41.2

Good afternoon, Midoriya family. I understand it is your weekend, but I would like to request an audience immediately for tomorrow, around nine in the morning, in my office on campus. There are matters I wish to discuss regarding our summer camp and the program we have scheduled for our first-year hero courses, when classes resume in nine days. Please alert me as soon as possible if you need to reschedule for another day, but I would like us to converse before the summer break concludes. Please continue to have a pleasant day regardless. Thank you.

His brow furrowed. What did the principal want to speak to them about the summer camp specifically? Was this another class president thing?

The state of his face must have been what elicited his tailed friend to ask, "What's up?"

"Just a message from the principal," he explained. "Just wants to meet tomorrow for—"

"Deku?"

Izuku's voice faded into the wind, as his mouth slowly closed. He rolled his jaw, met the other boy's gaze of confusion with his own recognition, and turned slowly to face the one who addressed him. Standing but a few feet away from him was a boy with stone for hair; Teashishi Chairatoma, a classmate from his last year at Aldera, he remembered. The other teenage boy stared at him with surprise in his stance, and Izuku could not tell why; he didn't care, either.

"Teashishi," he spoke the other boy's name flatly.

An airy laugh broke from the other boy's lips, an unsteady smile forming on his face. "I didn't think I'd see you again."

"Nope," Izuku agreed. He didn't bother smiling back, and he watched the one Teashishi wore slowly break away with nervousness.

"You know him, Izuku?" Ojiro asked, walking up and standing beside the quirkless teen; the blond boy only stopped beside him because the green-haired boy barely raised his hand in his way.

"Not really." His answer didn't settle well with the stone-haired boy, if the jitters of his shoulders indicated anything. "He was just a classmate. We went to Aldera together. With Bakugou."

Teashishi tried to laugh again, though not a shred of believability came through it. "Yeah, we were classmates. You guys left us behind for Yuei; not like any of us had a chance. You go there too, right?" he asked Ojiro, and received no answer. "I watched the Sports Festival, you know, like everyone else. I, uh, never thought I'd see either of you guys again in person. Small world, huh?"

"Not really," Izuku repeated. He hadn't thought about any of his old classmates specifically for a while, nor did he want to if he was being honest. Most of them just tagged along in Bakugou's shadow if he knew them better than others, but he never thought they'd stalk him outside of school still; it wasn't how he wanted his day to go. "I can't imagine you want to say hello. What do you want?"

The stone-haired boy bristled, but he kept his distance as it was. "You're pretty different, Deku. Did that villain—"

"That's not his name," Uraraka spoke up, and Izuku did the same to hold her back as he did his tailed friend. Staring down three people, the stone-haired boy looked to struggle with his composure.

"Right," Teashishi responded absentmindedly. "Sorry." He tried to sound bashful, and somehow he sounded apologetic. Izuku remembered him hesitant before — less forward than the other boys that trailed behind Bakugou — but he hadn't expected that to be the first tone he believed. The stone-haired teen focused his eyes on the quirkless teen, throat bobbing with hesitation. "Have you seen Suchī around lately?"

Suchīrubōn Okihana; the name came back to Izuku easily. The boy who could coat his bones in iron was the only other person that the green-haired teen hanging around Teashishi at Aldera, or maybe it was the other way around. With his face in the quirkless teen's mind, and his absence in the moment, the latter was winning that argument.

"Why would I?" Izuku questioned him back. "We don't go to school together, and we don't live in the same district. We're not exactly friends."

"Right," the stone-haired boy repeated himself, eyes darting away sheepishly; if Izuku had to guess from the way his lips moved, he was choosing his next words carefully in front of people who seemed to be on Izuku's side for once in their crossing paths. "It's just…he's been missing from classes for two months now. He's not shown up at school, and his parents don't know where he is either. I thought maybe you would have heard it on the news. Are you sure you and your friend haven't…talked to him lately?"

"We haven't," the green-haired teen reaffirmed — and he hadn't heard the news, either. Maybe it was drowned out by all the news he looked up involving himself, or his adverseness to news on the better days. "I haven't seen anyone else from Aldera since graduation. And I'm sorry, but I can't help the police in finding him; I'm just a student. I don't have a license or anything yet."

