Aww, look at the confused little villain playing hero! So c̸͈͉͎̣̈́ụ̵̭͓̹̩̎̈́͋̔̄͐̿̂t̶͍͙̻̏̿̊͂̃̓̍̎e̶̲͈̠̹͓͚̝̮̎͌͆̒͐̄̔̿̚. Don't worry, you'll understand your place sooner or later. Society doesn't have room for people like us. But you go ahead and keep playing pretend.

Just give it time. You'll understand your true nature.

S̸̞̺̯̰͉̖͚̲̩̄͊ǫ̴̦͇̬̰̘͎̅̌͆́ṏ̷̢̲̻̞͔͍́̀̂̃̊͠͝͝n̶̥̤̲̫̄͊̀̏.

Someone was crying. It was not a great sound to wake up to. Then again, it could have been worse. Someone could have been screaming. Midoriya figured that would have been a more unpleasant way to wake up from a medically induced haze.

Speaking of which... Why was he even in the hospital?

The last time he had been there had certainly been a while ago... Villains are not exactly keen on having their members checked into a government funded building to recuperate for long periods of time. The general rule was to try not to get hurt and hope you don't lose any vital limbs. The boss had no use for someone who couldn't work.

Something about screaming...

Oh right. 

Hina and Yuna! 

Were they okay? What happened to them? He had to go see them! Izuku sat up, doing his best to stave off the mixture of aching and fatigue that threatened to keep him contained to the hospital bed. He had to make sure that the kids were okay. They had to be. They just had to.

The heart monitor nearby began beeping rapidly in distress, but Izuku paid it no mind. The sheets were nearly untangled from the teen's stiff legs when a man in a sterile doctor's coat rushed in.

"Excuse me, young man, please don't do that. Your wounds-" the man said anxiously. 

"Where are they?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Hina and Yuna, where are they? Are they okay?" A feeling of frantic-ness flooded Izuku's mind and the doctor was quick to defuse.

"The kids you came in with are safe and in a much better condition than you are. They were in danger of getting seriously hurt but luckily you got here in just enough time for them to be treated. With time and proper training, they will be desensitized to the impact their quirks cause. You, on the other hand, were in serious danger. Luckily your speed saved you. When you arrived you were suffering from third degree burns and the beginnings of hypothermia."

Izuku was confused. "Then... why do I feel fine? I ache a little but other than that..."

The doctor nodded. "That's where I'm confused. Third degree burns tend to burn the nerves which can dull your sense of pain. It would be normal for you to not feel the pain. However, after a few hours, one of our nurses noticed that you were healing exponentially faster than what is perceived as normal. By the tenth hour here, you looked like the injuries happened to you a little under a week ago." The doctor hesitated, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Do you have some unregistered healing quirk? The people in the waiting room said you had strength enhancement."

"Not that I know of." The young teen scrunched his nose subconsciously as he thought. "Wait..." Here is where everything the doctor said began to sink in. You must forgive our Izuku, Dear Reader, he had just been hospitalized. "Did you say 'by the tenth hour'? How long have I been here? Who's in the waiting room?"

"Well, you've been here for around fifteen hours. There are people in the wai-" 

"Suzuki! Thank goodness you're okay! This godda- excuse me, goshdarn, doctor over here wouldn't tell me a thing! How are you feeling?" Mei, the mother of the twins and all around awesome person whom I respect very much, bowled into the room. She didn't give the poor doctor who she'd just interrupted a second glance as she rushed over to Midoriya. 

"Oh- hello ma'am, I'm actually feeling pretty good. How are- how are you and the twins?" Izuku was enveloped in a gentle hug by the whirlwind of a woman that stood before him. 

"We're," she took a deep breath, melting onto Izuku's shoulder, "we're fine. Thanks to you. Suzuki..." Mei knelt in front of Midoriya and grabbed his shoulders. She looked into his eyes with an intensity Izuku was only used to seeing in battle. Her eyes which were full of fire and life also shined with wetness. Mei refused to cry. 

"I cannot begin to express how thankful I am. You saved my family. Those kids are my only reason for living, and you saved them. Thank you, Suzuki, thank you so much." 

"I- it was no problem- of course I'd help them."

Mei pulled Izuku into another hug. She grasped onto him tightly, as though she was never going to let go. "You're something else, kid. For as long as Yuna, Hina and I are alive you are welcome to our home. Anytime."

"You really don't have to-"

"No, but I want to." Mei gave Izuku a light squeeze.

"Ahem." That was when they remembered that the doctor was still in the room.

Mei laughed and ruffled Izuku's hair. She stood up. "Forgot you were here, mister smart guy. What's up?"

The doctor blushed as he told Izuku that they would like to keep him overnight, but after that, he was free to go.

••••••••••••••••••••

Once the doctor was finished with his speech and Mei had deemed him satisfactorily flustered, the poor man exited the room a bumbling mess. There was a moment of silence as the two watched him leave. Until Mei slowly rotated until she was facing Izuku again. Her smile was menacing.

"So, who's the boy sitting outside?" 

A moment of confusion and horror swept across the poor teen. Surely she didn't mean who he thought she meant.

"What... boy?" Izuku was basically praying to the gods whom he had long ago forsaken. Please please please don't let that be who I think it is, he thought.

"You know, the tall, dark, and handsome kid who's been sitting in the waiting area almost as long as I have? His hair is red and white and he has some sort of birthmark around his eye."

It was who he thought it was. Izuku was sure he was going to die. He was going to run away and dig a hole to hide in forever so that nobody could ever find his body. Izuku felt absolutely mortified. Todoroki totally thought now that the green-eyed boy couldn't go a day without some sort of near death experience if he wasn't being supervised. 

