Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“My boy,” All Might boomed, smiling tight and blue eyes blazing in disappointment. Izuku felt his heart drop at the sight and fear paralyze his body, frantically getting ready to apologize for whatever happened, whatever he had surely done wrong. “You refused to show the world you were ready.”

Slowly, through the dredges of the darkness they were stuck in, All Might walked towards Izuku and loomed over him more than usual. Izuku gulped and felt his anxiety spike. The last thing he could do now was disappoint his mentor, the man who had given him a fighting chance at becoming a stronger hero for everyone. 

Izuku just couldn’t mess up with this chance even if he was never properly trained, or broke his bones every time he used All Might’s quirk, or couldn’t figure out what exactly was going wrong since every part of Izuku’s struggles were part of a secret. 

“Boy, you’ve been failing me. I’ve finally realized that you will never introduce yourself to the world as a hero they need. Soon, you’ll be giving my quirk back to me.” All Might said, glowering down at Izuku. The floor seemed to suck Izuku further down, making his mentor look much more menacing than usual. 

With a sob stuck in his throat, Izuku fell further into the dark floor, surrounded by the lonely void. 

Izuku woke up groggy and annoyed, although that could be attributed to his dreams and memories that he was just surrounded with a few moments ago. 

Antiseptic smelling air assaulted his nose, the blinding fluorescent stung his eyes as he blinked rapidly, a blurry figure moving around the room. Focusing, Izuku finally identified the blur as Recovery Girl and minutely-relaxed when he noticed it was just the two of them in the room. 

Izuku sighed and sat up, drinking the water Recovery Girl had sped over to him and held to his lips. Satisfied, she pulled back the drink and furrowed her eyebrows. 

“You need to be more careful with your arms. We had to do surgery on them to prevent worse damage but you may not be so lucky if there’s a next time young man.” She sternly lectured him as he nodded. Izuku watched as Recovery Girl just huffed and turned to the desk to sort out some papers. 

“Could-” Izuku coughed and cleared his throat as he continued. “Could you turn on the awards ceremony?” 

With a look shot his way, the heroine just grabbed the remote and didn’t spare a glance to the screen as she bustled out of the room, presumably to grab more supplies.

If she would’ve seen the screen, the heroine wouldn’t have left Izuku to his own devices. If she saw the screen, she would’ve sworn up a storm about how they were treating a first year like a dangerous and volatile villain. 

Izuku, on the other hand, was watching the screen with his undivided attention. He was soon to be sick with horror as he watched his childhood friend, his brother in everything that wasn’t blood, thrash wildly around in the chains surrounding him. Izuku grit his teeth at the unhindered rage that he felt when he saw Kacchan’s eyes looking around, not taking in anything, clearly in the middle of a panic attack on a fucking podium like an animal. 

Many people treated Izuku as if he had the patience of a saint. Even more people treated his mother the exact same way. Everyone he had ever been surrounded by seemed to forget one small detail. The tiniest detail that made all the difference in the Midoriya’s lives; they were a part of the Bakugou family as well.

(People seemed to think that the Midoriyas were the family that calmed the Bakugou’s down but they couldn’t be more wrong. Where Katsuki is quick to anger, Izuku is quick to strategize a person’s downfall. Where Mitsuki is prone to yelling a point at someone, Inko was prone to scathing remarks and long lectures. The boys grew up with both forms, both cold and hot anger. 

That’s not to mention their father’s influence. They all have to work together to calm Masaru down whenever an incident happens. The man was strong in his conviction, could systematically and legally take someone down all while smiling innocently although his eyes would always sparkle with mirth.) 

With every ounce of righteous anger and demanding rage that was coursing through Izuku’s body and soul, he removed himself as calmly as he could manage out of the hospital bed, took the IV out from his good arm and left. 

Through the corridors and hallways, Izuku’s footsteps thundered with conviction. His footsteps were no louder than usual, no different than normal but if anyone had seen him, they would’ve turned the other way. Izuku kept a carefully built blank look on his face as he exited the tunnel, the tunnel that led to the entrance of the stage. 

