What Have We Done To You?

Izuku sleepily fumbled for his PS Vita but all his hand fell on was cold, dry flesh. Even from brief contact Izuku could feel the skin was too stiff to be living and he recoiled in disgust. He hadn't been asleep for that long, he knew because his body didn't ache from the bad position. Certainly not long enough for person to die across from him and get cold and stiff. Izuku peeked an eye open made a face when he noticed that it was just one of Tomura's severed hands. He groaned as he sat up and nudged the thing to the other side of the table.

"Beat your high score," Tomura said blandly and Izuku rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before he spied the man hunched over the bar, furiously hitting the controls with only his pointer fingers. It looked a little silly but so long as he didn't destroy Izuku's console he could look as silly as he wanted.

"Of course you did, I only got to play for five minutes."

"Not my fault you fell asleep, 'Deku'."

Izuku made a face as he slid out of the booth and came to perch on the stool next to Tomura. He peered down at the brightly colored fight scene on the screen curiously. And that was . . . a really high score. Well in Izuku's defense he was at school while Tomura was fiddling with his games. The man had years of practice on him. "Don't you have your own?"

"I don't want to look for it and you weren't using yours."

Izuku groaned and pressed his forehead into Tomura's arm. He had been dog tired ever since he had been given the full All for One, but aside from falling asleep everywhere he was doing just fine. No flashes of white light or stabbing pain behind his eyes. "Where's Kurogiri?"

"Dunno. And if you fall asleep on my arm I'll shove you to the floor." With a dramatic groan Izuku slumped down to the counter, resting his face fully down on the polished wood. Exhaustion was eating away at the back of his thoughts, rubbing at the edges of his brain. He just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep somewhere warm and dark for at least thirty years.

"You gonna take your classmates quirks? You keep chattering about them so I want to see."

"No. I can't hold that many," Izuku grumbled into the counter, "and also they're my friends and I don't want to hurt them."

"Friends that you're plotting to betray?" Izuku lifted himself as a plate of fried eggplant was set between him and Tomura. He glared at Kurogiri without any force behind it, he didn't have it in him to even play at being malicious.

"I am not. Just All Might. And!" Izuku sat up suddenly as he put his hands on the counter, "I was thinking! Why do we need to, um, you know, attack him during school hours at all? I mean, there are so many heroes at U.A. and honestly even my classmates could take out our goons."

"I suppose we should wait until after your graduation, too?"

Izuku blushed scarlet. "N-no I just want to be practical." Kurogiri looked skeptical but he shrugged. "L-look. I can get one of my classmates a-and someone like All Might would rush to their rescue, wouldn't he? A-and we could hijack a couple stations to broadcast it across Japan!"

"And this would take place after the sports festival?"

"Well w-we would need time to plan everything out-"

"No," Tomura said without looking up. "I'm not fucking waiting that long. Stop being such a baby! We'll be fine no matter when we do it. Heroes don't have shit on us."

"What. N-no, heroes absolutely have shit on us! Tomura there are four of us – I m-mean not that the others like aren't good for nothing-"

"I call them battle fodder," Tomura cut in blandly.

"W-well that's a little harsh b-but yeah! And I mean there's only one completed Noumu, the rest have to stabilize a-and Sensei made a lot but it's n-not like I can make MORE so we should be careful. They're glass canons, really, so it would be better if we lured All Might away and then fought him where no one else can get in the way! A-and wat until at least half of them are ready."

"You argued that we needed to make a show of it yesterday and that was why it had to be during the sports festival."

Izuku threw up his arms before he wrapped them around his head. "You guys don't get it," he said weakly. Kurogiri hummed and Tomura giggled, but both clearly didn't believe him. He sank into himself and poked at the eggplant without any intent to eat it. ". . . m-maybe we should just go with the original plan . . ."