Mei saw Izuku's blush of shame and misinterpreted it. "I see how it is. From what I can tell, you've got good taste. He's been sitting around nearly the whole time you've been here. I was here longer, of course, but my kid's lives were also on the line. He doesn't look related to you at all, so he'd have to be pretty dedicated to wait here for that long."

Izuku was short-circuiting. His brain wasn't able to function. He could almost see the word 'overload' flashing behind his eyes. Todoroki had been here for fifteen hours? Mei thought they were dating? What was the name of his doctor? What episode of Pokémon did he end on? Who was the Prime Minister? What was 2+2? Where could he find the nearest store that offered a good deal on soba noodles?

Some of these are my own personal questions, but I'm sure Izuku has thought them at some point.

"Come on, kid, we don't have time for that right now." Mei gave Izuku a quick shake. "I have to say a quick serious adult-y thing. Your cute friend out there insisted on paying all the medical bills and also offered to pay for the twins' quirk training. I don't like to accept handouts, but the kid insisted and I really do need the money. I told him I'd only let him do that if he let me pay him back. He said yeah, but I don't believe him. I need you to make sure that he accepts the money I give him instead of just sending it back. Can you do that for me?"

"I- I don't know," The shake had surprised him, and the whole situation was spinning out of control. "He paid your- no, nevermind. Of course he did. Um, I don't know, we're kind of- well, we're kind of in a weird situation right now."

"Suzuki, please, I can't just let him pay for everything. These are my children to love and care for. Not his. That kid barely looks like he's seventeen. I couldn't live with myself if he is financially supporting my family. Please."

Izuku deflated. His memories of his mother yelling into her phone while she sat at the kitchen table surrounded by bills were vivid. Inko struggled to support herself and her child, but she never accepted help from strangers. 

She had something to prove. So did Mei. 

The deep breath did a good job to ease the nerves fluttering in the young villain's stomach. It didn't get rid of them completely, but oh well. "I... promise. Yeah, I promise. I'll do my best."

Mei's smile was almost as beautiful as Inko's. 

••••••••••••••••••••

A heterochromatic set of eyes was studying Izuku carefully. 

Izuku was struggling not to drown in the intensity of the gaze.

Todoroki didn't look mad. He just looked... profound. Izuku wanted to say something - the two of them have been sitting across from the room staring at each other for way too long than what was comfortable - but he didn't want to be the first one to talk. Still, oh how he yearned to kill this vexatious atmosphere. 

So he opened his mouth. 

"Why did you leave?"

Well, at least they were talking about it now. 

"I-" Izuku struggled to figure out how to start. "I just- You shouldn't have to protect me."

Todoroki was not fazed. "Why?" 

Izuku looked down at his mutilated hands, tracing over the scars. "It's my responsibility to fix my own problems. If you keep helping me like this, you're bound to get caught. Who knows what would happen to you if I was found? You could be charged with harboring a fugitive! I don't want that to happen to you because of me. I don't want you to risk your entire career for me, Shoto."

Todoroki sighed and leaned forward. "Izuku, whatever happens to me, it's my own choice. I knew what the consequences were when I made you stay with me and I still want you to stay with me. It's a hero's job to protect people, and that's what I'm doing. Besides, you're hardly a criminal." Todoroki smiled. "You are literally the least intimidating villain I've ever met. You babysit and risk your life for kids just because you can. You are the worst villain. I mean that sincerely."

"I've destroyed millions of dollars of private and government property. I've robbed a number of businesses. I've devised plans for whoever it is I work for that helped them get the equipment they needed to do awful experiments. I've stolen important documents and blueprints from high-security vaults. How am I not a villain? How am I not an awful person?!" Izuku was confused. Did Todoroki not know what he had done? The people he'd scared?

"Yes, you did all of those things, Izuku. I can't deny that. But you did those things so that you could save people. You sacrificed your own identity to keep everyone safe. Every time the news announced some crime you committed, they never said there were any casualties, and you rarely injured people. Don't think nobody ever noticed that. Villains are people who make life more dangerous and harder on other people just because they can. You are not a villain."

Izuku opened his mouth to speak.

"But that's not the only reason I want you to stay."

The green-eyed boy paused for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Todoroki's smile this time was bitter. "My house is almost always empty. Having you around was definitely a welcome change. It can get pretty lonely without company. Endeavor is always off on business trips or living out of his office ever since he became #1. Not that I like his company. My sister, Fuyumi, she, uh, she died a while ago. The rest of my siblings ran as soon as they had the chance - not that I blame them. So, yeah. That's why. My reasons can be considered just as selfish as they could be considered heroic. I like it when you are around. So, if you want to stay, I would be glad to have you."

Todoroki couldn't exactly tell Izuku the full extent of his emotions, (mainly because he didn't even fully understand them himself) but the hero figured it would be a little too forward of him to tell Izuku that he just wanted him to be happy. Maybe he should wait at least another week before he talked about deeper feelings like that. If he could learn how to articulate them. Translating delicate feelings into words had never been his strong point. But for Izuku, Todoroki was willing to try his best. Plus Ultra, and all that. 

The soft smile Izuku shone in Todoroki's direction nearly blinded the poor, utterly oblivious, heterochromatic teenager. "How can I argue with that? If you want me to stay, then I'll stay."

Shoto Todoroki's heartbeat was as rapid as it was when he fought a villain. 

Who gave Izuku the right to look that pretty? It was downright criminal.

Maybe he was a villain after all.