Chapter 71 - 3-4

Chapter 3

His mother is… surprised, to say the least, when he comes home late with a kitten in his arms. He explains that he found him in the forest, not mentioning the dog or the probably illegal trespassing. Inko listens with a look on her face saying 'I know where this is going', but smiles when he tells her how he healed the kitten's wounds. Finally, he gets to asking if they can keep him and she hesitates.

"Please, mom!" He begs, "I'm almost seven! I can take care of a cat! I promise I'll feed him and clean his litter box and brush his fur and…" He goes on and on about all the things he'll do and to his delight he sees her expression start to soften. He gives her his best puppy dog eyes and she sighs heavily.

There's a moment of silence.

Then, she admits, "He is awfully cute." And Izuku knows that he has won.

Kacchan is stunned. Then, he huffily grumbles, "Of course." The only thing he tells him before he goes home is to not name it something stupid.

So, of course, Izuku decides to name the kitten Sushi, after the dinner he has that night.

Kacchan thinks it's stupid, but Kacchan is a biased party because he never liked the cat to begin with in the first place. And it becomes pretty clear early on that Sushi doesn't like him either.

They take Sushi to the vet during the weekend and learn that he's a mix of Maine Coon and some other breed, so he's going to grow pretty big. Izuku thought, based on his current size, that perhaps Sushi was around four or five months old, but apparently he's only two months. Inko's eyes widen when she hears this and she suddenly looks rather apprehensive.

Thankfully, though, Sushi settles into their life fairly easily. He's fun to play with and the Midoriyas are more than happy to spoil him. He enjoys laying on Izuku's desk while he does homework and claws at his pencil when he decides he needs a break. He gets along with Inko well enough, but it's clear that Izuku is his favorite. Not that the boy is complaining.

But man it's almost comical how much Sushi hates Kacchan. He doesn't puff up his fur and hiss, no no, he's much more elegant than that. Whenever the blond comes over, Sushi will plop himself right in Izuku's lap and just glare at him judgmentally. And it is glaring, there's no other way to describe it. Inko thinks it hilarious how expressive the cat is. He can communicate exactly what he's thinking just by looking at you. And he's never thinking anything good about Kacchan, but the feeling is mutual.

Izuku nearly pisses himself laughing when he walks into his room one day to find Kacchan and Sushi having a glaring contest.

"You think you're fucking better than me, huh?" Kacchan growls, "Think staring at me will freak me out? You're just a stupid-looking furball that batted your eyes into a new family, but I've known Zuku for a helluva lot longer than you have, so back off fleabag!"

Behind him, Izuku is silently wheezing with laughter. He tries not to draw attention to himself, but he can't help the snort that escapes him. Kacchan whirls around with wide eyes and Izuku just loses it. He bursts out with laughter as Kacchan sputters indignantly and shrieks, "How fucking long have you been there?!"

Izuku's laughing so hard he can't even breathe, let alone respond.

His laughter angers Kacchan even more. "Oh, piss off!" He screeches, "That cat's got a fucking attitude and you know it! Fuck knows why you keep him around!"

From the other room, Inko gently scolds Kacchan for cursing.

Despite his mirth, Izuku notices the blush on his friend's cheeks and tries to control his laughter, but he ends up just wheezing even harder. It doesn't help that Sushi is still sitting regally on his dresser, giving Kacchan a smug look.

Eventually, Kacchan just grabs Izuku and drags him outside for another 'fighting lesson', which Izuku soon learns is really just an excuse to beat him up.

Kacchan has been staying true to his word and makes them train nearly everyday after school, although Izuku isn't sure if 'train' is the right word. Just as he expected, Kacchan doesn't really know much about actual fighting, just about rough housing. He never really hurts Izuku, but he's a rowdy boy and he's got the muscles and dirty moves to prove it. The first couple of lessons are okay, but eventually their training sessions just turn into 'Kacchan wrestles with Izuku for an hour and always wins'.

Izuku doesn't know what he expects from him. It's no secret that he's not as big or strong as Kacchan- or most of the other boys in his class, for that regard. Not that he's by any means a runt, he's just… on the shorter side. Always has been.

Although, he supposes that these training sessions do count as him getting exercise, which is never a bad thing. Still, he's getting tired of Kacchan repeatedly pinning him to the ground or grappling with him and telling him to escape. How can he escape if he's not even learning any real fighting moves?

Needless to say, their lessons soon start to involve a lot more of Kacchan chasing Izuku around and trying to catch him than any actual fighting moves. They have to make sure Sushi stays inside or go somewhere else to train because on more than one occasion the cat has appeared and attacked Kacchan's legs while he chases Izuku.

Kacchan adds it to the list of reasons why he hates Sushi, but Izuku finds it endearing.

"He's just being protective of me, Kacchan!" Izuku says as he pries the cat off of his friend. "It's his way of showing he loves me!"

Kacchan's gaze lands on Sushi, who is glaring daggers at him from his spot in Izuku's arms. The blond bares his teeth and the cat hisses in response.

"It's his way of being a little shit."

Izuku pouts.

Over the next three years, Sushi continues to grow both in size and personality. He reigns over the Midoriya household absolutely, watching over his humans with sharp eyes, often from atop the kitchen fridge. Izuku has woken up multiple times during the night to find those pale yellow eyes gazing at him from amidst the darkness. It's… a little creepy, he's not gonna lie, but he loves the feline enough to just accept it.

What is a bit harder to accept is the strange habit that Sushi develops only a month after living with them. He starts popping up in random places where he's not supposed to be, like in the neighborhood, on top of other people's cars or roofs, and even at Izuku's school a few times. The Midoriyas don't understand how he does it- all their windows and doors are locked when Inko leaves for work, and they don't have a cat flap, so how?

It's a bit nerve-racking at first, but they take solace in knowing that at least Sushi isn't the only outdoor cat out there. Inko suspects he likes to roam around outside because he was probably born as a stray. So, more often than not, Kacchan and Izuku will find themselves joined by the fluffy cat on their way back home from school or whenever they're playing with the other kids in the neighborhood.

Like now, for example.

Kacchan and Izuku are both ten years old and are going to the arcade by themselves for the first time. Well, actually they're supposed to meet up with a few other kids from school there, but Auntie Mitsuki manages to convince Inko that if the boys are old enough to walk to school by themselves then they're old enough to walk to the arcade while the two mothers have a 'ladies day'.

That still doesn't stop Inko from fretting over her son before they leave, though.

"Okay, okay, you have enough money for tokens, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And- and your phone is charged?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Not on silent?"

"No."

"Oh, make sure you-"

"Mom!" Izuku whines, "I'll be fine! Kacchan's coming with me and we're gonna be hanging out with other kids the entire time!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," she apologizes, pressing a worried kiss onto her son's forehead, "Be safe and have fun, alright?"

"I will!" Izuku beams at her before leaving the house, quickly jogging up to Kacchan who is waiting for him on the sidewalk. The blond ruffles his hair as he approaches and Izuku giggles, playfully pushing him away.

They start setting off towards the arcade, but as soon as they reach the end of the block Kacchan says, "We're being followed, dumbass."

Izuku blinks and glances around. "By who? I don't see any- oh!"

When he glances over his shoulder, he sees Sushi gazing up at him from the ground. Once again, he must've followed them from the house.

Izuku turns around and coos, "Don't worry, Sushi boy! I'll be back in a few hours, so go on back home!"

Sushi stares.

"Go on, go home!" Izuku insists, but the cat doesn't move. He just keeps staring with unblinking yellow eyes. The boy pouts, "C'mon, Sush, don't make me take you back myself."

"You really gotta train that cat better, Zu," Kacchan grumbles, giving said feline his customary stink-eye.

"He listens to me sometimes!" Izuku protests, but it only makes his friend snicker. Sighing in defeat, he straightens up and says, "Let's just keep going. He'll head on home eventually."

They continue walking, and to Izuku's relief he doesn't hear the soft pitter-pattering of Sushi's paws following them. Soon, they leave their neighborhood and enter the city. The arcade is only a couple of blocks away from this point, not too long of a walk. Still, Izuku feels very grown up-like strutting through the streets without an adult by his side. When he glances over his shoulder, Sushi is nowhere in sight, and he lets out a sigh of relief. He hopes the cat actually goes home instead of just wandering around the neighborhood, but that might be asking too much.

For some reason, however, he still gets the feeling that someone is watching him. The hair on the back of his neck prickles and his eyes dart around, but he doesn't spot anything suspicious.

Then, a familiar pink-haired boy standing by the arcade at the end of the street spots them and waves them over with a friendly smile.

"Izukun! Katsuki-kun! Over here!"

Pushing the strange feeling out of his mind, Izuku instead plasters a smile on his face and jogs ahead of Kacchan to greet their friend.

"Hey, Haru-kun!"

"Izukuuun!" Izuku squeaks as Haru pulls him in to give him a noogie. "You guys took forever to get here! Everyone's already inside!"

Izuku squirms out of his grasp and pouts when he has to fix his curls. Haru just grins and snickers. The other boy had joined their friend group a few months ago when he transferred into their school. He's pretty cool and extremely friendly, so of course that means that Kacchan thinks he's annoying. But Izuku doesn't care, he likes hanging out with Haru, and he also brought a couple of other friends into their group that Tsubasa and Inaba quickly befriend. Plus, he has a super neat quirk called Face Shift- basically he can shape-shift, just only with his face. Kacchan thinks it's useless, but Izuku thinks his friend is just jealous, especially since Haru can spend hours making Izuku laugh by giving himself a duck bill or turning his hair different colors.

