Recovery

Rei was panicking. Her heart was pounding away so hard that she could physically feel it, and her blood was running cold.

She'd just settled down to get some sleep when that chime went off in her head, from one of Izuku's quirks, instantly chasing away any tiredness she felt. It set her off immediately, working her into an adrenaline-fueled panic. Whenever Izuku used that quirk, it meant that something was going wrong. That there was an emergency and he needed her help. The last time he'd used it, when he was taking part in a training exercise, was a very rare exception to that rule.

She found herself hoping that she would hear him say that it wasn't an emergency, and that he just needed to contact her, even as the initial chime faded out and she heard his message come through.

[S.O.S.]

[USJ under attack. Villains.]

Rei would've thought that her hearts had stopped right then if they weren't thundering away so hard that it was almost painful.

Throwing off the blanket she'd been tucked under, she made for the door as quickly as she could, coming very close to charging straight through it when it almost took too long to open.

She made it across the apartment in seconds, reaching her office and nearly knocking her entire desk over in her haste to settle in front of it.

Her mind raced as her computer booted up, considering her options. Yueii needed to be alerted. Izuku presumably wouldn't resort to calling her unless he thought the threat was more than he could handle – which was a scary thought on its own –, or if he and his class were isolated, with everyone else unaware. The police needed to know as well, between them and Yueii, they could have heroes and police headed there in a matter of minutes.

Her eyes narrowed as she waited. If she had to, she would find a way to have every hero in the country bearing down on the school.

As soon as her computer was up, she went through the, now familiar, motions of gaining entry into Yueii's network. She would make sure that everyone in the school knew what was happening. Already her hands were darting across the keyboard, putting things into motion.

Oh what a marvel modern technology was. Absolutely everything was connected to the internet.

She set the intruder alarms off as loud as they were physically capable of going, typing out a message to be played through them. As soon as that was done, she took over every device with a screen that was connected to the network and did the same thing, with the added effect of displaying a visible message.

By the time it was taking effect, she was already dialing Tsukauchi's number, voice changer up and running before the first number. Thankfully, with it being her number and not Oni's, the detective answered before the second ring. He didn't delete her number after every other call like he did with Oni. Because if she was the one calling, then that typically meant that shit had hit the fan and his help was needed.

"Phantom. What is it? What's-"

"Tsukauchi you need to get to Yueii." She interrupted. "It's been invaded by villains and is currently under attack."

She could already hear him scrambling from wherever he was with those words.

"What!? What do you mean!?"

"There's no time. Just get over there. Call Nezu to confirm if you have to, just do it after you've sent everyone you can. They need help."

"I'm on-" He ended the call before he could even get the words out.

With the right people warned, Rei started trying to access cameras or sensors – anything that would work – at the USJ, but found everything nonfunctional.

That didn't stop her from trying again though. She would keep doing everything she could until she knew that Izuku and Ochako were safe.

---

Yagi let out a sigh of relief as Etsumi slumped against him, already unconscious. He pulled the boy tight against his chest, one arm working to fold Etsumi's wings back into place as gently as he could. He knelt down, resting a hand on the back of Etsumi's head as he attempted to calm the thundering of his heart.

He ignored the throbbing in his hand as took in his surroundings. The USJ was in ruin.

Bodies of what he assumed were the invading villains littered the courtyard, unmoving. Hopefully they were just unconscious and not dead; they might be villains who had put his students at risk, but he certainly didn't want them to die. The courtyard itself looked as though it was the site of a catastrophe, riddled with craters and with chunks of ground torn up and displaced.

His hands tightened their grip on his unconscious student, his friend, though careful not to hurt.

There had been a fight here, a battle for survival, and he had missed it.

He, Yagi Toshinori, All Might, the number one hero and symbol of peace, had missed the fight, leaving his students and fellow teachers to fend for themselves when they needed him.

He grit his teeth, his trademark smile nowhere to be seen. If only he hadn't used up his time.

Yagi had gotten carried away on his way to Yueii that morning and used up his entire time limit before he even made it there. He just heard the first call for help mid-trip and couldn't resist it, the urge to rush to the rescue, nor any of the ones that came after.

He'd stopped in the teacher's lounge as soon as he arrived, hoping to recover enough to at least make an appearance at the USJ before the lesson ended. Just as he felt that he'd recovered enough, Principal Nezu had found him and started a long-winded conversation about teaching. One that Yagi suspected was solely to make him wait longer before forcing his transformation.

He'd been about to force his way out of the talk, having been growing increasingly impatient through it, when the school around them seemed to explode into chaos.

The intruder sirens all went off at once, screeching much like they had the day before. Only, instead of alerting them to a threat like it normally would, a horrifically distorted voice sounded out, announcing that the USJ had been invaded by villains and was under attack. At the same time, every screen in the room, including his and Nezu's phones, flashed and crackled with distorted static before the same message appeared across them and played from their speakers.

His heart had jumped into his throat, Nezu's expression matching his horror, and he'd been transformed and halfway through the door when Nezu told him – ordered him would be more accurate, with the tone of voice he'd used – to wait until the other teachers had been gathered. That they needed to address this carefully, and that barging in could put people at risk.

