merry christmas, losers~

Izuku didn't stop thinking about Sero for days. You can't really blame him, everyone else Izuku's age had resorted to bullying him. Sero was the first person in years that Izuku might actually.... maybe.... have a chance of being friends with.

Except for the fact he didn't see him again. Not for a while at least.

After the first week, Izuku stopped expecting to see the black haired teen on the streets. After the second week, he stopped hanging out on the roof he was dragging onto during the chase. After the third week, he'd almost forgotten Sero.

Until the boy barged into his room at the base, panting and looking like he'd seen a ghost.

Izuku was instantly on his feet, throwing himself at the person who dared enter his room. No one entered without knocking and being given permission, not even his father. Izuku had assumed it was an intruder. Which wasn't actually wrong.

He didn't realize who it was until he had the other boy pinned to the ground.

"Sero?" he asked, his head cocked to the side.

"Izuku? Oh thank god, you gotta help me!" the boy cried, grabbing onto Izuku's arms and pulling him into a hug.

Izuku was too stunned to speak.

The sound of heavy stomping coming towards his room brought him back to reality. He pushed Sero off him, and shooed him to his closet. "Hide under whatever you can. Do not make a sound," he hissed while Sero stumbled to get into the hiding space.

Once he was sure the other teen was hidden well enough, Izuku took a deep breath and hopped back onto his bed, resuming the notes he had been taking previously. Just as he expected, not even two seconds later there was a harsh knock on his door.

"Yes?"

Izuku's door flung open, making the boy raise an eyebrow. Whoever was leading this chase was new, Izuku had never seen him before. New, untested, naive. He knew this was going to be a pain in his ass.

"Can I help you?" Izuku snapped, not bothering to get up from his bed.

The man, flakey skinned and blue haired, was snapping his eyes around Izuku's room. He was looking for Sero. Izuku wanted to roar at the man for suspecting he was a traitor and housing whoever had broken in, but then he reminded himself he was actually hiding Sero.

"There was a break in," the man said simply. "There's a thief running around the compound."

Izuku just tilted his head, papers still in hand. "And that's my problem, how?"

The man took a step over the threshold of Izuku's room. He was off his bed and in front of the man before anyone could blink. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Searching your room."

Izuku sneered at him. "What gives you the right?"

"I'm All For One's right hand, I think that gives me the right to do anything I want, little boy," he sneered down at Izuku.

He blinked as Izuku started to laugh, hysterically. The boy almost fell over.

The man rolled his eyes after a few moments, ready to push past Izuku to search his room. His hand stopped right before he could touch the boy, however.

Izuku had snapped his gaze to the man who was daring to reach out to him, his laughing stopping as abruptly as it started. He barely noticed when the green lightning crackled around him. "And is my father going to protect you from what I'll do to you if you take another step into my room?" he asked, his voice low and soft.

The man froze. He went completely stock still.

"Get out before I throw your disembodied head at my father's feet," Izuku hissed. He was in no mood to deal with a newbie who didn't understand the chain of command.

All For One wasn't at the top, Izuku was. His father didn't order him around because he had the power to do so, Izuku allowed him to. He followed orders because he knew his father would go down swinging, and he couldn't do that to his poor mother.

The man nearly tripped over himself trying to run from his room. Izuku was pleased to notice that none of his pose had hung around after Izuku had laughed.

He'll be having a word with his father later.

Once he was sure they were gone, he slammed his door, locking it for the first time ever.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he snapped in the direction of the closet.

The door slowly creaked open, showing Sero sheepishly smiling from under a pile of Izuku's clothes. He almost laughed.

"It's kind of a long story..."

Izuku crossed his arms and sat back on his bed. "I've got all night."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So it turns out, Sero saw some of All For One's men robbing a bank. He followed them back to the base and decided to rob the robbers.

"Just one bag could have paid for my high school tuition and lasted my family until I could get a real job!" Sero exclaimed, whining as he fell back on Izuku's bed with a wince. Izuku wasn't sure when or how it happened, but Sero ended up on his bed.