"You'll change your mind in twenty minutes. Eat, Izuku, then get some sleep." Kurogiri ruffled Izuku's shaggy mane of curls and the boy pouted. It wasn't like he was trying to get out of it but . . . attacking heroes would be dangerous. He folded his arms on the counter and rested his chin on his arms. Was it really so bad to want his friends on both sides didn't get hurt? All they were out to do was destroy the world All Might stood for. He pressed his teeth together and the plate chipped a little as frustration burned in his stomach.

"I . . . Y-you guys aren't thinking of me as your inside man. You're all just treating me like a dumb kid who's letting his dream get in the way of . . ." He kept his eyes downcast but he knew he had the attention of both Tomura and Kurogiri. "I-I can do more than just get information, you know. Sensei said All Might was weakening after their fight, right? W-well I can see for myself what his condition is. I can tell you guys in real time when to attack when the school and the students and All Might are all at their weakest. M-maybe the training exercise won't work a-and maybe the sports festival won't be the right time. But I have a perspective that none of the rest of us have and I-I can use it."

Tears were stinging at the corners of his eyes and he wiped his face furiously with his sleeve before he looked up. "I-I know I'm being selfish b-but please! Please believe that m-my only goal is Tomura's. I don't care a-about being a hero anymore a-and even my friends are . . . I d-don't need anything else. I don't want anything else. Except my PS vita, Tomura give it back."

"Nah," Tomura held it out of reach as Izuku swiped at it. He leaned back with a huge grin and he laughed, "finish what you were saying, I liked the direction you were going."

Izuku groaned and he flushed. He curled an arm around his head and he started rocking slightly. "Just . . . Have everyone ready, okay? I'm good at analyzing situations so I can text you guys if an opportunity arises. If it's Monday t-then it's Monday. If it's not then . . . then we can go from there."

A hand fell on Izuku's shoulder, firm but not preventing his rocking motion. After a second, Izuku peeked up from around his arm at Kurogiri. He was smiling slightly, Izuku could tell from the curve of his eyes. "That's a good plan, Izuku. All For One will be pleased when he hears of this."

Izuku felt his heart swell and he perked up, bouncing one of his legs against the stool as he continued to rock slightly. "Works for me," Tomura said blandly, "just don't make me wait too long." Izuku couldn't help the huge grin that spread across his face.

"I won't, I promise!"

XXX

Something was weird about Midoriya Izuku, she could hear it. Anyone could see it, he was a twitchy mess and had been since before class started. Bakugou had told mocked him for rocking in his seat and Midoriya had snapped back, telling Bakugou to shove it. Strange. Midoriya was never aggressive. Even Azawa had noticed that, she heard him grumbling under his breath about keeping those two aart.

Then when their hero costumes were pulled out Midoriya had trembled a little before he snatched up the case with his clothes. His heart was beating hard and he looked nervous and sick. Was changing into their hero costumes such a big deal? He seemed to love his the last time. Stranger yet stranger. Even if it was her natural inclination not to be nosey she couldn't help but wonder at how strange he was acting.

The worst was when he got on the bus. Midoriya had planted himself between Tsuyu and Kirishima and promptly folded into himself. He looked nauseas, he looked pale.

Jirou Kyouka was not often worried about others, but when no one else seemed to notice something was wrong with him it seemed like it was up to her.

When they got off the bus Midoriya looked ready to leap out of his skin, and he edged a little too close to Aizawa and Thirteen as they talked about All Might not being able to make it. It was hard to tell under the face mask and goggles but Kyouka was pretty sure he was agitated with the revelation. She saw his hand dig into one of his pockets and she heard the faint sounds of fingers tapping across a phone. The tone of each key was the same, but it was a large message and Kyouka wrinkled her brow. Something seriously, seriously strange was going down.

