There are other Dimensions?!

Chapter Nine: Explosions and Flashbacks

Izuku ran swiftly and silently, taking as many confusing and sharp turns as he could. His heart was pounding in his throat as he swore he felt the hot breath of the Nomu on the back of his neck. He didn't dare turn to look as a fresh wave of adrenaline hit his system, giving his exhausted muscles a renewed energy. He recognized the broken-down music store on the corner and immediately whipped into an alleyway, praying it was still there.

"Huh?" Kaminari looked confused. He wasn't alone in that. 

He let out a mental cheer as he jumped for the fire escape. He started climbing before he even got a proper grip, and the sound of claws against the brick wall made him shudder. It was so close he could feel the ghost of the claws on his leg. Too close. He made record time clambering up onto the rooftop. Most of them were shit climbers, but that didn't really matter when they could topple the entire building.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Bakugo shouted. For once, Uraraka agreed with him. 

It was just his luck that he'd managed to run into a white Nomu. They were wicked fast and had ungodly sharp hearing. Luckily, this one had some kind of permanent injury, so it wasn't quite as fast as it should've been. Izuku made quick time jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He winced as he jostled his injured arm. He had it tied with a strip of fabric he'd lucked upon off some guy's remains. Sure, it wasn't the most sanitary option, but it was certainly better than leaving a blood trail that'd lead them straight to his group.

He zigzagged as much as he dared across the rooftops, unsure if the sounds he was hearing on street level was the Nomu or his imagination. When he felt relatively confident enough, he stopped on a rooftop, bunkering down and hiding behind some old rubbish.

His heart was pounding. He could feel the blood in his entire body, from fingertips to the crest of his head. He took several long quiet breaths to calm his heart as much as he dared as he listened for the Nomu.

"Is he having a flashback?" 

It was twenty minutes before he felt safe enough—nothing was safe anymore. Safety was false—to leave his hiding spot and head back.

He thanked his lucky stars when he managed to roof hop back to base safely. The adrenaline was quickly leaving his system by that point, and he'd nearly fallen off a rooftop twice as he made his way back. He even had a scraped chin for his efforts.

He carefully picked the lock and let himself in. The room was dark and dank and covered in years of dust. He was careful to disturb as little of it as possible, holding his old weathered backpack close to his chest.

He only relaxed minutely when he stumbled his way down into the basement. "Sho? Zashi? I'm back." His whisper sounded like a scream in the quiet. A moment later, he heard a small knock. Just as quickly, he lightly tapped out a specific pattern. A near silent sigh of relief sounded as the door quietly swung open, allowing Izuku access.

"I think this is the past." 

"Took ya long enough, Little Listener." Hizashi smiled as he ruffled the tangled green locks, closing and locking the door tightly behind him.

"I look old." Present Mic commented. 

"Well sorry... The place was crawling with Nomu." He shuddered lightly. "I saw two White Nomu, too. We should stay hidden for a bit."

"White Nomu?" Shouta tilted his head, gesturing for Izuku to come forward so he could treat his injuries. He collapsed into a chair, letting his screaming muscles rest at last. Hizashi took pity on him and handed him a bottle of water. Izuku idly noted that they'd need to boil more water soon.

"Oh, that's right, Shou. You haven't seen them." Hizashi noted idly. "They're the fast-moving ones. They're really thin and not nearly as strong as the darker Nomu, but..."

Many of the audience shivered at the reminder of the Nomu at the USJ. 

"But they've got the claws and fangs to kill." Izuku finished with a shudder, remembering how one had effortlessly caught up to some guy with a speed Quirk and tore him in half.

Many gagged. 

"Right. We're staying far away from that one." Shouta grimaced.

"Agreed. At the very least, they're mostly blind, so as long as you're quiet, you're safe." Hizashi smiled softly as he kissed Izuku on the forehead. "You know, it's almost domestic."

"Ha..." Izuku laughed dryly. "I suppose you're right. You know, except for the fact that I'm in my thirties." He flopped down on the chair. The room was rather large, thanks to Power Loader's help before he died. Izuku's eyes drifted over to the sleeping occupants in the room, before Shouta spoke again.

"Majima?" Present Mic looked like he was about to cry. 

"Shush, Problem Child. You're still a kid to us."

"Yeah, because you two are old." Izuku snickered as Hizashi laughed and Shouta glared half-heartedly.

"Any trace of her?" Shouta finally asked, and the room turned somber. Several 'sleeping' people shifted, and Izuku knew they were listening. He swore he saw Dabi's eye crack open, too.

"Who?" 

"Dabi?" 

"No... I found nothing." Izuku clenched his fists in frustration, as Hizashi glared at the ground. "I'm sorry."

"No, Little Listener, it's not your fault." Hizashi pulled him into a gentle hug. "Nemuri is strong, I'm sure she'll be okay."

Shouta and Izuku didn't bother to correct him. They shared a despairing look over Hizashi's shoulder. They both knew the odds. Nemuri was most likely dead. Once Shigaraki got you, you were lucky to be dead. And if you weren't, then you became a Nomu. 

There were many tears shed in the audience. Even Nezu shed a tear. 

Izuku's heart clenched at the thought of Nemuri—his first true mother figure—becoming a monster like that.

Inko looked hurt for a moment before realizing that dimension's Inko Midoriya was a bitch. 

"You're hurt—let me take a look at that arm." Hizashi realized, carefully unwrapping the injury that Shouta hadn't gotten to yet.

"You can stop pretending to sleep, Dabs." Izuku called out, looking at the dark-haired youth.

"You're too observant, brat." Dabi sighed as he sat up and stretched. "Hey, elf. Wake up, Izu's back."

The other occupant in the room cracked open an eye. "Izu?"

"Hey, Tamaki. How was your nap?"

"You look like shit." He deadpanned, and Izuku cracked a smirk.

"You look like Shou."

"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Aizawa raised an eyebrow. 

"I'm so done with you both." Shouta sighed, as Hizashi laughed.

The five of them were all that was left of a group that was once nearly twenty strong. Things were looking worse and worse by the day, and even now, after years of this shit, Izuku still couldn't wrap his head around the reality that was now their world. He sometimes kept expecting to wake up at home, but he knew it would never happen. He'd likely never see anyone outside of this group again.

Though he'd heard whispers years ago about an underground resistance group... he wondered if they were still alive?

Izuku looked at the people that surrounded him. Hizashi Yamada, once a pro-hero known as Present Mic. His once long blonde hair was stringy and dirty, and had been cut off at his shoulders for safety after he was nearly killed when it caught in a Nomu's mouth. That same incident caused damage to his left knee. With no way to properly treat it, it healed wrong. He had a permanent limp, but the cane Shouta had stole for him did look pretty kickass. He was filthy, and his clothes were ragged. Izuku couldn't tell what color they were supposed to be anymore. He didn't wear his glasses anymore, and his lip and ear piercings stood out against his pale, dirty skin.

Present Mic winced as he rubbed his knee. 

Aizawa Shouta, also a former pro hero called Eraserhead, was Hizashi's husband. He'd been after Izuku back when he'd been a vigilante, and he was very good at his job. His black hair hung around his shoulders, unkempt, knotted, and filthy. The bags under his eyes looked more like bruises at this point, and the ever-present air of exhaustion around him seemed to have amplified over the past few months in particular. His stubble was becoming a short beard, and he was also covered in grime and filth.

"The future is terrible!" Kaminari stated. Many people agreed with him. 

Dabi was a former villain. He didn't tell them his original name, but he'd once confessed to Izuku that he was the eldest son of the old pro Endeavor. He'd run away due to abuse, and faked his own death. Izuku had to give him props for that, he wasn't sure he'd have the guts to fake his own death like that. Turned out, in the apocalypse, titles like hero and villain really didn't matter to anyone. What mattered was how you could contribute to the group. And Dabi had a surprisingly vast knowledge of medicine. If it weren't for Dabi, Izuku probably wouldn't be alive right now. Like the others, he was also covered in filth. He was nursing a bad ankle, which is why he couldn't join Izuku on the food run, like he usually did.

"Touya?" Todoroki looked heartbroken. 

"Abuse?" Aizawa glared at the screen. He'd had to talk to Todoroki about that later. 

Finally, they had Amajiki Tamaki, also a former pro known as Suneater. He'd been terribly unconfident and quiet when Izuku first met him. It reminded him a lot of himself when he was younger. He connected with Tamaki instantly, and the brooding elf-like man felt most comfortable and confident around Izuku. He'd gained a lot of confidence over these last few years, anxiety dropping down to manageable levels in the face of the end of the world. He often talked to Izuku about Mirio—his old friend who perished in the early Nomu attacks defending civilians.

"I'll start dinner." Shouta decided as he rifled through Izuku's backpack. He paused and stared incredulously at the box of Twinkies.

"What? I went out on the food run. It's my special treat for putting my life in danger. I would've grabbed the Klondike bars, but they would've been melted by the time I got back."

