was Todoroki, has frozen the flooring, slowing down others behind him as he was first to run out the doors. 

Somewhere in his mind, Izuku knew he would have flown over everyone and got himself out of the mess the two-toned boy made, but a harsh reminder to his back reminds him of the fact that he’s quirkless right now, he doesn’t have wings.

Finally piling out, he takes off as fast as his stiff body can. Throughout the race, multiple issues arose to challenge him, and he dishearteningly thinks how a lot of them could’ve been avoided if he had his wings out. 

Simply by running and strategically taking himself through the course, he had placed somewhere in the thirties, ranking himself high enough to proceed to the next event. 

The cavalry battles had been stress-inducing to his body. He had been in a team where he was on the bottom of the pyramid, holding up his teammate. By the end of the round, his shoulders and back ached fiercely. They had managed to pass, barely, but it hadn’t been worth it on Izuku’s body.

Willing himself to walk over to the break room and outside, Izuku slid down a wall, heaving quietly. No matter the amount of time he relaxed before the duals, his breath never came back to a steady pace. 

Leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes, Izuku wished he was at home in his room, not a stiff, cramping mess. 

“Uh, am I interrupting?” Someone said suddenly, and Izuku snapped his eyes open unexpectedly at his newfound company. 

Standing in front of him was Todoroki. He had a bottle of water in his hand, the other hand resting by his side and Izuku barely had time to respond before he sat down beside him and leaned his head back against the wall.

Trying not to show his turmoil, Izuku tried sitting up more straight against the wall. He had to try and bite down a hiss that wanted to come from his mouth, but it sounded more like a strangled cough.

Looking at his classmates next to him, he wondered what had brought him over here to begin with. Saying the first thing that came to his mind, Izuku asked, “Is e-everything o-okay, Todoroki?” 

From looking at the ceiling to now looking at Izuku dead on, he has to fight back the urge to shrink in on himself. 

As if not expecting the question, Todoroki shrugs his shoulders at him before opening the cap of the plastic water and having a sip. 

As he put it down, still open in his palm, Todoroki asked, “Do you know what it’s like to be looked down upon because of your quirk?” 

Immediately nodding his head, without even thinking, he listened to what his classmate was saying. He hoped Todoroki didn’t notice his slip up by slightly admitting to having any understanding about being hated on by his quirk. Yes, he was bullied for not having one, but he knew that even that was different to what it felt like to be trapped in his own body.

Glaring down at the water, Todoroki mumbles something to Izuku that makes his mouth fall open in shock. 

“My mother is what gave me this scar, you know?” Todoroki says, lifting a hand to delicately touch it as if it were still fresh. In relation, Izuku feels his wings press tightly against his bindings. 

Yes , yes, he did know the feeling.

“I wanted to use my mother's quirk only, to win the festival and prove to my old man that his half was dead to me. His power.”

Izuku frowns at his classmate before staring at his left palm. “W-why, are you telling me t-this?” Izuku finally says, looking up into the eyes of Todoroki next to him. 

He frowned at Izuku. “I just felt like you might’ve been the only one to understand.” 

Izuku knows they aren’t friends, barely mutual in his class, but a warmth spreads in his chest as he realised that Todoroki had noticed him, and trusted him even on something he can only think that he knew about. He wondered for a moment if Todoroki had fallen pity on his quirklessness, but then he stuffed that back down his head as the boy’s eyes could only be anything but searching for acceptance, from someone.

He had felt the same and decided to smile back at Todoroki. “Yeah, I k-know what it’s like… T-to be looked down upon.” 

Todoroki’s lips quirked a bit at the corner before he offered some water to Izuku. He takes it, mumbling a thanks and has a few mouthfuls before handing it back. 

“I, uh…” His classmate next to him raised an expectant eyebrow. Patient, looking understanding of his stutter, even. “I think it’s y-your power. Not h-his. It’s a part of y-you… and you shouldn’t have to h-hide it.” 

His mouth parted for a moment before something fond fell across Todoroki’s face, he said his own thank you before standing and helping Izuku off the floor. The jostle of his wings sent pain down his spine, but he tried to ignore it in favour of walking back inside the stadium, side by side.

Izuku hadn’t made it past his second round in the duels. He had been able to out-combat this purple-haired guy, but he had been taken out within minutes of his second round. 

Not that he minded as he joined his classmates at their stand and watched the rest of the festival. His back and wings were starting to pulse in waves of pain. Sitting against anything had become too excruciating so he found himself hunched forward on his seat. 

He knows he must’ve looked weird to his classmates, but he couldn’t find the will to care as he closed his eyes and tried breathing out the cramping in his wings. It has travelled down to his legs now and he wasn’t quite sure he’d be able to walk.

Scrunching his face up, Izuku had barely seen the flames of Todoroki (to which he smiled) as he duelled Bakugou. It was the last match of the day and he was thrilled that within the hour he’d be home and out of his wing binder. 

Once it was over and the awards were given out, his ( friend?) placing second, Izuku was quick to call his mother to pick him up. He knew he wouldn’t be able to handle sitting in public transport on the way home.

At some point, he felt his head go light, mouth running dry. He had to lean against the school's gate to steady his swaying. Once he was home, Izuku went upstairs as fast as he could and peeled himself out of the binder. 

Almost an instant wave of relief washed off his body as his wings unfurled and fanned themself out of the tight confines. A few feathers fall to the floor as his mangled appendages stretch out behind him.

Izuku thought he might have to get Hawks to check them the next night they saw each other. 

Over the days Aizawa had asked his students to decide on hero code names (which he decided to be Deku because really, he didn’t find it insulting anymore) after handing out lists to those who had agencies apply to give them work-study internships. To Izuku’s surprise, he had gotten one who asked for him, and he couldn’t help but break out into a grin when reading Hawks’ name at the top of the paper.

Izuku wasn’t surprised when he found out that Bakugou and Todoroki and hundreds of people on their papers, and Izuku even shot a shy smile towards his duel-coloured classmates who returned the sentiment. 

That night he had asked Hawks to meet at the beach again. It was later than normal as he had to wait longer for his mother to retire for the evening, but it had been worth it as he ran over to Hawks and crashed into him with a hug. 

Stunned for a moment, before relaxing and resting his hand in Izuku’s hair and ruffling it, Hawks asked, “Why the excitement, Baby Bird?”

Izuku looked at him and grinned. His wings had flickered their happiness as he chirped back. “I got my r-recommendation slip today. I should’ve known you’d put your name down for m-me.” 

Hawks smiled at him, chirping back. “Of course, I would, Izuku.”

His mother had been wary of Izuku after he told her about the internship that was going to happen at Hawks’ agency. After searching up who the hero was, and seeing his red wings, scepticism pinched at her brow as she looked between her phone and the wings on his own back.

Izuku could already see the dissatisfied curve of her lips as her eyes turned into a glare, one of disgust at the similarities they both shared. “You won’t have your wings out, will you, Izuku dear.” It was a statement, not a question.

He had nodded fast at her words, already feeling the tightness wound its way back into his throat. “I’ll be in the b-binder all week.” He whispers back and wrings his hands in his shirt again. He knew it must’ve looked childish to her, but he couldn’t find himself to worry as it didn’t seem to matter how he acted, all she ever saw was his wings.

“And you know what will happen if I find out you did otherwise?” She asked, almost sweetly and the tone made him want to run up into his room and hide from her bitter voice.

Nodding, not even daring to trust words to come out, Izuku stands there with his shoulders hunched slightly. Since the festival, his wings seemed to feel stiffer and more worn out than usual. He wanted to give them a few days' rest since he had overworked them in the binder, but it seemed they hadn't gotten a good enough chance to rest properly. Especially not with the way his mother had almost started to watch him in the mornings. He knew it was only to put the binding on, but he thought why each time she did it.

“You know how upset I’ll be if you did, hun, you don’t want to upset me, do you?”

He shook his head again and thanked her for allowing him to go out to do an internship. 

Of course, he had known this would happen, it always did, but that had felt good because he knew Hawks could protect him. 

Back in his room he sprawled himself on his bed and texted Hawks the good news, that his mother didn’t trap him in his home as he initially thought she would. But the week hadn’t started yet, so he knew he’d have to play it carefully. 

Risking this opportunity to use his wings in real hero experiences would be bad, but worth it all the same. He doesn't know how to use them for anything but carrying himself around. But he knew Hawks would teach him, just as he did all the months ago. Although the internship didn’t start for a few weeks, Izuku was excited to spend it with his brother.

When the week began for the internships, Izuku took the public transport down to Hawks’ agency, happy to see he was the only one who had chosen him. When he arrived he waited out in the lobby for Hawks, who later joined up with him and had him take his belongings upstairs temporarily. Hawks told him to change into his hero gear (though this one was adorned with a hood to hide his hair and darker colours unlike the green on his other one) and out of his wing binder. He put on his shades and half mask, not wanting anyone he knew to recognise his face. 

The week was rather uneventful in terms of hero work for Izuku. He had watched Hawks in the professional light of his job and he had truly forgotten that he was the number three hero. Izuku had been in awe of his mentor, smiling along behind him and aiding in all the necessary precautionary measures and rescue missions. 

However, towards the end of the week, the two of them were emergency called in for a situation in the Hosu district. Both had been in the sky surveying the streets, but had made the detour quickly. Izuku had gotten better at flying and could hold out for at least half an hour now, which made it so much easier for the two to make the distance to the commotion. 

As they approached they had to lower their distance to the ground as clouds of ash, smoke and fire lit up the night sky, obscuring their view. Hawks asked him to stick close as they landed down on a street. Screams could be heard, as well as roars intermingling with it and Izuku couldn’t stop the growing pit in his stomach that something was wrong about it all. 

Running down the street, trailing behind his mentor, Izuku could only gasp at the extent of the situation. The monsters from the USJ littered the streets dead and alive, chasing civilians and heroes, blood splattered more then he could see the road. Hawks calmly told him to go and find the nearest emergency service and aid the injured, he wasn’t allowed to use his quirk in combat situations. Izuku nodded and flew off.

But just as he had made the distance between Hawks and himself, a location ping went off from his phone from Todoroki, who as he checked, was a few streets away.

Dread filled his chest as he pushed his wings to move faster. As he neared the end of the block, Izuku saw the bright lights of flame, he followed it to its source even after it had died down. Pocketing his phone, he stepped into the start of an alley and his eyes widened. On the ground was a pro hero, as well as two of his classmates lying limply, unmoving. 

Izuku hesitated. His foot shifted as if he wanted to run down there, but his thoughts stumped him. This was dangerous, too risky. He knows what he was wearing made him quite unrecognisable, but what would happen if they somehow found out?

It made his chest seize in fear. Izuku’s jaw shook as he stood frozen, planted in his place. He shouldn’t be here , not with his wings, not with a villain. 

He knows his arms and hands are shaking, he can feel his wings twitching in nerves as the feeling of fear claws its way into his chest. 

However, something snapped him to inch forward. It glints in the night, long and bright. A katana hovering over the neck of Todoroki who remained unresponsive, eyes glazed up into the sky as if he was day dreaming, Izuku didn’t hesitate.

His mother's voice rings in his head as he folds his wings out, going into the air before barrelling down, fist first. He sent a kick into the head of the villain, who went straight to the ground as if he had been forcibly tugged on.

The villain had smirked and wiped the blood off his chin. He introduced himself as Stain as he stood back up off the floor, leaving Izuku a harsh glare. Placing himself between the Stain and his classmates, he fanned out his wings, a display to look bigger than he was. 

The man had laughed at him, “Is that all you got, kid?”

He didn’t speak, but instead turned around. He saw that Todoroki was still conscious, eyes wide and mouth moving to form words to him but Izuku didn’t hear. His ears were ringing and the next few minutes were a blur of his unconcealed rage.

Izuku felt himself get hit, a blade slashing up in his skin when he didn’t pull away fast enough. 

At his feet, the words blood, quirk, and taste came back to him as Stain stuck his tongue to lap up what was on his katana. Just as he was about to, heat seared down the alley and past him, directly burning the movements out of Stain.