It had taken all of three minutes to have the teachers gathered into at a bus in front of the school – evidently every screen in the school had been affected – but it was still a painfully long time for Yagi, especially when he could've already made it to the USJ by then.

When they arrived, Yagi had transformed and was off the bus before it even came to a stop. He got there to see the doors pried open, and half of his class gathered just on the other side, looking after the mangled bodies of his colleagues and watching the courtyard down below them.

He reached the steps just in time to hear Etsumi scream, his voice so loud and full of anger that it was nearly unrecognizable; before that moment, Yagi had never seen the boy angry, or raise his voice more than just higher than a regular speaking voice.

In an instant, he had charged down the stairs to dispatch the offending villains, leaving them sprawling across the ground as he took in Etsumi's appearance. The boy was soaked to the bone and covered in blood, and he radiated such an intense bloodlust that it made even All Might hesitate. If only from the shock at seeing his friend and student display a killing intent that was second only to that fiend All For One.

When he'd turned to look at Yagi, Etsumi's eyes seemed to look right through him. There was no recognition in them at all, only anger.

Before Yagi could even get two words out, Etsumi was on him, throwing a punch that he just barely matched, followed an instant later by a second one.

Yagi was sent reeling at the sheer force behind them. He'd known Etsumi was strong, but this was on another level entirely. He very nearly lost his focus when he found himself getting pushed back. As surprised as he was by the unexpected strength and as weakened as he was by his suffocating time limit, he was still All Might; he was not one to be pushed back.

Then, as soon as he spoke, Yagi watched the anger and bloodlust fade away to recognition and confusion, watched as they bled away to leave only exhaustion.

As he held Etsumi against his chest, drawing comfort from the boy's slow, steady breaths, he found himself wondering what on Earth had happened. With as strong as Etsumi evidently was, what had happened to draw out this sort of reaction? What had he faced that put him in this condition?

The sound of footsteps behind him drew Yagi out of his thoughts. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Yamada and Kayama – Present Mic and Midnight – running over towards him.

"Is he okay?" Yamada asked, panting from his trip down the stairs.

"I believe so." Yagi answered. "He seems to merely be exhausted. He collapsed as soon as he realized the fight was over."

"Poor kid." Kayama said, kneeling next to him. "Are you sure he's not hurt? He's covered in blood."

"I'm not sure. I didn't see any injuries, but I only had a few seconds to look him over."

"We'll take care of him." Yamada cut in, kneeling down and holding his arms out. "We'll check him over until Recovery Girl can get to him."

Yagi hesitated, not entirely willing to let go. Something in him wanted to keep Etsumi close.

"Toshinori." Kayama said, seeing his hesitation. "Half of the class is still unaccounted for. You're the fastest one here. We need you to find them and make sure they're safe."

He sighed; she was right, he couldn't let his emotions keep him from doing his duty as a hero and a teacher. Handing Etsumi over to Yamada, who lowered the boy gently to the ground, he stood up, rising to his full height. He needed to make sure the rest of his students were safe.

Turning his head, he picked out his destination, then the ground fractured beneath him as he took off.

---

Hizashi stared down at the student on the ground, whose head was resting on his folded legs. He and Nemuri had given Etsumi a once-over to make sure he didn't have any injuries to be worried about and, finding none, had switched to simply keeping an eye on him, making sure he was still breathing.

The fact that he seemed to have no injuries, despite the amount of blood on him, was slightly concerning, but so long as the kid wasn't hurt, everything else could be worried about later.

Hizashi's brow was creased as he stared, studying Etsumi's face. He once again found himself feeling like he recognized him. Something about this image – not only his face, but the fact that the kid was covered in blood – was familiar, like he'd seen it before. Then his eyes drifted down to Etsumi's tail, and it clicked.

"That's it!" He said with a small gasp.

"What?" Nemuri questioned, looking up at him. "What's it?"

He looked over at her. "I remember where I've seen him before."

She quirked an eyebrow. "He's your student, Hizashi. I sure hope you've seen him before."

"No, I mean before. Before the entrance exams, even."

He looked back down at Etsumi, finally drawing the connections.

"It was years ago. Back during our third year of Yueii. I was interning with Crimson Riot. I was patrolling, and came across a disturbance in an alleyway. When I went to check it out, I found a half-naked man screaming his head off with two kids not too far away, one of whom looked like they'd been beaten within an inch of their life."

Hizashi looked back up at her. "Both of the kids had giant snake tails instead of legs."

Her eyes widened a bit. "And you think that Etsumi was one of them?"

"I don't know about you, but I haven't seen very many quirks like this. The only times I have are with Etsumi, and with those two kids."

"What happened to them?"

"I have no idea. They slipped away while I was occupied with the man. I tried to look for them later, but didn't have any luck."

He sighed. "They were both so small, and the one looked half-dead. But if I'm right and Etsumi here was one of them, then hopefully the other ended up okay as well."

"I-."

"Izuku!" Hizashi heard a voice from the stairs yell out. Looking over revealed two of his students, Uraraka and Asui, running over.

"Is he okay!?"

"He's fine." Nemuri answered. "Just asleep."

"What are you listeners doing down here?" He asked. "You need to be up there getting checked over."

"We're fine." Uraraka answered, out of breath as she stopped right next to them. "But Izuku… He was hurt. His- his arm was… And he still fought that- that monster all by himself."