"Priorities!" 

"Only you." Dabi shook his head with a fond smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Izuku pouted.

"You really grabbed junk food? You are a kid!" Hizashi ruffled his hair again.

"Zashi!" Izuku complained, making the blond grin.

"You are the youngest, Izu." Tamaki pointed out. "You're like our baby brother—so let us fuss over you once in a while, okay?"

Izuku continued to pout, even as Shouta started to put dinner together. He was really happy with his family, no matter how much he missed those they'd lost. He just wished he could do more for them. He felt like he never contributed to them enough. Even so, he never wanted this moment to end. This peace. This happiness. They'd all lost so much... he didn't want to lose any more.

"It'll be okay." 

A moment later, the entire scene blurred. Suddenly, Izuku was outside, running with Shouta, and the cries of the Nomu reached up towards the deaf heavens like a terrifying symphony. Thunder rolled ominously in the background.

Izuku's nose itched with the far too familiar scent of blood.

"W-whose blood is that?" Mineta asked. 

Hizashi had gone out with Tamaki and Dabi to fetch some water. Normally, Zashi wouldn't go, but Tamaki had hurt his arm last week on a food run, and the last time they'd sent Dabi out to get water, he almost hadn't come back alive.

Hizashi, at the very least, could provide some long-range support. While his Quirk was ill-suited to this apocalypse—the Nomu were attracted to sound—he was a damn good shot with that crossbow he'd snatched a while back.

"Yeah!" Present Mic shouted, without the use of his Quirk. 

Izuku had known that Hizashi's main reason for insisting on going out was because he was tired of being useless. He understood that better than most. That frustration... being treated like glass... all because he had a bad leg. Hizashi had lasted quite a while, but they'd all known he was going stir-crazy locked up in the base. Shouta tried his best to stay behind with him as often as he could, but even he went out on runs with Izuku often. With only four able-bodied people, they couldn't risk benching someone.

But then Izuku had gotten a really bad feeling, and he and Shouta had run out to find them. Tamaki and Dabi were nowhere to be found, but Hizashi had been hiding behind a building where several Nomu were lurking.

"Oh no." 

"Zashi." Shouta whispered urgently, and the blond looked beyond relieved to see them. His pupils were dilated with fear and pain. His bad leg was bloodied, and he was keeping weight off of it. "God, what happened?" Shouta pulled his husband into a hug.

"We were attacked." Hizashi shook. "I... I wasn't able to do anything. There were White Nomu."

"I thought the river was usually safe?" Izuku felt fear grip his heart. Where were Tamaki and Dabi?

"Blue Nomu." Hizashi hissed. "One of them got... got Tamaki. Pulled him under the water." His face scrunched up in pain as he relived that moment, and Izuku's heart stuttered.

"NO!" 

Several students began to cry. Many met Tamaki and were good friends with him. 

The teachers bowed their heads in respect in their fallen student. 

Midoriya cried in his mother's arms. 

(Stormie had taken Eri back into the real world because this dimension is not child friendly.) 

Blue Nomu—the water-based Nomu. They look like the old stories of sirens or man-eating mermaids. Fish-like tails and thin gangly bodies. Sometimes they're scaled, other times they have skin. They look like the sirens decided to mate with a waterlogged corpse. They were thin and polluted whatever water source they lived in. If you drank that water, you'd get sick. And if you died with that water still in your system, you'd become a Nomu.

They also had the bad habit of dragging their victims beneath the surface and either drowning them or eating them alive underwater.

Tamaki... was gone. "W-what about Dabi?" Izuku asked, shoving his grief to the back of his mind. He could tink about his brother later.

"He ran off to distract the Nomu. Keep them away from me, but– I wasn't fast enough. One of them still got my leg. I killed it, but..." Hizashi winced.

"It'll be okay, Zashi." Shouta put his husband's arm around his shoulders to help support him as they walked. "Izuku, keep the Nomu off of us—we need to get back to base."

"Right." Izuku nodded. Dabi would be fine. He was strong. They'd set up several meetup spots in case they got separated—they'd just pick him up later.

He would be fine. He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword—just to make sure it was still there.

The storm was swiftly descending upon them. Izuku's hair stood on end a moment before a blinding flash overtook his vision. The near-instantaneous clap of thunder shook the ground like an earthquake.

When he could finally see, he realized that lightning had struck really close to them and had set some of the trees ablaze. Heavy sheets of rain did nothing to snuff out the fire as it quickly grew, fed by the weeks of drought they'd suffered.

"Fire bad." Kaminari joked weakly. 

The fire blocked their quickest escape route, and the Nomu were agitated, now. The thunderclap had been loud enough that Izuku's ears were still ringing, and both Shouta and Hizashi looked to be in similar states.

Izuku caught movement from the corner of his eye and only barely managed to block the claw from the White Nomu with his sword in time. A shiver ran down his spine as he stared into the tiny beady eyes that could only truly catch motion.

He'd gotten a lot faster and stronger than he'd been when he first encountered these things—but he could still only barely keep up with them. This was bad.

"My baby." Inko cried. 

He caught sight of Shouta herding Hizashi off to hide behind some rubble nearby just as Izuku noticed another Nomu joining the party.

It was tall and stood on two legs. Black scales stretched halfway up the leg before it tampered off to skin. It was thin, but not sickly so like the White Nomu. Its brain was almost entirely exposed, sans a protective crown-like protrusion of bone around the base. A large snout indicated it was good at hunting by smell, and a long thin whip-like tail swished dangerously behind it, small bone-like blades glinted in the storm.

A Black Nomu. Just his fucking luck. They were pack hunters. Judging by the size of the crown, this was a drone—one of the males. Izuku was never more grateful for his analysis skills in all his life. He'd studied the different types of Nomu years ago—the Black Nomu (not to be confused with the Dark Nomu) served a Queen, like bees. The workers, or Drones, hunted, but they seemed to have a sort of hive-mind with one another.

"Shit." All Might muttered. 

This was bad. Really, really bad. One White Nomu was survivable. But packs of Black Nomu could number anywhere from five to fifty—definitely not something he could survive alone.

"SHIT!" 

He barely dodged the swipe from the White Nomu and parried the whip-like tail of the Black Nomu. But the White Nomu took advantage of his distraction and wrapped its own whip-like (thankfully non-bladed) tail around Izuku's arm, yanking him harshly to the ground.

He instinctively rolled, scarcely missing the White Nomu's killing strike, but found himself crying out in pain as the Black Nomu's tail got him in the arm.

"Midoriya!"

"Problem Child!"

"Izuku!" 

He swiped at it, attempting to cut it off, but he missed it by a hair. He quickly assessed the damage. Nothing permanent—he could still use his arm, though strikes would be weaker. Blood trail was now a concern if he managed to escape. Shit.

It wasn't looking good.

He ducked under another tail whip from the Black Nomu, and ran at the White Nomu, feinting to the side as he managed to—somehow—lob off half it's tail. It'd be slower, now, as it adjusted to the loss of balance.

The White Nomu screeched, and Izuku heard the not-so-distant screeches of the other Black Nomu.

Reinforcements were on their way, and it wasn't for his side. He gritted his teeth as he dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a claw-swipe from the White Nomu. He had to make a move and make it now.

Tears were spilled.

Izuku feigned dodging to the left, only to dive underneath the Black Nomu's legs. He scampered up its back in record time, scarcely holding on as it screeched in anger, trying to shake him off. The tail nearly hit him, and he didn't hesitate in stabbing the brain.

He realized the moment it went in that the jostling had altered the trajectory—instead of stabbing it in the brain and killing it, it wedged itself between the brain and the skull. Non-fatal. Izuku was blind-sided by the Nomu's tail hitting his shoulder, knocking him off its back. He bit back a cry of pain as he hit the ground hard. The tail tore through his flesh and he swore he felt it touch bone. 

Inko began to cry miserably. 

His eyes tracked the Black Nomu as it came in for the kill. He wasn't going to make it in time. So, this is how I die. He realized. The thought startled him a bit. He'd joked about it before, but as the jaws of the Black Nomu unhinged, dividing into three parts, it really hit home.

He was going to die.

His eyes traveled to Shouta and Hizashi, who were still hiding behind the rubble, tears in their eyes as Hizashi held back Shouta, covering his mouth so he didn't attract attention. He was grateful—they were alive.

"Problem Child..." 

Izuku smiled at them. He was okay with this. As long as they survived... that was what mattered. That was all he needed.

Then, everything went white, and a searing heat burned the fine hairs of his arm. A sound far too loud to identify shook the ground beneath him. Was... was this death?

He felt something wrap around his leg and drag him across the ground. Shouta pulled him into a fierce hug, and it took him several minutes to understand what had occurred.

There were sighs of relief. 