Haru greets Kacchan, getting only a grunt of acknowledgement in response, and leads them into the arcade. There are no overhead lights but they can still see just fine because all the games and booths are lit up with neon lights. It's loud and a little overwhelming, but Haru just laughs and ushers them along to where their group of friends is waiting.

The next few hours are probably the most fun Izuku has ever had. Their group goes around playing nearly every single game they see. Kacchan challenges practically everyone to beat him in whatever racing games he can find and he wins most of the time. Izuku tries to beat him and loses which- while unfortunate- is never a surprise when it comes to Kacchan anymore, but Haru cheers him up by giving himself a lizard tongue and flicking it into his ear. Izuku squeals and runs away, Haru giving chase and pursuing him for a couple of minutes until Kacchan gets annoyed and drags Izuku off to play air hockey.

Turns out, he's pretty good at it. His explosive friend's face is priceless when Izuku beats him the first time and only gets more and more comical when Izuku continues to beat him two more times. Tsubasa and Haru watch from the sidelines, the latter whooping and cheering for Izuku, which only drives Kacchan to fight even harder until he finally wins. Still, at the end Haru comes up to Izuku and congratulates him.

"Dang, Izukun, you're really good at air hockey!" He says, grinning.

Izuku laughs and scratches the back of his head. "Thanks! I never thought I'd be- I've never really played it before today."

"Ah, so you're a natural!" Haru puts an arm around him and pointedly ignores the withering glare Kacchan sends him. "Well, I think you deserve a prize, then! C'mon, let's check out the claw machines."

They wander over to the tall box of prizes and Izuku quickly spies a stuffed, marshmallow-shaped All Might toy. He moves to put a couple of tokens in the slot, but Haru stops him.

"Allow me," he says smoothly, already grabbing onto the joystick.

Izuku blinks. "Are you sure?"

"Please." Haru winks. "It's my treat. Which one do you want?"

He presses the start button and proceeds to expertly move the claw around, picking his way through the toys until he reaches the All Might stuffie that Izuku points out. Izuku watches with bated breath as the claw lowers and clasps onto it, bringing it over to the drop box and releasing it without a hitch. Haru grabs the toy and hands it to Izuku with a bit of dramatics, which causes him to giggle as he accepts the gift graciously. Then the taller boy straightens up and beams at him- and something about it makes Izuku's heart feel a little funny. His cheeks grow warm and he quickly finds himself hiding his burning face behind the plushie.

"Thanks!" He squeaks, voice muffled.

They all leave soon after that to get lunch somewhere (Kacchan still refuses to eat arcade food after that one bout of food poisoning during Tsubasa's eighth birthday party) and as they walk out of the building Kacchan spots some TVs in a shop's window broadcasting a villain fight. Further investigation leads to the realization that it's an All Might villain fight, so naturally this sidetracks them for a while.

"Watch him here, watch him here," Kacchan says, "I bet he's gonna- Bam! See, I told you he'd do that!" He pumps his fists, his eyes practically sparkling as he watches the screen. "Man, it doesn't get any cooler than All Might!"

"There's still that other one creeping up on him, though," Haru comments, just as invested as the blond is, "Do you think he'll- ha! Did you see that? Guy didn't even stand a chance!"

Izuku watches with rapt attention too, albeit behind the group of boys. He'd like to get close but he knows how excited they can get when they watch one of All Might's fights and he doesn't want to accidentally get in the way of any flying hands. But man , All Might is never not cool! Izuku wishes he'd brought his hero journal with him, despite the fact that All Might already has almost an entire notebook dedicated to just him.

A flash of grey in the corner of his eye distracts him and his head whips around. Was that Sushi? No, no, it couldn't be. He couldn't have possibly followed him all the way to the arcade!

Just to ease his mind though, Izuku quietly sneaks away from the group to follow the flash of grey. It disappeared into a nearby alleyway, but when he reaches it the cat is nowhere in sight. The alley is dark and full of trash cans and empty crates that lean against the walls. Izuku wrinkles his nose.

"Sushi?" He calls out, but the cat still doesn't appear. Letting out a sigh of relief, he's about to turn back and rejoin the group when one of the trash bags suddenly rustles. An empty bottle clatters to the ground.

"Sushi!" Izuku exclaims, walking into the alley, "Where are you? Come on out, boy!"

Silence meets him. The bag rustles again. Izuku frowns.

"Are you stuck, buddy?" He asks, jogging over to it, "Don't worry, I'll-"

As soon as he gets close, a man suddenly lunges out from behind the trash bags and pounces on him. He immediately screams and scrambles backwards, but the man grabs him and uses his weight to force him to the ground. A hand covers his mouth, muffling his yelp of pain as his back hits the gravel beneath him. Panic floods his system and he thrashes around wildly, trying to escape, but the man must have some sort of vine quirk because the moment there's thick black vines wrapping around his body, pinning his arms to his sides and locking his legs together. He wails, but black vines quickly wrap around his mouth, gagging him.

The man lets out a huff of laughter as he keeps him pinned to the ground, sneering down at him as he continues to struggle.

"Don't make this difficult, kid," he growls. Two vines come up to cover Izuku's eyes, blinding him, and the terror within him escalates as his world is plunged into darkness. The man chuckles in his ear, "It'll be better for both of us if you just play nice. I'd feel bad if I hurt a kid."

Tears well up in Izuku's eyes as he hears a second pair of heavy footsteps approach them.

"Hey!" Another voice says, "Did you get 'im?"

"'Course I did!" His attacker replies.

Hands grab at Izuku and he feels himself being pulled to his feet. His legs are still bound together so he can't walk, but that doesn't seem to matter to the man as he drags him down the alley.

"Good," the second voice says, "You sure he's the right one? There were a bunch of kids in that group-"

"Of course I got the right one!" The first voice snaps. Izuku continues to struggle against his grasp, letting out muffled screams, until the man gives his head a hard slap. "Oi, you brat! I told you to behave!" To his partner, he says, "Don't worry, he's the one. I've been watching this kid for the past three weeks, I've seen how his quirk works. Trust me, he'll definitely be worth a pretty penny."

Izuku's heart skips a beat at this. They want to sell him? For his quirk? How could this be happening to him?!

In the back of his mind, he recalls what his mother told him the day his quirk manifested. 'Baby, I'm sorry, but you can't just use your quirk on anyone who asks you to, especially not strangers. There are some bad people out there that might want to take you so they can use your quirk.' 

So this is what she was afraid of. This is why she always has Kacchan following him around. He had never truly understood, he thought that she was just being overprotective or perhaps was worried about people being mean to him like Furuya and Akamine but God this is so much worse than Furuya and Akamine and this time Kacchan's not here to save him!

He wails again and thrashes around, slamming his head into his captor's chest. The man lets out an 'oof' and his grip slackens, just a little bit, but it's enough for Izuku to wiggle free. Desperation fills his chest as he tries to make his escape, but it's a pathetic attempt. He's only able to turn and hop forwards once, his limbs still bound, before his second captor is upon him.

Hands grab at him and pull him backwards, dragging him even further down the alleyway. They're soon joined by another pair of hands, these ones rougher and no doubt leaving bruises.

"Little brat!" He doesn't even know which one is speaking now, all he's aware of is the sudden explosion of pain in his head as one of the men strikes him. "Fucking behave or I'll make this hell for you!"

"Just get him in the bag!" The other voice snaps, "It'll be easier to bring him in then!"

Dazed, Izuku feels himself being pushed forward as something is pulled over his head. Fabric? No, no, he heard the man say 'bag'- they're putting him in a bag!

The fabric jolts and the next thing he knows his feet are being swept off the ground. He falls onto his side, but his body doesn't hit the ground. Instead, the fabric wraps tighter around him as he gets carried in the bag, his captors' legs hitting him occasionally.

"Come on, now," one of the men grunts, "The car's out back."

Izuku feels like he's going to be sick. The helpless feeling is worse, so much worse now. He's so pathetic, he can't even do anything, he can't even fight- why did he ever think he could stand a chance on his own? He was right when he told Kacchan that his quirk was useless! It was stupid of him to ever think otherwise.

He wishes his friend was with him now. He'll no doubt be wondering where Izuku went- oh God his mother's never going to find out what happened to him, he'll never see her or Kacchan or any of his friends again-

"Hissss!" 

"What the fu- AGH!" One of the men suddenly shouts.

Izuku is abruptly dropped to the ground and he grunts, wondering what's going on. He can hear hissing and spitting and one of his captors is yelling, but- no, wait, he's heard that hiss before. He hears it every time Kacchan comes over to his house, but it can't be-

"Uussshi?" He cries, his voice muffled by the black vines.

"What the fuck is wrong with this fucking cat?" The man shrieks, "Get it off, get it off-"

"You know, they say cats are excellent judges of character," an entirely new voice suddenly says. Feet hit the ground with a loud thud and the vines around Izuku disappear. He blinks at the darkness of the bag, confused and terrified.