"His arm? What happened to his arm?" Nemuri asked, just as Hizashi asked "Monster?"

Uraraka, now kneeling next to Etsumi, shook her head as she grabbed his hand. Hizashi could see the tears in her eyes. Asui, who was still standing just behind her, spoke up in her place.

"The villains had someone with them who was as big as All Might." She said. "They called it 'Noumu' and said that it was the 'Anti Symbol of Peace.' Etsumi was fighting it, and was trying to subdue it, but the leader used his quirk on him."

"His-." She hesitated a moment, dry swallowing. "His arm was turned to dust. It was gone."

Hizashi's eyes widened at her words, and they snapped to Etsumi's arms, making sure that he and Nemuri hadn't missed something that obvious. They drifted over to his left, the side of him that was almost drenched in blood.

"How…" He started to ask, before Nemuri cut him off.

"What happened to the Noumu? And the leaders? Are they still here?"

Asui shook her head. "The two leaders got away right before you got here. One of them can make portals of some kind. And Etsumi took the Noumu into the water," she pointed over at the flood disaster zone, "They went under, and Etsumi came out a minute later. The Noumu didn't."

Hizashi gulped. To think that a student had been forced to kill because of Yueii's failure to keep them safe. And it sounded like he'd been seriously injured – the blood made more sense in that context -, but he showed no sign of those injuries now. That left the question of what had happened to him. Had he healed?

He felt wind brush his face and looked up at the stairs to see All Might depositing students at the top, before vanishing again. He also saw a few other teachers making their way down to start securing the villains and to look for any others.

Among them was Recovery Girl, making a beeline for the student on the ground.

He sighed as she forced the other two students to the side. Gently lowering Etsumi's head to the ground, Hizashi stood up, joined a moment later by Nemuri. With Recovery Girl there to take over, they would join the rest of the teachers to make sure everyone was safe.

---

Ochako tapped her foot, trying to dispel the nervous energy that was buzzing away within her. Her hands were clasped in her lap, thumbs worrying at her skin.

She was sitting in Yueii's infirmary, next to the bed that they had settled Izuku's top half into, with Tsu – as she'd requested that Ochako call her – right beside her.

It had taken her and All Might together to manage to move Izuku from the USJ; with him being too heavy for anyone else, and too large and cumbersome for even All Might to carry on his own. She'd used her quirk on him, and All Might had maneuvered him onto the bus that had brought them there. When they got back to Yueii, Cementoss took down an entire wall to get him inside, and then combined three rooms together to be able to fit him.

It had worn her out, moving him there; she'd had no idea that Izuku weighed so much. Between that and the actual events of the invasion, she was utterly exhausted.

But at the same time, the nervous energy was keeping her awake.

Everyone else had been checked out already by Recovery Girl. Aside from Izuku, Mister Aizawa, and Thirteen, everyone was mostly uninjured. Tokoyami had a cut on his leg, Yaoyorozu, Jirou, and Kaminari were a bit bruised up, and Iida had apparently dislocated his arm when the smoke villain had caught him and put him in one of the zones. But otherwise everyone was fine, if a little shaken up.

Though, when Recovery Girl had arrived to look at Izuku, she'd declared that he was uninjured. It was, simultaneously, both confusing and not to Ochako. Confusing because she'd seen him loose his arm, and take so many Earth-shattering hits from the monster, the Noumu. How could anyone take all of that and not be hurt?

But at the same time, it wasn't confusing because she'd been watching him when he got out of the water. She'd watched as his arm grew back. It wouldn't be all that surprising to her if whatever had caused that had healed the rest of him too.

She had no idea how he'd been healed. Whether it was his own doing – if it had been him, then why didn't he do it before? – or someone else's, but she found that she really didn't care that much. All that really mattered to her was that he was okay. That he was safe.

They had also all been questioned by a detective that had arrived just after the teachers, who had introduced himself as Tsukauchi. He'd asked her to go over everything that had happened, especially when Izuku was fighting the monster and when he'd been healed.

For some reason, after she'd finished, he'd also asked her if she had seen anyone there with horns and wings, who might've been wearing a suit and a mask. She hadn't, and when she answered as much the detective had seemed slightly put-off and confused.

And now, cleaned up and changed back into her school uniform, she was waiting for Izuku to wake up.

Actually, no, it was almost the opposite, they were all waiting for him to actually sleep. She had thought that he was sleeping – he certainly seemed unconscious enough back at the USJ - but he was awake. Once they'd gotten him into the infirmary, and Recovery Girl had cleaned him up, finally getting rid of the blood that stained him, she'd gone to put a needle to his arm – Ochako wasn't entirely sure what for, but Recovery Girl was the doctor, not her – only for Izuku to swat it out of her hands. He'd dragged his eyes open, fixing Recovery Girl with a stare that was simultaneously hyper-focused and unseeing and uttered a simple "No needles," before his eyes drooped shut once more.

That drove Recovery Girl – and Ochako as well to a lesser degree – into something of a frenzy; Evidently she had believed he was asleep as well. She darted all around him, checking things and running tests that Ochako didn't understand, even pulling one of his eyes open and shining a light into it, which he made a half-hearted attempt to swat away. She tried twice more to stick him with a needle, both times to set up a bag of fluids next to him, and both times being rebuffed. The final attempt ended with a much more irritated Izuku threatening to leave, that she could either settle for examining him without needles, or not at all.