Lightning had struck the Black Nomu as it had been about to devour him. The failed kill-strike that had nearly cost him his life had acted as a lightning rod, saving him at the last possible second.

He was alive. He'd literally been saved by chance. What were the fucking odds? He felt like laughing. Or sobbing. Or... something, but he was in too much shock to process anything.

"...hear me? Izuku?" Hizashi whispered quietly, and he shook his head. Sound was returning to him.

"Yeah. I think so." He answered back quietly.

"Don't you ever do something so stupid again. I thought we were going to lose you." Shouta had tears running down his face.

"So did I." Izuku admitted. A growling sound made him turn his attention to the three new Black Nomu that'd entered the scene. They sniffed at the body of their fallen packmate, and Izuku thanked the rain for making it harder to track scents.

Izuku looked around with a sinking feeling... they had no escape. Those Black Nomu would surround them first chance they got, and Izuku was in no shape to fight, now—especially when his only weapon (aside from a pair of daggers) was stuck in a dead Nomu's skull halfway across no-man's land and fried to a crisp. Shouta was good at escaping, and getting other people away, but he fought best against close-combat Nomu. Black Nomu fought long-ranged.

They were trapped. And with Hizashi's bad leg, there wasn't any way for him to move quickly enough to run.

"Don't tell me this is..." Aizawa's eyes began to water. 

"Izuku. Shouta. When I give the signal, you need to run." Hizashi's voice was quiet as he shook in his boots—whether that was the chill from the icy rain, or the fear, Izuku didn't know.

What the hell was he talking about? Izuku looked into Hizashi's eyes, and he understood. "No, Hizashi, you can't."

Aizawa began to shake his head in disbelief. 

Present Mic's eyes closed as he accepted his fate. 

"Zashi!" Shouta shook his head with an urgent whisper, eyes filled with tears. "You idiot, come with us!"

"No, Shou... You know I can't. With my leg the way it is, I'll only slow you down." Hizashi smiled softly at him, before pulling Shouta into a kiss. "I love you, don't you ever forget that."

Hizashi then tugged Izuku into a hug, as the greenette fought back his own tears. Izuku wanted time to pause. To just be held by Hizashi for eternity with Shouta's arms wrapped around them both, and then everything would be okay. But it wasn't okay. The Nomu's growls told him that.

"I'm sorry." Izuku choked out. If he'd just been a little stronger. A little faster... if he'd fought a little harder... then Hizashi wouldn't have to do this.

This was all Izuku's fault.

"Nope." Present Mic kneeled before Midoriya, who was clearly having the same thought process. Even though this was another dimension.  "You stop thinking bad thoughts, you hear me Little Listener? It wasn't your fault. I decided to sacrifice my life to save you and Shou. It's not your fault. If anything, it's Shigaraki's fault. Okay?" 

Midoriya nodded. Present Mic smiled and went to sit back down. 

Hizashi looked Izuku in the eye. "Look after Shouta for me, would ya, Little Listener? I know my hubby's a lot to handle, but please... for my sake... look after him." He pressed something into Izuku's hand and shoved him back before dashing out of their hiding spot as quickly as he could—Shouta's hand missing him by millimeters—and letting loose an ear-shattering Quirk-enhanced scream, pushing back the three Black Nomu while attracting the attention of the White one. Distracting them from Izuku and Shouta. "RUN!"

Izuku clenched his fists, Hizashi's wedding ring digging into the palm of his hand as he made his choice. He picked up a struggling Shouta with strength he didn't know he had and made a break for it.

He saw Hizashi smile brightly in relief even as the Nomu closed in on him. "Thank you, Little Listener."

"HIZASHI!!" Shouta's bloodcurdling scream was cut short as Izuku knocked him out, leaving a trail of tears in their wake. "I'm sorry Shouta." He whispered, his own eyes blurred with hot tears. "I'm so sorry." The sky continued to cry.

"PRESENT MIC!!!" Tears were shed as they watched the screen. 

The teachers, besides Present Mic, and the detective bowed their heads as their fellow hero and friend was killed. 

(Bro. I almost started crying while writing this. I need therapy and an apology.) 

Izuku bolted upright in the camper on Dagoba beach, heart thudding in his chest. He took a moment to take a few shaky breaths. The echoes of the cries of the Nomu... the smell of blood in the air, and the absolute deafening silence of everything... The fact that it was raining outside didn't help, either.

"That was a nightmare? Midori, you're nightmares suck." 

"Tell me about it." 

"Stop it..." He forced himself to whisper, scratching at the sheets to make noise, even as thunder rumbled. The jaw unhinged, and he looked his own death in the maw. "It's not here... It's just a memory." He swallowed back his tears as he gently pulled out the pair of rings from under his shirt. The two clinked together quietly, though if one looked closely enough, one of the bands had dried blood crusted in the grooves of the metal.

"Grounding yourself to keep yourself from having a panic attack. Good job." Aizawa said as he tried to keep himself from a mental breakdown. "But you still need therapy." 

The rings had Celtic like knots with a small stone set into the gold. One was green—Shouta's—and the other was purple—Hizashi's. Shouta's ring had a small cockatoo engraved with a music note in the shape of a heart, and Hizashi's had a cat with the same music note. They both had a phrase engraved that read, 'Forever in harmony.'

"Zashi..." He brought his knees up to his chest. "Shouta..." The two had been like brothers... maybe close uncles... they were family to him. And it was so fucking hard to look at their younger selves and know that he was just another student to them. They'd never...

Hizashi turned towards Izuku as the Nomu closed in on him. Even as one of the Black Nomu's bladed tails speared him through the middle—ensuring his fate. "Thank you, Little Listener." He smiled, as the—

Everyone flinched. 

"Stop it!" He whispered to himself, louder this time. He took another shaky breath as he tried to stave off the tears and sobs. A gentle hand on his shoulder made him startle badly. He looked up into concerned golden eyes.

"Izuku?"

"Kei...go?" That was all he needed before he broke down into his friend's arms. The startled man wrapped his wings around the sobbing child, not understanding what was going on, but knowing that he needed the comfort.

It was such a relief—to have someone there. He felt himself slowly coming back to this reality. A reality where he could make a difference.

It took thirty minutes for Izuku to compose himself. "S-sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. It's bad to bottle things up like that, you know. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."

"I appreciate that, Kei... But I'm not sure if I can explain anything right now..."

"I'm just saying. Whenever you're ready, so am I." Keigo then tossed Izuku's school uniform at him. "Now come on, you've got school in two hours."

Izuku groaned.

The USJ Incident was fast approaching. According to Shou, the third day of school—tomorrow—was when Shigaraki disintegrated the door to U.A. and stole the schedule that would lead to the USJ attack later that same day.

"That was Shigaraki?" Iida asked. 

"Apparently." 

Shigaraki, himself, would show up at that attack. It was Izuku's best shot at killing the man and preventing everything.

Both Shouta and Izuku had agreed that it was their best—perhaps only—shot. After that, Shigaraki had become much more cautious, and sent his underlings out to do his dirty work. If Izuku was going to kill him, it would have to be then.

He shook himself and dressed in his school uniform, readying himself for the day ahead. It would have to be then.

Keigo looked at him with a smile as he handed Izuku a raincoat. "What's this?" Izuku raised an eyebrow. He didn't even know he owned a raincoat.

"You had a rough night. Figured you'd wanna go for a flight." He smirked.

"I thought you hated flying in the rain?"

"I can make an exception." Keigo grinned.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Izuku sighed as he sat down in English class. The filght had helped more than he'd been willing to admit, and he really had to thank Keigo for that. Hizash– Yamada-sensei was calling the room to attention. Izuku couldn't help the slight flinch at the loud noise, but masked it as a cough. He wasn't entirely sure if it'd fool the blond—despite appearances, Hiz– Yamada-sensei was rather observant. He knew he couldn't get away with just acting like it didn't happen. And every time he saw Yamada-sensei, Hizashi's bloodstained smile would overlap, and he just couldn't—

"Therapy." Present Mic said weakly. "He needs it." 

(Don't we all?) 

Izuku tried his hardest not to look at his teacher for too long.

Shou– Aizawa-sensei (damnit, that memory last night really fucked him up) must've noticed something off during the assessment the day before and warned the other teachers, because Yamada-sensei was discreetly watching him throughout the entire lesson. Though after the initial flinch, Yamada-sensei did lower his volume, for which Izuku was grateful.

Izuku made sure to do his best to stay under the radar. No sense in drawing any unnecessary attention when he was likely going to be expelled for killing a villain anyways. Can they expel me for that if it's self-defense?

"After that memory, I'll be willing to help." Aizawa glared at the screen. 

"So will I." Nezu said. 

Izuku kept that thought in mind all throughout morning classes. Once Lunch rolled around, he sped off towards the Library before any of his classmates could stop or follow him. He felt bad, seeing Kirishima's disappointed look, and made a mental note to talk to the kid later today.