He doesn't know what's happening, but he thinks the new person is fighting his captors, if the sounds of punching and grunting are anything to go by. Something sharp pokes at his arm and he flinches, feeling a heavy but all too familiar weight settle on top of him. Tears leak out of his eyes.

"S-Sushi-hi?" He hiccups.

A loud meow in his ear is the response he gets and he winces as the cat starts trying to claw the bag open. It's enough to spur him into action and try to get out on his own, but his movements are slow and awkward. His head is still throbbing in pain from when one of the men struck him and he feels extremely nauseous when he pushes himself onto his hands and knees. There's not much space in the bag and the fabric presses against his face as he straightens up, trying to figure out where the opening is. He kicks and pushes everywhere he can, but it must be tied shut because nothing budges.

"Sushi," he cries, trembling with fear, "I'm stuck, I'm stuck, I can't-"

"Hang on, kid," the new voice says and suddenly there's hands pulling at the bag from the outside. "I've almost… Got you!"

Light pierces his eyes and he winces, blinking rapidly. As soon as he's freed from the bag, Sushi climbs onto his lap and nuzzles his face, purring loudly. He lets out a wet chuckle of relief, wrapping his arms around the feline, before he blearily looks up.

A black-haired man with a scarf around his neck is crouched in front of him, staring at him with thinly veiled worry. It's obvious that he's the one who saved him, but Izuku is dazed and shaken from the attack, so when the man reaches towards him he can't help but flinch away.

The man notices and immediately retracts his hand, instead reaching into his pocket to pull out a plastic card.

"I'm an underground hero," the man says, showing him the card, "My name's Eraserhead. It's alright, I won't hurt you, I just want to see where you're injured."

Izuku blinks at him slowly, still clutching his cat to his chest.

An underground hero. A pro hero. He knows… he'd normally be freaking out right now, either asking the hero a million questions or begging him for his autograph. Probably both. But all he can do is let his eyes slide past the man to the far wall, where his two kidnappers are leaning against each other unconscious. They seem to be tied up in some sort of grey cloth. He looks to his right to see a car parked only a few feet away, its trunk wide open. The bag is on the ground next to him.

Then, he looks back at Eraserhead and promptly bursts into tears.

He cries harder than he's ever cried in his life, tears and snot dripping down his face as relief crashes into him. He hugs Sushi tight and just sobs into his fur, his dissipating fear and adrenaline leaving him trembling violently. Eraserhead waits patiently for him to cry himself out, putting a large hand on his shoulder in an awkward attempt at comfort.

Izuku was nearly taken. He was nearly kidnapped. For his quirk. For what he gave out of generosity, people just wanted to take, to steal without any regard for him and oh God it's so much worse than any middle school bullies, those men were watching him, if Eraserhead- if he hadn't been there-

Izuku is suddenly all too aware that the car is still only a few feet away. His stomach flips and he sobs even harder.

Eventually, probably a solid five minutes later, Izuku finally manages to lift his head up from Sushi's now thoroughly soaked fur and croaks brokenly, "Th-Thank you…"

"No problem," Eraserhead says, blinking down at him, "What's your name, kid?"

"Mi-Midoriya Izuku," he replies, slightly slurred.

"Did you hit your head?" When Izuku nods shakily, the hero takes out a small flashlight from his utility belt and shines it into his eyes. "Hm, you have a mild concussion. Are you hurting anywhere else?"

Izuku nods again and Eraserhead proceeds to check him head to toe, speaking softly to him the entire time. Aside from the concussion, he just has a bunch of scrapes and bruises, most of them from the vines, which, Eraserhead explains, disappeared because he used his quirk to erase the first man's quirk.

"Tha-That's cool," Izuku murmurs, giving him a weary smile.

"Thanks," Eraserhead huffs, "I'm gonna call the police to take these guys in. Do you have any idea why they targeted you?"

"Uh- erm, yeah," Izuku replies, sniffling. His voice is small and shaky as he says, "My-My quirk. Um, they wanted me for my quirk. It's a- It's a healing quirk and-and they said they wanted to sell me, I think." He squeezes his eyes shut at the memory and hugs Sushi tighter. When he opens them again, Eraserhead's jaw is clenched.

"Right," he grunts, "Well, sit tight, kid."

Eraserhead keeps a comforting hand on his shoulder as he fishes out his phone and calls the police. As he reports what happened, Izuku fumbles around with his own phone and is relieved to see that it isn't damaged. The light hurts his eyes but he notices the numerous text messages and missed calls that have popped up on his screen. His fingers are trembling too hard to type out a proper message, but he manages to send his location to Kacchan before his phone slips from his hands.

"You shouldn't use your phone when you have a concussion," Eraserhead says. The hero sits down heavily next to him and leans against the wall. He raises an eyebrow at Sushi, who doesn't seem to mind his presence too much. "Is that your cat?"

Izuku nods. "Mm hmm. His name is Sushi."

That seems to amuse the pro hero, who lets out a snort.

"He's not supposed to be out here," Izuku adds, mostly because he doesn't want to sit in silence, "He usually only stays in our neighborhood, but he wouldn't listen to me when I told him to go home."

"Yeah, cats aren't exactly obedient," Eraserhead replies. He glances at the entrance of the alleyway, which Izuku didn't realize was so far away. The villains must've dragged him farther than he thought. He's near the opposite end of the alley that opens up to a barren parking lot, hence the car.

The car that he almost got trapped in. The car that almost took him away from his life forever.

Izuku sniffles again and tightens his grip on Sushi.

"Where are your parents?" The underground hero asks, pulling him out of his thoughts, "Are they nearby?"

"No, no, I was with-"

"ZUKU!"

Eraserhead tenses up as Kacchan appears at the entrance of the alley, panting heavily. His crimson eyes land on the man and he bares his teeth, charging forward.

"Who the hell are you?" He snarls, explosions popping in his palms, "Get away from him!"

"Kacchan, wait!" Izuku cries.

Eraserhead stands up and intercepts the blond before he can reach them. His scarf flares around him and his eyes flash red, causing the explosions to disappear. Kacchan only manages to look down at his hands in surprise before the scarf wraps around him, binding him tightly.

"What the hell?" Kacchan screeches, thrashing around, "Get off me! I'll kill you!"

"Kacchan!" Izuku yells more insistently. The loud noises are killing his head, but he ignores it for now. "Stop! He's a pro hero!"

"You know this kid?" Eraserhead asks, sounding a bit unimpressed. Izuku confirms and he sighs, loosening his grip slightly. "Relax, kid, I'm not gonna hurt your friend here. He was just attacked by a couple of villains and I took them down."

He turns slightly so Kacchan can see the unconscious men still tied together. Kacchan's eyes narrow before he squirms out of his scarf.

"Zuku!" He runs over to Izuku and kneels down in front of him, grabbing his shoulders lightly, "Are you alright? What the hell happened? And what the fuck is Sushi doing here?"

Sushi, who is still curled up against Izuku's chest, hisses and tries to swipe at Kacchan, but the boy dodges.

"I… I…" Izuku stutters, "They…"

The pain in his head is making it hard for him to talk and he kind of just wants to take a nap, but he forces his eyes to stay open. Thankfully, Eraserhead explains for him.

"Those guys were trying to kidnap him and sell him off," he states bluntly. Kacchan's eyes widen and he whips his head to look at him. Eraserhead continues, "Healing quirks are rare and considered valuable, so-"

"I know that!" Kacchan snaps. Eraserhead's eye twitches but Kacchan just turns back to Izuku, hands flexing like he doesn't know what to do with them. "Shit, Zuku, are you…" His eyes roam over him, from his bruised arms and face to his glazed eyes. His jaw clenches. "Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit-" 

"If you could call his parents that would be helpful," Eraserhead interrupts. Kacchan surprisingly does so without much fuss.

Izuku cringes at the police sirens as they get closer. His head feels like it's about to explode and he's even more tired now. He can hear Kacchan on the phone with his mother, who is no doubt freaking out. Eraserhead helps him to his feet and leads him to one of the police cars, ushering Kacchan in as well before turning to help some officers put the two villains into another car.

"He's not coming with us?" Kacchan asks as the officer in front starts driving away.

"Heroes don't usually accompany victims to the police station, kid," the officer replies, "He has to stay behind to give his report and then he'll probably just continue his patrol."

"Right. I knew that," Kacchan grumbles under his breath. He glances at Izuku, who is idly petting Sushi with drooping eyelids as he leans against his shoulder. "Hey, stay awake!"

Izuku whines but obliges. The drive to the police station is fairly quick and soon Izuku is being examined by a nurse, who confirms that he has a mild concussion. Kacchan has to hold Sushi the whole time, which neither of them are happy about. He shifts in his seat impatiently while she cleans and bandages Izuku's scrapes, telling him to take it easy for the next few days to give his brain time to heal. Thankfully, it's summer break, so at least he won't have to take time off of school. Then, a police officer comes in and asks him a bunch of questions, helping him file a report which he writes down on his clipboard. Kacchan stays silent the entire time, only occasionally growling at a particular detail or grumbling when Sushi digs his claws into his lap.

Once the report is complete, the officer hands it off to someone else before waiting with them for their parents to arrive. Ten minutes later, Inko bursts in with Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru at her heels. She's already a blubbering mess, but when she sees Izuku's bruised face she cries even harder.

"Oh, my baby!" She sobs, hugging him tightly, "My baby, my poor baby!"