Glancing over his shoulder in shock, clutching at his arm, was Todoroki's hand, raised as the last wisps of fire spurt from it. 

The sounds of sirens blared out just as the villain’s burnt body struggled to move, eyes widening with his wings shaking, Izuku couldn’t stop his heavy breathing intermingled with it. Endeavour had shown up moments later and apprehended Stain, who Izuku had stalled long enough despite the cut on his leg. Apparently, his quirk had been blood-activated after consuming it, but lucky for him, Todoroki had been fast, and just held out long enough to use his flames until backup arrived.

Nerves bubbling in his chest, Izuku was quick to regain a proper function out of his stupor.

Taking off before he can get questioned, but only once he found out his friends would be okay, Izuku didn’t spare them a glance even as Todoroki tried to catch his eye under the shades he wore, hoping for an answer for the who and how.

He knew he’d have to be tight-lipped about this, pretend he wasn’t there and didn’t know what happened. No one could link him back to this, they’d all find out about his wings, they’d know he lied.

And they couldn't know, not after he worked so hard to hide it all.

Chapter Text

Izuku had been wary of his classmates since Hosu. It has occurred to him that neither mentioned the situation, most likely sworn under an oath. Izuku had been glad as neither approached him about it, not that they would’ve, at least he hoped, because he did ensure his face and hair were hidden. 

It had been a little daunting to Izuku for the first few days after what happened, that he had shown his wings to his classmates. Although they seemed to not recognise him, it was still frightening to Izuku as he replayed the possibilities that could have arisen. 

If his mother had somehow found out, well Izuku knew he wouldn’t be as painless as he was, not that he wasn’t in pain to begin with. The binder is still on and all.

However, the minimal calm he had found after those days of intense came short-lived as he sat himself down on the bus. Early year exams over, in which he thought he did alright, the time for the training camp fell onto Izuku. 

He had been dreading it when Aizawa first told his class about it. Nothing short but an anxious pit in his stomach had bubbled at the news. It meant that while he was attending, he would be in his binder majorly for the entire time. 

His teacher had told the class it would be hard, that the training in their quirks would be testing to the limits. Izuku didn't believe it until after their first day there. Trudging through the woods being chased by dirt monsters was not what he had expected, but as the sunset fell over the horizon as his class made it to the camp, he had truly understood that what his teacher said was entirely true. 

That night after their meal, everyone gathered in the respective gendered hot springs for relaxation and to clean themselves for the next day. 

Even by the night, having his binder on for the longest time in a while, and despite how desperately he wanted to take it off, he couldn’t take his wings out. 

The sound of relaxing in hot waters and steam made Izuku almost chase after his class, but the sudden reminder that he was quirkless and he couldn’t risk having his wings out. He sighed and hid out in the temporary sleeping dorms. 

He had been the only one in there, so he took to lying down on his stomach to try to lessen the pain straining his body. Izuku could already feel the beginnings of his wings cramping as he tried his best to shift them under the tight binding. 

It would be painful to make it through the days they were there for, but he knew he’d have to endure it regardless. But maybe he could sneak out later that evening once everyone was asleep. 

But discarding it moments later, the risk of running into one of the teachers was far too high and having a pro, at least right now know of his situation was not a good idea. When he was ready and when the time was right. 

Izuku had pretended to be sleeping when all the boys came back inside the room. He remembered briefly hearing a murmur of concern from Todoroki as his friend sat on the futon beside his own, but didn’t take any actions to clarify those suspicions.

Eventually, as everyone had been exhausted from the day, they had all fallen asleep. Izuku wished as he tried relaxing against the strain in his back, that the sound of soft breaths and snoring would lull him into rest as well.

Later that morning, after breakfast, Aizawa had taken the group all out to the base of a hill where he had everyone undo individual tasks invoking the growth of their quirks and abilities. 

Standing there awkwardly, waiting to be signed off to do something , Izuku had wished he wasn’t as quirkless then he made it out to be. 

After the last of his classmates went off with one of the Wild, Wild Pussycats, Izuku was left with his teacher. 

Aizawa, quick to beckon Izuku over with a curl of his finger, told him to follow him over towards a clearer area, away from his class. 

“I’ll be training you today, Midoriya.” Aizawa had said. 

Trying to swallow his nerves through a mouthful of spit, Izuku nodded and wrung his hands anxiously as he waited. 

Aizawa took him over to a grassed clearing. His teacher rolled up his sleeves as he regarded Izuku in curiosity. 

He knows his back and shoulders we hunched a bit, and that there was a crick in his brow as the period of what he had his wing bindings on grew. Izuku could only dread the night. 

“Do you have any experience in sparring, at least outside of our classes?” His teacher asked, placing his hand on his hip as he waited.

Izuku nodded his head slightly, explaining to Aizawa that he used to spar with his older brother. “I-I know a few offensive and d-defensive techniques t-too.” 

His teacher bows his head slightly at him, as sort of a half nod. “Good. Since you don’t have a quirk to train on I decided that you could do some combat training with me. Regardless of having one or not, you should never rely on a quirk too much, it’s illogical.”

Trying not to smile at his teacher's words, at how Hawks had told him a similar thing before, he steps back from his teacher and holds his arms up in front of him, just as his mentor had taught him all those months ago.

Izuku thought he could almost see his teacher smirk at him as he took his position across from him. Silent moments beat by as they level each other a look.

“Show me what you’ve got, kid.” 

Nodding, he leaps forward at his teacher, trying to ignore the pain that flared up in his back at the movement. He goes for a hit at his teacher's throat, a weak point for most. However, just as his fist crossed the distance, Aizawa had already altered his movements to avoid the attack. Gripping Izuku’s forearm, he swings him to the side and throws him away, making space between himself and Izuku.

Realigning his stance, going to swipe at his brow, Izuku dashes forward again. Falsing another swing with his arm, Izuku changes his footing at the last second to throw a kick at his teacher's side. 

Aizawa brings his right arm to block the blow before shoving Izuku off and throwing a punch of his own. 

Izuku barely reacts fast enough to shield his face, the blow sending tremors down his arms.

His back seized in pain as his body absorbed the shock. Wincing he takes a step back from his teacher, whose lips quirked up as if he was having fun.

“Not bad,” he says to Izuku. “Not good either. You’ll need a lot more training to be competent enough to be a hero.”

Wiping sweat from his brow, again, while trying to straighten his back, Izuku nods in understanding. He knew what he lacked in a quirk he needed to make it up in combat abilities. Maybe he could talk to someone about getting a support item. 

“Alright Midoriya, let’s try again.”

He and Aizawa sparred for a good majority of the day, taking small breaks between the hours. At some point his teacher had discarded his binding cloth by the base of a tree, hair tied back as he matched Izuku’s exhausted demeanour.

The sun had started falling into the orange hues of the afternoon by the time they finished up, and Izuku was happy to say that he had given his teacher a run for his money a few times. Though never for too long, the fact that it did happen made him swell in pride for both himself and his mentor. He had been the one to teach him after all. 

Having a large mouth of lukewarm water, Izuku felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he saw Todoroki, not looking too great himself but with a soft look on his face. 

“How did your training go today, Todoroki?” Izuku asked as he gathered his things and began walking with his friend back to camp. They’d have to hurry though in time to catch dinner.

He can hear the two-toned boy audibly sigh in exhaustion at the question. “Awful. I had to alternate between using my fire and ice to train my body to get used to the cold temperatures, as well as try and use my sides at the same time.”

Now that Izuku thinks about it, he can see that Todoroki’s clothes are drenched in water.

"I had to spar Mr. Aizawa."

As they made it back to the kitchen at the camp, Izuku struggled to help in preparing a meal. At some point, he had put his hands on the bench and leaned on it to lessen the pain, even if it was short-lived. 

It was getting bad, he could feel the ache go up and down his spine, making it ledden and stiff as he milled around the room. Since his training with Aizawa, it has gotten so bad at one point that Izuku needed to make the excuse of running out of water to drink. He has gone to fetch a new bottle, walking impossibly slowly as he tries blinking the tears from his eyes. 

He knew that Aizawa could sense something was up, but when he was asked he tried to chalk it down to not sleeping comfortably the night prior. It was a really bad and flimsy excuse, but it had gotten his teacher off his case for the time being. 

Though Izuku knew it wouldn’t last long, they still had a few days left at the camp and really how long can someone go without showering unnoticed by his classmates and teachers? 

Not the fact that he was particularly good at hiding the pain, as there is only so much you can physically handle before you become desperate to release the suffering.

Soon his wings will start cramping, and he might have difficulty getting the last one of those nights of chronic pain. Izuku could already see it coming, but having to deal with it while still binded had him dreading the rest of the excursion. 

The next day's training was just as it had been the day before. Izuku sparred with Aizawa all day while the rest of his teammates worked on enhancing their quirks.

At times Izuku couldn’t help but feel jealous of his classmates. If things had been different, he could’ve been flying right now.

After the day ended, dinner was served and the night sky had well past appeared over the horizon, the Pussycats had announced a game, the Test of Courage, between 1A and 1B, and it sort of reminded Izuku of a haunted house, in all honesty. 

The other class was to hide in the woods and scare his class with their quirks, and in groups of two, he was to walk the course of it and out without getting scared and with a card with his name on it. 

Simple, really, if he hasn’t been put by himself. 

He’d have to thank his classmates for that one, having an odd number due to those who failed the writing exam and had night tutoring by Aizawa. 

And what was even worse was that Izuku was the last to go. 

Izuku wanted to think it was the work of someone else to be put last, knowing no one was behind him—a small, quirkless boy. And alone, Izuku sure felt the kicker in that. 

It had been dark and eerie in the forest, he could feel eyes all over him the moment he started walking down the trail. Even from how far away he was from his classmates, he could’ve sworn he heard Bakugou bark a loud laugh at his turmoil from his place in front of him. 

Shoulders hunching in and bringing his arms to cover his chest, Izuku wearily walks down the dirt path. He couldn’t see much of anything around him or in front of him, but the sounds of twigs snapping and owls howling sent shivers all over his body. 

After a while Izuku felt suspicious of his surroundings. Something just didn’t feel right. He was sure to be almost to the halfway turnaround point and nothing had come to scare him. Even so, it felt like it had fallen silent for a while, that is until an ear-shattering scream ran his blood cold. But this wasn’t one to scare, that felt real.

Whipping his head around, he tried to decipher where it had come from. But the density of the forest limited his ability to. 

Deciding to turn around and go back to where he came from, despite the pounding in his muscles, Izuku ran back down the path. 

As he retraced his steps, the smell of burning wood and flora filled the air around him. Almost choking on it as he attempted to pass through the smog.

Only a few steps in and he was running out of it. The smoke was too thick to walk through without his throat burning and eyes watering. 

Izuku knew the course was oval, that if he followed it out he was sure to leave the forest eventually. 

He takes off in a run as fast as his binded wings allow. The sound of screaming echoed in his ears. Izuku’s heart was beating rapidly in his chest, a constant drumming in his head as he ran the course.

A nervousness crawled under his skin as ran, knowing that some of his classmates were up ahead, possibly in danger even. He knew he wasn’t particularly close with any of them, but then again he didn’t want to see them get hurt. 

Finally, in the distance, Izuku could spot one of his classmates, Shoji. He had learned of the situation with Tokayami and his quirk. Quick to escape him, Izuku searches for others.

From his understanding, the training camp has been breached by villains after his classmate told how he and Tokoyami were ambushed, which initially let the reins of Dark Shadow go loose.

The situation was dire as they continued running down the path. He could hear the cries of the avian and he had to smush the feeling of calling back. 

Shards of ice began picking up on the floor and Izuku could only know it to be Todoroki. It seemed he had caught up with him and Bakugou but at the cost of running headfirst into a villain.

Izuku's breaths were laboured and heavy, he could feel his wings press hard against the inside of his bindings as he leaned forward trying to breathe through the pain in his body. 

The loud thundering of the out-of-control quirk sounded as it ran through the woods, straight into the villain who had blades in his mouth. 