"It's okay, bro." Kirishima said. 

It only took him eight minutes to find the book he was looking for, and a further 12 to find what he was looking for in said book. The book on Hero and Hero-in-Training Law...

According to this... a hero is allowed to kill a villain so long as there's ample reason... Like the villain using lethal force, or the hero is dying or severely wounded... No wonder Endeavor can get away with charring his victims! Most villains use lethal force anyhow! And with the way this is worded... so long as someone is in danger, hero, civilian, or hero-in-training, a hero is allowed to use lethal force, and cannot be held accountable for murder except under very specific circumstances.

But this also applies to heroes-in-training under three conditions: 1, they are in an internship or something similar and their hero mentor or sensei gives them permission to attack. 2, they have a provisional license. 3... The hero-in-training is acting on the grounds of their Hero School...

"The USJ is on school grounds!" 

Nezu cackled. "I enjoy loopholes." 

And USJ is on U.A. grounds. Izuku would later deny the very Eraserhead-like smile that graced his lips. I can legally kill Shigaraki and stay in U.A. without retribution! I can still be a hero!

"Aizawa's smile is very creepy on you, Midobabe." Mina said. 

His smile dimmed, as the images of fallen comrades and friends flashed behind closed eyelids. I'll help as many people as I can... Shouta and Hizashi flickered across his mind, quickly followed by Nemuri, Dabi, and Tamaki. The ghost of Hizashi's hand ruffling his filthy bloodstained hair, and Shouta pulling him into a warm embrace as they grieved together for the loss of their sunshine.

Nemuri's soft laughter as she cooked breakfast for the hungry boys, smiling gently as her lips brushed Izuku's forehead in a way that he imagined a kind mother would do.

Inko smiled softly. 

Dabi playfully shoving him in a way that made him feel like an older brother, while Tamaki played peacekeeper between them when things got too heated.

He remembered Power Loader teaching him things about support items that he'd never known before. They'd stay up into the wee hours of the night and well past sunrise working on projects together until someone—usually Fatgum—came to drag them out.

"BOOO!" Midoriya shouted. 

Hell, he even missed Quip—a fellow vigilante who he'd been rather close to before the apocalypse hit. Izuku had given him his Vigilante name, and it'd stuck.

He didn't realize he was crying until Ectoplasm—the current librarian—came over.

"I like Ectoplasm." 

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, handing Izuku a tissue.

"Just trauma. Nothing to worry about." 

He hastily wiped away his tears and took the proffered cloth. "Y-yeah. Sorry, I was just... missing someone."

"If you ever need to talk, I'm always here. People don't usually bother to come to the library."

Izuku hesitated a moment. Would it be stranger for him not to say something? The man seemed genuine in his offer, and Izuku felt somewhat bad that he couldn't confide in anyone.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

Ectoplasm smiled softly—or at least Izuku got the impression he was smiling softly (he could tell, it was a mask thing)—before turning back to organizing his books.

Izuku quietly put his books back and made his way back to his classroom. He wasn't hungry anymore, and though he knew he'd probably regret this decision later, the memories of bloodstained friends twisted into unrecognizable corpses and the echo of the smell of iron made the thought of food revolting. Even if he was dying to try Lunch Rush's food. And yeah, he was still fighting off the lingering effects of malnutrition, but he was good enough to fight as Viridian, so he'd manage a stupid heroics class. Besides, Keigo was making sure that he was putting the pounds back on. 

"Having trauma sucks."

He was the first person back in the classroom. Aizawa raised an eyebrow as he held a stack of papers under his arm. Bright red eyes framed by blue hair glowed menacingly as a hand reached towards him, he was terrified, and knew that the only reason he was alive was because of Shouta.

Some of the students shivered. 

Izuku shook his head sharply, dislodging the memory. Aizawa's eyes lit up in well-hidden concern, but Izuku smiled softly. " 'm just tired." He explained, and while he could tell that his half-assed explanation did nothing to convince his sensei, said man still let it lie and continued out of the room, much to Izuku's relief.

Though Izuku caught a half-muttered, "I'm here if you need to talk."

"Aw Shou, you do care!"

Wow, teachers at U.A. really were different. That's two that'd offered him an open ear if he needed it. And he was Quirkless! That's more than he'd had in his entire life—either of them.

"UA has no tolerance for bullying of any kind." Nezu reminded them. 

Slowly, the class started to trickle in, and a few attempted to make small talk with him. He sighed when he realized that the teacher was going to be late.

"Hey, Midoriya!" Kirishima grinned. "You're the one my brother talked about, right? AnimeBoi is his username!!"

"Yeah." Izuku smiled softly. "My screen name is Deku." He explained. "He told me to keep a lookout for you. Sorry it took so long. I'm kind of socially awkward."

"That's fine, my brother is, too." Kirishima grinned. "I think you're awesome, Midobro!"

"Mido...bro?" He blinked, unsure how to take the new nickname.

"So, Midoriya!" The pink girl, Ashido, excitedly leaned towards him, cutting off whatever Kirishima was going to say. "I have to ask. What's your Quirk?!"

"I have to stop that." Mina muttered to herself. 

"My... Quirk?" Izuku blinked. Didn't they...? Oh. He didn't tell them. He opened his mouth to affirm that he did not have one when Bakugo decided to be an ass and do it for him.

"Deku?! Ha! That little wimp doesn't have a Quirk. He's Quirkless. I have no idea how the fuck he managed to get into U.A."

"Quirkless?" Iida echoed, confused.

"Bakugo, that was unmanly, man." 

"Gee, thanks asshole." Izuku threw Bakugo a tired glare, startling the blond. "But yeah, I'm Quirkless. I still managed to get into U.A. same as the rest of you. So, doubt me if you want, but just know that underestimating me will not end well for you." There was a glint in his eye that made the class falter.

"I think it's so manly! No Quirk and you still got in?! Bro, you're incredible!" Kirishima grinned, taking Izuku aback.

"Yeah!" 

"Um... what?" He blinked. He'd been so ready for the jeers and teasing, already having built the wall around himself in preparation... but... what?

"Yeah!" Kaminari grinned. Jiro gave him a thumbs up, too.

"I think you're very brave and definitely someone I wouldn't underestimate on the battlefield. If you could take down those robots without a Quirk, then you must be a force to be reckoned with." Tokoyami said quietly.

Tokoyami agreed with his screen self. 

"Though I gotta ask, how did you beat them?!" Ashido was literally bouncing in her seat.

"Oh... I fight with a sword." Izuku explained.

"But you stopped the Zero Pointer and saved me!" Uraraka argued.

"Oh, that? I hacked it from a downed robot. I rewrote the code and initiated a force-shutdown for all nearby robots, including the Zero Pointer." He shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"You... Is that even allowed?!" Iida looked scandalized.

"Anything goes in a real battle. Even nutshots. At any rate, I don't think Nezu was angry about it... though I do have a meeting with him after school today." He rubbed his chin as he thought, idly missing his stubble.

Before anyone could say anything else, All Might strode in, making Izuku stiffen. Great.

All Might glared at his on-screen self. 

He ignored the long-winded explanation (or maybe it wasn't that long? Izuku didn't really pay any mind to it either way) before he grinned at his costume. Perfect.

His Hero Costume was one that he'd put a lot of time and effort into. If he was really going to go the whole way and actually become a hero, then he would need to go into Underground Heroics (not that he minded, necessarily, that would've been his first pick anyways).

Aizawa smirked. 

So with that in mind, he went with a darker color scheme. The dark green and black skin-tight suit allowed for ease of movement without the risk of loose clothing catching on anything. There were plenty of pouches and hidden pockets along his utility belt and his trusty black katana hung comfortably on his back. A pair of sai hung on his thighs. He had nothing covering his hair or face with the exception of a very Eraserhead-esque pair of black goggles that currently hung around his neck. They had night-vision qualities as well as heat seeking tech. Plus, they'd help keep smoke and dirt from obscuring his vision. His black boots had shock absorbers and hidden knives.

"Nice costume." 

He may have looked similar to his Viridian persona, but there was little chance of them connecting the dots—not when he'd convinced Tsukauchi and Aizawa so wholly that Viridian was an adult.

In short, he looked unassuming at first glance, but he was actually armed to the teeth. Izuku smirked. This was going to be fun.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, scratch that. This was going to suck. All Might had pitted him against Bakugo of all people. Izuku didn't know how, but he had a feeling that it was either on purpose, or a 'lucky accident'. Either way, his teacher looked way too happy with the matchup. He supposed that All Might simply thought that the two were friends since they went to the same school, but...

"I thought the same until recently." 

Izuku was not an idiot. He knew he had weak points and faults just like everyone else. He was just better at hiding them. Explosions—specifically the dust that they could easily kick up and collapsing buildings—and the ringing silence that came thereafter was something that could easily pull him into a flashback. (He also hated sudden loud noises, but explosions were the worst. He blamed childhood trauma.) He knew this, which is why he tried his best to stay away from Bakugo whenever possible.