Recovery had agreed, albeit extremely reluctantly. She settled for demanding that he let himself sleep, so that his body could recover, but by then he'd already closed his eyes again and wasn't responding to anything.

Once everything had settled down, she'd made two calls. The first was to her parents, who had already received the news and were relieved to find her okay. She'd managed to convince them not to drop everything and rush to Yueii, but only under the condition that she have a video call with them later and tell them everything that had happened.

The second was to Rei.

When Ochako called her, she was already on her way to the school, having left as soon as she'd been alerted. She'd also seemed relieved when Ochako called, both that she was unhurt and that Izuku was okay as well, if utterly exhausted. Rei ended the call fairly quickly, leaving off with a promise to see them both soon.

She sighed, unclenching her hands and scrubbing at her eyes, holding them there for a few seconds afterwards.

She heard Tsu shuffle in the chair next to her, drawing her out of her thoughts.

"So… You and Etsumi seem pretty close." Tsu started off.

Ochako raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you've been calling him by his given name, and you called his parents earlier, or at least his guardian from the sound of it. And you two have been coming and going from Yueii together. I've seen the two of you flying in and out."

Ochako sighed again. "That was his sister that I called, not his parents. And we arrive and leave together because I've been living with them."

She wasn't entirely prepared to tell Tsu all about her previous living situation – nothing more than the basics –, but she didn't have any issue talking about her current one. Rei and Izuku had both stressed before that it was only a secret if she wanted it to be, that she could tell whoever she wanted, so long as she wasn't actively handing the address out.

Her parents already knew, of course. Ochako had told them the day after the switch happened, which had resulted in a lengthy video call that involved both Rei and Izuku for most of that evening. They were wary at first, but the call had soothed their nerves, especially when Rei had convinced them that she and Izuku had the money and space to do so. That, and a promise for all of them to have similar conversations in the future had satisfied them for the time-being.

As for why she was referring to Izuku by his given name… She wasn't entirely sure. She already did so occasionally when they were at home, necessary in order to distinguish him from his sister, but up until today, she'd still been calling him Etsumi when they were alone or in public. Ochako didn't fully know why she'd made the switch, but at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to switch back. Calling him Izuku just seemed right to her.

Besides, if he didn't want her to, he would tell her later. For now, she would enjoy it.

This time it was Tsu's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You've been living with him? Why?"

"My parents live in a different city." She explained. "But money is… tight, so the place that we'd found for me to live while I'm going to Yueii wasn't exactly the best. Izuku found out and made the offer to live with him instead."

She looked over at Tsu. Despite the situation, and everything that had happened that day, the other girl had a small smile on her face.

"Etsumi does seem like the sort of person to do that." She said. "I was a little intimidated by him at first, because of his quirk and because of how strong he is, but he's actually really nice."

Ochako hummed in agreement, and they both sat in silence for a minute, before Tsu spoke up again.

"He saved us."

She turned to look at Ochako again, this time with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Back there, when we were in the water. Etsumi stopped the leader before he could get to us. His hands were so close. If Etsumi hadn't shown up, we would've been turned to dust."

Ochako shivered at the thought, and as that scream echoed through her head again, but Tsu wasn't done.

"And then the Noumu. None of us would've been able to do anything to stop it. Not with how fast and strong it was. It felt like it was as strong as All Might himself."

Ochako looked back over at Izuku, resting on his back on the infirmary bed, his wings framing him while his tail stretched out across the space that used to be the other two rooms.

Tsu was right. If it weren't for Izuku, she and Tsu and probably Mineta and everyone else would've been dead before any of the teachers could make it. She hadn't even been able to react when that man had been reaching for her.

She reached out to take his hand again, taking comfort in the warmth.

She would have to be stronger if she wanted to be the one to help him next time, assuming there even was a next time; and oh, how she hoped against hope that there wouldn't be. If she were stronger, then he wouldn't have to protect her, he wouldn't have to fight alone.

The minutes stretched out in silence as they sat there like that, waiting.

Eventually, Ochako heard a voice in the distance. The words were incomprehensible, but she recognized the speaker immediately.

Apparently Izuku did as well, because as soon as the voice sounded out, his entire body seemed to jerk. His hand clenched tight around hers, though not hard enough to be painful, and released it again as he dragged himself upright just in time for the door to burst open.

"Izuku!"

---

Rei did her best to keep her breathing under control as she made her way to Yueii. It took everything in her to keep her head as she traveled, everything going much too slow for her liking.

Had she been able to, she would've been out the door and headed to Yueii as soon as she warned them, but the more rational part of her prevailed. She needed to wait until the school actually called her about it before she could do anything. There would obviously be questions if she showed up before anyone had even been told.

Now though, now that they had told her, the desire to get to Izuku, to be at his side, had become a physical need. She needed to know that he was okay, that Ochako was okay. Nothing would get in her way.

Her nerves had settled somewhat when Ochako called her, assuring her that they were both okay, though there was still the fact that Izuku obviously wasn't able to make that call himself.