Both were fighting and once it was safe to do so, Izuku saw Bakugou and Todoroki light up the area, shrinking Dark Shadow back into a more controllable state.

No one knew of the villain's intentions, or what they were after, but sticking together seemed the safest, even if Bakugou had mumbled out how he would kill anyone who tried crossing him.

His group continued moving for a while, trying to get out of the forest safely. Bakugou was behind him, Izuku knew that, but just as he looked over his shoulder, he saw he was gone.

Eyes widening, he asked the group to stop, seeing how two of his classmates were missing.

“W-where did they go?” He asked, particularly petrified.

“I took them with my magic.” A gravelly voice sounded above his head. Looking up he saw a man standing on a branch, juggling two marbles in his hand. “Bakugou’s potential is of no use in the hero's work. I'm just taking him to a stage where he can shine more.”

Eyes widening, without a thought Izuku said, “You can’t take h-him!” 

The man laughs at him, throwing the green balls in the air before putting them in his pocket. “And just try to take them from me.” 

A moment later the man is leaping through the branches of the trees, already out of sight. 

Izuku could feel his heart seize tightly in his chest, his wings almost begging to be out. No one there was equipped to chase after the man, none of them had wings .

Trying to swallow the lump in his mouth, Izuku doesn’t take time to begin pulling off the shirt from his head. 

He knows this is bad, that he should be calm and remain quirkless, but the sight of the villain taking Bakugou made him burn with unconcealed, desperate anger. 

“Midoriya, what are you doing?” He hears Todoroki say, almost exasperated by what was happening around him. 

Izuku trailed his eyes onto the ground as he threw his shirt over his head, dropping it by his feet. With shaking hands and thoughts of his mother, his classmates and of Bakugou, in the hands of what he assumes is the League of Villains, his binder is clipped from his torso.

It falls to the floor, his wings instantly unfurling themselves out behind him as if they were mighty. He can feel them ripple in tension as he flexes them a few times to try and get rid of the tingling needles.

Looking up at his classmates, whose eyes were wide and most definitely awed by seeing that quirkless Deku wasn’t so quirkless after all.

He tried to ignore the way his words were dying in his mouth before he could say them, he wanted to forget the look on their face as he crouched his knees, he wished to never have to feel the tears pricking his eyes as pure terror of what he did overcame him. Izuku wanted to beg that he was sorry for lying, for not telling the truth about the nature of his quirk, his past, and his fear.

He hears Shoji mutter, “wings?” At him, stunted to the dirt path as if it had gripped at him.

Trying to not look at Todoroki’s face of hurt, Izuku spreads his wings and takes off into the sky, chasing after the one who is trying to steal his classmate from him, trying to steal his childhood friend.

The feeling of being out of the bindings felt amazing on his feathers, he feels them curl in delight as he wills himself to fly faster. 

In the distance, he sees the slender figure of the one he was after. They were faster, he noticed, seemingly familiar with the scaling of the forest. Izuku knew his wings were too big to fly properly under the leaves and branches of the trees, so he maintained his height, out of sight. 

Even if it made his wings feel like they were burning, sizzling pain erupting down his back and legs, he pushed to go faster. 

He couldn’t let them get away, even if it tore his wings off, he couldn’t let them hurt Tokoyami and Bakugou. 

Izuku could tell he wasn’t moving fast enough, he was already exceeding his limits as being binded seemed to lower them immensely. 

Tears pricked his eyes, he was feeling desperate. The distance between himself and the villain wasn’t closing fast enough, his wings were too tired after being clamped shut under his clothes for two days.

Briefly, he wonders for a moment what was to happen to him, what his mother will do, what his school and class will do. He tries not to dwell on it as he forces his wings to push through the severe pain alternating its way between his feathers. He was running on pure adrenaline to ignore the emotions leaking out of him.

They are approaching the base of a mountain, Izuku can see it even during the smoke and the dark night. The sense of urgency washes through him as his wings jitter to something unusual in his quirk. Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku sees the green sparking dancing along the tips of his feathers.

His speed drastically picks up as he hurtles his way towards the villain. Izuku couldn’t think about the strange situation going around his wings, and he didn't care to think, all he was set on was saving his classmates.

Barreling into the back of the man, bringing them down to the forest floor, Izuku is quick to pin him to the dirt. He feels and hears the snap of his wing as the white-hot pain surges through the appendage. He tries not to cry out as tears pool at his eyelashes. Feeling his right-wing fall loosely at his back, Izuku tries to ignore the burning pain it is causing him.

Saying between clenched teeth he cries, “Give him b-back!” 

His body is jittering (or was it his voice calling and clicking in distress?) as he tries to force all his weight onto the back of the villain. 

Izuku hears him chuckle as he is thrown off, making him unbalanced as his wing remains limp behind him. He was sure to think it was broken. 

Quick to recover from being thrown, he takes a stance, arms thrown up as (Hawks, Aizawa?) had practised with him. They shake harshly, but they are up despite that.

“A fighting spirit, how touching.” The man almost barks another laugh.  

Trying not to physically bristle, he quickly dashed forward, feeling the surge of green sparks in his legs. It must’ve taken the villain by surprise as the force of his punch sent him flailing onto the ground harshly. Izuku tried to ignore the resounding crack it had made.

Though surprised by his sudden strength, Izuku is however not slow to search the pockets of the man as he fights consciousness. 

Picking out two marbles, Izuku gently holds them in his hand, as if they were the most fragile thing he had laid his hands on. Clutching them to his chest, while tucking in his left wing, Izuku follows the trail back to the main path, as he had been taken largely off route. Although the floor was mostly littered with sticks and leaves, he had found no problem in finding the path again.

He feels his back ache as limps towards the distant clear opening of the forest. His head pounds heavily as he thinks he must’ve hit it while barreling out of the sky.

What mere minutes felt like light hours, Izuku could barely register the sounds of footsteps behind him. His ears were fuzzing, arms and wings shaking drastically to the significance of what he had done, and is currently doing . It had all severed the promise he had made to his mother, the efforts he sustained to keep it a secret. 

A hand grabs him at his shoulder tightly and Izuku doesn’t seize the effort to whip around and catch the forearm with his free hands.

Shocked by the reaction, Izuku sees Todoroki drop his hand as he stops walking. 

“Midoriya…”

Stopping his own movement, he turns to face Todoroki, trying to ignore the way it made his legs sway and feel numb. A sickness in his gut flared up as he tried blinking past the tears floating down his cheeks, the tingling in his ears and the blinding pain in his back.

He wants to say something and tries to, but the words fall out of his mouth as incoherent murmurs.

The thought of saying I’m so sorry crossed his mind for a moment, but he struggled to think of it as his world began swaying, and he was in the arms of Todoroki, vision falling black.

When he came next, the sheets below him felt soft under his palm. There was a sound of whispering, something clasping his hand and rustling of sheets. Izuku tries blinking his eyes open, but the harshness of the lights makes him chirp softly in discomfort. 

He feels that he is on his stomach, a blanket loosely hanging around his waist as he tries focusing on the sound around him. 

Slowly blinking his eyes open a second time, Izuku recognises the shape of someone sitting beside him. It took a moment for him to realise who it was. 

The two-toned boy immediately caught his eyes as he looked up at him. Izuku sees his mouth fall open as he stands up out of his view. 

Just as he does, Izuku can feel the loss of warmth around his hand. 

He feels his left-wing flitter lightly as he tries sitting up on his arms to understand the situation around him. 

Immediately the walls of the school’s infirmary were recognised, almost gasping he remembers in flickers of pain, wings—broken, villains, Bakugou.

Throwing himself up into the thin bed in the room, he throws his legs out of the cover and goes to stand. The movement however stuns him as his right wing ached something horrible.

Blighting back a stifled whimper, he hears footsteps running back over to him from the door. Todoroki drops in front of him, grasping his arms as he goes to stand again. 

“Calm down, Midoriya. Bakugou is fine. Everyone is fine, thanks to you.” He says to him, catching his eyes to portray his honesty.

Biting back the pain and quick breaths spewing from his lips, Izuku tries nodding at his words. He’s glad, really, but the sudden memory that someone knew about his quirk, made him chew on a wave of nerves. 

He looked down ashamed as he pulled his non-broken wings close to his back. Tears prick from his eyes as a sob tries to make its way through his clenched teeth. 

Something wracks in his chest as he cries, holding his face in his hands. He can tell that Todoroki was trying to soothe him, though awkwardly as he didn’t seem prone to that type of stuff. 

“It’s okay,” he runs a hand over Izuku’s arm. The warmth of his palm made him feel like his throat was going to close up, but he willed himself not to succumb to it as his mouth opened to take a shallow breath.

Between wobbly breaths, he says, “I-I’m so s-sorry.”

He can hear Todoroki grunt at his words, sounding reassuring and that really, he shouldn’t be sorry.

“I now know what you meant.” The boy says, catching Izuku’s eyes.”When you told me you knew how it felt to be looked down upon.” 

Looking up, eyes raw with tears and with chirping lightly coming from his mouth, Izuku tries to make a curious face at him.

“You are just like me, Midoriya,” Todoroki says in complete confidence. Nodding at the sentiment, Izuku tries to cease his crying, willing the pain to stop ebbing all over his body. 

Just as he began calming himself, two people unexpectedly walked into the room. Aizawa and who he knew the old woman as, Recovery Girl, approached the end of the bed and levelled him a soft look, almost as if they understood the true complexities of the situation.

“How are you feeling, hun?” Recovery girl asks, smiling up at him. 

Sniffling, he looks over his shoulder at the casted wing. He knew it had been broken or sprained when he fell from the sky, but he didn’t know the seriousness of it.

Looking back at the pros he mumbled, “I’m o-okay.” 

Catching his teacher's eyes, Izuku knew the burning of questions was under his skin. He knew his situation was strange, but he hoped he could push that time a little later. 

“B-but, um…” The words threaten to die at the tip of his tongue. Straining, through the spilled emotions he had bottled up for so long, he asked, “Could someone c-contact Hawks for m-me?”

Chapter Text

Izuku had waited two hours before Hawks had come. It had been quiet, silent moments with his friend by his side and his teacher at the door. There had been a few times when conversation lasted, and those around him were too shocked and enamoured by the fact that quirkless Izuku wasn’t quirkless at all.

He had caught Todoroki staring at the large green wing flared out on his back, the other one too hard to see under the wrappings of a sling. Izuku had noticed and tried not to shift uncomfortably to the gaze, but he ended up forfeiting that idea as he gently sat himself up from his stomach. He had originally been told to rest by Recovery Girl, but he didn’t like his quirk being out in the open. Not at all. 

More than once Izuku would catch the calculating look Aizawa had on his face as the man grasped his chin and stared at the infirmary’s floor. He could see the cogs turning about his situation . The question is, why did he never tell us? And truly, Izuku wanted to, many times on sleepless nights, but the fear his mother had stricken into his very bones is what held him back. 

But then again, maybe Izuku was just scared of what his classmates would think, what Bakugou would think.

Izuku had been wondering about that for the past hour, a message from Hawks he was almost there but he had been too stuck on his remembering that they knew now. That Bakugou must know at the very least. It wouldn’t take much for his classmates to find out eventually either.

That idea alone sent a tremor of fear down his spine. Stifling the shudder that came from it, Izuku made a point to stare at his hands while he waited in the uncomfortable silence around him. 

Some time had slowly passed before Izuku could hear the sound of someone yelling down the hall. That voice intermingled with the fragile one of Recovery Girl, followed by hurried footsteps as the door swung open.

Hawks almost barrels through the door and towards Izuku the moment they catch eyes. “Izuku, Baby Bird , what happened?” 

He sees his mentor's eyes fall over his body as the man reaches out to cup his face gently. Trying to shrug his shoulders and hang his head down as another way of tears pooling on his lower lashes, Izuku wishes that he didn’t make the mistake of using his wings. 

“Your wings are unbinded, Baby Bird?” Hawks asks softly, trying to look into his eyes. 

Shaking his head against the hero’s palms, Izuku reaches out and hugs Hawks, choosing not to currently reply to the questions, glad that no one made a comment about the nickname.