It was also why he tended to do his vigilante work at night, when the flashier villains who would cause said explosions were not out and about. Diurnal heroes could handle those villains themselves, anyhow.

Though there had been several times in the last four months that he'd had to act as Viridian during daylight hours (like that bank robbery incident last week) ... Maybe that's why people were mistaking him for a hero? Because the police didn't arrest him for vigilantism?

"All Might?" Izuku asked quietly, making sure none of his classmates would overhear. "I was wondering if I could switch opponents. I know that normally this isn't allowed, but I have... bad reactions to explosions, and was going to talk to Hound Dog about working around it at the end of this week." Izuku was trying to be mature about this. He really was. After all, he knew, logically, that this fear of his was extremely dangerous in the field of heroism (never mind the fact that it didn't affect him nearly so badly as Viridian). However, that's what Hound Dog, the counselor, was for. He'd help Izuku work through them—even if he didn't want to talk about anything to the man—and then Izuku would be cleared to do hero work in those situations. (He was still figuring out how to phrase everything to the man without sounding completely delusional).

He was waiting until the end of the week because he knew it could pose the risk of taking him off the USJ trip, which he could not afford.

All Might just smiled down at him. "I understand, my boy, but you cannot always choose what powers your enemies have. Even if it makes you uncomfortable, I ask that you still bear with the exercise. If things start getting out of hand, I'll stop it."

"Idiot!" All Might shouted at the screen. Aizawa agreed. 

He isn't taking me seriously. Izuku sighed. "If that's your final decision." Fuck you, too, dick.

Okay, so maybe Izuku was being a little harsh. But he felt somewhat justified in his pettiness considering the man crushed his dreams. Twice. And yeah, he understood why he'd done it, and even mostly agreed with the man, but Izuku was still bitter about the whole thing. And considering all that he'd been through, he felt that he was allowed to be petty. Besides, All Might could've phrased it better when he'd crushed his dreams. Or, you know, not left the Quirkless kid alone on the very tall building the same day he'd been suicide baited and had his dreams freshly crushed?

When the match started, Izuku took a deep steadying breath. "Uraraka." The girl looked at him. "Bakugo will come after me. I'll distract him to keep his heavy hits from you. Take this," he passed her a small canister, "It's a smokescreen." He smirked. "Try to use Iida's speed against him."

"Right!" Uraraka grinned, taking it from Izuku with a smile.

"Good plan." 

"GO!"

Like a flash, Izuku and Uraraka bolted into the building. As expected, Bakugo met them on the second floor, heading them off.

Izuku motioned for Uraraka to hide as he drew Bakugo's attention. "You never change, do you, Bakugo?"

"Shut the hell up Deku! Since when do you even use my last name?!"

"That's what's got you pissed?" Izuku sighed, as he saw Uraraka sneak up the stairs from the corner of his eye. "Bakugo Katsuki. We haven't been friends for a long time. I finally admit that now." He watched as the blond flinched.

"Like I'd ever be friends with a Quirkless reject like you!" He snarled, lunging forward with his all-too-familiar right hook.

Izuku easily dodged, catching his arm in a well-practiced motion and used his sai to pin him to the floor. It would've ended there if Bakugo hadn't used his other hand to fire an explosion at the ground, breaking the floor and sending the two crashing to the room below.

Bakugo immediately jumped away and reared around to the offensive.

"So, you've got some moves. Big deal!" Bakugo snarled. "You're still nothing! You'll never be a hero!"

"Like you will?" Bakugo actually flinched at that. 

"Bakugo." Izuku flinched as another explosion went off. The smell of the dust that the explosion kicked up and the sound of the ceiling crumbling at the edges of the hole trudged up some rather nasty memories.

"It'll be alright, kid." Maijima smiled as he patted Izuku's head. "You'll make it out of this."

"I-I'm not a kid." He protested through thick tears. "Come with me. The others will be worried." He flinched at the sound of a nearby Nomu.

"You know I can't. Tell Nemuri and the others I'm sorry—and stay safe, kiddo. Keep smiling." He gave Izuku a grin before standing up from their hiding place, leaving Izuku essentially buried in a safe-hole Maijima had dug just for him. "See ya in the next life."

"Goodbye." Izuku smiled as best he could. "Uncle Higari."

Izuku shook his head sharply, barely dodging a blow from Bakugo. He hadn't had to think about Power Loader's death in a long time. The man had run out to draw the Nomu away from Izuku's hiding spot. All he'd managed to find of the man after was few bloodstained pieces of clothing and some bone. That was it.

Everyone flinched. 

"I know you won't understand this, but there are bigger things for me to worry about than your approval." Izuku charged him, ducking under angry swings and dodging fierce blows.

The explosions were starting to overwhelm him, and the smell of smoke and nitroglycerin filled his nostrils, mixing with the scent of ash and blood. He found that it made it harder to remember when he was. He kept catching ghost-like glimpses of fallen allies or Nomu out of the corner of his eyes.

Sometimes, when Bakugo reached for him with his hand, he overlapped with the image of Shigaraki. His red eyes glinted in malice and perverted glee, and Izuku wasn't sure if that was the hallucination or not.

Don't kill him. The thought ran through his mind. He had to remember. This was Bakugo, not a Nomu... not Shigaraki... Bakugo. He pulled back, restraining himself, fighting against years of instinct screaming at him to do otherwise. He fought at only a small percentage of his power. He couldn't go all-out. Not against another human. Not against a fellow classmate. A child.

The two finally jumped apart to catch their breath as Bakugo held up his hand (a hand that looked pale and was horribly dry from overuse of the disintegration Quirk), one finger hooked in the pin on his gauntlet. Red eyes glined in bloodlust as they thirsted for his death. "You know what my Quirk is, right? Well, nerd, what'dya think these are for?"

Izuku's eyes widened in startled realization as his vision focused on the present for that moment. "Your sweat..."

"STOP! THAT WILL KILL HIM!" All Might's voice rung out in worry, and Izuku heard the familiar voice of Shouta in the background. Shou? What's he doing here?

"Only if he doesn't dodge!" Bakugo grinned as he pulled the pin.

"You asshole!" 

If Izuku hadn't spent a decade surviving against unbelievably fast and ludicrously strong Nomu, he probably would've actually died.

But luckily for him, his reflexes were insane, and he managed to dodge most of the blast. It caught his right leg, burning the skin. The smell of burned flesh reached his nostrils, mixing with the dust kicked up from Bakugo's explosions. The scent mixed with blood became unnervingly similar to the scent of a decayed corpse from Shigaraki's Quirk, and suddenly Izuku was completely gone—he didn't know when he was.

He was half-sure his mind was playing tricks on him, but he heard some Nomu nearby. He glanced around himself quickly, and slipped into stealth mode, hiding in the best spot he could find. He'd wait out the Nomu—Shouta was smart enough to do the same. And if he was in trouble, Izuku would hear that, too. He'd go to help him if that were the case. He had a promise to Zashi to keep, after all. Shouta wouldn't die. He'd make sure of it.

But he also promised Dabi that he'd look after himself. So he needed to survive. "You're doing great, Spitfire." Dabi's hand ruffled his hair. "You're doing just fine. Keep your knees bent a little more, yeah! Like that!"

He violently flung the thought out of his mind—this was no time to think of people long dead.

They would survive. No matter what.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shouta was tired. Not that that was necessarily anything new, per se, but he was apprehensive about his students' first Heroics Class. Never one to let his gut feelings lie, he decided to observe All Might's lesson. It was the man's first-time teaching, after all, so he'd likely need a hand reigning in 19 rambunctious superpowered teenagers.

He entered the observation room with All Might and the remaining 15 students as Uraraka, Iida, Bakugo, and Midoriya readied themselves for their battle. Shouta, personally, was against the idea of Bakugo and Midoriya facing one another (or a battle exercise right off the bat, but he trusted that All Might had enough common sense to lecture the students on safety first).

"I do. But does he?" 

Something about the way Bakugo had nearly lunged at the green-haired child during the assessment the day before had rubbed him the wrong way. Though the younger boy hadn't seemed phased by the unprompted lunge, Shouta could see the way he tensed around the explosion that he'd almost fired off. He suspected this was a case of bullying or something similar, but with no evidence there was nothing Shouta could do about it except do his best to prevent any further altercations.

Warily, he kept his eye on the match before him. He just had a feeling.

"Turn on the audio." Shouta spoke up, startling the blond. He internally smirked—he loved having a stealth mode.

"Aizawa-san. I wasn't aware that you were observing the match today?"

"I wanted to make sure you had an extra set of eyes on these kids. They're a handful." He explained, and All Might nodded.

"Um... audio?"

Shouta sighed before leaning over and pressing the obvious blue button with the headphone icon. Honestly, Nezu should've made him get a teaching degree at least. Even I had to take some private classes with Nezu to get mine.