Teashishi opened his mouth like he wanted to say more, but whatever it was died with the rest of his spirit, his shoulders sulking as his head fell. "Right," he noted, tone dejected. "What would you care? Sorry for bothering you." Without another word or to wait for theirs, the stone-haired teen turned around and walked off, leaving Izuku with the back of his head to stare at.

Ojiro's tail bumped his back light. "The hell was that?" he asked the quirkless teen.

"An old classmate," Izuku reiterated. "Someone I haven't seen in months. So was the other guy — Suchīrubōn. I didn't know he was missing."

"He called you the same thing Bakugou did," Uraraka pointed out sourly.

"Yeah, so did everyone," he brushed it off. Through the heads of the sea of people, he could still pinpoint the stone guiding itself further and further away. "He's not special."

The hand pulling on his shoulder finally drew away his gaze, finding his blond friend to hold concern on his face. "Izuku, are you alright? You sounded like you wanted to punch the guy."

Did he? "Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, patting his friend on the hand that held him. The tailed teen didn't look convinced, so he divulged, "He used to be a prick back at Aldera, from time to time. Pretty sure you two scared him off, if not being out in public." He threw an arm over Ojiro's shoulder to hold him by his side, and reached for Uraraka to do the same. "We can move on, it's fine. There's a store I have in mind to get Kaminari something."

His friends tried to protest, but he assured them, same as ever; Teashishi was just someone of his past. It was another sour history he only wanted to bury.

The Next Morning

Toshinori's hero form came with its fair share of downsides to balance out how nearly perfect it was — before the hole in his stomach, of course. For example, being taller than the average citizen still was, as large mutant forms were an outlier in society, meant cars were his common enemy. Normally, his real face was his solution to modern transportation, and with company like Cathleen in the car who knew both he should have been safe to ride comfortably in the passenger seat. But his goddaughter sat in the backseat with them, so the façade of his smile had to remain upright for her sake; he could suffer a compact ride for less than an hour for her.

Fitting behind the wheel just fine, the American hero gave him a cheeky smirk, when the blond man readjusted himself in the reclined seat. "You know, you could have just met us at the airport."

"Nonsense!" he waved her off with a smile; maybe it would have been more convincing if she hadn't had the need to look through the mirror to see it. "I wanted to spend at least some time with my two favorite girls while they're still here! Your flight leaves almost as soon as you arrive; just a handshake and some words isn't enough for me. That's no proper way to say goodbye."

Hiding in the backseat behind the driver, Melissa leaned in and rested her hand on the man's arm. "Come on, Uncle Might. You know I wouldn't say goodbye with a handshake. I'm sorry we didn't rent a bigger car when we got here."

Toshinori patted her on the head gently. "The few hours we spent yesterday weren't enough for this old man. I imagine you didn't think about stuffing me in a four-door as part of your trip. If Hercules was road legal, I would have picked you girls up myself and given you a ride over."

Cathleen looked back at him with a raised brow. "I thought he was."

"He's been modified again, so I need to register his new model before I'm allowed to drive him again. Hard to fight for the correct license and registration when you can leap tall buildings in a single bound."

"Star's more Superman than you," Melissa challenged with a playful smile. "She puts on glasses and lets her hair down, and no one even recognizes her in this city. I don't know how she does it."

"It's because my face isn't chiseled marble twenty-four-seven," the hero offered, and Toshinori laughed so loud the windows shook.

"You have me there," he conceded. He shared a silent thanks in his eyes he hoped she caught. Not to come across as pretentious, but he was the better realization of that comic book character — he had a real Clark Kent life to keep his faces apart from recognition. "Do you have a Lois, then?" he tried to tease the conversation along, and met with a sly smile greeting him in the mirror.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yes, that's why I asked. One of us, statistically, has to have found love by now. And if I know David, he's been playing helicopter parent for the past few years, hasn't he?" He turned his question on the teenage girl, who slumped against his arm with a pout.

"Hammer to nail," she groaned. "Could you convince him to stop? I don't even like any of the boys I work with like that and he still heckles them every time I partner with another group project. It's embarrassing."