He hears Hawks softly chirp at him as the embrace is welcomed. Doing a wobbly chitter back, Izuku tries to forget the past few days as he rests his head against Hawks’ chest. 

Huge red wings draped over them both, the sound of the chair next to him scraping back as he knew Todoroki got up to give them some space. Feeling Hawks squeeze him tightly, the resounding voice humming over his back as the hero begins talking to those around him.

“What happened?” Hawks asks the room, demands even as he holds Izuku closer.

Aizawa spoke up almost immediately, seeing the need to defuse the unconcealed tension in the room. “Villains attacked the student's training camp. Midoriya saved a classmate, but used his wings to do so.”

Hawks hums in understanding, choosing to start running his hand up and down Izuku’s arm soothingly as silent tears fall. The hero knew all too many of his emotions to know how to help deal with them. 

“And his wing?” Hawks says, clipping a look down at the appendage itself, frowning at the sling.

“We don’t know,” Todoroki says quietly. “I found him like that after he stopped the villain from taking Bakugou.” 

Izuku knows that Hawks is confused by the name before the gears clicked at his recognition. “The kid from the sports festival?”

His teacher grunts in the form of a yes, kicking off the door. Izuku sees him do it as Hawks’ wings begin to fall back behind him. 

Looking up from the hero’s chest, he sees him already trying to catch his eye. “You okay, Izuku?” 

He tries to desperately nod at the question, not trusting the sudden tightness in his throat, but it falls short into something more akin to an action of being unsure. Izuku wants to say that yes, he’s okay , but in actuality, he is most definitely the opposite. 

Understanding his quiet response, Hawks smiles down at him reassuringly and wipes the tears from his eyes softly. “Yeah, I feel like that sometimes too.”

Trying his attempt to pass a small smile back, Izuku decides to shift his attention to the room around him. His friend and teacher were still standing in the room, a few metres away from him. Recovery Girl, (who Izuku didn’t realise followed Hawks in) was by her workbench, hands clasped over her walker and she frowned at him. 

“Midoriya, honey,” she calls out to him. “I would like to discuss the issues regarding your broken wing. I waited so you would have the company of an individual you’d be most comfortable with. Is that alright?”

Giving her a look he hoped seemed understanding, he waited for her to continue. 

“Your wing was badly injured in the attack, Midoriya. It was broken. However, in a few days, I’ll be able to use my quirk to fix the extent of the injury. But honey, this means that you can not put your wings back into the binder while it’s still broken and after it's healed during its physical recovery. That’ll only jostle the bones and worsen the injury, okay?”

Izuku feels himself fall numb. He can already see the livid glare his mother will send him, the sneer of disgust and the anger at the fact that he is mandatory to attend school, that he will be leaving the house without the binder on.

The slight tremor in his hands begins shaking its way up his arms and over his chest. It felt as if it was strangling him desperately. The sight of the moment fades as he closes his eyes tightly and starts shaking his head at the notion of his situation.

Even if his throat felt clogged, he still heard himself choke out a few raspy no’s. 

“Hey, hey, Baby Bird, it’s okay.” Hawks' voice sounded somewhere as he felt the waves of terror wash over his body. 

Shoulders shaking he tries to slow his breath, it coming in and out too rapidly. “I-I c-can’t-t.” Izuku cries between the bubbling of hiccups. Frustrated tears made their way down to his chin as he desperately tried to hold himself together. Chirping from his mouth he tries to console himself. He knows it doesn’t help to the extent he wanted, but the echoing sound of Hawks’ begins to teeter his breathing to a calmer pace. 

“Midoriya, I'm sorry to ask you this right now, but we need to know why you didn’t tell us about your wings.” Aizawa softly asks. The man is no longer leaning against the wall, a few steps from him and Hawks in fact and Izuku wonders when he had snuck up on them. 

Shaking his head, Izuku closes his eyes tightly again and tries to will away everything around him. Hawks’ hand on his shoulder no longer feels like a comfort, but something keeping him in his place. Something stopping him from hiding.

“Why can’t you tell us, Baby Bird?” Hawks murmurs to him. “I’ve known for a while something was off, but I was just never able to understand what. You told me your mother makes you bind your wings, is that true ?” 

Izuku wants to deny it, and wants to say he does it of his own will because really does he not? Yes, his mother enforces it but he is the one that clips it on every morning, the one that follows the rules. But, instead of saying that, a choked sob bubbles its way up his throat, past the tightness. He knows that his mother would be mad if she found out what had happened, what is happening, but Izuku finally feels as if this is his means of being able to be free, even if the lingering sense of fear and dread sits heavy in his chest. This could be his escape.

“… Y-yes.” He mumbles quietly. Bringing his arms to hug himself, Izuku lowers his eyes from the room to try and hide the trepidation he was feeling. 

“For how long?” Aizawa wished to know. Izuku can see his boots by the bed now, and he thinks that Aizawa might even reach for him as well.

Wondering why they are even bothering with him, he still replies, “Since it m-manifested when I was f-four.” 

An audible gasp from Recovery Girl is shuddered into the silent room of thoughts. Suddenly, Izuku wants to sink into the floor and disappear.

Another hand reaches for the base of his neck and starts rubbing circles into it. Peering up from underneath his hair, he sees his teacher standing on the opposite side of Hawks, also comforting him in a way he wished he had back at home. Tears brim his red-rimmed eyes again, lips curled as he bites back another sob. 

“Midoriya,” His teacher crouches down to be eye-level, less threatening, “Do you know why your mother did this to you?”

A slight nod and through a strained, wobbly voice, he says, “b-because they are h-hideous. S-she was d-disgusted… by the s-sight of them.”

“Of your wings, Baby Bird?” Hawks asked from the other side of him. 

Without looking up at his mentor, he nods his head. Izuku could feel his other wing deflate at his words. 

He hears his teacher click his tongue in what Izuku wanted to presume was annoyance. “Tsukauchi will not be happy to hear this.” Standing up, Aizawa walks to the door, phone in hand as he waves a sloppy goodbye over his shoulder. “I’ve just got to make a phone call, I’ll be back soon.” 

Once the door is gone, Izuku finally notices that Todoroki hasn’t left the room at all. He sees the two-toned boy approach him with soft, almost deliberate footsteps. As if he didn’t want to spook Izuku.

Words weren’t spoken between the two, but Todoroki sat down near the end of the bed and placed his hand on Izuku’s. Nothing needed to be said for him to understand the silent support coming from the boy. 

It had seemed that Aizawa had contacted a detective friend of his, who later came to the school to speak with Izuku about his wings and the situation with his mother. He had learnt that what his mother had forced him to do was quite illegal. Under the regulations told to Izuku by the detective, his mother was to be arrested later that evening.

It had saddened Izuku initially because despite what she put him through, he still loved her dearly. He had prostrated the idea of the arrest to begin with, not wanting to cause trouble, but really he could feel the guilt chewing out his insides as he sat on the edge of the infirmary’s bed as Recovery Girl checked on him again. 

Izuku knew when he saw his mother again that she would be livid at him, he knew he would be punished for having his wings out, for getting her arrested, and that thought alone sent fear striking down his spine as he tried shifting his broken wing. 

Wincing, he tries not to think about the possibility of what will happen, he doesn’t want to. It scared him, he didn’t want to feel trapped in that binder anymore, never again. But that sinking feeling that his mother will walk through that door any moment sets a tightness in his throat and a dryness in his mouth.

Looking over at Hawks who was in the chair beside his bed, sleeping, Izuku wondered if the heroes could really help in the way he wanted them to. He wanted to trust them, really, but the feeling of being cared for by someone was foreign to him and truly, Izuku wished he could confidently say that it felt real. 

Eventually, Todoroki had been sent home for the night with a promise to see him tomorrow, as he would be cleared to attend class. For obvious reasons, the school was out for his classmates today due to the attack on their training camp, but it would resume tomorrow like usual. 

To say he wasn’t feeling mortified by the whole idea, Izuku knew he’d be lying. Truly he doesn’t think he’s ever felt such nerves in his body for the dread of facing his class tomorrow, wings out and everything.

Despite Recovery Girl’s better judgement, Izuku wanted nothing more than to tuck them back under his shirt and hide them. He could only suffer through the apprehension of it all. 

When morning came, Hawks was gone, left with a text that he had to leave to go back to his agency. It had saddened Izuku initially but he remembered that his mentor couldn’t be by him all the time, he was a pro hero, after all.

A wave of nausea had settled in his gut as the time slowly passed. He was waiting outside the overlay large doors to his classroom, distant laughter and voices coming through the wall. He could feel his anxiety gnawing on his insides, his lone, healthy wing twitchy in discomfort. 

He knew it was nearing bell time, he could feel that time prickle his neck with uncertainty. Izuku wanted to be brave, to face everyone with a boast of confidence but he really couldn’t find it in himself. He doesn’t think he ever has before.

Izuku knows it must look odd to students around him that he was just standing at the door, hands shaking as he reached for the handle. Trying to swallow the dryness out of his mouth, Izuku hesitates again. 

Todoroki was meant to walk him this morning but texted Izuku that he fell ill over the night, meaning that he had to face his fears all alone. It had been the worst-case scenario, and it truly made him want to walk all the way back home even if it meant seeing his mother.

He had the police drop some of his belongings earlier from the house, a regular shirt of his though because he didn’t currently own a uniform shirt tailored for his wings. But, that was something Aizawa had talked to him about already. 

Chittering softly to himself, almost desperate to calm his nerves, Izuku wrings his hands. He knew he should bite down on his tongue and walk in, but his knees felt like jelly and really, he shouldn’t be so afraid but he was. Terrified even of what his classmates would think. They’ve only known him as quirkless Deku, not the being he was standing behind the door. Not this nervous, winged boy who couldn’t even speak a word if he wanted to, it’d all just clog in his throat and they’d think he was strange, for sure. 

Izuku could already hear the onslaught of questions and pestering to come within the next few moments. Teetering closer to the handle, he chews on his lip and shrinks his body in, closing his wings tightly to his back regardless of how much it hurts to do so with the sling. 

Trying not to tear up in fear, he slowly pulls down on the handle and opens the door. The sound of voices completely dies down instantly as their eyes catch him standing nervously in the doorway. Izuku couldn’t help but feel their curious glances trying to catch sight of his wings, but that was just further reason to tuck them small on his back.

Through wobbly knees and the tension of silence, Izuku is quick to dash to his desk at the back of the room. He’d hoped Aizawa would come in soon to diffuse the reactions of awe and shock from his quirk. 

Gulping, trying not to look in the direction of Bakugou, he could feel that auburn glare burning the side of his head, piercing down his body and to his wings. 

Hunching his shoulders in, Izuku wished he looked small enough to remain unbothered, but really, in his situation, no matter where he went with his class, his green feathers would still fan out largely. 

“Wow…” He hears someone mumble, Uraraka, as she approaches the side of his desk. “Deku, your wings are so much cooler in person! I’ve only heard stories from Shoji but this…”

Izuku tries to not let the compliment get to his heart, despite the light brush of pink cheeks resting on his face. He’s supposed to be fearful , and worried, not whatever this was.

“Yeah, they are gorgeous!” Ashido cries out, sending a warm smile his way. 

Trying not to smile at their compliments of his wings, because he knows they are mangled looking and they were probably lying,  Izuku just nodded and mumbled stuff to their questions as they all gathered around his desk. The worry pit in his chest dissipated slowly, but not without the constant strain of his inner turmoil. 

A few minutes ago Izuku was almost letting his fear consume him, but now he wanted to think of himself as a little ridiculous because honestly, this feeling of being liked and noticed made him feel rather warm, even if he thought his wings to be hideous just as his mother says.. 

“It was very manly of you, Midoriya, to save Tokoyami and Bakugou.” Kirishima bumps his shoulder with his fist, grinning at him from ear to ear. 

Others around him nod in their own enthusiasm about his heroics, even Tokoyami himself praised and thanked him for rescuing him. 

His wings began to fan out as the stress wafted off his body to leave him be, almost he felt relaxed by those around him. He began chirping softly in his own happiness, because not once in his life had he felt this feeling of understanding and awe from anyone. 

