Screech

by TarynMcT

Summary:

‘I know a way you can still be a hero. Pray for a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof!’

“But I have a quirk,” Izuku whispered to himself, standing on the roof of a tall building.

‘Can a quirkless person be a hero like you?’

‘No.’

All Might had left him on this roof. Bakugou told him to jump off a roof. Izuku looked up at the sky and let his tears fall. He wanted to jump, he really did, but it wouldn’t do anything. His wings always came out when he fell.

He would know, he’s fallen five times.

~*~*~*~

I have a Discord server now! If you want to join up and say hi, come join us! The Eclipse
There are now Podfics! One by Ekko Rainstorm and another by Oakshadow5, and then a third one by Question?!

Chapter 1

‘I know a way you can still be a hero. Pray for a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof!’

 

“But I have a quirk,” Izuku whispered to himself, standing on the roof of a tall building.

 

‘Can a quirkless person be a hero like you?’

 

‘No.’

 

All Might had left him on this roof. Bakugou told him to jump off a roof. Izuku looked up at the sky and let his tears fall. He wanted to jump, he really did, but it wouldn’t do anything. His wings always came out when he fell.

 

He would know, he’s fallen five times.

 

The first time was when he was seven. Bakugou had pushed him down a hill in the forest they used to play in, and Izuku had tumbled down into the river. He had to walk home covered in cuts and bruises, with mud caked all over him. When his mom had seen him, she had been concerned, but then she noticed that there was something odd about his eyes – his pupils were a lot bigger than normal.

 

Izuku had been excited at first, his quirk had come in! He wasn’t quirkless after all!

 

That was where the excitement ended, though. His quirk wasn’t like his mother’s. It wasn’t like his father’s, either. It was like the man she had gone home with one night while her husband was on a business trip.

 

Inko pushed her son out of the window, only to have him sprout wings and glide safely to the ground. Once he had safely landed, the beautiful white and grey wings disappeared back to where they had come from, leaving not a mark to show they were ever there.

 

The second time, three months later, was a lot like the first, only that time was when his father threw him off a bridge. That was the last time he had seen his father.

 

The third time was when Izuku was ten. He had a broken arm from his mother’s beatings, and he had burns all over his back from Bakugou’s explosions, and Izuku just wanted the pain to end. He hadn’t figured out how to make his wings come out on command, so maybe the first two times had been flukes! Spoiler: they weren’t. He glided gently back to ground.

 

The fourth and fifth times were both more experiments than suicide attempts, he wanted to try to gain some control of his wings. He had managed to control the other aspects of his quirk to some extent, but those wings, the one part that was obvious, stubbornly refused to co-operate.

 

At least until that fifth attempt.

 

Looking down from the darkening sky, Izuku watched as the city lights all came on, and his eyes switched over from what he called ‘day vision’ to ‘night vision’ and the world was as bright as if the sun was still up.

 

‘You’re a quirkless freak, do you hear me?!’ his mother’s voice taunted him from his thoughts. ‘I don’t care about the truth, you tell everyone you’re quirkless, do you hear me?!’

 

“I love my quirk,” Izuku muttered to himself as he extended his talons to admire them. They extended three inches from his fingers and were razor sharp.

 

Izuku had been standing on the rooftop for hours now, it had been daytime still when All Might had left him here, and now it was fully dark. At a noise to his left, Izuku looked over and let his keen hearing guide his eyes to where the dark clothed hero with a long white scarf was making his way to where he was, no doubt to try to prevent him from jumping.

 

He spread his wings and took off before the man got close enough to make out any details about him.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Shouta paused when he saw the boy sprout wings and fly off, recognizing those wings, even if he didn’t recognize the rest of the boy.

 

Screech was a vigilante in the area with an Owl quirk. The boy was able to move silently, not even a rustle of the feathers to give away his movements, and Shouta knew he could see perfectly in the dark and could hear him from several rooftops away – as he just proved. Shouta had also seen the kind of damage the boy’s claws – talons? – could do.

 

But the most powerful part of the boy’s quirk came when he stopped being silent. He had a screech that could rival that of his husband, Present Mic.

 

Looking at the boy’s retreating figure in the sky, Shouta couldn’t help but notice just how young the boy really looked. That looked like a middle school uniform, but it was too dark to make out any details about it. It could be from any of the schools in the city.

 

Shouta pulled out his phone and placed a call to Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa.

 

“Eraser, what can I do for you?” the detective answered.

 

“I just spotted Screech,” Shouta said. “He’s younger than we thought.”

 

“Oh?” Shouta could hear the detective grabbing a notebook. “What makes you say that?”

 

“He was in a middle school uniform. Couldn’t tell which school, though. Looked like he was about to jump off a roof, but when he saw me, or heard me more like, he just flew off instead.”

 

Tsukauchi was silent for a minute. “You’re telling me that Screech, the vigilante we’ve been after for three years, is a middle school kid?”

 

“He was most likely in elementary school when he started,” Shouta confirmed.

 

“I was really hoping he was just small.” Both men were silent. “Now what? I don’t want to arrest a kid.”

 

“Same. I’ll try to talk to him next time I see him,” Shouta offered. “Maybe see about convincing him to enter a hero school.”

 

“You’d want Screech as your student?” Tsukauchi teased.

 

“There must be a reason he does what he does, and he’s got great potential. I was always trying to convince him to enter a reform program aimed at getting a valid hero license.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku shed his school uniform and pulled out his vigilante gear. It wasn’t really “gear” honestly, it was a dark grey hoodie, black beanie, black face mask, black jeans, and black boots with grey laces. There were holes in the back of the hoodie for his wings, and he always made sure his hair was completely covered by the beanie.

 

As he was looking at his gear, he thought back to how Eraserhead had seen him on the roof. Maybe tonight wasn’t a great night to go out. Maybe he should take the night and just—what? Reflect more on Bakugou’s callous words? If he reflected on this shitstorm his life had turned to, he might abandon the thought of jumping and just take a bath with the toaster instead.

 

Angrily pulling on his gear and wiping away his tears, Izuku opened his window and crawled onto his fire escape. He jumped off the fire escape and took off, relishing the feeling of the wind in his feathers.

 

He loved being avian. The freedom of flight was intoxicating, and Izuku couldn’t imagine not being able to fly. The best part was, the night sky was his, and his alone.

 

Hawks had tried to catch him once. Only once. All it took was a well-timed screech to disorient the red-winged hero and Izuku was able to slip away to the ground to hide. As sharp as the hero’s hearing was, Izuku was an owl. No one would be able to hear him if he didn’t want to be heard, and he had already blasted Hawks’ hearing, his ears would be ringing for hours.

 

He never tried to catch him again, even though he had seen him a few times since. Hawks still tried to talk to him, but never to catch him.

 

A sudden sound from below caught Izuku’s attention and he flew down, looking to stop whatever altercation was in progress only to find Eraserhead was already taking care of it. Izuku still perched on the rooftop, wings slightly spread out as he watched the hero work.

 

He’d be the first to admit that the hero was his favorite. He was quick and efficient in all his take downs, and he fought quirkless! What more could you ask for in a hero? Izuku wanted to be an underground hero like Eraserhead, but he’d never be able to now, not since being a vigilante.

 

He was about to leave when Eraserhead looked up and saw him. Wide eyed, he said, “Screech! Wait, before you leave, can I talk to you?”

 

Izuku had spread his wings in anticipation of takeoff, but at the hero’s words he relaxed his wings slightly – still ready to takeoff if he didn’t like the direction of the conversation, but willing to listen. He chirped to let the hero know he was listening.

 

With a sigh of relief, Eraserhead said, “I want this to be in private, do you think you can wait up there for me to get this guy,” he nudged the leg of the criminal tied up on the ground with his boot, “handed over to the police? Shouldn’t take too long.”

 

Izuku studied the hero for a few moments and then hooted in affirmation and walked to the center of the roof, away from prying eyes to wait. Ten minutes later, after the criminal had been handed over, Eraserhead showed up on the roof with Izuku. The teen crouched down, ready for a quick takeoff, but waiting to hear out Eraserhead.

 

He tilted his head and chirped inquisitively.

 

“I know you’re a kid,” he started. “I saw you earlier today in a middle school uniform. I couldn’t tell which school, but that was you, wasn’t it?”

 

Izuku nodded slightly and gave a questioning chirp.

 

With the confirmation, Eraserhead continued, “If you’re in middle school, then that means the only reason you don’t have a license is because you’re too young. We can always claim you were never told the proper laws surrounding vigilantism. If you were to apply to a hero school, I’m sure you would be able to get in. You not only have a lot of potential, but I’ve also seen you in action. You have what it takes.”

 

Izuku stared at him for a few moments and thought. He did want to go to UA, of course he did, he’d always wanted to go to UA. And to show off his quirk? That would be wonderful! To have people see and know that he had a quirk, that he had an amazing quirk! He was a pretty bird, he wanted to flaunt his feathers, just like all male birds wanted to do.

 

But he was supposed to be quirkless. His mother said so. His mother forced him to say so. If he threw off all those years of lying, of being conditioned to act weak and quirkless, then what? There’s no way his mother would let him come home.

 

“Screech, kid, look, I’m sure there’s a reason you do what you do,” Eraserhead said after it’d been a few minutes without a reply. “I’ve found that most people who turn to vigilantism don’t have the best homelives. If this is true with you, please let me know and I will do anything in my power to help you. If you are in a bad situation I can help, get you out. You just need to tell me.”

 

Izuku was still quiet, contemplating his words. He wanted to get out, he was so tired of the way his life was currently going. Tired of the constant self-depreciating thoughts, the suicidal thoughts, the little voice in the back of his head that kept telling him he was a useless, worthless, quirkless deku. He was tired of being unwanted, unloved.

 

Could that really change? Could Eraserhead really help with any of that?

 

‘Only one way to find out,’ Izuku thought to himself.

 

Taking a deep breath, he said, “Izuku. My name is Midoriya Izuku.”

Chapter 2

Notes:

Okay, how in the heck did this get so much attention?! 600 hits in just over one day?!

Izuku stood up from his takeoff pose and retracted his wings. If he was going to trust this hero with his name, he might as well trust him all the way.

 

“How old are you?” Eraserhead asked him.

 

“Fifteen,” came the quiet reply.

 

“So, you’re in your last year of middle school, right?” At his nod, Eraserhead continued, “Which high schools are you applying to? I’m sure you could get into UA if you wanted.”

 

Izuku laughed softly. “I am applying for UA, but I am going to do it quirkless, so I doubt I’ll pass.”

 

“Quirkless? Why?” he asked with a quirked eyebrow.

 

“That would be due to your correct theory of my bad homelife,” Izuku muttered. “Mom tells everyone I’m quirkless, I’m registered as quirkless, I’m supposed to be quirkless. Extra toe joint and everything.”

 

“Of course, you have the extra toe joint,” Eraserhead said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Avians have that joint, something along the lines of the feet trying to be talons, I think? I’m not too sure on that, since no Avian I’ve ever met had talons as their feet, though.”

 

Izuku’s eyes widened at that. “You mean that x-ray that ruined my life was. . . wrong? I lost my best friend because some doctor saw my extra toe joint and said ‘quirkless’ instead of ‘maybe this kid is Avian?’ I spent three years thinking I would be better off dead because of this, and—” Izuku stopped himself, he was starting to get loud, any further and his screech would activate. He took a deep breath to calm himself and looked back at the hero in front of him. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”

 

With that, Izuku spread his wings and took off into the night.

 

~*~*~*~

 

“Please,” Tsukauchi answered the phone, “tell me you talked to Screech?”

 

“Yeah,” Shouta replied. “He’s fifteen, going to be taking the UA entrance exam in three weeks, and his name is Midoriya Izuku. Oh, and he’s registered as quirkless.”

 

Tsukauchi was typing at his computer but paused at that. “Quirkless? What, has no one noticed his wings?”

 

“Turns out they’re retractable. We were talking and they just. . . disappeared?” Shouta said disbelievingly. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. His quirk seems to be a mix of transformative and emitter with that screech of his. Which I think he almost used on accident during our conversation.”

 

“What did you talk about?” the detective asked.

 

“Apparently, he was diagnosed quirkless at four because of a doctor visit that showed he had the Avian’s extra toe joint. He was really upset about that, didn’t realize that was an Avian trait. I have a feeling that his parents don’t like his quirk? His mom is forcing him to pretend to be quirkless.”

 

Tsukauchi continued his typing for a few minutes and then said, “Okay, Midoriya Izuku. Mother is Midoriya Inko. Quirk: attract small objects. It’s a weak telekinesis quirk. Father is Midoriya Hisashi. Quirk: fire breath. He can breathe fire. If the kid is Avian, and the mom is refusing to acknowledge her kid’s quirk, there’s a chance the father isn’t the father.” He let out a tired sigh. “Gods, can you imagine putting your kid through the torture that is today’s treatment of the quirkless just because of an affair?”

 

Shouta looked back to where Screech had flown off from and said, “I’m going to have to talk to Zashi, but when I get this kid to turn himself in, I want first dibs on him. I’m going to get the guest room ready for him.”

 

Tsukauchi laughed at him. “Careful, there Eraser, you don’t want to ruin your reputation, do you?”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku was perched on the ledge of the tallest building in the city, crying. While he did love heights, right now he just wanted to be away from everyone, away from prying eyes.

 

Away from pesky red-winged heroes who couldn’t take a freaking hint!

 

Izuku’s wings were fluffed out threateningly, and he was making a slight territorial hiss that he knew the other could hear, since he paused in his advancements every time he hissed.

 

Finally, Izuku spoke. “Leave me alone, or I’ll screech at you again.” He turned his head to glare at Hawks, who had stopped and crouched down with his wings spread, ready to take off in chase.

 

“I just want to talk, baby bird,” Hawks said in his most non-threatening tone. “It looks like you might be having a hard day.”

 

Izuku roughly rubbed away his tears and let out an angry laugh. “Rough day, yeah, you can say that.”

 

“I’m willing to listen if you want to get it off your chest,” the hero offered.

 

Izuku looked at him with narrowed eyes, then he sighed and relaxed his wings. “Fine,” he whispered. “I already told Eraserhead my name, so it’s only a matter of time before someone shows up at my home.”

 

“Are you okay, baby bird?” Hawks came to sit next to Izuku, who decided to sit as well from his crouch.

 

“No.” Izuku retracted his wings, causing Hawks to let out a slight squawk of surprise. “Tell me, do you have an extra toe joint?”

 

“Uh, yeah, all Avians do. Don’t you?” came Hawk’s confused reply.

 

“I was told I was quirkless at four because of it,” Izuku said softly. “My parents weren’t happy, but it was what it was. Small parts of my quirk started emerging when I was seven. And then my mom pushed me out the window.”

 

Hawks gasped in surprise. “Were you okay?”

 

“That was the first time my wings emerged. I think my quirk was taking my fall as an attempt at branching,” Izuku recalled. And thinking back on it, that probably was why he couldn’t control his wings at first, he had to learn to fly, and raptors – such as owls – learned by falling from their nests in a method called branching. Their parents would kick them out and they would have to use their wings to fall safely.

 

“How. . . how many times did you fall?” Hawks hesitated in asking. He had figured it out. Clever bird.

 

“Five times, all before I was eleven. Three by my own will.”

 

Hawks closed his eyes with a wince. “Is that why you’re a vigilante now?” he asked with a whisper. “You’re trying to die?”

 

With a sad grin Izuku nodded. “I might as well try to take some thugs down with me, and who knows? One of them might get lucky.”

 

Hawks was quiet for a moment. “I’m going to hug you now, and I need you to not fight me on this.”

 

Izuku raised an eyebrow at him, but let the older bird put his arm across his shoulder and pull him in for a hug. He wrapped his wings around the teen by his side and that was all it took. Izuku let out all the tears he had left, clinging to Hawk’s jacket, and burying his face in the older man’s chest. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours.

 

“What happened today? What happened to make you break down like this?” Hawks whispered his question.

 

“Today was just a day,” Izuku said, his voice hoarse from his breakdown. “It started in the morning, I didn’t bother turning on any lights in the house when I woke up for school. And why would I? I have perfect dark vision! But my mom walked in the kitchen and saw my eyes when she turned on the lights. I have a few new bruises from that.”

 

“Next,” Izuku continued, “one of the kids in my class left spider lilies on my desk. It’s not the first time that’s happened, but it still hurts every time. I like to write quirk analysis, and after school, one of my bullies destroyed it and threw it out the window. I had worked really hard on that one, and as he was walking out the classroom, he said—” Izuku paused at that. If he told Hawks what Bakugou had said, he’d be required to report it. Bakugou would lose his chance to be a hero. No, Izuku didn’t want to do that to him. “— well, it doesn’t matter what he said.”

 

“I have a feeling it does matter,” Hawks said quietly. “But I won’t push you to tell me if you don’t want to.”

 

“Thanks.” Izuku sniffled a little and then continued. “On my way home, I ran into a villain. He was all made of sludge, and I was just so depressed I didn’t even bother dodging when he attacked me. I didn’t fight him. I was willing to let it all end.”

 

“Kid?”

 

“Yeah, the only reason I’m still alive is because All Might showed up and blasted the villain. He collected the villain into a bottle, but before he could leave, I tried to ask him a question. I’m so small and light, that I don’t think he felt me latch on to him before he took off. He landed on a roof. I asked him a question. He gave me an answer. Then he left. If I didn’t know my wings would prevent me from falling, I would have jumped.”

 

Hawks was rubbing Izuku’s back comfortingly. And oh, how Izuku needed this, he needed one person to care. Or even, one person to pretend to care. “I’m not sure how long I stayed there,” Izuku continued. “Eraserhead was out and saw me by the time I flew off.”

 

“Please tell me Eraser didn’t hurt you too,” Hawks begged him.

 

“Not. . . intentionally, no. But something he said is what was the final straw for me tonight.” Looking up at Hawks with a weak grin, Izuku said, “I never knew that Avians had an extra toe joint before tonight. I had thought that my quirk may have been stress induced, from my – friend – pushing me down a hill.”

 

The two sat there in silence for hours and were still there when the sun started coming up.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Keigo watched as the baby bird flew off home, likely to get ready for his day at school. He wanted to take the baby bird home with him, but he was probably the worst person to be a parent. A kick ass big brother? Yes! But not as the baby bird’s parent.

 

Picking up his phone, Keigo scrolled through his contacts, hoping he had the number for Eraserhead, or if he was going to have to reach out to someone for it. When he found the name in his contacts he cheered and hit call.

 

And waited.

 

And waited.

 

And was sent to voicemail.

 

Frowning, he tried again. Three rings later, the phone was answered.

 

“WHAT?!” came the sleep-deprived growling shout of Eraserhead.

 

“Woah, okay, ease back there, you’re at a twelve, and I’m gonna need you to bring it back to at least a seven,” Keigo joked.

 

“Who in the fuck—” there was a pause, no doubt as Eraserhead looked at the name of the person calling, since his next words were, “Hawks, if you don’t have a damn good reason to be calling me at the ass-crack of dawn, I am going to rip all your feather off and shove them up your ass.”

 

“Graphic. Noted. Don’t call Eraserhead before noon.” Keigo laughed a little and then got serious and said, “I spent most of the past few hours with Screech crying on my shoulder. He told me he met you tonight, and that you know his name now?”

 

Keigo heard Eraserhead sit up and get serious as well. “Yeah, Midoriya Izuku. Seems his mother had an affair and the kid came from that. She most likely blames him for a failed marriage, we saw she was divorced.”

 

“She abuses him,” Keigo said. “He told me so.”

 

“I know. I’m working with Detective Tsukauchi, as soon as we can get Screech to turn himself in – we don’t want to arrest him – I’m going to become his emergency foster parent and then I’m going to file for adoption. That kid is mine.” Keigo could hear the near possessive challenge coming from Eraser and Keigo laughed.

 

“Chill, dude, you can have him! I’m not even going to attempt to be a parental figure! But you’re gonna have to live with the fact I’m Big Brother Hawks!”

 

A slight pause, and then, “Acceptable.”

Chapter 3

Izuku managed to get back into his room with an hour to spare before he had to leave for school. Quickly shedding his gear, Izuku pulled on his night clothes for the short walk to the bathroom. He could hear his mother in the kitchen and didn’t want to risk her seeing him in either his vigilante gear or without a shirt.

 

He took a short shower, ensuring that all traces of the tears he had cried were truly gone, and that his curls were no longer flattened by his beanie – hat hair was terrible – and then went back to his room to put on his uniform.

 

He wondered, how long it would be before the police showed up?

 

Izuku opened his door and listened for his mother, he hadn’t heard anything from her since his shower, but that could either mean she was waiting for him, or that she already left for work. He turned all his focus on his hearing and was only able to pick up on the heartbeats of the neighbors, so he released his focus and relaxed. His mother was already gone.

 

He went to the kitchen and made himself a quick breakfast and packed a sandwich for lunch, hoping he’ll be able to eat it this time, and then got his shoes on and left for school.

 

Walking down the street, Izuku noticed a man leaning against a car with a tan trench coat and a tan hat. Great. Detective Tsukauchi. He noticed the second the detective recognized Izuku, letting him know that Eraserhead had indeed reported his name.

 

Heaving a sigh of resignation, Izuku continued his walk to school. Either the detective was going to walk with him or stop him, but Izuku wasn’t going to acknowledge him first.

 

“Midoriya,” the detective said as Izuku was passing him. “Can I have a few words?”

 

“I’m on my way to school,” he replied quietly. “Can we walk and talk?”

 

“Of course,” the detective agreed. “I just wanted to say a few things, in any case. Just so you know, neither Eraserhead nor myself want to arrest you. We want to see you make it into a hero school, like UA, and become a licensed hero. On that front, since we have now had this conversation, I expect you to stop all vigilante activities. That is going to me the driving force of if you will be able to get your license.”

 

“Why is that?” Izuku asked. “I thought that after having vigilantism on my record, I’d be permanently barred from ever getting my license.”

 

“We are going with the plausible excuse that no one ever told you that was illegal, and that you were too young to have your license. But now you have been told, and I won’t be able to claim otherwise.”

 

Izuku nodded that he understood.

 

“Second, we would like for you to turn yourself in, sooner rather than later, so we can start an official investigation into your mother for child abuse. You would then be placed with a temporary foster family, and Eraserhead has already volunteered for your placement.”

 

Wide eyed, Izuku could only gape at the detective for a moment before his brain restarted and he was capable of speech again. “What about his husband and son? Will they be okay with him taking in another kid?”

 

“How-“ Detective Tsukauchi stammered, “how did you know about them?”

 

“Eraserhead is my favorite hero,” Izuku shrugged. “I like to follow him, watch him work. Sometimes he gets calls from them.” Looking at the detective quickly, he continued. “I’m an owl, Detective, I can hear a whisper from twenty meters, and Present Mic does not know how to whisper.”

 

Laughing, he said, “No he does not. I’ll have to let Eraser know, but as for them, I’m sure they won’t mind. Mic had used his emergency foster license a few times without consulting Eraser before, and their son was originally an emergency foster himself. He won’t be upset that you’re receiving help.”

 

Izuku nodded. “When do I need to turn myself in by?”

 

“Preferably as soon as possible. I’m willing to take you in now, but if you would rather it be later, I can give you my number so you can come in on your own time.” He handed Izuku his card. “Just remember, no vigilante work.”

 

“If,” Izuku paused before asking, “Will this mean I can’t fly anymore? If I turn myself in?”

 

“It would mean no more unsupervised flights, yes. However, Hawks has also offered to take on a ‘big brother’ role, so I’m sure you could get him to supervise some flights. And when you get into UA, you will of course be able to fly in training.”

 

“You’re assuming I’ll be able to make it in while fighting quirkless,” Izuku pointed out. “I’m sure Eraserhead told you I’m registered as quirkless.”

 

“Yes, he did, and I verified it when looking you up,” he confirmed. “However, if you are fostered early enough, you can have your registration corrected and your UA application updated. With your mother out of the picture and your registration corrected, there would be no need for you to pretend to be quirkless.”

 

Izuku let out a quiet, yet excited chirp before looking around nervously for anyone who may have heard him. Seeing no one he relaxed and said, “That would be nice. It’s really hard, sometimes, to keep all of my traits suppressed. As you just heard.” Izuku laughed sadly, “Chirps, hoots, and hisses come so naturally.”

 

They walked in silence for a few more minutes before Izuku stopped abruptly. Ahead of them, at the school gates, Izuku could see Bakugou standing there, glaring at Izuku. Ready for the day’s first beating. Even from this far away, Izuku could hear the hate-filled growl of, “Deku.”

 

“Okay,” he whispered.

 

With a confused eyebrow raised, the detective asked, “Okay?”

 

“Yeah,” Izuku answered, still quiet. “I am not really interested in seeing any of the bullies today, and from what you’re saying, I can probably skip school if I go with you.”

 

“Well, yes, it would be difficult to attend classes if you’re at the police station.” The detective looked back at the school gates and saw a few students but was too far away to make out any details. Owl vision must be really good to be able to make out who everyone was – he couldn’t even make out any features besides hair color.

 

Izuku turned around and started walking back the way they had come, assuming the detective had been leaning against his own car.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Name: Midoriya Izuku

Quirk: Screech Owl

Type: Avian Transformative with Emitter Aspects

Attributes: Retractable wings and talons, enhanced hearing, enhanced and nocturnal vision, enhanced voice

 

Izuku looked at his new ID card with his updated quirk registration and grinned. He was finally registered! He didn’t need to hide anymore! With luck, maybe the bullies would leave him alone!

 

Well, Bakugou probably wouldn’t, but the teachers might not turn a blind eye as much now? Maybe? Hmm…

 

“Detective, I have a question for you.” At the answering nod, Izuku continued, “If a bully tries to attack me with their quirk, am I allowed to defend myself?”

 

“You get attacked with quirks at school?” he asked alarmed.

 

“Well, yeah, no one cares about the quirkless kid, so teachers have always let the quirked kids do whatever they wanted to me. Now that I’m registered, though, they might stop most of the bullies, but I’m sure one or two will still keep going.” Izuku paused to glance up at the detective. “I just want to know if I can defend myself, or if it will count against me if I turn a screech on them.”

 

“You do realize that your screech is really powerful, right?” he confirmed. At the assenting chirp, he continued. “Maybe try flying away?”

 

“One of them can fly, though,” Izuku countered, thinking of how Bakugou was able to use his explosions that way. He’d only seen it in person once, but he was sure that had been something that the boy had been practicing. “I promise it wouldn’t be a full powered screech?”

 

“Maybe we should see about transferring you to another school.”

 

“Why bother? There’s only two months before graduation, and then I’ll be in high school,” Izuku countered.

 

With a sigh of defeat, Detective Tsukauchi relented. “If a bully is about to use their quirk on you, you can defend yourself. I know what the damage from a full powered screech looks like, so if I’m called in I better not see that.”

 

With a soft smile, Izuku said, “No you don’t.”

 

“What was that?” he asked.

 

“You said you know what the damage from a full powered screech looks like. And no, you don’t. I have always held back. I think I’m close to Present Mic levels? The main difference is that for him it’s his entire voice, while I can really only screech.”

 

“That sounds terrifying,” he admitted. “No wonder Eraser is always telling me your screech is the most powerful aspect of your quirk.”

 

“I promise not to cause any property damage when I defend myself.”

 

The two of them had arrived back at the detective’s office at the station and entered, to find Eraserhead sleeping on the couch.

 

“Oi, Eraser, this is an office, not a hotel, wake up!” Detective Tsukauchi said.

 

With a yawn, the hero got up and looked at Izuku properly, for the first time. “Oh, I didn’t expect you to be so green.”

 

“You’re starting your own rainbow at home,” the detective joked. At Izuku’s curious glance, he clarified, “His husband is yellow, his son is purple, and now you’re green. All he needs now is a red kid, an orange one, and a blue one.”

 

“Nem and Tensei are close enough to the ‘blue’ part to count, and Hawks has already inserted himself into the ‘family’ so red is covered,” Eraser grumbled. “And I’m not trying to recreate a rainbow. I’m just trying to help kids. Speaking of, are you ready to head out? Zashi’s eager to meet you, he and Toshi are making a welcome home dinner for you.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

After a quick stop at his old place to get some clothes and whatever he would need for school for the last two months, Shouta and Izuku got to Shouta’s apartment. Izuku stopped a little bit away from the door and stared at it apprehensively.

 

“What’s up, kid?” Shouta asked.

 

“What if they don’t like me?” Izuku whispered. “The detective said they would, but what if they don’t?”

 

Shouta couldn’t imaging Hizashi not liking him, but it was an admittedly real fear that Hitoshi might not like him. His son wasn’t very social and took a lot to warm up to new people. He wouldn’t be upset about a new person in the home, they’ve had new kids come through since they’ve adopted Hitoshi, but he never liked them on a personal level.

 

“Just be yourself,” Shouta advised. “Zashi would love a rock that came to live with us so long as there were no bugs, so you don’t need to worry about him. Hitoshi might not like you at first, though, but that’s just who he is. Keep an open mind, and I’m sure he’ll warm up sooner or later.” Shouta ruffled the kid’s hair. “Now let’s go in, I’m hungry and I doubt Tsukauchi fed you anything good.”

 

At the kid’s nod Shouta opened the door and they entered the apartment. “We’re home,” he called out.

 

Hizashi welcomed them with a smile, “Welcome home, Shou! And hello new Little Listener! I’m Yamada Hizashi! It’s great to meet you!”

 

Timidly, Izuku said, “Hello. I’m Midoriya Izuku. It’s nice to meet you as well, Present Mic, sir.”

 

“Aww, you know who I am! That’s adorable!”

 

“You’re one of my favorite heroes,” Izuku admitted with a blush. “You’re the only other person I’ve ever heard of with a damaging voice quirk.”

 

“You have a voice quirk, Listener? That’s great!” Hizashi was not holding back on the huge sunshine smile he was giving off, and Shouta was squinting at the sheer brightness.

 

“Well, not really, but it is an aspect of my quirk. I’m an owl, a screech owl specifically.”

 

Hizashi gasped. “Are you Screech?! Oh, my goodness, Shouta! You didn’t tell me our new baby was going to be SCREECH!”

Notes:

Okay, so I know this is only supposed to get updated when Datastream is giving me fits, but I have a part I want to get to, so there will probably be relatively frequent updates at least until I get to that part.

Chapter 4

Notes:

I'm truly in awe, guys, it's been 5 days and I have 2800 hits??? Like, what is even happening???

So, Izuku had come to a few conclusions by the time he had finally gone to bed that night. First, Present Mic was a high energy, warm, loving person who gave the best hugs and wanted Izuku to call him Hizashi. Second, Eraserhead – who Hizashi insisted he call Shouta – was a calm, observant, cool balance to Hizashi, but was no less loving. He didn’t give hugs outright, but he’d sit next to Izuku and play with his hair. It was a slight resemblance to how Izuku would preen his feathers when he was having a really rough day, and it helped calm him down.

 

Third, Hitoshi really didn’t like him.

 

At least, it seemed he didn’t like him. He kept staring at Izuku with narrowed eyes, he’d glare at him and then turn away when Izuku was about to ask him if there was anything he did wrong. Izuku wanted to be friends, or at least not enemies, but he really thought Hitoshi hated him. Even though Shouta said the boy would be fine sharing the house with another kid, Izuku didn’t think that was the case.

 

Just like everyone else, he hates you. You’re intruding on his life.

 

‘Shut up,’ Izuku thought to himself.

 

Just because a few people are being nice to you now doesn’t mean it’ll last.

 

‘So, it’s going to be one of those nights.’

 

Izuku rolled over in his bed and stared at the wall. Tomorrow he would be going back to school, and he’d have to explain to his classmates that he had a quirk. They wouldn’t believe him, he knew it, so he’d have to show them. Maybe his wings? Or talons?

 

Doesn’t matter what you show them, they’ll still hate you. Maybe they’ll kill you this time? Why wait for them to do it?

 

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut, trying to pry the thoughts out of his head, but when that didn’t work, he decided maybe sleep wasn’t going to happen. Besides, it’s not like he was ever really able to sleep at night anyways.

 

He got out of bed and grabbed some of his books from his backpack. If he was going to be up, he might as well try to finish the next chapter in his math book, and get a head start on the next chapter for history. The desk in his room wasn’t big enough for how Izuku liked to spread out while studying, so he decided to take his things into the front room and study on the coffee table.

 

Nearly an hour later, Izuku heard a noise from down the hall. It seemed as though someone was awake. Izuku kept quiet, hoping whoever it was wouldn’t notice him. His mother always hated it when she saw him acting like an owl in the dark, and Izuku hadn’t bothered turning on a light when he came out to the front room.

 

Whoever it was went to the bathroom. It must have been Hitoshi, since Hizashi and Shouta had a bathroom in their room. Izuku continued to be silent, hunching into himself and hoping he would go back to bed without ever noticing him. No such luck, it would seem.

 

Hitoshi came to the front room and turned on the light. When he saw Izuku on the floor, doing schoolwork, he just blinked.

 

“Um, hi?” Izuku whispered as he let his eyes transition from dark vision to light vision.

 

“What are you doing out here this late?” Hitoshi asked him quietly, not wanting to risk waking up his parents.

 

“I couldn’t sleep,” Izuku shrugged. “It’s actually rare for me to sleep at night.”

 

“Right. Because you’re an owl,” he stated.

 

Izuku nodded. “Um, why are you up?”

 

“Insomnia,” was the simple reply. “Dad makes me stay in my room and at least try to sleep until 3am. If I still can’t sleep then, I can come out and watch TV or get a head start on the day, or whatever else to occupy myself.”

 

“I used to go flying,” Izuku says mournfully. “But I’m not allowed to do that without supervision anymore.” With a sad sigh, Izuku started packing up his textbooks to go back to his room.

 

“Where are you going?” Hitoshi asked.

 

“Back to my room?” Izuku tilted his head to the side. “You’re going to be out here, right? I know you don’t like me, so I don’t want to be in your way.” Izuku finished getting his things cleared up and got up. “I hope the rest of your night is pleasant.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Hitoshi wasn’t sure where he messed up, but the new kid thought he didn’t like him? But, he does like him. He’s adorable! The way he would softly hoot when Dad played with his hair was so cute he couldn’t help but stare, and when Papa hugged him, he would let out these adorable little chirps.

 

Hitoshi was a bit excited when he came out and saw him out here, he thought they could talk about their mutual dislike of sleep, but apparently Hitoshi had scared the little owl off.

 

Damn his resting bitch face. And Dad probably warned him he wouldn’t like him right away. Which, to be fair to Dad, was not normally a lie. Hitoshi didn’t like many people, they would always treat him like a villain as soon as they heard about his quirk, and that was the main reason why he was still his parent’s only adopted kid. He knew Papa wanted another kid, but he wasn’t going to adopt a kid that couldn’t accept Hitoshi.

 

Hitoshi decided he’ll try to make it up to the little owl by making a nice breakfast for everyone. He took out his phone and started looking for a video about owls, maybe he could get some inspiration for breakfast?

 

A few minutes later and he was sucked into the video. Who knew owls were so damn cute? They were… they were sky kittens! And the screech owl was so tiny! No wonder the new kid was small.

 

Hitoshi was so absorbed into the video he didn’t notice the small owl boy had come back out of his room to watch him.

 

Izuku let out a small, barely audible hoot.

 

Hitoshi looked up sharply. “I didn’t hear you come in,” he said.

 

“I know.” Izuku had a sharp glint to his eyes. “No one hears me unless I want to be heard. Even Eraserhead almost never knew when I was near.”

 

“That’s right, you’re a vigilante,” Hitoshi remembered.

 

“Was,” he corrected. “If I want a chance at getting a valid Hero License, I have to stop my vigilantism.” Izuku looked down and quietly said, “I’m sorry, I thought you didn’t like me because—”

 

“No, don’t be sorry, I always look pissed off,” Hitoshi rubbed the back of his neck. It seems he may have been thinking out loud earlier. So embarrassing.

 

“Oh.” Izuku came more fully into the room and sat down next to Hitoshi. “What are you watching?”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku really didn’t want to go to school today, but he had already skipped yesterday to go with Detective Tsukauchi to the police station, he couldn’t skip again. Shouta had agreed to take him to school today, he needed to update the school’s information regarding Izuku anyways, so it wasn’t likely that any of the other students would risk attacking him on sight.

 

Bakugou will just kill you at lunch.

 

“You ready to go?” Shouta’s steady voice pulled Izuku out of his thoughts, and he nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

 

Hizashi and Hitoshi had already left so they locked the door and started on their way. Twenty minutes later they were walking through the gates to Aldera Middle School. Shouta walked with him into the front office, where the secretary gave them a brief glance and then promptly ignored them.

 

“Excuse me, I’m here to update some information for Midoriya Izuku,” Shouta said. Izuku knew that they weren’t going to treat him well, he had warned Shouta on the way here that this would happen, and then spent the rest of the walk to school trying to convince him not to pull him out of school for the last two months.

 

“Sure,” the secretary muttered annoyed. “What do you want to update?”

 

“His guardian and his quirk status.”

 

The secretary looked up sharply at that. “Quirk status? He’s quirkless, though.”

 

“That’s what needs to be updated. He’s not quirkless.” Turning to Izuku, Shouta asked, “Do you want to show her? Or just get your information updated?” Izuku chirped a negative, so Shouta continued. “Is there a form for me to fill out?”

 

The secretary was looking at Izuku suspiciously. “Just because the boy can chirp like a bird doesn’t give him a quirk.”

 

“No,” Shouta retorted. “The fact he has a quirk is what gives him a quirk. Now, do you have a form or not?”

 

She gave him the form to update his information, but continued to glare at Izuku, who was pointedly staring at the floor. She barely looked up as Shouta gave her the updated information. “Screech owl?” she asked in disbelief after glancing at the form.

 

“Y-yes,” Izuku stuttered.

 

“Prove it,” she hissed. “Bird quirks are rare, and there’s nothing about you that is bird—” She cut herself off with a squeak when Izuku let his eyes switch to dark vision for a moment.

 

When he did that, his pupil got so big the green of his irises all but vanished, becoming a thin ring. It was fairly obvious. He quickly let his eyes go back to light vision, since it was bright, and that much light hurt his eyes in dark mode.

 

“You. . . you really do have a quirk?” she whispered. At Izuku’s nod, her entire demeanor changed, and she became far more professional, asking for Shouta’s identification to prove he was who he said, and if he had any documentation to prove he was Izuku’s new guardian.

 

After all information had been entered and updated, Shouta turned to Izuku. “You’re going to be okay getting back home, right? Or do you want me or Zashi to come pick you up?”

 

Izuku smiled softly. “Thanks, but I should be okay. I have the address saved, and if I get lost I can just text you.” Izuku’s smile turned slightly mischievous, “If all else fails, I can just fly home. The city is a bit more familiar from above.”

 

“Smartass,” Shouta playfully ruffles Izuku’s hair. “I’ll see you after school, then.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku walked into class and tried to ignore the eyes that followed him as he handed his late pass to the teacher and went to his desk. For once, there were no flowers.

 

Probably because they want to make sure you get them.

 

“Midoriya, why were you late?” the teacher asks, not even looking at the late pass, crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash.

 

“U-um, the pass s-said why,” he stuttered.

 

“Tell the class,” the teacher insisted. “I think we’d all like to hear it from you.”

 

Izuku sighed as the students all smirked and snickered at him. “I-I was l-late because m-my new guardian h-had to update my i-information.”

 

“What information?”

 

Izuku took a deep breath and said, “My quirk status. I’m not quirkless.”

 

The response was instantaneous, the entire class was in an uproar as the teacher desperately pulled the note out of the trash to read what it said to confirm Izuku’s words, but all he heard was Bakugou’s rage-filled, “What the FUCK DEKU!”

 

He had jumped out of his desk to grab Izuku by the collar and slammed him into the ground, “You’re a quirkless little shit, there’s no way you just suddenly got a quirk overnight! You’ve always been quirkless, nothing’s changed!”

 

“Let me go, Bakugou! I do have a quirk!” Izuku hated it when Bakugou grabbed him like this, it would be so easy for Izuku to lose control of his screech and blast him in the face. At this close of a range, he could do serious damage to his ex-friend.

 

“Bakugou,” the teacher said sharply. “Release Midoriya and return to your seat!”

 

With a growl, Bakugou let him up. “Get ready, Deku, you’re going to die at lunch for lying.”

 

Frustrated, Izuku yelled back, “I’m not lying!” and he spread his wings.

Notes:

In case anyone was wondering, this is NOT going to be HitoIzu. I love the pairing, but they are going to be brothers in this one.

Chapter 5

Notes:

Baby bird has some dark thoughts in this one. It'll start getting better, but this is a bad chapter for him.

Izuku quietly ate his lunch. He was sitting on the roof of the school, barely managing to escape from the horde of students who suddenly wanted to be his friend since he has a quirk. And not just any quirk, no, he’s got an Avian quirk! Those are cool, flashy, rare. Heroic.

 

‘I’m the same person today that I was yesterday,’ he thought to himself. ‘They didn’t like me on Monday, they shouldn’t suddenly like me on Wednesday.’

 

They still don’t like you. They still hate you.

 

‘I know,’ he answered himself.

 

They’ll be leaving flowers on your desk again by Friday.

 

‘I know,’ he repeated.

 

Thinking back on how he revealed his quirk, he probably could have done it a bit better, but Bakugou had frustrated him. And threatened him! Now that Izuku was able to tell people about his quirk, he was in a different league then most of the others. His quirk really was amazing, and that wasn’t just him being a proud little bird.

 

He had range, with his screech. He could fly. He could hear and see way better than a regular person. And he had close combat abilities with his talons. He could probably blast Bakugou away with a screech before he got close, and if he did get close, he could rip him apart!

 

But still, he didn’t really mean to antagonize Bakugou the way he did.

 

Silence stretched uncomfortably as Izuku folded his wings, leaving them out, but not in the way. “I’ve had a quirk for years.”

 

“That’s bullshit!” Bakugou snarled. “If you’ve had a quirk this whole time, why have you been acting quirkless, hah? You looking down on me, hah?!”

 

“Wha-? What makes you think that? When have I ever-? You know what? Yes. Yes, I am looking down on you.”

 

That was definitely not one of his brightest moments, but at the same time, the teacher had stopped the altercation from getting any worse. And now he could hear Bakugou running around the school looking for him, screaming about how he was going to explode his face.

 

The building doesn’t technically have roof access, so Bakugou wasn’t likely to find him up here.

 

Unless he remembers you’re a bird.

 

Yeah, there was that. Izuku hadn’t flown up to the roof, though, he had climbed up the tree next to the building that was tall enough to reach the roof. He liked how the bullies never realized he was here. It was the only time he ever got any peace while at school.

 

Izuku startled when his phone buzzed. He wasn’t expecting anyone to call or text him. Pulling out his phone, he stared at it. There was a new text, but he didn’t know the number.

 

Unknown – hey baby bird, I see you’re on a roof again. You need to talk to someone?

 

“Oh, I wonder when Hawks got my number?” Izuku muttered. Looking up and shading his eyes from the sun, Izuku saw Hawk’s silhouette way up in the sky. He briefly considered flipping him off but decided to just give a small wave instead.

 

Izuku – not really. I’m just having lunch. It’s peaceful on the roof.

 

Hawks – ooh, lunch break! I haven’t had mine yet, how much longer do you have? I’ll join you!

 

Izuku – about 5 min

 

Hawks – boo, too short to get something

But I can still keep you company for the rest of the lunch period

 

Izuku – really rather you didn’t

Don’t want anyone to see you up here and realize I’m here too

 

Hawks – aww, are you embarrassed, baby bird?

 

Izuku – the roof is where I go to get away from bullies. If they find out I come up here because of you, I will disown you.

 

Hawks – fine. I’ll leave you alone for lunch, but I’m going to “escort” you home after school. I bet you want to go flying, right?

 

Izuku’s entire face lit up at that. Yes, he wanted to go flying! He wasn’t able to fly at all yesterday, nor last night! He was buzzing with excitement as he returned to class.

 

When the bell rang at the end of the day, Izuku dashed out of the class and was happy to see Hawks really was waiting for him at the school gates. Without even stopping to greet the older bird, Izuku spread his wings and took to the sky in a flurry of grey and white wings. He smirked when he heard Hawk’s indignant squawk as he quickly tried to catch up.

 

“Baby bird, really? I was kinda expecting at least a hello, y’know?” he said as he caught up. Izuku was fast, but not as fast as Hawks – after all, Owls weren’t built for speed, but for stealth.

 

“I missed the sky,” Izuku replied. “And if you wanted a ‘hello’ then maybe don’t stand at the school gates next time. You were attracting too much attention.”

 

“Okay, that’s fair, I guess.” The two soared lazily for a few minutes before he asked, “Anywhere in particular you want to go, Baby Bird?”

 

“Not really, but can we stop at Eraser’s place so I can drop off my bag and change out of my uniform?”

 

“Sure, I still haven’t had lunch, there was a villain right as I was about to get some chicken, so I’m more than willing to take you to dinner. Please say you like chicken!” Hawks pleaded.

 

“Is that your stupid question of the day? Of course, I do! What kind of raptor doesn’t like chicken??”

 

“Thank you! You don’t even want to know how many times a day I get called a cannibal for liking chicken!” Hawks smiled brightly.

 

“Anyone who doesn’t knows raptors eat birds is an uneducated moron,” Izuku snarked.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Twenty minutes later found both birds on a billboard with a bucket of chicken.

 

“How was your day? I seem to recall you were pretending to be quirkless before, but you didn’t hesitate to fly off today. Something changed?” Hawks asked.

 

“Oh, uh, yeah. Detective Tsukauchi took me to get my quirk registered yesterday, and Shouta updated my information at the school today. I don’t know if I was originally going to let out the truth today, but the teacher wouldn’t just. . . let me come to class late without an explanation.” Izuku scowled at the chicken before he took a bite. "Even though I had a late pass that explained it to him.”

 

“Dick move, there,” Hawks stated around a mouth full of chicken.

 

Izuku huffed out a small laugh. “Yeah, but it wasn’t as bad as other things he’s done.”

 

“Dude, little chick, do I need to try to get a teacher fired?”

 

“It’s more like the whole school,” he replied sardonically. “No one wants to see the stupid quirkless kid do well, so I’ve had grades altered, homework lost, detentions for fighting and being a distraction in class, sometimes I wasn’t even allowed to go to lunch. It’s the same with all quirkless kids,” Izuku shrugged.

 

Hawks was quiet for a few minutes, processing all of that. “I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was that bad,” he whispered finally. “And that was just from the teachers?”

 

“Yeah. The students like to use their quirks to hurt quirkless kids. The teachers never even pretended to care.” Izuku stared out into the distance, lost in thought. “I haven’t met any other quirkless kids in person, but I’m on a few forums. It’s the same with all of us.”

 

Hawks put his arm around Izuku, and he leaned into his hug. “Most of the people on the forums have talked about killing themselves, and I’ve even seen a few posts where some did a suicide pact, and then their names were never seen again.” He rubbed at his eyes, a few tears had started falling.

 

Hawk’s hold on him tightened. “Promise me, owlet, that you won’t try again.” Izuku was silent. “Baby bird, I’m serious.”

 

“I know you are,” he said. “I just don’t want to break a promise.” He buried his face in Hawk’s shoulder. “I want to say I won’t, but I don’t know if I’m at a place yet where I can say for sure that I’m good.”

 

“I’ll talk to Eraser about getting you some therapy.” Hawks was running his fingers through Izuku’s hair, lightly scratching his scalp. “In the meantime, how about a different promise. For the next week, promise me you won’t try again. If I can’t get a full on ‘never again’ promise, I’ll at least try to get a short timeframe promise.”

 

Izuku smiled softly up at Hawks. “Okay. I can do that, Hawks.”

 

“Keigo,” came his reply. “My name is Takami Keigo. Call me Keigo.”

 

“Okay. I can do that, Keigo.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Turns out, promising a week was a bit more difficult than Izuku had thought. He had managed to make it to Friday without any issues, but while he was on the way home from school, he saw his mom. She was on the phone, and Izuku could hear that she was talking to the principal of Aldera, discussing his sudden quirk manifestation.

 

Izuku had made sure his mother didn’t see him, but she didn’t have to see him and talk to him for his self-worth to plummet.

 

Izuku had made it home and was glad that Hizashi was already home. He leapt into the man’s arms and held on tight, tears quickly soaking his shirt. There was no way he could be alone right now, with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.

 

“Oh sweetie, what happened?” Hizashi asked, holding Izuku just as tightly as Izuku was holding him.

 

Izuku shook his head, he didn’t want to talk, he just wanted to be held. Hizashi was definitely willing to give the little bird all the comfort he needed. Hizashi and Izuku stayed on the couch for a few hours, until Shouta and Hitoshi returned home.

 

Shouta took a look at them and with a concerned look asked, “What happened?”

 

With a sad look, Hizashi whispered, “He hasn’t said yet.”

 

Hitoshi moved to sit on one of the couches, wanting to help but not sure how, and Shouta sat next to Izuku and ran his hands through his curls. “Hey kid, can you try to tell us?”

 

Izuku sniffled a little and said, “Keigo made me promise I- he made me promise not to try to kill myself for a week.” His voice broke as he continued, “It hasn’t even been three days, and I want to break my promise.”

 

All three took a sharp breath. “Oh, little one-“ Hizashi was interrupted.

 

“I saw my mom. She didn’t see me, but she was on the phone with my principal. She kept calling me useless, and then the principal told her I had a quirk, she started to refer to me as ‘it,’ and then said she didn’t know or care where I was, that I wasn’t her problem anymore.” Izuku was still clinging to Hizashi, and it seemed as thought his hands had locked their grips, so there was no letting go.

 

“I just- I don’t know why you’re bothering with me. I’m just some useless bird, I’m not worth anything. You never should have taken me in.” Izuku’s tears that had stopped a while ago had come back full force. “I just want it to end, but I promised Keigo I wouldn’t!”

 

~*~*~*~

 

An hour or so later, once Shouta had dinner ready, Izuku had finally let go of Hizashi. The four of them were seated at the kitchen table. “Thank you,” Izuku whispered. “Thank you for being there for me. I know I’m a mess right now, but you didn’t leave me. Thank you.”

 

“Izuku,” Shouta said, “You might not be in the best mental space right now, but you’re still worthy of being loved."

 

They finished dinner quietly, and Hitoshi gently grabbed Izuku’s sleeve and dragged him into his room to talk alone.

 

“I’m not sure if you know this or not,” Hitoshi started, “but Dad and Papa adopted me when I was seven.”

 

“I did hear you were an emergency foster and later adopted, but that’s all I was told.”

 

“My birth parents, well. One of the neighbors had suspicions that they were mistreating me, and one night while they were out, they had gotten mugged. Dad had saved them. Instead of just saying ‘thank you,’ and going about the rest of their night, they told him that they thought their neighbors were abusing their kid.” Hitoshi paused there, tracing a scar on his cheek.

 

“My parents had kept me in the closet with a too small muzzle for years at that point, from the time my quirk had manifested at four, until Dad came and got me out. Trust me, Izuku, if anyone knows a thing about self-depreciating, suicidal thoughts, it’s me. Dad and Papa will do what they can to comfort you, but if you need to talk to someone who gets it, who still—who still sometimes thinks only the worst about themselves, I’ll always be here to talk to.”

 

Izuku hugged him. “Thank you, Hitoshi.”

Notes:

So, when I posted chapter 4, I had 2800 hits, and now here is chapter 5, and I just -- really, how do I have 7000 hits???? I am genuinely confused at this. (⚆_⚆)

Chapter 6

Notes:

Sorry this took so long to come out, I was working on Datastream.

Enjoy some Big Bro Keigo!

The days turned into weeks, and every Monday, Keigo made Izuku promise to stay alive for one more week. Every Wednesday Izuku had therapy, and while it was going to be an uphill battle, Izuku could already see some improvement. He still had his dark thoughts, but he wasn’t openly speaking ill of himself as much anymore.

 

Part of that was thanks to his new brother.

 

Hitoshi had purchased a small water gun, and every time he heard Izuku say something self-depreciating, he would squirt him like a misbehaving cat and make him repeat himself in a more positive way. The first few times were really annoying, but after a few days Izuku had managed to catch himself before Hitoshi squirted him.

 

Every other day Shouta and Hitoshi trained for the UA recommendation entrance exam, and they had invited Izuku to join them. Izuku readily accepted and Shouta quickly realized that even though Izuku was a force to be reckoned with, he had no formal training. And it showed.

 

Izuku had quickly decided, upon getting thrashed by Hitoshi while fighting quirkless, that he needed to learn how to use a weapon. He wasn’t interested in learning Shouta’s capture scarf, it’d just get in the way of his wings, but he was sure Shouta could teach him something else. So, one night while they were all at home, Hizashi and Hitoshi in the kitchen getting dinner ready, Izuku decided to ask Shouta about weapons training.

 

“Shouta?” Izuku was sitting next to him while watching TV. Well, Izuku was watching TV, Shouta was running his fingers through Izuku’s hair while looking at cat videos, grinning every time he heard Izuku hoot quietly.