He could no longer hear the crowds, he could not care about his teachers nor the pro heroes that were no doubt calling into question his presence, because Kacchan was finally within his reach and panicking on national television. 

(What Izuku didn’t notice was that the crowds were actually silent and watching him as he walked stiffly but calm, not matching the deadly aura that was surrounding the boy. Izuku didn’t know the crowd had been shocked into silence when they noticed he was just wearing his shorts and socks, showing off the scars he’d worn for years now that adorned his chest and back. He had no idea most of the crowd was horrified that a school-sanctioned event had led to his arm and shoulder being wrapped up in bandages that were still tinged red and pink.)

(Izuku was also unaware of how Present Mic and Eraserhead were stunned into silence as well. The two men looking at the boy who had been so reckless during the festival but had undoubtedly saved lives during the USJ attack and wondering to themselves where half of his scars even came from. Izuku had no idea Eraserhead was running a million different scenarios to help his students, his problem children who were scarred beyond his imagination. He had no idea Present Mic was two seconds away from screaming to break the glass and helping out Izuku with his quest to get his oldest friend away from the muzzle and chains that were guaranteed to throw Mic into a breakdown later that night.)

Izuku noticed the smoke coming from the chains, watching as Kacchan tried to get rid of the excess nitroglycerin so he wasn’t in any danger of exploding himself or his classmates. Izuku continued his walk, determined to help and feeling unstoppable before a large hand came down on his good shoulder. 

Izuku nearly snarled. That was not advisable for someone on national TV though, so he’ll refrain for now. 

“Young Midoriya,” All Might boomed, laughing and smiling awkwardly. “You need to go back and get some rest.”

Izuku’s blank look shattered as his eyes glowed a dark green, unknown to Izuku at the time, and narrowed them at the man who was his mentor, the man who tried to be his father figure, and growled. 

“Get your hand off me.”

All Might, of course, didn’t listen and continued to try and maneuver the boy away and down the tunnels but he stayed. Izuku didn’t know where he got the strength to be unmovable for a hero like All Might but the crowd soon noticed that the boy was like a brick house and would not be moving from shoving alone. 

Feeling his lips slip into a snarl, Izuku spoke again. 

“All Might.”

The teachers on the floor were finally stunned into silence from their, admittedly, weak protests as they listened to Izuku speak with All Might, painfully aware that the microphone hooked up the the Number One Hero was currently broadcasting the scene. “Are you so painfully dense that you can’t notice when one of your students is in the middle of a panic attack because of your negligence or is this just yet another act of willful ignorance on your part?”

Out of pure shock, All Might loosened his grip on Izuku and he slipped away from the older man, ignoring how haunted his eyes had looked. Smelling ozone, Izuku glanced around and noticed his entire body seemed to be shrouded in golden-green lightning. Nodding to himself tightly, he launched himself to Todoroki’s podium. 

(Izuku didn’t notice the dark clouds rolling in above the stadium. He had no idea the crowd was watching the golden-green lighting strike across the sky and washing them in another dangerous clap of thunder, sending shivers down their spines as they began to realize the extent of the power held tightly within the boy’s body.)

“Help me ice his neck please.” Although the words were strained and demanding, Todoroki just nodded to Izuku, obviously noticing his desperation, and let him grip Todoroki’s hand as the shorter boy launched both of them towards the first place podium. 

Izuku worked quickly, crushing Kacchan’s muzzle in his hands before tossing it down, ripping the chains off his brother and walking back to the front of him as Todoroki kept his hand in place on the lower back of Bakugou’s neck. 

“Kacchan,” Izuku spoke softly, not wanting to overwhelm the boy who was finally breathing right. As soon as Bakugou’s eyes weren’t distant anymore Izuku spoke again. “Kacchan, it’s Deku. You have enough sweat built up, I want your arms above your head. Can you do that?”

(Katsuki didn’t nod, or even acknowledge that he was being talked to but even through his post-panic haze, he could see the outline of his brother, his Deku, and kept his eyes on him while raising his arms up. 