At least he was the sort of person who muttered as they typed, and she was able to catch "-Might isn't here, change of plans – tell – Sensei that-" there was a long pause before his pocket buzzed and Izuku ducked his head to read the text before he started taping away again. "Tell everyone sorry for me, especially – will know the reason – out of time – I don't fully understand it either-"

"Ah, please line up! I'll go over this exercise now!" Thirteen declared, pretending not to notice how many students were still fawning over her.

Kyouka kept her eyes on the back of his head as their teachers prattled around, not paying any attention until Thirteen's words ran through her "-So if you could please form teams of two we can get started!" What? Not randomized this time? Well that worked just fine for her and she tensed a little in his direction, waiting until Thirteen said, "So pair up then I will chose your zone! Please pick a classmate you believe will work well with you in a rescues situation."

She saw Denki heading in her direction only to see his face fall a second later as she charged forward. She felt an unexpected pang of guilt at the look he gave her and Kyouka shrugged in his direction. She could explain later, she figured.

Before anyone else could claim him, Kyouka had an arm around Midoriya's elbow and she waved her free hand. "We're a team!" She declared. The first team formed, and a few of their classmates were casting them baffled looks as Midoriya screeched shrilly.

"Wha-huh?"

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"Oh! U-uh, no Jirou! Th-I'm fine with that I wasn't t-trying to say that I didn't want t-to be- I'm just surprised w-with-"

"Stop talking," Kyouka said flatly and Midoriya yelped. He was completely rigid and Kyouka rolled her eyes. "Would you feel better if I let go of you?"

"Yes please."

Kyouka sighed as she slid her arm out from his but she still led him along by his sleeve. "Thirteen! Midoriya and I are forming a team! My quirk is ear jack and his is deconstruction." Thirteen seemed ecstatic and she started sorting through her papers, talking about which zone she wanted to take them to. Kyouka finally let go of Midoriya completely, letting her hands fall to her sides. He let out a shaky exhale and seemed to curl into himself and Kyouka felt a little guilty. He was clearly uncomfortable with how forceful she had been but after this she wouldn't bother him again. It was important, after all.

She leaned up and tapped his shoulder. "Hey, I thought it out Midoriya. I can hear where our target is and you can destroy everything in our way like you did during the entrance exam. We'll make a great practice team!" That was a pretty solid argument and after a pause Izuku nodded shyly.

"O-oh. I didn't think of that, Jirou, b-but I'll give it my all."

Uraraka paired up with Iida and they seemed happy enough together, and Denki paired up with Momo and had the audacity to look disappointed (he was paired with MOMO, come on Denki look alive!) Kyouka waved sheepishly at them with a little smile, though she had no intentions of explaining her odd behavior later to anyone except her best friend. Just one problem though. "Hey, were you listening to the rules at all?" Kyouka asked after Thirteen directed them towards the squall zone.

"We're supposed to rescue the dummies they set up within a time limit without causing harm to any of them." Izuku shifted uncomfortably and he put his hand over the sleeve where she had touched him. He really was sensitive to that sort of thing, wasn't he?

She leaned in closer to him without touching and she waved one of her ear jacks until he noticed and turned his head a little. Damn, couldn't he have asked for a little transparency in his goggles? She couldn't tell where he was looking at all! "Hey, sorry. I wasn't trying to upset you."

"I-I'm not upset." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and Kyouka laughed.

"You don't have to spare my feelings," She laughed, "I know I'm not your first pick. To be honest I would be paired up with Denki if I didn't need to talk to you."

"Y . . . you need to talk to me?"

Kyouka shivered as they entered the Squall zone and Midoriya pulled his hoodie shut over his chest using his hands still buried in his pockets. He was still texting away, although he was clearly trying to be subtle so she wouldn't notice. Whatever. Kyouka elbowed him and jerked her head in the direction of a small overhang and when it became clear that the pairing of Ojiro and Ashido would be going first. Midoriya nodded and edged to the side along with her.

"Um?" Midoriya asked.