It almost made him forget the spiky blonde silently fuming at his desk. But that deep-rooted hatred he felt coming out in waves from him was enough to ground Izuku into remembering that he still had to deal with that. 

But it seemed he had been in the clear, at least until break rolled around and people were trying to drag him to the lunchroom. 

Izuku had kindly declined, the crushing, overwhelmed sensation running all over his chest as he walked to the bathroom. 

After scoping out for privacy, he finds himself alone at the sinks as he runs the tap and splashes water all over his face. He feels the tension relax out of his muscles as he does so, barely hearing the sound of the door swinging open harshly. 

Izuku didn't know until a burning hand grasped his shoulder and spun him around violently to the face of a seething Bakugou. 

He could instantly feel how his wings and shoulders shrank in on themselves, wishing that being small still worked with the blonde. 

“How long?” Bakugou asked, jaw clenched and Izuku could see the tightness ripple over his cheek. 

Feeling meek to the threatening palm on his chest, Izuku was barely able to mumble out since I was four between his lead tongue and dry mouth. 

For a moment silence was the loudest thought in the room. It felt like hours until Bakugou had built up enough speculation to pursue his next list of questions. 

“Who did this to you?” He growled out lowly, not quite mad at Izuku, but that feeling of rage still sat dangerously underneath the blonde's palm. 

“N-no one. It doesn’t m-matter now, Bakugou.” Izuku stuttered out.

Izuku could almost see Bakugou physically bristling at the fact that he didn’t call him his nickname, but really, many years of bullying would do that to someone. He didn’t truly understand why Bakugou was asking in the first place. Had he not listened to his answers in class? Not that he dwelled deep into the explanation of what truly made up the situation regarding his wings with his classmates, but it was enough even for them.

“Don’t play stupid with me Deku. All these years I knew you were hiding something. Just never thought it would be a quirk.” Bakugou said, an almost frown crossing his lips. But the look was quick to be disguised under one's anger. “All these years, why? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Incoherent mumbles began falling from his mouth as he felt stumped into being unresponsive. For a moment Izuku wanted to think that maybe he cared, but he brushed that thought away just as quickly. 

Something sparked by his head as Bakugou’s frustration began to boil over. “Fucking answer me, Deku!” 

Flinching, he hunches in on himself further, his heel making contact with the wall and hadn’t even noticed he was timidly backing away from the aggression. 

Izuku fumbled his words as his eyes threaded to tear up. “I-I couldn’t . N-not without m-mother k-knowing.” He knows his words are barely coming out strung together, that the pressure of hiccups and the strain in his throat limiting the extent he could reply with. 

He could see Bakugou’s eyebrows lose its pinch as he regarded Izuku with a look that would mimic that of confusion. The cogs began turning in the blonde's head, and as if a right click sounded, Bakugou’s voice lowered considerably.

“Deku, is Aunty Inko abusing you?” 

Those words made him want to shake his head and deny it with his whole heart. It sent a rattle of emotion down his spine, a shock of lightning as really, Izuku had never considered the possibility of his mother abusing him. 

As the answer of no dies on his tongue, Izuku could only drop his head to the floor and bite back a chitter of distress. 

“I u-um…” He tries because honestly, Izuku wasn’t sure if it was abuse. At the time it didn’t feel like it, but maybe it was. “I don’t k-know.”

He hears Bakugou sigh, the pressure from his chest lifted. “Alright.” Izuku knew that it wasn’t the end of the prodding, but he enjoyed the silence it brought for a few moments. 

Looking up Izuku sees the blonde pacing around the bathroom, and rather in an uncharacteristic way. It wasn’t particularly like Bakugou to get worked up over him, because to him he was useless Deku, but that anger pinched on his forehead might actually be for someone else instead of him. 

“Okay, look,” Bakugou suddenly says to Izuku, stopping to level him a sort of glare. “You don’t have to tell me, but I will find out regardless, Deku.” 

Nodding, wiping at the stray few tears in his eyes, Izuku struggles to speak. “R-right.”

“Not that I fucking care for you, or your quirk. You’re still that useless freak I knew back in Aldera.” Bakugou says, and to others, the words might sound venomous, but to Izuku, it was almost comforting to be familiar with something he had known for years.

He couldn’t even find himself to be mad at Bakugou.

Weeks passed, and Izuku was initially going to return home to his mother but the police had informed him that he’d be placed under special supervision by a guardian of the foster care system as they investigated the possible abuse case they had on his mother. 

The police strictly forbade him from returning to the environment of his home, stating it wasn’t safe. So for the first few weeks of his mother's arrest, Izuku spent most of his nights in an orphanage a few streets down from UA. 

He continued attending class as usual, and only just the day prior his wing was taken out of its sling, though with the instructions to be very delicate with its movement and use. Izuku wouldn’t be able to fly for at least another round of healing and physical therapy. 

After the timespan of weeks, it was deemed that Izuku was able to safely return to his home. He was told his mother was subjected to strict procedures as there was no solid evidence regarding her enforcing the abuse. If she forced him to bind his wings under any circumstances, she was to be arrested under the reasonable grounds of suspicion, as currently there wasn’t much to work with in terms of building a case.

Although it hasn’t made Izuku particularly comfortable coming home, it was nice to see that someone was trying for his safety, at least legally. 

During the first couple of days, his mother had avoided him like the plague. Nothing more than sharp snippets of conversation held between the two. It seemed that what Izuku had tried to abstain had already been washed away. 

The tension had been high until his mother began making subtle insults to him. It had begun with small whispers under her breath, but once at dinner, his mother had told him that those with wings should be treated like the disgusting animals they are . That had not been appreciated by him and Izuku cried that night. He might’ve been physically free from the bindings, but the emotional hooks his mother had sunk deep into his heart made his soul feel trapped.

It seemed that Aizawa had noticed his exhausted, quiet appearance in class as just as the day was ending, a few weeks through the return to his home, as he called him to stay behind with a curl of his finger. 

They both waited for everyone to file out of the room, and Izuku couldn’t help but capture the concerned look on Todoroki’s face as he walked out to head home. 

“Midoriya,” his teacher's voice asked him gently, drawing his eyes away from the door. Aizawa held his hand out, something white folded between his fingers. “This is my phone number.” 

Looking at his teacher in shock, he meekly takes the slips and unfolds it to read it, and yes, a number was in fact detailed. “W-why?”

“I want you to call this number when anything, I mean anything, happens and you need help. I usually wouldn’t do this for a student, but consider yourself an exemption.” 

Izuku nods at Aizawa, putting the paper in his pocket. Reaching the straps on his bag, he grasps them and holds it close. “O-okay. Thank y-you, sir.” 

A look that he almost considered as a smile from his teacher, he tried smiling back before bidding him goodbye, dreading the evening when he’d sit at his kitchen bench, listening to the sickening words of his mother. 

Chapter Text

The following weeks consumed Izuku with his wings out of the binder. During class, he could feel the stares he was getting, but he desperately tried to ignore their prodding looks. At times, it made him feel small and looked down upon, and all Izuku wanted to do was commit to feeling that way, hunching his shoulders in, and dropping his head. 

Bakugou ( Kacchan ?) had been a present nagging to the questions about his quirk, although he only asked once a day in a gravely, rough voice, it had always set Izuku on edge. He knew that the blonde wouldn’t stop asking until he got the answers he was satisfied with, but it seemed that he had stopped being physically harsh on him. Izuku only thought it was because of Bakugou's suspicion about his mother. 

Izuku wanted to believe that Bakugou might care for his well-being after all, but that was more of a wish he had. Although there was a recognisable slowdown in the bullying, the heavy feeling in his chest that it is all an act, he just wants to know about everything, he doesn’t care, which sits painfully as a constant thumping.

The feeling would pulse under his skin as he heard his bully’s (classmate, friend?) voice growl at someone across the room. His wings would twitch, now free from the sling, but in caution not to be used for flying until he had more extensive rehabilitation for them. This was the cause, it made Izuku feel exposed and weak, and some mornings he wanted to disobey those words and tuck himself into the binder where no one could see him, see his misshapen wings. 

It had been a concurrent thought, fueled by his mother's words and driven by his self-loathing. Izuku knew, deep down, that none of this would’ve happened the way it did if he had just stood by and let the villains take his classmates. If he has just been quirkless. 

Everyone seemed to fret over him like a child, at some point, Hawks had even knocked on his bedroom window and asked to come in after Izuku had been ignoring his messages for the duration of a few days. He told Hawks he couldn’t show up like he did anymore, moving into school dorms in a few day's time after the events of the training camp. 

He was sick of himself, sick of the wings and his mother and those who surrounded him, caging him . Izuku knew they were just trying to help, that is why Aizawa had given his number, why Hawks visited him that night, and why Bakugou was constantly asking because, in their way, it was looking after him. But Izuku, just wanted them to look away and forget that he had a quirk, forget that everything happened so he could go back to suffering in silence and enduring less hurtful ( abuse?) from his mother.

Izuku wanted to believe it was easier this way, that maybe being alone and isolated from his class was the safest thing for him, but really, all he did want was to be saved.

After Recovery Girl did her last round of healing on his broken wing, Izuku was cleared to fly with them again. He had felt relieved, that constant yearning in his stomach to take off into the sky and find solace in its breeze had been a presence he wanted to ignore. Izuku was almost excited about class tomorrow, despite that it would be the first time he flew in front of his classmates. He missed the feeling too much to be worried about his peers.

When the following afternoon came, Izuku had wanted to bite back in his words as he followed the boys into the changing rooms and got dressed in his sports gear. He had made an effort to take his shirt off in a secluded corner, not quite ready to show anyone what he spent years trying to hide.

Aizawa, earlier that day, had given Izuku a few new sets of uniforms that were properly tailored for his wings to sit comfortably. He had almost wanted to smile from the warm feeling in his chest, as instead of using scissors, someone took the time to actually think of him. 

Walking out onto the field of what they called ground beta, Izuku made sure to fall slowly behind everyone. The feeling of people looking at his exposed back made his arms ruffle with unwanted chills. There was still this pit of fear sitting at the back of his throat. He was still on edge even though his wing was healed and could go back into the binder, there was that frightening reminder that his mother would be angry. 

She had been instructed over the phone call with the police that if any evidence of her forcing binding on his wings, they would not deter her from arresting her on reasonable grounds. Izuku guessed that’s why she had let him wear them out in public because she knew his teachers would report her if he went to school with the quirk hidden. 

Izuku could tell she was almost mortified by the fact that people saw them daily, and yet he still didn’t know why, but it had almost been a relief when she said he could stop using the binder, even through her clenched teeth and sharp look in her eyes said otherwise.

It was more for her than him, if Izuku really wanted to remind himself of that.

His teacher explained a simple training exercise in preparation for the license exam in a few days. Aizawa wasn’t allowed to disclose what was to be expected, but he had everyone run through search and rescue operations. Izuku knew he wasn’t being discrete about it.

With this being the first time his classmates knew they’d see Izuku’s quirk in action, he knew that it was expected when they started crowding him. 

“Aww c’mon, bro! Show us how you fly!” His peer, Denki asks. By now Izuku could see almost everyone peeking up at the request with interest, even Aizawa.

He felt embarrassed, cheeks brightening to the colour of his shoes as he scrambled to say something. Tucking his wings in, Izuku wants to shake his head and go hide somewhere so they won’t be looking at his wings, but a soft hand lands on his shoulder. Turning to look he sees Todoroki, trying to smile something comforting at him.

“Remember, Midoriya, it’s your quirk.” Todoroki encourages, squeezing a little.

Izuku almost beams at him at how his friend repeated his words from a few months ago. Feeling the warmth bloom on his chest, Izuku nods, swallowing the dry lump in his throat.

“Since you are all enthusiastic to see Midoriya fly, he will go first,” Aizawa spoke up. Izuku couldn’t help but spot his curiosity at the chance to see his quirk in action.

Trying not to frown at his teacher, how he seemed to be smirking underneath his capture weapon, Izuku slowly stalks away from his class, stretching and fanning out his wings as he does so. 