 

“Hmm?” Shouta looked up from the video, giving Izuku his full attention, something Izuku was still getting used to – no one had ever cared enough to actually pay attention to him before!

 

“I was wondering, um, can you teach me how to use weapons? It’s just, all I have are my talons and screech, and getting my ass handed to me by Hitoshi every single time we spar is kind of embarrassing.” Izuku nuzzled his face onto Shouta’s shoulder, in a mx of embarrassment and really liking the way he played with his hair.

 

Shouta huffed out an amused breath. “Sure thing, kid. But you have to keep something in mind in sparing with Toshi – I’ve been training that kid since he was eight. If he couldn’t beat you in a spar I’d be disappointed. Anyways, I was planning to bring up the thought of a weapon tomorrow. How do you feel about a bo staff?”

 

~*~*~*~

 

When the day of the recommendation exams came, Izuku wished Hitoshi good luck, and went to spend the day with Keigo. His own exam was going to be in just three days, and he was getting nervous. He was still on the fence about if he was ready to really show off his true strength. There was a difference between being the useless Deku he was and being Screech!

 

He was really hoping that a talk with Keigo would be able to help him get through this practical, so once again, they found themselves up on a billboard with a bucket of chicken.

 

“So, you’re worried about being yourself?” Keigo asked.

 

“Well, yes? I mean, I’ve been the weak-“

 

“I may not have a squirt gun, but if you keep talking like that, I’ll bop you with a feather or shove you off this billboard,” Keigo warned. “Aizawa told me about what your other brother does every time you talk shit about yourself, and I’m getting in on that too.”

 

“Uh, okay, um. I’ve been acting weak for my whole life, and being more confidant is hard. I don’t really know how to do it? I mean, I can do it when I have my Screech mask on, but I don’t know if I can do it without the mask.” Izuku said, fixing his statement.

 

“Better,” Keigo acknowledged. “As for the confidence, think of it like adopting your own hero persona. Yes, it’s easier with a mask, but not all heroes wear a mask. All the pros have a hero persona.” Keigo paused for a moment, and then continued. “Well, all the spotlight pros do. I don’t think Eraserhead would be able to do a hero persona if his life depended on it.”

 

“You don’t really have one, do you? I mean, you seem like the same person every time I see you?” Izuku pointed out.

 

“Oh, I do, my baby bird, I most certainly do. The thing is, a hero persona is merely taking an aspect of your personality, and exaggerating it. I’m an easy-going guy, and not a lot really gets to me. I take that part of my personality, and I maintain that attitude when doing pretty much anything.”

 

Izuku thought about that for a minute. Did he do something like that? Could he do something like that? Maybe he already did? After all, Screech was powerful, Screech was confident, Screech was able to fight back and protect others.

 

“Present Mic has a hero persona, too. You really think he’d be able to be as unrecognizable out of costume as he is if he was the same person in costume as he is out? You see him on the daily, is that really what you picture when you imagine Present Mic?” Keigo ruffled his hair.

 

Izuku kept thinking. Keigo was making some really good points. But how was he supposed to make a hero persona for himself?

 

“Come here, turn around. I want to preen your feathers, little bro.”

 

Izuku chirped in excitement and let Keigo have full access to his feathers.

 

“If I have my mask on, it comes pretty easy to me,” Izuku said, before letting out a content hoot as Keigo gave him a light scratch at the base of his wings. “But I don’t think I can wear my mask while at UA.”

 

“True, you probably can’t. Or at least, you probably shouldn’t.” Keigo ran his fingers through the white and grey feathers, straightening them. “What makes you Screech? Describe Screech to me, as if I had never met Screech.”

 

Izuku thought about it for a minute. “Screech is confident,” he started. “Screech is a proud protector, someone who wants to maintain the peace in his territory. He’s-“

 

“He’s you, stop talking in third person,” Keigo corrected gently.

 

“I’m. . . I’m confident. I’m a proud protector, and I want to maintain peace in my territory,” Izuku whispered. “But, Keigo, I’m really not confident. I do, and have always wanted to protect others, but I’ve never been confident outside of my Screech act.”

 

“Then keep up the act. Baby bird, every hero out there has to be able to stand strong, be able to put forth an aura of safety, they need to be able to let the civilians know they’re going to be okay now, the hero is there. You already do that as Screech, but now you need to do that as Izuku.” Keigo pulled him into a hug. “I have faith in you, owlet. You’ll do great.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku was still a little worried about how he was going to do in the practical exam since he still wasn’t really used to using his quirk in front of people, but he promised both Shouta and Keigo that he would do his best, and his best included using his quirk. So, he was going to go into that exam as Screech, not as the useless Deku he’d been acting his entire life. He was going to try to remain confident, like Keigo had said.

 

He had managed to complete the written exam with little trouble – he always knew he was smart, and that his low grades were because of the teachers messing with him, so the exam being easy wasn’t a surprise.

 

Seeing Hizashi in his full Present Mic persona threw him for a loop, though. After living with him for the past three weeks and the conversation he had with Kei about hero personas, Izuku was able to really appreciate what a hero persona truly was. Izuku had practically forgotten just how extra Present Mic was!

 

That man on stage was not the same man that gave him warm hugs and cooked pancakes with chocolate chip grins for breakfast. Izuku had stars in his eyes as he watched Hizashi explain about the practical exam, the different robots he would have to face, and even how he reacted when some blue-haired student interrupted him. Hizashi - Present Mic was so cool!

 

After everyone was given their instructions and released from the auditorium, Izuku headed to his group’s exam area.

 

He choose not to stand all that close to the entrance gate, it was a pretty big gate, and he could easily fly through it. No need to risk getting himself crushed in the mass of bodies all trying to get in at the same time. He was ready. He knew he could do this. Izuku bounced a bit on the balls of his feet, getting ready to spread his wings. All he needed was for Hizashi to yell out—

 

“GO!!”

 

-- and Izuku was off!

 

He spread his wings and took off like a bullet, speeding past the first few robots, not wanting to risk hurting anyone with his screech, which is exactly what he unleashed in a cone about 20 meters into the battle ground, at a group of 3 pointer robots.

 

In one move, Izuku had gotten 12 points. He could do this.

 

Time seemed to flash by, Izuku taking out robots with a screech when no one was nearby but dropping to the ground and using his talons when someone was about to get hurt by a robot they hadn’t noticed. He had lost count of his points, but he was sure he was doing fairly well, when all of a sudden, he felt the ground shake.

 

Izuku took off from the ground to try to see what was happening and saw the biggest robot he had ever seen emerge. The 0 pointer. The 0P. “Of course, why wouldn’t it be 0P?” Remembering that Hizashi had suggested to avoid it, Izuku turned around mid-flight, ready to see if he could pick off a few smaller robots when he heard a pain-filled cry.

 

“Help!”

 

Izuku let his hearing guide his eyes and he saw a girl with a brown bob cut pinned under a slap of concrete, and he dived, aiming a screech at the 0P on the way to push it back and give him some extra time to work.

 

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked the girl.

 

“My leg, it’s stuck!” she cried.

 

“Yeah, I got that, I meant are you hurt? If I can get that slab off you, can you run? Or do you need me to carry you?” Izuku retorted.

 

“I think my ankle is sprained,” she answered.

 

“Okay.” Izuku tried to move the concrete slab, but it was just a bit too heavy for him to do anything with it. He sighed, and then said, “Cover your ears.” Once she had her ears covered, he took a breath and screeched at the slab of concrete, breaking it apart and enabling the girl to escape.

 

He picked her up and as he was flying her back to the entrance, he heard Hizashi call out, “AND THAT’S TIME!” All of the remaining robots stopped moving, and Izuku located a field medic, he thought it was Recovery Girl, and flew down with the girl.

 

Izuku felt pretty good about his performance.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Shouta was in the observation room, watching the start of the practical, grinning like a maniac as Izuku took off and streaked through the gates. He was very proud to see his little owl son embracing his quirk in the exam, knowing full well that he wasn’t originally planning to use it at all.

 

“In case anyone was wondering, Screech is mine,” Shouta informed the rest of the teachers.

 

“Midoriya already lives with you,” Nedzu pointed out. “You should give Vlad the chance to have him in his class.”

 

Shouta glared at Vlad, silently daring him to agree with Nedzu.

 

“Uh, no, Aizawa can have him,” he said nervously.

 

Shouta grinned and turned his gaze back to the monitors. “Good answer.”

Notes:

I don't know where I read it, but there's a story in where Hound Dog shoots Izu with a nerf gun when he says something bad about himself, and I just couldn't help but think Hitoshi would do something similar.

Edit: The UA Analyst Kid by RogueVector is the fic I was thinking of. It's really good! Quirkless!Izuku at its best!

And then Keigo popped up and offered to shove the little owl off a billboard. He can fly, so why not?

Chapter 7

Notes:

Hitoshi is a good brother! (❁´◡`❁)

Izuku walked out of the changing room and saw Hitoshi waiting for him. “Hey Izu, how do you think you did?” he asked.

 

“Hey. I think I did okay. I took out a few robots, but I didn’t get as many as I probably could have? I spent a lot of the time helping people avoid getting hurt.” Izuku shrugged. “I mean, I couldn’t just stand there and ignore it when a robot was about to shoot a laser at some kid.”

 

“Well, you probably did a lot better than you think you did. So, I want to take you somewhere to celebrate!” Hitoshi grinned at him. “I found a café I think you might like.”

 

“Oh really? One that I might like?” Izuku raised an eyebrow at his brother. “Why do I have the feeling that it’s one you might like and I’m just the convenient excuse to go?”

 

Hitoshi shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He turned a mischievous grin towards Izuku. “We’re still going, though.”

 

Izuku laughed. “Of course, of course.”

 

It didn’t take long for the two of them to come to the café. After just one look, Izuku almost turned around and walked off, but was stopped by a cackling Hitoshi. “Oh, come on, just for a little bit? Please?”

 

“Ugh, fine! But next time we’re finding some, I don’t know, brainwasher café, or something,” Izuku grumbled as Hitoshi dragged him into the Owl Café.

 

“I doubt a brainwasher café would be very profitable,” Hitoshi laughed. “We’re not all that adorable. But I mean look at these little guys!” Hitoshi was cooing at all the little owls in the café.

 

Izuku had to admit they were cute, and he wasn’t really upset that Hitoshi had brought them here. He had heard about these places before, owl cafés were just like cat cafés, and this one looked pretty cozy. There were perches all over the café, some cubby holes for owls that wanted to hide, some areas were darker than others, and there was no loud music playing, instead there were the sounds of a forest at night.

 

Izuku felt at peace in this café. Not that he really wanted to tell Hitoshi that.

 

As the two brothers found a table and ordered some food and drinks, they were pleased to see an owl had decided to come say hello. A pretty snowy owl swooped onto the perch at their table and then hopped down and wandered to Hitoshi and started grooming his hair.

 

Izuku giggled and pulled out his phone to take a picture. “I’m sending this to Hizashi,” Izuku warned him.

 

“Yeah, yeah, Papa would probably get a kick out of that.” Hitoshi started petting the owl, marveling at how soft the feathers were. “I didn’t think they’d be so soft!”

 

“Yeah,” Izuku replied, “Owl feathers aren’t the same as other birds. We have more soft, fluffy feathers. It’s part of what makes us so quiet in flight.”

 

Izuku dropped a few more owl facts to Hitoshi while they were both enamored by the snowy owl at their table. Eventually, though, Izuku had a question that would change the subject into something deeper, heavier.

 

“Hey, Toshi? Can I ask a question that might be a bit too personal?” Izuku was looking down at his coffee, not even attempting to meet Hitoshi’s eyes. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

 

“Sure?” Hitoshi raised an eyebrow, wondering where this was going.

 

“Um,” Izuku started, and then paused, not sure how he wanted to start this. “Well. Okay, I’m not trying to be mean when I say this, really, I’m not.” He glanced up at Hitoshi, checking to see if he was annoyed or not yet. When he got a small grin, he decided to continue. “How. . . how are you so confident?” he ended in a whisper.

 

Hitoshi’s eyes widened at that. That was not where he thought this was going. “What do you mean?”

 

Izuku squirmed. “Again, I don’t mean to be offensive to you, really, I’m not—”

 

“Izuku, I can tell you’re not trying to be mean, but if you don’t spit it out, I’ll never even know what you’re not being mean about,” Hitoshi interrupted.

 

“R-right.” Izuku took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and then released it. “With a quirk and past like yours, I can imagine a lot of self-esteem issues, I doubt anyone would normally want to talk to you. And even if they didn’t know your quirk, the fear of accidently triggering it would make you want to not talk. I’m wondering how you managed to get over all of that?”

 

Hitoshi was silent. He just ran his hand over the feathers of the owl at his side. Izuku couldn’t tell if he was upset with him, contemplating his answer, or if he had managed to trigger a silent episode. Just as Izuku was about to apologize, Hitoshi spoke.

 

“You’re right. And for a few months after I was adopted, the only person I would speak to was Dad. I wouldn’t even speak to Papa. They both taught me JSL, so I was able to communicate, but I wouldn’t talk. One day, when Dad was out and I thought Papa didn’t have his hearing aids in, I was singing along to the radio.” Hitoshi had a soft smile on his face. “Papa had been testing out a new pair of hearing aids, much smaller, and barely visible. He heard me singing. Pretended he couldn’t, though, didn’t want me to stop.”

 

“I take it you sing really well?”

 

Hitoshi huffed out a laugh. “Papa says it’s because I have a vocal quirk, that’s why my voice is so nice. Even when my voice started changing, it never cracked, squeaked, broke, nothing.”

 

“Lucky, I still squeak sometimes,” Izuku mumbled as Hitoshi smirked.

 

“But Papa heard me,” he continued. “After that day, he started to coerce me into talking more. He bribed me, I’m not ashamed to admit it. He trained me like a dog – he would give me treats whenever I would use my voice.” Hitoshi laughed. “It only lasted a few weeks, though, Dad found out and kicked him out of the house for a few days.”

 

“But Papa is the one who helped me build my confidence. Dad made sure I knew how to use my quirk properly, but my self-esteem issues were all handled by Papa. Oh, and my therapist, too, I guess, but mainly Papa.”

 

Izuku looked thoughtfully back at his coffee.

 

“Why the sudden interest?” Hitoshi asked.

 

“It’s something me and Keigo were talking about the other day. I’ve been having a difficult time with my confidence lately. In the exam today, I wasn’t really all that sure if I was going to be able to use my quirk in front of all those other examinees.” Izuku looked up quickly, worried Toshi was going to squirt him for that, and was relieved to see him nodding to continue. “Acting weak has been a central part of my life for so long, I don’t really know how not to do it. But when I’m Screech, it just comes naturally? Keigo said it was like I’m adopting a Hero Persona, and he’s probably right.”

 

“I have noticed that you’re a lot more confident when you’re fighting than when you’re doing anything else,” Hitoshi pointed out.

 

“Yeah. But that’s another thing – I want to be. . . not a nervous wreck? Like, most of the time? I don’t need to be Screech 24/7, but I’d like to be a functional person? I’m working on it, but it’s hard,” Izuku finished in a whisper. “That’s why I asked. From what I know about you, your quirk, and your past, I figured you had these same problems at one point.”

 

“You should definitely take this to Papa. If anyone can help you with building up your confidence, it’d be him.”

 

“He was so cool today,” Izuku said, the stars back in his eyes. “I had almost forgotten just how awesome Present Mic is! After these past few weeks living with Hizashi, seeing Present Mic, I swear he’s a totally different person!”

 

~*~*~*~

 

“Hizashi?” Izuku asked after dinner that night. He’d been thinking about the conversations he’d had with both Keigo and with Hitoshi all day, and he had decided that Hitoshi was right. He’d have to bring his problem up with Hizashi.

 

“Yeah? What’s up?” Hizashi said while doing dishes, with Izuku helping.

 

“Well, here’s the thing,” Izuku hesitated, not quite sure how to ask this. “Today, seeing you on the stage not as Hizashi, but as Present Mic, that was really cool. I couldn’t help but thinking ‘that’s what a hero persona is supposed to be,’ because I didn’t see Hizashi on stage, I only saw Present Mic.”

 

“Well thanks, Little Listener, I have spent a lot of years perfecting that act. I would hope I’ve got it down fairly well by now!” Hizashi grinned, a bit unsure where Izuku was going with this, but willing to just roll with it.

 

“Well, the other day, Keigo was talking to me about something, and it kind of helped me today? I was really nervous about using my quirk at the exam today,” Izuku started. He could see Hizashi nodding along, knowing how Izuku had felt. “I have a lot of issues with my confidence that I’m trying to work on, and Keigo said something about how I was already half-way to creating a hero persona with my Screech act, and that if I went in as Screech, I should be okay.”

 

“Well, I’ve never met you as Screech, so I can’t say anything about that, but from what I’ve heard from Shou, and what I saw of the exam today, you’re a very competent fighter! You probably do have a good hero persona started there!” Hizashi agreed.

 

“And then earlier today, me and Toshi were in a café, and I was asking him about how he’s so confident, despite everything he’s been through, and he said most of it was thanks to you.” Izuku paused and looked up at Hizashi.

 

“I guess what I’m trying to ask is, can you help me with that too? I think my Screech persona might be decent, but my normal day-to-day confidence needs some serious work,” he ended in a whisper.

 

Hizashi pulled Izuku into a tight hug. “Sure thing, kiddo. You’re a bit older than Toshi was, so don’t expect instant results, but I’m sure we can definitely get you a bit more confident in yourself before high school starts! We have until April, after all!”

 

“Thanks!”

 

~*~*~*~

 

February and March passed quickly, and while Izuku wasn’t yet at his brother’s level of confidence, he was a lot further than he had been. His progress had made huge leaps and bounds, and he had felt he was ready for the first of high school.

 

Right up until he looked at the front gates.

 

“Nope, I can’t do this. I’m out.” Izuku turned and started walking away, but a laughing Hitoshi grabbed him around the waist and hefted him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and just started walking into the building.

 

“You’re going to do fine, Izu,” he said with a smirk. “And I bet you’ll even make a friend or two. Maybe even three!”

 

“You know everyone is staring at us, right?” Izuku pointed out, hoping that would make Toshi put him down.

 

“Well, you shouldn’t have tried to run,” Hitoshi shrugged with the shoulder Izuku wasn’t on. “It’s not like this is the first time you’ve been to UA, so really, I don’t see the issue.”

 

“I haven’t been to a new school with new classmates since I first started primary school!!” Izuku complained. “Aldera district had all the same kids!”

 

“About time you met new people, then.” They had reached the door to the class. “If I put you down, will you walk into the class on your own, or will you attempt to run again?” he teased and set Izuku down.

 

Izuku could hear Bakugou in the class. He wanted to run. He really wanted to run. He didn’t want to see Bakugou again. Gods, why did he have to be in 1-A again? Wasn’t there another class, 1-B? He should have been put in that class, or even the General Education class, he doesn’t deserve to be in the same-

 

“Eek!” He felt the cold splash of water from Hitoshi’s squirt gun.

 

“If you’re going to mumble, make sure it’s positive, Izu. So now, repeat what you said, but positively.” Hitoshi’s glare threatened to turn the squirt gun on him again.

 

Izuku gulped nervously. “I deserve to be here,” he said hesitantly.

 

“Damn right you do. What scores did you get on the exam?”

 

“I got first place on the entrance exam, a 97% on the written, and 102 points on the practical,” Izuku said, still quiet, but not a whisper anymore.

 

“Don’t you dare forget that. Now, continue.”

 

 “I don’t really remember what else I said.” He glanced at the door again. “I can hear one of the kids from my old school in there, and. Well.”

 

“He was one of your bullies, wasn’t he?” At Izuku’s hesitant nod, Hitoshi continued. “If he messes with you, I’ll have him walk into oncoming traffic. Don’t worry about it.” Hitoshi grinned his dad’s evil grin. “Let’s go.”

Notes:

I have no idea where that scene with Hitoshi at the Owl Café came from. I am so glad it did come, though, since I was having a heck of a time with the scene between Hizashi and Izuku.

Chapter 8

Notes:

I'm not too sure how I feel about this one. I mean, I've certainly written worse?

Izuku opened the door to Class 1-A, and there, at the far end of the classroom, was Bakugou. It hadn’t been all that long since he had last seen Bakugou, after all there was only about ten days separating third year of middle school and first year of high school.

 

But those ten days had been amazing. Ten days where he hadn’t had to listen to Bakugou screaming at him about his “sudden” quirk, demanding where this quirk came from, why he’d never shown it before if he’d really had it for years. Ten days where he hadn’t been called useless.

 

Ten days where the voice in the back of his head wasn’t telling him he would be better off dead.

 

Hitoshi mush have realized that Izuku was having a tough time, because he put his hand on Izuku’s shoulder and guided him into the classroom, and towards where the seating chart was on the podium.

 

“Nope, you’re switching seats with me,” Hitoshi said, seeing that Izuku’s seat was directly behind Bakugou Katsuki, the blonde kid who was so loud he was heard from outside. Hitoshi’s seat was behind Izuku’s, with Yaoyorozu Momo behind him. “Come on.”

 

The two approached their desks and the Blue haired boy Izuku remembered from the entrance exam, the one who had interrupted Present Mic’s explanation, and was currently berating Bakugou for putting his feet on the desk, turned to them. “Hello! My name is Iida Tenya! It is nice to meet you!”

 

Izuku eeped but was saved by Hitoshi’s lazy drawl. “Yeah, I’m Shinsou Hitoshi, and the nervous one is Midoriya Izuku.” Before Izuku had a chance to try to introduce himself, Bakugou just had to stand up.

 

“DEKU! What the fuck are you doing here? I told you not to show your face here!” he screamed.

 

“Oh,” Hitoshi drawled. “I don’t think I like you much.”

 

“Hitoshi!” Izuku hissed in warning.

 

“What? It’s obvious he’s a bully by the name calling alone.” He looked back at Bakugou. “My brother’s name isn’t Deku. There’s a lot of names I’ll allow someone to call him, but I will not allow anyone to call him useless. Understood?”

 

“Deku doesn’t have a brother!” Bakugou snarled at Hitoshi.

 

“He does now,” came Hitoshi’s lazy reply.

 

“Hitoshi, there’s no need to play nice with fools like him,” came a quiet voice.

 

Hitoshi glanced at the speaker. “Oh, hey Shouto. Glad to see we’re in the same class.” While still facing away from Bakugou, Hitoshi whispered to Izuku, “Go to your seat, me and Shouto will distract him until Dad gets here.”

 

Izuku quickly followed his brother’s advice, shooting them both a grateful look as the red- and white-haired boy got closer and stood in between him and Bakugou.

 

In the months Izuku had been living with Shouta, Hizashi, and Hitoshi, he’d met only one of Hitoshi’s friends – Todoroki Shoto. Since Hitoshi was adopted by a pair of Pro Heroes, he was considered a Legacy Child, and as such was allowed places where typically only Pro Heroes and their kids were allowed.

 

Like the exclusive grocery store Hizashi liked to go for his throat lozenges, and Shouta’s favorite Jelly Pouches. That was also the place he had met Shouto and his sister Fuyumi. The two had exchanged numbers and had been friends ever since – almost four years now. Shouto had also met Izuku and knew some of his habits by now and could see that the blonde kid was upsetting him.

 

Izuku would normally be nervous about allowing anyone to stand in Bakugou’s way, but he knew how strong Hitoshi was, and from what he’d told Izuku, Shouto was even stronger. There was no need to worry about those two.

 

Before they could really start ignoring Bakugou, he heard Shouta arrive at the door and looked up. He was the only one to do so, but he could also tell that both Shouto and Hitoshi had noticed him as well.

 

Izuku looked around at the class, wondering why no one else had noticed their teacher had arrived, and was about to say something when he heard Shouta’s whispered, “Don’t. I’m timing them.”

 

Izuku nodded and sat back in his seat and just watched as Bakugou got more and more upset with Hitoshi and Shouto being in his way of assaulting Izuku, and the rest of the class being oblivious to Shouta’s arrival.

 

Five minutes after the bell had rung, Shouta finally made a noise and two of the students at the front of the class shrieked, catching the attention of the rest of the class. “With three exceptions, it took five minutes and thirty-seven seconds for you lot to notice me.” Shouta pulled out a jelly pouch and slurped it up. “Unacceptable. I expect better from you tomorrow.”

 

Shouta stood up and shed his yellow sleeping bag. “My name is Aizawa Shouta, and I’ll be your homeroom teacher for the next three years. Assuming you last the next three years.” He pulled out gym uniforms from behind the podium. “Put these on and meet me at the PE field.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Hitoshi, Izuku, and Shouto were the first three to the field, knowing full well how much Shouta would berate them if they took too long to get changed. The rest of the class, however, didn’t know anything about their new teacher.

 

Shouta gave the class his best disappointed glare. “It took you almost fifteen minutes to get here. That is unacceptable. From today on, you will be here within five minutes.”

  

"Now, on to the reason we’re out here. You kids have been doing these since junior high, right? Physical fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your quirks. The country still uses averages taken from results of students not using their quirks. It's not rational, especially for heroes in training. Midoriya, you got first place on the entrance exam.” Shouta looked at the nervous Izuku. “In middle school, what was your score for a ball toss?”

 

“Um, maybe 21 meters?” Izuku was proud of himself for not stuttering.

 

“Then try doing it with your Quirk. You can do whatever you want so long as you stay in the circle. Give it all you've got.” Izuku was sure only Hitoshi could tell that Shouta’s expression was encouraging, everyone else would just see a blank stare. Izuku had gotten good at reading the Underground Pro.

 

Izuku caught the ball Shouta threw at him and got into the circle. “Okay, anything goes.” Izuku took a deep breath, but then seemed to catch himself and looked back at the students. “Um, you might want to cover your ears?”

 

Once he saw that they had, he gave them a small smile and then turned back to the field and took his deep breath again, before lightly tossing the ball and unleashing the most powerful screech he felt was safe at the ball, blasting it across the field.

 

Shouta looked at his reader and raised an eyebrow. A moment later the score 874.2 meters showed up, and Shouta showed it to the class. “Know your maximum first. That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero.”

 

"So manly!" Kirishima exclaimed while punching his fists together. "I'm getting pumped up!"

 

"Awesome! This looks like fun!" Izuku had to turn away when he heard that comment from Ashido, as he knew he was going to start snickering if he so much as looked at either Shouta or Hitoshi. And sure enough, when Shouta grinned and put an end to the excitement, he heard Hitoshi snicker.

 

"It looks fun you say? So… You all were planning to spend your three years here having a good time while making friends? What happened to being a hero?" Shouta’s tone and expression made the entire group fall silent. "All right then, new rule. Whoever gets the lowest score,” Shouta paused for the dramatic effect, “will be instantly expelled."

 

"What!? But that's not fair!" Uraraka complained, but that was instantly shut down by Shouta while Izuku did his best to ignore Hitoshi laughing.

 

"Unfair? Then what about natural disasters? Massive accidents? Or how about villain attacks?" Shouta’s creepy grin was intensified as he lifted his hair out of his face. "All kinds of unfairness are hurled at heroes on the daily, and it's our job to turn that unfairness around. If you were expecting to have a fun filled, normal high school experience, then you're sorely mistaken. For the next three years of your life in this school, UA is going to be throwing one hardship after another at you. ‘Plus Ultra’ and all that stuff."

 

The first real test after that demonstration was the 50-meter dash. Izuku knew he was going to do pretty well at that one – he might not be as fast as Keigo, but he was still a very fast bird!

 

He got into the ready position next to Iida and spread his wings. As soon as the signal was given, he beat his wings and leapt. “2.89 seconds,” chirped the reader, Iida getting 3.04 seconds. Izuku grinned as he walked back to Hitoshi.

 

“Beating a kid with literal engines in his legs, not bad. I just hope I can crack the 5 second mark this time, I’m usually around 6,” Hitoshi said.

 

When it was his turn, Hitoshi was up against Uraraka, who was using her quirk to remove the gravity on her clothes. The two got into position, and at the signal Hitoshi darted forward. “5.92 seconds.”

 

“YES!” Hitoshi cheered. “Finally broke out of the 6 second range!” He trotted over to Izuku, purposely not looking at his dad. He knew he was going to see a proud grin on his face if he were to look.

 

The next test was the grip strength test. In this one, Hitoshi decided to use his quirk. With a little smirk and a gamble, he spoke. “Hey Izu?”

 

‘Yeah-“ Izuku’s mind went blank. This wasn’t the first time, he’d been under Hitoshi’s quirk before, he had asked to experience it the first time they had a training session together so he knew exactly what was happening and wasn’t surprised at all when Hitoshi ordered him to grip the hand-held device. He was however surprised when he got a score of 572kg.

 

Releasing Izuku from his control and showing Shouta, who wrote the score down for both boys, Hitoshi grinned at Izuku. “I read somewhere that Owls have a grip that’s like 10x greater than a human’s, and I wanted to test it out. I normally have around the mid-50’s as my score.”

 

After the grip test was the standing long jump, and Izuku looked over at Shouta and asked, “Um, since I can fly, is this one really necessary? I mean, the score is either ‘cleared sandbox’ or ‘didn’t clear sandbox’ right?”

 

Shouta gave him a deadpan look, sighed, and then said, “Yeah, you can skip this one. Shinsou, you take his place.”

 

“Sure thing. Hey Izu?” Hitoshi raised an eyebrow in challenge.

 

Izuku huffed out a little laugh. “Sure,” he replied, getting drawn into his brother’s quirk again.

 

“Take this test for me, would you?”

 

Izuku got into the starting position for the test and spread his wings. With a single beat of his wings Izuku easily cleared the sandbox and glided back over to Hitoshi.

 

“Sensei!” Iida shouted with an arm chop. “He didn’t take the test!”

 

“You sure about that?” Shouta challenged.

 

“Yes!” Iida confirmed. “Shinsou never even got near the sandbox!”

 

“Iida, this is a quirk assessment test, not a physical assessment test. Shinsou used his quirk. I am finding the baseline for my student’s quirks.” Shouta raised an eyebrow at Iida. “And since you’re so concerned about this test, you can take your turn next.”

 

Iida didn’t clear the sandbox, and he fell on his butt, getting some sand into his pipes as he got up.

 

The repeated side steps were annoying for everyone, as were the sit-ups and the seated toe-touch – where Shinsou tied with Ashido, both being able to fully fold themselves in half. For the long-distance run, Izuku kept up a lazy flight while keeping up with Yaoyorozu on her bicycle.

 

When it came time for the rest of the class to do their ball throw, Izuku was sure Hitoshi was going to use him again, but this time he called for someone else. “Uraraka, can you do me a solid?”

 

“Uh, s-“ her eyes went blank.

 

“Use your quirk on this ball,” cane the order.

 

A score of ‘infinity’ later, Hitoshi was leaning against his brother. “Well, that was the last test. I know I didn’t get first place, but I think I cracked the top 5. What about you?”

 

“Well,” Izuku hesitated. He knew Hitoshi didn’t have his squirt gun on him, but as much as he wanted to say he didn’t do too well, he knows he did better than Hitoshi did. “Maybe also top 5?”

 

“Nope, try again,” Hitoshi said as he pinched Izuku’s shoulder lightly.

 

“Fine. Top 4.”

 

Hitoshi glared at him but decided to accept the answer. It was likely the best he was going to get right now.

 

After everyone’s scores were totaled up, Shouta stepped in front of the class. “I’m not going to bother giving out the scores individually.” The scores showed up in a hologram. Izuku had landed the top score, just barely beating out Yaoyorozu Momo in second, and Shouto in third. Hitoshi was fourth, and Bakugou was fifth.

 

Izuku was blinking at the score, so stunned he didn’t hear anything at all afterwards, only coming back to himself when Hitoshi lightly shoved him. “Come on, let’s go get changed back quickly, I want to see if dad will let me drag him to that owl café this time.”

Notes:

I recycled parts of the Assessment Test from Datastream. Like, I copy/pasted the start of the scene and then altered it to fit. I couldn't be bothered to write that part again.

Also! I have (accidently) decided on the ships for this story. The first might be kind of obvious, ShinTodo. The second? Hehehehehehehehe. I kinda want to see your guesses? It won't happen for a WHILE, so you won't get the gratification of knowing if you're right or not. I'm not tagging it until it happens, either.

〈(⁎￫‿ฺ￩)ノ･:*☆

Chapter 9

Notes:

I LIVE!! This fic is not, nor will it ever be, abandoned!

I'm so sorry this took so long to come out! I was sick as heck for a while, and then I was working on Datastream.

“I still can’t believe I got first place in the assessment test!” Izuku exclaimed. “I mean, yeah, I know you keep saying I’m strong, but I don’t think I ever really believed it?”

 

Keigo and Izuku were flying around aimlessly, shortly after the sun had set. Keigo had wanted to know all about Izuku’s first day of school, and Izuku had wanted to go flying. They had spent an hour just racing each other, doing all sorts of complicated aerial maneuvers, but now they were simply soaring, riding a breeze, not really going anywhere.

 

“Listen, owlet, you are going to have to get this through your thick skull someday – you are amazing!” Keigo sent one of his feathers to ruffle Izuku’s hair.

 

“Hey,” Izuku complained lightheartedly as he swiped at the feather. They were a fair distance apart, close enough for their raptor hearing to make conversation easy, but far enough so they couldn’t collide in mid-air. “There are so many talented students in my class,” Izuku continued. “There’s this one girl who has super hearing! Like, I think her quirk was called Earphone Jack? She has little jacks on the ends of her earlobes, and she can plug them into things, and she can even amplify her heartbeat into a massive soundwave!”

 

“That does sound cool. You said super hearing, right? That’d be awesome for recon! Not enough heroes out there with sensory amplification quirks, recon is starting to struggle.”

 

“There are a few in my class alone who would be great at recon! There’s the girl with the earphone jacks, but there’s also an invisible girl, a boy with six arms and he can replace the hands with other body parts, like extra eyes, ears, mouths, probably even noses. Another boy can talk to animals! Imagine sending in mice or birds to gather intelligence.” Izuku did a quick barrel roll and got a bit closer to Keigo.

 

“My classmates really are awesome,” Izuku started. “I was thinking, for a while, that I couldn’t compare to them. After a while, though, and before Toshi even realized how I was feeling, I started to realize I was doing okay as well. I mean,” Izuku paused for a moment, thinking, and then said, “Iida has engines in his legs. He was able to finish the 50-meter dash in just over 3 seconds.” Keigo whistled, impressed. “I beat his time.”

 

“Holy crap, owlet! You been holding out on me? That’s amazing!” Keigo exclaimed.

 

“We had an endurance run, and I tied with Yarorozu, she was able to create a bicycle, so she wasn’t using much energy to do the run, and well, Owls are really good gliders, so I wasn’t using much energy either. I got a slightly higher score than Shoji on the grip test, and he’s got six arms! The only reason I didn’t get first place on the ball throw, I got 874.2 meters, was because Uraraka has a Zero Gravity quirk and threw her ball into the stratosphere.”

 

“We keep telling you, baby bird. Will you start listening to us now?”

 

“Maybe,” he muttered. “Maybe you guys have a point.” Izuku took a deep breath and started to turn back in the direction of where he lived with his new family. “Keigo?”

 

“Yeah, little chick?”

 

“When do you think I can get a special license to go flying on my own?”

 

Keigo squawked in offence. “You don’t like flying with me anymore?!”

 

Izuku laughed, “No, it’s not like that, you dumb pigeon! It’s just, you’re not available every night, and Zashi has been trying to find a ‘self-care’ thing that helps me to relax. You know, like, a bubble bath, or meditation, or essential oils, or video games, or something.”

 

“Uh, you’re a bird, the answer is kind of obvious, yeah? Man, is that hair of his to compensate for something?” Keigo winced as Izuku shot the lightest screech possible at him, more of the equivalent of a smack upside the head. “Okay, okay, no teasing your dad, got it.”

 

“Zashi is one of the best ever, he’s my second favorite hero, and talking about him like that will drop you down from my number three to number. . . uh. . . I don’t know, but way lower than three,” Izuku pouted.

 

“Le gasp! My baby bird bro! I’m only number three to you?! But we’re both birbs!” Keigo darted in close to Izuku and grabbed him in a hug, causing them both to start dropping out of the sky.

 

Izuku gust gave him a deadpan look. “Keigo, if we go splat, I’m going to torment you in the next life.”

 

Keigo laughed and let him go, both birds steadying their flight again.

 

“And no, you are not, nor have you ever been my favorite. That’s always been Shouta.” Izuku glanced back to Keigo, contemplating if he wanted to say this next part or not, then decided why not? “I was always told to act quirkless. I still wanted to be a hero, but I thought I had to be a quirkless one. Eraserhead fights quirkless, basically. So, I wanted to be like him. I started following him, just watching him work, long before you even made your debut. Actually, the only reason you’re my number three is because you’re a birb like me.”

 

“Okay, I get why Eraser’s your number one, but why am I not number two?” Keigo pouted. “Who’s your number two if not me?”

 

“Present Mic, duh.”

 

“Ugh, why him?? He’s not a birb! I don’t care how much that hair of his makes him look like a cockatoo, he’s not one!”

 

“No, but he’s got his Voice. And his radio station. He does a lot of shows about Quirk Discrimination.” Izuku gives Keigo a meaningful side eye. “He also gives better hugs than you do.”

 

“He does NOT!” Keigo said indignantly. “My hugs are big and comfy, and I also wrap you in my wings! I give the best hugs! Can he hug you in a free fall? I don’t think so!” Keigo shot forwards to hug Izuku again, but Izuku laughed, and another game of aerial tag began.

 

~*~*~*~

 

The next day was a normal school day. They started with Homeroom and then quickly moved on to other academic classes. Izuku was impressed to see that his teachers were all as competent as Hizashi—as Mic-sensei was.

 

Izuku had to constantly remind himself that he was Mic-sensei, not Hizashi, while at school. He thought it would be simple to differentiate the two, but a lot of his confidence lessons with Zashi were with him in his Hero outfit, so Izuku had started being able to see the bits of Hizashi that peeked out.

 

But all of his teachers were just as good as Mic-sensei, and none of them treated him like a failure!

 

They don’t know you’re a waste of space.

 

Izuku winced slightly. It had been a while since he last heard the voice so clearly. Great.

 

You’ll always be useless, why would you ever think to be rid of me?

 

Maybe he’ll try to call up his therapist after school. His next appointment isn’t until Thursday, but maybe a quick call would help? Or he can always just talk to Toshi while they wait for Shouta and Zashi to finish their days.

 

Don’t be stupid, he would rather spend time with his boyfriend. You really want to deprive him of that?

 

No, Izuku doesn’t want to get in the way of that.

 

Izuku realized he was starting to hunch into himself and actively sat back up. Hizashi has said that he should pay attention to his body language, when he portrays himself as weak and pathetic, he makes himself feel that way. Sitting up straight, shoulders back, a confident position, that can help to quiet the little voice in the back of his head.

 

And it did. Izuku let out a small smile, a smile that got bigger when he noticed that Mic-sensei had noticed and was beaming at him with pride.

 

He’ll still call his therapist later today, but maybe he’ll try to talk to Toshi if his therapist doesn’t have time to chat.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Battle trials. That’s stupid. But at least he’ll get to wear his Hero Costume. Shouta helped him design it.

 

Opening his case, Izuku grinned at the costume that was an upgraded version of his old vigilante outfit. He had a dark grey long sleeved armored shirt, with a black and grey flight jacket, similar to Keigo’s, but a tighter fit. He had a visor like Keigo’s, since it was highly practical for a bird, but unlike Keigo’s his had a setting to dim or lighten to protect his light-sensitive eyes. Izuku also had fingerless gloves that had reinforced knuckles, and on his belt was a collapsible bo staff. His pants were black and tucked into his dark grey, steel-toed combat boots.

 

The only weapon Izuku had on him was the staff, but with his talons, gloves, and screech, Izuku wasn’t sure he needed more. And if he did, well, Shouta said he could always add more to the costume.

 

He walked out to join the rest of the class and listen to All Might introduce the activity.

 

Toshi nudged Izuku, “Is he actually reading from a script?” he whispered.

 

Izuku laughed lightly. “Yeah, looks like it.”

 

Shouto hummed softly. “He just said he’s drawing partners by lots. Is that laziness, or is he doing it for the legitimate reasons of heroes sometimes needing to pair up with whoever is available?”

 

“You’re so pretty, Shou,” Hitoshi teased, causing Izuku to giggle. That had been one of Izuku’s favorite insults Shouta would say to Zashi, and one that Hitoshi picked up. It meant along the lines of “it’s okay you’re dumb, you’re still pretty” and they only ever said it in jest. Everyone knew Shouto and Hizashi were extremely smart.

 

“I think he didn’t bother to read anyone’s files,” Izuku said quietly, “and doesn’t know anyone’s names. This is his way of acting as if he knows what he’s doing.”

 

Hitoshi nodded. “Hopefully we don’t get paired up with anyone too bad.”

 

“Everyone is really cool, though,” Izuku said. “I bet any of them would be a good person to be teamed up with. Well,” he paused for a second. “Anyone except Bakugou.”

 

When the names were picked, Izuku was a little bummed to see he was paired up with Uraraka. Well, okay, while he would rather be paired with either Hitoshi or Shouto, she wouldn’t be a bad match. So it’ll be fine.

 

He was absently paying attention to the other pairs and felt a little bad for Iida when he was paired with Bakugou. That was going to be a rough match. He felt bad for which ever team ended up going against them. Bakugou won’t listen to Iida, he already thinks he’s a stuck-up idiot, so no matter what team they’re up against, Iida’s essentially going to be “in the way” of Bakugou.

 

Oh, wonderful, so his team is going up against Bakugou’s team. Great. Bakugou’s going to kill him.

 

At least you already know you’re going to die. He probably won’t go after Uraraka. Just. You.

 

As Izuku walked over to his partner he decided that this was probably one of those times he could, or rather should, be Screech. He’s got three years of combat experience, he should be good. Screech is strong – no, wait, Keigo said not to talk about Screech as a separate person, he is Screech.

 

“Uraraka,” Izuku walked up to his partner.

 

“Midoriya! Let’s do out best!” she smiled brightly.

 

Izuku gave her a small smile back. “When we get started, Bakugou is going to come straight at me. He’s going to expect us to walk in the front door.”

 

“Okay, well, if we’re going to go in the front door, should we split up?”

 

Izuku let loose the Cheshire grin he was starting to pick up from Shouta. “Who said we’re going to go in from the front door?”

Notes:

BTW, I want to thank everyone for not constantly badgering me to update! While I do love this story, it is not my main fic. I know I have that in my end notes, but I still feel the need to thank you for not being demanding with updates.

Chapter 10

Notes:

Battle trials! Yay!

“Okay, so if we’re not going in the front door, how are we going to do this?” Uraraka asked with her head tilted.

 

“Oh, that’s easy,” Izuku countered. “From the roof. See,” he pointed to the building schematics, “there’s roof access. It’ll be simple to get in through there.”

 

“I can’t really make myself weightless long enough to scale a building, though,” Uraraka tried to counter.

 

“Oh, I don’t need you to. I can carry you up there.” Izuku stretched his wings. “Unless you weigh over 200 kilos, I can get you to the roof. I can’t take you on a super long flight or anything, but a quick hop up to the roof is easy.”

 

“I’m only about 50,” Uraraka said.

 

“Plenty light enough for a hop to the roof,” Izuku confirmed. “As soon as the match starts, I’m going to carry you to the roof. From there, we’ll enter from the roof access. I’ll probably be able to hear where Iida and Bakugou are once we get in the building.”

 

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

 

Izuku had to think for a moment. “If we somehow managed to run into Bakugou, as unlikely as it is, I’ll have to be the one to fight, Bakugou will ignore you. But if we don’t run into him, I’ll distract Iida and you grab the bomb. Sound good?”

 

“Yes! Let’s do this!”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Everything went according to plan. They entered from the roof access, Iida was one floor below them, monologuing to himself, and Izuku could hear Bakugou stomping around on the first floor, screaming for Izuku to come out and fight him.

 

Uraraka and Izuku silently crept to the room Iida was in with the bomb and with a shared look, Uraraka ran to the bomb as Izuku intercepted Iida’s mad dash to stop her. Seconds later, All Might’s voice called out that the Hero Team won.

 

But of course, no interaction with Bakugou could ever go that smoothly.

 

As they were on their way down the stairs, they ran into Bakugou who had stomped his way up. “Deku, how the fuck did you get past me?!”

 

“I flew,” Izuku answered simply. “With my wings,” he added as he spread them a little.

 

“Useless freak, that’s cheating! You were supposed to enter from the front door!” he screamed.

 

“The rules simply stated the Hero Team needed to enter the building,” Iida tried to reason. “The rules never stated how they had to enter.”

 

As Bakugou growled at them, Uraraka said, “Let’s head back! I want to see how the other teams fight!”

 

They all started heading down the stairs, Iida and Uraraka in the lead chatting happily, with Izuku close behind them. “Don’t fucking ignore me!” Bakugou hissed.

 

Looking over his shoulder, turning his head around a full 180 degrees like an owl would, Izuku deadpanned, “We’re not ignoring you, we’re done with the exercise.”

 

“Don’t you talk to me like that, you freak!” Bakugou shouted and ran up to Izuku with both hands primed up for explosions.

 

Izuku dodged out of the way and ducked out of the stairwell and into the second floor. “Bakugou, what are you doing? The match is over!” he asked the insane teen.

 

“The match is over when you’re dead, Deku!” he retorted.

 

Izuku stopped running and turned to Bakugou. “Don’t call me Deku! If you’re not going to call me by my name, then call me Screech, but NOT Deku!”

 

Bakugou’s response was his signature right-hook, that Izuku grabbed and threw over his shoulder, while both Uraraka and Iida called for Bakugou to stop attacking. Bakugou got up and went to attack Izuku again, and when it became clear that Bakugou wasn’t going to stop, Izuku pulled out his staff, and with a sigh of resignation, got into a defensive stance.

 

“Bakugou, you will stop this immediately!” All Might’s voice called out over the intercoms, which Bakugou promptly ignored. “If you continue this you will be given detention!”

 

Bakugou continued to ignore All Might and pressed his attacks on Izuku, who had managed to dodge and block all of the explosions so far, much to Bakugou’s mounting frustration.

 

“I can do this all day, Bakugou,” Izuku said. “But you really should stop. You’re already about to get detention.”

 

Bakugou growled and backed up a few steps. “You know how my quirk works, right, Deku? Well, if these gauntlets were designed how I wanted them to be, they’ve been collecting my sweat for a good while now.” Bakugou leveled a twisted smirk at Izuku. “Let’s see you handle this!”

 

They could hear All Might yelling at Bakugou to stop, but that didn’t even make Bakugou slow down in pulling the pin on his gauntlets.

 

Izuku only had a few seconds to think, and he realized that both Iida and Uraraka were behind him, and if he dodged, then they would be the ones to take the hit. Izuku didn’t have much of a choice.

 

He took a deep breath and let loose a screech slightly more powerful than the one from the Quirk Assessment.

 

His thinking proved to be accurate, and his screech cancelled out the explosion, keeping himself and his two classmates behind him safe from the huge explosion, however he had miscalculated a little and had put too much force into the screech. Bakugou had been blasted back, thrown into and through two walls, including the outer wall of the building.

 

Izuku darted forward, hoping that he hadn’t hurt Bakugou too badly, and when he looked out the wall to the ground below, he saw the explosive teen starting to shakily stand. Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t killed his former friend.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Hitoshi had been watching along with the rest of the class, and when it became apparent that the situation was not going to be resolved quickly or easily by All Might, Hitoshi had sent his dad a text that there was a problem at the training grounds. His dad has replied that he was on his way.

 

So now Hitoshi was watching with the class as Bakugou attacked Izuku, and as Izuku easily held his own. Hitoshi was extremely impressed, as those were all moves he had learned from Dad over the past few months, and his brother was killing it!

 

He moved like that staff was an extension of his own body, and not just a big stick he had been handed three months ago and wished the best of luck. As he was watching, Hitoshi realized something – he wasn’t watching Midoriya Izuku fighting. He wasn’t watching the boy he sparred with constantly, his moves were more fluid, more precise. The boy on the screen was not his brother.

 

That was the experienced vigilante Screech.

 

This is what Izuku meant when he said that Screech was a different person, when he said he was confident as Screech.

 

Screech was using moves he’d never seen his brother use in any of their previous sparring matches, he was fighting in a way that, while based on moves Dad had taught, were completely new, as if tailored to this fight with Bakugou.

 

His wings constantly fluttered, adding speed to his movements, and distracting his opponent, while his staff kept the attacks away from himself. And then as he watched, Bakugou stepped back, said something, and Izuku’s face paled. Whatever was about to happen next, it was going to be big.

 

Bakugou pulled the pin on his gauntlet, and Izuku let loose a massive screech, one so loud that everyone in the observation room could hear it, even though the cameras didn’t have audio. They watched as Bakugou’s explosion was stopped, and as the force of the soundwave threw him into and through the walls and outside the building.

 

“Holy shit,” Kaminari whispered, breaking Hitoshi out of his stupor.

 

“Midoriya is so manly!” Kirishima exclaimed, “But man, Bakugou, that was not cool.”

 

As the rest of the class talked amongst themselves, and All Might ran out to see what he could salvage of the situation, while Hitoshi saw his dad arrive at the scene as well. Shouto leaned into Hitoshi, “I don’t think you guys ever told me Izuku was Screech.”

 

Hitoshi raised an eyebrow at Shouto. “You know who Screech is?”

 

Shouto nodded. “Father has been trying to capture him for the better part of two years. I have to hear him complain about him nearly every week.”

 

“Dad has been talking about him for the past three years, me and Pops already felt like we knew him before we ever met.” Hitoshi laid his head against Shouto’s shoulder. “I’ve never seen him in action, though.”

 

“I thought you spar with him every few days?” Shouto asked, leaning his head against Hitoshi’s.

 

“I spar with Midoriya Izuku. That fight just now? That wasn’t my brother. That was Screech.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Shouta was both pissed off and impressed. Pissed off because he had seen the video footage, and he knew that Bakugou attacked without provocation, and since his version of the footage had audio, he heard Izuku and his other classmates try to de-escalate the situation.

 

Impressed because holy shit Izuku had been holding back in his sparring matches!

 

Shouta had never seen Screech in action – he had heard his screeches before, seen the aftermath of his fights, watched him fly away, but never had he seen him in action. He had assumed that the training matches with Izuku and Hitoshi was the extent of what the boy could do, but no. He was so much more than he had ever seen from him.

 

But back to what he was doing. Shouta clicked his pen and started filling out Bakugou’s expulsion papers. He refused to have a student in his class who attacked a classmate after an exercise was completed just because he was being ignored.

 

“Hey Dad,” Hitoshi said as he walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water. “Is that the footage of Izu’s match?”

 

“No. It’s the footage of the attack after the match.”

 

“Screech is a beast, huh? I thought I knew what Izuku could do, but I was wrong.” Hitoshi downed half the glass. “We gotta find a way to get him to do that in practice matches.”

 

Shouta nodded. “Maybe without the actual screeching, though.”

 

“Nah, we got the noise cancelling headphones, we’ll be fine,” Hitoshi joked.

 

With a raised eyebrow Shouta joked, “Oh, yeah, noise cancelling headphones will totally stop a soundwave strong enough to throw someone out a few walls.”

 

Hitoshi rubbed the back of his neck. “Ah, yeah, guess I was thinking of Papa’s quirk there for a second.”

 

“He’s at least as powerful as Zashi is,” Shouta stated. “Not as versatile, but that’s only a part of his quirk, not the main thing.”

 

Hitoshi finished his glass of water and went to wash his glass. “After watching that one-sided beatdown, I can’t believe I ever managed to beat him.”

 

“I told you so,” came a whisper from just outside the kitchen.

 

“Shit, Zuku, I’m gonna put a bell on you!” Hitoshi exclaimed, glad he had already put up his glass – he would have dropped it.

 

Izuku huffed out a little laugh, and walked up to Shouta and leaned against him. “Can I watch it?”

 

“You were in it, why do you need to watch it?” Shouta asked.

 

Izuku shrugged. “I’ve never seen myself fight before. And I know I slipped into my Screech persona, I want to give Keigo a play-by-play next time I go flying with him.”

 

“I suppose you can see the fight. But it’d probably be easier to just play this for Keigo when he comes over next time.” Shouta reached up and scratched Izuku’s head, causing him to chirp softly and nuzzle his head closer to Shouta’s hand.

 

Shouta replayed the video for his new son.

 

“Woah,” Izuku whispered. “I didn’t know I was that good.”

 

“You could probably beat Shouto in a match, if you went all out like that.” Hitoshi had walked up to Izuku and had his arm resting on his shoulder. “By the way, Shou knows you’re Screech. Apparently Endeavor has been trying to catch you for about two years?”

 

“Yeah, he’s loud as fuck and easy to avoid,” Izuku muttered absently. “I almost wish I was a real bird sometimes so I could shit on him whenever he’s trying to find me.”

