(All art shown in this book is drawn by me. Please do not repost or use elsewhere without contacting me first via Discord at moonarrow10_4369.)

"Mom! The computer!" A green-haired boy ran into the room where his mother was washing dishes, carrying a superhero figurine in his hand. Behind him was an equally energetic skeleton, whose bare feet clacked against the brown hardwood floor. Both the skeleton's empty eye sockets and the boy's glittering green eyes gazed up at the woman impatiently.

"Again?" She turned to look down at the boys, both of them only as high as her waist. They nodded at the same time and began to tug at her yellow apron. "Alright, alright." The boy's mom sighed in defeat, lowering the dishes back into the sink and then drying her hands off in a rag. "I'll be right back, Sans. Izuku here just wants me to put on a video for him and Papyrus."

The other skeleton- Sans- waved her off with his left hand as he continued writing with his right one. "It's okay Mrs. Inko, I'll be alright." He flashed her a reassuring grin, adjusting his comically large glasses that couldn't quite grip onto his smooth skull. He was young, barely double digits in age, but still older than the other two boys. It wasn't apparent, as Sans was barely taller than Izuku and Papyrus.

Inko was about to say something else but was interrupted by Papyrus and Izuku giving yet another tug to her apron. "And don't try to avoid talking about that when I get back!" She spoke louder to make sure her message wouldn't get lost in the growing distance between them, which was rapidly increasing due to two hyperactive gremlins.

Sans simply sighed, the bone above his eye sockets twisting downwards at her words. For a moment his grin faltered. But as he pulled out a whoopee cushion, lifted up one of the pillows on Inko's couch, and placed the reddish prank item beneath it, his smile grew back wider than before.

He held back his laughter as he sat back down, readjusting his glasses as he returned to writing.

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Papyrus giddily watched the computer screen as Izuku's mom navigated through several websites, typing in key search words before finally locating the video that Izuku had preached about; the hero he worshipped- All Might's- premiere.

Izuku took the mouse and eagerly pressed the play button, and the seemingly innocent activity had suddenly become a lot darker.

The small skeleton could only look on in shocked horror at the devastation on the screen. He squeezed his stuffed rabbit tight as the reddish flames danced atop rubble, smoke clouding the sky. The camera wavered in the hands of the recorder, the faces of many wounded civilians on screen, some of them injured to a degree so gruesomely alien that Papyrus could only stare in concerned curiosity.

One of the people spoke, probably about the situation they were in, but Papyrus paid no attention to it- a stark contrast to Midorya, who was hanging off of every word- instead, Papyrus looked upon the crowd of people.

His little four-year-old brain couldn't quite grasp the reality of the situation. How many houses had burned- possessions lost- possible families gone- none of it. He had never seen such destruction before, but he still understood how sad the people were about said situation by the look on their faces.

The reddish substance leaking from the citizens reminded him of the many kids who got wounded while playing on the playground with him. While Papyrus's own marrow was more of a yellowish substance, there was still a recognizable red tinge in it whenever he bled.

It wasn't abnormal for Timothy to come into class without a bandaid, showing off the sick scrape on his knee that he had gotten on some wild adventure in the woods, bragging about how he could take the pain. But it was never bigger than an inch or two, and more often than not had scabbed over by the time little Timmy had begun spinning his adventurous tales.

In the video, although it had not been pointed out directly by anyone, there was a concerning amount of the red liquid splattered across the crowd- one man even had a makeshift bandage wrapped around his eye, the familiar red liquid soaking through the fabric.

During those few minuscule seconds he spent glazing over the scene, the tiny skeleton couldn't help but to feel a growing sensation in his ribcage. One that made his facial features drop and a throbbing ring out in a silent, sympathetic sob.

Sadness, pity, and mostly sympathy.

He kept looking on at the weak and the fearful. As the seconds slowly ticked by, he noticed something new come into play. A string of hearty laughter.

The gears in his little toddler brain quickly whirred to life as he saw the crowd's expressions change. It seemed that beneath those saddened expressions, something else welled to the surface. A sea of depression all crashing together in one thunderous symphony; a plea that something could still go right despite the overwhelming despair.

Hope.

As a shadowy mass slowly made its way from the flames and on top of a toppled bus, Papyrus was able to see who was responsible for giving that crowd of people such hope.

Carrying multiple limp forms from the hellscape beyond what Papyrus had already considered absolute devastation came the same man whom Izuku clutched in his hands as if it was his lifeline, whom despite being covered in wounds far worse than those around him, wore a grin so wide that Papyrus couldn't help but to feel a chill run down his spine.

"It's fine now." All Might had reassured the crowd, grin still present on his face. His confidence was so prominent, so refreshing compared to the negativity around him, that it had reached through the screen and sent tingles throughout his bones. All Might spoke again, his voice booming across the area. "Why?"

Papyrus clutched his rabbit closer to him, this time not as a desperate attempt for comfort, but because the energy, the sheer weight that All Might's words carried was enough to fill his bones with excitement and make his mind alight with activity that begged to be released, either by squealing or squeezing. Squealing would ruin the moment, therefore Fluffy Bunny Jr. was subjected to the strongest bear hug known to rabbit kind.

All Might opened his mouth once more, answering the question he had left unanswered mere milliseconds before.

"Because I'm here!"

All Might looked upon the crowd and simply smiled wider, his ease and confidence of the situation comforting the injured mass and filling them with hope.

Hope, that everything would be ok. Hope, that he could bring back lost family members from the destruction beyond. Hope, that if he was able to all that with a smile on his face, that they could too.

With one final bone-crushing squeeze and the faint noise of an excited squeal, the stuffing in Fluffy Bunny Jr.'s stomach moved upwards to his head. The stuffed rabbit's head, not built for the onslaught of added cotton, bulged unnaturally. In one swift motion, one of the rabbit's beady eyes popped out of place, bounced on the wall in front of him, and landed on the floor.