He could feel all the eyes burning holes into his back as he made his way over to the starting line. All he had to do was find the ploy trapped civilian and return with them safe under a time limit. 

Trying to snuff out the fear sitting on his tongue, Izuku does a few more stretches while purposely avoiding the pointed looks he is getting from everyone. It made his skin crawl, being stared at, but he supposed it was to be expected knowing everyone was itching to see him in action. Izuku knows they’ve only heard stories from Todoroki and Shoji.

Bending his knees, flaring out his wings largely, Izuku waits for Aizawa to say he can start. Once the beep sounds out, he leaps into the air, slightly feeling the strain of no use as he pumps them to move faster. 

Izuku didn’t dare to look over his shoulder at his classmate's reactions as he moved faster in the direction of a fallen building. He only had ten minutes to complete the task successfully. 

It didn’t take him long to find the fake civilian trapped under some rubble. Gliding down, and landing softly, he jogs over, asking the fake doll the routine list of its okay, I’m here to help, don’t move, if only for good practice. 

He was able to remove the building off the legs of the trapped civilian and gently lift them into his arms. Quickly flying off again, back to where everyone was waiting for him, he silently thanked that it wasn’t a real person. Izuku wasn’t too sure if his wings would be able to hold the weight of both after not being used for a few weeks. 

Moments pass before the crowd of his class blurs out of the horizon, and he lands down in front of everyone. They all rush to crowd him as Aizawa reads out five minutes, and seven seconds left, all almost hanging off him in enthusiasm to see him use his wings. They couldn’t stop saying how cool , his quirk was. Trying not to feel sick, he just nods with a tight-lipped smile. 

However, as he looked past those around him, Izuku couldn't help but catch how Bakugou’s eyes seemed to light up, almost impressed , but it was gone as the blonde blinked and scowled at him, walking away. 

When the exam came around the whole class had been a pit full of nerves, but all were able to pass except for Bakugou and Todoroki, much to Izuku’s surprise. Non-cooperative actions and reckless behaviour, his friend had told him. Luckily they could retake the exam. 

That night, Bakugou had stalked past him, whispering out a stern, Meet me at ground beta in an hour, and all Izuku could do was worry. 

When he left, he saw Bakugou standing outside the gates of the meeting place and Izuku had to swallow a mouthful of nerves as he followed mutely behind him. 

A few times Izuku had managed to muster up enough words to ask what Bakugou wanted, but each time he was met with silence and it only set him further on edge.

Deep into the ground, the blonde had finally stopped to look at Izuku. Levelling him with a look he only presumed to be one of almost unconcealed anger, Izuku tries to stop the shaking in his hands as he stuffs them into his pockets.

“W-what is it y-you want, Ka -Bakugou?” He meekly asked, stuttering, clogging up his words. 

With a look that almost rivals a glare, Bakugou crosses his arms over his chest and stares Izuku down, almost threateningly. “Cut the shit, Deku. I'm sick of your fake act. Tell me what the hell is going on. And don’t you dare fucking to skip on any details.” 

Defiance sits on his tongue as he mumbles out, “N-Nothing is w-wrong.” And really, he wanted to believe those words, but it was hard.

Bakugou takes a dangerous step forward, arm's length from Izuku. The action alone sent a wave of nerves prodding his skin, he knew it was a warning. 

“Is she abusing you, Deku?” He asks, voice devoid of warmth. Izuku knew he couldn’t leave without Bakugou getting something out of him. And he also knew that the blonde wouldn’t care if it took all night either.

Shaking his head, and looking down at the floor, he tells Bakugou, “N-no.”

“Fine. Why didn’t you tell me about your wings?” He asks instead, prying for something.

“I a-already told you, I c-couldn’t.” Izuku murmurs, hunching his shoulders in.

Bakugou brittles at the vague response. “Because of Aunty?”

Shaking his head, all Izuku wants to do is leave the situation. He made a mistake following Bakugou out here. Turning around, trying to blink back tears because really, why did Bakugou need to know? Not even Hawks knew, so why should he know? 

The rushed sound of footsteps chase after him and Izuku goes to run but a hand snatches his arm and violently pulls him back. Now eye to eye with Bakugou, he could see the anger burning in the sharp look he was giving Izuku. “De- Izuku. ”

Quickly looking down to stop the tears pooling, all Izuku wanted was to crawl into his skin and hide away. He didn’t ask for this, any of it. Sniffling, his wings snapped close to his back and he felt incredibly small where he stood.

The hand on his wrist was taut, burning, pleading, stopping him from taking off again. “…I-I.”

“ Tell me.” 

Biting back the dryness in his throat, he nods, helpless. He knows Bakugou won’t let him leave. 

Trying to talk through the tightness stuffing his mouth like cotton, he stutters his best try at an explanation. “I have to b-bind them, otherwise they’ll g-get t-taken. They’re valuable.” He whispers, wishing the weight behind him wasn’t there and that he was quirkless. “That’s what m-mother told me, b-but I knew she was just disgusted by t-them.”

Izuku felt the grip loosen, and he dared to look up at Bakugou. He was staring at him, a crick of confusion settling in his brow. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Wiping at his eyes, worried that he was crying, Izuku tries to reply through his wobbly stuttering. “I-if I didn’t hide them, I would get in t-trouble. I had to wear my binder, f-for two weeks straight before she let me t-take it off.”

Finally pulling free from the blonde's grasp, he holds his arm close to his chest as if it had been burned by Bakugou.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve told someone.”

Shaking his head feverishly, he casts his eyes to their shoes again, seeing the stark difference between them. “I had to h-hide them from e-everyone. Even y-you, Kacchan. I was scared she would p-punish me if I t-told you. I wanted to, so many t-times so you might stop making fun of me for being quirkless.”

Izuku could almost see Bakugou completely deflate from his words. His explosive demeanour being snuffed as he listened, remembered that while all this was happening, he was giving Izuku a hard time, bullying him. And for a moment, it looked like Bakugou was sorry.

“It doesn’t m-matter now, it’s been s-sorted. So just d-drop it.” Izuku turns to leave, again, and he feels a small bubbling of sadness as Bakugou doesn’t reach out again. 

He knows he didn’t tell him everything, but Izuku didn’t think he could. It was too heavy to say, too soon . He hoped that Bakugou would stop bothering him about his wings, he hoped everyone would.

Hero work studies were quick to approach after the events of the licence exam. Bakugou hadn’t spoken to him since the confrontation a few weeks prior. Izuku wanted to find comfort in that, but not being bothered by the blonde just set him further on edge than he wanted. 

Izuku once again chose Hawks’ agency, and he was permitted to legally use his wings throughout his studies. It had been refreshing to go out with his mentor. Flying side by side with the pro felt more comforting than he’d rather admit. 

The two had only dealt with a few minor incidents on the first day of the hero work, and honestly, Izuku wasn’t relieved by that fact because he knew when they found time to relax, Hawks would be on his case about everything. 

Trying to ignore that bubbling in his guts at that thought, the sensation of dread forming in his limbs as his wings carried him over to a rooftop behind Hawks.

They landed quietly and spent most of the quiet night in each other's company. Though it was silent, it was one filled with tension. Eventually, Hawks looked over to Izuku and he had purposely decided to watch the sunset to not acknowledge his mentor. 

Hands shaking, Izuku took another mouthful of food his mentor had bought him for dinner. He wished it distracted Hawks for longer than it did, as a hand was already reaching out and resting on top of his head, ruffling it. 

“Baby Bird, I'm sorry,” Hawks says suddenly, almost sadly. Izuku looks at him out of the corner of his eye, frowning at him.

“W-why?” Izuku asks almost immediately, words dying in his mouth as he wills his heart to stop thumping so loudly in his ears. 

Hawks looked down, almost pitifully and it was really the first time Izuku had seen him so small and anxious. He had always known his mentor to be overzealous, and confident, but this, something must’ve been weighing heavily in the hero’s heart and Izuku suddenly felt useless being unable to tell sooner.

“I shouldn’t have waited so long to do something about your mother. I had always known something wasn’t right, but I wanted to wait for you to tell me. That was the mistake I made, I failed you, Izuku.” Hawks says sadly, his wings drooping and Izuku couldn’t help but mimic the action with his own. 

For a moment he thought he could see Hawks tear up, but it was gone as he blinked and looked guilty at him. Izuku wanted to know why he was sorry, he had been the one to save him after all. It might’ve been his job that night, but it wasn’t every day that followed after his attempt. He didn’t have to stick around and help for the year he had. 

For the first time in Izuku’s life, someone had looked in his direction and reached a hand out to help him up. He would forever be grateful for what Hawks did. And he did understand, to an extent, why Hawks might’ve thought it was his fault about what was happening, what was continuing to happen with his mother. 

Suddenly feeling sorry for Hawks, Izuku leans over and pulls him into a hug. Both basically melt into it, and for once, Izuku brings his own wings to wrap around them both. Chirping softly, trying to sound as comforting as he had a year ago, he buries his head into the hero’s chest, trying to breathe away the tears that threatened to fall.

Izuku wanted to say, you did save me, in more ways than you think, that was all I’ve ever wished for but it gets murmured into Hawks’ jacket. 

He could feel the hero sigh out against him, “Thank you.” He says, pulling away. 

Izuku could tell it was one of relief as his mentor gave him a look of almost gratitude. Folding his wings against his back again, Izuku couldn’t stop the feeling of fondness forming in his chest. 

However, it quickly dies down as Hawks gives him another gesture of concern, this time, with his hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “How is everything holding up, Baby Bird?”

The question makes Izuku want to tell the truth that really, he was struggling quite badly with his mother and the stares he got from his classmates, and that sometimes he wishes he could pull his wings off or stuff them back under the bindings because really, he had grown fond of its security. He had longed for freedom from his quirk, but some days Izuku started catching himself wanting to fall back into the old habits. 

But, he doesn’t tell Hawks this and mumbles out, it’s been good, everyone is so accepting and mother hasn’t bothered me at all, but really all Izuku wanted to do was say the truth. 

Those words however wither on the tip of his tongue, and Izuku doesn’t know why, doesn’t know who he’s protecting anymore. 

Was it his mother, or himself? 

Those lines seemed to blur recently.

During the last few days of the hero studies, Izuku met a little girl. She had run into his arms in tears, clinging desperately to his costume mumbling out words that sounded a lot like help me.

Hawks had been down the street at the convenience store, buying them lunch so Izuku had been alone. 

Instinctively he wrapped his wings around the little girl and chirped soothingly at her, but a feeling of fear settled in his chest as he wondered what had the little girl so frightened.

Eventually, footsteps had sounded from down the alley he was crouched in front of, a masked man claiming to be the girl’s father. Something felt sickenly wrong about that statement. 

Eri, he found the girl's name to be, was soaking his outfit through as she climbed onto him desperately, blubbering things he couldn’t make out. Picking her up, frowning at the bandages and dirty rag she was wearing, Izuku knew he wasn’t going to let this man take her away. 

There was obviously something so, so, wrong . Izuku almost saw himself in his arms, begging for help just as he did once with Hawks. It was a pitiful sight, but it just made him want to help more.

“Don’t be causing trouble for the hero, Eri. Come along now,” the man said. 

Those words had made him bristle. “Sir, y-your daughter, seems a-afraid.” 

He could see the masked man’s eyes crinkle in an almost laugh. “That’s because she just got a scolding. Always being too rough when she plays outside.” 

Izuku knew he needed to stall for time. Hawks would be back any moment now and he had no doubts that he would be able to read the situation quickly.

She was trembling in his arms, spluttering something into his chest. Izuku felt weak in the knees, terrified, of the implications of what was happening. 

Trying to swallow his dry throat, Izuku says, “W-what are you doing to t-this girl?”

The eyes above the man’s mask seemed to sharpen almost immediately. A heavy sigh fills the silence as the man beckons Izuku to follow him. 

Eri still in his arms, he remains standing outside of the alley. If he went in he would be out of sight from Hawks, and losing the protection from his mentor could end badly.

“Alright then. Well you see, Eri here likes defying me, no matter what I say.” The man says.