Notes:

As I finish this chapter up, I realize I have been awake for way too long, and only had about 4 hours of light dozing (not real sleep) last night, so if this isn't awesome, tough. It's a struggle keeping my eyes open and I was supposed to have this completed yesterday.

Also.

I don't want to deal with Bakugou anymore, so he's officially gone. I don't have to deal with his character anymore. (Unless I change my mind once I'm a little more well-rested.)

Chapter 11

Izuku and Hitoshi were standing at the window in their classroom, staring in open horror as the crowd of reporters just kept growing. “I don’t think I have ever been so glad as I am now that Dad is Underground and Papa doesn’t change into his Present Mic get-up until he gets to school.”

 

“Seriously,” Izuku agreed softly. “Can you imagine if we had to walk in with Present Mic in all his extroverted glory?” The two boys shuddered in unison.

 

“I hope the rest of the class can manage to get in okay.”

 

“It’s almost a shame Shouta expelled Bakugou, he’d probably explode at the crowd and scare them enough to make them run away,” Izuku laughed softly.

 

The two pointed out their classmates as they attempted to get past the press and laughed when Izuku noticed that Shouta had joined the fray to help the students get past the press frenzy.

 

Iida was the first person to enter the class, he had managed to just steamroll past the reporters, most likely due to being a Legacy kid himself and having had to deal with press before. “Shinsou, Midoriya, how did the both of you get here so early?” he asked.

 

Hitoshi snorted and glanced at Izuku, almost as if he was saying ‘just play along’ before turning back to Iida. “It’s almost as if you’ve forgotten Zuku can fly. If he can easily hop a building with Uraraka, don’t you think he can hop a wall with me?”

 

“Ah, yes, my mistake,” Iida apologized. “I should have realized you could fly ove—wait a second, that would be unauthorized quirk usage! Should the teachers find out about that you could be punished, possibly even expelled! I cannot approve of-“

 

At that, both Hitoshi and Izuku lost the battle to remain stoic and started giggling. “Relax, Iida, my Dad took us in the back entrance earlier this morning,” Hitoshi said in between laughs.

 

Izuku nodded and hesitantly added, “I’ve been warned against unauthorized quirk usage already. I don’t want to ruin the chance I was given. Besides, I’m scheduled to take a test next week to get a flight permission license.”

 

“Oh, really? Next week?” Hitoshi asked. “I didn’t think you were getting it that soon.”

 

Izuku nodded. “Kei and Zashi are pulling strings for me, and it’ll be a limited use license, mainly for night flights, but it’d mean I could hop the gates if I wanted.”

 

“That’s awesome. I wish I could go flying with you and Kei once, just to know what it’s like,” Hitoshi mused.

 

Izuku laughed a bit at that. “Toshi, you’re too heavy for a real flight! I could do a quick flight, but even then, I wouldn’t be able to do anything really fun.” He shrugged and continued, “You do know that I only weigh about 30 kilos, right?”

 

“Damn hollow bird bones,” was Hitoshi’s muttered reply.

 

The two of them were still watching out the window at the press circus, but they still heard Shouto come up next to them. “Morning.”

 

Hitoshi turned to his boyfriend and gave him a quick kiss. “Morning, Shou. Did you make it through the mess out there okay?”

 

“Mhm. I have long since learned how to handle crowds like that.” Shouto turned fully towards them and gave his best ‘You’re not worthy of breathing the same air as me’ look, lasting for about five seconds before he broke it, returning to his soft smile. “Dad’s not good for much, but he did make sure all of us knew how to intimidate the press.”

 

“That. . . “ Izuku had to restart his brain, that expression on Shouto’s face was just. . . wrong.

 

“As effective as that was,” Hitoshi said, “I don’t like that look on your face.”

 

“Me neither,” Shouto shrugged. “I literally only use it to scare off the press. It reminds them that I’m still Endeavor’s son, regardless of how I feel about that.”

 

Izuku glanced back at the crowd as Hitoshi linked his arm with Shouto. “Looks like Sensei’s about to head up to class. Probably only have about three minutes at most before he gets here.” At the other’s nods, Izuku went to his desk. He didn’t have to wait long, Shouta came in about two minutes later and started class.

 

They were going to be picking class representatives today.

 

They decided to pick their class reps through a vote, and Izuku stared in horror as he saw he had four votes, and Hitoshi had three.

 

“No,” came Hitoshi’s reply. “Thanks for the votes, but no.”

 

“Yeah, same here,” Izuku agreed.

 

“Aww, but come on man,” Kirishima said. “If you guys got voted in as the class reps, then it’s your job!”

 

“Yeah!” Kaminari and Ashido chimed in.

 

“I will fight you all,” Hitoshi deadpanned. “Actually, Dad, permission to take them all out back and throw them repeatedly into a brick wall?”

 

“You’ll have to settle for a cement wall, UA doesn’t have any brick walls,” Shouta answered just as deadpan.

 

“You heard him, guys, anyone who refuses to let me pass on this duty, meet me out back.”

 

Izuku snorted, adding, “Can you take the ones who won’t let me pass too? I think it’s bad form to drop people from a few floors up.”

 

“Sure thing. Come on, either redo the vote, or suffer the consequences.”

 

“It occurs to me,” Asui commented, “that people threatening bodily harm to those who voted for them are probably not the best picks for class rep.”

 

Both Izuku and Hitoshi nodded and pointed at Asui.

 

The class took a second vote, and this time both Hitoshi and Izuku had zero votes, while Yayorozu had four and Iida three.

 

~*~*~*~

 

“I can’t believe you, Shou, the absolute betrayal! How could you?!” Hitoshi dramatically cried, draping himself on Izuku, with a hand out, pushing away his boyfriend.

 

“I stand by my decision,” Shouto said unapologetically. “I almost did it a second time, too.”

 

“Traitor!” Hitoshi hissed at him like a cat.

 

Yayorozu took that moment to slip into the booth across from Izuku with her lunch tray loaded with a double helping of rice and chicken. “What are they being dramatic about now?” she asked Izuku.

 

“Oh, Shouto voted for Toshi to be class rep. Toshi took offence to that,” he snorted.

 

“I see. Would now be a bad time to state I was one of the other votes?” Yayorozu teased Hitoshi.

 

“I’m surrounded by traitors!” Turning to Izuku, Toshi demanded, “Who did you vote for?!”

 

“Not you, don’t worry. I actually thought that the way Iida and Yayorozu took charge of the voting process was really leadership-worthy, so I voted for Yayorozu.”

 

“Thank god, at least my brother knows better than to vote for me. And I didn’t vote for you, either. My vote went to Yayorozu for the same reasons,” he added.

 

“Hitoshi, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Momo? And now you too, Midoriya-kun. Yayorozu is too long for casual conversation.” She smiled and took a bite of her lunch.

 

“Okay, Momo-kun. In that case, please call me Izuku? I actually prefer it to Midoriya, anyway,” Izuku admitted.

 

“Okay, thank you for letting me know! I am thinking of starting a class group chat, do you want me to include that information for everyone to know?”

 

“Uh, that’s okay. I can tell them in the group chat when it gets created,” Izuku mumbled. When Hitoshi elbowed him in the ribs, Izuku repeated, “I can tell them, you don’t have to.”

 

“Better.” Hitoshi said and finally started in on his lunch.

 

The four of them continued with their lunch and conversation until a sudden, loud alarm started blaring.

 

The other three started to evacuate as the alarm said to do, with Momo dashing off to try to organize the mess the students had become, but Izuku had collapsed in pain, clutching at his ears, trying with all his might to block out the sound. Hitoshi and Shouto dropped next to him, trying to help him, but not knowing how.

 

Izuku was crying, just barely keeping himself from screaming in pain, and Hitoshi could see blood starting to drip from his ears. “Shit,” he directed towards Shouto, “I thought his quirk was transformative, not mutation?”

 

Shouto shrugged, and placed his own hands over Izuku’s, and then covered them in ice, trying to muffle the sounds of the alarm as best he could. “He does have hollow bird bones, right? I think we should just be grateful he’s not screeching right now.”

 

Hitoshi hugged Izuku and a few moments later, Izuku passed out, still bleeding from the ears.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku woke up to what sounded like muffled speaking, and he remembered the alarm that had been blaring in the cafeteria during lunch. Wincing, he reached up to feel his ears, hoping to all that was holy that there was something covering his ears and that he hadn’t suffered from hearing loss.

 

How pathetic would that be, a deaf owl?

 

Thankfully, there were indeed bandages over both ears, so there was slight hope for him that his hearing wasn’t going to be affected long-term.

 

“Zuku?” Huh, that sounded like it could be Hizashi. Was it Hizashi? Maybe he should open his eyes, that might help in identifying who was talking.

 

Yup, it was Hizashi. “Hey,” Izuku whispered to him. Wow, or did he? Izuku scowled. He couldn’t hear himself at all. “Fuck, I’m deaf now, aren’t I?” he moaned.

 

Hizashi laughed a little at that. “No, you’re going to be just fine,” he comforted Izuku. “The bandages are pretty thick, I doubt anyone else would be able to hear through those at all, so the fact that you can just shows you’re going to be fine.”

 

“Oh, okay. Thanks.” Izuku felt the bandages on his ears again, wondering how long he’d have to have them.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku saw Shouta and Recovery Girl walking towards them. “I’m going to check these bandages,” Recovery Girl said. “I’ll put new ones on if needed, but you should be good to have them completely off by now.” Izuku nodded.

 

“I have a question,” Shouta stated. “Hitoshi brought it up earlier, and I need the clarification too. I thought your quirk was transformative, but this seems like a mutation?”

 

“Uh, well. Sort of?” Izuku paused as Recovery Girl looked in his ear, muttered about how it looked good, and walked back to her desk to do some paperwork. “My hearing and eyesight I guess are both enhanced at all times? I can consciously change if my vision is Day or Night, though. And of course, I have hollow bones, too.”

 

“And your hearing? Is it always cranked up that much?” Shouta asked.

 

“Well, no? Yes? I mean, it’s always better than a normal person’s hearing, but I can make it even sharper. If I really focus, I can pick out individual people’s heartbeats from an adjacent apartment.”

 

“Do you have any mutations that protect your ears from loud noises? With a screech like yours, I would assume you would be deaf by now otherwise,” Hizashi pointed out. “After all, you know I am.”

 

Izuku shrugged. “I’m not sure? Maybe? Loud quirk-related noises don’t bother me, only normal loud noises. Like, Bakugou’s explosions are his quirk, so they never really hurt my ears, and same for my screech and your Voice.” Izuku winced. “I was in town once when you let loose on a villain, you were loud but I think I was the only one there that day that didn’t have ringing ears afterwards.”

 

Continuing, Izuku said, “And I’m okay, normally, so long as noises don’t get above a certain volume or frequency. Police sirens are really close to the limit I can really handle, so I don’t like to stay around when they have their sirens on, but the alarms today were just… too loud, and too high frequency.” Izuku finished in a whisper, rubbing his ears at the memory, even though they no longer hurt.

 

“We’ll need to see about getting some ear protectors put into your hero costume visor,” Shouta added. “I think Keigo has something like that in his, so it shouldn’t be difficult to have it added to yours.”

 

“I have something like that in my headphones too,” Hizashi added. “Proper ear protection is essential.”

 

Izuku nodded. “Um. Why did the intruder alarms go off, anyways?”

 

“Freaking vultures, the press broke through the barriers and set off all of the alarms.”

Notes:

I'm super into Datastream still, so updates here are less frequent. I would apologize, but you all know that this is my side fic. I'll focus solely on this once Datastream is over. (Still quite a bit to go for that, though.)

Chapter 12

Notes:

I'm back! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

Did you miss me?

Izuku was glad that by the time he woke up in the morning the slight ringing that had been plaguing his ears since the alarm the day before was gone. He shuffled out to the kitchen and was greeted by the sight of Hizashi and Shouta leaning against each other, sipping their coffee.

 

“Hey there, Zu, sleep okay?” Hizashi asked.

 

“Yeah. The ringing is finally gone, too.” He got a mug and started to pour himself a cup of coffee.

 

“That’s good. I’m about to make breakfast, do you want eggs or fish?” Hizashi finished his coffee and started the machine for a second pot.

 

“Mm, neither, I think I’ll just have some toast, please.”

 

Izuku sat at the table while Hizashi started cooking, not wanting to be in his way, and Shouta joined him moments later. Izuku loved watching Hizashi in the kitchen, that man was a force to be reckoned with. He was so talented with everything he did, from his hero work, to teaching, to quirk counseling, his radio show, and now cooking!

 

This life here is too good to be true. This won’t last.

 

Izuku closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Not now, why do those thoughts always have to show up when he’s happy?

 

He felt a slight touch on his hand and opened his eyes to see Shouta had touched him and was looking at him with concern deep in his eyes. “You okay, Zu?”

 

Izuku smiled a small smile. “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks.”

 

Shouta gently patted his hand and retreated back to his side of the table and finished his coffee, and Izuku heard Hitoshi stumbling down the hallway, still half asleep.

 

Izuku snorted as Hitoshi nearly tripped over his own feet as he turned the corner, only prevented from falling on his face by the quick reflexes of Hizashi, who caught him just as he started to tip.

 

Hizashi pressed a quick kiss to Hitoshi’s forehead and let out a sweet, musical hum that Izuku could feel all the way into his soul. The sound was almost like Hizashi’s personal wake up song, the frequency and pitch combined perfectly and resonated with the bodies of whoever heard it and was able to help jumpstart them into a state of alertness.

 

It didn’t last too long but was definitely long enough to get a mug of coffee pressed into Hitoshi’s hands and directed to the table. “Thanks, Papa.”

 

“Anytime, kiddo. Fish or eggs?” Hizashi asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Both it is,” Hizashi agreed with a laugh. “Zuku, you sure you only want toast?”

 

“I suppose I can eat a little bit? Eggs, I guess?”

 

Hizashi beamed at him. “Great! I know you have a big day ahead of you!”

 

Shouta had let the boys know the night before that they were going to be going on a trip during heroics class today, and they were both excited. Izuku knew he was good at fighting and information gathering, but he’d never really had the chance to practice rescue. And while his preferred career path wouldn’t have much rescue to it, there was always the chance that he could need rescue training.

 

Hitoshi was much the same. He knew he’d need to learn fire rescue, and maybe collapsed building rescue, but the rest would just be good to know for a random ‘what if’ on the rare occasion they might decide to go on vacation to who knows where.

 

A few minutes later and breakfast was on the table, and Izuku was once again in awe of Hizashi’s cooking. Damn, what he wouldn’t do to be a real part of this family. Izuku had been living with them for nearly three months now, and he had never been happier. But he knew this would never last.

 

Sooner or later, they’d decide to give him up, right? He was just here because he had to have a hero watch over him for the vigilante reform program, and Eraserhead was the hero who got him to turn himself in. They didn’t actually want him.

 

“Zuzu-bird, I can see something dark swirling behind your eyes,” Hizashi muttered worriedly. “You wanna talk it out?”

 

Izuku blinked up at Hizashi, not realizing his emotions had been so obvious. “N-no, no I’m okay.” He smiled softly. “Ju-just thinking about things.”

 

“Okay, baby, if you’re sure.” When Izuku nodded, Hizashi smiled himself. “Okay, if we’re all done with breakfast, let’s get ready to head out.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku was tracing the seams on his gloves as the bus was heading towards the USJ when he felt eyes on him and looked up to see Asui – Tsu, she wanted to be called Tsu – looking over at him.

 

“Midoriya, I have a tendency to speak my mind, ribbit, and I have a question for you. It’s something I noticed the other day,” she asked, her tongue sticking out slightly.

 

“Um, go ahead?” Izuku hesitantly allowed.

 

“While watching your battle trial, I couldn’t help to compare you to a vigilante I’ve heard about. Ribbit, are you Screech?” The blunt question caught most of the class off guard, and all conversations stopped.

 

Izuku wasn’t sure if he was allowed to answer the question, but from where he was looking at Tsu, he could see Shouta nod his head and heard him whisper, “It’s up to you if you want to tell them.”

 

So Izuku took a deep breath and said, “Yeah. I’m Screech. I’ve been a vigilante for about three years, but my dream had always been to be a real hero.”

 

“No way, Mido-bro, you’re really Screech?! That’s so manly!” Kirishima gushed with a huge grin.

 

“Forgive my ignorance,” Iida spoke up from the other side of the aisle, “but wouldn’t vigilantism prevent you from obtaining a hero license?”

 

“Eh, yes and no?” Izuku shrugged. “My circumstances were such that I’m being given a second chance of sorts. I’m in a vigilante reform program, and so long as the hero monitoring me signs off on my actions during certain monthly checkpoints, the vigilantism won’t mar my record.”

 

“That’s pretty cool!” Uraraka exclaimed. “So that’s how you were able to do so well in the exercise the other day?”

 

Izuku blushed a bit and nodded. “Yeah-“

 

“We’re here,” Shouta called from the front of the bus. “Everyone off.”

 

Izuku sighed in relief and hurried off, passing Kaminari who was staring at him with huge starry eyes. “He’s so cool,” Kaminari whispered.

 

Izuku didn’t pay any attention to him, instead gathering around Thirteen with the rest of the class. He perked up when he heard Shouta ask them where All Might was, and they said something about a time limit.

 

“Okay class,” Thirteen called for their attention. “Welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or as some call it, the USJ! Before we get started…” Thirteen continued to talk, but Izuku found his attention drifting.

 

He really didn’t need to pay attention to a lecture about quirk safety. He had full control of his quirk, and he knew how dangerous his quirk could be. It would be so easy to deal lethal damage, it was why he almost never went above a quarter of his full power. Heck, even when he blasted Bakugou the other day he was only at about a third of his full power.

 

As he was looking around, he caught Kaminari staring at him, and he blinked. Why was Kaminari staring at him? Did he have something on his face? He blushed when Kaminari winked at him and then turned back to Thirteen’s lecture.

 

“Uh, Hitoshi?” Izuku muttered, nudging his sorta-brother in the side. “Why does Kaminari keep looking at me like that?”

 

Hitoshi looked over to Kaminari in time to see him shoot another glance to the green-haired boy. “Oh, Izu, I love you, but you are one of the densest people I’ve ever met.”

 

“What do you mean?” Izuku furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head when Shouto leaned his head against Hitoshi’s shoulder. “No, seriously, what do you mean?”

 

Shouto snickered and muttered to Hitoshi, “I tried.”

 

Izuku flicked his gaze between the two of them and tilted his head almost completely upside down in confusion. “I don’t get it.”

 

Both Hitoshi and Shouto blinked at Izuku. They had never seen him turn his head upside down like that and it was unnerving. Before they could say anything about it, though, Izuku’s head snapped back upright, and his pupils dilated as he stared at something a bit in the distance.

 

Izuku snapped out his wings and hopped quickly over to Shouta and chirped, gesturing to the plaza below. A dark purple rift was opening in the plaza, and as it got bigger, it started pouring people out. Dozens of people emerged, Izuku stopped counting at fifty, but there were still more.

 

As the kids behind them became confused about what was happening, Shouta called to them, “Stay together, this is not part of the exercise, those are real villains! Thirteen, get the kids out of here!”

 

At the plaza, Izuku could hear the one with the light blue hair getting irritated at the fact that All Might wasn’t there, that he had come to kill All Might, and how was he supposed to fulfill his mission of killing All Might if he wasn’t there? Izuku hissed at him when he said something about killing kids to bring All Might there.

 

Turning back to Izuku, Shouta said, “You too, get to safety.” He reached for his goggles, only to be stopped by Izuku grabbing his arm.

 

“Eraser, your fighting style is one on one ambushing. This is not going to play to your strengths,” Izuku pointed out.

 

“Kid, you can’t be a hero if you’ve only got one trick,” he countered.

 

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Izuku replied. “What I’m saying is this isn’t your strength. But it is mine. I’ll take them, you help the other kids.”

 

“Izuku, kid, no. You’re a student too, you need to get out of here!”

 

“I’ve been a vigilante for three years, Eraser. What the fuck makes you think I’m going to start following orders now?” Screech – because he was not Izuku right now – winked playfully at Shouta. “Stay out of my way, Eraser.”

 

And with that, Screech rolled his shoulders and jumped, spreading his wings wide. He surveyed the villains and took note with amusement that they were bunched up. Perfect. Screech took a deep breath and unleashed his signature attack, starting at one side of the group of villains and moving to the other, the pure force of his voice pushing them down to their knees.

 

The purple mist villain had disappeared, but the rest were still there, and Screech was not going to let them hurt any of the kids while he was on duty. Seeing some of them starting to collect themselves again, he unleashed his attack again, rendering most of them unconscious.

 

The blue haired villain with the multiple hands over his body had managed to stay standing, as well as a hulking beast of a man with an exposed brain.

 

That just screamed “weak point” to Screech. After one last look around the gathered group of villains, Screech narrowed his eyes at the last two people standing and landed.

 

“Nomu,” the villain hissed out. “Kill the bird.”

 

The hulking person, Nomu, screamed and launched at Screech, only to be stopped dead in its tracks by another screech that surprisingly didn’t push the person back.

 

“Ha!” the villain exclaimed. “Do you like my pet?! He’s got super strength, super speed! You can’t stop him with a little screaming! He was bio-engineered to kill All Might! What do you think some stupid little kid like you can do against my Nomu!?” He started cackling, filled with an insane glee.

 

‘Fine,’ Screech thought to himself. ‘Time to take off the kiddie gloves.’

 

Screech upped the power behind the next attack from about thirty percent to about fifty, and he could see the creature’s limbs get crushed by the sheer force of the soundwaves, until the creature lost its footing and flew backwards, into what looked like the side of a mountain.

 

“No! What are you doing to my Nomu?!” the villain shrieked at him. “You cheater! You aren’t allowed to hurl soundwaves at Nomu!”

 

Screech turned to the blue haired villain. “Well, I can always start hurling more soundwaves at you, if you’d prefer?”

 

The purple mist guy portaled back to the blue guy’s side. “Shigaraki Tomura, I was able to disperse the students throughout the facility, however one student managed to escape.”

 

“Kurogiri, if you weren’t our ticket out of here, I would kill you where you stand!” Apparently, the guy’s name was Shigaraki Tomura. Cool.

 

“We should retreat,” Kurogiri said. “It seems the Nomu Master supplied you with is not able to defeat this bird child.”

 

“He’s not dead yet,” Shigaraki grinned, and Screech would have been unnerved by that if he hadn’t already heard the creature stirring from where he had been buried in rubble.

 

‘So, fifty isn’t good enough,’ he thought to himself. Narrowing his eyes, he saw that parts of the creature that had been crushed was mending before his eyes. ‘Super regeneration too, looks like.’

 

Screech focused on his hearing for a moment, trying to pick out where the rest of the class was, since the Kurogiri guy said he had dispersed them, and was dismayed to hear that they were indeed spread throughout the facility. He needed to finish this quickly, or some could finish their fights and try to help him here.

 

He didn’t know what he’d do if Hitoshi or Shouto tried to help with this. They’d get themselves seriously hurt.

 

Refocusing on the Nomu, Screech decided to do the one thing he hated most. He was going to unleash his screech at full power at the creature.

 

He closed his eyes briefly, took a deep breath, silently apologized to the hulking beast that was sprinting back at him, and let loose his screech in the most narrow, powerful cone he could. And the creature not only stopped in its tracks, but its whole body started vibrating, his screech hitting at the same frequency as the creature. He could see the regeneration working overtime, trying to keep the creature’s body in one piece. Screech gave it a three second reprieve as he took another deep breath and then continued the assault.

 

This time, though, the beast’s regeneration failed it – it exploded in a shower of gore and bits flying everywhere, covering Screech.

 

Pushing down the urge to vomit all over the ground, Izuku turned to the last two villains and raised an eyebrow.

 

“Portal,” Shigaraki whispered. “Open a portal, get us out of here!”

 

As soon as the villains were gone, Izuku lost his battle with his stomach and hurled the contents all over the ground.

 

Notes:

Uh, Izu? ( ⚆ _ ⚆ ) You good, baby bird?

BTW, thank you Fieryqueenofallsharpobjects for the idea of Mic's humming! I'd read a few fics with him using his Voice to make humming attacks, but I've never read of him using his Voice to have a comforting hum before.

Chapter 13

Notes:

CW - This is a dark chapter for Izuku! Super dark. Like, you're gonna need a flashlight to see, dark.

Don't say you weren't warned.

Shouta felt as if his world had shifted just a few inches to the left. He was off center. The adorable boy he had let into his heart and home, the vigilante who he had thought he had known the full extent of his skills, had not only been holding back the whole time, but had been just barely showing his true abilities.

 

Shouta had thought he was as powerful as Hizashi was, but he was wrong. Oh, gods was he wrong.

 

When Screech had cheekily told him to stay out of his way, Shouta had been annoyed, but was willing to admit to himself that the battle in the plaza really would be out of his comfort zone, and he trusted Screech’s abilities. And so, he decided to follow through with his bird son’s suggestion.

 

He really did need to have a talk with his students on proper protocol, though, because when the villain made of mist showed up, both Satou and Kirishima charged in to fight him, blocking his line of sight and enabling the villain to create portals that scattered the students to various parts of the facility. Fortunately, Iida Tenya was able to make it out of the building and raced to alert the rest of the school to the attack.

 

By the time the rest of the teachers arrived, though, Ashido, Uraraka, and Shoji had already borne witness to the devastating power that was their classmate. They watched him screech at the villain multiple times, watched as the creature’s limbs were crushed by the force of the sound waves, watched as his screech vibrated the creature’s very cells, causing it to explode, showering the entire plaza in blood and gore.

 

They witnessed as Midoriya Izuku emptied his stomach on the ground and broke down into tears, deep, heart-rending sobs, collapsing to his knees and hugging himself with everything he was worth, wrapping himself in his own wings to try to shield himself from anyone else witnessing the aftermath of his most powerful attack.

 

Shouta knew he would need to keep an eye on Izuku tonight. He probably shouldn’t be left alone for more than a few minutes at any given moment.

 

The rest of the students were ushered out of the facility before Izuku finally managed to unfurl his wings. Looking around, Izuku listlessly walked to the lake. “Zuku, where are you going?” Shouta asked.

 

Instead of a real reply, Izuku hooted softly, and then knelt next to the water and started splashing himself, rinsing off the blood and gore. He kept splashing, and the water kept running red. The more he splashed, the more desperate he got, until he just dived into the water and started scrubbing at every single spot of red he saw, even when his own skin turned red, he kept scrubbing.

 

When he reached for his wings to start pulling out bloody feathers, Shouta Erased his quirk, causing his wings to disappear.

 

Shortly after his freak out at the lake, Izuku passed out. Shouta was very glad in that moment that Izuku had hollow bird bones, since the only other person he’d trust to carry his bird son was Hizashi, who had been busy being a mother hen over Hitoshi and Todoroki, trusting that Shouta would take care of Izuku, and had left with the rest of the staff and students.

 

Shouta waved off the last medic, knowing that Izuku didn’t have any injuries from the fight, and that he wouldn’t appreciate being touched by anyone else right now even if he did have injuries.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku jolted awake silently, tears streaming down his face. He had seen the monster exploding again in his dream, but this time he couldn’t stop. He had turned to the others in the facility and exploded the man with the blue hair. Then he turned around and exploded Hitoshi, Shouto, and even Shouta.

 

Izuku sat up in his bed and gripped himself tightly.

 

You know it’s only a matter of time before you kill them too.

 

“No, I won’t,” he whispered to himself.

 

You didn’t think you’d kill him, either. But you did.

 

“I won’t kill Hitoshi, or Shouto, or Shouta. I won’t.” His voice was shaking, cracking.

 

If you stay here, you will.

 

Izuku’s grip on himself tightened. He looked up suddenly when he heard a toilet flush in the hallway and the faucet turn on.

 

Leave, now, before you kill someone else. Unless you really DO want to kill the nice family that has taken in a pathetic, stupid, worthless deku like you.

 

Izuku got out of his bed, briefly noticed there was a chair in his room with a yellow sleeping bag on the floor next to it, and he opened his window. As he jumped out, he heard Shouta’s voice calling out to him to come back, but Izuku just flew faster, quickly disappearing from sight.

 

~*~*~*~

 

“What do you mean he flew off?” Keigo exclaimed. Shouta had called him, right after he yelled for Hizashi to get up and start searching for Izuku.

 

“That’s just what I said, Birdbrain!” Shouta grumbled. “I took three minutes to use the bathroom while he was asleep, and he must have woken up in that time and flew out the window.”

 

“Right, right. Where did he go?”

 

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be telling you to help me look!” Shouta yelled. “I don’t know where my son is, and you need to help me find him!”

 

Keigo sighed over the phone. “Yeah, I got that, I meant what direction am I starting from? Did he go east, west, north? I don’t want to start looking south just for him to be found way to the north.”

 

Shouta ran his hands through his hair. “He went east. Hizashi took the north-east, and I’m taking straight east. You take south-east.”

 

“Understood. I’ll call if I find him.” Keigo hung up.

 

Shouta kept running across the rooftops, searching for his son.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku had stopped flying. He didn’t know exactly where he was, but it didn’t really matter.

 

Nothing mattered anymore.

 

He had disobeyed orders when he fought those villains. He had engaged in combat, used his quirk, against the direct orders of a Pro Hero. And not just any Pro Hero, but against the direct orders of Eraserhead!

 

Izuku sniffled in despair. He was going to be kicked out of school now, expelled. He would be sent to jail for vigilantism. He was going to be abandoned, lose the family he was just starting to feel safe with.

 

Izuku let his tears fall.

 

They only took you in to get you to stop. You broke their trust.

 

“I know,” he cried.

 

You never deserved their affection.

 

“I know,” he whispered again.

 

There’s only one thing left for you to do.

 

“I know.” Izuku looked up at the sky, wanting to see it one last time.

 

He couldn’t jump. After all the times before that he’s tried, he knows that won’t work. Looking at his hands, he extended his talons.

 

That could work.

 

Izuku pulled up his sleeves and touched his talons to his skin.

 

Do it. End it.

 

He pressed his talons a little harder into his skin, drawing a single drop of blood, and paused. Did he really want to do this?

 

No one would miss you.

 

Izuku closed his eyes and saw in his mind’s eye Shouta, sitting with him, watching cat videos while playing with his curls. The lessons with Hizashi, where he tells Izuku various methods to help with his self-confidence and gives him the best and warmest hugs. Owl café visits with Hitoshi, midnight talks about past trauma. Flying with Keigo, playing aerial tag, and talking about how great it is being a birb, and making weekly promises to live just one more week.

 

Izuku lifted his talon from his skin, leaving only a tiny pinprick of blood. He couldn’t do it.

 

He promised Keigo. He promised.

 

Izuku wrapped his arms around himself and let out heart-rending sobs. “What am I going to do now?” he cried. “I c-can’t g-go back.”

 

“Why not?”

 

Izuku hissed in surprise and turned around.

 

Hizashi was slowly walking towards Izuku. “Why can’t you come back?”

 

“I-I just can’t,” he replied brokenly. “I-I killed him. I-I’m a v-villain now!”

 

“No, no baby, you’re not a villain!” Hizashi pulled Izuku into his arms and kissed his forehead. “Baby, you were just protecting the rest of your class, you were protecting Shouta. That’s the furthest thing from a villain!”

 

“B-but I killed him.”

 

“Let me let you in on a secret,” Hizashi whispered as he held Izuku tightly. “While we try our very best not to, even us heroes have killed people.”

 

Izuku hiccupped and looked up at Hizashi. “R-really?”

 

Hizashi pulled Izuku into his lap as he sat down and nodded sadly. “Yeah. Especially those of us with really powerful quirks.” Hizashi ran his fingers through Izuku’s hair and as Izuku was crying, he started humming.

 

It was a gentle sound, light and soothing, a sound that Izuku could feel deep in his bones and soul. The sound was like a balm to his aching heart, and he held on to Hizashi with everything that he was, everything he had. He knew he’d be leaving bruises on his arms, but he couldn’t let him go. He needed this, he needed to be held, he needed… he needed his Papa.

 

Izuku wanted Hizashi to be his Papa, he wanted what Hitoshi had, he wanted a Dad and a Papa, he wanted a brother, he wanted a real family. And for this moment, being held by Hizashi, being hummed to by Hizashi, he could pretend, just for now, that he had a family.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Hizashi could feel his baby bird’s sobs turn from despair to hope, just like he had intended. His quirk, after all, was Voice – not Shout. He had found, after years of experimentation and with a lot of concentration, that various sounds could affect a person’s moods, depending on the hertz and frequency he uses, from alertness, to sadness, happiness, hopeful, hopeless, and he could even help to stimulate healing.

 

Tonight, his baby needed a little extra hope. Hope that things will be okay, that whatever it was that made him break down, he has the ability to overcome it. He is not alone, Hizashi will be there for him. Shouta will be there for him. Hitoshi will be there for him. Even Keigo will be there for him.

 

As Hizashi felt Izuku’s sobs peter out, he planted another kiss to the deep green curls. “Baby bird, are you okay to talk to me about what happened? Or do you want me to keep humming?”

 

Izuku sniffed a little and pulled back slightly. “W-were you using your q-quirk just now?” he whispered.

 

“I was, yes. And if you need me to keep going, I will.”

 

“O-okay.” Izuku hesitated for another moment. “I-I’ll tell you, b-but, c-can you… c-can you keep humming? P-please?”

 

Hizashi smiled at him softly and nodded. “Of course, I can, my sweet little owl.”

 

As Hizashi started humming again, Izuku spoke. “I don’t want to go to jail, but I disobeyed orders. I know, I-I know Shouta could have handled things, h-he’s amazing! He’s better than, t-than I’ll ever be. But. B-but I knew that disobeying w-would get m-me expelled. I knew, a-and I did it anyways.” Izuku buried his face back into Hizashi’s chest, but he kept talking.

 

So Hizashi kept humming.

 

“I-I killed him. I knew he w-was going t-to d-die, and I kept g-going. I s-started at a normal l-level, but h-he was only just barely halted. S-so I w-went to half p-power. He c-could r-regenerate, my s-screech w-was crushing h-his limbs, b-but he k-kept healing. I c-could have s-stopped, I-I could have, c-could have, I-I don’t know what else I-I c-could have done!”

 

Hizashi laid his cheek against Izuku’s hair. “Sweetie,” Hizashi breathed, “while yes, you could have stopped, from what I’ve heard of the attack, that creature wouldn’t have stopped. You did what you had to. No one is upset with you, you’re not going to be expelled. You’re not going to be arrested. I promise you.”

 

Izuku lifted his head and looked Hizashi in the eyes. “R-really?” There was so much hope in that one word.

 

“Really. Sweet little owl, you’re not getting away from me and Shouta that easily. He can handle a little insubordination, especially when it’s from you.” Hizashi ran his fingers through Izuku’s hair, coming to a small snag and gently detangling it. “Can I tell you something, little bird?” When Izuku nodded, Hizashi continued, “Shouta and I have been talking lately, and, well. We love you. We know you were only supposed to be a temporary placement, but you fit our family perfectly.”

 

Izuku’s eyes widened in surprise.

 

“We have been wanting to expand our family for years, but we weren’t going to adopt someone that wouldn’t be able to get along with Hitoshi. But you, you’re perfect. Not only do you get along with him, but he also adores you. The two of you have been brothers from the first day you were with us. So, Izuku, it’s up to you now. Do you want to be a part of our family? You don’t have-“

 

Izuku interrupted him with a laugh. “Yes! Yes, please! Please be my Papa!”

 

“Okay.” Hizashi squeezed him tightly. “Okay. I’ll be your Papa, and you can be my tiniest son.”

 

 

Notes:

PapaMic found the baby bird! (˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ ) But he's okay now! Everything is going to be okay!

Chapter 14: Not an update!!!

Hi everyone!! 

 

Thank you all for the love on this fic!! I am letting you all know that I am not abandoning this story, but it is going on pause for the next... uh.... month or more??? 

 

Datastream is about to get INTENSE, and it's only got about 5 or 6 chapters left, unless Izu and his gremlins refuse to stop, so until I finish that, Screech is on pause. 

 

Again, I am not abandoning Screech!! This has always been my sidefic to Datastream, and all my current focus is on Datastream. 

 

Thank you all, and I'll be back to Screech soon!!

Chapter 15

Notes:

I'm back everyone! Did you miss me?

Datastream is officially complete, so Screech is my new Main Fic! I have quite a bit outlined now, so updates should be fairly constant.

Shouta sprinted across the rooftops when he got the call from Hizashi that Izuku had been found. As soon as he got close enough, he had pulled Izuku into a tight hug and hadn’t let him go. “I’m so glad Zashi found you,” he whispered in a broken voice. “I was so scared you would hurt yourself.”

 

Clinging to Shouta just as tightly, Izuku admitted through a fresh wave of tears, “I started to.” He pulled back slightly and brought up his wrist where he had drawn that single drop of blood. “Before I could get any further, I remembered that there were actually people who cared about me. And,” he paused, turning around when he heard Keigo land behind them on the roof, before finishing in a whisper, “I promised Keigo I would stay alive for one more week.”

 

Keigo leaned in and buried his face in Izuku’s curls. “I have never been happier that I make you promise me that every week,” Keigo said. Pulling back a bit, he added, “Although, maybe I should add ‘I promise not to run away in the middle of the night,’ too?”

 

Izuku smiled slightly at him. “You don’t have to worry about me running away, not really. I just…” Izuku trailed off. “You just don’t have to worry about that. I promise not to run again,” he finished in a whisper.

 

"Okay," Keigo said softly and ruffled his hair.

 

“How about we go home, okay, Izu? Hitoshi is worried about you,” Shouta suggested.

 

Izuku nodded.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Once everyone had gotten settled back at home, Hizashi and Hitoshi had gone back to sleep, and Izuku and Shouta settled on the couch with the TV on mute and Shouta’s fingers carding through Izuku’s hair. Even though Izuku was back home, Shouta still didn’t want to leave him alone. His son had one of the single worst days of his life, after all, and no amount of hugs and cuddles would be able to just wash away the feeling of killing a person.

 

Even if Shouta wasn’t too sure that thing, that Nomu, was a person.

 

“Hey, Shouta?” Izuku whispered.

 

“Mhm?”

 

Izuku nuzzled into Shouta’s shoulder a bit more and said, “Earlier today. That’s not… that’s not the first time I’ve killed with my screech.”

 

Shouta’s hand paused for a second before he pulled Izuku even closer. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but if you do, I’m here to listen.” He kissed the top of Izuku’s head.

 

After a quiet hoot, Izuku whispered, “I was seven. It was a few weeks after my dad had thrown me off a bridge.”

 

It took all of Shouta’s self-control not to interrupt him. His son had been thrown off a bridge?!

 

“My dad left us after that, and I haven’t seen him since. But I remember my mom went out for the night, and I was home alone. All the doors and windows were locked. Sometime around midnight, I heard the key in the lock, so I thought mom had come home. I didn’t pay any attention to it, and I was about to go back to sleep, but then my door was opened. The person who walked in wasn’t my mom.”

 

Izuku took a shaky breath and continued. “He had the key, so when he told me my mom had sent him to pick me up and take me somewhere, well, again, I was seven. I trusted him.” Izuku hung his head in a mix of shame and embarrassment. “I clearly know better now, never let them take you to a secondary location, but I was seven. I didn’t ask questions. We drove for a while, just a little outside the city.” Izuku took Shouta’s hand and started playing with his fingers for something to do.

 

“When we got out of the car, I was scared. I had finally realized something was wrong, but I was still stupid and went with him into the trees. At that point, I was pretty sure he was going to kill me, but I didn’t know why. So, as I was following him, I was crying. I think he might have been either trying to show pity, or something, maybe he was just being cruel? He told me that my dad had hired him, and that it wasn’t anything personal.” Izuku was crying now, so Shouta held him closer with the arm Izuku wasn’t clinging to.

 

After a few moments, Izuku was able to continue. “He lunged at me with a knife, and I managed to dodge. It was the middle of the night, and it was super dark, but the darkness hadn’t affected me in a while at that point, so I wasn’t having any problems in the darkness. The guy started chasing me. He was a lot more experienced in the woods than I was, so he caught me. When he went to stab me, I panicked and screeched at him. It was my first time.”

 

Izuku stopped talking.

 

“I’m so sorry, Izuku. That’s not something that a child should ever have to go through.”

 

“It took me three days to get back home after that. I was covered in his blood, but no one stopped me, no one helped me.” Izuku took a deep breath. “But I’ve known since then what I can do with my screech, so I have been careful not to use more power than necessary. Today was the first time since I was seven that I went all out.” He looked up at Shouta. “I know you could have handled the entire invasion yourself, but—”

 

“I have to interrupt you, Izu. I couldn’t have taken that creature out. You were correct that my fighting style would have put me at a very distinct disadvantage, and you were the perfect person to take them on. You saved not only me, but the entire class. You shouldn’t have had to do that, but that is the fault of the villains who decided to attack.” Shouta ruffled his hair again. “I’m proud of you, Izuku. Thank you.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

The rest of the weekend passed quietly. Izuku was never alone, someone was always there with him in cuddling range. He had nightmares every time he closed his eyes about the man he had killed when he was seven, as well as the Nomu. Keigo had taken one of his days off to keep Izuku literally tucked under his wing for the day, and Shouto had come over to watch movies another day.

 

(“Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole? Is that a real movie?” Izuku asked skeptically. “It doesn’t sound like a real movie.”

 

“It’s real,” Shouto promised. “It’s mainly about a barn owl, but I think there’s a screech owl in there somewhere?”

 

Hitoshi nodded. “Ezylryb is a screech owl. I read the wiki. He’s one of the brown ones, though, not the pretty grey ones like you,” Hitoshi nudged Izuku. The three boys watched the movie, and Izuku was fascinated, the animation was beautiful.)

 

When they returned to school on Monday, the rest of the class was slightly in awe of their adorable bird classmate, and only the looks that Shouto and Hitoshi shot them kept them from crowding Izuku. However, not even they could keep Kaminari from approaching Izuku.

 

“Hey man! How was your weekend?” he asked with a blinding smile.

 

“Um,” Izuku gave a small smile back. “It was kind of rough, honestly, but I’m still here.”

 

Kaminari seemed to remember that Jiro told him the last time she saw Izuku he was covered in blood and other bits of monster and winced. “Oh, right, sorry. Whatever happened at the USJ, I didn’t see most of it. I kinda went stupid and had to be carried out.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “But I heard you saved us all! So, thanks, man!”

 

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m glad you weren’t hurt,” Izuku replied quietly.

 

“Are… are you okay?” Kaminari asked gently.

 

Izuku paused and then whispered, “I’m fine, just haven’t been sleeping all that well. Nightmares.”

 

Before Kaminari could say anything else, the bell rang, and Shouta walked in. Izuku breathed a sigh of relief as Kaminari went back to his desk and the rest of the class turned their attention to the teacher.

 

“So, I hope you all had a relaxing weekend,” Shouta began as he walked into the classroom. “Because your fight isn’t over yet.”

 

Nearly every person in the class started muttering to each other nervously, wondering what he meant by that, but Izuku, Hitoshi, and Shouto could smell a ‘logical ruse’ a mile away by now, and so they weren’t worried.

 

“The UA Sports Festival is coming up,” he finished with his manic grin.

 

The relief from the rest of the class was palpable as they cried out, “Why would you scare us like that?!”

 

“Yeah, let’s kick some ass!” Kirishima exclaimed!

 

“Hold up,” Kaminari spoke up. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

 

“Yeah,” Jiro picked up where Kaminari left off. “Wouldn’t the villains all just attack us when we’re all in the same area like that?”

 

“Apparently, the administration feels this is a good way to show that the threat has been handled and that our school is able to deal with threats. This is a showcasing of our resilience. Or something. Whatever. The point is, the Sports Fest is coming up, and you’re all encouraged to train more after school. Feel free to book time in the gyms.”

 

“Yes Aizawa-sensei!” the class said in unison. Shouta then pulled out his sleeping bag and crawled under his desk.

Notes:

Okay, so in my defense, I forgot when I picked this story back up where exactly I had left off, and I didn't really have this transition chapter thought out. I knew I wanted to include the guy Izuku killed, but that's as far as my notes lasted for that chapter. Oops!

Since this chapter is so short, expect the next one to come out soon. That's where my outline picks up!

Chapter 16

Notes:

Sports Fest is coming!

As everyone sat for dinner that night, Izuku was noticeably more quiet than usual. “Hey there, baby bird, you good?” Hizashi asked him.

 

“Oh, uh, yes?” Izuku blushed and looked up at Hizashi, who only looked at him over the rim of his glasses. Izuku sighed and started playing with his food. “It’s just… can I opt out of the Sports Festival?” Izuku glanced at Shouta.

 

Shouta paused in eating at Izuku’s question and raised an eyebrow.

 

“It’s just,” Izuku’s blush deepened. “It’s a bird thing?”

 

“Uh huh. Care to elaborate?” Shouta questioned.

 

“Oh!” Hitoshi exclaimed, “I think I know! The Sports Fest is in the spring, and a lot of owls molt during the spring!” He looked at Izuku. “Am I right?”

 

Izuku buried his face in his hands and nodded. “Every year, the Sports Fest is in the middle of my molt. I really can’t do much of anything during those two weeks.”

 

“Zuzu-bird, just because you won’t have pretty wings for a few days doesn’t mean you can’t participate! You can run the events quirkless! That’s what Toshi’s most likely going to do!” Hizashi encouraged.

 

Izuku shook his head. “It’s not just that my wings will be gross,” he started. “My wings aren’t constantly out like most other Avians, so I won’t technically ‘lose’ my feathers – I won’t even be able to manifest my wings until the molt is done. To compensate for that, though, my body gives me a pretty severe fever, and my back and joints ache the entire time. Also, I’ll be itchy all over, I’ll barely be able to sit still, and I’ll be really cold, and emotional.” He looked at Shouta. “Did you never notice that Screech was never active around the time of the Sports Fest?”

 

“I’m normally not out patrolling around the time of the Sports Fest myself, so no, I never noticed.” Shouta took another bite of dinner. “That does sound like a pretty big disadvantage.”

 

Izuku nodded. “It’ll start soon, probably in about a week.”

 

“How have you dealt with it in the past?” Hizashi asked. “Since you had been pretending to be quirkless and all.”

 

“Well, it’s the end of Flu season, so I would just claim to have the Flu. No one cared that the quirkless kid was out of class, and even though the Flu doesn’t normally take two weeks to get over, they would just assume that I had a weaker immune system and couldn’t fight off the Flu like everyone else could.” Izuku shrugged. “It’s probably the only time I actually didn’t mind being thought of as quirkless.”

 

“Okay, well we won’t need to use that excuse again,” Hizashi said. “Nedzu will excuse you from classes for the weeks you’re molting, and Hitoshi can bring you your homework.”

 

Shouta nodded his agreement. “And you’ll be excused from the Sports Fest after Nedzu hears about your circumstances. You can stay home and watch the event from the living room.”

 

Izuku grinned. “Thank you! I love watching it every year!”

 

“I bet you could get Keigo to keep you company,” Hitoshi added. “I mean, he probably molts too, so he’d be sympathetic to what you’re going through, and he could have your input on any students he wants to scout for internships.”

 

Hizashi snorted. “Bold of you to assume he’s going to put in an offer for anyone other than Izu.”

 

“He already told me he wanted to put in an internship offer to me, and I turned him down,” Izuku shook his head. “I want to go Underground, and while I love Kei, he’s about as subtle as a Lilac-breasted Roller. No, I’ll only accept an offer from an Underground Hero, and Kei knows it.”

 

“Lilac-breasted Roller?” Hitoshi whispered, pulling out his phone to look up the bird. He whistled appreciatively when he saw the images. That bird was a mix of purples, blues, greens, and yellows.

 

Shouta let out a sigh. “I was already planning to put in an offer for the both of you. I know your current skillsets, and no one else will be able to help Toshi with fine-tuning his capture scarf technique, and I’m not sure I trust many people to have a former vigilante around without attempting to arrest them.”

 

Izuku hummed thoughtfully. “Would I even be able to intern with another hero, though? What with the reform program and all?”

 

“Technically, yes,” Shouta hedged. “The hero would need to be informed of your enrollment in the reform program, and your supervisor would need to approve the placement should they still be willing to mentor you.”

 

Izuku and Hitoshi gave Shouta deadpan looks and then glanced at each other. “He’d never approve anyone else, would he?” Izuku sighed.

 

“Nope, you’re stuck with him,” Hitoshi verified.

 

Izuku shrugged. “Well, good thing he’s the only one I’d actually want to intern with.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

The next day found Izuku at lunch with Hitoshi, Shouto, and Momo all in the line to get their lunch from Lunch Rush. “I think I’ll just get a little bit of rice today,” Izuku said. “I’m not all that hungry.”

 

Hitoshi glanced at him. “You didn’t eat much at breakfast,” he said. “Are you feeling alright?”

 

Izuku waved his hand in a so-so motion. “I’m okay, for now, but I’m definitely starting to not feel well.”

 

Momo put her wrist to Izuku’s forehead. “You don’t have a fever,” she stated.

 

“Not yet, no,” Izuku verified, and then blushed. “I’m going to start molting in a few days, and I’m starting to show pre-molt symptoms. It’s nothing serious, honest.”

 

“What’s nothing serious?” Kaminari had come up next to the four, with Jiro tagging along. “Hey there, hot stuff!” he winked at Izuku, and grinned at the boy’s bright blush.

 

“K-Kaminari!” Izuku squeaked. “You can’t just say things like that!”

 

Kaminari grinned unapologetically. “Watch me. Anyways, what’s nothing serious?”

 

Shouto spoke up. “Izuku was telling us about how he’s going to be sick for a few weeks.”

 

“Not sick!” Izuku interjected. “Molting!”

 

“You’ll have a fever, body aches, and won’t be able to attend classes. That sounds like ‘sick’ to me,” Shouto deadpanned as he collected his food tray and waited for the others to get theirs.

 

Izuku mumbled something under his breath no one could understand. “Fine, close enough,” he admitted louder. “But I’m still going to be training as much as I can up until my molt starts in full.”

 

Hitoshi grinned at the others, “You guys want to know a secret about Izu?” Izuku’s eyes widened, he knew where Toshi was going with this and started to shake his head as Hitoshi’s grin turned evil. “My birdy brother is a master-level quirk analyst, so if you need any help with your quirk, you should ask him.”

 

“Toshi!” Izuku covered his face with one hand, since he had his lunch tray in the other. “Why do you do these things to me???”

 

The others laughed, and they all migrated to an empty table, Hitoshi, Shouto, and Kaminari on one side, while Momo, Jiro, and Izuku were on the other, with Kaminari directly across from Izuku.

 

Kaminari leaned across the table and smiled at Izuku. “Was that real?” he asked. “Are you really all that good with quirks?”

 

“Well, I have been analyzing quirks since I could hold a crayon, so I think I’m better than the average person my age, but I wouldn’t call myself ‘master-level,’” Izuku hedged.

 

“Well, master-level or not, I’m getting desperate to figure out how to stop going stupid every time I use my quirk, so if you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them!”

 

“Are you sure?” Izuku asked. “I’ve been told often that my analysis is creepy, and once I get started, I have a tendency to just keep going.”

 

“That’s okay, I just want to know where I’m going wrong, so I can maybe fix it before the Sports Fest!”

 

Izuku took a deep breath. “You asked for it. Okay, so where you’re going wrong is here: you’re trying to make your quirk do something it’s fundamentally not meant to do. Now, with most people, when they try to do something that their quirk says they can’t, or that it’s not meant to do, nothing happens. Example – if Momo tried to make a living thing, her quirk wouldn’t work, and nothing would happen. That’s not going to happen with you, Kaminari. Your quirk will still produce the electricity, but you’re overcompensating to try to make your quirk do what it’s not meant to. This is real life, not a videogame, and you’re trying to direct your electricity as if you were a real-life Pikachu.” Izuku took a bite of his lunch and shrugged.

 

“It’s not completely your fault, though,” he continued. “You’ve probably grown up with stories of Zeus, and Thor, Pokémon, other videogames, everything that shows lightning being something that can be directed, but that’s not how your body and quirk are built. You are built to be a current, the electricity isn’t meant to travel very far from your body. Stop trying to force it. You short-circuit because you’re trying to push out enough electricity to hit a target, but without some sort of guide, it’s completely random where your electricity goes.”

 

Kaminari looked at him as though he held the answers to the universe. “So, what you’re saying is, I’m not a long-range fighter?”

 

“Not unless you work on some serious support gear. No, you are a walking, talking taser, and you should be focusing on close combat. Maybe look into some highly conductive metal knuckles, or conductive wire lines in your costume that would help direct your electricity to your limbs for more electric kicks and punches. Maybe add a staff with veins of copper or silver – at least until you decide on if you really want to incorporate a staff into your final costume, then you should go with gold – that will give you a little bit more range, while not shorting yourself out.”

 

Hitoshi nudged Kaminari. “If you want, you can join the training with me and Izu after classes. When Izu’s molt really starts, he’s not going to be able to train with me.”

 

Kaminari’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Izuku. “Would that be okay with you?”