"I've got mine." 

They listened as Midoriya handed what he explained was a smoke screen to Uraraka. Clever idea, but let's see how she uses it.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long until Midoriya met with Bakugo, and the results were as explosive as Shouta had feared.

"You never change, do you, Bakugo?" Midoriya smirked confidently, causing the blond kid to bristle in anger.

"Shut the hell up Deku! Since when do you even use my last name?!"

"Uh. Not this again." Sero complained. 

"That's what's got you pissed? Bakugo Katsuki. We haven't been friends for a long time. I finally admit that now." Shouta sighed. Obviously there's a lot of context I'm missing, here.

"You think?" 

"Like I'd ever be friends with a Quirkless reject like you!" Shouta's attention immediately became entirely focused on the fight. He had suspected that Bakugo's record wasn't as clean as it initially appeared, but Quirk (or Quirkless as the case was here) discrimination was very serious—especially for a prospective hero.

"It's not clean. At least, it's not supposed to be." 

Shouta also found himself appreciating the smooth form that Midoriya had, and his obvious expertise with the sai. He wielded them with experience beyond his years, and Shouta wondered where he'd learned to fight.

Compared to Midoriya, Bakugo looked like a raging animal with no finesse—powerful, with strong instincts, but a lot of wasted energy and movement. Midoriya's movement wasted none, and actually reminded Shouta quite a bit of his own fighting style—minus the Capture Weapon.

He tensed when Bakugo blew a hole in the floor, freeing himself from his classmate's grasp.

"So, you've got some moves. Big deal!" Bakugo snarled. "You're still nothing! You'll never be a hero!"

Shouta's eyes narrowed. This was a personal statement. He knew right there that both of these students would need to talk to Hound Dog (Bakugo for his anger and pride, and Midoriya for what was sure to be low self-esteem or trauma.)

"Both." Inko said.

"Bakugo." Midoriya flinched as another explosion went off, and Shouta took a deep breath. He didn't like the feeling he was getting.

And for a moment, Midoriya froze. No... Shouta's eyes narrowed. That's not right. This is something else... But between the shitty angle of the camera and the dust settling, Shouta couldn't name what it was before the kid snapped himself out of it.

"I know you won't understand this, but there are bigger things for me to worry about than your approval."

Something's not right. The dust settled and he could see a lot more clearly. Midoriya's eyes... they were somewhat glassy and he didn't look completely there. It was as if he didn't completely recognize where he was beyond the fight. That worried Shouta. A lot.

And then something changed.

It was subtle, and the shift was one that Shouta only barely noticed, but Midoriya went from a sparring fighting style to a fighting for your life style. He caught Midoriya altering several moves at the last minute that would've been lethal (for Bakugo) if he hadn't changed course. That was when he'd decided that enough was enough. He moved to stop the match before someone got killed, when Bakugo spoke up.

"You know what my Quirk is, right? Well, nerd, what'dya think these are for?"

"Your sweat..." Midoriya's eyes went wide in horror, as did Shouta's.

"STOP! THAT WILL KILL HIM!" All Might shouted over the intercom.

"Bakugo, if you pull that pin—" Shouta started, but Bakugo didn't hear him.

"Only if he doesn't dodge!" Shouta felt anger well up alongside his fear as the pin was pulled and a massive explosion took out their visual feed.

"Young Bakugo?! Is everyone okay?!" All Might asked, but Shouta hit a button on the panel instead.

"Stop the exercise! Anyone continuing to fight will be expelled." Shouta promised as All Might sent him an affronted look.

"I agree." All Might said. "What Young Bakugo did... was attempted murder." 

"Yes." Tsukauchi glared at Bakugo. "Nezu, I would like any tapes and recordings that you have of this fight." 

"Of course." 

"I'm going to go check on Midoriya and Bakugo. Call Recovery Girl, there's sure to be injuries." All Might nodded meekly and went to do as told. "Stay. Put." Shouta glared at the remaining students, who nodded and planted their feet where they stood. They looked half-terrified and if that was of Shouta, then good, he'd done something right.

His heart pounded in worry. Bakugo was leaning casually against a wall, acting like nothing was wrong. "You are going to wait for me in Nezu's office. We will have a nice long discussion on why that was not okay. Argue or attempt to go elsewhere, and you'll find yourself expelled." Shouta glared, and Bakugo straightened in shock and nodded.

I get the feeling this kid's never been reprimanded before. Newsflash, brat, U.A. doesn't cater to your inflated ego.

Iida and Uraraka came down the stairs, worry evident on their faces. "Aizawa-sensei?" Uraraka asked.

"Go join your classmates while I locate Midoriya." He ordered, and Iida herded the girl away.

Shouta was good at finding people—he had to be to find the crooks and rapists lurking in back alleyways at two in the morning. But he couldn't for the life of him, find Midoriya. And that scared him. It wasn't until he finally caught sight of a few drops of blood on the floor (likely from cutting himself on rubble) that his eyes focused on a deathly still figure hiding in the rubble.

"No. MY BABY!" Inko began to cry. Midoriya tried his best to comfort his mother. 

Wide green eyes stared around his environment, as if tracking unseen enemies. He flinched—twitched, more like—at unheard sounds, and his breathing was almost nonexistent.

Shouta realized that his student was stuck in some kind of flashback. "Midoriya." No reaction.

"Midoriya Izuku." He tried again, noticing that his student twitched a little at the sound of his given name.

"Shouta?" Shouta blinked. Why was the kid using his given name? He decided not to question it right now. "Yeah, kid. It's me." He carefully made his way over to him. "Can you tell me where you are right now?"

"It is weird to hear my student calling me by my given name." 

"Abandoned building. I can hear them nearby... Making a break for it would be too dangerous, though. Too many. Are you hurt?" Midoriya's voice was scarcely a whisper, and Shouta couldn't help but feel a little heartbroken to see the hardened and fearful look on his face. Just what had happened to this kid? He looked like a soldier in a warzone.

"Technically he was." 

"I'm okay. Listen to me. You're at U.A. You're safe, it's okay. Nobody is going to hurt you." He kept his voice calm and soft, and the kid blinked a few times in confusion. "There's no one here but us."

"But... I can hear them?"

"Hear who?"

"The Nomu." There was a pause. Was that the name of some kind of group? "Shouta? Are they okay? Zashi... And Nemuri... And Maijima?" Why is this kid calling us by our given names? And Power Loader, too?

"Yeah. Everyone's okay, Izuku." He rolled with it, calling him by his given name. The kid relaxed substantially, so Shouta assumed it was the right call. "Recovery Girl is waiting for you."

"I-I wouldn't mind for you to call me Izuku." 

"Alright Problem Child." 

"Recovery... Girl? But she..." His brows furrowed together before his eyes cleared a bit.

Shouta carefully placed a hand on the kid's shoulder, and he found Midoriya's hand grasping his arm like a lifeline. "When am I?" He asked desperately. The question made Shouta falter for a moment. Not where am I, but when.

"It's Tuesday. Year 2365. You just started your first year of U.A. Hero Course." He answered quietly, and the boy froze for a moment before he melted into his arms.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to..." Shouta ignored the tears that were soaking into his capture weapon as he held his student. He reached up to his radio. "All Might, I've found him. He's hurt, but nothing life-threatening. I'm taking him to Recovery Girl myself."

He then turned his attention back to the obviously traumatized child. "It's all right, Midoriya. You have nothing to apologize for."

"I... I must've confused you so much... and I... I'm so sorry..." Shouta didn't know why, but he got the distinct impression that the kid was apologizing for something more than his breakdown. Regardless, he wasn't about to let his classmates see him like this, so he took an alternate route to Recovery Girl's office.

"Oh dear." She said the moment she saw Shouta with an injured student passed out in his arms. The kid had a death grip on him even in his sleep.

"Training accident ended up triggering some sort of flashback." Shouta explained. "He seemed to recognize me, though, and asked after Mic, Midnight, and Power Loader."

"Strange..." Her brows furrowed before she turned to tend to his injuries. Shouta was barely able to tear the kid from his arms, and when he did, the boy whimpered lightly.

"He seems very attached to you." Chiyo grinned, giggling under her breath.

Inko sighed. "I want him back on the weekends and on the holidays. Apparently, we are sharing custody." 

"I have to inform the other teachers about this development." He sighed. "Call me when he wakes up. If he's still in the flashback, I should be able to bring him out of it."

"Right, Dearie. Thank you for the heads up."

With that, Shouta closed the door behind him. Ugh, today sucks already. He shook his head. He still had to deal with Bakugo. But first, he needed to inform the other teachers of the now obvious PTSD that Midoriya had. And had neglected to inform them of. He'd chew the kid out for that later.