Izuku could feel how the girl shifts at the words, almost uncomfortably. Trying not to be visibly angry at the reaction, one so similar to abuse, Izuku squeezes her closer to him, wings drawing more protectively. 

Chittering softly, he says, “T-that's not what i-it l-looks like.” 

The man hums at him, as if in thought. Still standing there, back turned, Izuku could barely see the movement of his hands. However, something in that action had Eri jump out of his arms and run back to the side of the man. 

“Finished with your tantrum?” He says. Eri nodded at him, shoulders hunched. 

“H-hold on..!” Izuku tries but his words are stumped when a hand reaches for his shoulder. Blinking at the two walking into the darkness of the alley, he looks behind to see Hawks with a stone expression on his face. Izuku immediately knew he saw enough to determine what the situation was.

Going to say something else, Hawks shushed him before pulling him out of the alley. “Not here, Baby Bird.”

In the following days, Izuku had learned of the Yakuza. 

It was an ongoing situation but with the help from him and many pro heroes, they were able to apprehend the masked man who was keeping the little girl. Although it would’ve been disastrous if his teacher, Aizawa, hadn’t shown to use his quirk. Regardless, Eri was safe and at his school, rehabilitating into a more happy life. 

Izuku had fallen almost jealous of the girl as her life found to have a full turnaround after the performance from his class. It seemed that with the help of those around her, she was able to be set free from the abuse. 

At times Izuku felt envious, as well. He had seen himself in her actions, but now it seemed that Izuku wanted to be like her. He was still secluded to the self-loathing he had, never truly escaping what was haunting him, what his mind was making him think.

He desperately wanted to move on, not desiring the binder as if it were a part of his skin. But the tight restriction has brought him balance, a reminder that his pain meant he was still alive. 

And really, there was nothing Izuku wanted more. 

Chapter Text

It had been rather awkward as Izuku led his teacher down the hall to the living room where his mother would be. It was on Aizawa’s own insistence to visit the parents of his students after the training camp, as well as to reinstate more confidence in the plan for the dorms. 

It was no surprise to Izuku that he had come alone. Having someone such as All Might in his home around the delicate situation of him and his mother wouldn’t have been a very good idea. It was thoughtful of his teacher, but Izuku wished all the same that he hadn’t come at all.

As he wandered down deeper into his home, he could feel the calculated looks from Aizawa that were pinning his shoulders and the walls around him, possibly looking for something to incriminate his mother. It might’ve seemed wrong but Izuku couldn’t find it in himself to question the motives of the pro.

However, with a light shiver in his spine, Izuku had a feeling that his teacher would have noticed the empty place devoid of him as if he didn’t really live in the house in the first place. He knew there weren’t any pictures or treasures that would suggest to Aizawa that Inko actually had a son, and not that it bothered Izuku as much, he could still picture his teacher finding it all odd.

Trying not to let his wings twitch in anxiety, Izuku dares to glance over his shoulder. Just as he does so, his teacher's eyes fall on him immediately with something akin to caution. Smiling sheepishly at Aizawa, Izuku swallows down on the nerves in his throat.

The house didn’t seem lived in by him, and Izuku only knew it’d cause more concern from his teacher. Determined to hide his inner turmoil, he nodded a little to himself as he faced forward, coming closer to the feeling of dread as he stepped around the doorway.

When he leads them both into the room, Izuku sees his mother staring out the window by the couch, pointedly ignoring Izuku as she had been recently, unknownst to the other person in the room. Izuku tries not to feel hurt by the action as silent moments pass.

Izuku knew better than to get her attention, but he couldn’t help but feel the tension as she continued to ignore him indefinitely.

Sneaking another glance to his teacher on the left, who Izuku had abandoned by the doorway in favour of stepping in further, he sees his teacher's eyes narrow at the rude display of his mother. Arms by his side respectively, he studies her some more before casting a look at Izuku again.

Not sure what to say, he shrugs his shoulders lightly at Aizawa.

“U-uh… mother, I would l-like you to meet-”

“Afternoon Mrs. Midoriya, I am Shouta Aizawa, your son's teacher, and I'm hoping the letter found you well as to why I'm here?” He says stiffly by the doorway. 

Almost startled by the voice, his mother looked up from the cup of tea she was nursing, a rather perplexed look washing over her face as she studied his teacher by the doorway. 

“Oh! Yes?” She replies hesitantly, looking over to Izuku for help, who in return looks down at his shoes. “I’m sorry I must’ve forgotten .”

Aizawa hums at her with concealed tension all over his body. Izuku knew just as much as his teacher did that this was a delicate thing to go by.

Laughing to herself, as if sensing his teacher's suspicions, she sets the tea down on the ledge and regards Aizawa with a soft smile. “Izuku dear, would you give me and your teacher a few moments, please?”

Trying not to rub off the goosebumps crawling down his arms, Izuku nods and goes to step past his teacher. He didn’t get one foot out the door as a hand clapped firmly on his shoulder. Tentatively looking up at Aizawa, he catches a stern, even annoyed expression on his face. Izuku wants to think nothing of it because his teacher usually adorns one similar to that on usual days.

“Midoriya will be staying for the discussion. He’s as much part of this as you are, Mrs. Midoriya.” Aizawa grunts out before he lets go to take a seat on the couch across from his mother. 

He tries, really, but a small part of himself thinks he recognises that tone to be directed at him, and it makes him want to be small and unobtrusive so maybe he wouldn’t be noticed. Izuku knew it was irrational to think this because it was his teacher, but that little stem of worry had already branched and he could feel sweat dripping down his head.

Mutely he shuffled over to the two and forced himself to sit beside his mother, though as far away as he could get from her. At first, he hesitated and for a fleeting moment wanted to sit down beside Aizawa, but he had to bite back that urge as he settled himself next to her. Because of this, he had tucked his wings behind him as much as he could, pushing past that strain in his shoulder. He wasn’t sure how she’d react to even feeling a feather brush her arm, so keeping his distance was probably the safest. Though, Izuku knew his teacher wouldn’t let her do anything irrational. 

Izuku sees her trying not to twitch at his side because she knows she is still under surveillance by the police and she knows that Aizawa wouldn’t hesitate to report her. And for a moment he wished that maybe she would do something irrational.

“So, what is it you wanted to discuss?” His mother says softly, daubing a tight-lipped smile at his teacher in front of him. Izuku knew far better than anyone that it wasn’t sincere in the slightest. 

Aizawa huffs a little as he leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees, looking too stiff to be seen as anything less than uncomfortable.

“I won’t beat around anything, but I’m here to talk about Midoriya, regarding his future within UA.” His teacher says, reaching in and pulling out a folded piece of paper from his front pocket. 

Taking his time to unfurl it, Izuku can’t help but feel his nerves simmer in his gut. He could already see where this was heading, and it just made him want to bolt from the room so he wouldn’t have to hear. 

Coughing lightly before scanning the paper, his teacher says, “As you know, UA has formulated the idea of school dorms where Midoriya and his classmates will reside after classes and extracurricular activities. Though we have received written permission for this, I needed to come in person, as I have with all the other parents to ensure you understand what will proceed in the next few weeks.” 

His mother hums at his words, trying to at least look like she was interested in what his teacher had to say. Aizawa only briefly looks up at them both before returning his eyes to the note.

“Just know that no ill intent is to come from this as UA as a school, we are trying our hardest to keep the students safe. We understand if this isn’t a place you’d want to have your son at, but if any issues around this arise, I want you to discuss them with me now, as it would be illogical to do so once he’s moved in.”

Taking a few moments for the words to settle into the room, Aizawa once again regarded his mother with an impassive look that Izuku couldn’t quite understand. “So, Mrs. Midoriya, do you have any concerns about what will come of this once Midoriya moves out into the dorms?”

Shaking her head at Aizawa, she says almost immediately and without thought, “No, I have no concerns.” His mother reaches over to Izuku and sits her hand on his knee, squeezing it almost threateningly. He tried not to flinch at the feeling, but couldn’t help as his bones froze up, making him all rigid. “We all want what’s best for Izuku. Isn’t that right honey ?” 

Nodding, Izuku stares down at his legs, trying not to feel the sudden instilled fear swirling in his chest as his wings shrivel on his back. Izuku knew this was an act, but there was something dangerous in the way she was presenting herself to his teacher. 

Aizawa knew of the situation of his wings to a minimal level, not the deepest part of it, but the surface of what could be an issue. He knew his teacher saw it in front of his eyes where Izuku sat stiffly and far off the edge of the lounge next to his mother, gaunt and nervous as she rubbed her thumb up and down his leg in a facade of soothing.

He knew what his teacher was seeing, what he tried hiding and all it made Izuku want to do was run out of the room to somewhere, anywhere but in that house with his mother and the eyes looking down in shame. Izuku had wanted to, but nothing hated him more than himself as he sat rooted, nibbling his lips and picking at his nails.

A few times Izuku even wanted to believe Aizawa was frowning at him, taping the note in his hand with his pointer as if in his own thoughts. He knew what it meant, that small reminder that Izuku does have a similar slip with a phone number scribbled on it.

It was a question in its own mimicry, but he couldn’t bear to look at it and the disappointment of him glancing away was clear on Aizawa’s face. He was trying to help, and really Izuku wanted it but this was his mother after all, and despite everything, she was still his family.

It was wrong, but also so right. 

“Of course,” Aizawa eventually mumbles out. “If there is no issue, I would like to move along to the next thing I wanted to talk about. Mrs. Midoriya, you are aware that you have registered Midoriya into the system as quirkless, correct?”

Just at that word, Izuku felt his fingers around his knee tighten. “I’m aware.” She grits out. 

“Did you also realise that it’s actually illegal to do so?” 

Trying not to sound shocked, Izuku takes a brief glance at his mother's face, which had fallen quite pale. 

“I didn’t know that.” His mother says. “But, I haven’t done anything illegal. Izuku is quirkless.”

The brief look Aizawa casts from him to his wings behind him speaks for itself. Confusion pinched in his brow, he says, “Mrs. Midoriya, I can assure you that your son does have a quirk.”

Shaking her head, ripping her hand from him as if burnt by the skin, she folds them in her lap and impassively glares at Aizawa. “I think you’re mistaken, Mr. Aizawa. My son is quirkless.”

Izuku can see his teacher trying not to frown at those words. Bouncing between his mother and himself, his teacher tries to make an understanding of the implications of what she truly meant. The cogs were turning behind his tired eyes and Izuku could only fear what he could be thinking, concluding.

Sitting up, sensing the tension within the room, Aizawa coughs into his fist, scrunching the paper with the motion. “Regardless of what you think, Mrs. Midoriya, your son is registered quirkless when he is not. That is illegal and I can have you arrested for that if you aren’t willing to cooperate. By next week I want to see an update on the school system of his status, as well as the name of his quirk. Fail to do so, I'll have to contact the police.”

A few moments pass as the information settles into the room. Something stirs within Izuku as he thinks it almost sounds as if his teacher is standing up for him against his mother. And though his relationship with her was confusing, he still felt warm at the level of care Aizawa was showing him. 

Not many people had stood up for him like this, and a part of Izuku wishes he could feel this way more often. But then again, he blames himself for how things ended up so maybe he wasn’t very deserving of anything like that.

“Yes. Will that be all, Mr. Aizawa?” His mother speaks eventually, laying down a light tone. “If that’s it, you’re free to leave.”

“Ah, just one other thing,” Aizawa says, glancing at Izuku as he speaks. “I’ll be calling in a work friend to help you with your quirk training. This is to make sure you’re given a fair chance compared to your classmates who are years ahead of control than you are, Midoriya.”

“A w-work friend?” Izuku whispers out, fiddling with his hands as he swallows past the lump in his throat. 

“Yes, another pro hero. I won’t disclose much now as I’ll talk to you privately when school starts again, but I'm just ensuring everyone is aware of what’s happening.” 

Nodding at his teacher's words, Izuku has to bite back the smile prodding at his lips. However, he snuffs that feeling down as his awareness of his mother beside him makes its presence known.