"Glad to see you're okay, kiddo," Auntie Mitsuki says, then turns to Kacchan with a scowl on her face, "And where the hell were you?!"

"Hey, I thought he was with me the whole time!" Kacchan snaps, "I didn't even realize they'd taken him until-"

"Guys, please," the officer interrupts, raising her hands, "Lower your voices. Midoriya-san has a concussion and yelling isn't going to make him feel better."

Inko whimpers and buries her face into her son's hair. Sushi, who made the mistake of climbing back into Izuku's lap while they were waiting, meows in distress as he's squished between them.

"Sushi?" Inko hiccups, pulling away slightly, "Wh-What're you doing here?"

Izuku smiles tiredly and snuggles him closer. "He tried to fight off the bad guys," he says, a hint of pride in his voice.

Inko looks confused.

Uncle Masaru turns to the police officer and asks, "Please, can you tell us exactly what happened? We only got a vague idea from Katsuki. Did someone really try to kidnap Izuku?"

The officer nods and repeats what was reported by both Izuku and Eraserhead. Inko looks like she's about to faint when she hears that the villains wanted to sell Izuku for his quirk. Auntie Mitsuki growls and Uncle Masaru tenses up, casting a worried look toward the boy. When the officer is done, she informs Inko of Izuku's injuries and tells her that he will need to take it easy for the next few days and get lots of rest. Inko nods hastily and thanks the officer before helping her son into the car. She was still with Auntie Mitsuki when she got the call from Kacchan, so the woman drove her and Uncle Masaru to the station in her car. It's a bit of a squeeze with five people and a cat, but they make it back home with relative ease.

When they get out of the car, Kacchan, who was silent the entire ride, asks Inko if he and Izuku can have a sleepover.

"Oh, of- of course!" Inko says, "I'll put the futon in Izuku's room. Just remember that he needs a lot of rest- and no video games. They're bad for his concussion."

"It's fine," Kacchan replies, "I just want to…" He trails off, eyeing Izuku before glancing away with gritted teeth. Inko smiles understandingly and nods.

"Do you mind if Masaru and I come over for a bit?" Auntie Mitsuki asks, "I can help you cook dinner. And... you look like you could use some company."

"Thank you," Inko sighs.

So they all enter the Midoriya household, Inko helping Izuku to the couch like he's made of glass. Kacchan and Sushi settle in beside him while the adults move to the kitchen. There's not much to do since he's not allowed to watch TV, but he's too tired to do that anyway so he just lets his head drop onto his friend's shoulder. After a moment, Kacchan wraps his arm around Izuku and pulls him closer, resting his chin on top of his curls.

Izuku lets out a soft sigh, closing his eyes and listening to his friend breathe. He can hear the adults in the kitchen and Inko's muffled cries. His mother is obviously trying to keep her voice low as she speaks with Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru in hushed tones, but her sniffling and occasional whimpers are as clear as day.

His heart aches for her- he knows how badly this must've shaken her. But right now, he's too tired to even consider consoling her.

So, with his head on Kacchan's shoulder and his cat curled up against him, Izuku drifts off to sleep.

"If some fucker comes along and decides to snatch Izukun because he wants to force him to use his quirk, what are you gonna do?" 

"I'll beat 'em up, of course! I'll beat up any fucker who tries to take him!" 

Katsuki is Zuku's protector. He knows this. It's been this way for over half their lives now, and not once has he complained about it. The role comes as naturally to him as the explosions in his palms do.

"Those guys were trying to kidnap him and sell him off." 

His arm tightens around Zuku's sleeping form.

But this time- someone else had to save him. Someone else had to be his protector. Someone else had to do Katsuki's damn job for him.

And fuck, if they hadn't, Zuku would be-

Auntie Inko's soft cries from the kitchen reach his ears, interrupting his thoughts. He can hear his mother's voice, gentler than he's ever heard, trying to soothe her as she struggles to muffle her sobs. His chest suddenly feels too tight. He knows that if he looks down he'll see the numerous scrapes and bruises from the villains littering Zuku's skin.

"And where the hell were you?!" 

And where the hell were you?! 

AND WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?! 

Zuku lets out a soft whimper. Katsuki immediately loosens his hold around him, having unconsciously tightened his arm into a vice-grip. Zuku relaxes against him once more, but the burning, self-loathing anger remains.

There's something else to it, though. He's used to anger, there's not a day that passes in which he doesn't get angry at one thing or another. But this is… this is different. This is what he felt back when he saw the bruises those two upperclassmen assholes left on Zuku, or what he felt when he saw that dog going to attack him, except it's worse, because he didn't win. He didn't fight.

He didn't protect him.

This is Katsuki's first taste of failure. And he doesn't like it one bit.

Chapter 4

After that, the danger that Izuku's quirk puts him in becomes more real.

Inko sits him down a few days later and tells him everything Doctor Tsubasa warned her about the day his quirk manifested. She hadn't wanted to fully tell him when he was younger because she didn't want him to worry, or worse, think his quirk was a bad thing. But now it's clear that in order for him to be safe, for him to really take his safety seriously, she needs to tell him everything.

So she begins by explaining how Doctor Tsubasa said his quirk is very strong and will only get stronger as he grows up, which is a wonderful thing, but it means they have to take some precautions. She goes on to say that because healing quirks are so rare, especially powerful ones like Izuku's, that it's not unheard of for healers to be sought after by both heroes and villains. The latter because they can't go to the hospital after a fight, so healers are especially valuable to them. In fact, healers getting captured by villains isn't something that might happen but something that can and has . She hesitates to mention the incident with Endeavor's healer, not wanting to scare her son, but eventually she tells him. He deserves to know everything now.

Izuku listens with a blank look on his face, gazing down at his lap the entire time. He stays silent when Inko finishes and it makes the woman fidget nervously.

Finally, she takes his hands into hers and has him meet her gaze. Her eyes are watery but her gaze is firm.

"Baby," she starts, then clears her throat, "Izuku, I… I don't want to scare you. I never wanted to scare you by telling you this, I just…"

"It's okay, mom," he says, "I understand. I just… it's a little weird, you know? I mean, I'm just… me. It's weird to think that I'm… desirable to people I don't even know- and just for my quirk? It's just- It's just weird." He scratches the back of his head. "And I always thought that Kacchan was a bit paranoid and overprotective, but now… I guess it makes sense. Oof, and I bet he's gonna be a lot worse after this." He lets out a huff of laughter, but there isn't much humor in it.

Inko gives him a sad smile and squeezes his hands. "I know. I know it's probably going to be annoying and tiresome being attached to his hip all the time, but… I need you to take it a bit more seriously. Katsuki-kun is your protector. He knows that, and I need you to know it as well."

Izuku presses his lips together and nods once.

"And- And it won't just be him," Inko adds, "Doctor Tsubasa-san said that a lot of hero agencies upped the security around their healers after the incident with Endeavor's agency. So, just know that Katsuki-kun isn't going to be the only overprotective hero you're going to have to deal with when you get older." She laughs.

Izuku rolls his eyes but smiles a bit.

"I'm excited for you to become a healer," his mother says, "But you haven't joined the world of heroes yet. And until you do, you need to be careful. So…" She takes a deep breath before continuing, "I've talked about it with Mitsuki-kun and Masaru-kun, and I think it would be a good idea to enroll you in self-defense classes."

Izuku perks up. "Really?"

"I know, I know it might be a lot on top of school and I know you like to hang out with your friends, but-"

"No, no, Mom, I'd love to!" Izuku insists, leaning forward. Finally he'll be able to fend for himself if he needs to!

Inko blinks in surprise. "Really?" He nods rapidly and she smiles. "Oh, good! Katsuki-kun would be going with you, of course- it'll be good for him too! Maybe give him an outlet for that explosive energy."

"Yeah!" Izuku agrees eagerly, "When do we start?"

"Oh, next week," Inko says, giving him a firm look, "If even. You're still recovering from your concussion, sweetie."

Izuku sighs heavily and groans, "Mooom, I told you I'm feeling a lot better! My head only hurts a little bit now…"

"And you'll start next week when your head doesn't hurt at all." Inko's voice has a tone of finality and Izuku knows there's no budging on this.

"Fine," he grunts.

So he now has self-defense classes to look forward to while he recovers. This whole week has been kind of awful for Izuku. First he nearly gets kidnapped and now he has to do absolutely nothing for an entire week. He can't even play video games or watch movies! The nurse told Inko that electronics are bad for someone recovering from a concussion so now his screen time is severely limited. It doesn't help that he's been having nightmares just about every night too.

During the first night when Kacchan had come over for a sleepover, Izuku thought perhaps he'd be too tired from his ordeal to have a nightmare. But no, at 2AM he woke up thrashing and screaming, scrambling backwards in his bed to escape his non-existent kidnappers. Kacchan had jumped from his futon and been at his side in an instant, pulling him into a tight hug when he whimpered and cried. He seemed upset too- angry, mostly- and had nudged Izuku aside so he could crawl into bed beside him. Izuku clung to his arm and fell asleep again, only for Kacchan to wake him up from another nightmare at 5AM.