"I'll see if I can convince him to swap the shotgun in his office with a taser," he teased, laughing away as the girl beat on his arm. "Does the president pull the same stunt for you, Cate?"

The woman snickered. "That's Commander Agpar's job, actually. He had to vet my whole team for people who wouldn't hit on me on the job. And every time I do go out incognito, he won't let me date. Can't even get a coffee with a cute-looking guy." Avoiding the mirror again, with the red light holding the car in place, she looked at him over her shoulder with a smirk. "Guess that leaves you to prove the math right, Master. Surely, you've got plenty of stories of the 'good times' in your life." The innuendo did its job in prying Melissa off his arm, slapping a hand over her ears as she tried to cower back in her seat; she had nothing to worry over, though. Toshinori had never been in a relationship all his life that wasn't strictly business. The secret of his quirk and the pursuit of his master's killer put any consideration of such to rest.

"I do have one love," he admitted out loud, waiting until he had the attention of both girls on him before he held a clenched fist over his head. "Justice."

"Oh my god," Melissa groaned into her hands, almost inaudible underneath Cathleen's boisterous laughter. "I'm in a car with Batman. Does that make my home Themyscira?"

"If that's all it takes for you to be Wonder Woman, Midoriya would be Green Lantern," Cathleen noted humorously, and Toshinori withheld a chuckle imagining the young boy with a bowl cut. Would that make the young Tokoyami the aptly named Raven, too?

After the end of a long drive filled with more teasing of the teenage girl, they arrived at the airport, and were provided with an open path to the private jet the American hero had called in. Toshinori tilted the car climbing out of it, and in fairness let himself almost topple over with the tackle hug from his goddaughter.

"I'll be missing you all over again, little sunshine," he promised Melissa, giving her a gentle squeeze between his arms before setting her down. "It's half a year away, but maybe I can swing by for Christmas? Just don't tell your father; it'll be our little secret."

"I'm pretty sure Daddy's planning to fly in on his own sometime in the fall for the hero board rankings," she revealed in return. "He's been pretty jealous since he found out you and Nighteye partnered up again. But you didn't hear that from me."

Toshinori vowed his silence with a pinky-promise. "Mirai would be honored to see him again, too. It can be a surprise for them both." The young woman hopped onto the jet alone, leaving Toshinori and Cathleen at the base of the stairs.

"I'm sorry I can't stay longer, Master," the American woman apologized with a frown. "If my people knew of the man in the shadows, I'm certain they'd let me stay here until he was brought down."

"You have your own home to protect," he reminded her. "I chased his associates and partners overseas for years after you and I worked together. Every nation I visited was to bring down the people I knew worked for him, and I didn't leave until I knew those countries were safe in their own hands; America was no different. He's been in hiding for the past six years, and if he's reignited allegiances overseas then you need to be there to squash them. You know what to look for now, and I trust that you can quell these dangers with your people. Once I know something here, I'll make sure you know too. For now, a country needs their symbol back." He extended a hand for the American woman, but the hug she pulled him into was just as fine.

"Good luck, Yagi," she whispered in his ear.

"You too, Cate." She boarded as soon as he let go, pulling the stairs up with her with one last wave goodbye. He pulled back with the car in his hands, standing aside the runway as the jet rolled off to take off. He waved back at the little faces he could see in the window.

Kill

The wound on his stomach pulled suddenly, his arm stilling in the air. He forced his smile into position as the jet lifted off the ground.

Justice

Unlike his successor, Toshinori never could hear the voices of the other users. Togata could hear them in his head or from their mouths when they formed as ghosts in front of his face, and frankly he was quite jealous — what he would give to hear his master's voice again. Though, since the boy brought renewed vigor to train One For All and the quirks available to him — spurred on and encouraged by the ghost of his old master and the first holder — maybe the most he would do with the ghosts was bicker and prod as to why they would endanger his student once again. But Togata proved he could power up his body and even Float without his muscles contracting or his body burning, so as long as the smile on his face remained, Toshinori would permit the controlled use once again.