Katsuki didn’t have panic attacks often but when he did, the two of them developed a system. Outside, Katuski’s explosions are going up, no matter what. Inside, well, there’s a reason Deku’s back isn’t what it used to be. Too many times, Katsuki refused but every damn time Deku would just smile and say that it was fine, not once crying or letting his smile become strained. So Katsuki trusted him. The two may not have been friends this entire time, he may have hurt Deku more times than he could count, but Katsuki trusted Deku and right now that was enough.)

Izuku put his forearm in between Kacchan’s head and the last of the chains and struck upwards, ripping the damned metal away from the trio. 

(The crowd listened as the metal struck the ground, not a meter from where Cementoss was standing, and inhaled sharply. To them, to the world watching, that sounded too much like a final bell.)

Kacchan’s explosion wasn’t large, in fact, it was smaller than normal. No doubt that fact could be attributed to Todoroki’s help and Izuku made sure to send his new friend a smile before Kacchan’s forehead came to rest on Izuku’s shoulders, breathing heavily. 

“Yellow. Tired.” Kacchan whispered. Izuku just nodded solemnly and beckoned Tokoyami to follow the three. Izuku knew that Kacchan’s panic would last for a while and wasn’t surprised at the admission of such, although he was surprised the boy had voluntarily told him he was tired. 

(When Izuku beckoned Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, the duo knew without a doubt their classmate would become a force to be reckoned with, a force so strong they couldn’t help but wonder if the people who attacked the USJ would even try to continue to target them. 

Tokoyami and Dark Shadow had no hindrances of following the trio, not when they knew their heroics teacher was willing to endorse and overlook the muzzle that resembled the one they had been threatened with growing up, not when the clanking of the chains reminded them of the bird cage jokes and taunts they heard in the corridors of each school they’d attended. No, the duo was content to follow their heroic classmates away from the damned podiums.)

With Kacchan finally in his arms and safe, Izuku shot one last dirty look over to All Might. Izuku doesn’t think the glare was baseless, not in the least. He couldn’t think that when he was so painfully reminded of how the two first met, he wasn’t given the luxury of not knowing how much of the commission listened to the man and vice versa. Izuku had not been so lucky as to wonder why the man put a media event over the well-being of one of his students. 

Izuku couldn’t pretend to be friendly with the man anymore; not when they’d messed up his brother. 

At least the others looked surprised. Midnight was definitely shaken by the events or perhaps just the sounds of the chains being torn off a student. Either way, she looked horrified enough to regret her inaction. Cementoss looked indifferent, although the pro hero had never taken his eyes off where the last chain was laying on the field, directly in front of him. No protests were being voiced from the two commentaries, Present Mic and Eraserhead, so Izuku could only guess they weren’t opposed. 

Slipping on his sunshine smile, Izuku jumped and let Kacchan koala around him. He felt Todoroki use his ice to get Tokoyami and himself down from the podiums. Izuku hardly noticed that when he landed, another thunderous clap of golden-green lighting streaked across the dark clouds. 

(The crowd sure did though. Everyone within the stadium, the audience, the pro heroes, the students, his classmates, his enemies. They all noticed how the sky was working with Midoriya. They all noticed how fierce his protective streak was in this moment; the boy who shattered his hands during his second one-on-one fight was not only controlling the weather with no conscious effort, not only lighting his entire body up with the venomous green lighting without a thought, but he was working in tandem with it all.)

Together, the four boys made their way through the entrance tunnel Izuku had emerged from just a few minutes ago, ignoring the look of disappointment and annoyance from All Might, the scandalized look from Midnight, the slight frown coming from Cementoss. Yes, the boys were aware of the looks, but not one of them cared enough to stutter in their footsteps. 

This turn of events was quite obviously not how All Might expected Izuku to show the world that he was here. Izuku’s sure that All Might expected tight smiles and strong fists like his but Izuku can’t care. 

Because he showed the world exactly what kind of hero, what kind of protector, he would eventually become. 