“No.” She says, picking up her tea again as if to fill her mouth with something that’ll stop her from saying what’s on her mind.

“No?” Aizawa says, shifting in his seat to sit up straighter. 

“No. My son will not see any pro heroes in his free time.”

Feeling the dread pool on his lashes as tears prickle, Izuku, for the first time this entire conversation, faces her with a wobble on his face. “M-mother, you c-can’t just-!”

“I can and I will. I am your mother and I don’t give you permission.” She bashed back, turning to glare at him. Something in her eyes settled a level of seriousness in those words, a warning, and Izuku had to clamp down on the inside of his cheek to stop him from arguing back.

Feeling tears well in his eyes, he faces away from her, choosing to stare down at his lap again as he wills himself to keep it together. Crying in front of his teacher was the last thing he needed.

“Mrs. Midoriya, I’m afraid this decision rests entirely on Midoriya. No written permission is required as this pro has volunteered his aid for your son.” His teacher tells her a bit gruffly, looking to defuse the fire burning in his mother's stomach. 

It was an ugly look on her but Izuku knows that maybe she didn’t find it in herself to care. Nothing she was doing was incriminating, and she’s exploiting that fact as Aizawa can’t do anything in this situation besides calm it.

She says nothing, and Izuku decides to try out a wobbled, “W-who ?”

“Hawks.” That is all that Aizawa says, and just that name alone sends a small sob from his lips. Izuku knew no one would understand the level of emotion swirling from just hearing that his mentor was still looking out for him, but nonetheless, he couldn’t feel more grateful.

Almost growling out, his mother stands up from her seat to glare down “But I’m… I’m his mother! I should have a say!” 

“With all due respect, Mrs. Midoriya, this is your son’s future, not your own.” 

And maybe that had been the wrong thing to say because the second the words came out his mother was pointing a finger to the door.

“You should leave.” Is all she could stoop in her anger, one that was unconcealed. 

Nodding, Aizawa looks up at her with a blank expression, trying to mask his own angered one. “Thank you for your time and understanding.” That is all he says. Sensing that he was no longer welcome, his teacher stood up to leave, making his way to the door. “Walk me out, Midoriya?” He asks softly, not even glancing over his shoulder as he moves out to the hall.

Izuku feels the spitefulness dripping off his mother’s glare as he nervously ignores it to follow his teacher out. He knows he’ll get an earful once Aizawa leaves, and he can already feel himself becoming small and anxious because of it.

Meeting his teacher at the front door, whose back is to him, he shifts on his feet. Chewing his lip, eyes to the floor, Izuku tries to not let his emotions get the best of him. It had been dying on his tongue for the past few minutes, drying out on his lashes, because really, it was harsh how she was acting, and during moments like this Izuku wondered if she truly did care for him as she said she did.

Though for the most part, Izuku was embarrassed by it, by her and by everything that just happened. Just thinking about her ignorance of him stirs a lump in his throat, clogging it up. Something shifts in his mood and he has to hold his breath, hoping the sound of a sob doesn’t escape his lips. He’s not quite sure he’d be able to around his inability to speak properly. 

“Is everything okay, Problem Child?” He hears Aizawa ask him. 

Not even realizing his teacher had turned around and been staring at him for how long, has more embarrassment settling in his chest. 

Barely whispering out around his leaden tongue, Izuku meekly says, “I’m f-fine, Mr. Aizawa. I-I, it’s nothing I haven’t heard b-before…” Izuku goes to rub at his eyes, hoping the pressure of his palm stops the tears just under the surface. “She really d-didn’t want anyone k-knowing about them, especially the pros.”

Aizawa hummed at him, sitting in his own anger, but Izuku could tell this time it wasn’t directed at him. Something calloused and heavy rests on top of his head, carding through the curls of his hair. For a moment Izuku didn’t realise it was a hand until after his teacher began to ruffle his head.

“I’m going to tell Tsukauchi about what happened here, okay? Hopefully, it’ll be able to build more of a case around your mother.” Aizawa says, pulling his hand away and to his side. “I know I don’t have to remind you that you have my phone number, but it won’t be useful here as you’ll be in the dorms soon, a floor below me.”

Nodding, Izuku looks up at his teacher, whose eyes seem to soften. “I’ll k-keep it on me just in case.” 

Something akin to an almost smile crossed his teacher's face as he turned to reach for the door to leave. As he was stepping out, he said, “Just remember Midoriya, you have people in your corner now.”

And what a nice thought that would’ve been, if he hadn’t hated the idea as much as he loved it.

Izuku met Hawks on the first day back of his semester. He was essentially fully moved into his new dorm at this point and everything was coming into full swing. So he supposes that’s why it was no great surprise to see him outside his classroom, resting against the wall, head slightly angled to look out the window.

He was excited to know his mentor would be working closely with him and his wings, it was all he’d been thinking about since last week when his teacher had told him. Though that conversation hadn’t ended too well with his mother, he had been a bubbly pool since then. That night he had even called Hawks with almost exasperation at the fact that he had even found time to train Izuku again, let alone during school. A few tears and thanks later, Hawks had promised him he’d try better to look out for him.

Of course, Izuku knew he was guilty of what had happened with his wings, but it wasn’t his fault, it was Izuku’s. He hadn’t told Hawks of his issues with his wings, so Izuku found it a little unfair that his mentor was pinning the blame on himself. 

But he supposes it did end up bringing them closer, especially since both weren’t able to spend much time together between their new schedules. It had been so long since either were able to train like they did on the beach, so when he spotted the hero standing beside Aizawa, he couldn’t help but grin widely. 

It really was quite hard for him to contain his thrills when he bounded his way up to his mentor, calling out an excited, “Keigo!” 

When he made his way over, Izuku could see the smile forming on the hero’s face as he spotted Izuku. Waving over to him in his signature salute, he replies, “Yo, ‘Zuku! How have you been?”

Trying to hide his inner turmoil, he flashes Aizawa a small look before smiling up at Hawks. “I’ve been g-good.” 

Laughing lightly, Hawks reaches over to ruffle Izuku’s hair. “Always good to hear, Baby Bird.” 

He couldn’t help but notice how Hawks had glanced behind him at his wings, but a small feeling of pride wells in his chest as the hero let out a satisfied hum. 

“Training with Hawks will start today during heroics class. I’ll introduce him to the class as a teacher's aid but realistically he’ll be all yours, Midoriya.” Aizawa says, arms folding over his chest as he levels the two a look.

“Ah, don’t worry Eraser, I’ll help you out with your kiddos! But Izuku here will be at the top of my list, he’s my favourite and all. Though, anything you need, I’ll be there the moment you blink!” Hawks announces enthusiastically, putting a hand to his chest as if vowing the words.

Huffing at him in something of amused annoyance, Aizawa turns away from them to walk back down the hall. “I’d rather you bother someone else.” 

“ Ouch ! So cold!” Hawks laughs, feigning a fake look of hurt. “Ya can’t get rid of me that easily y’know!” 

His teacher mumbles something that is drowned out by the sound of students making their way to class. Izuku notices them fawning at the look of Hawks standing there, gushing behind their hands with bright eyes. 

Though ignoring them completely, his mentor looks down at him and smiles. “Man, we are going to have so much fun, I can already tell, Baby Bird!” Hawks pulls Izuku into a side hug, squeezing his shoulders tightly. 

Trying not to blush at the man’s antics, Izuku hides his face. Because yeah, Izuku had missed this.

When their class came, Izuku had already fallen back to his stuttering, nervous self. With a promise from Hawks that he’ll see him this afternoon, Izuku was quick to fall back and resume his usual school work. 

And as classrooms switched, Izuku couldn’t help but feel he was being stared at. And this bothered him because just the feeling of being ogled made his skin crawl and stomach churn. He thinks he might not ever get used to the feeling, at least not for a long while.

It didn’t take Izuku long to figure out who was watching him. Todoroki was the one to eventually approach him during lunchtime, an hour before heroics class, asking if they could eat alone somewhere because they had to talk.

Izuku wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t anxious about it. Since the hospital, Todoroki had become rather distant from Izuku and he thinks it might be because of the whole holding hands thing. When Izuku even thinks about it his cheeks light up in embarrassment, but he just swallows that down and tries desperately to forget it even happened.

So really, it should be much to Izuku’s surprise as Todoroki grasped his wrist to drag him outside to sit underneath a tree with their lunch trays. He could definitely feel the flush all over his face now.

For a few minutes, the two sit in silence and pick at their food mindlessly, hoping for someone to break the awkwardness of it all. Todoroki had let go of his arm the second he dragged him to the grass, but the feeling was still fresh in Izuku’s mind and he tried not to make such a big deal about it. 

“Are you…” Todoroki, thankfully, begins after he sets his mostly untouched food to his side. As if struggling to find the words, the two-toned boy’s face pinches as he looks over to Izuku. “Um, are you and Hawks related?” He eventually asks.

Shock pulls his eyebrows up as he gives Todoroki a look of almost disbelief. Of the many things Izuku was expecting to be said, this wasn’t even one of them. 

Swallowing down the nerves sitting dangerously in his throat, Izuku tries to occupy his hands as he sifts through the rice of his curry. “N-no! W-what makes you think t-that..?” He mumbles to his lap as he looks away.

Feeling his wings shift against the bark, Izuku then thinks that maybe their quirks were just too similar after all. And not that Izuku had thought of the idea of being related to the hero, being his almost adopted brother and all, really he was just more curious to know how Todoroki had even concluded something like that, they looked nothing alike except for their quirks.

“It’s just well… I saw you speaking with him and Mr. Aizawa this morning, and the whole thing in the hospital. That’s all.” The boy says, he too was fiddling around nervously. 

Cheeks still a little red, but more so out of embarrassment now, Izuku sighs as he sits up better to look at the sky. 

“If I t-tell you, would you p-promise to keep it a secret?” Izuku asks softly, risking a glance at Todoroki beside him who was also looking up through the branches. 

A moment passes as if the boy is pondering the request, but he assumes his own answer just as diligently. “Alright, I promise.”

“Okay,” Izuku huffs lightly again. He felt that his mouth had run a bit dry in his nerves, but he couldn’t do much to sedate the tightness suddenly in his throat. He wasn’t very good with words sometimes.

Trying to figure out how to explain without revealing too much, Izuku finally settles with saying, “Hawks is my m-mentor.” 

Confusion flitters over his face as he shifts his head and turns to look at Izuku. He takes his silent questioning to fill in the silence that followed his confession.

“Um, he’s the o-one who has been t-teaching me how to use my q-quirk.” And that’s as much Izuku will offer up. Because yeah, he would say over the months he and Todoroki had gotten closer, but he wasn’t nearly at the stage to dwell deep into the details of himself. Not even Hawks knew everything.

Running a hand through his hair, Izuku tries not to shift nervously as he waits for his friend to say something. 

Eventually, though, Todoroki tries his best version of a smile and nods. “Cool.” That is all he replies with, and Izuku was just glad he didn’t question more. 

When his class had come around, Izuku’s excitement had started bubbling all over again when he spotted the two teachers once more waiting out on the field. 

This time trailing mutely behind his class, Izuku tries to sink into the crowd as his teacher introduces Hawks as an aid, spewing some half-truths around to convince his peers of the reason he was truly there.

But Izuku catches Hawks’ smile directed towards him, and only him, and he timid waves back as he tries to ignore the eyes of some of his classmates watching the interaction. 

“The fuck is that all about, Deku?” He hears Katsuki say to his right. Izuku jumps a little at his gruff voice, not even realising the blonde had made his way over to him while Aizawa was talking. “Are you and the shitty bird buddies or some shit?”

Grasping at his hair nervously, Izuku shakes his head. “Something like t-that.” He stutters and doesn’t further explain. He too is nowhere near a stage to know the truth. If Katsuki found out what happened to Izuku that night, well, he wouldn’t know what he would do.

He can feel Katsuki’s eyes bore into the side of his head as his teacher finishes explaining the drills for that class, dismissing them to partner up. 

Slipping away wordlessly without casting a glance towards his classmate ( friend?), Izuku makes a beeline towards the winged hero in the hope of starting their training early.