 

“Uh, sure? Shouta usually oversees our training, though,” Izuku warned.

 

Kaminari tilted his head. “Shouta?”

 

“Oh, uh, Aizawa-sensei,” Izuku clarified with a blush. “Sorry, I’ve been calling him Shouta ever since I started living with him a few months ago.”

 

Hitoshi smirked, “He’ll be calling him Dad soon, though.”

 

Izuku smiled at that. “I accidently did this morning,” he admitted. “I was in the living room reading ahead in Lit when he came home from patrol. I don’t know if he noticed or not, it was almost 3am, and he just grunted, ruffled my hair, and went to bed.”

 

Hitoshi snorted and Shouto chuckled, but Kaminari looked at Izuku wide-eyed. “You’ve been up since 3am and you’re still so awake? What is your secret?!”

 

Izuku blinked at him and tilted his head almost 90 degrees, so his ear was pressed against his shoulder. “I’m an owl? I don’t really sleep at night. I train after classes, and then I go to sleep when I get home, wake up for dinner, then go back to sleep for as long as I can. I normally wake up around midnight or 1am and can’t get back to sleep after that.”

 

“Can I text you when my insomnia acts up?” Kaminari asked. “Normally I just end up playing games on my phone.”

 

Izuku shrugged. “If you want to.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

“Left, left! Up! A hair to the right! Aaah, right there…...” Izuku practically melted as Hizashi scratched his back in between his shoulder blades.

 

Hizashi chuckled. “I take it the molting started?”

 

Izuku shook his head. “Still pre-molt. I can still bring out my wings for now,” he said, manifesting his wings to prove it.

 

Before Izuku could retract his wings, Hizashi ran his fingers through some of the feathers. “They’ve lost their gloss,” he muttered.

 

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, it’s almost time.” He pulled one of his wings closer so he could see his feathers closer. “Probably tomorrow or the day after.” Izuku retracted his wings and leaned against Hizashi. “I hate molting, but my wings are so pretty right after, and sometimes they’re even bigger than before!” Izuku jolted away and reached for his lower back and started itching like crazy.

 

Hizashi laughed and started helping his scratch.

 

~*~*~*~

 

 

 

Here's some pictures of the Lilac-breasted Roller. It's such a pretty bird!

 

 

 

Notes:

So for anyone who read Datastream, you know I swore to never write the full Sports Fest again EVER! Izuku's molting so I don't have to write the full festival again.

Also, I added a few pictures of the Lilac-breasted Roller, and if it didn't work, please Google that bird, it's BEAUTIFUL!!!

Also Part 2 - I'm about 90% sure I'm going to make this Kami/Izu, but it depends on if Izu starts flirting back. Otherwise, Kami's going to give up and move on. That's the only reason I'm not going to tag it yet, Izu isn't sure if he wants to be with Kami or not.

Chapter 17

Notes:

Hope you all wanted a chapter of Big Bro Keigo! That's what this entire chapter is.

“If you’re going to watch this with me, you are legally obligated to scratch my back whenever I want, understood?” Izuku commanded Keigo as he walked in from the patio after flying in. Izuku was currently laying on the floor, wiggling like a dog trying to scratch his own back and being wholly unsuccessful.

 

“Baby bird, have some dignity!” Keigo squawked and pulled him up to his feet, turned him around, and started scratching. “Tell me where.”

 

After Keigo finally got that elusive itch taken care of, the two set up on the couch where the television was already turned on to the pre-show commercials.

 

“So, owlet, if I wanted to poach a student for my intern, who do you think I should be watching?” Keigo asked.

 

“Hmm,” Izuku thought for a moment. “Ashido and Kaminari would mesh with your personality the best, they’re both meme loving gossips, you’d love them. On the surface, Kirishima would get along with you really well, too, but his constant talk about hard work and being ‘manly’ would get on your nerves pretty quick.” Izuku hummed again. “Uraraka would love the opportunity to work with you, but there’s really nothing you can offer her except for exposure, so-“ He jolted and started scratching his arm, muttering about stupid molting season. “- so even if she impresses you, don’t send an offer to her.”

 

Keigo nodded along and ruffled his hair. “Okay, so I’m mainly watching for Ashido and Kaminari?”

 

Izuku paused in his scratching and tilted his head. “Hmm. No. Now that I’m thinking about it, your styles are too different. You’d get along like a house on fire, but Kaminari should probably be with Hizashi, and Ashido would do best with someone who fights either close combat or mid-range.”

 

“Hey, I can fight up close!” Keigo defended himself.

 

“Yeah, I know, but that’s not your preferred method of fighting,” Izuku shrugged.  “Oh, it’s starting! Shouta is supposed to be commentating with Hizashi, so this is going to be amazing!”

 

“GUYS, GALS, AND NON-BINARY PALS, WELCOME TO THE ANNUAL UA SPORTS FESTIVAL! I’LL BE YOUR HOST TODAY FOR THIS FINE EVENT, I’M PRESENT MIC! WITH ME IN THE BOOTH IS MY CO-HOST, ERASERHEAD! SAY HELLO, ERASER!”

 

“No,” came Shouta’s bland answer.

 

Izuku giggled as Hizashi tried to coax a better greeting out of Shouta and failed miserably.

 

“Sometimes I find it hard to believe those two are in a loving marriage,” Keigo joked.

 

Izuku laughed at that. “Shouta really does act as though he can’t stand Hizashi when they’re in public, but you should see them when they’re relaxing after a long week. Shouta is a total cuddle bug, rarely leaves Zashi’s side on the weekends. They are couple’s goals.”

 

“Damn, I wish I had someone like that.”

 

“Same.”

 

The two were quiet for a while as the classes were introduced, and then Momo took the stage for the student pledge.

 

“I thought the person who took first place on the entrance exam did the student pledge?” Keigo asked.

 

“This year’s first place student is stuck at home molting,” Izuku sassed, smacking Keigo on the arm.

 

“Oh yeah. What about second place?”

 

“Expelled.”

 

Keigo raised an eyebrow. “Third?”

 

Izuku shrugged. “I’m not sure who third place was, but the class representative is a good choice. Momo won’t embarrass the class.”

 

Momo’s speech finished up and Midnight announced that the first event was an obstacle course.

 

“Wanna place bets on who’s going to win this?” Keigo asked.

 

Izuku shook his head. “I’d bet on Hitoshi no matter what, he’s my brother after all.”

 

“Then why not bet on him?” Keigo asked as the students started the course.

 

“He’s not likely going to win. I won’t be surprised if he throws the whole Festival. He doesn’t want to attract any attention, and Shouta’s already said he’s going to be offering me and Toshi internships, so there’s no one for Toshi to impress.”

 

The two fell silent for a little while, before Keigo sat up straighter, noticing something on the television. “Oh, who’s that?” Keigo asked, pointing to a girl with chin length silver hair. She was attacking the robots with pieces of scrap metal that she was controlling telekinetically. “She’s long range! I could work with that!”

 

Izuku shrugged. “She’s in 1-B, but I’m not too sure what her name is. Yana-something? I think?”

 

“Hmm,” Keigo wrote down in a notebook his observations. “I think I’m going to send her an offer.”

 

Izuku shrugged. “Okay.”

 

“Who’s the kid with the scales? That’s pretty cool too.”

 

“Why are you asking about so many 1-B students? I don’t know anything about them,” Izuku whined, before trying to scratch his shoulder. “That does look like a good offense/defense quirk, though.”

 

Keigo gasped excitedly and started shaking Izuku frantically. “Zuzu!! Zuzu!! HE’S A BIRD!!!! Who’s that!? Tell me he’s in your class! I need the bird boy!” He scribbled in his notebook, and Izuku could see that he had just written ‘BIRB BOY!!’

 

Izuku snorted. “That’s Tokoyami Fumikage. The bird head is just a mutation, his quirk isn’t bird related at all – his quirk is a sentient shadow that he calls Dark Shadow. Dark Shadow does usually look like a bird, but I think she only looks like that because Tokoyami has a bird head. She usually purrs and acts more like a cat.”

 

“I still want him. Tell him I want him,” Keigo insisted.

 

“I’m sure he’ll notice when he gets your internship offer.”

 

“Don’t care, tell him anyways.”

 

Izuku snorted at that, right before he turned his back to Keigo and started using his arm as a scratching post. “I hate molting season!!!” Izuku hissed.

 

By the time the two had tuned back into the event, Shouto was freezing a path through a minefield while other students were setting the mines off in a shower of pink smoke and glitter.

 

“Wait, did we miss the middle?! I blame you!” Izuku hit Keigo on the arm.

 

“Ow, hey! It’s not my fault!” Keigo defended himself.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Shouto had gotten first place and his lead was a lot bigger than he had expected it to be, but the 1-B girl with the vines for hair came in second place. Shouto kept watching the leaderboard, wondering what place Hitoshi would be, if he even is going to bother with moving on to the next event. A few minutes later, Hitoshi’s name came on the leaderboard in 41^st place, right in front of Aoyama.

 

“AND WITH THAT, OUR 42 STUDENTS THAT ARE MOVING ON TO THE SECOND EVENT HAVE BEEN CHOOSEN!” Present Mic’s voice called out.

 

Shouto smiled softly at Hitoshi’s offended face as he came up to him. “I thought for sure that they would only move on the top 40! Now I have to put in actual effort!”

 

“You don’t have to, love, you can still throw the next match.”

 

Hitoshi shook his head. “No, I’ll throw an event for myself, but you know as well as I do the second event is always all about teamwork. I don’t want to sabotage an entire group just because I don’t want to move on.”

 

“Hmm. In that case, would you like to be on the same team as me?” Shouto asked.

 

“Eh, sure.” Hitoshi looked around for other people who would make a good team. “Pity Izu’s not here, he’d be great for our team.”

 

Kaminari pranced up to the two and grinned. “I heard you say Izu? How is he?”

 

Hitoshi smirked. “If you join our team for the next event, I’ll tell you,” he offered, and laughed as Kaminari’s face lit up.

 

“I’m in!”

 

“Great, we’ll probably need one more. Shou, go see if you can snag Momo.”

 

Shouto hummed in agreement and went to find Momo as Hitoshi turned to Kaminari.

 

“Izu’s miserable. He’s molting. Do you know what that is?” he asked.

 

“I think so?” Kaminari hedged. “He’s losing feathers, right?”

 

“Yeah. And the process sucks for him more than other Avians due to how his wings are retractable. He’s got a fever, he’s super itchy, and he’s moody. He’s been wearing like, four sweaters because he’s also cold.”

 

Kaminari winced. “Would it be okay if I came over to visit, you know, say hi?” his cheeks blushed lightly.

 

“Oh, you are so precious,” Hitoshi muttered. “You know Izuku’s totally oblivious, right? You’re going to have to outright say “hey Izu, I like you,” for him to realize that you’ve been flirting with him for weeks.”

 

Kaminari grinned and scratched the back of his head. “So, I was being as obvious as I thought I was?”

 

“Oh yeah. So obvious. Me and Shouto have been trying to clue him in, but he’s totally clueless.” Hitoshi thought for a moment. “I’ll ask my dad if you can come over. If he says yes, then I’m going to be expecting you to flat out tell Izu you like him.”

 

Kaminari laughed. “Alright, I can do that!”

 

Shouto came back with Momo just a few moments before Midnight announced the next event.

 

~*~*~*~

 

“Huh,” Izuku muttered, “I didn’t think Toshi was going to bother with the second event.”

 

Keigo looked up at the TV from where he was scratching Izuku’s back. “So, you still don’t want to make bets on who’s going to win?”

 

“Nope.” He watched the groups get all set up. “They have all sorts of mixtures in there,” Izuku mumbled, seeing a girl from support mixed with Uraraka, a girl with vines for hair from 1-B, and Iida.

 

Keigo got up and wandered into the kitchen. “You hungry, owlet?”

 

Izuku hummed as he got up to join Keigo to look for something to either eat or make, keeping an ear open for the cavalry battle. “I think we have some chicken in here?” Izuku opened the fridge and started looking through the leftovers. “Might not be enough for both of us, though.”

 

“Meh, how about we run out to pick something up?” Keigo suggested. “You up for a quick outing?”

 

Izuku shook his head. “If you want to run and grab something, that’s cool, but it’s cold today and I already look a mess in my four sweaters.”

 

Keigo laughed. “Are they at least all your sweaters?”

 

Izuku grinned. “One of them is, the one on the bottom. Then I have one of Toshi’s, followed by Zashi’s, and finally this one is Shouta’s.”

 

Keigo just shook his head. “I don’t feel like leaving you all alone, so how about we just order out?”

 

“Sure.” As Keigo called in an order for delivery, Izuku glanced back at the television to see the places. Toshi’s team had lost their ten million points but were still in first place. It looked as though the other teams were all still fighting over the headband that was on the ground, frozen in a block of ice. “Smart,” Izuku observed.

 

“If I didn’t know that Endeavor wanted him, I’d totally offer him an internship,” Keigo said.

 

“Shouto would rather go with another hero, but no other fire user is willing to stand up against Endeavor, and Shou’s already said he’s going to intern with a fire user.”

 

Toshi’s team finished the second event in first place, and the students all took a break for lunch. Conveniently, the food Keigo had ordered arrived about the same time, so they sat on the floor near the patio to eat.

 

Izuku yawned shortly after they had finished eating. “Have I mentioned how much I hate this?”

 

“Come here, baby bird, you can take a nap with me,” Keigo huffed out in amusement. “Growing feathers takes a lot of energy.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku was in such a deep sleep that he hadn’t so much as stirred when Keigo tried to wake him up for the 1v1 matches, so Keigo let him sleep through it. The older bird fell asleep right after Shouto defeated Tokoyami for the first place.

 

The two of them didn’t wake up until the others had returned home – Keigo blinking awake and Izuku waking with a loud hiss.

 

“And that,” Shouta said to Hitoshi, gesturing to Izuku, “is why I said no to Kaminari coming over.”

Notes:

So I'm sure you all know how much I hate the Sports Fest. It's a necessary evil to write, but it's not one I put too much thought to.

Chapter 18

Izuku practically danced out into the kitchen on Monday morning, one of the largest smiles on his face Hizashi had ever seen, eyes twinkling in delight. “Good morning, Papa!” Izuku exclaimed, giving Hizashi a big hug.

 

Giggling, Hizashi replied, “And a very good morning to you as well, my baby owl! I take it it’s a good day?”

 

Izuku nodded his head and extended his wings, full of fresh, glossy feathers. “I’m finally done molting! And look! I got an extra seven inches!” Izuku ran his fingers down his primary flight feathers. “They changed color slightly, too! I’m probably only a few molts away from having a full set of adult feathers!”

 

“I’m happy for you, baby!” Hizashi hugged his baby bird tightly as Hitoshi shuffled into the kitchen.

 

“Morning, Zu,” Hitoshi yawned, flopping into a chair at the kitchen.

 

“Toshi! Look, look! My wings have more white in them now!” Izuku shoved one of his wings right in Hitoshi’s face while grinning like a loon. “I was hoping they’d be bigger, but I didn’t think they’d be whiter! I’ve almost grown out of all my baby feathers!”

 

Hitoshi had just barely managed to keep his eyes open long enough to see Izuku’s wings when Izuku hopped away, most likely looking for Shouta so he could keep showing off his wings.

 

“Where did my shy, quiet brother go?” Hitoshi mumbled. “No one gave him permission to be such a morning person.”

 

Hizashi laughed and placed a mug of coffee in front of Hitoshi and then ruffled his hair.

 

“Shouta, Shouta, Shouta, Dad, Dad! Look, look, look! Aren’t my new feathers so pretty?!” Izuku jumped on the bed where Shouta was still attempting to wake himself up. “Come on, you’re not looking!” he whined and started shaking Shouta awake.

 

“Oh gods, now there’s two of them,” Shouta grumbled, wondering who he pissed off to give him a son that was every bit as hyper as his husband was.

 

“Just look at my new, pretty feathers and I’ll leave you alone!” Izuku tried to compromise.

 

“Fine,” Shouta mumbled and opened his eyes. “They’re very nice, Izu. Now go away.”

 

“Hmph, you’re no fun,” Izuku poked Shouta one more time before getting up and going back to the kitchen. “Papa, Dad’s a grouch!” Izuku complained with his cheeks puffed out.

 

With another laugh, Hizashi said, “You’re just now realizing this?”

 

“Okay, who are you and what did you do with my brother?” Hitoshi asked, earning himself a laugh from Izuku.

 

“I can fly again!” Izuku bounced up and down a few times. “I’m going to fly to school today! I got my flight permit a few days before I started molting, but I’m going to use it today!” He turned to Hizashi. “Can I fly to school today? Please?”

 

“How could I say no to that cute little face?” Hizashi pinched Izuku’s cheeks. “Just make sure you’re not late to class, or Shouta will never let you hear the end of it.”

 

Izuku nodded and then bounced to his room to get dressed in his school uniform. “I hope his energy remains all day,” Hizashi said wistfully.

 

A few minutes later, Izuku darted out of his bedroom and got his shoes before going to the patio and sliding the door open. Once he got his shoes on and his backpack put on across his front, Izuku climbed onto the railing and jumped, spreading his wings and cheering as he flew off.

 

Hizashi couldn’t help laughing. “Toshi, do you mind bringing Izu his breakfast when you get to class? He was too excited to eat.”

 

Hitoshi waved a hand as he took a sip of his coffee.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku couldn’t stop his grin if he tried. The wind in his new feathers felt so clean and refreshing, the pure joy of soaring through the skies was intoxicating, and at this time of day, there were no heroes on duty that could encroach upon his claim on the sky. It was all his.

 

Izuku took a deep breath of sky and did a few barrel rolls while still flying in the general direction of UA. He could see the school from up here, and he knew he should be making his decent to the school now, but he was just so happy to finally be in the air again. He started to make lazy circles around the building, not quite wanting to come down, but knowing he shouldn’t roam too far from the school.

 

Glancing at his phone, he saw he only had about ten minutes before class started, so he decided it was time to land. He tucked his wings in close and went for a steep dive, going faster and faster, wishing he had a speedometer on him, wondering if he could reach the elusive 240 kph he’d been trying for. Right at the last moment, he snapped his wings open, turning his decent into a glide, and then a full halt with a few flaps of his wings, and dropped the last ten feet to the ground, and never once did he lose his grin.

 

“Holy shit, that was sexy!” a voice called out from behind him.

 

Izuku turned around quickly, he hadn’t noticed there was anyone there when he was diving, but now he saw that Kaminari had been really close to where Izuku had landed. “Oh, uh, hi! Sorry, I didn’t notice you there!”

 

“Nah, man, you’re good, I’m so glad I got to see that! That was hot!” Kaminari smirked at him and winked. “You’re feeling better now, I take it?”

 

“Y-yeah, my molt finished up during the night, and now I can fly again!” Izuku got that manic grin in his eyes again and hopped over to Kaminari’s side. “Look how pretty my new feathers are! They’re all soft and glossy, and I got another seven inches to my wingspan! And some of my darker feathers have lightened up, I only have a few baby feathers left, I’m probably just two or three molts away from a full set of adult feathers!” Izuku was bouncing along beside Kaminari as he was showing off his feathers.

 

“They are really pretty!” Kaminari said, laughing. He’d never seen Izuku this happy before, and he couldn’t help thinking that he was so cute like this. “Is it okay if I touch them?” Izuku nodded, and Kaminari gently started running his fingers through Izuku’s feathers. “Woah, they are super soft!”

 

“Yup! Owl feathers have to be super soft, otherwise we wouldn’t be anywhere near as silent in flight as we are. Oh, there are so many owl facts I could tell you!”

 

“Yeah? How about we go to a café or something after school and you can tell me all about them?” Kaminari suggested with a grin. “Make it a date?”

 

Kaminari saw the exact moment Izuku bluescreened. “Are…. Are you really asking me out? Like, on a real date?”

 

“Yup! That’s what I said! How about it? Just one date, we can talk about owl facts, and if we don’t both want another date, then we can just be friends, but if we do, we can go from there.” Kaminari gently stroked Izuku’s feathers again. “I’ve been trying to flirt with you since the first week of school, but I guess you haven’t noticed?”

 

Izuku’s mouth was gaping as he just blinked at Kaminari repeatedly. “I, uh… no, I didn’t notice,” he blushed. “But, if you’re sure you really want to, sure? T-there’s a café Hitoshi and I usually go to, it’s pretty close?”

 

Kaminari smiled widely. “I’d love to go there!” They could see Shouta walking down the hall. “Oh, we need to get inside before Sensei kills us!”

 

The two boys darted into the classroom with only thirty seconds to spare.

 

~*~*~*~

 

As soon as Shouta flopped over in his sleeping bag and let Midnight take over on helping the kids decide on their hero names, Izuku turned Hitoshi’s chair around and gave him a look of desperation. “Toshi!” he hissed, “I think I have a date today after school!”

 

“Oh?” Hitoshi drawled, slight smirk gracing his lips. “Did Kaminari finally man up and ask you out?”

 

Izuku squawked in indignation. “How did you know?!”

 

Hitoshi laughed as Shouto pulled his chair next to them. “Did I hear correctly? You have a date with Kaminari after school?”

 

Izuku nodded at him with a bright blush. “I was gushing to him about my new feathers, and I may have let out an owl fact. When I told him I know a lot more, he suggested going to a café after school to hear more, and before I could say yes or no, he suggested it be a date.” Izuku covered his face with both hands. “Then he said he’s been flirting with me since the first week of school!”

 

“Yeah,” Shouto said. “He hasn’t been very subtle about it, either.”

 

“Very obvious,” Hitoshi agreed.

 

Izuku just squeaked. “You both knew and didn’t say anything?!”

 

Hitoshi raised an eyebrow. “We tried. You’re just as dense as a brick wall and never took the hints.”

 

“Which café are you going to?” Shouto asked.

 

“I suggested the Owl Café,” Izuku muttered. “Do you think that was a bad idea? I didn’t tell him the name of the place, so we can still change it!”

 

“Nah, that café is super cute, and you’re always so adorable when you have a bunch of owls preening your hair,” Hitoshi smirked. “He’s going to fall hard for you after that, I hope you’re ready!”

 

“Toshiiiiii!” Izuku whined, once again covering his face as the other two laughed.

 

Midnight walked over to the three. “Well, it doesn’t look like you’re talking about your hero names, boys. I hope you’re all ready to present your names?” All three nodded and showed her their whiteboards that had their names on them, names they had long since chosen. “Very well, step up and present! Midoriya, you can go first!”

 

Izuku nodded and got up in front of the class. “So, the name I’m going to use is the same one I used for my vigilante name. I’m going to be The Owl Hero: Screech,” he said with a smile.

 

“Approved! Thank you, Midoriya! Shinsou, you’re up next!”

 

Hitoshi sauntered up to the podium. “I’m going to use The Hypnotizing Hero: Hypnos.”

 

“Ooh, I like it! Approved! Todoroki, your turn!”

 

“The Contrasting Hero: Duality,” Shouto said simply.

 

“Wow, you boys are three for three! Let’s see if the rest of the class can keep up with this momentum! Who’s next?”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Once everyone had chosen their hero names, Shouta handed out the stacks of internship offers.

 

“Aww, Midoriya, you didn’t get any offers at all?” Sero asked, turning to him.

 

Izuku shrugged. “Well, I didn’t need any. I pretty much have to do my internship with S-Aizawa-sensei.”

 

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting about that vigilante thing you did,” he said. “You don’t act at all like what I picture a vigilante would.”

 

“Thanks? I guess?” Izuku tilted his head. “Oh, I actually have suggestions for a few people, excuse me.” Izuku got up and headed over to Tokoyami.

 

“Hello, Midoriya. Is there something I can help you with?” he asked.

 

“Uh, no, but I was told to relay a message to you,” Izuku blushed. “Hawks said he was going to send you an internship request, and he wanted me to make sure you knew he really wanted to have you as his intern.”

 

Tokoyami’s eyes widened in surprise. “Hawks, the Number Three Hero?” Tokoyami looked back to his list of offers and found Hawk’s name there. “What a mad banquet of darkness,” he said softly.

 

“Yeah, so, you don’t have to pick him if you don’t want to, and I’m like, 97% sure he only put in the offer because you have a bird head, but he is a really good hero, and you would learn a lot from him. You’ll just have to be patient with him, he can be a lot to deal with.”

 

“You speak as though you know him,” Tokoyami hedged.

 

“Oh, yeah, we go flying together a few times a week, text constantly, and get fried chicken together a lot. He’s practically my older brother at this point,” Izuku grinned. “K-I mean, Hawks is one of my favorite people, not to mention my personal Number Three favorite hero.”

 

Tokoyami nodded seriously. “I shall take that into consideration, thank you.”

 

Izuku nodded back at him and then turned his attention to Kaminari.

 

“Hey, Kaminari!” Izuku smiled softly. “Can I see your list of offers?”

 

“Sure thing!” Kaminari handed over his stack of offers and Izuku flipped through them, hoping for a specific name.

 

When he saw the name he was looking for, his eyes lit up. “Oh, you have to pick Present Mic! Kaminari, I’m serious, you neeeeed to pick him!”

 

Kaminari looked at him skeptically. “I mean, yeah, Mic’s pretty cool, but we have such different quirks and styles, are you sure?”

 

Izuku nodded frantically. “Yes! Present Mic’s quirk is super versatile, and really powerful! He’s had a lot of practice getting his Voice to a level to where it won’t hurt himself or others, and he’d be the best choice for you to get more control over your electricity! And even though the more noticeable applications of his quirk are long range, Mic is an AMAZING close combat fighter! There aren’t many people who can spar against Eraserhead on equal footing, but Mic is one of them! I promise you, you won’t regret going with Mic!”

 

“Well, with an endorsement like that, how could I say no? Present Mic it is!”

 

“Yay!” Izuku hugged Kaminari and then quickly darted back to Hitoshi before he even realized what he’d done. As soon as he did, though, he practically melted in a puddle of embarrassment.

Notes:

Izuku just had to land right in front of Kaminari, didn't he? Ugh.... Time to update the tags. Kami/Izu is it.

Not gonna lie, I really wanted to write that, and I totally have the date planned out and everything. I just hope it's long enough for a full chapter, otherwise it's going to be a shorter chapter - that date will be its own chapter.

Chapter 19

Notes:

Okay, so I couldn't get the Date out of my head, so here it is. A few days early.

Enjoy!

Izuku had been getting nervous as the day progressed, knowing he had a date with Kaminari right after school, so it really wasn’t a surprise to him when he walked out the school gates with Kaminari only to see Keigo waiting across the street for their weekly Monday flights.

 

Turning to Kaminari, Izuku blushed, “Sorry, I, uh, forgot I have a weekly thing with K-uh, I mean Hawks. I’ll be right back!”

 

“Woah, that’s really Hawks? Number Three Pro Hero Hawks? Do you think I can meet him?” Kaminari replied with a huge grin.

 

“Probably, but let me talk to him for a few minutes first, okay?” When Kaminari nodded, Izuku dashed to the other side of the street to talk to Keigo.

 

“Baby bird, it looks like you’re canceling last minute, huh?” Keigo teased.

 

Izuku blushed again. “Y-yeah, I have a…. a date?”

 

Looking over to Kaminari, Keigo gave an appreciative whistle. “Way to go, little bro! He’s the kid who got third place in the Sports Fest, right?”

 

“Yeah. I watched the reruns, he was amazing! And I found out today that he’s been flirting with me since the first week of school – oh! Keigo, look at my new feathers!” Izuku pulled out his wings and Keigo got just as excited over his new feathers as Izuku himself had been.

 

“Woah, you must have gotten a good six or seven new inches! And it seems you lost some of your baby feathers, these new ones are so pretty!” Running his fingers through the feathers, “They’re so soft! I love your wings, Baby Zu!” Keigo put his whole face in the wings and nuzzled his feathers while Izuku giggled.

 

“Thanks, Kei!” He gently tugged his wings back and said, “Is it okay if we cancel today?”

 

Turning serious once again, Keigo ruffled Izuku’s hair. “On one condition. I still need that promise from you.”

 

Izuku nodded. “I promise, Kei. I’ll stay alive one more week.”

 

“Okay,” Keigo whispered, and then pulled Izuku into a hug. “I love you, baby bro. I love you so much.”

 

Izuku held on to Keigo just as tightly. “I love you too, Kei.” They stood like that for a few more moments before pulling away. “Oh, Kaminari wanted to meet you. Something about you being the Number Three, or something like that.”

 

Keigo chuckled. “Sure, I’ll meet the guy stealing my Little Zu from me on a Monday.”

 

“Keigoooo!” Izuku whined, before leading him over to where Kaminari was still waiting. “Hey Kaminari, thanks for waiting! You wanted to meet him, so this is Hawks. Hawks, this is my - friend, Kaminari Denki.” Izuku had stumbled momentarily at calling Kaminari his friend. Were they going to be boyfriends after this? Or should he have called him his classmate? Was friends the right thing to say?

 

Kaminari flashed a brilliant smile at them. “It’s really great to meet you! I didn’t know Midoriya knew you!”

 

“Oh yeah, the baby bird is practically my little bro! And I guess he was too flustered about your ~date~ to remember we had plans today,” he teased them, earning himself a slap on the arm from Izuku and a slight blush from Kaminari. Laughing, Keigo continued. “Next time you ask him out, try to avoid Mondays, okay? We have a weekly thing, and I don’t want to do it over the phone.”

 

“Right, sure, I don’t mind moving our date to tomorrow if you still want to do your thing today?” Kaminari offered.

 

“Nah, we already did, that’s what that talk was. And hey, changing the subject a little bit, congrats on your third place in the Sports Fest! You were great out there, kid!”

 

“Thanks! Midoriya helped me with ideas on how to use my quirk better, and he relayed more ideas through Shinsou when we had our own training sessions! I’ve gotten a lot better with his advice! I haven’t short-circuited since I started with this new method of using my quirk.”

 

“I’m glad! My little owl is absolutely brilliant! I just wish he wanted to be Limelight so I could have snagged him for an internship, but alas, the owlet likes Eraserhead more than me,” Keigo pouted.

 

“I have never made that a secret, Kei! You’ve known forever that Eraser’s my favorite!” Izuku puffed out his cheeks.

 

“Yeah yeah, he’s been your favorite since before I ever debuted. I know. Doesn’t mean I’m not still jealous,” Keigo pulled Izuku in close and ruffled his hair to Izu’s hissed protests. Laughing, Keigo let him go. “Okay, I won’t keep you any longer. Go on and enjoy yourselves.”

 

“Thanks, man! It was nice meeting you! I’ll make sure to take care of Midoriya while we’re out!” Kaminari said cheerfully.

 

“You better,” Keigo warned. “I’ll know otherwise.” Before the boys could say anything else, Keigo shot up in the air and flew off.

 

“Well, as far as shovel talks go, that wasn’t so bad,” Kaminari joked before turning back to Izuku. “Ready to go?”

 

~*~*~*~

 

“So, do you want weird or cute owl facts first?” Izuku asked Kaminari while he had two tiny Elf Owls in his hair and the Snowy Owl that always hung out with Hitoshi was preening Izuku’s curls, and a Screech Owl had taken a perch next to Kaminari and was playing with his hair.

 

“How about a cute one to start us off?” Kaminari giggled and pet the owl’s feathers.

 

Humming to himself for a moment, Izuku give the first owl fact. “A group of owls is called a parliament. This originates from C.S. Lewis’ description of a meeting of owls in The Chronicles of Narnia.”

 

“Really?” Kaminari’s eyes were wide as he processed that fact.

 

“Yup! I’ve never read the book, though. Next one! The tiniest owl in the world is the Elf Owl, which is 5 - 6 inches tall and weighs about 1 ½ ounces. The Blakiston Fish Owl is the world's largest – and one of the rarest – owl species, with an impressive 6-foot wingspan.” Izuku gestured to the owls in his hair. “These little runts are Elf Owls!”

 

“They’re super cute!” Kaminari said.

 

Izuku nodded slowly, not wanting to dislodge the owls. “This next one is kinda… embarrassing? But not sure why? In fat years when mice are plentiful, usually monogamous Boreal Owls are apt to be promiscuous. Because easy prey means less work for parents feeding their young, males have been caught mating with up to three females, while females have been seen with at least one beau on the side.”

 

Kaminari snickered at that. “Well, if they’re as cute as you are, I’m not surprised.”

 

Izuku blushed and hid his face behind his hands. “Okay, now we’re moving on to creepy facts!”

 

“Hit me!” Kaminari laughed.

 

“The eyes of an owl are not true “eyeballs.” Their tube-shaped eyes are completely immobile, providing binocular vision which fully focuses on their prey and boosts depth perception. That’s why owls move their heads so much. And on that note, owls can rotate their necks 270 degrees. A blood-pooling system collects blood to power their brains and eyes when neck movement cuts off circulation.”

 

“Huh. You really do know a whole lot about owls,” Kaminari said.

 

“Yeah.” Izuku pet the Snowy Owl a little and then continued in a whisper, “My quirk came in late. There… were some issues at home, because of it. Once I realized it was an owl quirk, I decided to learn everything there was to know about owls.”

 

Kaminari winced. “I kinda know what you mean,” he replied. “Like, I mean, it sounds like your parents might not have been super supportive. My parents both have really weak electrical quirks, and they’re electricians. They wanted me to follow them, since it’s a really stable job and I’m really stupid, so they don’t think I’ll-“ he was cut off as Izuku threw a balled up napkin at him.

 

“You’re not allowed to talk bad about yourself, Kaminari,” Izuku said earnestly. “Try that again but be nice to yourself.” Izuku blanched. “Oh gods, I sound like Toshi!”

 

Kaminari tilted his head at that. “Huh?”

 

Izuku blushed. “I used to have a really bad habit of talking really poorly about myself,” he admitted. “Hitoshi started carrying around a squirt gun and he would squirt me whenever he heard me say something bad about myself and then make me repeat it while using kind words.”

 

“Ah. Yeah, I kinda do that too,” Kaminari admitted. “Since I short-circuit so often, people have always called me stupid. Plus, I’m really hyper, and I get bored easily. I’m pretty sure I have ADHD, but my parents don’t believe it’s a real thing, so they won’t take me to a doctor for it.” He shrugged. “I’m just waiting now for graduation, then I can get myself a doctor’s appointment.”

 

“You could always talk to Shouta or Hizashi about that,” Izuku offered.

 

“Who?”

 

“Oh, sorry, Aizawa-sensei or Mic-sensei. They would help you get an appointment, and would probably talk to your parents about it, too.” Izuku looked Kaminari directly in the eyes. “You’re not stupid, Kaminari. I’ve met some stupid people, and you’re not one of them. So please, don’t call yourself stupid again?”

 

Kaminari’s breath hitched a little as he looked down. “Yeah, okay.” He then looked back up at Izuku. “Thanks. No one’s ever said something like that to me.”

 

Izuku smiled at him. “I’m still learning to be kind to myself,” he said gently. “And who knows? Helping you learn those same lessons might make them stick better for myself, too.”

 

Kaminari smiled gently. “Um, if you don’t mind my asking… no, never mind. Do you have any more owl facts?”

 

Izuku stared at him for a moment, “I do, but I rather hear your question.”

 

“It’s… personal. Probably too personal for a first date,” Kaminari admitted. “I really like you, and I don’t want to make you too uncomfortable on the first date to make you not want a second.”

 

Izuku looked back down and sighed. “I think I really like you, too,” he said quietly. “So, in the spirit of fairness, I should tell you that I come with a lot of extra baggage.” Izuku started tugging at his fingers. “I don’t really want to tell you this, but it’s probably best to get it out now, before either of us start to develop real feelings.”

 

Kaminari looked at him concerned. “What do you mean?”

 

Izuku sighed deeply. “Kaminari, I… I’ve got really bad depression, and I’ve gotten a lot better about it, but I’m… I still have days where I’m suicidal,” he finished in a whisper. “That’s what my Monday talks with K-Hawks are. I promise him every week that I’ll live just one more week.” He closed his eyes. “I’ve almost broken that promise a few times.”

 

Kaminari was silent, and Izuku was worried he’d scared him off, but then he felt him take his hands in his. “Thank you for telling me.” His smile was small, but no less genuine. “I don’t know how I can help you with these things, but I want to be here for you. You’re the smartest, kindest, strongest person I know, and I would love to keep seeing you.”

 

“You really mean that?” Izuku asked. “You’re really willing to put up with all my issues?”

 

“No. I’m not going to ‘put up’ with you. What I will do, though, is embrace every aspect of you. If you’re sad, I’ll try to cheer you up. If you’re happy, I can match your energy and be happy with you.” Kaminari winked at him. “Ready for a cheesy pick-up line?”

 

Izuku had tears in his eyes and a smile on his face as he nodded. “Sure.”

 

“Are you a magazine? ‘Cause, baby, I’d like to subscribe to all your issues.”

 

Izuku laughed as his tears started falling. “I don’t know, it’s going to be pretty hard to unsubscribe. There will most likely be a cancellation fee. Are you sure?”

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more sure about anything before,” Kaminari agreed whole-heartedly.

 

Izuku nodded. “Okay.”

 

“Goddammit!”

 

At the exclamation, both boys turned to see where it came from, only to see Hitoshi, Shouta, Shouto, and Hizashi watching from a few booths away.

 

“I never gave Izuku the talk about loud blonds!” Shouta hissed to himself, earning a smack from Hizashi.

 

“There’s nothing wrong with a loud blond, babe.”

 

“No, Dad’s got a point,” Hitoshi said.

 

Shouto snickered. “Stop trying to get on his good side. You know full well you’re the one who helped to facilitate this.”

 

“Shut up! Are you trying to get me killed?” Hitoshi glanced nervously at Shouta.

 

Hizashi joined Shouto’s snickering. “Babe, this is just going to show that our little owl is more like you than we ever could have imagined! He’s choosing a loud blond for himself!”

 

“Don’t do it, Izuku! Loud blonds are nothing but trouble!”

 

Kaminari glanced back to Izuku. “Uh, what?”

 

Izuku just buried his face in his hands. “Kaminari-“

 

“Denki.” Izuku looked back up at him startled. “If we’re going to be doing this, and I really, really want to, then I want you to call me Denki.”

 

“Okay. Denki. Then you have to call me Izuku.” Denki nodded with a bright smile. “Denki, you already know that I live with Aizawa-sensei, and that Hitoshi’s my brother. Well, Mic-sensei is my other dad.”

 

“So, Mic-sensei and Aizawa-sensei are together?”

 

“Yup. They’re married.”

 

“Cool. So, I’ll be getting a shovel talk from three separate Pro Heroes in the near future. Cool.”

 

“You still sure you want to do this?” Izuku confirmed.

 

“Yeah. You’re my boyfriend now, Izuku. No refunds!”

Chapter 20

Notes:

So, who wanted 1500 words all about Mic being freaking awesome at training Denki? I didn't, this was not in my plans! *searching outline franticly* Yeah, this was supposed to be the chapter where we slap Stain. *glares slightly at Mic* *whispers to Mic* Why did you have to be so awesome and caring and a good mentor..?

Izuku had been in a really good mood since he had gotten back home from his date the day before, and it lasted well into the next. Denki had joined their group for lunch again, and they sat next to each other, they even held hands under the lunch table, while Izuku did his very best to imitate a strawberry.

 

His good mood lasted well past when he got home. Most of the class had submitted their internship requests today, and Denki was going to be going with Papa, just like he had suggested, and Izuku had successfully talked Momo out of going with Uwabami and was now going to be interning with FatGum. Shouto was going to be with his dad, and both Izuku and Hitoshi were of course going to be with Shouta.

 

The good mood killer was when he heard Shouta muttering about Iida going to Hosu with Manual and wondering if he was trying to get himself killed going after a serial killer.

 

Izuku got up from where he was watching TV with Hitoshi and walked over to Shouta and leaned up against him. “Is Iida going to do something dumb?” he asked quietly.

 

Shouta reached up and gently tugged at one of Izuku’s curls. “Eavesdropping isn’t polite, Zuzu.”

 

Izuku snorted. “It’s not my fault you were talking to yourself, Dad.” Izuku hooted in contentment when Shouta started running his fingers through his hair.

 

“I want to keep an eye on Iida, but I’m going to have you and Hitoshi with me. I don’t know how I feel about taking you two into Hosu.”

 

Izuku nuzzled into Shouta’s shoulder. “Be honest,” Izuku muttered. “Is there really a lot you need to teach me about hero work I haven’t already picked up on? I have a potential solution if there isn’t a lot I need to learn.”

 

Shouta was silent for a few minutes. “While there is a lot still to teach you, that won’t be covered during this internship,” Shouta finally admitted. “I will most likely be spending the week going into detail about patrols with Toshi, so it will be mostly review for you.”

 

Izuku nodded. “In that case, I can take to the skies and keep watch over Iida. I’ll let you know if he does something stupid. I won’t engage unless necessary.” Izuku glanced up at Shouta’s face. “How does that sound? You can take Toshi to Hosu and teach him all about how patrols work, and I’ll keep watch. If you’re needed, you’ll be there.”

 

Izuku could see the way Shouta was weighing the options, so he decided to add another push. “Plus, I can always help keep an eye out for Stain himself. If I see him, I can let you know, and we can track him down. I don't have to engage, I can just track?”

 

Shouta ruffled his hair and pushed him aside. “Go back to Toshi, I’ll think about Hosu.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Hitoshi was standing off to the side with Shouto as they waited for the entire class to gather at the train station. Shouto was annoyed that the only fire user to send him an internship request was his dad, but he wasn’t too upset about it. Honestly, the two of them were mostly upset about having to be apart for the full week that the internships would last. With the intensity of the internship and the different schedules of Limelight vs. Underground, neither Shouta nor Endeavor were likely to let the two boys have any personal time together.

 

Meanwhile, Izuku and Denki were having a similar goodbye. They’d only been dating for a few days, but Izuku had been really enjoying it so far. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but Denki just made him feel… different? Like, he really liked it when Denki kissed his cheek, and when they held hands, and he liked to nuzzle into Denki’s side, but… well, he did that with the rest of his family too. But it felt… different… with Denki. And Izuku really liked the way it felt.

 

And now he was going to have to separate for a week since Papa was going to be spending the week doing a very intense training regiment with Denki, and Izuku was going to be in Hosu with Toshi and Shouta doing a heavy patrol in the city.

 

“Zuzu,” Denki said as he toyed with one of Izuku’s curls, “promise me you’ll be safe?”

 

Izuku nodded. “I’m mostly going to be just the eyes in the sky,” Izuku promised. “I’ll only engage if someone’s life is in direct danger.”

 

“Okay. I mean, I finally got myself a boyfriend, I really don’t want to lose you already,” Denki said with a wink.

 

Izuku took Denki’s hand in his and nuzzled it against his cheek while blushing. “Same here, I really like this, what we have right now. And don’t worry, I was a vigilante for years, I know how to stay safe.”

 

Denki snorted. “You know staying safe is the exact opposite of vigilantism, right?”

 

“You sound like Shouta,” Izuku giggled. “I swear, Denki, I’ll be back, in one piece, at the end of this week. But you have to promise me you won’t let yourself get distracted worrying about me, and learn everything Zashi has to teach you, okay?”

 

“I promise, Zuzu. I’ll have a lot more control over my quirk when you get back home. Oh, there’s this romcom that just came out, when internships are over, let’s go catch a movie together? And maybe dinner afterwards?”

 

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that!”

 

Once everyone had arrived at the station, Shouta made sure everyone had their costume cases, were told to be on their best behaviors, and then told they would have a month of detention if he heard they were less than perfect while with their mentors. After Shouta was sure everyone knew he was serious, he made sure Hitoshi, Izuku, and Iida followed him to the train to Hosu.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Denki didn’t get on a train, he didn’t need to. Mic-sensei said the facilities at his agency would be the best if he was working with a sound or voice-based quirk, but as Denki’s quirk wasn’t sound or voice based, they would be working primarily at the UA facilities.

 

Denki was sure that Izu would never steer him wrong, so he was trusting that Mic-sensei really was the best person to go, and that his suggestion wasn’t just because Mic-sensei was his second dad.

 

And man, what a trip that was to find out! He had known that Aizawa-sensei was the hero he was living with, and that Hitoshi was his brother, so by default that Aizawa-sensei was Hitoshi’s dad, but never in a million years would Denki have ever thought that Mic-sensei was married to Aizawa-sensei!

 

But it kinda, sorta made sense?

 

“Kaminari, glad you made it!” Mic-sensei called out to him, startling Denki out of his thoughts. “I’m really glad you picked me, honestly! I know there were a lot of other heroes you could have chosen, and I’m sure you had your reservations, but I’m sure we can get you to a good place by the time this week is up!”

 

“I hope so too! Izu kept saying nothing but good things about you and that I’ll learn a lot from you,” Denki grinned at Mic-sensei. “You’ve got a lot to live up to, Mic-sensei!”

 

“YEAAAH! Let’s get this party started!” Mic-sensei gestured for Denki to follow him, and they reached one of the gyms. Mic-sensei brought Denki to what looked like a battery hook-up. “Okay, so the first thing I want to talk to you about is this – why are you so obsessed with how many volts you can produce?”

 

“Well, more volts equal more power, right?” Denki answered hesitantly. “That’s what my quirk counselor said, anyways.”

 

Mic-sensei pinched the bridge of his nose in a manner very similar to Aizawa-sensei, and Denki wasn’t sure who got the habit from who. “So, I need to get Nedzu to investigate a quirk counselor for incompetence, huh? Okay,” he muttered. Louder, he said, “No, volts are going to be pretty useless to you. They don't actually measure power, but rather the difference in charge that compels electrical energy to move from one place to another – basically it's a measure of how far electricity can go, as well as it's likelihood to arc. As you are not a power line and arcing is generally a bad thing for you, as it sends your electricity into the ground, where it is essentially wasted, you don't need to have a particularly high voltage. You would actually benefit from having a far lower one.”

 

Denki’s eyes were as wide as saucers. “That’s totally not what I’ve been taught!”

 

“Yeah, that seems a bit obvious now,” Mic-sensei winced. “I’m going to be giving you a few books on electricity that I want you to read, but you can do that after training is done for the day. Think of it as a bit of supplemental reading for what we’re going to be going over this week.”

 

Denki nodded, not quite happy about having to do some extra reading, but okay with it if it’ll help him be a better hero.

 

“Okay, now continuing with the problem of how many volts you use, the 1 million volts you use in your indiscriminate shock is overkill. Like, most power outlets use 240, and some countries even have that as too high of an arcing risk and use 120 volts as their standards. And have you ever seen what an average powerline can do to a person? Spoiler – it’s not pretty. So do us all a favor, don’t use that million plus voltage thing again, ya dig?”

 

“Yeah,” Denki whispered. “Um, should I be writing this all down?”

 

“Nah, it’ll all be in the books I give you, with a lot more detail.” Mic-sensei put his hand on Denki’s head. “One of the main things I want to work on with you this week is minimizing your arcing. Yes, it looks super flashy, the media will love it, and you will be a walking fire hazard. Please, please, please do not become a walking fire hazard! The only time I want to see you arcing is when you are just about to touch something with your new gloves. It won’t look as cool, but it will be so much safer to other people, and it will reduce your casualties and potential property damage. So, promise me, yeah? You’re going to lower your voltage, and no more of this indiscriminate shock nonsense?"

 

"Uh, yeah," Denki rubbed the back of his neck. “Izu already told me to stop using it because it made me short-circuit too much, so don’t worry about that one.”

 

“Good.” Mic-sensei scratched at his nose for a second, trying to figure out how to phrase the next part. “While volts are practically useless for you, what you do need to practice with is your amperage, as that’s the measure of the amount of electrical energy being moved at any one time. It is, in essence, the thing that makes electricity so dangerous – it’s what you will need to learn to control so as to effectively incapacitate your opponents without killing them. You’ll want to keep your amperage fairly low, as you want to be a taser and not an electric chair.”

 

Mic-sensei gave him a sad smile. “While you will inevitably lose control at some point in your career and kill someone, I really don’t want it to be while you’re still a student. You have a really strong quirk, and those of us with strong quirks have to keep this in mind, accidents happen. So, keep to the lowest power setting you can manage, and gradually increase your power if it’s really needed.”

 

Denki’s eyes lit up with understanding, “I really don’t want to kill anyone.”

 

“No one does, Kaminari,” Mic-sensei said calmly. “But with a quirk as powerful as yours, it’s an inevitability. Hopefully not for many years and learning this control now will keep that inevitability at bay for a long time.”

 

Mic-sensei looked at him with understanding. “Did you know I’m nearly completely deaf?” he asked.

 

Denki looked at him with confusion, not understanding the topic change, but rolling with it none the less. “No.”

 

Mic-sensei nodded and shifted his headphones. “Yeah, I have hearing aids that are covered up by my headphones. My quirk is really powerful, and my body doesn’t have any natural protection from the sheer volume I can produce. Soundwaves are really freaking powerful and super dangerous. I’m sure you heard about what Izuku did to the Nomu at the USJ, right?”

 

Denki nodded. While he had been short-circuited for the latter half of the ordeal and didn’t actually see what he did, he had been told all about it by Mina who had watched it all go down.

 

“Soundwaves. I can do that too, but I hurt myself and anyone who happens to be in the area, so I developed other techniques that are just as effective, but a lot safer, while using that overwhelmingly powerful attack as a last ditch move. If I used it all the time, I’d have a massive casualty count and my property damage would be in the billions.”

 

Mic-sensei continued, “Electricity, also, is stupidly freaking dangerous, Kaminari. There are so many things that can go wrong with attacking someone with an electrical attack, that you might want to think about if you want to attack directly at all or just use that as a backup – a last ditch move, if you will. I’ve seen you charging cell phones by sticking the charging cable in your mouth, you could do something similar with support gear – having a weapon that is useless in the hands of anyone else, but you could use your electricity to power it. Now, I’m not saying that using support gear is inherently better than attacking physically, they both have their pros and cons. But it is a choice that I feel you should seriously consider. This is especially important due to how much training you wasted trying to be a Pikachu and keeping a constant 240 volts at 30–50 Amps in order to power support items, is far easier to learn and execute than constantly adjusting your amperage while also keeping track of where you are striking so that you don’t kill or permanently cripple your opponent. “

 

Mic-sensei paused, thinking, and then added on, “Though, on the other hand, support items can break and that could be really bad in the middle of a fight, but that’s why I’m going to make sure you can use your quirk safely, so if you do decide to go the route of support gear, you’ll be able to continue fighting if your gear breaks.”

 

Mic-sensei clapped his hands. “So, are you ready for some hands-on stuff now?”

 

Denki grinned brightly and nodded. He was really freaking glad he listened to Izuku and went with Present Mic! This man knew what he was talking about!

Notes:

So I want to thank RavensphirSeltos for a comment they left on chapter 16. I totally stole that comment and used a LOT of it in this chapter. Once Mic decided he wanted to explain to Denki exactly how electricity worked and why his 1.3 million volt indiscriminate shock was dumb, I needed to figure out how to say it in words I could understand. I remembered RavensphirSeltos's comment and started hunting my comments for it because they explained things in a way that made sense to me. So thank you, so very, very much!

Chapter 21

“I still don’t understand why you felt the need to sit with me,” Iida said, looking between Hitoshi and Izuku who were sitting on either side of him on the train to Hosu.

 

“Simple,” Hitoshi said with a shrug. “I didn’t feel like sitting with my dad.”

 

Izuku let out a soft hoot. “Shouta wouldn’t let me have the window seat.” Izuku had claimed the window seat and was watching the scenery pass by, while Shouta was a few rows ahead of them, sleeping against his window.

 

“Be that as it may, there were plenty of other rows you could have chosen. Why sit with me?”

 

“Why not?” Hitoshi countered to the annoyance of Iida.

 

“Iida,” Izuku said softly, still watching the scenery go by. “When we get to Hosu, please don’t be an idiot.”

 

“Excuse me?” he asked, quite offended that Izuku would suggest he would do anything to warrant such a warning.

 

Izuku turned and looked Iida directly in the eyes. “Don’t. Be. An. Idiot.” Izuku turned back to the window.

 

Hitoshi snickered at Iida’s dumbfounded look. “Izu doesn’t pull his punches, so if you’re an idiot and he finds out, get ready!”

 

Iida sputtered and asked, “What makes either of you think I’m going to do something idiotic?”

 

Neither Hitoshi nor Izuku answered him, and they spent the rest of the train ride to Hosu in quiet.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Iida had gone off with Manual once the train arrived in Hosu, and Shouta took his two hellions to the hotel they would be staying at. Since Shouta was an Independent Hero, he didn’t have an agency with a convenient base of operations in any city. The three of them would be staying in one room with two beds and a couch. All three of them had issues with sleep, so they had decided that whoever managed to fall asleep first could take a bed. Shouta and Izuku were both far more used to the rigors of patrolling, so they were sure the couch would belong to one of them.

 

Unless Izuku decided to cuddle, which was a more than likely scenario, honestly.

 

Hitoshi and Izuku got into their hero costumes and met Shouta on the roof of the hotel after they had eaten dinner. “So, the first thing you need to know about patrols, you will, or rather should, never have a set route. Limelight heroes will need a set route so their fans can find them and see them, but an underground hero never wants to be predictable.”