As the front gates came into view, she caught sight of the crowd of people surrounding them. Most looked like reporters, though others looked like they might've been parents or family members trying to get to their children. There was a line of police officers and heroes blocking their path. They obviously weren't messing around with security after the invasion.

As she neared the crowd, some of them spotted her, and immediately scrambled to get out of her way, pulling others with them. Something about either her appearance or the atmosphere around her made the crowd part like the Red Sea.

A good thing, too, as she'd had no plans to stop for any of them.

The police officers weren't quite so keen to move though, and it took one of the heroes – Present Mic, she noted – to pull them aside to let her in. She barely slowed down as she did, and he moved to catch up.

"Etsumi, I take it?" He asked from beside her.

"Yes."

"I figured. The tail makes it slightly obvious. Follow me, Izuku is in the infirmary."

She slowed down ever so slightly at that to allow him to take the lead. She wanted to get to Izuku, but she didn't know the way to him.

A few minutes later – that dragged on far too long for her liking – and they had entered a large room that was clearly the infirmary – if the sign above the door hadn't been a clear enough indicator – with doors lining it.

"Which one is his?" She questioned.

The hero pointed at one, and she was moving immediately, ignoring anything he might've said.

She burst through the door to see Izuku upright on a hospital bed, with Ochako and another girl sitting by his side.

"Izuku!"

He was in her arms in an instant – almost falling onto her with how tired he clearly was – and Rei felt the nerves and anxiety that had been wracking her since his call for help begin to melt away at his touch. He was okay. He was safe.

"Rei." He whispered from where his head was resting on her shoulder. "I'm okay. I'm here."

"I was so worried."

He didn't say anything in response, didn't have to. Neither of them were strangers to being at risk. This wasn't the first time that one of them had been in danger, and it almost certainly wouldn't be the last. They drew more than enough comfort from the embrace without having to speak.

Rei glanced over to where Ochako and the other girl were sitting, watching the exchange. She could see the worry in their eyes.

"Ochako." She said, reaching an arm out towards her in an unspoken invitation.

Ochako didn't hesitate, rushing over immediately to join the embrace, head resting on Rei's other shoulder. At this point, she was a part of their family, and Rei had been almost as worried about her as she had been about Izuku, if not just as much.

With the two most important people in her life safe and sound in her arms, Rei felt the last of the anxiety bleed away.

She let it drag on for several minutes, drawing as much comfort from it as she could, before pulling back slightly.

"You can sleep now Izuku. You'll be safe. I'm here."

She could practically feel how exhausted he was. Even with how little he actually slept, it was rare to see him like this, so devoid of energy. He was always alert, always paying attention, and barely ever showed any sign of exhaustion.

So for him to be this worn down was saying something. It was clear that it had been more than just a simple villain invasion. At this point, she knew that the only thing keeping him upright – aside from her – was his 'Insomnia' quirk.

He hummed softly in agreement, and she heard him speak, just barely audible even with how close she was.

"No needles. No blood."

She nodded. She knew why he was insisting that. Aside from the fact that he utterly despised anything that would take away the control he had over himself – which included medicine and drugs that might knock him out – all it would take is one blood test to expose his quirk.

"I know. Don't worry. I'll make sure."

Rei felt him nod ever so slightly against her, before his body sagged completely, resting all his weight on her. She caught him and lowered him back down on to the bed as gently as she could, Ochako having stepped back as soon as he dropped.

Settling down next to his bed, coiling her tail up beneath her, she let out a sigh.

Looking back over at Ochako, Rei extended her arm again, inviting the girl over. Once she was within arm's reach, Rei pulled her into another embrace, settling her on the tail that was coiled beneath them. Izuku was asleep now, which was what he needed, but Ochako was still here, and what she needed was comfort and support. So that's exactly what Rei would provide.

---

Izuku was floating.

He was just barely aware enough to know that he was sleeping, and that he had been for some time. He both felt time passing by at its usual pace and felt it passing in the unusual manner that could only ever be experienced while asleep.

It was surreal; to simultaneously be aware and unaware of himself. Maybe it had something to do with how exhausted he'd been. He'd certainly never slept for this long before. He wasn't exactly sure how long it had been, but he knew it had been some time; definitely more than a day.

He wasn't even dreaming, just riding the waves of nothingness as the world moved on around him, completely oblivious to anything that happened.

It was relaxing in a way that he didn't often get a chance to experience.

---

Eventually – it could've been mere hours or it could've been entire days – Izuku felt himself starting to draw closer to the surface, to rise up from the sea of nothingness. He let it happen; he knew that he had recovered a great deal, and that it was almost time to wake up. As comfortable as he was, he knew that it couldn't last forever.

So he let himself drift ever closer to the surface, enjoying the last fragments of rest that he could.

---

When Izuku finally woke up, it was without fanfare, or noise, or anything special at all. He simply opened his eyes, and became aware of his surroundings.

The first thing he did was run a mental checklist of his quirks, sorting through the heat and making sure everything was where it was supposed to be. He pulled on one of them experimentally – a strength quirk he usually kept active – and felt it settle into place with only the barest hints of soreness in his chest.

When he didn't feel anything else, he very carefully shifted himself so that he was sitting upright. It wasn't the most comfortable – with his tail being the way it was, it wasn't exactly convenient to be sitting back like this – but it was better than lying flat, especially with his wings.