Papyrus jolted in place, snapped out of the seemingly hypnotic trance the video had encased him in. He looked over at Izuku who was currently staring down at his All Might figurine in awe and decided to go on this adventure without him.

Papyrus slid off of the computer chair he was sharing with the green-haired boy and onto the hardwood floor, slowly brushing around the boards with one hand and apologetically petting Fluffy Bunny Jr. with the other.

The skeleton felt tears well up in his sockets as he blindly combed the area for any sign of his stuffed friend's eye, scared of the possibility of just having forever scared his childhood toy like a villain had done to the people in the video.

Eventually his pinkie met something small and smooth, something that rolled away when he pushed against it. He picked it up and brought it close to his face, carefully inspecting it for damage. Finding none, Papyrus rotated Fluffy Bunny Jr. to face him and gently positioned the black bead back into the dent where it was initially glued on.

"It's gonna be fine now." Papyrus whispered under his breath, a small smile gracing his face once more as his wavering voice smoothened. "Why?"

He encased Fluffy Bunny Jr. in a big hug, this one reassuring instead of violent as he rested one hand on the rabbit's back and another on his head.

"Because I'm here!"

The black bead rolled onto the floor with a loud clack.

Papyrus felt like crying.

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"Excuse my language, Mrs. Inko, but what the actual f-"

A distant tapping noise cut Sans off from saying the first curse word he had said in years, a blessing in disguise as he aimed to beat his previous four-year record, something he would have a harder time reaching if he broke his current three-year streak.

Sans and Inko remained silent, not wanting any innocent brains to be burdened by deciphering adult conversations, though Inko's determined stare reassured him that she would find a way to continue the conversation later, one way or another.

Papyrus rounded the corner and skid to a halt, stuffed rabbit in one hand and a black bead in the other. Magic manifesting as pure liquid sadness dotted the corners of his eye sockets, threatening to fall. Izuku wasn't far behind, clearly worried for his friend.

"Papyrus, what's- oh..." The older skeleton got up from the couch and rushed over to his brother, now noticing the empty spot where Fluffy Bunny Jr.'s eye once was.

Sans wiped away some of Papyrus's tears with his sleeve. "Hey, hey, don't cry. This has happened plenty of times before, and we've always fixed it, yeah? There's no need to worry."

Papyrus gave a little nod, but ultimately avoided eye contact, instead burying his head into Sans's jacket. "What's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?" Sans questioned some more, but Papyrus remained silent.

"I think we should go." Sans spoke in Inko's general direction, keeping his eyes on his brother's form for any indication of what was wrong. Inko nodded and looked down at her son who was now incredibly worried. "Ok. Is Papyrus going to be alright if Izuku says goodbye?"

Papyrus peeked his head out to meet the two Midoriya's gazes. He hummed affirmation before disconnecting from Sans and spreading his arms wide, inviting Izuku into a hug. Izuku obliged.

Izuku gave the skeleton a pat on the back before breaking the hug. "I hope you feel better. Bye Papyrus!" He waved goodbye, giving an unsure smile.

Papyrus smiled back, giving the broccoli boy the biggest grin he had in him. "Bye Izuku!"

His facial expression seemingly reassured the other boy, as his shoulders relaxed and his own smile became much more natural.

This fact made him feel a little better than before, grasping onto Sans's hand as they exited the Midoriya household.

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"Do you want to talk about it now?" Sans asked as he carefully guided the glue on the very bottom of the container to the exit point, which was masterfully hovered over the spot where the stuffed bunny's eye once was. Papyrus had been incredibly silent, his expression often shifting into the spaced-out look he used when he thought really hard about something.

Sans continued his work when Papyrus remained silent, opting to leave the small skeleton to his thoughts, though he'd be lying to admit he wasn't curious about what his younger brother was pondering.

"...i wanna be a hero." Papyrus had mumbled, barely a whisper. Sans immediately perked up at the noise, setting the glue bottle down. "What was that, Paps?"

"I wanna be a hero." Papyrus spoke up, looking to his brother instead of the middle distance. "I wanna help people. Like All Might and Fluffy Bunny. I don't wanna hurt anyone. I wanna help."

The images of the wounded civilians flashed in his mind, how hopeless they had seemed and how it changed so suddenly.

Fluffy Bunny had been his idol for years, constantly confronting and reforming the many villains that terrorized Plushietown, but would he be able to save all those people? Carry each one of them through the flame while simultaneously finding a way to do it without lighting his stuffing on fire?

No, Papyrus reasoned, Fluffy Bunny couldn't do that.

"I want to be a hero." Papyrus said with a renewed glint in his eye sockets. "I wanna help. I wanna help Fluffy Bunny, too. That way we can help more villains together! And save all the people!" Papyrus ran over to Sans. "I could figure out how to heal people! And when I get my other quirk, maybe I could have super reflexes like Henry the Hare, and have super calming like Fluffy Bunny! Or me and you can have the same quirk and you could teach me how to use it!"

Papyrus began to circle around Sans, giddily creating possibilities faster than little Timmy could ever dream of.

"And we can be the coolest dudes on the planet! With skateboards and hair and everything! And a bright red car!" Papyrus looked up at Sans with gleaming sockets. "Right?"

Sans looked down at Papyrus, gently resting a hand onto his skull once he was sure Papyrus wasn't going to speed off and/or around him in circles again, and began to speak.

"If you want to achieve something, anything at all, I will be there right beside you," he lowered his hands onto Papyrus's shoulders, "because you are the coolest brother in the world."

Little did I know, those words would shape our future.

(2429 words)