He sent off a quick text to his coworkers. Luckily, it was most everyone's free period, so Cementoss, Snipe, Present Mic, Ectoplasm, Midnight and Thirteen were all in the Staff Room. He'd have to inform Power Loader of the situation later.

"Shouta? What's wrong, I thought you were observing your class?" Hizashi's eyes flashed in concern when he noted the dust and blood on his costume.

"There was an incident. Bakugo disobeyed a direct order and used an attack of lethal force on Midoriya." The room stiffened. "He's fine. Somehow the kid managed to dodge it, but his leg was burned pretty badly. He's with Chiyo, now. But the attack triggered a flashback. I was only barely able to pull him out of it."

"A flashback?" Cementoss asked in concern.

"He was talking about hearing 'Nomu' nearby, whatever that is, and his eyes were tracking invisible enemies. Kid was so quiet I almost didn't find him. But he seemed to recognize me." His brows knitted together in concern.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Midnight asked.

"That's the thing. He called me 'Shouta', and only reacted when I called him by his given name."

"That's... strange." Thirteen conceded.

"He also asked about 'Zashi', 'Nemuri', and 'Maijima'." Shouta looked at Mic and Midnight, who startled at their own names. "He came back to himself before he passed out, but if anything happens again and I'm not around, I think you two could manage to pull him out of a flashback... Call it a hunch."

"That's actually somewhat unnerving, having a student call me by my given name." Midnight scratched her head.

"Do you two know him outside of school?" Snipe asked.

"Nope." 

"No, never met the kid before he attended here." Mic shook his head, and Nemuri nodded in agreement.

"I think we should all keep a closer eye on him. Any idea what specifically triggered it?" Cementoss asked.

"Ah... maybe I can answer that question." All Might said, coming into the room. Shouta glanced at the clock—it was already the end of the day. "Before the start of the battle Midoriya-shounen came up to me and confessed that he had bad reactions to explosions. I assumed they just made him uncomfortable, and he said that he was going to talk to Hound Dog at the end of the week about it. He wanted to switch partners, but..."

"He's an idiot." All Might and Aizawa said at the same time. 

"But you made him face Bakugo anyways." Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose.

"How irresponsible." Thirteen tutted. "Didn't you read the handbook?"

"I've read and reread the handbook many times!" All Might shouted. 

"Handbook?" All Might questioned, causing the entire room to groan.

"Here." Snipe chucked something at his head (and nearly hit him right on the nose with his impeccable aim). "Every teacher is required to have that memorized before even setting foot in a classroom." He crossed his arms.

"Page twenty-seven talks about what to do when a student who's suspected of having a traumatic experience in the past confesses a possible trigger." Ectoplasm stated dryly, sending All Might a mild glare of his own. "In short, you excuse that student from the situation that could re-traumatize them, and inform their homeroom teacher privately before informing the rest of the staff."

"In this case, you would've given him a different opponent and kept a closer eye on him while he observed Bakugo's fight." Shouta stepped in. "Immediately after class, you would've informed me of the situation, before I informed the rest of the staff to prevent re-traumatizing him."

"I still read the handbook at times, just in case I missed something." Present Mic said. 

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." Shouta sighed. "You can apologize to Midoriya after Recovery Girl and Hound Dog have cleared him. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a student to discipline." He paused in the doorway. "Zashi, I think you or Nemuri should go see if the kid's okay. He'll probably respond better to you two than anyone else right now." He sent them meaningful looks and the two smiled.

"I'll go. The Little Listener's growing on me." Hizashi grinned, heading out the door, closing it behind him with a soft click.

"Yes, he is! All the Listeners is growing on me!" 

"I'll inform Power Loader." Ectoplasm sighed.

"Thank you."

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Shouta sighed as he watched Bakugo leave the office. His punishment was light, in Shouta's opinion, but there wasn't much they could do for a first-offense. So, he'd be on restriction for two weeks. Allowed to observe and participate in team building activities while attending counseling with Hound Dog every day.

"Sure. Attempted murder is a first-offense." Asui said dryly. "Ribbit." 

He looked up when the door opened. Nezu had wanted to speak with Midoriya regarding the incident, and had Hizashi and Nemuri accompany him up to the office. He was bandaged, and had a light limp, but looked fine otherwise. He looked a little tired, but that was probably from Recovery Girl's Quirk.

"You feeling better?" Shouta asked, and the kid nodded. He didn't miss the way he relaxed when he saw Shouta sitting there. The boy was unusually attached to him, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why.

"Welcome, Midoriya. Please have a seat." Nezu motioned, and Shouta stood to leave.

"A-actually, Sh– Aizawa-sensei... You three can stay if you want?" Midoriya spoke up, and Shouta sat back down. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious. He saw the expression mirrored on the other two heroes' faces.

"I understand that you had quite the experience today. I wanted to apologize for you getting hurt." Nezu said.

"Oh, that's not your fault. Bakugo's always been that way." He answered off handedly. "I'd have been more careful if I'd have known about the gauntlets, but that's my fault for being ill-informed."

Shouta stared. This kid was far too mature.

"Way too mature." Inko agreed. 

"Either way," Nezu continued, handing a cup of tea to the boy, who took it gratefully. "I'd like to know what exactly triggered your flashback earlier. To prevent any future setbacks, and to keep you on the right track, you need to inform us of any major trauma in your past."

"W-wait... you mean I'm not getting kicked out of the hero course?" He blinked in shock.

"For what?" 

"Either way," Nezu continued, handing a cup of tea to the boy, who took it gratefully. "I'd like to know what exactly triggered your flashback earlier. To prevent any future setbacks, and to keep you on the right track, you need to inform us of any major trauma in your past."

"W-wait... you mean I'm not getting kicked out of the hero course?" He blinked in shock.

Shouta startled. "Of course you aren't." He stated. "Kid, nine out of ten pros have PTSD or something similar. It comes with the job. To disqualify a hero hopeful for something you'll likely get anyways is illogical. But we can help you with it before you head out there."

He relaxed substantially, and Shouta wondered if that had been weighing on him this entire time. Was that why he hadn't informed them?

"I'm sorry. I just..."

"It's okay, Little Listener. We're here to help you." Hizashi spoke up, and Midoriya sent him a small gentle smile. There was a tinge of sorrow there, though, and he noticed that the kid's hand went to touch something under his shirt, like he wore a necklace of some kind.

Shouta squinted a little. Yep. There was a glint of rusted silver. A very old necklace, it would seem.

"I... Part of it is collapsing buildings. And the smell of decay... and unfortunately, burning flesh mixed with nitroglycerin and whatever else was in that building happened to smell similar enough to, um... well... yeah."

Decay?! Shouta stiffened, along with the other heroes. What the hell kind of situation had this kid been through? As far as he knew, the boy's mother was alive and well, and his father worked overseas... There'd been nothing in his records indicating anything even remotely traumatic, either.

"Even if I was, and I had, no one's going to help a Quirkless freak."

"You call yourself a freak one more time and you're grounded." 

"That's concerning." 

Though it was possible that something had happened, and the police had just not bothered to document it due to his Quirkless status. As much as Shouta hated it, some people just didn't care about someone who didn't have a Quirk.

"Mostly, the biggest thing is silence." He spoke quietly, and Shouta noticed it now. He shifted in his seat. He did that in class, too. The kid was always making some kind of small, quiet noise. "The silence that follows explosions is the worst. They tend to send me into..."

"Flashbacks." Shouta finished for him.

"Yeah. So, you saw that?" He winced.

"Yes. Nobody else did, though. But you called me by my given name." Midoriya flinched lightly.

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I meant no offense."

"I'm not offended, just curious."

The look on the kid's face told him that the boy was embarrassed, and ashamed. But his eyes told Shouta a different story. Grief, regret, anger, loss. The emotions were overwhelming and Shouta looked away, feeling like he was violating some part of the kid just from seeing that.

"Can you explain what kind of experience brought on this trauma?" Nezu asked gently.

"I don't think I've ever seen Principal Nezu that gentle before." 

"Eri. He spoke to Eri gently before." 

"I..." The kid looked out the window behind Nezu for a moment, and Shouta was briefly afraid he'd fallen into another flashback. "I lost some people very dear to me. It was a villain attack... there was this terrible silence afterwards..." He gently touched the necklace. "I'll never forget that scream. I had to knock one of them out because he wanted to go back for the other, but..." The kid's hand clenched, and Shouta knew what had happened. This boy had been forced to choose between two lives that were precious to him. Likely, if the kid had stayed to help the other, all three would be dead. This kid was way too young to have an experience like that. To have to make that kind of choice...

Everyone flinched of the reminder of Present Mic's death.

Nemuri looked ready to cry, and Hizashi looked heartbroken. Even Nezu looked mildly disturbed, though he quickly masked it before the kid could notice.

At the very least, this kid already had what it took to be a pro, of that Shouta was now certain. Not many people could even make that kind of choice. Nezu took a moment to digest this information.