So, needless to say, he's both exhausted and bored out of his mind. And on top of all this, he has to somehow tell Haru that he lost the All Might stuffie he won for him. He didn't realize until the next day that he had lost the gift during his ordeal and instantly felt bad. Haru would probably be forgiving if he knew the truth, but Kacchan had explained their sudden absence by texting the group that Izuku felt sick so he took him home. Izuku is grateful for that; as much as he likes his friends, he knows that news of Izuku's near-kidnapping would spread like a wildfire across school if any of them got wind of it. So now he has to think of what to tell Haru.

Or maybe he can just take a nap and hope that the boy doesn't mention it when they go back to school. Yeah, that sounds better.

At least, during his very long week of rest, he's able to spend some quality time with his hero journals. He adds a couple of pages for Eraserhead, who he hadn't known about until the hero rescued him. He was only able to thoroughly freak out the next day. He had met a pro hero! An underground one! And talked to him! Like, actually talked to him, not just sputtered awkwardly and begged for his autograph. Izuku's almost glad he had a concussion then so at least he was too dazed to embarrass himself.

Still, Eraserhead was so cool! Izuku diligently writes down what little he learned about him from their encounter and spends the short amount of time he's allowed on the computer researching more about him. Not much is known about the underground hero, which isn't very surprising, but Izuku is at least able to find out about his quirk and fighting techniques. The latter part he thinks is very cool- he basically fights quirkless!

He rambles about his findings to Kacchan, who comes to his house everyday that week to keep him company. The blond doesn't seem too interested but listens anyway because, like Izuku, there's not much for him to do. He doesn't want to play video games if Izuku can't play with him and they can't go 'train' in the backyard either because Inko wants him to rest. So they're both bored.

They talk about anything and everything, from what they ate for dinner to their futures at UA. Because of course they're going to UA. Nothing could make them happier than going to All Might's alma mater, even if Izuku will probably have to apply for General Studies. He wonders if he'll meet Recovery Girl if he gets in, and that leads to him pulling out his healer journal. Kacchan is kind enough to use Izuku's phone and computer for him and reads outloud whatever Izuku wants him to research. They spend an entire afternoon updating Izuku's healer journal, the greenette scribbling down information while the blond reads with a disinterested tone. Still, that eventually gets boring.

Izuku is grateful for his friend's presence but feels bad that he's sacrificing a week out of his summer break just to sit around with him and do nothing. Surely there are other fun things he would rather be doing, but when he mentions it Kacchan just nudges him with his foot and tells him to not be stupid.

Sushi, at least, is enjoying his constant presence. Inko gave the cat a very stern talking-to for following Izuku into the city, which was very amusing to watch, but now Sushi is living his best life since Izuku has time to spoil him. He and Kacchan discover that the feline, for some reason, really likes water. Izuku hasn't used the bathtub in years, mostly because he just prefers the efficiency of showering, but since he has nothing else to do he's started taking long soaks in the hot water. And without fail Sushi always somehow gets into the bathroom, even if he closes the door, and proceeds to jump in with him.

Kacchan calls Sushi a freak and the cat merely hisses at him in response.

After what feels like ages, Izuku's week of rest is finally over and he's feeling more restless than ever. He has to practically beg his mom to let him and Kacchan walk a couple of blocks away to get ice cream from a small corner shop. He doesn't blame her for her incessant worrying, but it does get a bit annoying, especially when he notices Kacchan glancing around suspiciously every few seconds as they walk. He hopes this paranoia won't last too long.

Maybe if he gets really good at self-defense they won't worry so much. At least, that's what he's hoping for as he walks into the martial arts gym with Kacchan for their first class. It's exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time, but he relaxes slightly when the teacher greets them with a wide smile and mentions that all the other students are beginners too.

Kimura-sensei is super nice, even though she looks really intimidating. Her skin is made up of hard, purple-tinted scales that are tough like crocodile skin and her eyes are yellow with slitted pupils. Despite this, she has a soft voice and a bubbly personality, but it becomes clear she also doesn't take any bullshit when Kacchan makes a snide comment after she says that the first couple of lessons will be just learning how to properly throw punches and kicks. The blond blinks in surprise when her entire personality changes and she throws a fiery retort at him that makes the rest of the class snicker. He clearly takes her a bit more seriously after that.

The self-defense classes are fun but a lot harder than Izuku thought they would be. Once school starts back up again, Izuku finds himself restraining himself from using his quirk just so that he has enough energy to get through his after school lessons. They're only on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, but Kimura makes it very clear she expects them to keep practicing at home.

So, after a few months of now- real training, Izuku and Kacchan start going on runs together. The lessons are physically demanding for both of them, so they figure that running might help them build muscle and become stronger. Izuku likes it, especially when he discovers that he's a faster runner than Kacchan, which pisses his friend off. Their 'casual jogging' often turns into full-on sprinting as they race each other. It's super fun, even if it does leave their legs shaking with exhaustion afterwards.

Izuku soon starts having to put his hair into a small ponytail when he exercises. When Kacchan questions why he's growing out his hair, Izuku replies that he just feels like it. He doesn't mention that he thought it would be cool to grow his hair out like Eraserhead's- that would no doubt lead to endless teasing. He's not sure how long he's going to grow it or if he's even going to keep it this way, but he'll see how it goes.

As time goes by and the two boys get older, Inko gradually becomes more relaxed. She still worries about Izuku, but at least he doesn't have to text her every ten minutes when he's somewhere that isn't school or home. She listens with a smile on her face when Izuku comes home and tries to show her the moves he learned during self-defense class that day, and he knows that his growing strength is definitely helping to ease her mind.

Kacchan clearly enjoys the classes too. A bit too much, actually. It's not super concerning at first because he's usually too sore and tired to do much outside of class, but once they start learning how to actually fight… things start to take a bit of a downwards spiral.

Izuku first notices it when Kacchan eagerly jumps up to volunteer when Kimura says she needs someone to act as an attacker so she can show them a particular defense move. Kacchan gets knocked to the ground, of course, but Izuku finds it a bit odd how excited he gets whenever they do one-on-one fighting. He's always willing to take the offensive role, and it only starts to become a bit of a problem when Kimura starts actually teaching them how to attack, deeming it important to learn both defensive and offensive skills.

Then one day Izuku walks onto the schoolyard with his lunch in hand just in time to see Kacchan using one of the new offensive moves on a fellow classmate. And that's when things take a turn for the worse.

It's not that Izuku's unused to Kacchan getting into fights- he's healed his friend more times than he can count after he gets into a scuffle. The problem now is that Kacchan is no longer just showing off his quirk or rough housing- he's got real fighting experience and is practicing those moves on random school kids.

It horrifies Izuku and he immediately tries to put an end to it, but Kacchan doesn't seem too pleased with him.

"Come on, Kacchan, you've gotta admit it's kind of unfair," Izuku protests one day as they're walking home, "You know a lot more about fighting than they do and one day you're gonna get someone really hurt."

"So?" Kacchan rolls his eyes. "I've got you around, so why does it matter if they get hurt?"

Taken aback, Izuku scowls. "I'm not going to heal people just so you can beat them up again."

Kacchan just grumbles in response.

After a moment, he snaps, "And who cares if it's unfair? Fights are hardly ever fair, and those kids know what they're getting into when they're challenging me."

Izuku would hardly call it 'challenging'. Kacchan is usually the one to seek out fights.

Sighing, he changes tactics and instead suggests, "Listen, why don't we start sparring after school? It'll be good to burn off any extra energy you have and I'm sure Kimura-sensei will be glad to see that we've gotten some more practice in."

Kacchan doesn't look impressed. "Well, yeah, but…" He turns his head away and grumbles unintelligibly under his breath.

Smiling a bit, Izuku nudges his shoulder and says, "Come oooonn. It'll be fun!"

"Yeah, but I can't-" Kacchan cuts himself off and Izuku tilts his head curiously. The blond lets out a ragged sigh and gestures vaguely with his hand. "I mean, I can't hurt you so what's the point?"

Izuku blinks in surprise. His stomach churns uncomfortably. Something about what he said doesn't sit right with him.

Clearing his throat, he asks warily, "Er… do you… want to hurt people?"

Kacchan glances at him but doesn't respond. Izuku swallows. His friend's violent streak has always been a bit annoying but has generally never really been a cause for concern. But now…

"Well, if you say it like that it sounds bad," Kacchan finally huffs.

"It is bad," Izuku says immediately, then hesitates, "Kacchan… I don't think you should want to hurt people."

The other boy is quiet for a moment, then suddenly snorts and bumps his shoulder. "Oh, relax, Zuku!" He sneers, "You're overreacting. I just like to mess around and rough-house a bit." Izuku must not look very convinced, because he adds, "But fine, yeah, whatever, let's spar if it'll make you feel better."

It does, but only a little bit. They spar in their self-defense class sometimes so doing it after school isn't really anything new. It seems to slightly satisfy Kacchan's violent tendencies, but the boy is still much too harsh to the other kids at school for Izuku's liking.

It starts with Haru.

Kacchan has never really liked Haru, and Izuku has never really understood why. Haru is kind and friendly and can always make Izuku laugh until his cheeks hurt, but for some reason when they turn twelve Kacchan decides to start... picking on him. It's just little things at first, rude comments about his quirk or making fun of something he did. Izuku does his best to ease the tension with a light smile and a changing of subjects, but soon it's not enough. As they get older, the occasional teasing becomes constant, turning meaner and crueler everyday. Even when Haru eventually stops hanging out with them, Kacchan still seeks him out to pester him. And where Kacchan leads, Tsubasa and Inaba follow.