He refused to become a lone symbol, much less a symbol that represents peace. Izuku’s never known peace and he doesn’t expect the world to be well-acquainted with the concept either, doesn’t expect a world that values big fights and large amounts of property damage to care enough for someone to continue to fight for peace. To Izuku, it seemed like a dead fight anyways.  

But, Izuku mused to himself as his classmates flanked either side of him and Kacchan, he wouldn’t mind being known as a different symbol. 

Afterall, the Symbol of Aegis has a nice ring to it. 

Chapter Text

Tomura was shitty. 

He didn’t want to watch little hero-brats try and beat the crap out of each other today but Sensei made a good point about learning their stats to make sure that they wouldn’t be able to interrupt his next boss fight. 

And it seemed like it was a good idea for them all. Tomura had dragged everyone else that had recently joined the League, if only to make sure that they all knew which heroes and hero-brats they were targeting. 

Dabi had been slightly too interested in the one v one matches, especially when they were all watching the green-haired brat break his bones over and over against Endeavor’s brat, but Tomura just decided to ignore it for now. 

Tomura had made it clear that the green one was his personal enemy. Sensei himself had told Tomura as much. 

Some parts were interesting to see. Tomura was especially giddy about his newfound knowledge of the electric-brat that fried his own brains with his power when he went overboard. Toga and Spinner were a bit too excited when they watched the guy who could create knives fight on screen.  

Kurogiri didn’t ever seem all that interested in actually watching the sports festival with them. He mostly just stuck behind the bar and continued to clean the glasses as he made sure no one was throwing something or picking a fight (it happened a few times - Tomura wasn’t proud of the fact that Dabi could rile him up so easily). 

Magne and Compress didn’t seem all that interested either, though they were still watching the TV with their undivided attention, even as they were whispering and giggling under their breath during the events while Twice was commentating on what he was seeing (mostly to themself). 

And then the awards ceremony started, and all three of those stupid hero-brats rose up on moving podiums for the world to see. 

Admittedly, Tomura had to do a double take when he saw the first place winner. Sure, that blonde-haired explosion brat had gone overboard during his matches, each and everyone of them, but Tomura didn’t know he acted like such a villain that they decided to chain him up just so he wouldn’t go feral on the other contestants, even after the events were over. 

He grinned to himself as he saw All Might waltz on screen. 

It would hurt so many of those heroes and raze their pride to the ground if Tomura could convince the explosive brat to turn sides. As far as he could tell, it wouldn’t be a difficult side-quest for him to achieve either. 

And then Tomura decided to turn and grab a drink for a split second and the TV suddenly went quiet. He whipped back around, ready to decay the idiot that decided to mute the TV, but Dabi was in the middle of turning up the volume, obviously annoyed at the lack of sound. 

And Tomura finally let his gaze settle on what the screen was showing. 

There, standing right outside one of the many tunnels, was the green-haired brat, in all his bloody glory. The kid’s face was blank with only the slightest furrow in his eyebrows. His steps were stiff as he slowly made his way over to the crowd of heroes at the bases of the podiums and Tomura could almost see his bloodlust on the screen as the green brat kept his eyes on the explosion brat. 

It made him a bit nervous to see the hero-brat that had a maxed out charisma stat look this vengeful. Hell, Toga wasn’t even commenting on how bloody his bandages were. 

Tomura moved closer to the screen, if only so he could take a closer look and make sure there wasn’t something wrong with the screen itself. But no. A few steps closer told Tomura all he needed to know. 

The brat’s shoulders and back looked mauled and were likely more scar tissue than anything else at the moment. Both arms were wrapped in white bandages, though no one would be able to tell that that was their natural color with how pink they were tinged. His chest wasn’t as heavily scarred but there was still a show-stopping number of scars littering the expanse of his front. 

And then, as if Tomura had been stuck with tunnel vision, only focused on the boy, All Might’s large hands came into view and snapped down on the kid’s shoulder. 

Tomura saw the brat’s face flicker, almost too fast for anyone who wouldn’t be looking. But he was looking. And he had been privy to watching one of the most hateful expressions he’d ever seen directed towards All Might. 

Tomura was sure that the two were close, mostly because Sensei had assured as much. 