"Thank you for telling us, Midoriya. I'd like for you to meet with Hound Dog every day." The kid nodded.

"I was going to go to him at the end of the week."

"Good, you'll start those meetings tomorrow during your free period, then." Nezu smiled. "Now, on to the topic originally scheduled for today—the Entrance Exams." He leaned forward in glee, and Midoriya relaxed almost completely.

If Shouta hadn't seen how tense he was a minute ago, he wouldn't have suspected anything. It was like he flipped a switch. The kid was way too good at hiding trauma. Looked like the staff needed to up their game. "What, exactly, did you do?"

Nezu grinned with glee. 

"Well, I figured the robots were all connected to some wireless system." Midoriya started, eyes shining as a smirk danced on his lips. His meek posture from earlier dropped away along with his nerves, and the kid that sat before them looked confident and happy. It was like night and day. Shouta found himself thinking that the boy was far too used to dealing with flashbacks and trauma if he could bounce back this quickly.

"The test is dangerous, and even if each one was individually programmed, you still needed some emergency shut-off sequence just in case. Of course, that applies to the Zero Pointer, too. Perhaps especially the Zero Pointer. Not every teacher here has the firepower to take that thing down should it rampage out of control, and if all of them do so, then there may not be enough time to prevent casualties. So a remote shut-off is a must. I simply found the code in the smaller robot, and hacked it to send out the force shut-down signal." He sat back with a grin.

Silence. Then Nezu cackled. 

"Amazing." Nezu's grin matched Midoriya's. "Not only did you manage to reverse hack it, but you did so in an unbelievable amount of time." He leaned forward again. "Midoriya Izuku, would you like to become my private student?"

Shouta shared a horrified look with his friends. Oh shit. If this kid accepted the offer...

"Principal Nezu..." Izuku leaned forward with a fearsome smirk of his own. "I would love to."

The two cackled together, and Shouta felt a strong chill run down his spine. We're doomed.

Nezu grinned. Aizawa shuddered in fear for his so-- student. Yeah. Student. 

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It wasn't until they were nearly out the doors of U.A., that Shouta remembered the upcoming field trip. "Midoriya." He stopped the kid, who turned and looked at him with a questioning gaze. "There's a field trip tomorrow. I think, all things considered, you should stay here.

"Midoriya might not be able to go after all." Kirishima said sadly. 

Something flashed in his eyes. Desperation, pain, fear, panic. "Please, sir. I'm okay, now. So long as I'm not around unexpected explosions, I'll be fine." He promised, looking at him with those dark green eyes. They were begging him. He opened his mouth to argue, when Midoriya spoke up again. "I promise I'll tell you if I feel off or bothered in any way, okay?" He felt his mouth set in a thin line. What a Problem Child. He finally sighed.

"Fine. But your mother has to sign this." He handed over a paper. The kid stiffened almost unnoticeably. Shouta's eyes narrowed imperceptibly. Something wasn't right here. Abuse? It wasn't uncommon for a Quirkless kid, after all. Maybe he'd do home checks soon.

Inko muttered about murder. She would never harm a hair on her baby's head. She would rather die. 

"Okay. Thank you, Aizawa-sensei!" Midoriya grinned, and Shouta was almost convinced. Almost.

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"Keicchan~" Izuku called out when he got back into the clearing of trash he called home. Keigo looked up from the book he'd been reading. He'd found it in the mound of trash earlier while poking through the pile curiously.

"Oh no." 

Seriously, who throws away a perfectly good book?!

"Zukkun?" He didn't know why Izuku came up with these nicknames, but it seemed to make the fifteen-year-old happy, so who was he to complain? Besides, it wasn't like he'd ever really had anyone he was close enough with to have a nickname for before. And if Keigo was being honest, he really enjoyed it. Not that he'd admit that aloud.

"I wanna nickname from Midoriya!" Mina shouted. 

"I need you to be my mother." Keigo spit out the sip of lemonade he'd taken.

Hawks chocked on his chicken wing. "W-wha?"

Laughter cued the audience. 

"I'm sorry, what?!"

"This permission slip!" Izuku held up a piece of paper, and the hero felt his pulse even out. "I need my mother's signature, but that's out of the question. I suck at forging signatures, and he's never seen her handwriting before... so... Please?"

"I do suck at forging signatures." 

"You're not alone, my brother." 

Keigo blinked as his brain restarted. "Fine." He sighed and held out his hand. "Give it here."

"YES!!"

"A field trip?"

"Mmmhm~!" Izuku nodded his head enthusiastically.

"And why exactly do you need this slip signed when this is a trip on campus?"

"Because Bakugo tried to kill me and sent me into a flashback during our Heroics Class."

"That's one way of putting it." 

Keigo was going to go grey. Young. "I think I need more explanation than that, Zu."

"Er... well, remember how we were talking about triggers the other day and stuff?" Izuku waited for Keigo to nod. "Well, one of those triggers happens to be explosions. Or rather, collapsing buildings and then the smell of explosions. Especially when mixed with burning flesh..." He sheepishly pulled up his pant leg to show a new scar.

"Burning... flesh?" He echoed. "I don't know if I want to know right now. Maybe I should come with you to school." Keigo groaned. "I thought you'd be safe at U.A.... At least when you're on patrol, you've got Aizawa with you... Hold on, how did it get to that point? Who's your Heroics teacher?"

"All Might."

"WHAT?!" Keigo decided he was going to stop drinking his lemonade before he choked to death.

"Yep~" Izuku popped the 'p' cheerfully, as if he didn't just drop three bombshells in a row on him.

"You are going to be the death of me." 

"RIP Hawks." 

"Press F for the chat." 

"F."

"F." 

"F."

"F." 

"F."

"Zukkun, you're going to be the death of me one of these days." Keigo sighed as he found a pen. "Now, what's your mo..." He trailed off when he caught sight of the serious expression on Izuku's face.

"That's what I said!" Hawks shouted. 

"Please don't joke about that. I've seen enough friends die because of me. I don't want to imagine your death, too."

Not for the first time, Keigo wondered just what had happened to Midoriya Izuku. He was such an enigma. Fifteen and Quirkless, and yet he was Japan's most elusive and wanted Vigilante. To the point where he could propose a partnership with the local police force and heroes, and get it accepted on his terms. Keigo was sure Izuku wasn't aware of just how much power he had as Viridian.

"Time Travel." 

Not only that, but he had a mysterious and dark past that reeked of blood and death. Keigo hoped that whatever it was wouldn't come back to bite him in the butt, because Keigo had no plans to leave his newfound brother to fend for himself. He just hoped that Izuku would tell him about it before it became a necessary thing.

"Sorry." He apologized awkwardly. "I need your mother's name to forge her signature."

"Oh, right. Midoriya Inko."

That was another thing. Keigo realized a while back that Izuku's parents were still alive. He did a little digging around and found that his mother was still living in Musutafu.

"Just very neglectful/abusive. Uh, sorry Mrs. Midoriya." Mina said. Inko shrugged. She wasn't offended. After all, it wasn't her. 

"I've been meaning to ask, but why do you live alone?" Keigo handed back the permission slip.

"You mean why don't I live with my mother and father?"

"Yeah."

"My father hates the Quirkless." He explained carefully as he sat down. "He twisted my mother's views on the Quirkless until she stopped caring about me. In all honesty, she hasn't looked at me since I was eight. She doesn't care if I'm alive or dead, and whenever my father comes home, it's not pretty."

"I haven't seen D-dad since I was four." Midoriya was quick to reassure everyone. 

"Don't call him 'Dad', honey, if you don't feel comfortable. He may be biologically related to you, but that does not make him your dad." Inko said. 

Keigo shuddered at the image his friend was painting for him.

"So, I figured I was safer on my own. I packed up my stuff and came here—where nobody would bother me. You know, until you showed up." Izuku playfully shoved Keigo, and just like that the lighter atmosphere was back.

"Well, I've got the wings for it, so I guess I'll be your mother hen for now." He smirked back.

"MOTHER HEN HAWKS!" 

"Hey! I'm not a kid!" Izuku pouted.

"You're fifteen. You're a kid."

"Technically, he's not. He's an adult stuck in a fifteen-year-old body." Inko sided with her other dimension son. 

Behind Inko, Izuku flipped off Hawks. Hawks gasped.

"Your son is flipping me off. Rude!" 

Inko turned around and hugged her son fiercely. "My son would do no such thing. He's an angel." 

Inko saw that her son did indeed flip off the number two hero, but is she going to say anything? Nope. 

"Oh yeah..."

"How do you forget your age?"

"A backlash of trauma." Izuku carefully answered.

"That makes no sense."

"It wasn't supposed to."

"It wasn't supposed to."

"Get some rest, Zukkun. You've got a long day tomorrow."

"You can say that again."

"Wait. The USJ attack is after this. I don't think I'm mentally prepared for this!" Kaminari shouted.