Peace

Since the quirk evolved in his student, however, so too had it in himself to a small capacity. He could feel One For All boil in his own veins; how anger and conflict spurred on his own heart and battled in the back of his brain. It was as if the users before him were projecting their feelings into Toshinori as their only means of communication.

Revenge

He understood, and hoped the spirits of his predecessors could hear him in return, his own master most of all. The monster who killed all of them — and nearly killed him — had survived longer than he deserved. All For One lived a life of terror once; Toshinori would not let him live another.

End Him

"I plan on it," he vowed.

"I am pleased you could join us today," the principal greeted Izuku and his mother as they entered his office. Company was as the green-haired teen remembered it the week before when he was attacked; his homeroom teacher sat in one chair beside the desk; the detective Izuku was recognizing far too often sat behind the dark-haired man; and to vary it from before, an older, tired man sat on the opposite side of the principal's desk. "My apologies for such a short notice," the headmaster continued, "but I thought we should meet as soon as possible. I hope this isn't an inconvenience."

"It's alright," his mother reassured kindly. The green-haired family took to sitting in the chairs provided in front of the desk, and the principal plopped down to sit along the edge of the wooden surface. "It was a day off for us both, so this was easy to sneak in today. And I was hoping to speak with you again, as soon as I could, too."

"Regarding the intruder who cornered your son, I assume," Nedzu stated confidently, and the green-haired woman nodded wordlessly. "Yes, the young girl responsible is still in police custody. The student she impersonated has been found and is recovering remarkably. I hope you understand I cannot divulge personal information on either of them further; if you wish to send your regards for Nosunagi's well being, we can pass it along. As for our assailant, interrogations with her have provided a clearer picture on her purpose here."

Izuku raised his hand politely to speak, and the principal extended a paw to allow him. "I thought she was just here because of the Hero Killer's arrest."

"And you would be correct; but there was more to her story than just that. We can confirm no personal vendetta against you specifically, as you were simply her first target chosen simply because. According to her story, she chose you because she saw you when you entered my school that day, and could determine which locker was yours to plant the letter in. We have reason to believe that is the truth."

"Thank you," Izuku's mother had spoken with a bow of her head; the quirkless teen copied his mother's action. "I was worried about why she targeted Izuku. Thank you for making him feel safe in your care."

Izuku wished the positivity from her words rolled onto the adults around them and the news was over, but he rose his head to the sight of his principal waiting patiently with the same serious expression they walked in on.

"That is why I requested your presence today," the short mutant clarified. "There is more information; of which I believe pertains to the safety of Young Midoriya; of which I believe you should both be privy to."

"Normally," the detective spoke up, leaning forward in his seat, "this is the point in which we would have you sign an NDA before we dive into anything" — the surprise of his mother was felt through the weak grip on the teen's wrists — "but…Tartarus is currently unaware of this conversation as we speak. So long as we have your word that you have no intention to share this information with anyone outside of this room, us adults have already come to the agreement to share it with you."

"The prison, Tartarus?" Izuku repeated for confirmation, finding the detective, his teacher and the principal to all nod as an answer. His eyes drew to the older man on the other side of the room. "Are you not with them, sir?"

The old man started his response with a grunt. "I teach the third-years here," he clarified. "Apparently you can talk as much as Hado. You'll be in Makima's class instead of mine. She liked your performance in the exam; also got to see it, to begin with."

"Come now, Kishibe," the principal named him with a smile. "I think Midoriya would be a good light in your class in the coming years. His style of combat would learn wonders under your specific tutelage as a teacher, too." The old hero teacher didn't bother looking at the principal, instead drawing his eyes past to Aizawa, sharing between them what looked like mutual exasperation in Izuku's eyes. "But yes, we do mean that Tartarus. It is a complicated story I can only divulge so long as we have your word not to share these thoughts with anyone else."

Izuku could only speculate what it was they had to present to him and his mother; the only criminal he knew was in that prison, who even remotely had something to do with him, was the Hero Killer. Given the sympathizer who snuck into the school to attack him, it made the most sense — the content of it, he could only wonder. He looked to his mother, sharing with her a brief look without words or motions, and turned back to his principal with a nod. "I won't."