Now though? He might have to question that piece of information. 

“Young Midoriya,” All Might boomed through the screen, laughing and smiling so awkwardly that Tomura couldn’t help but feel happy to hear the man sound so uncomfortable. “You need to go back and get some rest.”

Spinner scoffed at the same time Tomura did. 

“Oh shit,” Dabi whispered and Tomura flicked his attention back to Midoriya, feeling his eyes widen as he looked at the expression the brat was wearing. 

Nothing about that blank face had changed except for his eyes. Where his eyes were usually a bright, almost toxic, green coloring, they had shifted into something darker and almost glowing with the sheer intensity that the brat was putting off. 

“Get your hand off me.” Midoriya growled lowly, voice being picked up from the small clip-on microphone that All Might was wearing. 

“Ooo, that’s about to be a bruised ego right there.” Compress commented, leaning closer to get a good look at the drama happening on national television. 

Tomura watched as All Might, of course, didn’t listen and continued to try and maneuver the boy away and down the tunnels but Midoriya stayed put, completely immovable no matter how much All Might tried. 

It was a fascinating fact to learn as well as terrifying to know this brat could become immovable to the Symbol of Peace, a hero known for his brute strength. 

Tomura saw Kurogiri place his towel and glasses down as he came around the corner and stood next to Tomura, just in time for them to watch the kid try to stop himself from snarling. 

Maybe he should grab the green brat instead?  

“All Might.” 

If it wasn’t silent in that stadium, it sure as hell was now. Twice fucking gasped when they heard the tone Midoriya had used with the Number One Hero. 

Obviously, Tomura didn’t have any respect for the hero and was, therefore, living for this but he was also a bit fearful about what this would mean for him. He wasn’t even sure why the brat was so angry in the first place. 

“Are you so painfully dense that you can’t notice when one of your students is in the middle of a panic attack because of your negligence or is this just yet another act of willful ignorance?”

Tomura felt his eyes widen more as Dabi cackled in disbelief on the couch, almost knocking the remote over. Especially when he noticed that familiar golden-green lightning swirl around Midoriya’s entire body, almost making him look like a god. 

And then Magne’s breath hitched and she breathed out, “Guys, the sky.”

And Tomura idly wondered how Sensei even planned on making Tomura ready to fight this kid. Because while Midoriya was shrouded in that lightning, the sky was rolling in with dark clouds, the same golden-green hue was striking across the sky above the stadium, as if the sky and the weather was being controlled by the brat they had just watched break and shatter his own bones with the power held within him.

A sound of dark thunder rolled through the TV speakers, sending chills down their spines. It sounded too much like boss fight music in Tomura’s mind. 

They watched Midoriya launch himself up onto the half and half brat’s podium and Tomura heard Dabi make a questioning noise in the back of his throat. The two didn’t waste time (or even speak as far as Tomura could see) before launching themselves over to the explosion brat’s podium.

The two hero brats worked quickly, with Midoriya crushing the other brat’s muzzle with his bare hands that had been repeatedly broken not even an hour ago before tossing it down and off the screen. The green lightning made it hard to see the kid ripping the chains off of the Bakugou brat, though they could all see when the chains swung around the other side of the podium and more than one League member cringed at the reminder that a kid was chained up, even if he was a hero brat. 

Tomura and the rest watched with growing fear as the lightning streaks in the sky became more frequent, constantly lighting up the stadium in a bright green hue as Midoriya walked back to the front of Bakugou and the other kid stayed where he had been this whole time, his hand in place on the back of Bakugou’s neck. 

“Holy shit, he’s icing him.” Dabi whispered out, almost in an awed tone. 

“No he’s not.” Toga said with a frown, sticking her face closer to the screen, presumably to try and see what Dabi was seeing. 

“No. I mean, the Todoroki kid is keeping his neck cool,” Dabi said dismissively, never taking his eyes off the screen. Tomura heard as Dabi whispered, probably to himself, “He’s fucking helping people.”

Tomura graciously decided to avoid scoffing at that observation, since it seemed like Dabi was going through a world-breaking revelation at the time. 