 

Izuku was nodding along with what Shouta was saying. “When you’re predictable, the weaker villains know when and where they shouldn’t be, and the stronger ones can set up an ambush. But when your route changes with your mood, the villains never know where you’ll be or when,” Izuku added. “I never really needed to worry about a route, I just flew above the buildings and kept my eyes and ears open.”

 

“That’s a benefit that comes from having the power of flight. For those of us stuck on the ground, we have to alter our patrol route nightly.” Shouta turned to Izuku. “You have your earpiece, right?” Izuku nodded. “Okay, you know your role for the week. Keep in touch, and if anyone tries to give you shit for flying, let me know. You have permission to patrol the skies. Don’t engage without my direct say-so.”

 

Izuku nodded, chirped, spread his wings, and jumped off the hotel’s roof. Hitoshi watched in jealous awe as Izuku flapped his wings silently and soon disappeared into the night sky.

 

Turning back to Shouta, Hitoshi said, “So, we’re going to be going over patrolling all week?”

 

~*~*~*~

 

For the past three nights, Izuku had kept to the skies, directing Shouta and Hitoshi to minor scuffles in their area while keeping an eye out for Stain. He had thought he saw him a few times, but every time he tried to get a second look there was nothing there.

 

Izuku had really missed this feeling – flying for a patrol was a lot different than flying for the pure enjoyment of experiencing the sky. The main difference was that Izuku had to stay closer to the ground so he could take part in a fight if needed. Because of this, though, he had been spotted by a hero on his second night.

 

 Manual had noticed him and after pointing him out to Iida, called him down. Izuku had told him he had permission to patrol solo from Eraserhead, and after confirming that himself, Manual let out a message to the rest of the Hosu-based heroes to leave Izuku alone should they see him.

 

Izuku noticed something going on downtown, a commotion of some sort. “Eraser, there’s something downtown. I’m going to go see what it is,” he said over the coms.

 

“Go for it, Screech. Keep me updated in case I need to –“ Shouta was interrupted by Izuku.

 

“Nomus!! There’s five of them!! Eraser, I’m going to help them!!” Izuku called out, and Shouta knew that he wasn’t asking.

 

“Dammit, Screech! Fine, you have permission to engage, just don’t get hurt!”

 

Instead of a reply, Shouta heard Izuku let loose a screech from a few blocks away. “Hypnos, come on!”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Tenya heard the commotion along with Manual, but when Manual had told him to follow him to the excitement, Tenya had turned and run the other way. This was his chance! While Manual was distracted with some situation, Tenya would finally have his chance to look for Stain! He was sure to find him if he searched the alleyways a little way back. He had thought he had seen a flash of red a way back, so that’s where Tenya went first.

 

As he was running, he heard what sounded like voices, so he ran into the alleyway he had heard the voices and was pleased to see he was correct in thinking it was Stain.

 

“Hero Killer Stain! I am here to end your reign of terror!” Tenya called out to the villain.

 

Stain looked up at Tenya. “You… you’re a child, aren’t you?” Stain asked, looking at Tenya. “Go away, this does not concern you.”

 

“You fiend! This does concern me! You attacked my brother and permanently injured him! My brother will never be able to be a hero again! And for that,” Tenya exclaimed, “I will be putting you down! I have inherited my brother’s name, so now you face Ingenium!”

 

Tenya fired up his Recipro Burst and charged at Stain, fully intending to end him in one hit, but was not prepared for the speed of Stain’s attack. Before Tenya had managed to react, Stain had stabbed him in the shoulder and pulled the blade free.

 

“You villain!” Tenya turned around, intending to charge him again, when Stain licked his blade. Tenya instantly fell to the ground.

 

Stain leisurely walked up to Tenya. “You fake,” he hissed. “You claim to be a hero, but you are only acting for yourself, in the name of revenge. Tell me, little fake, did you even notice the other hero that was in this alley with me?”

 

Tenya’s eyes widened. No, no he hasn’t noticed that there was anyone else here. Which, thinking on it, he should have. He had noticed Stain because he was talking to someone, right?

 

Stain grinned and moved Tenya so he was watching Native staring back at him with fearful eyes. “Little fake hero, you’re going to watch me kill this fake, and then you’re going to follow him to the afterlife.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku came in fast with an ear-splitting screech at the first Nomu he saw, only using enough power to temporarily stun it while he extended his talons and raked them deeply across the brain, killing it, and then he flipped in mid-air and set off on another one.

 

He could see a few different heroes running around, most evacuating the civilians, but a few fighting the Nomu. Endeavor was there fighting one, and he saw that Shouto was assisting on the evac. Izuku dropped to the ground and took up assisting a hero who wasn’t doing too well against a large green Nomu. He had pulled out his staff and while he was distracting the creature, the hero he had helped managed to take it down.

 

Izuku then took off into the air again and set his sights on a third Nomu that wasn’t being corralled. He managed to drop that one the same way he had taken the first one, and when Izuku went to look for another one, he saw that the last one was the one Endeavor was fighting. After looking to see if there was anything else he could assist with, and finding that everything was under control, Izuku relaxed.

 

“Tenya! Where are you? Come on, kid, this is not the time to disappear on me!” Izuku snapped his head around and saw Manual, calling out for Iida.

 

“Eraser! The excitement downtown is over, but Manual lost Iida. I took down two Nomu myself, and assisted with a third, so I should stick around for my statement, but-“

 

“Screech, go find Iida. Once you find him, drag him back to Manual, and then you can give your statement,” Shouta interrupted tiredly.

 

“Sure thing, Eraser. If he’s run into Stain, can I engage?” he asked, just to make sure.

 

“Yeah, permission granted.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Tenya couldn’t stop his tears from falling as he watched Stain decapitate the other hero, Native? Was that his name? Tenya wasn’t sure, but if he had just thought about being a hero, and not just about revenge, he might have seen the hero and gotten him out of danger in time for him to survive!

 

Stain pulled out a new knife and walked up to Tenya. “Now,” he said as he jabbed the knife into Tenya’s leg, “I get to have some fun with you.” He pulled out the knife and licked Tenya’s blood again. “Do you hear that noise in the background?”

 

Tenya could barely hear anything over the rush of blood in his ears, but he vaguely remembered that there had been a commotion downtown.

 

“The city was under attack,” Stain said, providing the answer for Tenya. “That fake,” Stain gestured to Native, “had already been paralyzed by my quirk by the time the attack began. But you arrived well after it. Did you use that attack as a means to hunt me down?”

 

Tenya couldn’t even look up at the villain, he felt so ashamed. He was right! He had only been thinking of hunting this man down and making him pay for what he had done to Tensei! He hadn’t been thinking of the potential danger that was facing the civilians of Hosu, he hadn’t been thinking about his internship, he just wanted to enact his vengeance!

 

“Worry not, young hero,” Stain grinned. “You’ll not have to worry about the civilians, about your brother, or anyone else here soon.”

 

Stain stabbed Tenya again, once more in his left arm. Tenya shrieked in pain as Stain twisted the knife in his arm, just above the elbow. Stain pulled out the knife again, and by the look in the villain’s eyes, Tenya knew this was it – he was going to die with the next attack. “I’m sorry, Tensei,” he whispered, closing his eyes and accepting his death.

 

The hit never came.

 

Instead, he felt, more than heard, an impact strike Stain and knock him back against the far wall of the alleyway. Tenya opened his eyes to see huge white and grey wings – Midoriya Izuku!

 

“Sorry I’m late, Tenya, there was a commotion downtown I needed to take care of. I didn’t realize you were out here being an idiot until everyone else was already safe.”

 

“Midoriya, get out of here!” Tenya called out. “This isn’t your fight!”

 

“Tenya!” Midoriya said, steel in his voice. “When we are out on the field, you are to use our Hero names! It doesn’t matter if you know my civilian name, you are not to use it while on the field! Honestly, that’s one of the first things Eraser-sensei told us when we were leaving for our internships!”

 

That’s right, Tenya hadn’t informed any of his classmates that he had decided to take on his brother’s name. “Sorry, Mid-um, Screech,” Tenya amended himself. “But that doesn’t change anything! This isn’t your fight!”

 

“And that’s where you’re wrong,” Midoriya said, extending his staff, still glaring at Stain. “Eraserhead and I both knew you were going to pull something like this. My entire role for this week was to watch you and make sure you didn’t do anything dumb.” He glanced briefly at Tenya. “And oh, look. You did the dumb.” He looked briefly at Native’s corpse and pursed his lips.

 

“So, you were here protecting this fake?” Stain sneered. “You did a wonderful job of it,” he taunted.

 

“I am aware,” Midoriya whispered. “I thought he’d have enough sense to make his way to the crisis and help there. The evacuations could have used him there.”

 

Stain pulled out a katana and grinned at Midoriya. “Regardless of your reasons, you are protecting a fake hero, one that I have deemed deserving of being culled. Stand aside, unless you wish to join him in death.”

 

Midoriya sighed. “While I do wish that some days, today isn’t one of them.” He shifted his grip on his staff. “I’m going to stop you.”

 

Notes:

One more chapter of Stain, and the aftermath. What I wanted to add would have made this chapter a little too long, but I'm not sure if it will be enough for a full chapter. Therefore, next chapter *might* be a little short.

Chapter 22

Izuku blocked the strike from Stain’s katana with his staff, and with a quick snap of his wings, distracted Stain just enough to get a quick swipe at his arm with his talons. Stain was quick enough to be able to avoid getting the tendons in his arm cut, but Izuku’s talons still did some damage.

 

Stain had managed to get a few kicks in to Izuku’s ribs – but every time he got that close, Izuku managed to rake him with his talons. Izuku was sure he had managed to nick an artery with how much the villain was bleeding, but that wasn’t slowing him down at all.

 

The two continued to trade blow after blow, and Izuku refused to let himself be cut. He could just feel it in his bones, with his current failure, Iida being hurt, Native being dead, if Izuku let himself be cut, he might just let himself be killed. He didn’t want to die, not today, not right now. He wanted to live! He wanted to make it home, he wanted to go to that movie with Denki, he wanted to maybe even have his first kiss.

 

So, he refused to let himself be cut. He finally had things to live for.

 

The look in the killer’s eyes was terrifying, though. With every blocked attack, he started to look more and more manic. Izuku wanted to screech at him, but they were in such an enclosed space, he risked further injury to Iida. But. . . he needed just a second of breathing room. A small screech wouldn’t hurt, right?

 

He let loose one of the most mild screeches he could, and the acoustics of the alleyway amplified the sound and Stain stumbled back, clutching at his ears and giving Izuku the break he needed get a solid hit in on Stain’s head, dropping him instantly.

 

Not wasting any time, Izuku clicked on his communicator to call Shouta and started using his zip-ties to cuff the villain. “Eraser, I found Tenya, he was being attacked by Stain. He needs immediate medical, here’s my location.”

 

“Goddammit, Problem Child,” Shouta muttered back. “Okay, I’ll get medical sent out, and I’m on my way with Hypnos.”

 

“Um, you might want to leave Hypnos behind,” he hesitated. “Pro Hero Native didn’t . . . survive the meeting with Stain.”

 

Shouta cursed again, and Izuku wasn’t sure if he had told Hitoshi to stay behind or not. “How about you? Are you injured?” Shouta asked.

 

“Not really, he did land a few solid hits on me, but he didn’t manage to cut me. Maybe a few bruised ribs, but that’s the extent.”

 

“Good,” Shouta replied, dropping down from the roof into the alleyway Izuku was currently in, Hitoshi right behind him.

 

Izuku gave them both a nod. “I haven’t checked on Tenya yet, I’m still disarming Stain, I’m not sure how long before he regains consciousness, and I don’t want him to have access to any of his weapons when he wakes up. Plus, you’ve got more experience with medical.”

 

“Understood. Hypnos, help Screech disarm him,” Shouta instructed, not wanting Hitoshi close to where Native’s body was. It was bad enough that both Izuku and Iida would have to see Native like this in their nightmares.

 

Hitoshi slid next to Izuku and the two kept pulling more and more weapons from the unconscious killer while Shouta was assessing the damage done to Iida.

 

“How are you holding up?” Izuku asked Hitoshi.

 

Hitoshi was very careful not to look over at Iida or Native when he answered. “Okay, I guess? How about you?”

 

“Not my first corpse,” Izuku muttered. “As much as I wish it didn’t, it does get easier. It’s easiest when you’re not the one who put it there, though.”

 

Hitoshi remembered the aftermath of when Izuku killed the Nomu at the USJ, and then put his arm around him, pulling him close. “Are you going to be okay later?” Hitoshi whispered, sure that Izuku had killed some of the Nomu downtown before he came after Iida.

 

Izuku looked up at Hitoshi quickly before he continued looking for more weapons on the unconscious killer. “I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not.” He sat back, not able to find any more blades. “Don’t be surprised if I cling to you or Dad tonight.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku and Hitoshi were sitting in the waiting room with Shouta nearby, leaning back in his chair and attempting to nap. Izuku had heard how the EMT’s were reacting to Iida’s arm, and from what they were saying, it didn’t seem as though Iida would be able to keep his arm. As soon as Izuku had heard that, he begged Shouta to let him stay until they found out for sure about Iida’s condition.

 

Shouta reluctantly agreed, knowing that he’d have to call Tensei once he had more information.

 

When they had first gotten to the hospital, Shouta had been on the phone with the police chief, and from what Izuku could hear, the chief was trying to get the credit for both the incident with all of the Nomu and with Stain given to Endeavor, since it wasn’t possible for a student to have been able to do as much as Izuku had done, but Shouta was adamant that Izuku had really been the one to defeat both the Nomus and Stain.

 

The chief only relented when Shouta threatened to have Nedzu pull up security footage from the city to prove that his student truly did achieve what he had said he had.

 

But then the chief had started speaking about how he should be arrested for vigilantism, since he didn’t have permission to use his quirk in public, which Shouta again shot down, as he had been careful to make sure Izuku did indeed have permission to use his quirk to both assist in the defeat of the Nomu and to protect Iida.

 

Iida, however, would be punished for his actions. Regardless of his medical outcome, he would have a mark of vigilantism on his record.

 

Shouta had called up Nedzu and asked if they’d be able to enroll Iida in the vigilante reform program to get the black mark removed from his record, and Nedzu had said it would be up to Iida himself. If he wanted to try to make amends for his actions, then Nedzu would see about getting him enrolled in the program, but if he decided to give up on heroics, then he would be transferred to General Education.

 

Izuku took Hitoshi’s hand and started absently playing with his fingers. He was starting to get really impatient about waiting for Iida’s condition. He could remember seeing Stain twist a knife that was lodged deeply in Iida’s arm above the elbow and a large and bleeding gash in Iida’s lower leg.

 

Izuku had started making impatient chirps by the time the doctor finally came out to talk to Shouta.

 

Technically, Izuku and Hitoshi weren’t supposed to hear what the doctor was saying, but Shouta purposely didn’t walk too far away from the boys – close enough for Izuku to still hear what the doctor was saying, but far enough for the doctor to think they were speaking privately.

 

Iida’s arm had indeed been amputated, four inches above the elbow, and he was going to need a few more surgeries and possibly months of physical therapy before he’d be able to put any weight on his leg. He was not expected to be able to use the engine in his left leg ever again.

 

Shouta joined Izuku and Hitoshi again, and instead of going back to his chair to try to nap, he pulled Izuku into a hug, knowing just how hard that was going to hit his son.

 

“I failed him,” Izuku whispered to Shouta, face buried in the capture scarf and tears starting to fall.

 

“No,” Shouta said calmly. “You didn’t fail anyone, Izuku. You did just as you should have – you prioritized the situation correctly. The city was under attack, and if you hadn’t made that your main focus, so many more people would have gotten hurt or killed tonight. You did everything correctly. I’m proud of you.”

 

“But Iida won’t be able to be a hero anymore,” Izuku managed to say through his tears.

 

Shouta ran his fingers through Izuku’s hair in a soothing motion. “I know, Izuku, I know. But as callous as it sounds, that is his own doing. He knew the city was under attack, and instead of doing his duty, accompanying his mentor to see where he could help most, he chose to seek out a battle he had no hope of winning.”

 

“If I had just stayed with him-“ Shouta tapped him sharply on the head, causing him to chirp in surprise.

 

“You acted correctly, Izuku. Don’t doubt your actions. You are on your way to being an amazing hero, but not even you can be in two places at once. You were where you needed to be most, and you managed to reach Iida in time to save his life. That is all that we can ask of you.” Shouta tilted Izuku’s head up so he could look him in the eyes. “You did everything you possibly could in this situation. Iida is alive, and that is thanks to you.”

 

“Okay.” Izuku buried his face back into Shouta’s capture scarf, but his tears had stopped falling.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Tenya stared at the stump where his arm had once been. He should be dead. If it wasn’t for Midoriya’s interference, Tenya would be dead. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this. He had let his brother down. He had let his family down. The name of Ingenium would die now, no longer having a hero to be tied to it.

 

The doctor told him that his left engine was going to be useless from here on out, and he’d likely not be able to walk for months, at the bare minimum.

 

Tensei was going to be so disappointed in him.

 

~*~*~*~

 

UA Student Intern Instrumental in Protecting Hosu City

Thursday evening, Hosu City came under attack by creatures created by the League of Villains. These creatures were causing serious damage to the city and were attacking the civilians as well as the heroes. While some of the heroes on scene, such as Endeavor, were able to handle the creatures on their own, others were not as fortunate. These creatures were extremely durable to most attacks that were aimed their way.

Fortunately, these creatures were not able to stand up to the UA Student Intern who dropped from the sky almost as thought sent from the gods! This student, who is aiming for a career in the Underground Heroics field so will remain nameless, has an Avian quirk and was able to attack these creatures from above where they seemed to be weakest—

 

Bakugou Katsuki angrily clicked out of the article. That damn, useless, fucking DEKU! How dare he show up Katsuki like this?! First, he has the balls to get into UA when Katsuki fucking told him not to apply! And then, THEN! He goes and throws Katsuki out the GODDAMN building and gets him expelled!

 

Now Katsuki is back in the Aldera School System, and he’s become the laughingstock of the entire fucking neighborhood! He was supposed to be the one who got out of that hell hole and made something of himself! But no, thanks to Deku UA put a fucking black mark on his records, so none of the other hero schools would accept him.

 

Shiketsu wouldn’t take him, Ketsubutsu wouldn’t take him, not even that lame ass Seijin would take him! AND IT WAS ALL DEKU’S FAULT!!

 

Growling, Katsuki opened the next article from the day before.

 

UA Student Responsible for Arrest of Hero Killer: Stain!

Thursday evening, while Hosu City was under attack, Hero Killer: Stain, known for his murder of 17 – recently updated to 18 – known Pro Heroes, and crippling 24 others to the point of being unable to make a full recovery, was apprehended by a UA Student with an Owl Quirk.

While the city was recovering from an attack from the League of Villains, the Hero Killer was hunting for a victim. Sadly, while Pro Hero Native was killed in action, a UA Student managed to disarm the killer—

 

Katsuki, raging, threw his computer monitor across the room. Fucking DEKU AGAIN!!!

Notes:

So... a little shameless self-promotion here! I started a new fic this past week, and it completely took over my life for the week. Seriously, I posted six chapters in five days.

o_o It was wild.

The prologue is done, and I'm starting to get into the main portion of the fic now. It's called Shadowstep, and I love it! Please go read it! It's got Mercenary Izuku!

And, it, um.... Might take over as my main fic? I love it that much.

Chapter 23

Notes:

I'm so sorry this took so long to come out! I can't promise the next chapter will be out soon, for some reason my brain keeps pulling a Denki and not letting me write Screech. :(

Hitoshi was in the backseat of the car, carding his fingers through Izuku’s hair as he lay curled up in Hitoshi’s lap. His brother had gotten almost no sleep the past few days, his sleep full of nightmares.

 

The attack on the city had been on Wednesday night, and the only reason they hadn’t come home that day was because Izuku didn’t want to cut Hitoshi’s internship short, and he swore he’d be okay. Izuku would start out the early morning hours cuddling with either Hitoshi or Dad, but by the time they woke up, Izuku would have migrated to the motel’s roof.

 

Not even cuddling with Dad could rid Izuku of his nightmares. Izuku had eyebags that were almost as Gucci as his and Dad’s, and with Izuku being an owl and used to little sleep, that was really indicative of his condition.

 

Hitoshi really didn’t want to wake up Izuku, he seemed to be sleeping peacefully for the first time since the attack, but they were almost home. Hopefully Papa would be able to help Izuku sleep, and if not, then Auntie Nem definitely would.

 

As they turned the final corner and their apartment building came into view, Hitoshi gently nudged Izuku. “Hey there birdbrain, time to wake up. We’re home.”

 

Izuku tightened his hold on Hitoshi and shook his head.

 

“I’m going to leave you in the car, Zuku,” Hitoshi warned.

 

“Nnnnnn,” Izuku complained wordlessly.

 

Dad parked the car and looked back at them. “If you carry him inside, I’ll grab all the bags,” he suggested.

 

Hitoshi huffed in annoyance. “You are so lucky you barely weigh anything,” Hitoshi said as he got a good grip on Izuku and got out of the car. Hitoshi was feeling the urge to be a little bit petty, so he decided to let Izuku continue sleeping all the way up to the apartment, and even once he got inside and kicked off his shoes.

 

Hitoshi let him sleep all the way up until he dropped him, right on Kaminari’s lap.

 

Izuku jolted awake from the sudden drop with a surprised squawk and looked around. His eyes met up with Kaminari’s and he hooted before wrapping his arms around him and burying his face in Kaminari's chest. “I didn’t think you’d still be here,” he mumbled into his chest.

 

Kaminari wrapped his arms around Izuku. “Of course, I’d still be here! Internships aren’t officially over until tomorrow, so I’m staying the night.” Kaminari started playing with Izuku’s hair. “Besides, I’ve heard you had a bad few days, and I told you I’d be here for you, so if you want to talk, or just snuggle, I’m here.”

 

Hitoshi heard Izuku hoot quietly, and then decided to give them privacy. He picked up his bag from where Dad had dropped it and wandered back to his room – he also had a boyfriend to talk to.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Denki smelled nice, like thunderstorms, a unique mix of fresh rain and lightning. Izuku had always loved the smell of a thunderstorm and would always open his window to let in the smell or fly to the roof to enjoy it. He nuzzled further into Denki’s hold and sighed in contentment.

 

“How was your internship, Denki?” Izuku asked. “Mine was a little too… exciting, to talk about tonight. But I want to hear about yours!”

 

Denki ran his fingers through Izuku’s hair. “It was great!” he answered. “I’m so glad you talked me into going with Mic-sensei, I learned so much! And he gave me these books on electricity, there was so much in there I didn’t know before. Like, did you know that using a higher voltage doesn’t necessarily mean more power?”

 

“Oh?” Izuku tilted his head up, so he was still leaning against Denki but now looking at him. “Tell me all about it!”

 

They spent the next hour like that, Izuku snuggled on Denki’s lap while the blond talked all about the things he learned over the course of the past week, Izuku breathing in Denki’s unique thunderstorm scent and listening to him talk excitedly about electricity. As Izuku buried his head more into Denki’s chest, before he felt himself drifting off to sleep, he couldn’t help but to think, ‘I don’t know why Dad complains about Loud Blonds so much. I really like mine.’

 

~*~*~*~

 

“So! Today, we will see just how much you learned in your internships!” All Might called out to the gathered students. “We will be running a race! But not just any race, no, a rescue race! Ground Gamma here is the perfect setting for this race!” All Might gestured to the fake city behind him. “I will be situated somewhere within, and you will be tasked to locate me!”

 

The students muttered to themselves excitedly, but no one was willing to use the word “fun.” They had been traumatized enough by Aizawa, thanks!

 

Izuku was bouncing on the balls of his feet as All Might separated the students into groups, based solely on their mobility levels, and then took off into the city to wait for his ‘rescue.’ Izuku’s group was comprised of himself, Hitoshi, Sero, and Shouto. If he flew, he’d win the race, no question, but Izuku wanted to see how he’d fare if he ran it without flying. He was sure he’d loose, but by how big of a margin?

 

He looked at the others he’d be running this race with. He couldn’t use Hitoshi to get anywhere faster, his scarf was a great mobility aid, but he kept it with him, the same way Shouta did. But Sero…. He’d be leaving bits of tape everywhere, maybe Izuku could use his tape to help him? And Shouto would likely create frozen pathways, Izuku could likely follow those.

 

With a firm plan in mind, Izuku took his place at the starting line.

 

As soon as the electronic buzzer signaled the start of the race, all four teens took off, Hitoshi very quickly taking the lead with Sero hot on his heels.

 

Hitoshi risked a glance back and noticed Izuku skillfully running along the pipes of the cityscape, occasionally swinging off of the tape that Sero had left behind, or sliding on the ice that Shouto created, but never once did he pull out his wings.

 

Turning his attention back to the race, he realized that Izuku was simply challenging himself. He was an expert at stealth, and unless he was up against Dad, he could easily evade and escape if needed. They had talked while during their internship about how Izuku wanted to work on his quirkless abilities, and it seemed as thought he was doing that now.

 

He wondered if Izuku would use his wings if he slipped, or if he’d just accept an injury as a learning experience? Hitoshi mentally shrugged and continued on with the race.

 

It didn’t take long for him to get to the finish line, getting first place, with Sero barely five seconds behind him. Shouto was another ten seconds behind Sero, and Izuku pulled up the rear a mere three seconds after Shouto. The four teens finished within twenty seconds of each other.

 

“Mido, bro, are you feeling okay?” Sero asked.

 

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine, why?” Izuku tilted his head in confusion.

 

“You didn’t fly! You could have destroyed us here with next to no effort!” he exclaimed. “Why didn’t you?”

 

Izuku grinned and shrugged. “Where’s the challenge in that?”

 

Hitoshi laughed and pushed Izuku toward the railing. “Brat.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Mitsune Kou was in the hospital. She was covered in third degree burns, and she had a few broken ribs. According to the doctor, some of the burns on her face were going to scar. Kou couldn’t stop the tears from falling if she tried. All she had done was try to cheer up and maybe befriend the boy who had transferred into her class.

 

Kou had heard that Bakugou had been expelled from UA in his first week, so of course he’d be unhappy with being in Aldera High School, but it’d been a few weeks and he was still snapping at all of their classmates. He was angry and bitter, and Kou wanted to help.

 

Her quirk was called Balloon Animal, and it enabled her to be able to create balloons and fill them with helium from the empty holes in her palms. She was planning to pursue a career with kids, maybe as a clown or for a party company, something like that, but today she had wanted to cheer up her classmate.

 

She had made him a cute little Pomeranian balloon dog, hoping to get maybe a smile, or a laugh. Instead, she got a face full of explosions.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Suspended for one week. This is the first time he’d ever been suspended! No one had ever had the balls to suspend him before, what was different this time? ‘I hurt her,’ Katsuki thought to himself. And he had hurt her. He saw the burns, he knew how hard he had punched her, he had heard her ribs crack. But it’s not like he’d never done that before! She wasn’t the first classmate he’d hurt, and she probably wouldn’t be the last. So, what the fuck was the problem?! Katsuki let explosions fill his hands, and the release felt so good.

 

‘Besides, the extra deserved it, she was looking down on me!’ And she was! Why the fuck else would she give him some stupid balloon?! And with that stupid look on her face, too! She was pitying him, well he showed her! Katsuki threw an explosion at the wall, leaving a dent in the specially fortified metal walls his room was made of. He grinned ferally at the dent in the wall and added another.

 

He had destroyed that stupid-ass dog thing, then beat the ever-loving shit out of her. Fucking extra, that’ll teach her not to look down on him again!

 

‘A hero shouldn't do that,’ he thought, the voice in his head sounding a lot like Deku. Katsuki growled at that and let the sweat build up in his palms, not exploding. Not only was Deku sitting smugly, tucked away all nice and happy at UA, after having stolen Katsuki's dream, now he’s pushing his stupid ass voice into Katsuki’s head!

 

With the excessive amount of sweat in his hands, Katsuki aimed another explosion at the wall, this time punching a hole in the wall, right through all the specially built fortifications.

 

Well, the joke’s on him. ‘I can't be a hero anymore.’ He’s been blacklisted from every single hero school in the country.

 

‘I can still be a hero!’ came that Deku-sounding motherfucking voice again, causing Katsuki to pause in his rampage. Yeah, there were vocational programs, Katsuki could enroll in one of those, but the heroes who came from those programs were lucky to ever see the triple digits in the rankings. Katsuki was supposed to be #1! He was supposed to be the top hero in the country, showing the world just how amazing he really was!

 

But now? ‘I never will be a hero, and it's all Deku's fault!’

 

Katsuki heard the doorbell ring, but whoever it was didn’t matter to him. He just blasted another wall apart, this time in the hallway, and nowhere near as heavily fortified, so it crumpled instantly.

 

After a few moments there were two police officers who walked up the stairs to confront him, with his palms still smoking, his parents behind them, both looking terrified. Why are they so scared?

 

The confusion was enough of a distraction for the officers to get cuffs on Katsuki, cancelling his quirk instantly and he could see the relief visibly spreading in his parents. ‘What? Were they scared of him?’

 

“You stupid ass bitch! You really called the fucking cops on me?!” he shrieked at his mom. “What the actual fuck, hag!”

 

“That’s no way to speak to your mother!” his dad exclaimed, trying to sound stern, but the underlaying fear made his voice waver.

 

As Katsuki was dragged out of the house, he saw most of the neighbors standing outside their homes, watching as he was humiliated yet again.

Notes:

Bakugou, what are you doing???

Chapter 24

Izuku stretched as he stood up. His sessions with Inui-san were always tense, but he also always felt at least a little better afterwards. Today had been an emergency session. After going the week, seeing Iida’s empty desk, Izuku felt he couldn’t wait for next Wednesday, so here they are, meeting on Saturday.

 

They had discussed the events in Hosu – Izuku was still blaming himself for Iida’s condition and Native’s death, but Inui-san was able to help him to see things more from the perspective that Shouta had tried to get him to see.

 

Izuku acted correctly, his priorities were dealt with perfectly, and as good as he is, he can’t be in multiple places at once.

 

It still hurt, especially when he remembered that Iida had lost his arm and the use of his quirk in one of his legs, but he had to remind himself that he was still alive. If Iida wanted, he could probably get some support gear and manage to return to the Hero Course. The rest was up to him.

 

Izuku had opened the door to Inui-san’s office and saw Shouta there waiting for him. As Shouta stood up, Izuku leaned into him, silently demanding a hug which Shouta was more than willing to supply.

 

“Aizawa, Izuku and I discussed this, but I think it would be beneficial to him to move these sessions from every other week to twice weekly for now, Tuesday and Thursday. Would that work for you?” Inui-san asked.

 

Shouta ran his fingers through Izuku’s curls and nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine. And if I’m not able to pick him up, he does have his flight license, so he can bring himself home if needed.”

 

Inui-san nodded. “On that note, I’ll see you on Tuesday, Izuku. Have a good rest of your day, pup.”

 

“Thank you, Inui-san,” Izuku smiled as he left with Shouta.

 

As Izuku got into the front seat of the car, Shouta turned to him. “Feeling better?”

 

Izuku nodded. “A little, yeah. I mean, I still feel I should have been able to do more, but I understand that what happened wasn’t my fault. We discussed it, and neither of us could think of anything that I could have done differently that would have ensured everything worked out as well as they did.”

 

Izuku sighed. “That’s actually why we’re moving these sessions to twice weekly. Inui-san says that I need to get it through my thick skull that when bad things happen during a crisis, it’s not my fault if I can’t stop it all, and that blaming myself is a great way to burn out before I even make my debut as a hero.”

 

“He’s right, you know,” Shouta said quietly as he started the car. “That’s something every hero needs to learn. You just so happen to get to experience this early, but all of your classmates will experience this sooner or later.”

 

They drove in silence for a few minutes before Izuku asked, “Did that happen to you too?”

 

Shouta didn’t answer right away, but when he did, he was whispering. “Yeah. There used to be three of us, Hizashi, me, and…. Oboro. During our second-year internships, Oboro and I were involved in an encounter. He was on evacuation, and I was fighting the villain. The villain managed to get away from me long enough to cause a building to come down. Oboro was trapped.”

 

Shouta took a deep breath and let it out. “I tried to distance myself from everyone after that, and if it weren’t for Hizashi being too stubborn to let me go, I might not be here today. When he saw me spiraling, he practically dragged me around with him wherever he went until I was able to function by myself again.”

 

Izuku chirped quietly. “Thank you for sharing.”

 

“Of course, Zuku.” Shouta reached over and ruffled his hair. “Now, enough depressing talk, how about we get some lunch before we head home?”

 

~*~*~*~

 

“So. We are totally doing a double date this weekend,” Denki suddenly declared on Wednesday at lunch. “We’ve been working really hard, and we deserve a break!”

 

Shouto slurped up a soba noodle and raised an eyebrow. “A double date?”

 

“Yeah! You and Hitoshi, and me and Izuku! Come on, it’ll be fun!” Denki pleaded.

 

Hitoshi glanced at Izuku with a questioning look. “You up for this?”

 

Izuku shrugged. “I mean, someone has to keep Denki out of trouble.”

 

“Hey!” Denki laughed and put his arm around Izuku. “I’m not that bad!” Izuku giggled and leaned into Denki’s side more. “So, I was thinking either laser tag, or an amusement park!”

 

Izuku chirped at the thought of laser tag while Hitoshi shook his head adamantly. “No, you don’t want to put Izuku in a dark room where you have to hide from him. You will lose. Even three on one, we won’t stand a chance against my freaking owl of a brother.”

 

“That’s what’ll make it fun, Hito!” Izuku grinned. “I’ll gladly take you all on!”

 

Hitoshi looked at Izuku and then turned to Denki. “If you make me go up against Izuku in laser tag, I’m bringing the parentals with me to at least attempt to make it a fair fight,” Hitoshi warned.

 

Izuku started grinning like a maniac. “Ooh, five on one! Now we’re talking! Let’s do it!”

 

“I’ll pass,” Shouto said. “It’s going to end up being Aizawa against Izuku for nearly the entire time, before Izuku decides to stop playing with him.”

 

Izuku hummed happily. “I haven’t been able to play in the dark with Shouta for a while.”

 

Hitoshi pointed at Izuku. “That. That right there. That’s why we’re not doing laser tag. I’ll agree to an amusement park, but I’m not crazy enough to go up against Izuku in laser tag in the dark.”

 

Izuku poked Denki in the side and glanced up at him through his bangs. “You know, I’ve never been to an amusement park. If those two are too scared to face me in laser tag, going to an amusement park sounds like fun.”

 

“Amusement park it is then!”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku stretched his wings wide as he landed on the roof of the building he was meeting Keigo on. He was still in a really good mood from the double date they had on Saturday. The four of them had spent the entire day at the amusement park, and it was great!

 

Izuku retracted his wings and sat down, flopping on his back to just enjoy the breeze and wait for Keigo to show up.

 

“Hey there, baby bird!” Keigo called out a few minutes later, dropping down next to Izuku. “How you been?”

 

Izuku sat up with a huge grin. “Kei! I heard about the fight you had earlier today, I didn’t think you’d be here so soon!”

 

“Ah, you know I wouldn’t make you wait that long, Owlet!” Keigo plopped down next to Izuku and put an arm around him, pulling him into a hug. “So? How was your week?”

 

Izuku snuggled into Keigo’s hug and said, “For the most part it was pretty normal. I told you last Monday that my therapy sessions moved to twice a week, that was pretty much the only thing that was really different.”

 

“You said ‘for the most part,’ so something was different?” Keigo asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Mhm!” Izuku nodded with a grin. “I went on my first double date on Saturday! Me and Denki, along with Toshi and Shouto. We went to the amusement park!”

 

“Please tell me I’m not the only one who finds the roller coasters boring!” Keigo exclaimed dramatically. “I mean, I can fly faster than they can move!”

 

“I know, right?!” Izuku chirped. “I didn’t say that to Denki, but yeah, the roller coasters were a little dull. I can do so much more maneuvering in mid-air at much faster speeds, but he liked it. So did Toshi, actually, but I think Shouto was a little meh about it.”

 

“Okay, so if the roller coasters weren’t your thing, what else did you do there?”

 

Izuku’s eyes lit up. “I had cotton candy for the first time! It was so fluffy! Oh, here, look!” Izuku pulled out his phone and showed Keigo a picture of him and Denki sharing a bright blue ball of fluffy candy, and then swiped to a picture of Hitoshi laughing at an indignant Shouto who was looking at a bit of pink cotton candy on his nose as if it personally offended him, before coming to another one of him with Denki feeding him a bite while Izuku blushed. “Me and Denki had blue raspberry, and Hitoshi and Shouto had cherry.”

 

Keigo touched the little cell phone straps that were on Izuku’s phone. “These are new.”

 

Izuku blushed again. “Yeah, Denki won those at a dart game at the amusement park.” There were two straps attached to Izuku’s phone, one was an adorable Pichu, and the other was a cute little Rowlet. “I thought he was going to keep one, but he said they couldn’t be separated, so he attached both to my phone.”

 

“You have such a cute little boyfriend! I’m almost jealous!” Keigo squealed, squeezing Izuku into a tight hug.

 

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, I really like him.” Izuku was quiet for a moment, and then continued, “Even when I’m not having a good day, Denki always seems to know what I need. I’m just worried that one day he’ll realize I’m too much work,” he whispered at the end.

 

“Nope, baby bird, don’t think like that,” Keigo tapped Izuku on the top of his head. “The boy seems to genuinely care for you and wants to be with you.”

 

“For now. But he’s always doing things for me, and I haven’t been able to do anything for him.”

 

“I’m sure you have, you just don’t realize it yet,” Keigo tried to reassure him.

 

Izuku shrugged. “If you say so.”

 

“Hey, where’d the happy little bird from a few minutes ago go? You were doing good, Owlet. What happened?” Keigo asked.

 

Izuku shrugged again. “I don’t know. It just snuck up on me.”

 

“Well, you know what else is gonna sneak up on you?” Keigo asked.

 

“What?”

 

“Me!” Keigo shouted and started tickling Izuku mercilessly.

 

~*~*~*~

 

It had been a week since Katsuki had been arrested, and he’d finally been released. He’d had a session with an anger management therapist while he was locked up, and he’d gotten weekly sessions scheduled going forwards. They were supposed to help him to stop being so angry at everyone.

 

But he wasn’t angry at everyone. He was only angry at Deku. Everyone else just so happened to be nearby when he wanted to blow Deku the fuck up!

 

But not today. He was going to go right up to Deku and explode his fucking face!

 

Wait, no, he was going to talk to him. Just talk to him. His therapist said he was going to be going to prison for a long time if he didn’t learn to get his temper under control and attacking people wouldn’t help.

 

It was with that thought in mind that Katsuki stomped his way to Deku’s place. He was going to have words with him, and he was going to keep himself from exploding, since he didn’t want to hurt Auntie. Just Deku.

 

Katsuki stomped up the stairs until he got to their apartment and had to stop himself from pounding on the door – instead, he firmly knocked.

 

After waiting a few minutes, the door was opened and a lady with vibrant blue hair stood in the doorway. "Yes? Can I help you with something?"

 

Katsuki stared at her for a minute, before glaring. “Where the hell is Auntie and Deku?” he demanded.

 

The lady looked at him with a confused expression. “If you mean the former tenants, I’m not sure. My husband and I moved in about three months ago.”

 

“Tch. Whatever,” he growled at her, before stomping off again.

 

Deku’s running away from him, huh? He knows Katsuki’s going to beat the shit out of him the next time he comes face to face with him. Well, he can try to hide, but Katsuki’s going to find him, and he’s going to make that useless fuck pay for what he did to Katsuki!

Chapter 25

“So, for the match ups on the final,” Shouta started, talking to his fellow teachers, “I want your honest opinions on if you think these will work out or not.” As the rest nodded, Shouta continued, “Cementoss, I’m putting Kirishima and Sato with you. They both have limits on what they are able to do, and they don’t typically try to think outside of their raw power. I want to see them try to get past an objective that does not have a time limit to it.”

 

Cementoss nodded his understanding. “I’ll leave them an opening to get through, but if they simply try to get through the walls, they’ll fail.”

 

“I’ll be going up against Yayorozu and Todoroki,” Shouta started, but was interrupted by Midnight.

 

“Really? I would have thought you’d pick Midoriya.”

 

Shouta snorted out a laugh, much to the amusement of the rest. “I’d been trying to catch that kid for three years before I realized how young he was. Trust me, if he doesn’t want you to find him, you won’t find him. If he wants to end a fight quickly, you won’t even know he’s there before you’re down.” Shouta looked at his list of matches. “I actually have him slated to go up against All Might. I don’t know if any of the rest of us even stand a chance against him.”

 

All Might rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Ah, about that. Chiyo-san has actually restricted my activities for the next few weeks. She is stating that unless there is an emergency, I’m not to do anything more stressful than helping a cat out of a tree. I’m going to have to back out of the finals.”

 

Shouta stared at him for a moment before shrugging. “Well, I don’t really blame you there, I don’t want to be on her bad side either.” Shouta moved that page out of the stack. “Anyways, Yayorozu and Todoroki were placed against me—”

 

“No, hold on, we’re still talking about Midoriya!” Snipe interrupted this time. “If he’s not going to be up against All Might, who will he be up against?”

 

Shouta stared at him deadpanned. “Nedzu is out, Izuku is an owl, he’s a sky predator who specializes in silent ambush attacks, and even if he wasn’t, he could fly to the exit. PowerLoader, same issue – Izuku isn’t tethered to the ground, Maijima can’t touch him. He’ll just flap his wings a few times and blow Nem’s gas away, he’s got a mutation in his ears that protect him from loud noises, so Zashi’s almost useless against him. He’s fast enough to avoid Thirteen’s Black Hole, he won’t hold back his screech against Ectoplasm’s clones, and if you shoot my son, Snipe, you deal with me.”

 

The entire staff was silent for a few moments as they all processed that. Ectoplasm was the one to finally break the silence, ”Then who’s he going to go up against?”

 

~*~*~*~

 

The students all stood in front of their teachers, decked out in their costumes and ready to take their practicals. Izuku kept bobbing his head back and forth, side to side, gaining a few curious gazes, before Denki finally poked him.

 

“What’re you doing?” he whispered.

 

“They don’t add up,” he muttered distractedly.

 

“What doesn’t add up?” Denki questioned.

 

“Heartbeats to people. 18 students, 7 teachers. That should be 25 heartbeats. I’m counting 26,” Izuku’s head bobbed again. “Where’s the extra one coming from?”

 

“That’s the cutest thing I think he’s ever done,” Hitoshi whispered to Shouto, his phone out recording Izuku’s head movements. “I’m totally sending this video to Dad.”

 

Izuku finally let out an excited chirp and stopped his head bobbing. “Oh! Okay, that makes sense now.” He only grinned when everyone looked at him questioningly.

 

Shouta stepped up to address the students. “Today is the day of the practical portion of the final. I’m assuming some of you have managed to figure out what the final consists of, right?”

 

“We’re fighting robots!” Ashido and Sero called out together!

 

“Wrong!” Nedzu popped up out of Shouta’s capture scarf and showed off his favorite evil grin.

 

“Oh, that’s where the extra person was?” Denki looked to Izuku receiving a confirmation nod.

 

“While in past years, students have fought robots in the finals, we’ve decided that with all of the incidents that your class have come across this year, we want to prepare you further for the future. This year, you will be facing against the teachers!”

 

Denki and Hitoshi quietly cursed at this and prayed they wouldn’t be up against anyone too difficult.

 

“The matches will be as such,” Shouta continued. “Kirishima and Sato against Cementoss, Yayorozu and Todoroki against me, Asui and Tokoyami against Ectoplasm, Hagakure and Shoji against Snipe, Sero and Shinsou against Midnight, Uraraka and Aoyama against Thirteen, Jiro and Koda against Present Mic, and Ojiro, Kaminari, and Ashido against Nedzu.” Shouta looked up from his list at the students. “Any questions?”

 

Izuku hesitantly raised his hand. “You, uh. You didn’t say who I was going to be up against?”

 

Shouta stared at Izuku and twitched his lips into a smirk. “No. No I did not.”

 

Nedzu giggled at him and exclaimed, “Midoriya passes by default!”

 

As one, the entire class erupted into shouts of disbelief while Izuku just looked at them and blinked.

 

“Why?” Izuku asked when the noise calmed down.

 

Snipe was the one to reply this time. “Realistically, I’m probably the only one up here that can stand up to you in a fight, but that’s only if I spot you first. And Eraser’s already threatened my kneecaps if I actually shoot you.”

 

Izuku blushed bright red. “I’m not. . . I’m not that good. . . am I?”

 

Nedzu cackled.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Shouta was at the dining room table grading the finals for his Law and Ethics classes, while Hizashi was sitting on the couch in the family room grading the English finals. Izuku had managed to stick himself to Hizashi’s side after watching his match against Kouda and Jirou. Izuku saw that Hizashi was in the middle of a panic attack and had made it his mission to be his Papa’s Emotional Support Bird.

 

Izuku knew that Hizashi was mostly okay now, but since he hadn’t loosened his grip on Izuku, he decided that he was still going to stick to him. He heard Hizashi sigh out in irritation, so he hooted inquisitively. “I swear, Izu, some of these kids could eat a can of alphabet soup and shit out better English than this! Read this and tell me how this is a third-year student?”

 

Izuku took the paper and glanced it over. “Yikes, that was the wrong they’re, our, verb tense, and they spelled ‘computer’ wrong.”

 

“What did I do to deserve students like this?” Hizashi complained.

 

Izuku snickered quietly at that. “You should hear what Shouta’s muttering over there about his second-years.”

 

“Oh yeah?” Hizashi snorted. “Probably about how they keep confusing the years on a few of the laws.”

 

“He did on a few, yeah, but he’s currently rethinking his life choices since one of his students apparently thinks murder is legal, so long as the victim is over the age of consent?” Izuku shrugged as Hizashi sputtered and looked over to Shouta, who was indeed staring at the paper in his hands with a look of mild horror.

 

“Oh, my poor Shouta. I think he needs a hug. Go, give him a hug!”

 

Izuku giggled but didn’t move, instead snuggling further into Hizashi’s side. “Nope, I’m comfy here.”

 

“Fair enough,” Hizashi chuckled and squeezed Izuku tighter for a moment. Izuku hadn’t gotten up to hug Shouta because Hizashi’s grip on him still hadn’t loosened. He was putting on a front about having completely gotten over the events of the day, but he still hadn’t.

 

As Hizashi focused on his next student’s final, Izuku let his eyes drift closed. He was about to attempt a nap when he heard Toshi in his room on the phone with Shouto. Izuku chirped quietly in annoyance, wishing he had music or something to distract him from their conversation.

 

“I still can’t believe Sero just dashed into that fight like that. I told him that Auntie Nem was a lot better of a fighter than she portrayed herself as, but noooo, he felt that he could take her,” Hitoshi was complaining to Shouto.

 

Shouto hummed in amusement. “She does give off a very convincing aura of ineffectiveness. Most people do underestimate her.”

 

“Yeah, and that’s when she strikes. I tried to explain that to Sero, but the boy didn’t even close his helmet for the exam, so when she unleashed her gas on us, he went down hard.” Toshi sighed in annoyance. “I’m just glad Dad was able to convince me to get my persona chords situated with an emergency gas mask.”

 

“I don’t even want to talk about your dad right now,” Shouto groaned. “I nearly failed my practical against him.”

 

Hitoshi laughed quietly, “I told you that you rely on your quirk too much, babe.”

 

Izuku shook his head a little and sat up. “I’ll be right back, Papa, I’m going to get some headphones.”

 

Hizashi pet his head for a moment and kissed his forehead. “Okay. Could you grab a water for me on your way back?”

 

“Sure!”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Four extras. There were four extras who just wouldn’t leave him the fuck alone. He was trying to be patient, but they couldn’t just leave it alone! They knew how he’d react, and they just had to push all of his buttons until he snapped. They just had to make him snap, didn’t they? Fine. If they want him to snap, then Bakugou Fucking Katsuki will show them just how far he’ll snap.

 

Hotaru Aika, Kuromunashii Nene, Hoshino Hiaya, and Harada Keiichi were all now in the hospital.

 

Principal Nishikawa Yoshiro was holding a meeting with Katsuki and his parents, and Katsuki was glaring at the principal. It was eerily similar to the meeting at the beginning of the year when his parents were called in to speak with Principal Nedzu.

 

Fuck. He was about to be expelled again, wasn’t he?

 

The Hag looked at the principal and with a sigh of defeat asked, “What has my brat done this time?”

 

“What the fuck, Hag! I didn’t do anything!” Katsuki yelled. “They were talking shit, so I put them back in their place!”

 

“Katsuki,” Principal Nishikawa said, “They weren’t talking to or about you.”

 

“Yes, the fuck they were! They were talking about UA right in front of me! They were purposely taunting me!”

 

“Those students were all third-year students, and they were talking about one of their cousins from the business course!” Principal Nishikawa exclaimed. “There are hundreds of students who attend UA, and not everyone in this school knows that you were once a student from there.”

 

“Tch.” Katsuki just aimed a glare at the wall.

 

Principal Nishikawa turned his attention back to the Hag. “The four students are currently in the hospital, and two of them are in medically induced comas to help with their recovery. I’m sorry, but I cannot allow your son to remain in this school. This is the second time he has sent students to the hospital.”

 

The Hag hung her head and sighed deeply. “I understand, Principal.”

 

“What the fuck?!” Katsuki yelled. “This isn’t even the first time I’ve sent people to the hospital! I’ve sent people to the hospital dozens of times back in middle school and no one ever gave a shit! Why do you all of a sudden care?!”

 

Principal Nishikawa stared at him wide-eyed. “This isn’t the first time you’ve acted like this, and you were still accepted into UA?!”

 

“Yeah, because I’m the best there is!” Katsuki snarled at the principal. “Why wouldn’t they accept me?”

 

“I’m sorry, Katsuki, but your former schools have failed you. They should have attempted to correct this behavior long ago, before you got to this point.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

‘Your former schools failed you.’ Those words kept repeating on loop in Katsuki’s head. What did that mean? His former schools failed him. How? By not stopping him from attacking others, including Deku? Well, not all of those times were while he was at school. A few heroes had even seen him and laughed at his displays!

 

Even random other adults would praise him when he would beat up Deku.

 

‘Your former schools failed you.’ No, they didn’t. Katsuki glared at the quirk cancelling cuff his parents made him wear while at home. No one ‘failed’ him. Katsuki wasn’t a failure.

 

Katsuki pulled out a paperclip and started to pick at the lock on the cuff. He’d show everyone that he wasn’t a failure.

 

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed the respite from the angst. It's going to be coming back with a vengeance starting next chapter.

Chapter 26

Notes:

Well, here starts the angst. I have been warning you for a few chapters that it was coming, and here it is.

There are some suicidal thoughts in here. Izuku has a Bad Time.

“Okay, so, I know you can’t do a lot of flying when carrying someone,” Denki mused while they were all eating dinner, having been over for a study session that lasted longer than originally planned. “But do you think you can take me on a quick flight sometime?”

 

Papa had made katsudon for dinner, and Izuku munched thoughtfully on his piece of pork while he considered it. “Well, my current weight limit for a quick hop is about 200 kilos, and you’re well under that, you’re what, 67?”

 

“Almost 70, last I checked,” Denki grinned. “I’ve been gaining a lot more lean muscle since I started on Mic-sensei’s workout plan!”

 

Izuku nodded. He had noticed that Denki was showing more defined muscles but hadn’t wanted to say anything just in case it was just his imagination running away while fantasizing over his boyfriend. Not that he had fantasized about his boyfriend. “Well, I can take you flying, but it really won’t be as exciting as you’d probably want.”

 

“Wait, wait,” Hitoshi interrupted. “You refuse to take me flying! I call bullshit favoritism!”

 

Izuku stuck out his tongue at Hitoshi. “Yes, it is favoritism! Denki’s my boyfriend, not you. Plus, you’re what, 90 kilos? Hard pass, we’d never get off the ground,” Izuku teased.

 

“80! You asshole,” Hitoshi laughed. “Besides, you said your limit is 200! I demand a flight if Denki gets one! I’ve been asking longer!”

 

Izuku rolled his eyes and glanced over to Shouta and Hizashi. “A little help here?”

 

“Nope! Sorry, Baby Bird, but I want a flight too!” Hizashi snickered.

 

“Same. If you’re offering flights, sign me up,” Shouta nodded.

 

“You guys are so big and heavy, though!” Izuku whined. “Denki’s not much taller than I am, I can get a decent grip on him, but you three are freaking giants!” Izuku pouted and took another bite of his katsudon. “Make Keigo take you on a flight!”

 

“He’s barely taller than you are, Zu,” Hitoshi joked.

 

“At least he’s got all of his adult feathers, he can carry more than I can.”

 

Denki scratched the back of his head and said, “If it’s all that big a deal, never mind, I don’t need a flight!”