Once he was settled, he started pulling on a few other quirks over the course of several minutes, drawing comfort from his usual ones being pulled back into place. He felt just a little tired by the end of it, but that didn't matter, because he felt like himself again. Having so few quirks active didn't sit right with him. It left him feeling cold and somewhat vulnerable, exposed.

With the warmth suffusing his body the way it was supposed to, he reached an arm out to the side and placed a gentle hand on Rei's head, which had come to rest on his bed at some point.

It was just the two of them in the room together. Ochako and Tsuyu were nowhere to be seen.

After a few minutes of simply soaking in her presence, Izuku started running his hand across her head, slowly rousing her from her sleep.

Soon enough she was sitting up, hair ruffled from her position and sleep heavy in her eyes. She blinked groggily at him a few times before she finally seemed to become aware of what was happening, her eyes widening once she had.

"Izuku!" She exclaimed softly, almost diving at him.

"I'm here, Rei." He said, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm back."

"Ochako told me what happened." She said, holding him tight. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"So am I. But there are things that happened that I need to talk to you about. Big things."

She pulled back slightly to look him in the eyes, her own widening slightly. "You mean…?"

She knew that he was talking about quirks.

He nodded. "Among other things. A lot happened. Some of it has dangerous implications. I'll go over it all as soon as we get home."

"Okay." She responded, going back to hugging him. "Once we're home. For now, I'm just glad to see you awake."

He hummed contentedly, and the two of them stayed like that for a time, until Izuku brought up the question he'd been meaning to ask as soon as he'd become aware of his surroundings.

"Where's Ochako? I seem to remember her and Tsuyu being here before I fell asleep."

"It's been three days, Izuku. I convinced her to go back home, and one of the heroes, Midnight, offered to escort her there; everyone is still on edge after the attack. And Tsuyu's parents picked her up not long after you fell asleep."

Izuku frowned. He wasn't too sure if he like the idea of a hero knowing where he lived. But it had been to ensure Ochako's safety, so he supposed he could live with it. Besides, it wasn't as if Yueii didn't already have his address on file somewhere.

Aside from that though; three days.

Three whole days he'd been asleep. He knew that he'd been drained after the fight had ended, but it must've been worse than he thought; even after the trigger incident all those months ago he'd only slept for the better part of a day, not even eighteen hours.

It warmed his heart, though, despite that, to know that Rei had been with him for that entire time.

"By the way." She continued. "You should prepare yourself. Once everyone realizes that you're awake, they'll want your account of what happened. They brought in Tsukauchi to take statements."

Well, shit.

Any other official or police officer, and he could've gotten away with lying outright, only having to keep close enough to the truth that it matched up to anything that anyone else might've seen, villains included.

But with Tsukauchi, things become exponentially more difficult. He would have to be incredibly careful with what he said, and stay away from absolutes and specifics as much as possible.

Even worse was the fact that Tsukauchi would no doubt ask about how he'd healed from the injuries that most of his class had no doubt seen.

Shit. He was going to have his work cut out for him.

"I'll deal with it." He ensured. "Don't worry. For now, they don't need to know that I'm awake. Until then, we can stay like this."

Rei seemed all too happy to comply, wrapping her arms even tighter around him, which he reciprocated. They settled into a comfortable silence, staying like that as the minutes stretched out, enjoying as much time as they could before someone realized that he was awake.

And if he pulled on 'Quick Thinker' to slow things down a bit as they sat there, to enjoy the moment just a bit longer and to work out exactly what he would say to Tsukauchi, hammering out any discrepancies or minor lies that would most likely be detected by his quirk, then no one needed to know but him.

---

Tsukauchi sipped on his coffee as he walked through the halls of Yueii once more, towards the infirmary. Izuku Etsumi had evidently woken up earlier that day, so he needed to get his statement.

Honestly, this is the one that he'd been waiting to get ever since he'd first started questioning the other students. Not only had Etsumi spent more time than anyone else in close proximity to the lead villains, and therefore was more likely to have pertinent information on them, but there were also a few interesting things that others had mentioned that Tsukauchi wanted a first-hand account of. Like how he'd managed to heal from reportedly having his arm and part of his wing disintegrated.

And whether or not he'd happened to see Oni there at all.

There were a few specific details that pointed towards the vigilante making an appearance in some capacity or another, but no one else had seen him.

For starters, Phantom was the one who had contacted him, and based on Nezu and Yagi's own accounts, she'd also been the one to alert them as well. In his experience, that mysterious figure that stood behind Oni never did anything unless it involved him. She'd contacted Tsukauchi a grand total of three times since he'd become aware of Oni – not including this particular instance – and Aizawa four times. Every single instance had involved Oni in some way, whether it be because the vigilante was in trouble, or otherwise needed their help with something big.

There was a reason that he never actually deleted her contact from his phone like he did with Oni's. If she was calling, then there was an important reason for it.

Beyond that though, nearly every villain there was one that had been taken down by the vigilante in the past, so he wouldn't be surprised if Oni had shown up to spite whoever had broken them out of prison. If he were really being honest with himself, Tsukauchi also would not put it past the vigilante to do something as crazy as go undercover in the group of villains just to interrupt their plans.