It's really sad to watch, actually. To see Haru's former friends turn against him and relentlessly torment him. Izuku tries to soothe him in between class periods or right after lunch, but when Kacchan finds out he gets pissed and does everything he can to stop Izuku from speaking with Haru.

The situation leaves a very bad taste in Izuku's mouth. He just feels so sorry for Haru; he hates seeing the familiar helpless look in his eyes when Kacchan starts hounding him. It frustrates him- and it angers him too. But no matter what he says, no matter how much he protests this harsh treatment, Kacchan doesn't let up. In fact, he starts harassing other students too, but Haru is his favorite victim.

It all comes to a head during the first month of their third year of junior high.

Kacchan and Izuku are both fourteen years old, the former almost fifteen, and puberty is hitting hard. Hormones are high and Kacchan's violent streak is returning with a vengeance.

Over the years, both he and his quirk have grown dramatically. Self-defense classes on top of regular exercise has led to Kacchan developing a good few pounds of muscle. Izuku hasn't bulked up as much as his friend has, but he's lean and defined and, most importantly, he's still faster than him, so there's that. Aside from Kacchan's increase in muscle and height, he hasn't changed much appearance-wise. Neither has Izuku, although his hair is a lot longer now, falling a few inches below his shoulders. In contrast, his quirk hasn't grown much, although Kacchan's definitely has.

The boy's explosions are so powerful they can be heard from the other side of school. But what's worse is that he's become unafraid to use them against other people.

Izuku tries to convince himself that it's just hormones, that hormones are the reason why Kacchan's become more aggressive and pushy with him lately, why he goes as far as to physically drag him away from people he doesn't want him to talk to. That hormones are why he continues to start fights with other kids, even when no one is crazy enough to want to get into a fight with him anymore so he just ends up pouncing on innocent victims. That hormones are why he teases and sneers at his own friends.

But there's no way hormones can explain why Kacchan treats Haru the way he does. It drives Izuku crazy, especially since Haru has never done anything to wrong him. In fact, he actively avoids Kacchan because he knows what'll happen if the blond catches him.

So when Kacchan starts attacking Haru after school one day during the second week of their third year, Izuku tries once again to stop him.

"Kacchan!" Izuku cries out, running towards the two boys rolling around in the dirt, "Kacchan, stop it! Please!"

He almost reaches them when he's suddenly stopped by a large red wing.

"Hey, Midoriya-kun," Tsubasa says, grinning at him. Behind him, Izuku can see Haru desperately snapping at Kacchan with his face turned into a dog's snout. "Oh, don't worry about Bakugou-kun," Tsubasa continues, "He's just teaching Haru a lesson."

"He's hurting him!" Izuku protests, flinching when he hears an explosion followed by a yelp of pain. "Stop it! Kacchan, stop it!"

He tries to run towards them again, but Tsubasa's wing stops him once more, this time blocking his view too. The larger boy steps closer.

"Come on now, Midoriya-kun," Tsubasa says. He starts slowly flapping his wings towards Izuku, forcing him to step backwards or get hit.

"Hey- Tsubasa-kun!" Frustrated, Izuku tries to step around, but Tsubasa's wings have grown with him and are much larger than they used to be. Izuku grunts as a wing hits his chest, gentle enough to not hurt him but hard enough to push him back.

"Relax, Midoriya-kun, this is just hero stuff," Tsubasa says dismissively, using his wings to herd the smaller boy away, "Don't concern yourself with this. Bakugou-kun will walk you home soon enough."

To Izuku's disbelief, the boy is smiling at him like nothing is wrong, like he doesn't even realize that what Kacchan is doing is horrible. He can still hear the angry yells and explosions from his childhood friend behind Tsubasa, as well as Haru's grunts and yelps of pain. It makes Izuku's eyes sting with frustrated tears and a hard ball form in his throat. A feeling of helplessness rises within him, but it only angers him even more, spurring him into action.

With a hard shove, he pushes past Tsubasa's wing with his shoulder and dashes over to the two boys. Kacchan has Haru pinned to the ground and raises his fist once more, sparks dancing across his skin.

"Kacchan, no!"

Izuku lunges forward and wraps his arms around Kacchan's chest, stumbling backwards as he drags him off of Haru. Kacchan sputters and thrashes wildly, but it buys Haru enough time to scramble out from underneath the blond and stagger to his feet. Izuku watches as Haru, burned and bruised with a bleeding nose, casts him a grateful look and runs away before Kacchan manages to break out of his hold.

"Zuku, what the fuck?!" Kacchan shrieks, twisting away from him and whirling around, "What's your fucking problem?!"

"You!" Izuku shouts, clenching his fists as he glares angrily, "Kacchan, you could've killed him!"

Kacchan rolls his eyes and scoffs, "Oh, don't be so dramatic, Zuku! I was just roughing him up a bit."

"No, you weren't! You were hurting him!" Izuku protests, "What did he ever do to you anyway?!"

"He was pissing me off," Kacchan states, as if that explains everything, "What the hell are you even doing here? I thought I've told you a million times to stay out of the way when I fight."

"Er, yeah, sorry," Tsubasa says, scratching the back of his head as he walks over to them, "He got past me."

Kacchan arches an eyebrow and snorts, "How pathetic are you to let a guy with a healing quirk get past you?"

Izuku frowns, his heart still thudding with adrenaline. "What's that supposed to mean?" He snaps.

"It means-" Kacchan swings his head back to fix him with a hard look, poking him in the chest with a finger. "That you've got no business getting involved with fights! You're gonna be a healer, not a hero- so quit acting like you're anything more than a guy with a healing quirk!"

Izuku's eyes widen and he stumbles back a step, as if struck by a physical blow. A flash of… something passes over Kacchan's face before it regains its usual cocky expression. Izuku swallows and grits his teeth, glaring hard.

"Well, anyway, we gonna head to the arcade or what?" Tsubasa asks, "Inaba-kun should be here soon."

"Yeah," Kacchan huffs, still eyeing Izuku, "Sure, whatever." He pauses before clearing his throat impatiently, turning his face to show his bruised cheek where Haru must've landed a hit on him. He doesn't say anything, but the expectation is clear.

Izuku almost laughs out loud. Kacchan seriously expects him to heal his injuries after saying something like that to him? Bullshit! Izuku usually tries not to curse much but right now he wants to scream obscenities at his childhood friend.

But instead he just takes another step back. "I, er, need to get something first," he says, voice hollow, "I forgot something in the locker room."

"I'll come with you-" Kacchan starts to say.

"No, no," Izuku interrupts, already turning away, "I'll be right back."

Without waiting for a response, he turns and dashes over to where he saw Haru disappear. He spots the boy sitting against the wall next to the water fountain, hissing as he dabs at his burns with a wet tissue.

"Haru-kun," Izuku whispers. Haru flinches but relaxes slightly when he realizes it's him. He gives the greenette a weary smile that Izuku cannot return. He slowly walks over to where the boy is sitting, gasping softly when he sees the extent of the wounds littering his body. Burns, scrapes, bruises-

God, Kacchan brutalized him.

"I… I'm sorry," he croaks, falling to his knees in front of Haru, "I'm so sorry, I should've stopped him sooner, I- I don't even- I don't understand why he treats you this way, I-"

"Izukun, Izukun, it's okay," Haru says and Izuku lets out a single wet laugh at the old nickname. "This isn't your fault," Haru continues, "I… I guess Bakugou-kun found out I was thinking of applying to UA."

"You are?" Izuku blinks in surprise.

"I was," Haru corrects, then winces, "Now I'm thinking maybe it's best if I don't. I only mentioned it to a couple of people, but Bakugou-kun must've found out anyway and, well…" He gestures to himself. "He's pretty adamant about you and him being the only ones from this school to get into UA."

Izuku grits his teeth. "I… I didn't know you wanted to be a hero," he admits.

"Oh, no." Haru shakes his head. "I was going for General Studies."

Izuku can't believe his ears. If Kacchan beat up Haru because he wanted to get into the hero course- well, it wouldn't have made it okay, but at least it would have made sense . Kacchan's always been the competitive type. But to beat up Haru just because he wants to get into the same school as him?

God, what the hell has Kacchan turned into? Izuku's never been so pissed off before in his life.

Taking a deep breath through his nose in an attempt to calm himself, Izuku reaches forward and places a hand on one of the burns on Haru's arm. His quirk activates automatically in response to direct contact with the wound and Haru sighs. Izuku focuses on the energy flowing out of him, healing burn after burn until-

"Hey!"

Izuku lets out a choked yelp as he's suddenly yanked backwards by the scruff of his shirt. Kacchan brushes past him and looms over Haru, who is quickly scrambling to his feet.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Kacchan snarls, eyes narrowing when he notices Haru's lack of injuries, "Think you can fucking use my healer's quirk without my permission?! I'll kick your ass even harder this time!"

"Kacchan, no!" Izuku shouts, jumping in front of him and pressing a hand to his chest to stop him. "Leave him alone!"

"Get the fuck out of my way, dumbass!" Kacchan snaps, trying to shoulder him aside but Izuku won't let him.

"No!"

"I need to teach this fucker another lesson! He needs to learn his fucking place!" Then, Kacchan glares daggers at Izuku and adds venomously, "And maybe you do too!"