His mother did the same. "We won't tell anyone."

"Good," the principal concluded, hopping to his feet and scuttling across his desk to pick up a manila folder. "Midoriya Izuku, do you remember the large individual from the attack on your class at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint? The one they call Nomu, who All-Might and Lemillion apprehended?" The green-haired teen nodded, the image of the hulking monster he and Togata fought appearing in his mind. "He is currently residing in Tartarus, and has been since his arrest, under an ongoing investigation into the criminal organization who hired him and orchestrated the attack that day. These same people, as you probably realized by the physical similarities, are the same group who attacked Hosu city; the same day Silverfang brought you on patrol during the investigation into the Hero Killer." The sour reminder of the man came and went, though the frown it encouraged stayed a few seconds longer. "While I cannot share the profiles of identities the police have put together on the criminals in charge, we have been able to identify the Nomu we have in holding. I reiterate: the information forward does not leave this room."

The folder fell splat on his desk, falling open while papers went spreading around. He picked up one to hand off to Izuku, passed on with help from the teen's homeroom teacher, presenting him with the profile of a man he did not recognize.

"This is Mujifutsu Nanimonai," the principal verbalized where Izuku's eyes drew first among the man's information. "He is the real identity of the Nomu who attacked your class that day. Mujifutsu ran a family-owned bakery in the Shizuoka district some years ago, before the business burned down with him believed to be inside. I'm sure you can see the detail which brings you here today." His emerald eyes lowered down the page, skipping details he didn't care for, until they landed on the underlined word that snapped his mouth shut.

Quirkless.

"The individual you and Togata fought is not Mujifutsu." While his mother leaned in to read and gasp at the unspoken information, Izuku turned his eyes to the principal with anticipated confusion. "Nomu is not his alias; Nomu is the general term given to the similar monsters the heroes fought in Hosu. We believe it is terminology decided by the man or men behind the state we've seen them in; men responsible for overloading bodies with multiple quirks at a time."

While questions of what that meant stayed in his own head, his mother verbalized one. "How can someone have multiple quirks? I know dual quirks are a thing, but they're still one quirk."

"We don't know yet," the principal told her, honesty glazing his words. "But the blood report and DNA examination show multiple genetic strands in response; the few we have been able to link to identities match quirks All-Might confirmed it to have in their fight. We captured another alive from the events in Hosu, while the remains of the rest were preserved for analysis as best we could save them; tests have shown similar results, some with the same DNA as others. All confirmed identities are of individuals from this country believed to be deceased prior."

"Genetically recreated quirks?" Izuku muttered aloud, brows furrowing. "Is that possible?"

"I hope not. Investigations and research are still underway; there is a likely chance our assumptions of their passings were incorrect, and the identity of one body may support this. How they duplicated quirks and passed them on to multiple individuals" — exactly the next question on the tip of the quirkless teen's tongue — "we only have theories to, but evidence in that matter is beyond our understanding of genetic malpractice, so far as we know of. We don't know the identity of the second Nomu as of yet."

It wasn't needed, Izuku guessed, peering at the photo of the man on the paper in his mother's hands. They had the identity of the one Izuku had tried to fight directly — a man who shared the same genetic factor as him. Could they really rule that as a coincidence?

"What is the meaning of this?" His mother's voice was tinged with worry, pulling her forward in her chair towards the principal. "Why are you telling us this? Are you suggesting Izuku is their target and you haven't told me anything sooner?"

Nedzu raised a paw, silent and asking for the same in return. Izuku placed a hand over hers for comfort. "We know the attack on his class at the USJ was meant to target All-Might, originally scheduled to teach for that course. We know the attack on Hosu was meant to put attention on Stain and Garou. We know our young intruder snuck in and attacked our students of her own free will and design, with no help from an outside source to accomplish this. With every event Young Midoriya has gone through, there was no sufficient evidence to support he was ever a target in the first place. That changed when we received the genetic report from the remains of another Nomu in Hosu." He plucked another page, passing it around until it was in Izuku's hands. "Do you recognize him?"

The paper nearly slipped from his fingers the moment it was given to him, as his eyes locked on the photo of a black-haired teenager and dropped slowly to the name beneath it.