There were also several villains whose conditions lined up with some that Oni left behind after his fights. People who were unable to use their quirk, and who even tended to register as quirkless during a blood test.

There were a few theories floating around some of the precincts of Musutafu as to how or why that happened. The ones that Tsukauchi himself favored, or at least the ones that made the most sense to him, were that Oni was in possession of some form of weapon or drug that could completely nullify quirks down to their core, burying them so deep that it hardly even registered in the person's DNA anymore. That, or the possibility that it was due to the sheer trauma that he put them through.

That one didn't quite explain the DNA tests, but Tsukauchi had seen the aftermath of Oni's fights plenty of times. The vigilante was not gentle in the slightest, and he knew that there were other cases throughout the world – rare, but still there – of people being unable to use their quirks after going through some form of trauma, so he didn't dismiss the possibility.

All of the villains that were in this condition were in the same disaster zone that Etsumi had reportedly been sent to. So, unless Tsukauchi's theory about trauma was true, and Etsumi was strong enough to put them through something like that – which based on the other student's accounts, he definitely was – then he was the one who was most likely to see the vigilante, assuming he showed up at all.

There was also the body that they'd fished out of the flood zone, that had yielded similar results from a DNA test.

Not only had it registered as quirkless, but they had been able to distinguish DNA from several different individuals. Something that stumped everyone in that lab that conducted the test.

They couldn't explain the multiple-people part of it, but Tsukauchi personally believe that-that at least offered an explanation for the quirk part. Clearly something was off with either the test or the DNA itself, so he dismissed it for the moment in favor of dealing with everything else.

After a few minutes of walking, he found himself in the infirmary, just outside Etsumi's room. Dropping his now-empty coffee cup in a nearby trashcan, he pushed the door open.

"Hello Mister Etsumi! My name is Detective Tsukauchi. Is it alright if I speak with you?"

"Of course, Detective." Etsumi responded from his spot on the bed, a woman that looked quite similar – at least in regards to their quirks – settled by his side. Then, "I suppose you're here for my account of what happened at the USJ."

Tsukauchi nodded. "That I am. I just need you to tell me everything that happened, and then I have a few questions to ask afterwards, is that okay?"

"It is. Though I feel I should say, I was starting to lose myself towards the end of it to the exhaustion, so I apologize if my recounting is less than complete."

Tsukauchi's statement registered the statement as truth, so he just smiled as he settled into a nearby chair. "That shouldn't be an issue. Just tell me everything you can remember."

"Now," he continued, pulling out his notepad, "Let's start from the beginning. When exactly did you notice the villains arriving?"

Etsumi didn't hesitate. "As soon as the portal formed in the courtyard."

---

"After I dealt with the villain that was threatening Yaoyorozu and the others, the Noumu was on its way back. I stopped it again, this time wrapping it in my tail, and flew it over to the flood zone."

"Right." Tsukauchi said. "That's one of the things I wanted to ask you. Why exactly did you go to the flood zone?"

"Because I needed to end the fight, Detective." Etsumi said. "It had been dragging on for too long, and by that point I could feel it wearing on me. I wouldn't have been able to last but so much longer."

Truth.

"And you're aware that, in doing so, the villain died?"

Etsumi's expression dropped ever so slightly. Tsukauchi felt bad about having to bring that up, and having to word it so bluntly, but his job was to make sure he had all of the answers. Bluntness was generally the best way to go about doing that.

"I am. But I don't regret it. The Noumu needed to be stopped, lest it pose a threat to the rest of my class. And I know that it likely wouldn't have stopped were it not for my actions."

Truth. All of it.

"I see." Tsukauchi said, making a note. "Don't worry, by the way. You will by no means be held accountable for that. It was in self-defense, and under extreme duress. No one whose words carry any weight will hold it against you."

"Alright then." He continued. "Getting close to the end. Now, several of your classmates mentioned that you seemed to heal from your injuries after you came out of the water. Do you have an explanation as to why? You don't have any sort of healing ability listed as part of your quirk."

Etsumi seemed to think for a moment. Then, "Have you ever heard of quirk awakenings, Detective?"

Tsukauchi's brow scrunched at the question. "I'm familiar with the concept, I believe. It's the theory that one's quirk can undergo a rapid change or 'evolution' as a result of an extremely traumatic or stressful situation, right?"

"You're spot on, Detective, though it's a bit more than just a theory, as there are a small number of cases where it's happened."

"I see. Why bring it up though?"

Etsumi sighed. "Because enhanced healing is a part of my quirk. It simply wasn't listed anywhere. I didn't feel the need to report it because it wasn't all that powerful, mostly just enhancing my base healing a bit."

Truth.

Tsukauchi's eyes widened. "And you think that it underwent an awakening during the invasion?"

"Well, I would certainly consider having an arm disintegrated a 'traumatic or stressful situation.' And I had to fight harder than I've ever fought before. The possibility exists that my body responded to all of that and pushed that part further to compensate."

Truth.

Tsukauchi nodded. The explanation was slightly outlandish – he'd never actually encountered an instance of a quirk awakening before, only really knowing about it because one the other detectives he tended to work with was well-versed in quirks and liked to discuss them with him – but his quirk didn't pick up any lies. And looking at it logically, it did make a certain amount of sense; he'd seen the aftermath of the fight after all. And he couldn't imagine the pain of having his arm turned to dust; all of the students that had been up by the doors had mentioned Etsumi's scream when it happened.