 

Shouta snorted, “It’s not that big a deal, Kaminari, Izuku and Hitoshi have this conversation every few days. Besides, I’m probably going to make him work on his endurance during the camp, so he’s going to be carrying people around the camp the whole time.”

 

“What?!” Izuku stared wide-eyed at Shouta. “I didn’t consent to that!”

 

Hizashi hummed in amusement. “Actually, you did, Izu, when you accepted your place at UA. ‘Aspects of training to be determined by the homeroom teacher or heroics instructor,’ I believe are the official terms used in the paperwork?”

 

Shouta nodded solemnly. “Unless you want to drop down to Zashi’s class?”

 

Izuku pouted as the others laughed. “Relax, Izu,” Shouta ruffled his hair. “I’m not going to make you do anything crazy like what you do with Keigo. And I’ll have you start small, probably carrying Asui or Hagakure for an hour. By the time the camp is over you’ll have carried everyone for at least 2 hours at a time.”

 

“Everyone?! But Sato and Kouda are huge!” Izuku protested. “And Shouji, too!”

 

“I’m not asking for aerial maneuvers, just flying in circles at various heights, or something like that,” Shouta shrugged. “You’ll never be able to carry heavier loads if you never carry heavier loads.”

 

Izuku stabbed a piece of meat and sulked. “Just because you’re right doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

 

“Hey, Dad,” Hitoshi cut in, changing the subject, “do you think me and Shouto can go to the mall this weekend and pick up some things for camp?”

 

“Oh, oh, oh! Us too!” Denki exclaimed. “Izuku, let’s go to the mall this weekend! Hitoshi can get our things for camp, and we can—”

 

“I’m not your pack mule, Denks,” Hitoshi interrupted. “If you want things for camp, get it yourself.”

 

Izuku giggled. “Sure!” Izuku looked at Shouta. “Can we go to the mall too, Dad?”

 

“Ooh, he’s pulling the big guns out, Shou!” Hizashi teased. “He called you Dad!”

 

Denki looked around the table confused. “I’m missing something, aren’t I?”

 

Hitoshi smirked. “He almost never calls him Dad, something about how it’s weird after all the years spent as a vigilante? He only does it now when he’s trying to get something.”

 

Izuku nodded. “He was Eraser to me for three years, I’m only recently calling him Shouta instead of Eraser all the time. It was easy with Papa, though, I’d never met him as Present Mic before I moved in with them.”

 

Denki nodded, that made sense.

 

“Sure, you gremlins have fun. It’ll be the last time before you suffer at camp for two weeks,” Shouta said with his creepy, manic grin that never failed to terrify Denki.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku was sitting on a bench in front of the fountain at the mall, shock blanket wrapped around him, as he stared at the bodies on the floor, blood pooling around them, smeared from the frantic dodging and ducking, residue of explosions surrounding the plaza of the mall. Five people were dead, and seven others had been rushed to the hospital, three of who weren’t expected to survive the limbs that had been blown off.

 

No matter how much anyone tried, Izuku couldn’t stop staring at the blood. Those people were dead because of him. He had been the target. If he had only stood still and let himself be killed, those innocent people would still be alive.

 

He thought there was someone rubbing circles on his back, but Izuku was too deeply immersed in his head to register his surroundings.

 

“We were just out on a date, me and Izu. We were doing some shopping for a school trip that’s coming up,” Denki was saying, giving his statement to the detective that had shown up on the scene. “We had just decided to stop for lunch, and that’s when we heard it. I don’t remember his name, but he was the kid that was expelled from our class on the second day of school.”

 

Of the five bodies, two were adults and the other three were kids. One of them didn’t even look to be in the double digits yet. All of this could have been avoided if Izuku would have just let himself be killed. Why did he fight back?! He knew better than to fight back!

 

“The guy screamed out an insult, or maybe an old nickname? I don’t know, but the name was Deku, and Izuku blanched and turned around to look at the guy who was storming up to us.”

 

Bakugou was always meaner when Izuku tried to fight back, or when he dodged. It had been so long since he’d seen him, that Izuku had almost forgotten just how powerful Bakugou was. Just how much he let his pride guide him.

 

“I remember this guy was expelled because he attacked Izuku after an exercise on the second day of class. Izu’s team had won, and this guy I guess had an issue with it? He felt that Izu had cheated. When he attacked, Izuku was able to deflect his attacks easily, and that just upset the guy more.” Denki looked around at the carnage around them. “Izuku’s good at dodging attacks.”

 

Of course Bakugou wanted to kill Izuku. He had gotten Bakugou expelled, he had crushed his dreams, he had single-handedly ruined everything Bakugou had been working for his entire life. No wonder he was upset with Izuku. Izuku was nothing more than a worthless deku, after all. Useless, worthless, quirkless deku.

 

“Izuku kept telling him to stop attacking, that he was hurting innocent bystanders. I know that Izuku could have used his quirk to make him stop, but he would have hit the bystanders too, and that’s something Izuku would never do.”

 

What was he even trying to do anymore? Protect people? Please, what a joke. He was a joke. What right did he have to even pretend he was strong? Izuku was a pathetic waste of space, he was using up precious oxygen that someone else could be using, someone who was a productive member of society.

 

“Anger issues just kept attacking, making bigger and bigger explosions every time Izu dodged.” Denki gestured to all the damage in the plaza, most of the food court had been demolished, and some of the shops were totally destroyed. There had been fires, but they were put out by now.

 

Izuku’s tears started streaming down his face, but he made no move to stop them. Why should he even bother? Why was he even bothering to do anything at all? Why was he even alive? He should just end it now. Here. There were already people taking away the bodies of the people Izuku couldn’t save, what’s one more body? Izuku moved his hand to grip at his wrist and started to extend his talons.

 

Denki grasped Izuku’s hand tightly in his own and moved it away from his wrist but got no other response. “He started actually targeting the civilians when Izu still wouldn’t fight him, when he only dodged his attacks. That’s when – that’s when he started killing people. I think that’s what broke Izuku,” Denki whispered that last part.

 

Izuku just wanted the pain to stop. The pain of failure, the pain of being worthless, the pain of being useless, the pain of being deku, the pain of existing. Why did it have to hurt so much? Why couldn’t it just end?!

 

“Izuku just – he just stopped. He dropped to his knees, and I think he would have let Anger Issues kill him at that point, but I – I couldn’t let him do that! He’s my boyfriend, I had to step in!”

 

Izuku was so useless that he almost got Denki killed, too! Denki had stepped in between him and Bakugou, and Bakugou’s grin had been full of pure murder. He had wanted to kill Denki. Then where would Izuku be? He’d be responsible for not only the deaths of 5 innocent bystanders, but also his boyfriend?

 

“Just as I was about to let loose a blast of electricity, there was a swirling portal, like the one from the USJ attack, and Anger Issues disappeared. I don’t know where he went, but I’m willing to bet he’s with the people who attacked us at the USJ now.”

 

Izuku didn’t deserve any of this. He didn’t deserve life, he didn’t deserve Denki, he didn’t deserve a family, brothers, a dad, and he definitely didn’t deserve his Papa. The only thing he deserved was death.

 

He tried once more to move his hand to his wrist, but there was a warm hand holding on to his, keeping him from reaching his wrist. “Just let me go,” Izuku whispered. “There’s no use in me staying here. I only ruin everything.”

 

“Never, Izu,” he heard Denki’s warm voice in his ear as he pulled Izuku into his chest. “I will never let you go. You hear me? I love you, and you’re not allowed to leave me alone.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

The purple portal opened up into a bar and Katsuki dropped down, landing on his feet. He looked around, staring at everyone there. There was some little girl with her hair in messy buns, some lizard-looking fuck, a guy in black spandex, a freak in a mask and a yellow coat, a burnt ass bitch, some tall-ass freak with what looked like a cloth-wrapped metal thing, and a person made of purple mist.

 

“Where the fuck am I?” Katsuki demanded.

 

Another portal opened in front of him, and some crusty fuck with blue hair stepped out. “Welcome!” the crusty guy said. “My name is Shigaraki Tomura, and I would like to ask you to join us in the League of Villains! I was impressed by your display at the mall! So much destruction, so much death!”

 

“Tch,” Katsuki scoffed. “I just wanted to kill the stupid fucking Deku, but the bitch wouldn’t stand still.”

 

“Join us, and we can help you get to this Deku again,” Crusty Fuck grinned.

 

“I don’t fucking need anyone’s help!” Katsuki growled at him.

 

“Hmm. Perhaps you don’t need help. But we could still use yours.” Crust Face smiled at Katsuki. “We’re going to attack the students of UA, and we’re going to destroy hero society!”

 

Katsuki looked at him for a moment. He didn’t really care about that, he just wanted to kill Deku. But on the other hand, he had just killed a whole bunch of people, so if he showed himself now, he’d be arrested again, and this time probably thrown in prison. Maybe even Tartarus. Shit, had he fucked up that badly?

 

Whatever. He still wanted Deku dead, and now he’s a villain. Might as well roll with it, it’s not as if he was going to be a hero anymore anyways. So sure, why the fuck not? “What the hell, I’m in. Let’s kill some UA bitches!” Katsuki gave his own feral smirk at the blue haired fuck. “I got nothing else to lose at this point.”

Notes:

To anyone who wanted Bakugou to get redeemed, I'm sorry. To anyone who wanted him to become a vigilante, I'm sorry. To anyone who was saying he was going too far, yes, he was.

The officers, and whoever else were only giving him slaps on the wrist because I needed this to happen, so he couldn't get too much correcting, or he wouldn't have snapped like I needed him to.

It's going to get worse before it gets better. But it will get better. Eventually.

I promise.

Chapter 27

Notes:

Sorry this took so long to come out! Screech is NOT abandoned! I promise!

Warnings: Izuku self-harms in here, and tries to unalive himself.

Hizashi was in the kitchen making tea while both Keigo and Shouta were sitting at the dining room table. They had all agreed that Izuku was not going to go to the summer camp. He was currently in his room with both Hitoshi and Denki watching him, making sure he didn’t hurt himself.

 

And it was a legitimate worry, Denki had already told everyone how Izuku had tried to use his talons on himself a few times while at the mall.

 

If they let Izuku come to camp, there wouldn’t be enough supervision on him, and there was no way Hizashi was going to put his feathery baby into a hospital for a suicide watch. Even if he needed it, that wouldn’t help Izuku, he needed to be surrounded by people who loved him, not emotionally detached nurses that either checked in every 10 minutes or watched him through a camera.

 

Hizashi finished the tea and brought the cups to the table and took a seat himself. “I’ll be able to call off from patrols, but I’ll still need to go to the station. I can take him with me then.”

 

Keigo nodded at that. “I can’t take off from patrols, but I can watch him during the nights.”

 

“I hate to suggest this, but,” Shouta started, “Would it be a bad thing if we put a quirk cancelling cuff on him? That way he can’t slip out the window if you need to use the bathroom like he did with me.”

 

Keigo clearly wanted to refuse, but he also knew that Izuku could sneak away.

 

“No,” Hizashi whispered. “He’s told us before the only reason he doesn’t try jumping anymore is because his wings always come out. If you put a cuff on him-“

 

“He’ll just jump,” Shouta finished. “Shit.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Denki held Izuku’s sleeping form in his lap, running his fingers through his hair while Hitoshi was playing with his hand. Izuku had been zoned out for most of the day but came to long enough to make a fairly deep cut on his wrist before either Denki or Hitoshi had noticed. Hitoshi had pulled him under his quirk and ordered him to go to sleep as they patched up his wrist.

 

They had told the adults right away, naturally, and both Mic and Hawks had started crying, but they also trusted Denki and Hitoshi to take care of Izuku.

 

Izuku let out a soft hoot in his sleep, and Denki smiled at him. “He’ll be okay, right?” he asked Hitoshi quietly.

 

“Yeah. He’ll be okay. He doesn’t have a choice,” Hitoshi said with a mild glare.

 

Denki grinned. “Ooh, ominous positivity. I approve.”

 

Hitoshi sighed. “He’s my brother. He needs to be okay. I need him to be okay. I’ve wanted a sibling for years, and now that I have one, I’m not letting him go.”

 

Denki nodded. “I get it, man, I do.” He started tracing Izuku’s freckles with the hand that wasn’t in his hair. “Izu’s just. So kind, sweet, smart. I know we’ve only been dating for a little while, but I don’t want to let him go either.”

 

The two continued to sit in silence, just being there for their sweet, little green owl, when the door opened wider and Aizawa entered, followed by Mic. “How’s he doing?”

 

Denki hesitated, but Hitoshi looked Aizawa right in the eyes and said, “He can’t come to camp, Dad. Please don’t let him come to camp.”

 

Denki, eyes never leaving Izuku’s sleeping face, nodded in agreement. “I’ll stay here to keep him company.”

 

Aizawa sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. “No. Kaminari, you need the benefits that the camp will provide you with, you can’t stay here. I’m sorry.” Denki closed his eyes and nodded slowly. “But don’t worry, we already discussed it, Izuku is going to be staying here with Zashi and Keigo. He won’t be left alone, ever.”

 

“That’s good,” Hitoshi muttered. “He’s going to be seeing Hound Dog a bit more, right?”

 

“Daily, yeah. Zashi is going to be keeping us updated while we’re at camp. Izuku’s going to be okay.” Aizawa gently tugged on one of Izuku’s curls.

 

~*~*~*~

 

“You want to do what?” Hand-job hissed at Katsuki.

 

“You heard me, Crusty McFuck. I want to kill the fucking bird! I would have had him at the mall if you hadn’t ruined everything!” Katsuki was still pissed about that, Deku had been defeated, sitting on the ground, ready for Katsuki to end it, but then that stupid fucking portal had to pop up and ruin everything!

 

“Don’t be stupid, kid,” he rolled his eyes. “If the owl kid had been in his right mind, he would have destroyed you! He killed my Nomu, and the Nomu had a regeneration quirk!”

 

Katsuki growled at him. “Well, that useless Deku wasn’t in his right mind! I had him!”

 

“The heroes would have caught you!”

 

“I don’t give a fuck! I just wanted to kill that damn bird! Now he’s going to be surrounded by people who can protect themselves, not a bunch of civilians, so he’ll be able to focus on the fight!” Katsuki let loose a few explosions from his hands. “I’m going to have to hurt someone else to get him thrown off his game.”

 

“You actually want to antagonize the bird?! What the fuck is wrong with you, kid?!” Hand-job was scratching at his neck madly. “No. No, we’re not doing anything to get on the bird’s bad side!”

 

“Hah?! You scared of a useless ass bird, you crusty bitch?!” Katsuki’s explosions started to get bigger. “Fine, I’ll take him on my own! I only joined up because I literally don’t have anywhere else to go, but I want that bird dead! I will fry that chicken if it’s the last thing I do!”

 

“And since you work for me, I say no you won’t!”

 

Katsuki glared at the crusty hand-job. He had already told him what his quirk was, so all Katsuki had to do was avoid his hands. Katsuki grinned darkly at Hand-job. “Just try to stop me.”

 

“Shigaraki Tomura, please rethink this. If he does not wish to cooperate-“ the warp-gate guy started, but was interrupted.

 

“Shut up, Kurogiri! If he wants a fight, then that’s what he’ll get!” Hand-job screamed before he lunged at Katsuki, palms out and ready to decay Katsuki’s face.

 

Katsuki took a step back and with a smirk, let loose an explosion that blasted Crusty into the back wall.

 

The fight didn’t last much longer. Soon, the crusty shit was on the floor, missing almost the entire right half of his body. A purple portal brought both Crusty and Katsuki into a dark room with a man in a suit, wearing some weird metal mask on his face.

 

“S-sensei!” Crusty managed to barely get out. “H-help!”

 

“Oh, Tomura,” the man said fondly. “You picked a fight you couldn’t win.” The man gently placed his hand on Crusty’s head. “I had hoped you would grow out of this impulsive phase, but it seems I miscalculated your usefulness.”

 

 “W-what. . . ?” Crusty wasn’t able to finish his sentence, his body finally giving out on him.

 

The masked man turned to Katsuki, and Katsuki was sure the man was grinning at him, even though he couldn’t see any part of his face. “Well, now. It seems Tomura’s League of Villains is in need of a new leader. Would you be interested?” The man held out his hand to Katsuki.

 

Katsuki grinned and took his hand.

 

“It’s a pleasure to do business with you, Bakugou Katsuki.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Naomasa was rubbing his temples as he stared at the report that had just been delivered to his desk. One of the Underground Heroes in the area had stumbled across a body in an alleyway, and upon identification, it turned out to be Shigaraki Tomura. Or rather, what was left of him. He was missing most of his right side, the injuries showing clear scorch marks, as if he had been hit by an explosion

 

And from the incident at the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Center the other day, Bakugou Katsuki, who had managed to escape with the assistance of a warp gate, the same as the one that had brought the League of Villains into the USJ, was the most likely suspect for this murder.

 

Perhaps Bakugou did not willingly join their ranks? Maybe he was attempting to be a vigilante? No, that didn’t make sense, he killed innocent people at the mall. Perhaps they didn’t see eye-to-eye, and had a violent disagreement? Perhaps he was killed in an escape attempt?

 

Naomasa didn’t know what was going to happen next, but he was sure it wasn’t going to be pretty. He sighed as he picked up the phone – he needed to update both Nedzu and Toshinori about this. They were both involved in the League of Villains case and Nedzu in particular might have some insight to share.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Shouta sighed as he put his phone back in his pocket after reading the text from Hizashi. Izuku didn’t eat breakfast and Keigo had said he didn’t really sleep, either. Shouta knew that Izuku was going to be spending a few hours with Inui today, and then in the evening he’d be with Keigo. Hopefully, he’d be a little better and tonight’s message from Hizashi wouldn’t make him feel guilty for still taking the class on the camping trip.

 

Looking up, Shouta just managed to catch the looks of terror on most of the faces in the class as Pixie-bob sent them over the ledge to start the camp. Hitoshi, Shouto, and Kaminari had been watching him closely, and so they didn’t have a look of fear, but rather a look of resignation as they fell.

 

Mandalay walked up to him, worry clear in her eyes. “I thought there were supposed to be eighteen kids? But I only counted seventeen? Where’s the last one?”

 

“Izuku’s. . . he’s staying home,” Shouta said quietly. “He had a rough week.”

 

Pixie-bob raised an eyebrow. “That’s never stopped you from bring a student before.”

 

Shouta glared mildly at her. “He was out on a date a few days ago, and a. . . a villain attacked him at the mall. He didn’t fight back, only dodged, and the villain killed and injured a few civilians while trying to get to him. Izuku was already working through some pretty crippling self-esteem and depression issues, but right now, he’s also on 24-hour suicide watch. There wouldn’t be enough supervision for him out here.”

 

Mandalay’s expression was sad, but she understood. Pixie-bob winced and asked, “I’m sure you have your reasons, but if he reacts like that around a villain, are you sure this is the right career path for him?”

 

Shouta smiled wryly at them. “This is going to sound like an odd transition, but have either of you heard of the vigilante Screech?”

 

“Oh yeah! He’s been active in Musutafu for about three years before he disappeared a few months ago, right? He had, what was it, like a 90% capture rate? With no casualties and minimal property damage?” Pixie-bob replied. “I’ve heard that there was talk about putting him in some kind of reform program to get him an actual license since he was so good!”

 

Shouta nodded. “Yeah, I managed to talk Screech into turning himself in a while back. He lives with me, now, and he only just recently turned sixteen. His name is Midoriya Izuku, and he’s the student missing from this camp, staying home to ensure he gets help for the events that happened this past week.” Shouta took a breath. “Izuku is my son, and he’s going to be an amazing hero.”

Notes:

I'm not too happy with how this turned out, honestly, but it was so hard to get out, you almost had just a brief summary for a chapter instead that went over the points.

Chapter 28

Shouta watched as the students crawled out of the forest, his son all but carrying his boyfriend on his back. According to Ragdoll, Todoroki had been the group’s heavy hitter for the entire journey and had tired himself out. Shouta narrowed his eyes at the class. He knew Hitoshi wouldn’t have taken advantage of Todoroki’s power, but the others?

 

A few of the students didn’t seem to be too tired, while others were exhausted. Shouta would be going a little bit easier on the exhausted students tomorrow, while the ones who didn’t seem too worn out would be getting the full Hell Camp treatment.

 

Hitoshi nearly collapsed under the weight of Todoroki as they all lined up in front of Shouta, and he could see that Hitoshi’s capture scarf was covered in dirt from Pixie-Bob’s creations. Good.

 

As Shouta was glaring at the five students who had decided that they could take it easy and coast by while others did all the work, Mandalay and Ragdoll got the kids settled at the tables for dinner.

 

Tiger leaned over to Shouta and in a quiet voice, asked “What’re their names?”

 

Shouta grinned his manic grin. Tiger clearly saw the same thing in the students that Shouta had. “Hagakure, Sato, Uraraka, Aoyama, and Ojiro. I really hope they’ve put a lot of thought into their excuses, since that will likely be on their expulsion paperwork if they don’t shape up during camp.”

 

Tiger laughed and walked off.

 

~*~*~*~

 

About an hour after the students had all gone to bed, Shouta heard a knock at the door to his room. He got up to check, grabbing his scarf on the way since no one should be coming to visit him at this hour, only to find three worried teens at his door – Hitoshi, Todoroki, and Kaminari.

 

“Have you heard anything about Izu?” Kaminari asked as soon as the door was opened.

 

Shouta nodded and pulled out his phone to show the three boys the messages – one from Keigo, and one from Hizashi.

 

The one from Hizashi said Izuku had still been quiet after his two-hour session with Inui but had managed to ask for Katsudon for dinner. He was slowly starting to come back to himself.

 

The message from Keigo stated that Izuku wouldn’t make his weekly promise to Keigo, not yet sure he’d be able to keep it, and refusing to break the promise.

 

Kaminari had to wipe away a tear at that, while both Todoroki and Hitoshi wrapped an arm around him. “Hey, I told you already, Izu’s going to be okay. He doesn’t have a choice,” Hitoshi muttered.

 

Kaminari nodded. “Yeah. I know. Gotta stay positive.”

 

“You three should go to sleep. Especially you, Todoroki. Don’t try to pretend you didn’t get quirk exhaustion earlier,” Shouta lightly scolded, trying to lighten the mood for Kaminari.

 

Accepting the change of subject, Todoroki narrowed his eyes and glared at no one. “If I wasn’t doing the work of six people, I would have been fine.”

 

“I still think you should have let Sato get hit a few times,” Hitoshi said. “We all told him not to eat sugar, but he didn’t listen.”

 

Kaminari scoffed. “What’s Ojiro’s excuse? His tail got bruised? Oh, I’m sorry, I’m just here, quirk totally useless against dirt monsters, swinging a staff I managed to talk Momo into making for me, while I simultaneously worry about my boyfriend. But go on, wax poetic about a bruised tail.”

 

Todoroki snorted at them both before yawning.

 

“Go to bed. All of you.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Morning rolled around and Shouto was still exhausted, but luckily, Dad had given a few of them a few hours to relax in the morning. Ashido, Tokoyami, and Momo had gone at the forest challenge every bit as hard as Denki, Shouto, and Hitoshi had, so Dad had decided they could take it easy until lunch.

 

Some of the students accused him of favoritism, up until he pointed out that Shouto still had quirk exhaustion from carrying them through the forest.

 

Hitoshi had sat in the grass with Shouto sleeping against him to watch some of the others in training, when the kid that was introduced as Mandalay’s nephew Kota, who was darting around, grumbling about how his aunt’s making him bring water to all the hero wannabes, came up to them and all but threw the bottles at them.

 

“You know, it doesn’t cost anything to be nice,” Hitoshi muttered at him before he could dart off.

 

The kid glared at him and snapped back, “How much does it cost to be an asshole?”

 

Hitoshi raised an eyebrow at the kid, thoroughly impressed at his snarky comeback.

 

“It’s free, isn’t it?”

 

Hitoshi snickered at him. “You know what? Yeah, it’s free. But you still might want to be a little nicer to people.”

 

The kid scoffed. “I don’t need to take any advice from some hero wannabe like you!”

 

“That’s fine,” Hitoshi shrugged. “It’s just a lesson I learned the hard way.” Hitoshi turned his attention back to watching his dad spar with both Ojiro and Sato at the same time and snorted when he grabbed Ojiro’s tail and threw him bodily at Sato.

 

The kid still hadn’t left, so Hitoshi tilted his head a little. “You need something, kid?”

 

“No!” he said instantly.

 

Hitoshi shrugged and lightly ran his fingers through Shouto’s hair and waited for the kid to either say what he wanted to or to leave.

 

“Everyone else is showing off their quirks, why aren’t you?” he finally asked, gesturing to both Hitoshi and Shouto.

 

“Shouto gave himself quirk exhaustion yesterday. Those five over there?” Hitoshi waved his hand slightly in the direction of the students that were working the hardest out of them all. “Shouto’s purposely sleeping where they can see him to elevate their guilt in letting him do more work than he should have had to.”

 

“But that’s stupid! Why even bother? You’re just stupid people, doing stupid things with your stupid quirks!” Kota crossed his arms stubbornly.

 

“You’re right,” Hitoshi nodded. “And that’s how I used to see it. I used to be bitter about people who had amazing quirks, better quirks than me. But after I was adopted, my new parents helped me see things differently.” He looked fondly at Shouto’s red and white hair on his lap. “I never would have been able to see Shou for who he is as a person if I continued to just judge him on his quirk.”

 

“So now you’re all just going to go using your quirks to show off and be stupid heroes!”

 

Hitoshi raised an eyebrow at the kid. “Isn’t your aunt a hero? I thought I heard Mandalay introduce you as her nephew?” The kid huffed and averted his eyes. “I think I remember my dad talking about how she lost a family member a while back. I’m guessing your parents were also heroes?”

 

Kota scowled at him again. “Water Hose. And they got themselves killed showing off! They thought that was more important than coming home!”

 

Hitoshi nodded. “I can see how you feel that way, so I’m not going to try to change your mind. Fact is, they didn’t manage to come home, no matter what else they were actually thinking, no matter how many other people they saved. It’s one of the hardest things about being both a hero and a parent, there’s always the risk that you won’t make it home to your kid.”

 

Kota was quiet, but still scowling at Hitoshi. “You say that as if you know it,” he finally said.

 

“I do. I almost didn’t get adopted because both of my new parents are heroes. They were worried about what would happen to me if they didn’t make it home from patrol.”

 

“What happened to your old parents?” Kota asked.

 

Hitoshi shrugged. “I don’t remember. I was told from as far back as I can remember that I have a bad quirk, and I was abandoned to the system. Did my parents actually abandon me? Did they die? I don’t know. But the system abused me pretty bad. My dad is the one who saved me. He took me home, not trusting anyone else to treat me like a person. He and my Pops got really attached and decided to let me decide if I wanted to be adopted or not.”

 

Kota sat down next to Hitoshi and was glaring at his hands. “But they still go out? They’re still heroes.”

 

Hitoshi nodded. “Yeah. I’m not the first kid my dad’s saved, and I wasn’t the last, either. Both of my parents save people, and I’ve seen some of the people they save. My brother, in fact, is the latest kid my dad’s saved. He’s still being saved, actually.” Hitoshi smiled wryly at the kid. “Izu was supposed to be here for the camp, but something happened. Recovery isn’t linear, and his mental health took a few steps back. But he’s going to be fine. He’s got a huge support system now.”

 

The kid sat there quietly, seeming to think over what Hitoshi had said.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku had been having daily sessions with Inui for a few days now, and the sessions were a minimum of two hours each. The first few days were really hard, and Izuku had been sure he had completely broken. He was sure there was no coming back from that, and that after freezing up at the mall, he would never be able to continue in hero training.

 

Well, to be honest, he didn’t think he’d really live long enough to recover.

 

Inui had said something interesting today. Knowing that Hizashi was taking him to the radio station today, Inui had suggested listening to sad songs. It felt a little counterintuitive to Izuku, but Inui said that there was a reason people liked to listen to music that matched their moods. There was a song that he had suggested to Izuku, a pre-quirk song – Broken Heart of Gold by One OK Rock,

 

Hizashi had heard of the song, so when they were at the station, he had pulled it up for Izuku to listen to. There were so many parts that just resonated with him, and he understood what Inui had said after listening to it.

 

Sometimes I just wanna quit

Tell my life I'm done with it

When it feels too painful

Sometimes I just wanna say

I love myself but not today

When it feels too painful

 

That’s how he’s been feeling for a long time, but it just got worse. Too painful. But that line, ‘I love myself but not today,’ it just hit different. Ever since he started living with Shouta and Hizashi, he’s been shown love, caring. He’s got people who care about him now. He’s got two amazing brothers in Keigo and Hitoshi. His new family is doing everything they can to show him that everything his mom had said about and to him was wrong. He was happy with his new family, and that scared him a little.

 

“WHAT?!” Izuku was snapped out of his thoughts by Hizashi’s piercing shriek. He was on the phone, and Izuku focused his hearing on what was being said.

 

“That’s what I said, the camp was attacked,” a voice that sounded a lot like Vlad King said. “Eraser’s okay, but he’s busy trying to keep Todoroki from going rogue and trying to go after the villains that attacked.”

 

“Why would Todoroki be going after them?! Did something happen to my baby?! How’s Hitoshi?!” Hizashi frantically asked.

 

“He. . . he was taken,” Vlad admitted softly. “We don’t have any information on where he is, but we’re working on it!”

 

Hizashi dropped his phone and looked at Izuku, both wearing matching looks of terror.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Hitoshi came to slowly, but kept his eyes closed, pretending to still be unconscious. He heard a few different people talking in strained voices, but one voice made his blood run cold.

 

“I didn’t ask your fucking opinion, Magnet Bitch!”

 

Shit! That was the asshole who tried to kill Izuku!

 

“Look, Bakugou, I get it, you want to kill the bird kid, but kidnapping his friend? That’s not something that Stain would approve of!” Hitoshi didn’t know who it was that said that, and he didn’t want to look up and give away the fact that he had woken up.

 

He heard someone stomp over to where the last voice had come from, assuming it was Bakugou, and then the voice screamed in pain, while Bakugou started laughing. That was too much for Hitoshi, and he lifted his head to see what was happening.

 

Bakugou had grabbed a guy who had a very obvious lizard mutation on the shoulder, and the man was disintegrating from where Bakugou had touched him. Hitoshi’s eyes widened – that wasn’t the quirk he had when he was in class with them!

 

The disintegration continued to spread, and soon the man stopped screaming and fell over, dead.

 

“Does anyone else want to argue with my decisions?”

Notes:

Izuku is finally starting to get better, and then Hitoshi had to get captured! Nooooo!!!!

And yeah, most of the heavy hitters aren't there, so no Izuku, Bakugou, or Iida to help with the Dirt Monsters, so it's just up to Todoroki.
Hagakure felt that she didn't have a chance against the dirt creatures, so she didn't really try.
Aoyama got sick after a few shots of his lazer and kinda stayed in the middle.
Uraraka is worried about Iida, so her heart wasn't really in it.
Sato downed some sugar and after the sugar wore off, he got his sugar crash.
Ojiro went hard for about an hour or so, but his tail got bruised and he was worried about doing damage to himself if he kept going.

Let me know if you want any of them to be expelled, they're not my favorites, and I don't think I'd be too mad about writing them out.

Chapter 29

Sako Atsuhiro had never been more glad that he almost never took off his mask as he was now. It’s not like he was particularly fond of Spinner, but the way the blond kid killed him without a second thought was shocking, and he hadn’t managed to hide his expression.

 

If this asshole was going to just kill teammates for a simple expression of opinion, Atsuhiro was not going to be sticking around, no way in hell.

 

This was going way beyond what he had signed up for. Granted, he had volunteered for this mission, but even an undercover hero like him, The Deceptive Hero: Sleight of Hand, has a line he just can’t cross.

 

Atsuhiro had joined up with the League of Villains shortly after they had attacked UA at the USJ, and his original mission had been to arrest them all. That had changed upon the discovery of “Sensei.” After that, his mission had been to find and arrest him, after all, if he got away, he could always just create a new villain organization and all of this infiltration would have been for nothing.

 

He subtly looked at the rest of his “teammates” and saw similar looks of horror in them all. They had all signed up to work for Shigaraki, not this psycho, and they all had valid reasons for it. Atsuhiro was going to get as many of them out of here as he could – mainly since the only ones who had a real criminal record had been Moonfish and Muscular, both of whom had been caught during the training camp - and then he was going to call the other heroes to get this nutcase off the streets.

 

Atsuhiro decided to bide his time until the blond went upstairs before he tapped Magne on the shoulder. “Would you be opposed to a midnight stroll, my lady?” he asked her, using his most suave tone of voice.

 

She snorted, but readily agreed – probably having similar thoughts about getting the fuck out of here before it was too late. They left the bar together, idly chatting about a restaurant that had opened up recently, until they were far enough away for Atsuhiro’s comfort.

 

“I’m not staying,” he said suddenly. “This is a head’s up.”

 

She glanced over to him and nodded. “Same. I’ll be going back tonight, though, I can’t leave without Himi-chan. She’s too young, she doesn’t deserve this.”

 

Atsuhiro nodded. “I can probably wait a few hours before calling in a tip to the heroes. Get her and get out.” Toga was only seventeen, she really was too young to have been caught up in this mess. Atsuhiro wished there was more he could do for her, but without compromising his position, he just had to let her go. He thought about slipping a tracker on the kid, but she’d be sure to notice it before he could track her down again.

 

Magne sighed. “I actually had fairly high hopes about the League when I joined. I had hoped that Shigaraki would really be able to dismantle society and get people like me, Spinner, and Himi-chan more rights, a better way of life. But this kid? He’s more likely to kill us than to change anything.” Magne shuddered. “Honestly, after what happened with Spinner, I’m surprised I’m still alive.”

 

He nodded along with her. “I didn’t really have any grand reason for joining, I was just bored, and this looked like fun, but I’m not willing to get killed just to ease the boredom.” He paused and let out a sigh. “I’m not going back, but I’ll give you two or three hours to get her and get out.”

 

“Make it more like six. I’m going to invite her to a girl’s day, maybe a spa day. Nails, hair, things like that,” she said. “We’ve done it before, shouldn’t be suspicious.”

 

Atsuhiro hummed in thought. If he let too much time pass, either their ‘Sensei’ would get suspicious, or Kurogiri would. He couldn’t let either of them figure out he wasn’t coming back, otherwise they might change locations and the kid they kidnapped would end up dead. He couldn’t let that happen, the kid looked like he might be Eraserhead’s kid. He hadn’t noticed at first, he had just been told, “purple haired kid,” and so that’s the kid he captured. But after getting a good look at him. . .

 

No, he couldn’t wait six more hours to report this. Eraserhead would gut him alive if anything happened to his son, and Atsuhiro wanted to live. He was already skating a fine line after having taken this kid to start with.

 

“I’ll give you until sunrise,” he compromised.

 

Magne nodded. “The heroes will still need some time to plan, so we should have at least until noon before they come.”

 

“Good luck,” Atsuhiro said, honestly hoping Magne and Toga were able to get out. “Maybe we’ll see each other again in another job someday.”

 

“Take care of yourself, Compress.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Hitoshi had noticed the tension in the room after the lizard guy was killed, and when the people you’ve been kidnapped by are scared out of their minds, you know you’re not going to have a good time. He watched at the magician left with the buff lady and was relieved when the guy in the full bodysuit went to the corner and started talking to himself and was quickly joined by the girl.

 

That left him with just two people paying attention to him, the purple mist guy he was pretty sure was named Kurogiri, and the emo guy with the blue fire.

 

“Hey, so I don’t think I caught your name?” he asked the emo blue fire guy. Maybe if they struck up a conversation, he could manage to use his quirk on someone? It seemed no one knew what his quirk was, since they hadn’t taken any precautions with keeping him quiet.

 

The guy looked at him for a moment, before glancing towards the stairs and sighing. “Name’s Dabi,” he muttered.

 

“Cool, cool. I’m Shinsou. Is there a reason you guys took me, or..?” he asked, fishing for information.

 

Dabi pulled up a chair next to Hitoshi and flopped on it. “You weren’t the original target,” he admitted. “There’s a kid who has an abusive asshole as a dad, and I was sure we could get him to turn to our cause.”

 

‘Abusive..? He’s not talking about Shouto, is he?’ Hitoshi thought to himself. Endeavor hadn’t been abusive to his family in over ten years, but Hitoshi remembered the stories that Natsuo had told him. “Okay, if I wasn’t the original target, what changed?”

 

“Our leader.” Dabi pulled out a pack of cigarettes and tapped one out of the pack. “Damn, I’m nearly out,” he grumbled. “Gonna have to get a new pack soon.”

 

Ignoring the comment about the cigarettes, Hitoshi spoke up again. “The leader changed their mind?”

 

“No, the leader died. New leader, new target. Shigaraki was interested in recruitment, Bakugou’s interested in revenge. Apparently, he wants to kill some green-haired bird kid?” Dabi shrugged and lit his cigarette with a blue flame from his finger and took a puff as all color drained from Hitoshi’s face. They were after Izuku! “You were only to be taken if we couldn’t find the green kid. I guess you’re bait, or some shit.”

 

Normally, Hitoshi wouldn’t be worried about his brother, he knows now how strong Izuku is. Izuku could wipe the floor with any one of these guys. But right now?

 

If Izuku finds out Hitoshi was taken to get to him, who knows what effect that’d have on his already fragile mental state.

 

“If. . . if he comes, what’s going to happen to him?” Hitoshi asked quietly.

 

Dabi shrugged. “Pretty sure Bakugou wants to kill him. Think he’ll kill you too, after everything’s done.”

 

Hitoshi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Okay, he can work with this. So far, it seems Dabi doesn’t know his quirk, so catching him in it shouldn’t be too hard. His wrists were tied together behind the chair he was sitting on, and Dad had taught him how to get out of knots with the capture scarf, so this shouldn’t be too different, right? He just needed to make sure no one was watching.

 

“To be honest,” Dabi continued, voice at a whisper, “I can’t stand that punk ass brat.” Dabi pulled out his phone and started playing some game. “Keep your cool, and who knows? When the time is right, I might get you out of here. But don’t try to fuck with me, or I’ll go for smokes and never come back.” He looked up and met Hitoshi’s gaze. “Understand me, kid?”

 

Hitoshi blinked at him for a moment and then slowly grinned.

 

~*~*~*~

 

“I don’t care what you say,” Izuku stated for what felt like the millionth time, “I’m coming along to save my brother!”

 

“Baby,” Hizashi said, again for what felt like the millionth time, “you know this is going to be dangerous! The League of Villains—”

 

Izuku interrupted him, “They weren’t hard for me to deal with last time, I can do it again this time. I’m getting my brother back!”

 

“Izuku,” Shouta started, deciding it was his turn to try. “Please, I want you to stay safe, and the last time you—”

 

“I said I’m coming!” Izuku insisted. “You can decide if I come in a legal aspect or if I come as a vigilante, but I am going to be there.”

 

Keigo hesitantly raised his hand. “Not gonna lie, but little bro’s got a point. I’m the only one who can keep up with him in the sky, and I’m not going to try to stop him. I think he’d be a huge help in getting Hitoshi back.”

 

Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, he’ll be a huge help, but that’s not the point!”

 

“Shouta,” Izuku’s eyes were full of determination, “I heard you tell Zashi what the captured villains said. They were after me and only took Hito to use as bait for me. I have to go. I’m the one they were after, and I will NOT let my brother suffer in my place.”

 

“Dammit,” Shouta hissed. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”

 

Izuku glared at him. “Then don’t forget how good my hearing is next time. I’m coming along to get my brother back, and you can’t stop me.”

 

Keigo put an arm around Izuku’s shoulders. “Seriously, guys, you know Izuku will find a way to come no matter how much you try to stop him.”

 

Shouta and Hizashi exchanged a look before giving twin sighs of defeat. “Fine,” Hizashi finally said. “You can come along.”

 

Izuku nodded in determination.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Hitoshi had no idea how much time had passed, but he’d been chatting about cats and motorcycles with Dabi for a while. Hitoshi had spent a while in the past talking with Shouto’s brother Natsuo about motorcycles and talking to Dabi reminded him a lot of those talks. Natsuo had told him that their oldest brother, Touya, had been obsessed with motorcycles, and he had gotten into them as a way to keep the memory of him alive.

 

As their talks went on, Hitoshi started noticing a few other things about Dabi that reminded him of his boyfriend and his brother – he had a very similar sense of humor to Natsuo, his eyes were the same blue as Shouto’s left eye, the same blue as Endeavor. When he had that thought, a whisper of a memory Shouto had told him came back to him.

 

‘Touya’s fire was blue, and it burned so hot his body couldn’t handle it. His quirk burned him.’

 

Hitoshi could only gape at Dabi, opening and closing his mouth with no sound coming out for a while, before finally managing, “Holy shit,” in a whisper.

 

Dabi looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “You good, kid?”

 

“Y-you just reminded me of s-someone,” he stuttered.

 

“Oh yeah? Who?”

 

“My boyfriend’s dead older brother,” he answered quietly. Dropping his voice to an almost whisper, he said, “Todoroki Touya.”

 

Dabi stiffened as his eyes widened. “Shouto or Natsu?” he asked in a voice just as quiet.

 

“Shouto.”

 

Dabi just stared at him for several long seconds and then leaned back in his chair. “Shit.”

 

Hitoshi was about to ask Dabi to confirm if he was or wasn’t Touya when Magne and Toga came downstairs, followed by Twice. Twice and Toga were both skipping ahead of an amused Magne, talking about going to get their nails done. The three of them left almost as soon as they came down, with a casual “See you later, Dabs!” tossed behind them from Toga.

 

He waited a few minutes, but then Hitoshi just had to know. “That’s you. Right?”

 

Dabi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, it seemed he had made a decision. “Yeah.”

 

“Cool.” Hitoshi glanced around, making sure they were the only ones there and then said, “Tell me now if you don’t want me to tell Shouto and Natsu. Because I will definitely be telling them if you don’t say anything. They miss you.”

 

“How. . . how have they been? How’s Shouto?” Dabi asked quietly.

 

Hitoshi smiled softly. “He’s good, now at least. But from what he’s said, it took a few years after you ‘died’ for them to get to where they are now. Shouto told me that after he got his scar, while he was still recovering, that’s when his bro- . . . when you died. And it seemed that was some sort of, I don’t know, wake up call for his dad?” Hitoshi shrugged. “I’ve known Shouto for a few years now, and while his dad will never be dad of the year, Shouto has told me he’s better than he used to be.”

 

Dabi scoffed.

 

“Natsu backed up what Shou said. He’s not as bad as he used to be. Natsu only wishes he had changed before you had to leave them.” Hitoshi fell quiet for a while, letting the news sink in with Dabi. “They’ve been in family therapy for a while.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku was leaning against Shouta, just having found out their parts in the attack.

 

Apparently, there had been an undercover hero working with the League, and they had relayed the location of the bar where Hitoshi was being held. But the Nomu that had also attacked the training camp and that Momo had placed a tracker on was at a separate warehouse. Izuku was going to be on the retrieval team at the bar, while Shouta and Hizashi were going to be at the warehouse.

 

Originally, Shouta and Hizashi were going to be on the bar retrieval team, but when the organizers were told Screech was volunteering to join the attack, they reallocated their forces.

 

The bar team was going to consist of Screech, Hawks, Edgeshot, and Miruko. While this is where Hitoshi was supposed to be, they had also been told that many of the members of the League were going to be abandoning them, so those four should be enough to take care of them.

 

The main force was going to the warehouse. If they had one Nomu there, they might have more. Plus, All Might was sure that the man responsible for the League was going to be at the warehouse, so their main forces were going to be there.

 

Shouta dropped a kiss to Izuku’s hair. “Be safe out there and bring Toshi home.”

 

Izuku nodded with a chirp and hugged Shouta. “I will. Promise.”

Notes:

Chapters for Screech will likely be coming a bit quicker. We're nearing the end of the fic. According to my outline, there are less than ten chapters remaining. :D

Chapter 30

Notes:

Apologies, there is some. . . mild gore near the end.

Dabi walked over to Hitoshi with a plate of food. “I might be your babysitter, but I’m not spoon-feeding you,” he snarked as he undid the handcuffs binding his arms behind him. “Eat up.”

 

Hitoshi rubbed at his wrists for a moment before he picked up the sandwich from the plate that was placed next to him. “What is this, ham and cheese? No mayo?”

 

Dabi smirked at him. “I could have just pissed in a bowl for you, if you’d prefer?”

 

Hitoshi wrinkled his nose. “Gross.” Dabi cackled as he picked up his own sandwich.

 

Hitoshi had only taken a few bites when there was a knock on the door. “Kamino Pizza! I have a delivery!”

 

“That entitled little prick!” Dabi hissed. “I’m gonna shit on it and see if he still wants the pizza!” he hissed as he got up to get the door.

 

Hitoshi had to bite back a laugh, glad that Dabi had made a sarcastic comment about the pizza to hide the fact that this was most likely a rescue diversion. Dad had told him once that when villains had a hostage, the heroes would often times create a diversion with a pretend food delivery. Clearly, Endeavor never told his kids about this trick, or else Dabi wouldn’t be falling for it now.

 

Sure enough, as soon as Dabi opened the door, Edgeshot darted in and knocked out Dabi and the opposite wall exploded, admitting Miruko, ready to fight. Hitoshi’s eyes widened in shock as the form of his brother flew in past her and landed next to Hitoshi.

 

Izuku didn’t say a word, just noticed his restraints were gone, hooted happily, picked him up, and jumped out the destroyed wall just as quickly as he had come.

 

Hitoshi held on tightly to Izuku and grinned. “I’m glad you’re okay!” Izuku chirped at him happily in reply. “You know he’s after you, though, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Izuku said quietly through his smile. “But I won’t let him hurt you just to get to me. If it’s a fight he wants-“ Before Izuku could finish that sentence, the wall on the upper floor exploded.

 

“DEKUUU!!!” came the enraged scream from the blond asshole. He started using the explosions from his original quirk to fly after them, manic grin at seeing Izuku.

 

Izuku glanced backward towards him and hissed but he didn’t stop his flight and was easily outpacing Bakugou. “I’m taking you to a drop off point,” Izuku said, stressed by Bakugou still pursuing them. “If he’s still on us by the time I get you there, I’ll have to fight him, but I’m really trying not to.”

 

“He picked up another quirk,” Hitoshi informed him. “I watched him kill someone by touching them. They just… disintegrated?” Izuku hissed at that but didn’t say anything else, just became more determined.

 

Suddenly Hitoshi started choking on something, a black goo started coming out of his mouth, quickly expanding, and covering him. He faintly heard Izuku calling his name before he was suddenly teleported somewhere else.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku was so shocked when Hitoshi disappeared, he stopped flapping his wings and started dropping out of the sky for a moment. The shock didn’t last long, and he turned his head around to see if Bakugou was still following him. When he saw that Bakugou had also disappeared, he landed on the roof of a building and strained his hearing. Hopefully, Hitoshi would make some sort of sound and Izuku would be able to follow him.

 

Hopefully he was close enough for Izuku to hear.

 

In the distance, Izuku could hear Bakugou screaming at someone, “What the fuck was that for?! I had him in my sights! I was finally going to be able to kill that fucking bird!” He paused, as if he was listening to someone, and then he heard Bakugou just scream in rage.

 

Izuku couldn’t hear Hitoshi, but it was likely they were both taken by the same person, so maybe they were at the same place. Izuku took off in the direction he heard Bakugou’s screaming, and realized it was coming from the second location, the warehouse that was holding at least one Nomu.

 

Izuku saw Hitoshi in a defensive stance across from Bakugou who was steadily approaching him with his hands popping off intimidating explosions. Izuku took a deep breath in preparation for a screech as he shot in from their side. He carefully aimed his attack to avoid Hitoshi and let loose a screech that blasted Bakugou off his feet and sent him tumbling about ten meters and then landed in front of Hitoshi in a defensive crouch.

 

Hitoshi shook his head a bit to reorient himself from the sudden noise. “Holy shit that was loud,” he muttered.

 

“Can you hear me, Hito?” Izuku asked, not sure if his brother’s ears would still be ringing or not.

 

“Yeah. Not very well, but yeah,” he admitted.

 

Nodding, Izuku said, “If you run behind me, there is a perimeter keeping back the civilians. You should go check in with them. It’s not where I was going to take you, but I don’t think I can get you away again, not if they can just bring you back.”

 

“Kick his ass, Izu,” Hitoshi encouraged before taking off in the direction Izuku had told him to.

 

Just in time, as Bakugou’s manic grin reappeared on his face as he stalked towards Izuku. “You going to finally face me, Deku?”

 

Izuku narrowed his eyes and extended his talons. “I don’t want to fight you, Bakugou, I’ve never wanted to fight you!”

 

“Fine. Then we don’t have to fight. I’ll just kill you! After all, you ruined me, Deku!” he screamed in reply. “I was going to be the best! The Number One Hero! And you just destroyed that!”

 

“Nothing I have ever done was ever about YOU!” Izuku screamed back. “I just wanted to live my life, but you just had to insert yourself into my life! Why couldn’t you just leave me alone?!”

 

“I would have if you had just died like you were supposed to!” Bakugou lunged at him with his hand out and let off a massive explosion, but Izuku easily dodged the attack with a single flap of his wings and countered with a quick screech.

 

“What have I ever done to you to make you hate me so much?!” Izuku demanded.

 

“You refused to stay in your place!” Bakugou growled at him. “You were a quirkless, useless freak! You should have died, but you never did! You kept coming back, looking down on me, and being a pain in my ass!” He lunged at him again, but this time without using his explosions, just open hands.

 

“Nothing I ever did was ever about you!” Izuku dodged Bakugou’s attacks, sure that he was trying to use the new quirk Hitoshi had mentioned Bakugou having. “I just wanted to live my life in peace!”

 

“Then maybe you should have had a quirk!” Bakugou’s hand grazed the sleeve of Izuku’s shirt, and it started to disintegrate.

 

“I did have a quirk!” Izuku yelled. “You see these wings?! These talons?! This is my quirk! I have never been quirkless!”

 

The two boys continued fighting, Izuku landing a few open-handed slaps of his own, catching his talons on Bakugou’s arms or chest each time, while managing to keep from getting hit himself.

 

As they fought, Izuku let his instincts and training take over, while he thought of every time in the past Bakugou had hurt him, what led up to those moments, and he heard Inui’s words echoing in his head – ‘You’re not responsible for regulating the thoughts and feelings of anyone other than yourself,’ – and he realized that he was right.

 

All the times Bakugou – or even his mother, come to think of it – had ever hurt him, it was to cover their own faults. With Bakugou, it was his pride that was his downfall. He thought he was the best, and whenever he tried to do something, he succeeded, whether it was schoolwork, quirk training, whatever. He never failed, never got second place on anything.

 

And that changed when Izuku stopped hiding his quirk.

 

The teachers stopped him from attacking Izuku at Aldera, Izuku got the first place at the entrance exam for UA, at the Quirk Assessment Test, Bakugou got fourth place.

 

Bakugou was expelled, even.

 

But none of that was Izuku’s fault, it was all Bakugou’s fault. He didn’t learn, he kept his anger, his pride, his stubbornness. He insisted everything that happened was someone else’s fault.

 

His mother’s reactions to him weren’t his fault either. She cheated on her husband, she got pregnant by a man who she wasn’t married to, none of that was Izuku’s fault.

 

If she hated him so much, the right thing to do would have been to surrender him to child services, give him up so another family could have a chance to raise him. Izuku should have had a chance at a normal life, but the fact that he didn’t is not his fault!

 

Even though Inui had been saying this to him for the past few months, and even more in the past week, the suddenness of this revelation, the fact that he actually believed it, stunned Izuku enough to make him freeze in place. Not for long, but just long enough for Bakugou to get in close enough to land a hit on him with an open palm.

 

Izuku managed to move out of the way, so the hit didn’t land on his chest, but Bakugou’s hand hit his wing, nearly at the base, and he just did not let go! The pain traveled down Izuku’s wing, and he let loose a massive screech, right at Bakugou’s face, and as the blond was blasted away by the force of Izuku’s screech, he felt his entire left wing fall to the ground.

 

Izuku glared at Bakugou as he got back to his feet shakily. “Ha! Stupid fucking bird, let’s see how you deal without wings!” The thing about Izuku’s wings, if they were injured, they retracted. So as soon as his left wing fell off, the right wing and the remaining stump retracted.

 

But no one said Izuku didn’t know how to fight without his wings. And now he was pissed.

 

Izuku hissed at Bakugou and flexed his fingers before launching himself at the blond. Unlike the last time they tangled, Izuku was looking to cause damage to Bakugou, landing numerous swipes on him while still managing to dodge his open-handed slaps. He wasn’t as lucky with the explosions, but what’s a few more burns? Luckily his hero costume was fire resistant, so he was really only getting bruises from the concussive blasts.