SLAP!

Kacchan stumbles back a couple of steps, lifting a hand to his stinging cheek in shock. His eyes are wide as he stares at Izuku, stunned.

Behind him, Izuku can hear Haru's fading footsteps as he takes the chance to run away. He's breathing heavily and glaring at Kacchan, but he's also shaken. He's never struck Kacchan before in his life and the fact that he did so shocked both of them.

However, Kacchan quickly recovers and peels his lips back in a snarl. He lunges forward, grabs Izuku, and slams his back against the wall. Izuku yelps at the impact but Kacchan is in his face before he can do anything.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? " He hisses, his red eyes burning with fury.

Normally Izuku would shrink back and try to ease his friend's anger, but now he's too pissed to even consider it. He gets right back in Kacchan's face and spits, "You are a bully, Kacchan!"

He tries to squirm free but Kacchan has a firm grasp on his biceps. Chest heaving with every ragged breath, Izuku shouts, "You are mean, Kacchan! You are so mean and cruel and I don't understand why! You treat everyone around you so horribly! What is wrong with you?!"

"What's wrong with me?!" Kacchan barks, "What's wrong with you?! How many times have I told you not to talk to that fucker? But instead of listening to me, you go behind my back and choose to heal him over me?"

"It's my quirk, Kacchan, and I'll use it however I damn well please!" Izuku growls back at him.

"No you fucking won't!" Kacchan shouts, shaking him, "Not if I fucking tell you not to!"

Fed up, Izuku tries again to break free of his hold, but Kacchan merely readjusts his grip and shoves him back against the wall. They struggle against each other for a few moments before Izuku hisses, "God, you are so controlling, Kacchan! You can't just push me around however you like and expect me to be okay with it! You can't expect me to stand back and watch you hurt people that don't deserve it! How can you expect to be a good hero if you can't even be a decent human being? If you keep this shit up, then you can forget about me ever becoming your healer! I will never stay by your side if all you do is hurt people!"

Kacchan freezes at this, his red eyes wide and glaring. His whole body is trembling with rage and his grip on Izuku's arms is punishing. Izuku struggles to swallow past the hard lump in his throat as he glares at the blond with watery eyes. Kacchan is quiet for a few long moments. Then, still holding Izuku's gaze, he leans closer and hisses in a low voice, "I'm not going to let you mess everything up, you little shit. I'm going to become the best damn hero this world has ever seen, and you're going to become the best damn healer." His voice quivers with fury as his hands flex their grip. "And you are going to be mine." 

Izuku stares at him, feeling like he's about to throw up. Without a word, Kacchan suddenly grabs Izuku's hand and lifts it to his face. The greenette only realizes what he's doing when he feels his quirk activate in response to the bruise on his cheek.

Disgusted, Izuku tries to pull his hand away. "Stop it!"

Kacchan just tightens his grip and glares at him.

"Let me go, Kacchan!" Izuku spits, pulling harder, "Let me go you- you ass, let me go!"

"Hey, guys, are we going or-"

The two freeze as Inaba stares at them. His eyes lock on Kacchan's hands grabbing Izuku and for a moment the latter feels a spark of hope in his chest. But no, Inaba won't stand up to Kacchan, not even for him.

"Er… Is everything alright?"

Before Kacchan can respond, Izuku headbutts him in the nose. As soon as his grip slackens, Izuku shoulders past him and dashes away.

"Zuku!" He hears Kacchan call out, "Oi, where the fuck do you think you're going?! Zuku!"

"Leave me alone!" He shrieks, not sparing a glance behind him.

Footsteps pound against gravel as Kacchan gives chase, but luckily Izuku has always been faster than the blond. He dashes past the school gates and rounds the corner sharply, spewing apologies as he nearly rams into multiple passerbys. He runs harder than he's ever run before, tears flying in the wind as desperation claws at his chest.

God, he feels like he can't breathe! He feels stuck, so utterly trapped, he feels- he feels- he feels-

-like he's about to pass out.

Izuku stumbles to a stop and presses his hand against a building, chest heaving as he gasps for air. Kacchan stopped chasing him a few blocks back, but even so, his eyes dart around anxiously. People give him curious looks as they walk by him. After a few minutes, he finally catches his breath and straightens up.

A quick glance around reveals that he doesn't really know where he is, but he finds himself not caring much. All he can think about is Kacchan.

"That ass," Izuku hisses, his voice breaking. The sidewalk is blurry beneath him. Wiping away tears, he starts walking down the street and muttering under his breath.

How could Kacchan say something like that? The look in his eyes terrified him- genuinely terrified him. He felt like a mouse caught in a cat's claws. He'd always known that Kacchan was overprotective of him, especially around people like Haru. He'd just always thought it was because Haru could make him laugh and it made Kacchan jealous, since he'd always had Izuku's attention since they were kids. But no, now Kacchan is being downright possessive. Like anyone who could take Izuku's attention away from him is some sort of challenger or threat to him.

Izuku sniffles and wipes his nose, recalling Kacchan's words on the day his quirk manifested. It was after Auntie Mitsuki had teased her son that he'd better keep Izuku close or another hero would snatch him up because healers are in such high demand.

"What the hell? No way! If you're gonna be anyone's healer, you're gonna be mine!" 

Then when they were discussing Izuku's safety later…

"I'll beat up any fucker who tries to take him!" 

Then at school…

"And guess what? When I'm a hero, Zuku's gonna be my healer!" 

"Mine, mine, mine," Izuku grumbles under his breath. He'd never realized how much the word bothered him until now. "I'm not yours, you jerk." He scowls. "I'm my own freaking person, you can't just hog me to yourself…"

It's like all this time he's always done what Kacchan wanted. Like he's just a piece in Kacchan's master plan for his life and he's just expected to go along with it. Like it doesn't even matter what he wants. Maybe he doesn't want to join his hero agency when he gets older? Maybe he wants to be like Recovery Girl and go around the world helping where he's needed? Or maybe he just wants to have the freedom to figure it out because God forbid he doesn't know exactly how his life is going to pan out at fourteen years old. He just wants to… do things and make decisions without Kacchan hanging over his shoulder.

And fuck he forced him to use his quirk! It was like Furuya and Akamine all over again!

He startles out of his thoughts when he bumps into someone.

"Oh! Sorry, sir!" He apologizes, jumping back.

Thankfully, the man waves him off. "Don't worry about it, kid," he says, "You seeing this?" He jerks his chin forward and Izuku follows his gaze.

There's a few TVs in a shop window all simultaneously playing the news, which is broadcasting a villain fight. It looks like some sort of sludge monster is rampaging in the Tatooine Shopping District only a few blocks away. Izuku perks up when he sees the hero Death Arms arrive on scene and quickly takes one of his hero journals to write notes in, pushing his anger out of his mind for the moment.

The man beside him gives him an amused glance and asks, "Are you a fanboy?"

"Oh!" Izuku startles, then shrinks in on himself sheepishly. "Um, I guess so, I just really like analyzing quirks and stuff…" He trails off awkwardly, not quite knowing the proper response. Normally Kacchan would have saved him from answering by either doing it for him or snapping at the stranger to mind his own business.

Thankfully, the man just smiles. "No need to be ashamed!" He says, "There are plenty of worse hobbies to have- oh, wouldja look at that."

Izuku looks back at the screen in time to see the villain swatting Death Arms away before attacking his sidekicks. It seems that the sludge villain has taken a woman with a fire quirk hostage and is somehow utilizing her quirk to wreak havoc. Other heroes show up, but it's clear their own powers aren't suited to deal with this situation.

Izuku feels bad, both for the woman and the heroes. He knows how awful it is to feel like you're powerless in a certain situation.

The struggle goes on for a lot longer than he would have thought it would. The heroes dodge attacks but make no attempt to go on the offense. The woman is unconscious now, hanging limply in the villain's grasp as it continues to use her quirk. It's a rather ugly situation to watch, and the man next to Izuku expresses his disappointment in the heroes.

Izuku wants to say something in their defense, but before he can a flash of white darts in to attack. A moment later he realizes that it's All Might, seemingly in his civilian clothes. The sludge villain grabs onto the number one hero with its sticky tendrils, but, unlike Death Arms, he's able to pull himself free. Then, he grabs the woman with one hand and with the other he blasts the villain away with a Detroit Smash.

Izuku's jaw drops in awe and people around him stop too, looking up at the sky where a large wind tornado spirals upward. A few moments later it dissipates, followed by dark clouds rolling in and drizzling rain.

"Wow!" The man beside him barks, "He changed the weather with just one punch! That's All Might for you!"

Izuku giggles and looks back at the screen where All Might is standing amongst the wreckage of the attack. He raises his fist as the crowd goes wild, then gently scoops up the unconscious woman and brings her to paramedics waiting nearby. While they check her over, he talks to reporters and the other heroes gather up the scattered pieces of sludge.

Satisfied, Izuku is about to turn and keep walking when a sharp gasp from a reporter catches his attention. The camera focuses on a paramedic who solemnly declares that the woman is dead, apparently having suffocated while in the sludge villain's grasp. Shocked gasps ripple through the crowd as the camera then focuses on All Might, who looks devastated.

The next few minutes are filled with him apologizing repeatedly and expressing his regret, but for some reason he seems a bit restless. Izuku's not the only one that notices, and when All Might abruptly apologizes and says that he must leave, one reporter criticizes him harshly, saying, "You came too late and now you're just going to leave?!". 