"Alright. So far everything lines up with what your classmates have said. Is there anything specific you can tell me about the lead villains?"

"The purple one was Kurogiri, and the other one was Tomura Shigaraki. I don't have any other names for them. Their quirks were some form of portal or teleportation and disintegration or decay, respectively. It seemed as though Shigaraki was the one in the lead, although Kurogiri seemed to be much more mature than him."

"Thank you. That's a good deal more than what we had before. Hopefully that'll help us in finding them."

"One last question for you, then I'll be out of your hair. At any point during the invasion, or your fight, did you see or encounter an individual with horns and wings? They would've been male, black hair, and would most likely have been wearing a kitsune mask and formal clothes."

Etsumi's head tilted in confusion. "I don't believe so? There were a few masks, and maybe one or two with horns, but no one like you described."

"Why do you ask? Should I have seen someone like that?"

"No, no." Tsukauchi answered. "Not at all. I was just making sure. There are some things in this that bear some similarities to other cases that I've worked on. Nothing to worry about."

Etsumi shrugged. "If you say so."

Tsukauchi stood, tucking his notepad back into his coat. "Thank you for your time, Etsumi. This has been a big help. I'll leave you alone now. I wish you a speedy recovery from all of this."

"You're very welcome detective." Etsumi responded with a smile on his face. "It's been a pleasure."

That final statement was the closest thing to a lie that his quirk had picked up through the entire conversation, almost registering as one before it finally decided on a truth. He didn't think much of it; he would almost be surprised if having to relive the entire invasion wasn't unpleasant.

With a final nod to both of them, Tsukauchi turned and made for the door, closing it gently behind him once he was through.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he made his way out of the infirmary. Everything that Etsumi said had checked out, but Tsukauchi wasn't entirely convinced that Oni hadn't been there. There was just too much evidence to the contrary for it all to be coincidence.

He sighed again. Maybe he could just ask the vigilante. It was a toss-up as to whether or not he'd give a straight answer, or that he even would at all. But there was a chance, and this was going to bug him otherwise.

Why did Oni always have to be such a headache for him, even when it wasn't directly about him?

---

Izuku let out a sigh of relief as soon as Tsukauchi shut the door behind him.

The entire time he and the detective had been talking, he'd been holding his breath – not literally, of course, as he was talking –, waiting for something to slip up somewhere and trigger the detective's quirk.

Luckily, Tsukauchi never asked anything too specific, and seemed to be satisfied with Izuku's, at times, broad retelling of what had happened.

That was one thing he'd noticed in the past about the detective, and that had become even more clear the more they'd spoken today; his quirk made him overconfident. It made him believe that no one could lie to him and get away with it. But by simply spouting half-truths and broad generalizations, one could get past it quite easily.

His hands twitched at how grossly misused the quirk was. If only the detective asked questions that couldn't be worked around, or that required specific answers that were definitive in their truthfulness, then he would be so much more effective.

But, all the same, he supposed that he should be grateful for the misuse, as it allowed him to get through the questioning without giving himself away.

That didn't mean he could relax, though. He had fooled Tsukauchi, and was therefore clear on the police's side of things, but that still left his classmates and teachers.

Aizawa was much smarter than Tsukauchi was, and was not nearly so easily fooled. Izuku had no idea what the man might've seen, or what he might recall from that once he was up and moving again. He needed to be ready to address any suspicion the man might have over his fight and his recovery.

Beyond all of that, though, was the thought that had been nagging at him ever since he'd come across it when he was preparing his story.

The Noumu. It had multiple quirks.

No one ever had more than one quirk naturally. That was a definitive, observable fact across the world. One could have a quirk that gave the impression of two on the outside, like Todoroki's, but it was only ever one.

Even if one stretched the imagination to its limits and considered the possibility that all of the Noumu's abilities – the strength, speed, shock nullification, and healing – were simply the result of one extraordinarily powerful enhancement quirk, similar to All Might's, there was one thing that could not be tricked by that, aside from a DNA test. And that was Izuku's quirk.

He could very clearly distinguish between them all, both when he'd taken them, and right this very moment, as he sorted through them.

That left the question of how exactly it had ended up with so many.

Izuku's immediate first thought was of his own quirk, which could give quirks just as easily as it took. Unless there was some outrageous medical procedure that was somehow capable of altering a person by adding another quirk, that was the only option.

That thought sent a horrible chill down Izuku's spine. If that were the case, then that meant that there was someone else out there – most likely a villain – with another instance of Izuku's quirk.

His thoughts immediately turned to All Might, and the twisted, horrifying wound on his side. He hadn't revealed the identity of the villain responsible, but if it were someone with the same quirk, that would make up for the power difference he would expect from most confrontations between All Might and a villain.

That line of thought brought him to the question of what he was meant to do with that information. No one but him even knew that the Noumu had-had multiple quirks. And no one but him knew that there might be someone else out there with his quirk – not that anyone knew what his quirk was in the first place.

Going over that question in his head, he kept coming to the same conclusion, over and over.

He had no idea.

He had absolutely no clue what he was supposed to do about it. Or where he was even meant to start.

He was lost.