It had been two weeks since the events at Jaku City and not a word from Izuku. They didn't know whether his condition had improved or if he was still in a coma or even where he was being kept and it was driving some residents of Midriya's wayward home nuts. Hitoshi groaned as he got hit with another explosion, driving him back into a corner. Sparring with Katsuki was normally seen as a punishment, but now it was a straight up death wish.
The ash blonde had been throwing himself into his training regime, his patience running even thinner than usual, exploding anyone and anything the first chance he got. He was frustrated, but he wasn't the only one.
"You're gonna kill him if you're not careful" Shoto pointed out, but Katsuki pointedly ignored him as he kept barreling down on the brainwasher until Shinsou told him to stop it a minute later.
"What the hell are you even doing here, half-n-half? Thought daddy dearest didn't want you anywhere near this place" Katsuki scoffed as he walked over to his water bottle.
"True, I bet he's furious with me right now" Shoto shrugged.
"But he can't do anything about it since he can't be seen coming near this place, so it's, as you would word it, my win"
"You sneaked out? Seems like we've got a bad influence on you" Hitoshi commented, but they could tell he wasn't serious by the little smirk he gave Shoto.
"I wanted to come and check whether there was any news, but it seems the Hero Commission isn't telling you anything either" the halfa sighed, handing Hitoshi a towel so he could wipe off the sweat and dust that clung onto his skin after those explosions.
"Besides, I would like some more bonding time with my brother, even if it's against father's wishes"
Yeah, Dabi had come clean to his siblings after everything that happened. With all the talk about how important family is, after seeing his new one being ripped apart just like his old one had so many years ago... Well, it brought up unwanted feelings and made his resolve to stay away from the Todoroki family waver. So when Shoto showed up the first time, right after they were told Izuku was going to be transported to some military grade hospital and Hisashi would be locked up in Tartarus for the rest of his life, he finally came clean.
Shoto, on his turn, told his siblings. As far as either of them knew, Endeavor was still clueless about it, and so was their mother. Dabi was planning on telling her himself and the others understood he needed some more time to do so. It was a delicate subject, after all.
"Dabi is out right now, I think he was going to meet up with your sister, actually" Hitoshi hummed.
"Oh, well, can I join your training then?" Shoto asked.
"Be my guest cause I'm out!" Hitoshi stated, quickly packing up his things in the hopes no one would stop him from leaving if he was just fast enough.
"Yeah, run! I bet icyhot here is a better punching bag than you anyways!" Katsuki hissed, clearly agitated. But before Hitoshi could flee the scene, Toga ran in the room.
"We have a guest!" she called out.
"A guest? Why the hell would I care about that shit?!" Katsuki barked.
"It's a special guest! Kurogiri came back from the hospital!" Himiko smiled, making the boys freeze up. Kurogiri...was back? But how? Everyone here now knew he was a Nomu of some kind, that Izuku had reversed him back to the teen he used to be, that he wasn't the Kurogiri they remembered.
"You mean...Shirakumo, right?" Shinsou asked. He'd heard Eraserhead talk about him. Apparently they were supposed to be the same age and had been in the same class in high school. At least, up until he almost died and All For One got a hold of his body...
"Yep! He wants to see everyone!" Toga nodded.
"Well, I think it's time you took a break from training anyway. Let's at least see what's up" Hitoshi suggested, making Katsuki huff. Fucking fine but it better not be a wast of his time!
When the teens made their way upstairs, they quickly found the visitors in the cafeteria. Both Shirakumo and Aizawa sensei were there, one happily chatting with the residents while the other was simply there to supervise.
"Ah, Hitoshi! I heard you finally got into the hero course! Shouta told me you'll be starting in 1-A after summer break, that's so awesome!" the blue haired boy exclaimed once he saw them.
"Oh and Twice told me you know about your brother now, Shoto-kun! You know, I've been telling Dabi for years he should just talk it out with his family since he's not a minor anymore so Endeavour doesn't have anything to say-"
"Oi, hold the fuck up" Katsuki hissed, interupting his little rant.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"
"Ah, I guess you wouldn't recognize me like this huh?" Shirakumo chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'm Kurogiri! Or at least, I was Kurogiri before Izuku-kun removed my quirk and rewinded the whole Nomu thingy All For One put me through. Doesn't really matter, I'm just glad to see you're all doing okay! I was really worried when Sho over here told me that Hisashi-"
"You're Kurogiri?" Katsuki deadpanned.
He'd known that shadow freak for years now and he never acted like this. No, this teen was way too happy peppy to be the always stern and emotionless caretaker of this home.
"Oh, I know what you're thinking! But Oboro, you act nothing like Kurogiri. That's because I wasn't allowed to display my emotions when I was a Nomu" Shirakumo explained, glancing at the clock that hung up on the wall.
"Himiko, it's time for your medication, I'll go grab-"
"You're not grabbing anything" Aizawa sensei stated, holding the teen back from leaving the room. He had to stop his old friend from working at least four times by now and he still didn't seem to get it.
"Right, don't work here anymore" Shirakumo mumbled before looking over at Tenko.