"Jeeze, calm down! I'm not trying to corner you or anything. And I'm not flirting either. Trust me, you're not my type." Kyouka and glanced at the pro hero flipping out her stopwatch and raising an arm. This was about as alone as you could get during a school day and she folded her arms behind her back. There wasn't a super easy way to say it.

"Midoriya, I'm . . . worried . . . about you." Midoriya was unreadable, and Kyouka wanted to tug off his mask so she could just see if he was frowning at least. There was only so much a heartbeat could tell you. "Look, I don't know what's going on with you but you've been pretty fucked up recently." Why did he flinch at those words? "I can hear everything you say when you mutter in class, and I know you're really working yourself up. You're wrapped up in some rough stuff outside of school, aren't you?" Midoriya had gone rigid and he edged against the brick of the building they stood under, pressing his shoulders into the walls.

Kyouka put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Midoriya, I don't know if you've noticed this but you do have friends. Uraraka and Iida love you, man. If you just told them a little then wouldn't you feel better?"

There was a long pause before Midoriya said, "Y-you're right." His voice sounded heavy and more broken than usual and Kyouka's heart sank. "You don't know what's going on with me. I-I know you want to help Jirou b-but I – I have a friend I can talk to about this. So please don't worry about me!"

She was absolutely worried about him. More so now than when they started.

"Look Midoriya, I don't want to force you into anything, and who the hell am I to judge? But sometimes I get the feeling that you might hate yourself and . . . I've been there too, you know?" Kyouka elbowed him lightly and shrugged. "Well, if it works for you then it works. Just keep in mind that there are people who care about you, okay? Sometimes if you talk to someone outside of your family it can help."

"What if . . . I wanted to talk to you then, Jirou? I-I mean you didn't tell anyone the stuff you overheard, did you?"

Kyouka's eyes widened and she pressed her lips together. Well she hadn't expected that. "Well, sure I guess. Do you . . . want to?" Midoriya made an expression she couldn't see, and when he remembered that he shrugged dramatically. Kyouka almost wanted to punch him in frustration. "Well, do whatever you want. If you do want to talk to me I'm a good listener." She wiggled one of her ear jacks helpfully and Midoriya made a muffled sound she thought was laughter. He was a cute kid, for a dude anyway. "Hey, how about I give you my phone number? Then you can talk to me whenever you want. You have to put me in as jackROCK though. Rock in all caps. I can add you too the group chat too, if you want – a lot of the girls in our class get super chatty after one in the morning."

Midoriya looked flustered and he rubbed the back of his neck before he nodded, ". . . Okay. But you have to put me in as 'the bad guy' then."

She laughed and shook her head. "You got a weird sense of humor, dude. Besides that's too long! How about I put you in as 'villain'?"

"W-works for me. Ah, uh, Uraraka is going to change it to Deku anyway."

"Yeah, probably." Kyouka grinned at him and punched his shoulder lightly. "but Villain does sound cooler."

XXX

"Thirteen held up three fingers when he told Aizawa All Might wouldn't be there, but I have no idea what that could mean," Izuku said with a frustrated sigh. He jabbed at his notebook so hard his pen stuck through the light paper, and with a small hiss Izuku changed the page to a fresh one.

"It's likely a signal that meant he had already fully exerted himself," Sensei said mildly, not bothering to look away from his newspaper.

Izuku frowned and rolled his chair a little closer to the other end of the table. "What do you mean?"

"His body is no longer able to constantly use One for All – one of the men I have on him has reported back that he is barely capable of maintaining four hours a day and that time limit is diminishing constantly."

"Quirks can caught that much damage?" Sensei glanced up before he wordlessly gestured to the vats filled with mostly completed Noumu, already horrendously deformed by their own quirk mutations. "Right," Izuku said. He kicked his heels against the floor again and rolled back down the table to his pile of homework. Mathematics. It came so naturally and effortless to him that he barely needed to pay any attention to what he was doing. He was nothing if not analytical after all, and numbers were far easier to work with than the attributes of people.