Suchīrubōn Okihana.

"He was one of them?" the quirkless teen asked weakly.

"His DNA was identifiable between a mix of four others we've been unable to identify, and the only person thus far not reported deceased, but a missing person. It was pulled from the remains of a Nomu Endeavor put down; the only Nomu we know you were in close proximity to, that Silverfang was handling when you ran off to divert civilians and assist Young Iida in the chaos."

The gorilla, he recalled horridly. The bones that protruded from its arms coated themselves in a metallic substance right before his eyes — as Suchīrubōn's quirk would dictate, in iron specifically.

His mother tried to pull his focus to her, unsuccessfully, as the grip on his arm tightened in worry. "Who was he, Izuku?"

Blinking himself out of his thoughts, he answered, "He was a classmate at Aldera. We were in the same homeroom." The day before replayed in his mind, and his eyes snapped back to the principal across from him. "Teashishi told me he was missing yesterday; we passed each other at the mall with everyone. Just after I got your message."

"Just yesterday?" Aizawa finally spoke up, grimacing when Izuku nodded and turning to the principal as detective Naomasa asked for the other teen's identity for questioning later. "You wanna add that to your list of coincidences?"

"What's one more nail in my coffin?" the headmaster quipped back, though no humor came through his tone. "I did not think one of my students was under direct threat from these criminals intentionally before, and the information I have gathered the past few months have turned my assumptions around. I do now fear these villains are specifically targeting you, Young Midoriya."

"Why?" his mother begged for an answer. "Why Izuku? Is it because he's quirkless?"

"I don't know," Nedzu hurriedly answered her. "I have no solid evidence or proof that Midoriya Izuku is a person of interest to this organization; I may have a puzzle in front of me whose pieces I have forced together to portray the wrong picture. But it is not one I can simply ignore as coincidence. These same people took Garou that night in Hosu, with the only Nomu who escaped from the scene. To intervene in his turf war with the Hero Killer; to avoid the heroes encroaching on the scene; with the intent to experiment on him as they have others; I know not the reason behind their actions, but I know what I've seen. We consider ourselves lucky that the Nomu did not target you, with the information we know now."

He hadn't even thought about Garou, Izuku realized. Melissa should have just left the country with Star and Stripe for protection, and he had Yuei and the heroes employed within behind him, but Garou hadn't been seen by anyone with proof for a month. The League, whoever they were, had their hands on him, and for all they knew he was undergoing the same horrific experiments that made men into those purple-skinned, brain-exposed animals he had seen.

And it clicked in his head, where some of that fear of him in Teashishi's eyes came from; they all met Garou on the same day, when he and Suchīrubōn cornered him on the street one random day, and the other quirkless man was there to defend him when Izuku hesitated to. Did Teashishi think they had something to do with his disappearance?

"Even if it is a conclusion made from inference," the principal continued, "I cannot progress in good faith doing nothing to ensure the safety of a student — of a child under my care. I must act as though I am certain of this, or I will have already failed to live up to my words from before. In that regard, I am requesting with full awareness of the situation that you and your mother be placed under witness protection until further notice."

Mother and son looked at the short principal with surprise, turning to the detective beside them who nodded along, confirming his presence in the meeting was for exactly that. "As I told you last week," Naomasa reminded, "it will impede your placement in the hero course if you are to agree and stay where you currently live."

"Unless I choose to live in the dormitories," Izuku finished. "Will they be ready in a week?"

"I have staff currently focusing on the completion of the Class 1-A designated suite," the principal revealed, "specifically for this scenario. As you have your summer break ahead of you, you and your mother are free to turn down the option now and stay where you currently live under the direction of protective services until classes resume. When they do, however, your choice to live in the dorms or not will affect your education with Yuei. I cannot advise you to turn down the offer for protective services given the information as I have laid it out, but I understand your future, education and friends matter much to you. I ask that you consider the offer, with an answer to provide when classes resume next Monday."

That wouldn't be necessary, Izuku noted, as his mother grabbed his hand in hers and rose to her feet. "We'll take it."

"Mom—" He rose with her, silenced when she spun on him and brought his hands together with hers.