He turned his attention back to the screen in time to watch as Midoriya put his forearm in between Bakugou’s raised arms and the last of the chains and struck upwards, lightning streaking across along with the damned metal that was flung away from the trio. 

They listened as the metal struck the ground, not a meter from where one of the heroes on the ground was standing, and collectively inhaled sharply. To them, and probably to the world watching, that sounded too much like a threat.

The brat’s accompanying explosion wasn’t large, in fact, it was smaller than anything else they had seen from the brat during the festival. No doubt that fact could be attributed to the other kid’s help since he was icing his neck. The Bakugou brat’s forehead came to rest on one of Midoriya’s shoulders as his arms limply came down to his sides, obviously breathing heavily. 

“Oh fuck,” Tomura whispered to himself, feeling the need to scratch at his neck as he started to figure out what was happening. “The brat is that angry because of what they did to him.”

There were affirming noises made from everyone in the room, with a few people slightly gasping as they realized exactly what was happening. 

Tomura couldn’t believe it. This hero-brat was so angry at the heroes that he was willing to put on quite the show to let Japan preview what would happen if they treated his friends? like they were wild animals who needed a leash.  

Gods above, that anger would’ve made Midoriya into a magnificent villain. 

Tomura quickly shook that particular thought away. Even during the one v ones as Midoriya was breaking himself, it was obvious that the brat was trying to persuade the other kid into using his full power. 

He was helping his fucking opponents! Midoriya’s stats are maxed out when it comes to charisma and, evidently, protection. 

Tomura doesn’t really think he has enough stats to convince Midoriya to switch sides and he doesn’t really want the brat to come after him in all his lightning god glory if he decided to take the Bakugou brat with plans to make him into a villain. 

(Tomura had a fleeting thought just then. Wondering, in the darkest parts of his mind, if Midoriya would actually kill Tomura, all because he had decided to take a friend of his. He quickly realized that that particular side quest would turn into a full blown boss fight before he could blink and discarded the idea quickly. 

Maybe, just maybe, he could focus on only All Might and not the rest of the herolings in the coming months. He didn’t really need to involve them, did he? 

Dear gods, he hoped Sensei would agree.)

The camera caught Midoriya as he shot one last dirty look over to All Might before carefully slipping on his regular sunshine smile. Something about that smile made Tomura uneasy now. Especially since he knew how quickly it could morph into a dangerous snarl. 

Tomura couldn’t help but wonder if Midoriya’s manipulation stats were maxed out as well. 

Midoriya jumped off the podium with his explosion friend still in his arms and the both of the other winners quickly followed the two. As soon as the brat hit the ground in a crouch landing, the sky lit up once again, with a dark and foreboding clap of thunder washing over the crowd. 

Spinner hissed in a breath as Twice started bouncing his knee up and down, no doubt hating the tension that they could feel through the screen by now. Tomura himself was just barely able to keep himself from scratching that painful itch in his neck, not wanting Kurogiri to force him away from the screen to take care of it whenever he inevitably broke skin. 

Tomura watched with goosebumps trailing up his skin as the gravity of what Midoriya was doing hit him all at once. Not only was the brat controlling the weather with no conscious effort, not only was he lighting his entire body up with the venomous golden-green lighting without a thought, but the boy was working in tandem with it all.

“Fuck that shit,” Twice said, trembling a bit. “What he said!”

Oh goody, Tomura thought to himself, both parts of Twice agreed with each other. That certainly makes him feel so much better about having to potentially conduct a boss fight with this hero brat sometime soon. 

Together, the four boys made their way through the entrance tunnel Midoriya had emerged from not even a few minutes ago and the screen quickly turned to a commercial with the hero Wash front and center, leaving the League reeling from what they’d seen. 

Suddenly, the old box TV blinked on, the red light blinking to prove that Sensei was there and Tomura couldn’t help but breathe out a sigh of relief at his mentor’s words, not noticing when the rest of the League did the same. 

“Tomura, eradicate your plans against UA. We will…revise them at a later date.”