 

After another few minutes of fighting, Izuku managed to wrap his hand around Bakugou’s left arm, and he could feel his hand clamp up in a stress-grip, with his talons sinking deeply into his arm, piercing not only skin, but muscle and bone as well. Izuku’s grip didn’t loosen when he felt just how deeply his talons were going, instead, he felt his grip tighten further.

 

Bakugou tried to bring his other hand up to force Izuku to release him, but in a panic, Izuku let loose another point-blank screech at him and sent him flying several meters. Izuku’s eyes widened further as he looked down and saw he was still gripping onto Bakugou’s arm. . . that was now detached from the rest of Bakugou’s arm.

 

“You crazy fuck!” Bakugou screamed, tears streaming down his face as he cradled the stump of his arm close to his chest. “You ripped off my arm!”

 

“You ripped off my wing!” Izuku screamed back at him. “Only difference is I can still fight with one wing, can you fight with only one hand?”

 

Izuku could practically see the fury radiating off of Bakugou as he prepared himself to rush at Izuku again when a giant red and black tentacle wrapped around Bakugou and threw him into an open portal that closed once Bakugou had gone through it.

 

“My apologies,” a man with half a melted face, wearing a suit with slightly damaged sleeves said calmly. “I am not quite done with him, yet. It would be a pity if you managed to kill him prematurely.”

Notes:

Oh no! Izuku lost a wing?! :O

Chapter 31

‘This is bullshit!’ Hitoshi thought to himself as he dodged another hit from one of the science fair reject monsters. They were fast, but not as fast as the one from the USJ, they were strong, but again, not as strong as that one. The area was so saturated in monsters he wasn’t able to just run to the perimeter like Izu told him to.

 

Hitoshi paused in his running as he caught sight of his dad fighting. In the years Hitoshi had been living with his parents, he’d never felt like his dad was useless in a battle. Well, congrats, universe, today’s the day. All he could do was watch helplessly as his dad threw the monsters to another hero with a destructive quirk and dodge the hits that were aimed at him.

 

Most of the monsters were shrugging off his dad’s attacks, and Hitoshi winced as Dad’s knife snapped in half as it struck one of the creatures that looked to have some sort of rock quirk?

 

Hitoshi did notice that a lot of the creatures seemed to be targeting his dad, though, and he was sure it had something to do with the guy that was fighting All Might. Hitoshi was willing to bet that man didn’t want Dad erasing his quirk. Quirks? Every time Dad managed to get that man in his sight, one of the monsters abruptly changed their target to him.

 

Hitoshi saw a slight opening, but he didn’t think he’d be able to make it past them to get to safety. Fuck, why did he have to get abducted without any weapons? He would kill to have his scarf on him right now! He turned his attention back to the main fight, ducking as he saw his dad throw another of the monsters into the path of a very irate Endeavor, and looked back to All Might and the guy in the suit.

 

He felt more than saw his dad come up next to him, watching in horror as the suit man’s arm turned into a sharply pointed tentacle and stabbed All Might in the stomach. “Hitoshi, you need to get out of here!” he heard Dad hiss to him. Hitoshi could feel the terror sneaking up on him. If All Might couldn’t beat this guy, what hope did the rest of the heroes have?

 

Dad was already just barely holding his own out here, and where was Papa? Hitoshi started looking around, he hadn’t really heard Papa fighting, is he okay? Papa’s fights are anything but subtle, if he was okay, he should have been able to hear him!

 

Hitoshi startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder and almost went to throw the person when he realized it was just Dad. “Hitoshi, you need to get out of here!” he repeated.

 

“Where’s Papa?” Hitoshi asked, ignoring Dad telling him to leave. He knows he needs to leave, he wants to, but he also needs to know his Papa is okay!

 

Dad huffed slightly, understanding where Hitoshi was coming from, and pointed. “He’s over there, kicking ass. Now will you get off this battlefield and get to safety?”

 

Hitoshi looked over to where Dad had pointed and saw his Papa surrounded by monsters, no other hero around him, open his mouth and scream, with no sound coming out. He was worried up until he started seeing the creatures exploding around him. “How is he doing that?” Hitoshi asked as Dad decided he’d spent enough time trying to convince Hitoshi to leave and just picked him up.

 

“High frequency, low volume,” Dad answered. “You didn’t think all Mic could do was scream, did you? These are his most deadly attacks, the ones he won’t do around others.”

 

That made sense. Hitoshi looked back to where All Might was fighting the guy in the suit, but Dad had covered his eyes and turned his head back to the front. “You don’t need to see that right now, you’ll see it on the news later.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Shouta managed to toss his son over the perimeter line and yell for an officer to make sure he stays safe before dashing back out into the fight. He had stopped Hitoshi from seeing what was most likely a killing blow to All Might, but that just meant the other heroes would need him out there more than ever to deal with that psycho.

 

The swarm of monsters had finally started to thin out, so it didn’t take Shouta too long to locate the villain. His heart skipped a beat, though, when he saw the villain standing right in front of Izuku, and then skip a second time when he saw a severed wing at Izuku’s feet while he held what looked like someone’s arm in his hand.

 

Shouta had to get to his son, and he had to get there soon! He watched as that villain impaled All Might, he can see All Might struggling to breathe, holding on to life by a thread, he can’t let that villain do the same thing to his son!

 

The villain was talking to Izuku, and as Shouta got closer, he could hear what he was saying. The tone was soothing, relaxing, even if the words themselves weren’t. “You could be powerful, unstoppable. Join me. Dear Katsuki has told me about you, and after witnessing the two of you in action, you would be a force to be reckoned with!”

 

Shouta was about to risk everything and step in between the two of them when Izuku suddenly looked down at the arm in his hand, steeled his expression, and then threw the arm at the villain.

 

Time seemed to slow as the arm sailed in the air and hit the villain in the face with the open palm.

 

“You dare,” he hissed at Izuku, “to throw an arm at me?” All traces of the soothing, relaxing voice were now gone, replaced with an oppressive malignancy.

 

Izuku glared at him. “You were using some sort of quirk on me, to try to persuade me to join you. I almost didn’t notice it, but you messed up one thing.”

 

“And what would that be?”

 

“I had a stress-grip on that arm. I shouldn’t have been able to release my grip for a little while longer, at least until the battle here was done.” Izuku shook his head slightly. “I shouldn’t have been calm enough to release a stress-grip.”

 

Shouta could almost feel the annoyance turning into anger, and knew it was only a matter of a few seconds before the villain attacked Izuku. Shouta couldn’t take the thought of losing either of his sons, so he dashed in, hoping to get in between the two before the villain could attack his son, but the villain instead turned to specifically target Shouta.

 

Less than a second later, the same tentacles that impaled All Might were shooting towards Shouta, and he tried to activate his quirk only to blink a moment later from the dry, dusty wind aggravating his eyes. He was fully prepared to die here, so long as both of his sons were safe, when he got pushed back by a loud sonic blast.

 

When Shouta looked up, Izuku was standing over him and facing the villain. His talons were still out, but now he was crouched in a defensive stance and glaring for all he was worth. “You don’t have permission to attack my dad!” Izuku hissed at the villain before he took a deep breath. Shouta barely had time to quickly cover his ears and scoot away from Izuku when he unleashed the same screech at this villain that he did at the monster from the USJ.

 

Even with Shouta covering his ears, the sound was way too loud for him, and he was sure he was going to need to visit with Chiyo right after this was over, when he felt something slide over his hears. He looked up to see Hizashi had put his spare headphones over his ears, thankfully blocking out all noise. Shouta stood up with Hizashi’s help, signed a quick thanks to his husband, and looked back at the villain.

 

He could see the villain clutching himself tightly, as if willing his atoms to stop vibrating apart. The villain seemed to regain his composure, so Shouta looked at Izuku, only to see he had stopped his screech and was saying something to him. Shouta started to lift the headphones off to try to hear what was being said, but Hizashi made him keep them on.

 

“Don’t. I have a feeling that the baby’s going to start up again in a second,” Hizashi signed. “He’s giving the guy time to give himself up, but after what he did to All Might…”

 

Shouta nodded as Hizashi trailed off, just as sure the villain would attempt to attack again. And sure enough, his arms both bulged with some sort of attack and Izuku let loose another powerful soundwave, so loud and high pitched that Shouta could feel the vibrations in his own body, to a much lower degree. Hizashi stepped in front of him and took a breath of his own, then added his own quirked scream, matching frequencies with Izuku.

 

It took them longer than the creature at the USJ, but soon enough the villain exploded in a shower of gore.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Second time this year. This is the second time this year Izuku’s killed someone with his screech, but at least this time he wasn’t alone. Hizashi… no, Papa. Papa pulled him into a hug. He had helped Izuku work through some of the guilt of killing the Nomu at the USJ, and Izuku was sure he thought Izuku would be feeling a lot like that this time, but strangely… Izuku felt… okay. Not good, not at all, but… okay.

 

Izuku’s head jerked up slightly as he heard a wet cough and a voice calling to him. All Might was waving him over. He dashed out of Papa’s arms to run to the clearly dying hero, not fully registering that both Dad and Papa were following him.

 

Izuku was sure he was hoping Izuku could fly him to get medical help, and Izuku was prepared to let him know that he couldn’t fly right now, not with only one wing, when All Might gave him his signature smile.

 

Izuku dropped down besides All Might and looking at his injuries, started pulling out first aid materials from his utility pouch. "I can't fly you to a medic right now, I'm sorry, but I can try to stop some of the bleeding while they get here!"

 

All Might coughed again. "Don't bother…. Young Midoriya," he said, voice quiet. "I won't…. make it off….. this battlefield.” All Might paused to cough weakly, clearly loosing the fight to stay alive. “Please..... Please tell Mirai…. I'm sorry, and that.... he..... was.... right...." All Might closed his eyes.

 

“No,” Izuku whispered. All Might couldn’t be… he couldn’t be…. Gone? Izuku checked his pulse and didn’t feel anything. He bowed his head and sighed. A hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked up to see his dad there, with a pair of headphones around his neck.

 

“Come on, kid, let’s go see if we can help with the last few Nomu, Zashi can stay here with All Might. If there’s no more to help with, we can find the medics and get someone sent here to take care of him.”

 

Izuku wanted to protest, but there really wasn’t anything he could really say. Besides, he could see a little bit of blood dripping from his dad’s ear and knew he needed to see medics. “I did that, didn’t I?” he asked.

 

Dad glanced at Papa and Papa said, “It’s not as bad as it looks, Zuzu. Yeah, Shou can’t really hear very well right now, but it’s not the first time this has happened. I got the headphones on him before it got too bad, but his ears are probably ringing like crazy.” Papa hugged him tightly. “I’ve done worse to him, baby, and you didn’t really have much choice in the matter. Please don’t blame yourself, okay?”

 

Izuku stood up and glanced back at his dad and signed, “You’re not mad about your hearing, are you?”

 

Dad shook his head. “My ears are ringing, yeah, but nothing too bad. I’m not nauseous and no vertigo, even if I don’t see a medic, I’ll be fine. But Chiyo is somewhere here in this clusterfuck, so I’ll be okay before we even get home.”

 

The two of them started off towards the medics, finding that there were only three Nomu left, and they were all being handled already. They passed where Izuku had fought Bakugou and that creepy face guy, and Dad paused, having noticed his wing.

 

“Izuku, hang on, let me grab your wing, maybe Chiyo can find a way to reattach it.” He reached down to pick it up, but Izuku tugged on his sleeve to get his attention.

 

“Don’t bother,” Izuku signed. “Not only can I not bring out my wings when they’re injured, it’s not the first time I’ve lost a wing. I’ll be fine.”

 

Dad just stared at him as if he had grown a second head. “What.”

Chapter 32

Notes:

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you are all having a good time, but being safe!

Izuku was determined to avoid Dad’s gaze. He knew his dad wanted an explanation for his comment, but how was he really supposed to explain that his mom had cut off his wings regularly for about a year solid when she was trying to force him to be quirkless? Yeah, it’d been about five years since the last time he’d lost a wing, but he knew it’d grow back. And who knows, he might even have all of his adult feathers on that wing now.

 

“He WHAT?!” he heard Keigo shriek.

 

Oh, Dad must have told Keigo either that his wing came off, or that he said it’d grow back. All that’s left now is for Hito and Papa to hear and then the whole family would be after him for an explanation.

 

Izuku glanced around and seriously considered running off and finding his own way home, but the thought of making sure everyone in his family was okay won out and he jogged towards the police barricade where he could see his brother’s purple hair.

 

He only made it a few meters before he was grabbed by a panicking Keigo. “My baby bird! Eraser said you lost a wing?! We can get that fixed, we can get in touch with a support company, we can get you a new wing, don’t loose hope, the sky hasn’t bee-“

 

Izuku cut him off by covering his mouth. “Keigo, relax. Yeah, it hurt, it always does, but it’s not the first time. I’ve lost my wings about a dozen times before. It’ll grow back.” As Izuku watched Keigo bluescreen from the new information, he continued on his way to Hitoshi.

 

Once again, Izuku didn’t get far, but this time it was Hitoshi who had noticed him and came running over, ducking under the arm of an officer trying to keep him on his side of the barricade. “Izuku!” he called out as he reached him and pulled him into a hug. “Are you okay?”

 

Izuku clung to Hitoshi and scoffed. “Am I okay? What kind of question is that? You’re the one who was kidnapped, are you okay?”

 

Hitoshi laughed. “Yeah, I’m fine. The guy they had as the babysitter was actually kinda cool, we just bullshitted the entire time.” Izuku noticed how Hitoshi still hadn’t loosened his grip on Izuku and how he was shaking, so Izuku kept his own grip on his brother tight.

 

Shouta and Keigo didn’t take long to join the two and nudged them towards the medics. “I’m fine,” Hitoshi said. “I don’t think I even have more than a few scrapes and bruises from the training camp.”

 

“It’s not for you,” Keigo muttered. “Eraser’s ears could use a look over, and I want a medic to look at my baby bird.”

 

Hitoshi pulled back from Izuku a little bit and started looking him over. “Are you hurt?”

 

Izuku waved his hand in a so-so motion. “Nothing you can see, but one of my wings did get ripped off. Don’t worry!” he exclaimed quickly, seeing the panic in Hitoshi’s face rising. “Like I already told Dad and Keigo-nii, it’s not the first time!”

 

Hitoshi paled a bit. “Not the first time?” he whispered. “Yeah, I’m with Keigo, let’s get you to the medics.”

 

Izuku sighed and resigned himself to a trip to the hospital so everyone can finally rest easy, knowing that he really would heal and be just fine.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Detective Tsukauchi had met Shouta and the rest of his family at the hospital for their statements. Izuku was letting all the doctors fuss over him, but it was clear that he was only doing so to humor everyone. He said he was fine, and by the way he was acting, Shouta had a feeling he really might be fine.

 

Shouta wasn’t sure if he was going to be fine, though. The way Izuku just calmly explained how his mother had cut off his wings as soon as they had healed had him seeing red. “I almost wish she hadn’t been arrested and tried already, I’d love to be the one to catch her ‘resisting arrest’ right about now,” Shouta growled.

 

“Wait,” Izuku looked up at him. “Arrested and tried? When did that happen?"

 

Hizashi cocked his head at Izuku. “About a month after we took you in, your mother was arrested. Didn’t we tell you?”

 

Izuku shook his head at them, wide-eyed.

 

“Oh.” Hizashi and Shouta shared a sheepish look. “Oops?”

 

Tsukauchi snorted at the both of them. “Her trial was last week. I was wondering why you weren’t there, but if you weren’t even told she had been arrested, that makes sense. She was sentenced to 23 years in prison.”

 

Keigo was sitting next to Izuku, and he pulled the boy closer, wrapping him in a hug. “Things were a little hectic the past week, Tsukauchi. We didn’t want to further upset the owlet by making him go through all that. I guess it just never crossed our minds that he didn’t know she’d even been arrested.” Izuku leaned heavily into Keigo’s hold and gave a soft hoot when he started carding his fingers through his hair.

 

Izuku seemed to twitch as Keigo pulled out his phone and answered it. “Heyo, this is Hawks! How can I help ya?” Shouta hadn’t heard it ring, but the two raptors in the room did. Keigo got up and excused himself from the room.

 

“Well,” Hizashi said as he took Keigo’s spot next to Izuku. “I’m glad the doctor said your injuries won’t effect your typical day-to-day life, but are you really sure your wing will grow back?”

 

Izuku cuddled close to Hizashi and let him pull him into a hug – that boy certainly loved his cuddles – and nodded. “It’s going to be about a month before it’s back, and then about another month of exercising it before it’s strong enough for me to fly again, but yes, it will grow back. I’ll have lower energy for the next month, so more naps and likely sleeping through the whole night, but I really will be fine.”

 

Hitoshi nodded gravely. “Maybe now I’ll be able to beat you in a race.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be happy or irritated, and kept alternating between the two emotions with everyone showering him in attention. First it was Keigo, Shouta, Hizashi, and Hitoshi fretting about his wing, and now he got Denki thrown into the mix as well.

 

That’s not to say he didn’t like the constant snuggling, and he loved how Denki kept him tucked under his chin and his arms wrapped around him, but still, the constant worry was getting annoying.

 

Who would have thought that Shouto would be the one to rescue him? "You know, the constant worry when nothing at all is wrong gets irritating, fast. He's said he's fine, so stop pestering him."

 

Everyone looked at him, sitting there coolly scrolling through his phone, while Izuku just started nodding. “He’s right,” Izuku said. “There really isn’t anything wrong with me, and while I do love the cuddles,” he tightened his grip on Denki slightly, “I’d appreciate it if everyone could stop mentioning my wing.”

 

Shouto nodded sagely. “Instead of fretting over Izuku, how about we switch over to Hitoshi. You were just kidnapped, after all.”

 

Hitoshi rolled his eyes. “Okay, I get it. Nothing’s wrong, and it’s irritating. I’ll stop,” he muttered and flopped to his side, laying across Shouto’s lap. Shouto simply smiled and started running his fingers through Hitoshi’s hair.

 

“Well, if we’re doing a subject change,” Denki pipped up, “Hitoshi, what was up with that kid at the camp? After the morning on the first day, he wouldn’t stop following you around.”

 

Hitoshi hummed in agreement. “His name is Kota. His parents were heroes who died in action, and he was bitter about it. A little bit of trauma dumping can make friends, I guess?”

 

“The way he was following you around almost made me think you were gonna be bringing home a new little brother,” Denki laughed.

 

Shouto snorted. “The kid kicked Sensei in the shin, I don’t think he’d ever willingly take that kid home.”

 

Izuku popped his head up at that. “No! Dad let someone kick him?”

 

“’Let’ is a strong word, Zu,” Hitoshi giggled.

 

As the group dissolved into giggles, a red feather opened the patio door and Keigo landed on the balcony and took off his boots before coming in. “Heyo chicklets!” he greeted before flopping on the couch next to Izuku and ruffling his hair, earning a soft chirp in response. “Are the responsible adults around?”

 

“Responsible adults? In this household? Please,” Hitoshi laughed. “But if you mean the parentals, they’re in the kitchen.”

 

“Parentals!” Keigo called out, lazily not getting up. “Your presence is being requested!”

 

“Fuck off!” grumped Shouta from the kitchen.

 

Izuku giggled at Keigo’s affronted expression. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon, Keigo, that call sounded important.”

 

Keigo was still mildly glaring at the kitchen but responded. “Oh, it kinda was. The Pres wanted me to relay a few messages to you and Zashi,” he raised his voice so he would be heard by the two in the kitchen, “which I would gladly be doing now, if the parentals would come here!”

 

“Again, fuck off, Keigo!” Shouta called out again.

 

“They’re making dinner,” Shouto explained. “We couldn’t decide between Katsudon and Sukiyaki, so they’re making both.”

 

Keigo huffed out an annoyed breath. “I suppose I can share my message after dinner.”

 

Denki piped up. “What’s it about? You said it’s for Zu and Mic-sensei?”

 

Keigo hummed in agreement. “Mhm. It’s not important important, but I do need to deliver them today.” Keigo paused. “Well, I have to deliver Zuku’s today, but I can always just let Zashi get blindsided by his.”

 

“For fuck’s sake,” they heard Shouta grumble from the kitchen, followed by Zashi’s snorting laughter. “Go find out what the pigeon wants.”

 

“I am not a pigeon, you overgrown hobo-caterpillar!” Keigo countered to the amusement of the teens.

 

Hizashi exited the kitchen, wiping his hands on a hand towel and laughing. “What’s up, Kei?”

 

“I want to see the hobo’s face when I say this, so I need you both. It can wait for after dinner,” he shrugged.

 

“We didn’t cook for you!” Shouta called out again from the kitchen.

 

“Ooh, I’m gonna enjoy this torment way more than I should,” Keigo hissed.

 

Hizashi rolled his eyes fondly and went back into the kitchen. “Dinner will be ready in about 10 minutes.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Dinner was fun, Keigo stubbornly refusing to share the messages since now Shouta wanted to know, but eventually the group migrated back to the living room and Keigo no longer had any excuses to put off saying what he came here to say.

 

“Okay, so I have two things,” he started as he pulled out an envelope from his jacket. “First – oh, this is straight from the Madam President, so yeah – as thanks to the reformed vigilante Screech for the defeat of the villain known as All For One, the HPSC is hereby graduating you from the reform program. You don’t even want to know how fast I had to talk to get them to “officially” downgrade this to a provisional license and not the full license.”

 

“Wait, they want to give him his full license?” Shouta asked, horrified.

 

“Yeah,” Keigo confirmed.

 

Denki raised his hand up in the air while Izuku was looking at Keigo with the same level of horror as Shouta. “Question! Why would that be a bad thing?”

 

Izuku was just gaping like a fish, so Hizashi answered for him. “Izuku doesn’t want to be a spotlight hero, he wants to be underground. So, becoming the youngest Pro Hero ever at 16 would bring him a lot of publicity – he would be forced into the spotlight. He still might be in the spotlight a little bit, that fight was televised, but with him being a minor – and more importantly – not yet a pro, his name won’t be released to the public.”

 

Denki nodded along to that. “Okay, that makes sense.”

 

Keigo smirked at him. “Just know, owlet, that as soon as you graduate, you’ve already got your full license. This provisional is just a formality, since I convinced them you’re too young for the full version.”

 

Izuku looked over to Shouta and Hizashi. “Please tell me I’ve inexplicably lost my hearing and Keigo didn’t say what I think he said?”

 

“Sorry, kiddo, you’re licensed. Congrats!” Hizashi cheered.

 

Keigo laughed and ruffled Izuku’s hair. “Well, with that, I guess I can take off. I really only came to hand you your license.” Keigo gave the envelope to Izuku and walked over to the patio, slyly keeping an eye on Shouta as Izuku pulled out the letter.

 

“Wait… this is addressed to Present Mic?” Izuku looked up to Hizashi and handed it to him.

 

With a confused expression, Hizashi read the letter and Keigo very subtly slipped his headphones on to protect his ears. Just in time, too, as Hizashi let out a shriek that made everyone but Izuku flinch and Shouta to activate his quirk.

 

“Oh, right!” Keigo snapped his fingers. “I knew I was forgetting something! The higher ups also mentioned something else. Apparently, Mic caught the attention of pretty much everyone when he joined Screech in the defeat of All For One, so they are bumping his ranking. Congrats, Shouta, you’re married to the new Number Nine Hero.”

 

“Dammit,” Shouta cursed and slid off the couch.

 

Notes:

A quick thank you to both Del and StallKing for helping me with ideas for Screech! They are a huge help for me whenever I'm writing pretty much anything.

Chapter 33

A week had passed since the day Present Mic and an unnamed UA Student took down the villain who had killed All Might, All For One, and Sasaki Mirai was being summoned to UA to speak to Nedzu. He didn’t want to go.

 

While Yagi Toshinori wasn’t a name that was well known, to Mirai, it was the name of one of his best friends, a friend he hadn’t spoken to in nearly five years, not since he had warned him of this exact event. He had told Toshinori that if he didn’t retire, he would meet his end at the hands of a villain, and he ignored his warning.

 

The funeral was beautiful, he had to admit, but he wished he had at least had the chance to say goodbye to his friend.

 

Mirai had been ignoring Nedzu’s request for a visit for days now, he just wanted to stay at home and mourn the loss of the greatest man he’d ever known, but apparently Nedzu had gotten impatient and sent his intern Mirio today with his summons. Mirio was so much like Toshinori that he couldn’t refuse the boy anything, even if it was just a message being passed down.

 

So here he was, walking up to the gates of UA, utterly miserable, and wishing he was anywhere else. He was met at the front gate by Eraserhead, who looked equally as miserable as Mirai. Odd, Mirai didn’t think Eraserhead was a fan of All Might, so why would his death be affecting him like this?

 

“Nighteye,” Eraserhead greeted with a tired nod. “Nedzu’s waiting for you.”

 

“I’ve been avoiding him,” Mirai admitted.

 

“He knows,” Eraserhead answered with a shrug. “He was willing to wait to talk to you, let you work through your grief, but Izuku kept insisting.”

 

Mirai glanced at Eraserhead with a cocked eyebrow. “Who?”

 

“You might know him better as Screech. He was the student who fought alongside Mic to take down that villain last week. According to him, All Might had a few final words for you. My ears were ringing so badly at that time I couldn’t hear anything, and Mic was relying on lipreading, so Izuku was the only one who heard him.”

 

A final message? From Toshinori? For him? All of a sudden, Mirai felt bad for dismissing Nedzu’s request for a meeting. Maybe Toshinori had wanted to tell him who he had passed his quirk to, was trusting Mirai with the task of teaching the next holder of One For All?

 

“Whatever you’re thinking the message is, it’s probably not all that,” Eraserhead muttered. “He only had time for maybe a sentence or two.” They had reached the doors to Nedzu’s office and Eraserhead hadn’t even bothered to slow down, instead just kept walking as though the doors would open on their own automatically.

 

They did.

 

Mirai followed him into the office, where Nedzu sat on a couch with a young teenager with green hair, playing a game of chess. The kid looked up at them as they entered, smiling briefly at Eraserhead, and then turned his attention back to the chessboard. “I just don’t think my analysis is all that useful, though.”

 

“Nonsense, Izuku-kun!” Nedzu said happily and moved a piece. “Your analysis needs some polishing, yes, but that is something we can easily work on between now and graduation. Besides, you cannot honestly tell me that you never once analyzed an opponent before you jumped in to fight them?”

 

The kid, Izuku apparently, flushed slightly and picked up a rook. “Well, I mean, of course I did? I would need to figure out really quickly if the person I was fighting was weak or strong. I couldn’t go all out if my opponent couldn’t handle it. I wanted to catch the criminals I fought, not kill them!”

 

“Exactly right!” Nedzu’s knight took the rook Izuku had placed down. “Your skills with analysis are one of the main reasons you were so accomplished as a vigilante. But I have looked through your notebooks, and I believe you can become so much more! You are already a fully licensed Underground Hero-“

 

“Provisionally licensed!” the kid corrected with a squeak.

 

“That’s just a formality and you know it,” Nedzu dismissed with a wave. “I am wanting to train you so you can add Analytical Hero to your license as well.”

 

The kid scratched the back of his head. “Isn’t that a bit much, though?” he asked. Mirai felt the kid was right. Underground and Analytics?

 

“For some, yes,” Nedzu admitted. “It’s your move, Izuku-kun.”

 

“Oh, right, sorry.” The kid looked at the board for a moment and then moved his bishop. “Check.”

 

Mirai’s eyes widened in shock. Some kid put Nedzu into check? Nedzu?!

 

Nedzu took the bishop with a knight without blinking. “While this is an ambitious goal, Izuku-kun, I feel you have the intelligence necessary to keep up with the training regimen I have planned for you.”

 

The kid glared at the board for a few moments and then sighed in defeat and knocked over his king. “How can you say that when I can’t even last more than ten minutes against you?”

 

Nedzu clapped his paws as Mirai collapsed into a chair. This kid was able to last ten minutes against Nedzu?!

 

“You last longer than most, Izuku-kun!” Nedzu then turned his grin to Mirai. “Sasaki-san. It’s good to see you made it here, eventually. I’d like to introduce you to my newest personal student, Midoriya Izuku. Izuku-kun, this is Sasaki Mirai, or as he’s more commonly known, Sir Nighteye.”

 

“It’s nice to meet you, Sir Nighteye!” Midoriya said. “I wish it were under better circumstances, though.”

 

Mirai nodded. “I hear you were the last person to speak with All Might before he. . . “ Mirai still couldn’t make himself say the words.

 

Midoriya nodded and – did he just hoot? Oh, that’s right, Eraserhead said this kid was Screech, and from what he remembered, Screech has an owl quirk. That makes sense. “He wanted me to tell you he was sorry. And that you were right.”

 

Mirai lowered his head. He had already known he was right. He quirk was never wrong, after all. He had seen Toshinori’s death, no amount of wanting for things to be different would make things different. “Thank you for passing his message,” he whispered. “Did. . . did he mention anything about who his successor is?”

 

Midoriya tilted his head a little too far to the side to be normal and chirped inquisitively. Nedzu is the one who answered. “He had spoken to me in depth about the student he had been wanting to pass it to, but I had insisted he speak to the student’s guardians prior to making the offer. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, he never did approach Shouta-kun nor Hizashi-kun.”

 

“Approach us about what?” Eraserhead asked.

 

“It was a national secret,” Nedzu stated, “One that means nothing now. It was the secret of All Might’s quirk. It could be passed down, person to person. All Might was the eighth holder of it, and he had wanted to pass it to Izuku-kun.”

 

The sound the kid made at that could only be described as a mix between a squawk and a screech. He stared in stunned disbelief at Nedzu, opening and closing his mouth with no words coming out, only various bird noises.

 

“Are you trying to tell me,” Eraserhead calmly started, leaning forward, “that he wanted to give my son, my prospective Underground Hero son, one of the flashiest quirks in existence?”

 

Midoriya started shaking his head frantically. “No! No way I would have accepted! I’m already plenty strong on my own, and my quirk is already nearly too loud for the line of work I want to go into!” He turned horrified eyes to Eraserhead. “Can you just imagine me with that kind of quirk?”

 

Eraserhead started rubbing his temples. “I’m already dealing with a flashy husband way too high up in the rankings, I don’t need a flashy son on top of that.”

 

Nedzu hummed in amusement and nodded his head. “Yes, that is about what I expected from the both of you, and why I suggested for him not to approach Izuku-kun directly.”

 

“Well, since he clearly did not pass One For All to Midoriya,” Mirai spoke up again. “Who has it now?”

 

“No one,” replied Nedzu. “The quirk died with All Might.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Shouta had not been prepared to deal with a grown ass man breaking down into tears, but that was his day. He groaned in relief as he finally got home and collapsed onto the couch.

 

“Hey Shou, are you okay?” Hizashi asked as he came out of the kitchen. Shouta glanced at the clock and saw it was about the time Zashi normally started on dinner.

 

“Yeah, just a long day. Never would have thought I’d ever see Nighteye cry over All Might’s quirk of all things,” he grumbled as he stood back up to give his husband a kiss.

 

“Oh, they mentioned that?” Hizashi shrugged. “All Might approached me about that the week of finals, and I told him if he even attempted to bring that flashy quirk anywhere near my son, either of my sons, he’d need to learn JSL because here would be no coming back from that hearing loss.”

 

Shouta snorted and rested his forehead against Hizashi’s shoulder. “I probably would have defenestrated him."

 

It was Zashi’s turn to snort. He ran his fingers through Shouta’s hair and said, “Yeah, he hinted that I was the safer option to talk to. Since he knew there was no way in hell I was letting that quirk anywhere near the boys, I didn’t bother mentioning it to you. He didn’t approach Izuku about it, right?”

 

Shouta shook his head. “Zuku was just as blindsided as I was when Nedzu mentioned it, and he only did because Nighteye asked about it.” Shouta pulled back from Hizashi. “Go finish dinner. I’ll make sure the other thing is ready for after.”

 

Izuku poked his head out of his bedroom door. “What other thing?”

 

“Stop eavesdropping, you menace,” Shouta smirked.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Just like they had planned, Keigo dropped by a few minutes after dinner and kept the boys occupied while Hizashi packed up the leftovers and Shouta got started on the dishes. They had two things to discuss with the boys, and one decision to make, and Hizashi hasn’t been more excited in ages!

 

“When are you going to stop flying into billboards?” Hizashi heard Hitoshi ask Keigo.

 

“Excuse me, but flying isn’t as easy at it looks!” he retorted. “You have to take the wind direction into consideration, the temperature, any currents that decide to pop up, and all that while keeping an eye out for anyone needing help!”

 

“There was an ad for KFC, wasn’t there?” Izuku giggled.

 

Keigo huffed in embarrassment and muttered, “Yes, there was an ad for KFC.”

 

Shouta snorted as he finished drying the last dish. “You ready, Zashi?”

 

He nodded. “I’ll go get it,” he said and went to their bedroom to get the envelope. Soon he was joining the others in the front room.

 

“Okay, kids, there’s some news and a decision that needs to be made.” Hizashi lightly tapped on the envelope, and then smirked. “This will come second.”

 

“First,” Shouta said, drawing most of their attention, “Nedzu has decided to convert UA into a boarding school, so in a few days, we’ll all be moving onto campus, into the newly built dorms. I’m going to be talking to the parents of all of 1-A, and Zashi will be talking to all of 1-C, so we won’t be around much for the two days it’ll take to go to all the families. Don’t spread this to the other hellspawn yet.” He glared at Hitoshi and Izuku until they both nodded. “Good.” Shouta turned to Hizashi. Now it was his turn to deliver news.

 

“Izuku, you’ve been living with us since February, and it’s now August. Do you remember, back in April, I told you that we were wanting to adopt you?”

 

Izuku’s eyes widened, and he nodded, grabbing Hitoshi’s hand in the process. “Yes!”

 

“Well,” Hizashi continued with a huge smile. “Part of the process is that you have to have been living with us for six months before the process can be completed, and it’s been six months!” He opened the envelope and handed Izuku the official adoption documents. “You’re ours now, baby bird!”

 

Izuku promptly burst into tears and lunged at Hizashi and Shouta, wrapping them both up in a tight hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he managed to get out through his tears.

 

Shouta and Hizashi both had their arms tightly around Izuku, hugging him close, and they were soon joined by both Keigo and Hitoshi. “You’re stuck with us now, Zuku!” Hitoshi laughed, face full of green hair.

 

The four of them stayed like that for a good few minutes before Shouta said, “The last thing is for you to make a decision, Izu. What’s your new name going to be?”

 

They all pulled back, but Izuku managed to squeeze himself between Shouta and Hizashi. “I hadn’t really thought about it,” he admitted.

 

“When I was adopted, they didn’t give me a choice,” Hitoshi interjected. “Both Dad and Papa were still fairly new heroes, and they didn’t want to risk anyone linking me to them, so I got Dad’s Mom’s name.”

 

Keigo cocked his head. “I thought Shinsou was your original name.”

 

Hitoshi shook his head. “I don’t actually remember what it was. Before Dad found me, I was rarely ever called. . . anything fit for polite company. The only reason I remembered my given name was because the teachers at school had me write my name on the classwork.” Hitoshi shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, though, I love my name now, and that’s all I care about.”

 

“So, I can choose between Aizawa, Yamada, or Shinsou?” Izuku asked.

 

“You can choose any name you want,” Hizashi corrected. With a wink, he added, “You can even choose Kaminari, if that’s what your little heart wants.”

 

“Papa!” he shrieked, much to the amusement of the rest of the room and buried his blushing face in Hizashi’s shoulder.

 

Izuku didn’t pull away for a few minutes, but when he did, he had a thoughtful look on his face. “I’m legally your son, and Toshi’s legally my brother. But I also consider Keigo to be my brother.”

 

“You better consider me your brother, Owlet!” Keigo huffed with a smile.

 

Izuku gave Keigo his biggest eyes and asked, “Is it okay if I choose Takami for my name? That way, even if we aren’t legally brothers, we’re still brothers.”

 

Keigo started tearing up and he opened his arms up for Izuku. “Come here, little brother!” Izuku jumped into his arms and held on tightly. “Of course, you can use Takami. Of course, you can.”

 

Shouta picked up the document from the floor where it had dropped during the family hug and wrote in ‘Takami Izuku’ for their son’s new name.

Notes:

It's almost over!!!

Don't worry, though, I still have to introduce the dorms, the provisional licenses, Overhaul, and deal with Bakugou. All of those things will happen before this is completed. But still.

It's almost over!!!

Chapter 34

Notes:

Not gonna lie, this chapter feel like filler, and I'm not a fan of filler, so I don't really like this one all that much. But it needed to be here, so it's here.

Izuku stood back and just took in the décor of his new room. He and Hitoshi had been allowed to come to the dorms a day earlier than the rest of the class to set up their rooms since Dad and Papa had to come to the school to ensure that everything was prepared for their classes, and Izuku had decided to decorate this room differently than how his room at home was.

 

He hadn’t felt as though his living arrangements were stable enough to really ask for what he had wanted when he first started living with his new family, but now? Now they were stuck with him, and he was never letting them go.

 

The first change he had made for his dorm room was removing the overhead light. While Izuku could easily handle bright lights, able to switch freely between Dark and Day Vision, he preferred the darkness. Things seemed quieter, and less stimulating, even if they weren’t. To help his room be even darker, he had also replaced the curtains with dark green blackout curtains over the balcony. They could easily be pulled open if he had guests in his room, but if it was just him, his room was as dark as night. He had managed to paint his room, too. He went with a light green with brown trim.

 

He knew there was a good chance of having guests, and sometimes they would stay even past nightfall, so Izuku had replaced the overhead light with green LED lights running around the ceiling. They weren’t bright enough for guests to do something like reading, but Izuku hadn’t set up his room for group study anyways.

 

Keigo had taken him and Toshi to the mall to pick out the bedding on their beds, and Izuku had picked out a dark green bedspread with brown sheets. Hitoshi had joked that he was making his room into a forest theme, and Izuku had smiled and said that was exactly what he was doing. The only thing he was bringing from his room at home were the two plushies that stayed on his bed – a Pichu named Kamichu and a Rowlet named Owlzuku.

 

There came a knock at his door and Izuku opened it. Hitoshi blinked and squinted at the darkness. “Dude. I can't see a thing."

 

Izuku laughed and clicked on the LED lights. “Better?”

 

“Better enough for me to not trip as I open your damn curtains,” Hitoshi muttered as he did exactly that. As the curtains were opened, Hitoshi took a look around and hummed in appreciation. “It looks better than I thought it would.”

 

“Mm. I thought about putting tree decals on the walls, but decided to just leave it like this,” Izuku smiled at his room. “Are you done setting yours up?”

 

Hitoshi nodded. “Unlike you, I left the lights alone, so it didn’t take nearly as long.”

 

Izuku blew his bangs out of his face with an annoyed huff. “I wanted to do something different!” Izuku defended himself.

 

Hitoshi laughed. “You know Tokoyami is going to do something similar, right? I doubt he’ll do green lights, but I’m sure he’ll take out the lights in his room.”

 

Shrugging, Izuku said, “Probably. But we like the dark, so why not take out the lights?” He tugged on Hitoshi’s sleeve. “I want to see your room now!”

 

They left Izuku’s room and went to the one next door. “It’s nothing special,” Hitoshi shrugged as he opened the door.

 

Hitoshi’s room looked similar to his room at home – a lot of teal and black. Hitoshi’s favorite color was teal, but he always said he looked bad in it, claiming the teal clashed with his purple hair and eyes. Izuku didn’t think that was true, but what does he know? He actually likes wearing shirts that say ‘Socks’ on it.

 

Izuku glanced around and saw that all the provided furniture had been replaced by black furniture, the drapes on the patio were gauzy black with an extra layer of teal black-out curtains, and he had painted his walls a dark teal. His bedding was a mess of teal, grey, and black geometric patterns, with spirals and circles as the most predominant.

 

The cutest part of the entire room had to be the plush cat that was sitting on Hitoshi’s pillow – a perfectly split down the middle red and white cat.

 

“You brought Kittyroki!” Izuku laughed happily.

 

“You say that as if you didn’t bring Owlzuku and Kamichu,” Hitoshi lightly shoved Izuku.

 

~*~*~*~

 

The next day, everyone had met up in front of the new 1-A dorm building, Heights Alliance, and Hitoshi was waiting with them for Dad to show up. It was still fairly early in the morning, and Izuku was having a really hard time staying awake, so Denki was carrying Izuku on his back while he slept. Hitoshi was surprised that he was still sleeping, since the gathered class wasn’t being very quiet, but Izuku really had been lethargic for the past few days.

 

“Hey, Shinsou?” Ashido had walked up to him and gave Izuku a concerned look. “What’s up with Midoriya? Is he okay?”

 

Hitoshi nodded. “Yeah, he’s fine. Something happened recently, I think Dad’s going to explain when he gets here.” She nodded and walked back to where Kirishima was, and most likely shared what Hitoshi had just told her.

 

It didn’t take much longer for Dad to show up.

 

“Alright, Hellspawn, listen up. Behind me is your new home for the remainder of your time at UA – Heights Alliance. I have low expectations for your behavior while here, but please try not to make me lower the bar further. There is a full list of rules that are to be followed, but I’ll tell you the most important ones now. Do not set the dorm on fire. Do not break holes in the walls. Do not destroy the furniture.”

 

 “Who am I kidding…. Let me rephrase that.” Dad sighed in defeat. “Do not set the dorm on fire more than once a week. Do not break holes in the walls more than once a week. Do not destroy the furniture more than once a week.”

 

Hitoshi would have laughed at that, but he remembered that while Shouto was absolutely amazing, he could not cook. The threat of fire in the kitchen was very real. Come to think of it, he didn’t think Momo knew how to cook, either.

 

“Now, I had originally planned to discuss this over the camp, but it was cut short, so I will say it now.” Hitoshi tilted his head a little, curious to where this was going. “Ojiro, Uraraka, and Sato.” Oh, Hitoshi knew where this was going. “The three of you performed particularly poorly at the camp. I was going to give you until the end of the camp to set yourselves straight before you were dropped down to General Ed. But now? Now you have until the start of term.”

 

The three of them looked at each other in mild panic before turning their attention back to Dad, who continued. “There is going to be an event before the start of term, and it is either a pass or fail event. If you do not pass, you will not be continuing on in 1-A. Am I clear?”

 

Satou and Uraraka both gulped and nodded, with a quick “Yes, Sensei.”

 

Hitoshi thought Ojirou, however, might have suffered brain damage recently, because he said, “But Sensei, that’s not fair! How can you punish us over this when Midoriya didn’t even bother showing up? And even now, he’s just sleeping and not paying attention to any of what’s going on?”

 

Dad narrowed his eyes at Ojirou and then grinned. Oh, no, that was his happy, yet sadistic grin. Ojirou was not about to have a good time.

 

“I thought I made myself clear on the first day of class?” Dad said. “The world isn’t fair. Since you seem so worried about Izuku, I will tell you why he is being exempt from this.”

 

Everyone was looking at him expectantly. “I’m sure you all remember the student who was expelled during the first week of school, yes?” He paused as everyone nodded. “Shortly before the camp started, he found and attacked Izuku while at the mall. Seven were injured, and five were killed in that attack, all while Izuku was the target. He was not in the right headspace to attend camp. Furthermore, when Hitoshi was abducted, Izuku joined the raid team to retrieve him. In that battle, he was injured – he is temporarily unable to use his wings. He is using a lot of stamina in healing his injury, so he will fall asleep often. He should be fully recovered before second term starts.”

 

“You let him go on a raid?” Kirishima pipped up, banging his fists together. “That’s so manly!”

 

“WAIT!” Ashido exclaimed, loud enough to where Izuku, deep asleep, let out a small hoot in protest and buried his face in Denki’s neck. “The news said Mic-sensei worked with a UA student to beat the villain that killed All Might, was that Mido?! I thought they were talking about an older student!”

 

“Ashido!” Hitoshi hissed at her. When she looked up at him, he hissed again and gestured at Izuku, who was once again stirring on Denki’s back. “Shh! Don’t wake him up.” Izuku let out a sleepy chirp but fell asleep again quickly.

 

Ashido whispered a quick “Sorry!” and covered her mouth.

 

Dad nodded at the class. “Go inside. I’m trusting you to keep things down to a dull roar, try not to wake Izuku. Hitoshi, you know where the room assignments are. I’m going to have a discussion with Ojirou, then I’ll be inside.”

 

Hitoshi watched as Ojirou gulped, and then he led the rest of the class inside. Whatever Dad had to discuss with him was none of his business, though Hitoshi was fairly sure the tailed boy wouldn’t be joining them in Height’s Alliance for the upcoming school year.

 

“Alright,” Hitoshi said, “Over there are the elevators, but you can also take stairs. Left side is boys, right is girls. Here’s the list of who has what room, and your names are also on the doors.” Hitoshi gestured at the room assignment chart and then stood aside as everyone started looking.

 

“Wait a minute,” Jirou muttered, confused. “Who’s Takami?”

 

“Yeah, and where’s Midobro?” asked Kirishima.

 

Hitoshi blinked at them and smacked his forehead. “That’s right, his name already got updated.” Hitoshi grinned at everyone. “You all know Izuku’s been living with me and my dad for a while, well, my dad adopted him. Izuku got to change his name, and as you all know, he’s not really a fan of ‘Midoriya,’ so he changed it. His new name is Takami Izuku.”

 

Izuku chirped happily. “Mmm, I almost went with Shinsou, but almost everyone still calls Toshi that.” Izuku kissed Denki on the cheek and slid down to stand on his own. “Good morning, everyone!”

 

“Good morning, Izu-chan, kero,” croaked Asui. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better.”

 

“Thanks, Tsu-chan!” He turned to Denki. “You’re on the third floor, I’ll help you set up your room if you want!”

 

“We’re waiting for Dad. He’s still outside talking to Ojirou,” Hitoshi interjected before Izuku could drag Denki upstairs.

 

“Oh.” He cocked his head and winced. “Yeah, he won’t be long.”

 

Sure enough, Dad entered alone a few minutes later. Uraraka and Satou paled, coming to the same conclusion Hitoshi had – Ojirou was expelled.

 

“Alright, now, where was I?” Dad asked as he returned to address the remaining fifteen students. “Ah, yes. Some of you may have noticed that neither Hagakure nor Aoyama are present. They have both decided to drop out of the Hero Course. While you may still see Hagakure on campus, as she has transferred to the Business Course, Aoyama has returned to France.”

 

There was shocked silence among the students, none having thought that anyone would willingly drop out of the Hero Course.

 

Dad nodded and continued on with his speech. “You have the rest of today to get settled into your new rooms and figure out some method for assigning chores. If you don’t have a chore schedule by tomorrow, I will be making one for you.” He waited for everyone to nod in acknowledgement. “Good. Now, if you need me for anything, you all know how to reach me. I’m going to take a nap.” And with that, Dad left them to fend for themselves.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku yawned as he stepped into the gym with the rest of his classmates. Dad had told them all to change into their hero costumes and meet in the gym, so here he was, practically asleep on his feet, but ready to participate.

 

“One of the main goals of the training camp was for you all to be ready to take your Provisional License Exams before the start of the next term. The first week was supposed to strengthen your quirks, while the second week was supposed to be working on Super Moves,” Dad stated, looking around at everyone. “You all should have at least two Super Moves, and since the camp was cut short, you will be working on them here.”

 

There was excited chatter among the class before Sero raised a hand. “Can you give us an example of a Super Move?”

 

Dad shrugged and pointed lazily at Izuku. “He’s got a few of them. His screech is probably the most obvious, but that’s not to say his talons and the way he uses them don’t also count, as does his silent flight. Those are just three of his moves. As for myself, I have my binding cloth as a Super Move.” He shrugged. “Your Super Move doesn’t have to do with your quirk, it just needs to be something that gives you an advantage.”

 

As the class spread out in the gym with Ectoplasm clones, Izuku yawned again and started towards a clone of his own when Dad placed a hand on his shoulder. “You already have your Super Moves, as well as your license. Instead of joining with these classes, I’m going to have you meet up with Nedzu instead.”

 

“Okay. So going forward, at least for now, don’t bother changing into my costume, and just go to Nedzu’s office?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Okay. I’ll change back and head there now, I guess?” Izuku asked.

 

“Try to keep the world domination to a minimum, okay?” Dad joked.

 

Izuku chirped and headed back to the locker room to change. Once he was done, he went into the school and headed up to Nedzu’s office. “Ah, Izuku-kun! So nice of you to join me!”

Notes:

I swear, this is not a purge fic, but we are down 5 students now. Hooray?

Chapter 35

Notes:

Okay, look, everyone is entitled to a chapter they just don't like and don't ever want to look at again, right? Well, that's what this chapter is to me. It took me ages to write, and I don't want to look at it again, so this chapter has not gone through any edits. Are there going to be parts that end abruptly? I think there is a part, yeah, but I don't want to go back to add anything to it to make it flow better.

I wrote and deleted like, 15 parts as I was doing this because "oh, that'd be cute!" and then I couldn't figure out how to extend the scene. So yeah, this chapter is done. Enjoy?

Izuku trudged his way to the busses with the rest of the class, only willing to tag along because he knew he’d be able to sleep on the bus. Today was the day the rest of the class was going to be taking their Provisional License Exam, and Izuku wanted to be there to cheer them on.

 

But really, did they have to get up so early?

 

“Problem Child, if you don’t hurry up, we’re going to leave without you,” Dad teased. Everyone had already boarded the bus while Izuku was standing there, contemplating the merits of morning.

 

Izuku blinked at him and then looked around blankly. “Oh.” He yawned widely and wobbled his way over to where his dad was standing at the doors to the bus. “Carry me?” he asked adorably, giving his dad the big eyes he knew he was weak against.

 

Dad only paused for a few moments before sighing in defeat and picking up Izuku who buried his face into the capture scarf. “You better be awake by the time we get to the exam site, I’m not ruining my reputation by having to carry around an owl.”

 

Izuku snorted at that and hooted in assent.

 

As Izuku drifted off back to sleep, he thought he heard his dad threated the rest of the class that if they woke them up, he wouldn’t let them take their licensing exam.

 

~*~*~*~

 

As soon as Izuku agreed to wake up when they got to the exam, Shouta knew he was lying. Izuku was going to sleep right through it all, and Shouta didn’t think there was much that could wake him up. Most of the past three weeks had seen Izuku sleepy and nodding off while his wing re-grew, but Izuku had mentioned that the closer his wing was to being fully healed, the more he slept and the harder it was to wake up. Hopefully, this meant Izuku would have his wings back in a few days.

 

Getting on the bus with Izuku already falling asleep, Shouta flashed his quirk at the class to get their attention. “If any of you hellions wake up my son,” he stated calmly, “you’ll sit out the exam here on the bus. Do you understand me?” All fourteen sets of eyes widened at him and nodded. “Good.” Shouta then sat in one of the front seats, adjusted Izuku to be in a more comfortable position, and fell asleep as the driver started on their way to the exam site.

 

Surprisingly, the hellions did stay quiet enough for Shouta to sleep through the whole ride, only getting loud when the but was pulling up to the exam location at the National Dagoba Arena.

 

The students all got off the bus carrying their costume cases and muttering nervously amongst themselves. Shouta followed, carrying Izuku who had only stirred slightly and gripped onto Shouta’s scarf when he tried to wake him.

 

“Alright, listen up, Hell Spawn. If you can pass this test and get your Provisional Licenses, then you’ll be semi-pros.” Shouta locked eyes with them all briefly. “I expect your best.”

 

“All right!” Denki cheered. “I can’t wait to show off what I’ve learned!”

 

“Yeah! Let’s call out the usual!” Kirishima yelled out. “On my mark! Go plus-“

 

“ULTRA!” A kid in a Shiketsu hat interrupted. Shouta was pretty sure he remembered this kid from the recommendation exam. He was the kid that got first place in the obstacle course, beating out Todoroki by barely an inch.

 

“You know,” one of the other Shiketsu students who had followed the kid said, “it’s very rude to barge into other people’s huddles like that, Inasa.”

 

“I! AM! SO! VERY! SORRY!” he yelled out before bowing so low he hit his forehead on the ground.

 

“Who is this guy?” Denki asked. “I do not trust his enthusiasm!”

 

“Oh, that’s right,” Shouta muttered. “Yoarashi Inasa was his name.”

 

Yoarashi looked at Todoroki and his excitement seemed to fade. “You. You have that same look in your eyes as your father.”

 

Shouta saw that Hitoshi was about to call him out on his rudeness, but then Todoroki spoke up. “I would expect so, yes, as we are related.”

 

Yoarashi seemed to get confused at that. “That-that’s not what I meant!”

 

“If you look closely,” Todoroki continued, “I also have my mother’s eyes. You see? This one is grey. Do they teach you anything about genetics at Shiketsu? Or have you not gotten to that particular section yet in your classes?”

 

Hitoshi, the ever-faithful shit-stirrer he is, added, “I think that’s part of the middle school curriculum, Shou. He should definitely have already known that a kid normally has traits from their parents, such as their eyes.” Shouta had to quickly turn away to keep from snorting at his son’s antics, further ruining what was left of his reputation.