"We will take it," she repeated, "and you are going to stay in the dorms here on campus with your friends, so you can keep studying to be a hero. I trust them to protect you" — she turned her gaze to the principal with an unhappy frown that steeled itself into a placid line — "and I trust your teachers to do the same. I'm not going to rob you of this dream again, not after all you've done to get here. You won't be any more safe if I just lock you away in our home. I don't care if I can't have you all the time; I just want you to be safe."

Aizawa smacked his lips as he stood up, interrupting Izuku before the teen could interject further. "Since we can't offer you the same service of living on campus with the students," he clarified, "protective services can contract other undercover heroes to be stationed around your living quarters to ensure you are not targeted as well; we'll have to inform your workplace of the situation as much as we can, as you won't be able to return under protection. Just because your son may be their focus, doesn't mean they won't target family if they feel bold enough."

His mother nodded, relief filling Izuku's lungs to replace the worry he felt building slowly. "I understand. I don't want Izuku distracted by my safety while he's here."

"I'm still going to," he assured her in a soft tone. "I don't want to leave you."

"And I don't want to lose you," his mother countered. Her hand came up to cup his cheek, even as it heated from the affection displayed in front of all the adults around them. "I'll take the offer too."

"It won't be forever," the principal spoke up again. "As I told you last week, our investigation into this organization draws us closer than they may realize. I imagine this will inconvenience you for some time, and it may feel like forever, but I won't let these villains present threats over our heads even another month without us pushing back. We will protect you until this threat is gone, once and for all; on my life, you have my word. Do you accept it?"

Izuku shared one look with mother, the pleading in her eyes still visible, and his heart reached back to comfort it. "I accept," he confirmed. The principal bowed his head in thanks.

The old teacher stood up with a grunt, catching the quirkless teen's attention again to his frown. "You'll be moving in tomorrow, then; give you the day to pack up and spend the summer break here under my care and a few other teachers. Even if you're not going to be my student, I can train you some." Without waiting for some sort of response, the man walked out of the room. "See you tomorrow."

While the detective pulled his mother aside to talk more about her protection service, Izuku turned back to his principal and teacher. "Sir, you said you wanted to talk about the summer program in your message? Was that just a cover for the meeting?"

The mutant hummed. "More or less. The information I've laid out for you and your mother has already made our original plan too risky to keep. I do want you to know the program may be scrapped altogether for the safety of you and your class, if we are unable to assure it. I may prod you for your input over the week for what you feel is the safest of our available options, if I see it pivotal. Aizawa, would you mind seeing the Midoriyas home with the detective, and ensure our student knows what to bring for him temporary lodgings for the week ahead?"

"So long as you're done dumping the world on his shoulders," the black-haired man replied gruffly, not humored by the principal's curt nod. "Let's get you home, kid," Aizawa agreed, joining the detective and Izuku's mother as they left the office. "I'm sorry we've gone and thrown all this worry on your plate when you're just a kid, but it's illogical to keep you in the dark when we think your safety is on the line."

"I would have been furious if you had kept this from me," his mother elected to inform the teacher, and Izuku took one of her hands in his. "What you've told us is…hard for me to wrap my head around every detail, but I know Izuku's in danger, and that's all I need to understand. He's all I have left; I won't do anything to lose him."

There was a lot he still didn't understand either, from everything the principal had hurriedly told them. That quirks could be duplicated; people could be forced to have multiple quirks; that someone out there knew how to do any of that was hard to come to terms with. But he understood the people beneath all that purple flesh were likely victims to experimentation, people he knew had or may fall into their hands, and Izuku himself was too intertwined in the details not to be the next likely person of interest. He hadn't felt in danger being in the same class as Bakugou, or for every little comment and sneer people who knew him gave, or even staring down the villains he had crossed paths with already; that someone in the shadows was breathing down his neck finally settled the thought that maybe he was in danger.

But he had his mother's hand in his, his teacher's security by his side, and the encouragement of Yaoyorozu in his mind — hope for an answer to his question still in his heart.

"You won't," he vowed to her. "I have too much to do, to give it all up. I'm going to stay."