Quadratics, a little basic for U.A., wasn't it? Izuku rocked a little as he jotted down his answers, not even bothering to 'show his work'. What was the point if he got the right number? He noticed Sensei folding his newspaper out of the corner of his eye before he sat it on the end of the table and folded his hands on his lap. Izuku tensed a little, knowing Sensei was going to start talking soon but adamantly focusing on his papers even though his mind had started running in circles. Negative B plus and – had Sensei somehow heard about his conversation with Jirou? Or maybe he could just tell Izuku was distracted – Minus four A C over – she thought he hated himself. She said she had hated herself, too.

No one had ever said something like that to him before. He wanted to know what she meant.

Sensei cleared his throat and Izuku's eyes darted over to look at him.

Was he about to tell him about All for One? About One for All? All Might? U.A? Tomura?

"Kurogiri told me your reasoning for pushing back the date of our attack." Izuku set down his pen and swiveled in his leather chair so he was facing the old man. His green eyes were wide and brimming with curiosity as Sensei spoke, "I won't lie, I did wonder as to your true intentions when you were pushing for it so hard but now that I see your reasoning I am proud of you. Such forward thinking will truly benefit both Tomura and yourself in the future."

Izuku turned bright red. Praise had to be hard earned when it came to Sensei, but it was never hollow and Izuku was delighted every time he managed to earn it. He forced himself to sit up straight backed and formal, and he suddenly felt incredibly underdressed. Maybe he shouldn't wear ratty hoodies every time he went to the labs. Kurogiri looked pretty stylish, maybe he would help Izuku find a fitted suit?

He almost jumped when Sensei spoke again. Izuku really needed to work on not getting so wrapped up in his own head. "You've adapted remarkably well to this . . . 'change' in sides."

Izuku suddenly was glad he had a hoodie, you couldn't really shrink into a suit. "W-well, it was –" Izuku scratched his cheek with one light finger as he looked at the floor. "I think . . . I didn't really change, Sensei. I was always on Tomura's side. H-he's right. People think of violence for the sake of others is admirable. But v-violence breeds violence and if s-someone else says that one is 'heroic' and the other is 'villainous' th-then I will gladly be anything the world wants to call me s-so long as I can act for the sake of Tomura. And I think t-that's heroic enough for me. I-it feels like the right thing to do, I know it's the right thing to do. I always believed in that. I-I haven't given up on being a hero, I just want to be a hero f-for Tomura."

With a deep breath Izuku rested his hands on his knees and raised his chin so he was looking at where his Sensei's eyes should have been. "I've always wanted to fight for Shigaraki Tomura, I've always believed in him. If t-there is a change in me then al i-it is is a strengthening of my own resolve. I'm okay with being called a villain by the world now – i-it doesn't matter who I-I have to be now."

"Then you have become a much greater person than you were a month ago, and all the more deserving of praise," his Sensei said evenly.

Pride surged through his heart, mixed with some emotion Izuku didn't really understand. It was strange, something about the way Sensei was talking was worrying him in a way Izuku hadn't really experienced before. Something about the way he was talking almost made it seem like . . . he was planning on leaving things to Tomura and Izuku sooner than Izuku was ready for. It felt like he was being prepared for a grand finale that he didn't know that he was ready for.

XXX

The train ride home was long and boring, and Izuku had been staring at the message on his phone for the last half hour. This was a bad idea. He did not need or want to do this.

He hit send.

XXX

Villain: Hey Jirou? I've been thinking about what you said and I'd like to talk. Not over text, though. Can you meet me on the roof during lunch tomorrow?

jackROCK: k

jackROCK: bring me food tho, i don't have time to make lunch

Villain: Do you like eggplant?

jackROCK: UGH

Villain: I'm making eggplant

jackROCK: UUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHH

jackROCK: dick

Villain: See you tomorrow, Jirou!

jackROCK: yeah yeah see u