 

 Shouta was able to successfully avoid laughing at Hitoshi, however by turning his head he caught sight of the last person he wanted to see. He scowled at the green haired woman who brightened up as the Shiketsu students left.

 

“Eraser!” she called out, “I’d know that scowl anywhere!”

 

“Joke,” Shouta grumbled. “Please be quiet. My son is sleeping.”

 

“Aw, Eraser, he’s so cute!” she cooed at Izuku. “And look! He looks just like the two of us! He could totally be our son! How thoughtful of you to adopt a kid that could pass as ours! So, when are we getting married?!”

 

Shouta let out a long-suffering sigh and shook his head. “Never.”

 

“You’re such a kidder, Eraser!” She laughed loudly, and Shouta could see his students were starting to get almost as uncomfortable as he was.

 

They all knew he was already married, Shouta was sure of it. Neither he, Hitoshi, nor Izuku were very subtle about how much they all adored Hizashi, so if any of 1-A didn’t know that Shouta was married, he’d have to put them through an intense situational awareness training.

 

“I really was not kidding, Joke. Now please, don’t wake up my son.”

 

She waved a hand dismissively. “He needs to wake up anyways, how else is he going to participate in the exams?”

 

Shouta glared at her. “He’s not. He’s here to watch the exams, not to participate.”

 

“Now Eraser, any son of ours is going to be a hero! He needs to at least give the exam a try!” she countered.

 

Just as Shouta was about to reveal that Izuku already has his provisional license, he felt his son stirring in his arms. Izuku brought one hand up to his eyes to rub away his sleep, while the other arm tightened around Shouta lightly. With a quiet hoot, Izuku looked up at the person making so much noise and blinked at her.

 

“Aww!! Eraser, our son is just perfect! Look at him! I just want to pinch his little cheeks!” Joke squealed loudly.

 

“He’s not your son, Izuku is my son,” Shouta growled at her.

 

Even in his still mostly asleep state, Izuku was able to pick up on Shouta’s clear annoyance, and he made a noise at Joke that was half-way between a hiss and a screech. “Leave m’dad alone,” he slurred, before nuzzling his head back into Shouta’s scarf and quickly falling asleep again.

 

Shouta turned back to his class and gave them a mild glare. “Well? What are you waiting for? There are signs everywhere informing you where to go. If any of you are late, you’ll be expelled.”

 

That was all the incentive they needed, all fourteen students ran for the direction of the locker rooms to change and get ready for their exams.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Hitoshi was with the rest of his class in the arena, waiting for the exam to start when he noticed that his dad was in the stands with Izuku still clinging to him and fast asleep. He also noticed, however, that Miss Joke was a few seats away from him, and that his dad was looking minutes away from murder. Hitoshi winced and dropped his gaze to Shouto who had also noticed and was looking at Hitoshi.

 

“He’s going to be in a bad mood, no matter how many of us pass or fail, isn’t he?” Shouto asked.

 

Hitoshi nodded in confirmation. “I really wish she had taken her class to the other location,” Hitoshi muttered.

 

Denki slid next to them and put an arm around Hitoshi’s shoulders. “Okay, so, I know sensei usually looks like he’s about to skin some of us alive, but today he looks even more pissed off. Is it all because of her?”

 

“Yeah,” Hitoshi confirmed. “Miss Joke won’t accept that Dad’s married, and she’s even insulted Papa a few times. Not that she knows who he is, she’s only ever met him as Hizashi. She claims she’s been after Dad since before he met ‘that blond homewrecker,’ completely disregarding the fact that they didn’t meet until they had already gone Pro.”

 

“Damn,” Denki hissed. “But wait, didn’t they start dating back in their high school days?”

 

“Yeah, while they were first years. They moved in together right out of high school. They’ve always been together, and they’ve always been gay as hell. Dad’s never been interested in her, and no one knows where she even got the idea that he was.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Whose dog had he kicked in a past life to deserve this torture? Joke just would not leave, having followed him to the arena’s seats. She had initially sat right next to him, but after he kept moving a few seats away from her every time she followed him, she eventually decided to leave two seats between them.

 

Not great, but better than nothing.

 

Shouta had noticed Hitoshi and Todoroki glancing up at him nervously, and he was pretty sure his expression matched his mood. He wanted to smooth out his expression, but every time he started, Joke would say something to remind him she was still there.

 

“We should go out on a date this weekend!”

 

“No.”

 

“Come on, you never want to go out with me! How are you going to ever find the time to propose if you never make time for me?” she whined.

 

“Simple. I’m not going to. I’m already married to the man I love, and you’re not him.” Joke replied, but Shouta had already started tuning her out again. The exam had started, and like every year before, everyone was targeting his students.

 

The first attack came, and his kids managed to avoid getting tagged out – Shouta smirked with pride at how well his students worked together. The second attack looked a little harder to dodge, but his students still managed it. The problem seemed to come with the third attack.

 

“That one’s mine!” Joke cheered as a black-haired kid in green placed his hands on the ground and caused an earthquake, finally making Shouta’s kids break formation and separate into groups.

 

It seemed the noise of the earthquake had been too much for Izuku to sleep through, since he shifted on Shouta’s lap and lifted his head. Blinking and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Izuku questioned, “What’s that sound?”

 

“The exam’s started, kid,” Shouta answered, ruffling Izuku’s hair.

 

Izuku’s eyes widened, and he chirped excitedly. “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier? I wanted to wish Denki good luck!”

 

Shouta snorted. “If that boy fails because he didn’t get a ‘good luck,’ then he deserves to fail.”

 

Izuku was in his own seat now, acting like a barrier between him and Joke, leaning so far forward Shouta almost thought about grabbing his shirt to keep him from tipping over. “I’m sure Denki appreciates the vote of confidence, Dad.”

 

“Oh Eraser, our son is just the cutest!” Joke gushed. “Who’s Denki?”

 

Izuku glanced at Shouta with a look that asked if this was really happening, and then turned to Joke. “Um. Why are you calling me your son?”

 

“Because, silly, you’re going to be my son! As soon as Eraser finally realizes how he feels for me and marries me, you’ll be my kid!”

 

Izuku blinked at her for a solid minute before he tentatively asked, “Is this some sort of bit? I know your whole persona is based around jokes, so I wouldn’t put it past you.” Izuku paused long enough for Joke to seem as though she was going to reply, before steamrolling right over whatever she had to say. “Because if this isn’t a bit, it’s highly inappropriate, and definitely could be classified as workplace sexual harassment.”

 

“My dad is already married,” Izuku continued. "A fact I’m sure he’s mentioned to you before, so you are not only harassing him, you are also disrespecting his husband. But I do have one question for you, Miss Joke.” Izuku narrowed his eyes at her. “What would you think if your roles were reversed?”

 

Joke stared at Izuku for a moment before she tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

 

“If there was a woman being constantly harassed by a male coworker asking her to marry him, go out on dates, ignoring the fact that she was already in a very happy and committed relationship. What would you think if some man decided not to accept the fact that this hypothetical woman has said no?”

 

“Well, that’s easy! No means no, he should get over himself and accept her no,” Joke answered quickly.

 

“Exactly. My next question,” Izuku’s voice got cold, “is why is it okay for a woman to ignore a man’s no but it’s not okay for a man to ignore a woman’s no? Because that’s what you’re doing, Miss Joke. You are ignoring my dad’s very clear no.”

 

“B-but, w-what? No! Eraser’s just been joking with me! He loves me!” she tried to refute.

 

“Then why hasn’t he corrected me yet? Why did he adopt me with his husband? Why does he even have a husband, if he loves you? The answer is, he doesn’t. Now, while I’m sure my dad would appreciate it if you left us alone, I would also appreciate it if you would never try to claim me as your son again. Please and thank you.”

 

Shouta ducked down into his capture scarf to hide the proud smile at his son that had turned into an amused smirk when Joke simply stood up and walked to the other side of the stands, appearing to get a better view of the students.

 

As Izuku sat back in his seat and turned his attention back to the examinees, Shouta pulled him into a side hug. “Thanks, Zu,” he muttered into his hair.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Shouta had his proud smile fully hidden in his capture scarf as the bus made its way back to UA. Each of the fourteen students who took the licensing exam passed, even Uraraka and Sato. Those two had potential, and it seems they may have finally understood that if they didn’t live up to that potential, Shouta wouldn’t let them remain in class.

 

Every single one of his students had made him proud today. During the initial event, they had broken up into four teams of three and one team of two. Asui and Uraraka had worked together, managing some combinations that ended up turning Uraraka into a high speed projectile for Asui to throw. Meanwhile, Kirishima, Sero, and Ashido managed to work together really well.

 

While Shouta hadn’t been too surprised at the end results of his student’s efforts, Hitoshi and Kaminari had both been surprised they had passed.

 

Kaminari, regardless of all the work he had been putting into his quirk, still occasionally saw himself as an idiot and borderline stupid, regardless of how often his friends said otherwise. At the same time, Hitoshi’s confidence occasionally takes a dive when someone new experiences his quirk and calls him a villain.

 

From what he heard after the test, one of the students from the first round called him that after being eliminated. It’s a good think they were eliminated, because Shouta would have demanded they be disqualified if he had heard that.

 

Shouta looked back at the students. They had all spent so much energy during the exams, and then attempting to convince Shouta to stop somewhere on the way back to the school to celebrate, that they had all fallen asleep barely an hour into the drive. Amusingly, it was Izuku who was the only one awake, and he was sitting with his friends, running his fingers through Kaminari’s hair as he stared out the window contentedly.

Notes:

I can count how many chapters are left on one hand...... sooooooooooooo close to the end now!

Chapter 36

Notes:

Alternate Title: Izuku Trolls Shouto for 2K Words

When Izuku opened his eyes, he immediately knew his wing had finished regrowing – it was only 2am, and he was wide awake. With a near manic grin, Izuku jumped out of bed and quickly spread his wings, paying careful attention to the newly regrown left one.

 

It looked the same as it had before it had gotten ripped off, which was a little bit annoying, since Izuku had been hoping it’d be his full adult feathers, but at the same time, he was glad it was the same as his other, he didn’t want to have mismatched wings.

 

He opened the patio door and quickly flew onto the roof. He wasn’t going to be able to fly very far for a while longer, but he wanted to start exercising his wing now. Izuku started flapping his wings, fast and hard enough to get just the tiniest bit of lift, but not enough to actually take off. He would wait for training at school to do some flying – his wing wouldn’t be able to support him for long right now, and if he pushed himself too soon, he’d sprain it and cause the wing to retract again for another few days.

 

Izuku wasn’t paying attention to how long he had remained on the roof, but he could see rays of sunlight starting to peek over the horizon by the time he heard some of his classmates moving around in their rooms below.

 

Izuku quickly hopped back down to his room and started getting ready for class. Just as he was about to open the door to walk out, a sudden mischievous thought struck him and he untied his tie, untucked his shirt, and messed up his hair.

 

He wasn’t going to tell anyone that his wing had grown back – not just yet. He wanted to see how long it would take everyone to realize that he was only acting sleepy and lethargic. Izuku was sure his dad would see through the act within a minute, same with his papa. But what about Toshi and Denki? The rest of the class? Izuku suppressed a giggle as he opened the door and went downstairs for breakfast.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Shouta walked into the classroom and automatically glanced at his kids. He couldn’t help it, he was their dad. At first glance, everything seemed normal – Hitoshi had his head on his hand, dark circles under his eyes showing just how little sleep he got the night before, but still paying attention to his surroundings and ready for the day’s lessons to begin.

 

Izuku, however, was a different story.

 

On the surface, Izuku looked no different from the past few weeks – slumped in his seat, eyes half-closed, hair and clothes rumpled. But he was missing the dark circles under his eyes that had been present for the past few weeks, and there was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Shouta quickly ducked into his capture scarf to hide his grin. Izuku was back to normal. “Glad to have you back,” Shouta whispered, quietly enough to where only Izuku and maybe Jirou would have heard him. Izuku gave him a subtle wink and Shouta got on with the day’s activity.

 

“Alright hellions. Today we’re going to be having a special presentation. You’re going to be learning about Work Studies, and to explain what they are and why they are important, you’ll be hearing from a few third-year students. But that won’t be until after lunch. For now, keep it to a dull roar, I’m taking a nap.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Denki was confused. That’s not really something new, honestly, but today was really making him second guess himself.

 

Denki watched as Izuku had stumbled into the classroom that morning. He had looked more alert despite appearing exactly the same as he had for the past month. He had been insisting that Denki not wait for him in the mornings, since he had either been late or just barely on time all month, so Denki was already in class when Izuku showed up, and as Izuku sat down for class, Denki kept his eyes on Izuku checking for more signs that Izuku might be back to normal.

 

He had almost been convinced that Izuku was back to being himself again, but as soon as Aizawa-sensei flopped back into his sleeping bag, Shouto made a comment about Izuku only pretending to be exhausted still.

 

Izuku didn’t say anything to refute him, but the rest of the class was calling Shouto a conspiracy theorist, and no one thought he was right.

 

But was he? Denki wasn’t sure. He wanted to say that Izuku was himself again, but he really was acting the same as he had the past month. Denki wanted to know, he really did, but if Izu was doing this as some sort of ‘Logical Ruse,’ then he didn’t want to mess it up.

 

Denki didn’t want to risk Jirou hearing him ask Izuku if he was okay, so he had decided to either wait for lunch, or for her to go to the restroom, whichever came first. Luckily, during a break in Modern Lit, she got up and left the classroom.

 

Denki glanced at his boyfriend and whispered, “Izu?” Izuku slowly turned his head over to Denki and gave him a soft smile. “Shouto’s right, isn’t he? You’re all better?”

 

That soft smile of his turned sharp for just a second, and he winked at Denki.

 

Denki was just barely able to hold back a giggle at that. “You’re trolling the class?” he asked to confirm and got the slightest and most subtle nod from Izuku. “Okay.” Denki turned his attention back to his classwork. If Izuku wanted to troll the class, well. What kind of a boyfriend would he be if he didn’t help him?

 

~*~*~*~

 

Shouto was slowly losing his mind and Izuku was very silently and subtly causing it. Hitoshi was sure Denki was in on it, too, and he was having the time of his life. Hitoshi didn’t know how many of the class was actually in on the ruse or if they truly thought Shouto was just seeing connections that weren’t there, but Shouto’s hair was an absolute mess from how many times he’d run his hands through it in frustration.

 

“I know you’re messing with us, you little shit! You’re finally starting to become a troll like your brother!” Shouto hissed out to Izuku, manic look in his eyes.

 

“Okay, yikes dude, give my Zuzu a break! Can’t you see he’s still out of it?” Denki defended Izuku, pulling him close protectively.

 

“Why can’t you see that he’s just faking it?!” Shouto shrieked as he pulled at his hair.

 

“Alright, Shouto, I’m going to need you to calm down. You’re getting too worked up, look, you’re steaming,” Hitoshi said, gesturing to the steam coming off of Shouto’s head. “Take a deep breath for me, yeah?”

 

Shouto glared at Hitoshi and then closed his eyes and did as asked, cutting off the steam and getting his quirk back under control. “Okay, I’m good. I’m fine. It’s all okay.”

 

If Hitoshi hadn’t seen it, he never would have believed it, but Izuku plainly smirked at Shouto and winked at him.

 

“SON OF A BIT—”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku could feel Shouto glaring at him, but he didn’t care. Togata Mirio had challenged the entire class to a match, and Izuku wanted to know what made him so special, why he was the top of the Big Three. He had seen Amajiki Tamaki working as Suneater before with FatGum, so he knew why he was there, and Ryukyu was a badass, so if she was hosting Hado, then she’d be good too, but Togata was a mystery. Sir Nighteye was more investigational and analytics, he wasn’t really in the front lines.

 

So when the rest of the class went into the locker rooms to change, Izuku gave Dad a glance and got a nod in return. Izuku would be able to participate if he wanted to – and he very much wanted to.

 

Izuku was having a heck of a time ignoring Shouto’s constant glares, though. He had almost cracked and started laughing so many times, he was surprised the majority of the class hadn’t figured it out yet. Just as Izuku finished dressing in the locker room, Shouto slid next to him.

 

“How much longer are you going to keep this act up?”

 

Izuku let out a long, drawn out sigh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Shouto.” Izuku almost snorted when he heard Shouto growl. “Hey, Shou? Can you carry me to the gym?”

 

Shouto narrowed his eyes at Izuku, clearly looking for the trick, but then sighed and let Izuku climb on his back. “Thank you.” Izuku let his eyes drift closed, still pretending to be exhausted, but as they got closer to the gym, he gave Shouto a little hug. “I know I’m being annoying today. Sorry. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” Shouto’s steps faltered as he snapped his head around to look at him. Izuku gave him a little smirk. “No one will ever believe you, though.”

 

Izuku let out a chirp of surprise as Shouto dropped him and stomped off. Dusting himself off, Izuku got up and slowly wandered to the gym where everyone else was listening to Togata explain that he was going to fight them all, fifteen against one.

 

Sero raised his hand and then smiled a lazy smile. “Fourteen, actually. Our resident owl is recovering from an injury.”

 

Izuku waved sheepishly at Togata and then moved to stand near his dad. The other students all got into a rough formation, the same one they had started the provisional license exam with, and all of a sudden, Togata’s clothes fell off and he disappeared. Seconds later, he reappeared with a punch to Kouda’s gut before disappearing once again.

 

It only took two more times for Izuku to realize what he was doing, and when he did, he reached out for his dad’s sleeve and gave a gentle tug.

 

“You can have a turn once everyone else is done,” Dad said, ruffling Izuku’s hair. “Let him have his fun, first.”

 

Izuku nodded and leaned against his dad’s side as he watched the third year student take down every single one of his classmates. “Hmm. I thought that would take longer,” Izuku muttered.

 

“You ready for your turn, Zu?” Dad asked and Izuku hooted eagerly.

 

“So can any of you tell me what I have that you all don’t?” Togata asked cheerfully as he pulled his clothes back on.

 

“A lack of modesty?” Hitoshi suggested, causing a few to laugh.

 

“A good guess, but no!” Togata laughed along with the rest. “Experience! Can anyone tell me what my quirk is?”

 

“Togata,” Dad interrupted him.

 

“Yes, Sensei?”

 

“You have one more challenger.” Izuku stepped forward with an excited bounce in his step.

 

“I KNEW IT! SEE!? I CALLED IT! I FUCKING CALLED IT!” Shouto jumped up and started pointing at Izuku with his manic grin again.

 

“Oh, yes, that reminds me. Izuku, who all realized you were playing a logical ruse?” Dad asked.

 

Izuku unfurled his wings and gave a gentle flap. “Shouto and Denki for sure. I’m not sure if Hitoshi realized before I teased Shouto while Toshi was looking, though.” Izuku shrugged and flapped his wings again. “Can I fight him now?”

 

“Sure. Try not to show off too much, kid.”

 

Izuku flapped his wings hard enough to get some lift and glided into the middle of the gym where the rest of the students were slowly getting to their feet and heading to the sidelines.

 

“Hellions, I want you to pay attention to this match,” his dad called out to the rest. “Togata pointed out that he had more experience than the lot of you, and that was the main reason for your defeat. What do you think will happen when someone with even more experience goes against him?”

 

Hado tilted her head. “But Sensei! Everyone keeps saying that Mirio is almost good enough to be fully Pro now!”

 

Shouta hummed in amusement. “We had to talk the commission out of giving Izuku his full license. So, while he officially is only a provisional hero, Screech is an unofficial Underground Pro Hero already.” Shouta smirked then. “Izuku. Show them why I was never able to catch you.”

 

Izuku nodded and chirped. “I’m ready when you are, Sempai.” Togata grinned widely at Izuku and then disappeared.

 

Izuku stepped to the left and when Togata reappeared in front of him, Izuku surprised him with a leg sweep that would have knocked him down if he hadn’t activated his quirk again and vanished back into the ground. Izuku gave another flap of his wings and jumped nearly ten meters away, giggling when Togata reappeared, looking around and wondering why Izuku wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

 

“Sempai, over here!” Izuku called out with a grin.

 

Togata blinked at him before once again disappearing into the ground, and Izuku, still in a playful mood from the start of the day, flapped his wings and moved to another part of the gym. “Sempai!” Izuku called to Togata when he once again looked around for Izuku, wondering where his young kouhai went. “What are you doing over there?”

 

“How did he..?” Togata whispered before shaking his head. “Doesn’t matter.” He disappeared back into the ground.

 

This time, instead of flying to a remote part of the gym, Izuku got into a fighting stance and started a kick before Togata had even appeared. Izuku had timed his kick perfectly, and as soon as his kick was at the strongest point, Togata appeared in front of him and took the kick to the stomach, falling instantly.

 

“Vengeance, for my fallen classmates!” Izuku chirped.

 

Togata coughed, and then started laughing. “Wow, kouhai, that was something else!” Izuku gathered up Togata’s clothes and then brought them to him. “Thanks.”

 

With another flap of his wings, Izuku glided back over to the rest of the class, putting his wings away and sliding under Denki’s arm. “You done trolling the class?” Denki asked as he kissed the top of Izuku’s head. Izuku just nodded.

 

Shouta ducked his face into his scarf as Togata reached the front of the class. “Well, as I was going to ask before my final match, who can tell me what my quirk is?”

 

Kirishima raised his hand. “It’s some kind of teleportation quirk, isn’t it?”

 

“Nope! My quirk is called Permeation!” Izuku wasn’t paying attention to the explanation of how Togata’s quirk worked, he had figured it out himself within a few minutes of the initial class battle, and besides, Denki was playing with his hair in that way he knew Izuku loved.

 

“Izu!” Hitoshi nudged him slightly and Izuku jolted his head up.

 

“I’m here!” he exclaimed, embarrassingly loud, much to the amusement of everyone.

 

Dad simply raised an eyebrow at him and asked. “Can you share with the class how you figured out Togata’s quirk?”

 

“Oh, that’s easy. I could hear him under the ground,” he replied simply with a shrug. “His breathing stopped, and he started to just fall, but his heartbeat kept going so I could tract him. Then when he started rising, there was a slight sound of. . . displacement? I don’t know, but it’s similar to the sound a fish makes when they are underwater. As soon as he was back above ground, his breathing started up again. I also noticed that before he disappeared, he looked around to find his next target. All of that led me to assume he can’t hear, see, breathe, anything, while his quirk is active.”

 

“How long did it take you to figure that out?” Dad asked, grin hidden but Izuku could hear it in his voice.

 

“Hmm, by the time he took down Shouji? Yeah, he got Kouda and I had heard his heartbeat move, then when he dropped back into the ground after Satou, I had seen him disappear, so when he took down Shouji I had it figured out.”

 

“That was less than thirty seconds, kero,” Asui whispered on the other side of the group.

 

Izuku nodded with a smile. “Yeah. Like Sempai said, experience is a big deal. I started out as Screech when I was 12, so I’ve gone up against a few different quirks. At least this time he wasn’t trying to kill anyone, and I had time to observe.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

“Hey Dad?” Izuku asked as the whole family, including Keigo, were sitting at dinner that night. Shouta just grunted to show he heard. “You’ll do work studies, right? I know you said that not everyone’s mentor for their internships would be able to host for work studies.”

 

Shouta paused with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth and then put them back down. “Izuku. Your wings just grew back, and you said before that they won’t be strong enough for you to be back to normal for a few weeks. Don’t you think you should take the next few weeks to strengthen your wings and get back in the swing of things?”

 

Izuku pouted. “But I wanted to do a work study!”

 

Shouta shook his head. “Not this time, Zu. Maybe next time.”

 

Izuku’s pout turned into a scowl.

 

“Uh, I might have the perfect solution?” Keigo hedged, causing everyone to look at him. “So, when I had Tokoyami for that week, I brought up the idea of maybe trying to fly to him. We decided to work on that during the work studies. How about it, baby bird? You want to come with me and see if we can get him flying? Your quirk analysis could help make this a lot easier, and then when teaching him and Dark Shadow how to move to fly, that could help you in exercising your wings.”

 

Izuku’s face lit up and he turned back to Shouta. “Can I do that? Then the next time work studies come around I’ll go back with you!”

 

Shouta looked back and forth between Izuku and Keigo before sighing and taking a bite of food. “Sure. Keigo, don’t let him do anything too strenuous.”

Chapter 37

Notes:

Sorry this took so long! :O

It's like the fic itself knows it's almost complete and is actively fighting me or something.

Yamada-sensei had been called in to assist on a raid that Sir Nighteye was putting together, as was Aizawa-sensei, so Denki was sitting next to Hitoshi at the briefing. They weren’t the only students in attendance, though, Kirishima, Asui, and Uraraka were there, as were the Big Three.

 

“At Red Riot's debut fight the other day, a type of drug I'd never seen before was shot into Tamaki,” the hero FatGum stated. “A drug that destroys quirks.”

 

The room was tense at that, and Amajiki raised a hand and transformed it into a cow’s hoof. “I’m fine,” he said quietly. “The effects only seemed to last a few hours.”

 

FatGum nodded at that. “After analyzing the contents, we discovered that human blood and cells were inside! In other words, that effect came from a person. A quirk that destroys quirks?”

 

Nighteye aimed a remote at the projector in the room, and an image of a man with a green and purple coat wearing some sort of plague doctor mask showed up. “The young head of the Shie Hassaikai, Chisaki Kai, his quirk is Overhaul. It is a quirk that allows him to break things apart and then piece them back together however he wants to.” He paused, looking over the gathered students and heroes. “And a bullet that can break down quirks. Chisaki has a daughter named Eri. There are no records or details about her birth, but when Mirio encountered her the other day, she had a large number of bandages wrapped around her arms and legs.”

 

Denki felt his stomach drop at that. “Please no, please don’t be implying what I think you’re implying,” he whispered so quietly only Hitoshi heard him, as evidenced by the hand that latched on to his.

 

“We're wondering if Chisaki is turning his daughter's body into bullets and selling them,” he said, confirming Denki’s worst fear.

 

“Wouldn't this have been resolved already if your intern had just taken the child?” a hero named Rock Lock demanded, an accusatory look in his eyes as he glared at Togata.

 

Sir Nighteye matched Rock Lock’s glare with one of his own. “The one most frustrated here right now is Lemillion. Pointing out things you think he should have done will help no one. He was patrolling alone, and did not have any means to protect bystanders from Overhaul if he had taken the girl. He is not to blame here.”

 

Togata nodded and then smacked both of his cheeks and gave a determined, strained smile. “We will definitely take Eri next time and protect her!”

 

‘That's right. That is our goal,’ Denki thought to himself, also nodding.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku was rubbing at his shoulders, trying to massage the soreness out of them. It had been just over one week since his wings had returned, and he was doing so many flight exercises with Keigo and Tokoyami and Dark Shadow. Yesterday had been dedicated to showing Dark Shadow how to shape herself to resemble wings and getting a little bit of lift, but today…

 

Izuku snickered to himself as he noticed one of the items he missed and plucked it off. Today was fun.

 

Every Friday, Izuku and Hitoshi ate dinner with their dads, and tonight was no different, so Izuku wasn’t surprised to hear Hitoshi knock on his door to collect him for dinner. He was, however, surprised to see Hitoshi in such a bad mood.

 

“What’s up?” he asked as they walked to the elevator. “You’ve got this little crease in between your eyebrows, right here.” Izuku poked Hitoshi in the crease only to get his hand swatted away.

 

“Wish I could tell you,” he replied with half his usual smirk. “Unfortunately, it’s classified, so unless Dad says anything…” Hitoshi trailed off when he saw Izuku nod in understanding.

 

“It has to do with that mission briefing Dad mentioned, I take it?” The two boys stepped off the elevator and Izuku glanced around the common room, noticing a few other students were also looking to be in darker moods than normal: Tsu, Uraraka, and Kirishima. “Hmm.”

 

“What are you thinking?” Hitoshi asked as they walked out of the dorm building and towards the teacher dorms.

 

“Mm, just an observation, nothing more,” Izuku said, not answering the question.

 

“Your observations are usually correct,” Hitoshi complained, earning a laugh from Izuku.

 

The two of them continued on to the teacher’s dorms in quiet, but once they made it to the floor their dads were on, Izuku perked up. “Oh, you’re going on a raid? And Denki’s going too?”

 

“Wha-? How-? Oh, they’re talking about it, aren’t they?” Hitoshi sighed dramatically and muttered, “Stupid owl hearing.”

 

Izuku quickly ran to the door and opened it. “Stop talking about classified raid stuff, I could hear you in the hallway, and I’m sure I’m not supposed to,” he said in lieu of a greeting.

 

Dad snorted. “Honestly, I rather you were coming along. If I get held up at any point, this guy is going to be difficult for the others to take down.”

 

Papa raised an eyebrow at that. “And here I thought that’s why I was asked to come along.”

 

Izuku nodded. “As interesting as this all is, since I’m not going to be there, I don’t think I’m supposed to be hearing this.” Izuku had seen Denki in the living room, so he walked up to him and nuzzled his head against his neck and chirped.

 

“Well, hello to you too, Zuzu,” Denki laughed and kissed the top of Izuku’s head.

 

“You sounded upset when I was coming up to the door,” Izuku offered and raised his head to kiss Denki’s cheek. “I don’t know what happened, and you can’t tell me, but I’ll do what I can to cheer you up until you are allowed to tell me.”

 

“You act like you’ve been on raids before,” Papa commented.

 

“Well,” Izuku blushed, “not officially, but I’ve watched a few, listened in on them, and caught a few runners when things went sideways.”

 

Dad groaned and put his head in his hands. “Of course, that was you. Why wouldn’t it be you?”

 

Soon after, the five of them were sitting around the table eating the chicken katsu that Papa had made. Papa had also made brownies for dessert, and that alone told Izuku that even though Papa was acting as if nothing was wrong, something about this raid was bothering him too.

 

With a wry little grin, Izuku decided it was going to be up to him to lift everyone’s moods. “So, I know you can’t talk about your day, at least not what’s bothering you, so I’ll talk about mine.” Izuku nodded and took a bite of dinner. “So, you all know I’m helping Kei teach Tokoyami how to fly, right?”

 

Hitoshi snorted at that. “That’s not what I heard,” he laughed when everyone looked at him. “I heard you’re terrorizing him under the pretense of ‘flight training,’ and he’s just too busy trying not to die to complain.”

 

“Hey! We never even almost let him fall!” Izuku defended himself. “Keigo always had a few feathers ready to catch him if I couldn’t, and we kept close enough to the buildings for Dark Shadow to grab hold if for some unknown reason both me and Kei missed him.”

 

“Uh huh, that’s what he was scared of, falling and not being caught. It had nothing to do with the two biblically accurate angels following him around saying shit like ‘be not afraid.’”

 

“Oh!” Denki exclaimed suddenly. “That makes more sense!” He reached over and plucked a googly eye off of Izuku’s neck that he must have missed. “I was wondering why you had googly eyes stuck on you.”

 

That was the final push Papa needed to lose control of his barely contained laughter. Dad was trying not to laugh as he kept his quirk focused on Papa.

 

~*~*~*~

 

‘Maybe we should leave the kids out of this?’ Shouta signed to his husband as they were getting ready for bed, both because Hizashi had taken out his hearing aids and because he didn’t want Izuku to hear. He had been thinking about the briefing for the raid all night, and he was wondering if it might not be too much for his students, too soon.

 

‘After hearing about that little girl, there is no way any of the kids will just leave her there,’ Hizashi replied. ‘The only thing keeping them from screaming about it now is the fact that they’ll be able to do something about it soon.’

 

Shouta glared at the wall but didn’t argue with his husband’s logic.

 

Shouta kept feeling uneasy for the next few days, but when the call came to mobilize, he realized that these kids were going even if he tried to stop them.

 

Shouta glared at Izuku when he noticed he was among the rest of the kids who had been called for the raid. “You’re not coming.”

 

“I know. I just wanted to say stay safe. Please.”

 

“Don’t worry about us, Zuzu,” Kaminari said as he hugged him. “We’ll be fine.”

 

“Yeah, Zu, I’ll make sure these idiots stay safe,” Hitoshi smirked, gesturing at Kaminari, Hizashi, and Shouta.

 

With a growl, Shouta grabbed Hitoshi by the capture scarf he was wearing and started to drag him away as Hitoshi snorted and waved goodbye to his brother, Kaminari, Hizashi, and the rest of the students following closely.

 

Shouta and Hizashi kept a close eye on their students the entire trip to the raid location, and it was plain to see that all of the students were nervous, but they were ready. Shouta hoped they all made it out of this with that same drive – the first raid was always the worst one.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Hizashi ruffled his son’s hair and then went to step next to one of the officers who were giving last minute information to the assembled heroes. “After Nighteye used Foresight on the Hassaikai member, we discovered the existence of undocumented underground facilities at the head of the Hassaikai's residence.” Hizashi nodded along. “We were able to confirm that the girl we are trying to rescue is being held in one of the rooms there. Although we were unable to uncover the entire underground layout, the path the man took is the shortest route to our target, and it's the best intel we could have for searching the Hassaikai's expansive stronghold.”

 

“However,” another officer added, “even if we head there, if they use their quirks freely on us, it would make the search difficult.”

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Hizashi saw Hitoshi sarcastically point to Shouta and mutter something to Denki who snorted, getting slapped on the shoulder by Asui. He was glad the students seemed to be doing okay.

 

“So, we have made a list to the best of our knowledge of quirks registered to Hassaikai members. Please memorize this list.” The officer handed out a list showing the strongest members of the Shie Hassaikai, the Eight Bullets.

 

Hizashi stood next to his husband, just existing next to him while they both listened to the students chat amongst themselves.

 

“It's nice to be able to just pull this out, huh? We don't want to give them time to hide, so we want to identify and apprehend all the members as quickly as possible,” Togata grinned to the other students.

 

“Things are moving fast now, huh?” Asui croaked. “You're energetic for how early this is I'm getting nervous.”

 

“From detective work to cooperation with the police, there's so much I don't know!” Uraraka exclaimed, lightly hopping on her toes.

 

“Right? Isn't it mysterious?” Hado laughed. “Yeah, schools don't really teach you much about things like this. But that’s what these work studies are for!”

 

“I had a hard time when I first started,” muttered Amajiki nervously.

 

“All the pros are so calm,” Kaminari pointed out.

 

Hitoshi snorted at that. “Yeah, it’s because they're used to this.”

 

An officer walked over to their group. “Heroes! Things might get a little violent. If you see even a hint of suspicious behavior or resistance, please deal with it immediately!”

 

FatGum nodded and handed something to Amajiki. “Tamaki, eat this. It's swordfish.”

 

“Why swordfish?” he asked, taking the snack. “Thanks, I'll be sure to eat it.”

 

Hizashi let his attention snap back into focus when an officer turned to address them. “We're up against gangsters who have survived until now. Don't let your guard down and carry out your respective tasks. We will commence the operation at 08:30! All hands, move out!”

 

"Commence!!! Once they've read the warrant, charge in! I'm counting on everyone to move swiftly!”

 

“He keeps saying the same thing over and over,” Hizashi heard Kaminari complain.

 

“Yeah, it's like he doesn't trust us,” Kirishima agreed.

 

Uraraka lightly slapped the back of Kirishima’s shoulder. “You know that's not what he means. Stop being mean.”

 

The officer who had the search warrant walked up to the front door and rang the bell. Almost as if they were just waiting for that, Katsukame Rikiya smashed open the door. He would have crushed the officer, but Hitoshi had reacted quickly enough to grab the officer in his capture scarf, pulling him to safety. “Are you alright?”

 

“I'm fine, thanks.”

 

“What do you want? Bringing all these people so early in the morning!” Katsukame exclaimed, barging into the gathered officers. He was quickly joined by a flood of Yakuza thugs from within, all aiming to protect their compound.

 

“We shouldn't split up our forces here. Ryukyu Agency will take care of this,” Ryukyu said as she grew into her larger dragon form. “The rest of you go now, while you have the chance!”

 

“Let's go support Ryukyu!” Hizashi heard Uraraka exclaim.

 

“Everyone, get in! Quickly, quickly! It's heroes and the police! We have a warrant to search your premises on suspicion of the manufacture and sale of illegal drugs!”

 

“A search warrant? Who cares?!” yelled one of the thugs.

 

“Stop resisting!” one of the heroes shouted. Hizashi didn’t know who said it, but it didn’t matter. “There was that big guy, too. Are none of them scared? Use the shortest route to get to the target!”

 

The raid had begun, and he was determined to make sure this raid was a success.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Red eyes narrowed and a dark grin spread. ‘Finally,’ Katsuki thought to himself, ‘some fucking action.’

 

He had been stuck here since Warper had dropped him off, promising that Beak-face could heal his arm. And yeah, the beaky fuck had stopped the bleeding and healed the open wound, but the jackass couldn’t be bothered to restore his fucking hand!

 

He’ll just have to take Deku’s the next time he sees him.

 

“Bakugou.”

 

Katsuki looked up from the couch he was slumped on with his dark smirk still in place, knowing he was about to be asked to participate in the fight that was clearly happening. “Just stay out of my fucking way.”

 

Beak-face nodded and turned away. “They are heading down to the lower levels. You can meet them head on if you would like, or have Mimic assist with an ambush. The choice is up to you.”

Chapter 38

Notes:

Yeah, hi, I have been fighting the start of the raid for the past month. It’s not gonna happen. It was fighting me so hard, I stopped, wrote a full 18k One Shot (Somebody To Protect Me) all while trying to get this chapter to get its act together. It’s not going to happen.

So. Go re-watch the Overhaul Arc episodes from the start up to where Kirishima and FatGum get separated from the rest of the group, replace all the times Izuku breaks through the walls (actually replace Izuku completely) with Mic screaming at the walls, add Hitoshi and Denki, and you’ve got what I’m not going to bother writing.

Now on to what is not just canon recap.

“Eraser, they’re after you,” Rock Lock pointed out unhelpfully. FatGum and Kirishima had both gotten separated from the group after they shoved Shouta out of the way of Mimic’s very pointed attack.

 

“Yeah, I know,” Shouta replied tersely. He was actually a little proud of himself for not being sarcastic or rude to the man who had been talking down to his students since the briefing and actually staying professional.

 

“Oh, was he after Eraserhead?” Hitoshi asked, voice dripping in the sarcasm Shouta was holding back. “I couldn’t tell. It’s not like he yelled out ‘Die, Eraserhead,’ or anything.”

 

“Hypnos, behave,” Zashi warned, giving Shouta a quick glare when he snorted at his son’s comment. Hitoshi only gave a non-comital hum in reply as their group continued on to their goal.

 

They had only managed to run for a few moments before a section of wall opened up again, exposing someone Shouta had hoped never to see again – at least not while there were witnesses. Bakugou Katsuki. That blond punk was just standing there, smirking at their group and flexing his right hand.

 

“Look what I found, a group of pathetic nobodies!” he snarled at them.

 

Shouta had just tightened his grip on his scarf to attack when Kaminari raised his hand and called out, “DIBS!” with a look of vicious glee on his face. Shouta did a double take when he saw that look on Kaminari’s face, completely unused to seeing anything other than a friendly smile on the blond’s face, but then he remembered that Kaminari had been at the mall with Izuku when Bakugou murdered all those people.

 

“Fuck you, I want the purple asshole!” Bakugou retorted. “That useless bird’s not here, but at least I can kill his brother.”

 

“Oh, I can promise you that won’t happen,” Hitoshi grinned. “But I’ll take you on if you really want.”

 

“Back off, Hypnos, I called dibs!” Kaminari glared at Hitoshi.

 

“He wants to take me on, Chargebolt!” Hitoshi taunted, still grinning darkly at Bakugou.

 

“Respect the Law of the Dibs!”

 

“Chargebolt, Hypnos, can you two at least pretend you are heroes in training for five minutes and act professional?” Hizashi complained.

 

"No!" the two boys called in unison as they charged the blond asshole.

 

Shouta rolled his eyes, but as he went to give them backup, the walls moved again, trapping the two with Bakugou. "Dammit. . . well, I hope he's picked a god and started praying, because those boys are about to send him to them."

 

“Aren’t you worried about them?” Nighteye asked. “We don’t know what his abilities are.”

 

Hizashi snorted. “No, you don’t know what his abilities are. He’s got an explosion quirk, and a disintegration quirk, but both are dependent on his hands.”

 

“Of which he only has one,” Shouta added with a dark chuckle. “My son is the one who managed that.”

 

“Your son ripped a kid’s arm off, and you laugh?” Rock Lock asked, looking a little pale. “What the hell, man?”

 

Shouta shrugged. “It’s his own fault, he ripped off my kid’s wing. Fair trade.”

 

Hizashi nodded solemnly. “Fair trade.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

“Sorry, Hyp, but if you want a crack at this guy, you’re gonna need to be a lot faster than you are,” Denki said, right before he sparked up.

 

All at once, Hitoshi remembered every second of the days after Bakugou attacked Izuku at the mall. He remembered how Denki would keep Izuku’s hands in his, not only for the comfort, but because he would try to cut his wrists with his own talons, he remembered Denki confessing to him while at the camp that he felt the mall was his fault, because he didn’t do anything other than stand there watching.

 

“If I ever see him again, that just might be my own villain origin story.”

 

Hitoshi hadn’t really understood just how much anger Denki held towards the boy who had hurt Izuku, but watching lightning dance around him as he cracked his knuckles, Hitoshi was starting to understand.

 

“If you really want to go first, I’ll just have to kill you before I get to the purple fucker,” Bakugou sneered at Denki.

 

Denki nodded solemnly. “You heard that, right, Tosh? Lethal intent?”

 

“I heard that, yeah,” Hitoshi confirmed, a little uncertainly.

 

“Alrighty then. Safety’s off.” With that, Denki’s sparks got brighter and then he just. . . disappeared.

 

All Hitoshi could see were flashes of lightning streaking across the room, colliding with Bakugou and throwing him into walls with the sheer force and the electrical backlash. In the brief seconds in where Hitoshi could actually see Denki, he was shocked to see his expression – he was clearly playing with his target, which lead Hitoshi to wonder just how much the boy had improved in the past few months.

 

This is not the same boy that would overload his senses and walk around with his brain fried. Hitoshi hadn’t realized until now, but he hadn’t seen Denki short-circuit since they had their internships. Just what kind of stuff had Papa been teaching him?!

 

Hitoshi finally understood exactly why Dad always says not to piss off the Sunshine People.

 

Even though Hitoshi had wanted to get a hit in on this asshole who nearly destroyed his brother and got him kidnapped from summer camp, he’s willing to let Denki take care of him. He’s doing one hell of a better job than Hitoshi would have, what with every hit getting backed up with who knew how much of an electrical charge.

 

Hitoshi could see fear starting to show up in Bakugou’s expression, finally realizing he had grossly underestimated his opponent, but not sure how to fix it. Honestly, Hitoshi wasn’t sure how much longer this fight – sorry, this “fight”- was going to last. Denki was playing around, true, but he had also been going for a few minutes, and Hitoshi was sure he’d hit his limit sooner or later.

 

Sure enough, a few moments later, it looked like Denki might have hit his limit, since he appeared to stumble and skid to a stop a few meters away from Bakugou, as if he needed to stop to catch his breath. Hitoshi could see the signs of exhaustion in his stance, and it looked as though Bakugou could see it too, as he smirked in triumph and darted towards Denki with his hand raised to grab Denki’s face.

 

But before Hitoshi could move in and take over the fight, Denki grabbed Bakugou’s wrist and snarled at him. “Nice try.”

 

“You think this is over?” Bakugou laughed out. “Think again, you electric bitch!” He let loose an explosion point-blank at Denki’s face.

 

“Shit, Denki!” Hitoshi was freaked out, thinking he might have just witnessed his friend get seriously hurt, but then he heard Denki laugh.

 

“What, is that all you’ve got? My electricity is ten times hotter than that! You wanna see?” With his hand still gripping onto Bakugou’s wrist, Denki let loose what looked a lot like his old Indiscriminate Shock move, but with it focused just on his hand.

 

He kept the shock going for a few seconds, but when he finally let him go, it was clear to Hitoshi that he had short-circuited himself. Hitoshi quickly stepped in to take over the fight, since there was no way Denki would be able to continue like that, but Bakugou had collapsed onto the ground and was cradling his arm close to his chest.

 

Hitoshi gently nudged Denki towards the open part of the room, making sure he wouldn’t wander into Bakugou while he was vulnerable, and looked at the boy screaming in agony. “Oh, ugh,” Hitoshi nearly gagged as he smelled the charred flesh on Bakugou’s arm. The skin was blackened and burned, and Hitoshi could swear he could see bone.

 

“Well, that looks like it hurts,” Hitoshi deadpanned, causing Bakugou to look up at him with a glare. “Probably wouldn’t be able to keep you in my quirk with that, but I’m gonna need to restrain you somehow.” Hitoshi sent him a wide grin.

 

~*~*~*~

 

There was a very small pool of heroes that truly scared Mirai, but after today, that number had increased by two – Present Mic and his student Chargebolt were absolutely terrifying. He hadn’t seen Chargebolt’s fight in person, but looking at the charred stump that was all that was left of Bakugou Katsuki’s right arm would be telling enough, but there were over fifty moderate electrical burns on the boy, as well as a few bruised ribs from blunt force.

 

As for Present Mic. . .

 

Well, Mirai had watched the footage of Present Mic fighting All For One, but he really hadn’t been paying attention, more focused on watching as no one went to help All Might. Watching him fight Overhaul today made it very clear just how he had managed to defeat the 200-year-old supervillain. It was obvious he had practice in quirkless combat, or at least that he didn’t rely on his quirk, and at the same time, he was very adept at using his surroundings to take cover if needed.

 

One of Overhaul’s followers had been trying to hit Present Mic with a quirk erasing bullet, but he was never in their line of sight for more than a few seconds at a time, using the landscape that Overhaul had created to his advantage.

 

And as if Present Mic alone wasn’t enough to inspire awe into Mirai, watching the way he fought seamlessly with Eraserhead was just incredible. The two fought as if they had been doing it their whole careers, and since Mirai knew they had known each other since they were in High School, they very well could have been working together since then.

 

Mirai had already known Eraserhead was ruthlessly efficient, he’d been on the list of heroes that scared Mirai for years, but Present Mic’s friendly demeanor, and that of his student Chargebolt, had hidden the fact that they were just as terrifying.

 

He looked at Eraserhead’s purple-haired intern as he put his hands in his pocket and ducked his face into his capture scarf and couldn’t help but note the similarities between him and his mentor. That boy, Hypnos, would likely be just as terrifying as his mentor in the coming years.

 

“What else was I supposed to do, Dad?” Wait, did Hypnos call Eraserhead ‘Dad?!’ “He didn’t have hands anymore to hold the cuffs, his burnt off arm-stump was causing him too much pain for me to keep him under my quirk, the only other option was to knock him out.”

 

Eraserhead snorted and lightly shoved Hypnos by the face. “Brat,” he said with a fond smile. “Come on, let’s collect Mic and Bolt, and we can head back home. Izu’s blowing up my phone, I guess the fight was on the news and he saw Mic.”

 

“I dunno, he might have heard him. Papa wasn’t being very quiet, and Izu’s hearing is ridiculous.” Did he just call Present Mic his ‘Papa?!’ Are Mic and Eraser married? And Hypnos is their kid?

 

Scratch that, Hypnos is also on the list of heroes that scare Mirai.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Izuku blinked at Denki. No, surely he didn’t hear that correctly. He didn’t, right? He stuck his finger in his ear to try to clean it out. There is no way he heard that Denki burnt off Kacchan’s arm! Izuku looked over to Shouto to make sure he heard the same thing, only to see him wrapping his arms around Hitoshi and with his face buried in his shoulder.

 

“No, you heard him right,” Hitoshi chuckled, running a hand through Shouto’s hair. “I was there. I watched him do it. It was both beautiful and horrifying,” he smirked at Denki as he said that.

 

Denki huffed out an amused breath. “He took your wing! What else was I supposed to do? Not avenge my beautiful boyfriend?”

 

Izuku smiled at Denki and wrapped his arms around him, kissing his neck softly. “Thank you, Denki,” he muttered into his neck.

 

“You demons aren’t talking about the raid, are you?” Shouta asked as he walked into the front room and flopped onto the couch. “It’s still classified.”

 

“Nope, not talking about anything like that,” Hitoshi quickly interjected, shaking his head.

 

Shouta chuckled. “Uh huh. Sure.” He looked at Denki and Hitoshi and then leaned back and closed his eyes. “I’m proud of you boys, by the way. You both handled yourselves well.”

 

Izuku tightened his hold on Denki and kissed his cheek. “That’s high praise coming from Dad!”

 

“Shut up, you overgrown pigeon,” Shouta laughed.

 

Izuku squawked in offence. “Excuse you! Keigo is the pigeon!”

 

“Speaking of,” Hizashi said as he entered the front room and headed to the couch, lifting Shouta’s legs and sliding onto the couch underneath, “weren’t you supposed to be with him today?”

 

“I was!” Izuku pouted. “When we saw you on the news, he told me to go home, knowing full well I was going to be distracted. It’s not like every single member of my family was at some dangerous raid or anything.”

 

Shouto simply nodded his head against Hitoshi. “I’m not sure if I was more or less worried not being able to spot you on the news,” he added quietly.

 

“Um, I don’t mean to point out the obvious, but we’re all going to be doing this for the next however many years. This isn’t the last raid we’ll be on, right?” Denki tried to point out.

 

“Nice try,” Hitoshi huffed out. “Just wait until Dad goes out on a raid and doesn’t check in with Papa on time. If you think these two are being dramatic, you’ll be in for a real treat when Papa starts worrying.” He grinned when he saw Hizashi stick his tongue out at him. “The only good part about him worrying is that he stress bakes. The best cookies, cakes, muffins, all of that happens when Dad doesn’t check in on time.”

 

“I can neither confirm nor deny that I sometimes drop my phone on purpose, knowing the baked goods that will be waiting for me when I get home.”

 

“You’re no better,” Hizashi glared, pinching Shouta’s leg. “Shouta gets all clingy and won’t let me out of his sight for hours.”

 

“That’s only if I don’t stalk him and follow along to the raid and watch out for things to go wrong,” he admitted easily, not bothering to complain about the pinch, knowing he deserved it.

 

Hizashi sighed in annoyance. “It’s gotten to the point where people ask me if he’s hanging out on a roof somewhere before every raid.”

 

Izuku raised an eyebrow at them. “And you give me the stink-eye for doing the same thing? I call bull.”

 

“The difference,” Hitoshi snickered, “is that they are hypocrites.”

 

“Yeah, that tracks,” Denki nodded solemnly.

 

~*~*~*~

 

~10 years later~

 

~*~*~*~

 

“Are you sure you don’t mind subbing for me for the week?” Izuku asked Shouta.

 

“Problem Child, you act as if I’ve never taught both heroics and the law and ethics classes before,” Shouta rolled his eyes fondly at his son. “I can take both of them over again for a single week so you can go on your honeymoon.”

 

“Okay…” Izuku replied uncertainly. “You’re sure—”

 

Shouta grabbed him by the cheeks. “Problem Child. Relax. Everything will be fine. All you need to focus on is walking down that aisle to meet your soon-to-be husband, and then enjoying your honeymoon with your new husband.”

 

“I know,” Izuku dropped his head onto Shouta’s shoulder. “I’m just so nervous! I don’t even know why I’m nervous, we’ve been together for ten years now! Why am I a nervous wreck?”

 

Shouta wrapped his arms around his son and laughed. “You are just like Zashi, I swear. In all the years I’ve known him, our wedding day was the one time I’ve ever seen him be a nervous wreck over literally nothing, thinking I was going to back out at the last moment.” Shouta lifted Izuku’s face back so he could look at him. “Denki loves and adores you, there is no reason at all for you to be nervous.”

 

Izuku nodded. “Why does this make me nervous, but fighting villains is just another day? Shouldn’t that be the thing that scares me?”

 

“It’s because you fight villains all the time, but this is the first, and likely only, time you’re going to get married. It’s normal to freak out, Owlet.” Shouta pulled back and reached out to fix Izuku’s tie. “I’m proud of you, Izuku,” he said quietly.

 

Izuku tilted his head slightly and hooted inquisitively.

 

Shouta smiled softly at him. “I’m just remembering the timid kid I met ten and a half years ago and looking at all the progress you’ve made since then. I’m so fucking proud of you.”

 

Izuku’s eyes started misting, but he didn’t let the tears fall. He was trying not to cry until after the ceremony. “Thanks, Dad,” he managed to say. “I’m not sure I would have been able to do it without you.”

 

There came a knock on the door and then Hitoshi stuck his head in. “Hey Zu, you ready?”

 

Izuku starts fanning his face to try to dry the tears that are just begging to fall. “Yeah. Dad’s just here trying to get me to cry, like the asshole he is,” Izuku laughed.

 

Shouta pulled Izuku in for a quick hug. “Come on, if you’re ready, then let’s go.”

 

Izuku sniffed quickly and then picked up the bouquet of white petunias. “I’m ready,” he said, turning to the doors, ready to walk out and marry the man he loves.

 

Notes:

Here it is, folks. The ending. Wow, what a wild ride it has been!

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through this whole thing. I appreciate every single one of you! I hope you'll stick with me as I pursue other works.