Izuku winces. He's sure All Might has his reasons, and he does apologize repeatedly before quickly taking his leave, but his departial doesn't look good to the press.

"Hmph," the man beside him tsks, shaking his head, "Not a good day for the heroes."

Izuku swallows and then sighs. Even if it didn't end so well, it was still cool to see All Might.

Unfortunately, thanks to the number one hero it's now drizzling and he doesn't have an umbrella.

"I guess I should go home then," he murmurs to himself, then winces. He hopes he doesn't run into Kacchan. He'd like to avoid that confrontation for as long as possible…

He checks his phone, which is still set on silent since he was in school, and wrinkles his nose at the numerous text messages and missed calls from Kacchan. The last one was sent five minutes ago. Thankfully, it seems he hasn't said anything to Inko, or otherwise Izuku would have over a hundred missed messages.

Ignoring the blond's texts, Izuku pockets his phone and starts walking again. He figures he can find his way home if he can just find a familiar landmark. Of course he could also probably just search up a map, but it's kind of exciting being out on his own. A bit nerve-racking since he's lost his protection, but exciting nonetheless. It's like he's exploring, and the best part is that he decides what turns to take instead of just following Kacchan around.

It doesn't take very long for him to find a familiar street. It's fairly empty at this time of day so he relaxes slightly, enjoying the setting sun beaming on him as he walks down the street. The drizzle has faded away by now, leaving everything slightly damp. Izuku is in the midst of pulling his hair up into a ponytail when the sound of harsh coughing startles him.

Pausing, he glances around before following the source of the noise. It leads him towards an alleyway, which makes him a bit nervous- he's always avoided alleys since that day- but they're in a relatively nice neighborhood so he cautiously continues walking until he can peek his head around the corner.

A tall skeleton of a man is leaning heavily against the wall. His eyes are closed and he seems to gasp for breath. Izuku frowns. He doesn't like the sound of that. Every inhale and exhale is slightly gurgly, like there's something wet in his lungs that he can't get out. And he looks awfully skinny, especially in those clothes that are obviously much too large for him.

There's also something… weirdly familiar about him, so Izuku doesn't feel particularly unsafe as he slowly steps into the alley.

"Er, excuse me, sir?"

The skeletal man startles, his eyes flying open. Izuku startles too and raises his hands placating.

"I-I'm sorry," he apologizes, "I didn't mean to surprise you, it's just… are you alright?"

The man swallows thickly and nods. "Mm hmm."

Izuku frowns and steps a bit closer. "Are you sure?" He asks, keeping his voice light and friendly, "You don't look so good. Do you need help, or is there someone I can call for you?"

"No, no," the man finally speaks, his voice sounding raspy, "I'm fine, really, it's just an old-"

Just then, Izuku notices the blood in his hand and his eyes widen.

"Oh my gosh!" He gasps, rushing over to his side, "You- You're hurt!"

The man looks down at his hand, as if he just noticed the blood. "Oh, no, no, this is nothing, really!" He gives what Izuku assumes is a grim attempt at a smile. "I just-"

Then the man suddenly chokes and blood spews out of his mouth- and right onto Izuku's face. Izuku recoils in disgust and takes a couple of steps back, but the stranger immediately starts fretting over him.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry!" He sputters apologies, blood still dribbling down his chin, "Here, here, I can help, let me just-"

Izuku tenses when the man places his large hands on his shoulders to steady him and immediately reaches up to grab them. But as soon as his fingers make contact with the skin on the man's wrists, his quirk activates, letting him feel the energy flowing through the man. He goes still.

"Holy shit…" He can't help but whisper, his eyes wide as he stares at the man's chest.

Usually, when a person is injured their energy will swirl around the points of their injuries as the body attempts to heal naturally. But this man… Not only does he have a huge mass of swirling energy on his left flank, there are some areas where the energy is just missing. Where his left lung and stomach should be… there's no energy at all. It's as if the organs aren't there.

It's a horrible wound to feel and it causes tears to prick at Izuku's eyes. Finally managing to tear his gaze away from the man's chest, he stares up into his eyes and whispers breathlessly, "You… you're really hurt, aren't you?"

The man pauses in his fretting and looks down at him, a confused expression on his face.

"I… What are you talking about?" He asks. He gently tries to pull his hands away but Izuku doesn't let him, tightening his grip on the man's wrists. "Young man, what are you doing? I feel… odd…"

Izuku's quirk activated as soon as he touched the man's skin, immediately reacting to his wounds. But Izuku has never healed an injury this severe before- he can't control his energy as it flows out of him rapidly, trying to reach the wounds as fast as possible, trying to fill what's missing. He feels like his energy is being drained out of him and he wobbles on his feet, the man's hands pressing down on his shoulders to steady him.

"Kid? Kid, are you alright?"

Izuku can't respond. The man keeps talking, keeps asking- something- but it all washes over his ears like a wave. He can barely think. All he knows is that he can't stop the energy from leaving him and it's terrifying. He's never tried to stop the flow before, but it's also never taken this long to heal someone before. Usually the minor injuries he heals vanish almost instantly, but his energy has rapidly flowing out of him for nearly a minute now.

Black dots dance across his vision and his knees buckle.

"Kid!" The stranger cries, struggling to hold him upright. He ends up pressed against his side, the side with that horrible wound and his quirk sings, reaching out for the wound that he can practically feel through the man's shirt and-

The last thing Izuku sees are worried blue eyes peering down at him before his world turns black.

"Kid! Damn it, kid, what the hell?!" Toshinori leans over the boy as he gently lays him onto the ground. The boy remains unconscious, leaving Toshinori to wonder what the hell is going on.

"Shit!" He curses to himself, ready to pull out his phone and call an ambulance. For some reason, though, he pauses.

Ever since the boy grabbed his wrists, he's been feeling… strange. He immediately figured it was the boy's quirk and made to move away, but the boy didn't want to let him go and… well, whatever he was doing, it didn't feel bad. Gran Torino would probably scold him and say something about quirks being deceiving, but the kid didn't seem like the type to have malicious intentions. If anything, it looked like he activated his quirk by accident.

Either way, Toshinori let the curious warm feeling flow into him and now he feels… energized. Which is strange because only a minute ago he felt like he was about to cough up his only lung. And not only does he feel energized, but he feels like he could stay in his muscled form for another three hours if he wanted to.

Toshinori looks down at the boy, wondering what exactly his quirk is. Well, whatever it is, it clearly affected the boy rather negatively. So, he puffs up into his muscled form, surprised that it doesn't hurt as much as he thought it would, and scoops the kid into his arms, backpack and all. Then he takes off into the sky, aiming for the nearest hospital.

He makes sure to clean his blood off of the kid's face before he lands. When the paramedics ask what happened, he makes up a quick lie and says that he just found the boy alone and unconscious in an alley. They believe him without question, of course, and he leaves after that.

Normally he would probably go back to his apartment at this time of day, but since he's feeling so great he decides that it wouldn't hurt to stay out longer. There's something that he wanted to do tomorrow, but now…

He finds the family of the woman who was killed by the sludge villain a mere couple hours before and personally apologizes to them, bowing low to the ground. He doesn't quite know how well they take it- the woman's death is so fresh and there's a good chance they blame him for it, because he sure does- but in the end they thank him, especially when he insists on paying for her funeral. After getting their information and sending it over to his agency, he gives his condolences once more before leaving.

It's a pity he wasn't able to reach the woman in time to save her. He'd felt like such an idiot when he realized that the bottle he'd trapped the sludge villain in earlier had fallen out of his pocket while jumping through the sky, then he'd ended up wasting even more of his precious time searching for the villain again. Thankfully, he'd had just enough energy to defeat the bastard again when he saw the ruckus downtown, but by then it had been too late. Staying to talk to the press had been awful, he'd just been barely holding his hero form, and then leaving right after the woman's death was announced? That looked bad, really bad, even for the number one hero, and he knows his agency will probably have to deal with some bad press in the coming days.

But for now, he pours himself into his work for the next couple of hours, taking down villain after villain until he decides to retire for the night. He still has some energy left, but he doesn't want to risk ending up in a situation like he'd been in earlier when he'd gotten too tired to hold his hero form and deflated in an alleyway, so he heads back to his apartment.

He's just about to get into the shower when it happens.

A low rumbling noise erupts from his abdomen.

He startles so badly he nearly slips and clutches the edge of the shower to steady himself. Eyes wide, he looks down at his torso in surprise.

Is it just him, or is his scar just slightly smaller than it used to be?

Jaw slackening, he raises his head and gazes at himself in the mirror above his sink. No, no he's spent hours staring at this scar in disgust before and it's definitely looking less horrible than it usually does, if only slightly.

The low rumbling sound returns and with it a stab of pain. Toshinori chokes. The feeling is so alien and yet so familiar- but he hasn't felt it in five years! There's no way he could possibly-? No, no, there's no way, what happened, what-

The boy.

As soon as his eyes widen in realization, his stomach growls again.

His stomach.

The one that he lost to All For One five years ago, the one that most certainly wasn't there this morning-

Completely forgetting about the shower, Toshinori scrambles for his phone and dials a number.

"Come on, come on… Chiyo-san! We need to talk."