"Could you give her her medication then? You know where to find it, right?"
"Yeah, just leave it up to me" Tenko said, motioning for Toga to follow him.
"And don't force yourself. Dad might've made you work here, but you don't have to anymore. Mom and I have everything handled, I promise"
"Right, I know that, it's just... I'm worried about you guys" Oboro sighed.
"You don't have to be" Tenko assured him before leaving with Himiko.
"And you'll be able to stop by whenever you want to say hi so this isn't goodbye" Aizawa added.
"I know that!" Oboro whined.
"It are just old habits, I swear!"
Old habits... Katsuki hadn't realised that Shirakumo might still be under the influence of Hisashi, even after his body was reversed. He might still feel the impulse to care for them...
He didn't have a lot of time to think about it though, no, not when he suddenly walked in through the front door like he just returned from school, like nothing happened and nothing was wrong whatsoever. Izuku simply blinked, seemingly confused by all the people gathered downstairs. He hadn't expected basically everyone to be here, to be honest. He thought he might have the opportunity to slip into his room for a little bit and write down his new findings about the dimension warping quirk he encountered.
"Uhm... Hi?"
Chaos broke loose after that, people asking questions, making sure Izuku was alright, that he wasn't injured or traumatized.
"Oh, uhm, I kinda left on my own? I mean, there was no one around who told me I wasn't allowed to leave so I just uh took the initiative?" Izuku stammered out, not really knowing what to say. God, that did sound bad now that he said it out loud, didn't it?
"You escaped a high end security facility? Are you fucking serious?" Katsuki asked, both incredibly relieved and freaking the fuck out over this.
"How long have you been awake?" Hitoshi asked.
"Oh, uh, I think a couple of hours? I had to travel so long to get here, you have no idea!" Izuku complained.
"So you walked out of there? Just like that?" Shoto asked, finding it unlikely they'd let him go on his own.
"Well, I did have this quirk erasure cuffs on me when I woke up" Izuku started.
"And someone used their quirk on my room so it would keep looping around. A normal person would've been trapped there with no way out! But I broke out of the cuff pretty easily and after that I used-"
"You just made yourself a fuckign fugitive Deku, congrats" Katsuki interrupted him.
"Do you have any idea what kind of string Hisashi had to pull to drop all charges against you?!"
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't- I mean, I talked to dad a lot the last couple of days and-"
"You were in Tartarus?!" someone hissed in disbelief.
"Oh no! No, no, no, no, if I went to Tartarus I don't think they'd let me leave" Izuku rambled, quickly waving his hands around to make sure they got that idea out of their heads.
"No, I, uh, I was stuck, kinda? Uhm, inside my own head, you could say? All the time I've been in a coma, my mind was actually inside my quirk"
"You were talking to the fragment your father left behind" Shinsou said, having Izuku confirm it with a nod.
"He filled me in on what's been happening with him and the doctor and All Might and-"
Izuku cut himself short when his eyes fell on Oboro.
"-Shirakumo"
"Hey" the teen responded, not knowing what else to say. Tears welled up in Izuku's eyes as he walked over to the blue haired boy, wailing once he pulled him into a hug.
"Y-you're okay!" he cried out.
"I-I thought- The other Nomu, they- A-and I didn't think- I was so scared I killed you!"
For a moment, nobody spoke. Izuku was scared he had killed him... Like he killed all the other Nomu that he came into contact with that day.
"I'm fine, Izuku-kun" Oboro whispered, trying to comfort the green head.
"I'm quirkless, true, but I'm fine. I'm alive and healthy and you didn't hurt me at all!"
Well, that wasn't exactly true either. The condition he was left in after Izuku was done with him was quite bad, but he survived, and he remembered.
"Y-your quirk, I-I still have your quirk" Izuku stammered, pulling away.
"I can return it, I can give it back, if you want. Uhm, I'll need to give back the other quirks I stole too, so it's really no big deal! A-and I-"
"Calm down! There's no rush, I promise!" Oboro grinned.
"I'm just glad you're okay, Izuku-kun"
With that he started crying again, creating a cry fest as more and more residents joined in.
People wanted to set up a celebration to welcome Izuku back home, but agents of the Hero Commission soon arrived with orders to take Izuku away again. He was interrogated and poked and prodded by several researchers before he was allowed to return to society, but he was still allowed to walk freely and become a hero! He was even allowed to use multiple quirks as long as he didn't take or give any quirks. At least, not without the necessary registration and paperwork.
Izuku publicly apologized for the mess he created and invited his classmates over during the summer in order to explain everything to them. By the time the new term started, everything around him had settled down. Shinsou took the seat behind him in class, Shirakumo moved back into the home after being able to convince Aizawa sensei it's what he really wanted to do and the world around them moved on like nothing happened.
Well, that wasn't entirely true, because the world now had a new future number one hero to look forward to. One with a quirk for every occasion and every situation. A hero that would be able to save everyone within his reach, that was the kind of hero Izuku wanted to become. The kind of hero he would become.
A/N You've reached the end!! Congrats!! Thank you so much for reading, liking and commenting!! And if you're bored, please check out some of my other stories as well XD