Izuku reached under his bed, grabbing a shoe box. He placed it in front of Sero, pushing it towards the teen. "Take it."

The other boy raised a brow and lifted the lid. He nearly screamed as he slammed the lid back down. "Where did you get this?!"

Izuku shrugged, "It's my allowance."

"From this week?!" Sero asked in a shrill voice.

Izuku winced at the noise and then scowled. "No, from the past two years. God, who the fuck do you think I am?"
Sero studied him for a few moments. "I don't know, I wasn't allowed to ask."

With a groan of annoyance, Izuku gestured for him to speak. "Ask whatever you want, you're already here."

The boy was bouncing in his seat as he started firing off questions. "Who's your dad?"

"All For One."

"Who's that?"

"A super villain."

"Your dad is a super villain?!"

"Mhm."

"Are... you?"

"I'm supposed to be."

Sero must have noticed that Izuku was particularly fond of this route of conversation, so he changed the topic.

"What is this place?"

"The compound."

"Sounds terrifying."

"Well you just saw how welcoming we are."

"What was with that green stuff earlier? Your quirk has to do with fire, so what was that?"

Izuku sighed, knowing that if he told Sero the truth he might very well have to kill him some day. He wasn't going to, he had decided on that almost as soon as the question was asked, but then he looked over at the boy. His eyes were so wide and he looked so genuinely curious, like it physically pained him to not have the answer.

Unfortunately, Izuku sympathized with that look a little too much.

"Whatever I'm telling you doesn't leave this room, got it?" Izuku asked him in a low voice.

Sero frantically nodded.

"If I find out you went around spreading this information, even to your mother, I'll kill the lot of you." Izuku's voice was dangerously calm, like he made these threats every day. Well, he did, but it freaked Sero out.

"I got it, I got it. I won't tell anyone, no need to threaten my mom," Sero mumbled, rubbing his arm.

Izuku huffed. "My quirk is called absorption, I don't know, I didn't pick it. Basically, I can absorb other people's quirks."

Sero's jaw was nearly touching the bed as he stared at Izuku in awe. Or maybe horror. Izuku wasn't sure.

After a while Izuku got annoyed and physically closed Sero's mouth himself.

The boy opened and closed his mouth a few times before swallowing. "So, uh, um, how- how many quirks do you- how many do you have?"

Izuku opened and closed his fist as he thought of how to answer the question. "I'm not like my dad, I can't have an unlimited amount."

"YOUR DAD CAN HAVE AN UNLIMITED AMOUNT OF QUIRKS?!"

Izuku rolled his eyes. "Yes, how do you think I was able to develop a quirk like this? At least one of my parents had to be able to do something similar."

"Can you- can you explain your dad's quirk first?"

"Surprise, surprise, it's called All For One. Basically if he can touch someone, he can steal their quirk. He can then hold onto it for himself, or give it to someone else." Izuku explained simply.

Sero nodded in understanding. "How does it differ from yours then?"

"I have a combination of my dad's and mom's, which is a weak telekinesis quirk. She can float small objects to her, I can float quirks. Then I absorb them. I can have three that I can hold onto for as long as I want, and then two temps that I just have for like an hour. Once I let them go, they go back to their original owners." Izuku fully explained. It felt so amazing to finally explain his quirk to someone else. He's never been allowed to before.

Sero's eyes lit up. "That's so cool dude!" he exclaimed. "Can I see what quirks you have right now?"

Izuku blinked at him. He wasn't going to say anything about the fact Izuku had to steal all his quirks? Well, Sero is a thief himself, maybe he doesn't care. Or maybe he just hadn't realized it yet.

Izuku lit a flame in his hand. "You already saw my fire. The only other quirk I have right now is a strength enhancing quirk, it doesn't fill up a slot though. I got it under... different circumstances."

"Not allowed to ask?" Sero said, his head tilting as he followed Izuku's flame like a moth.

"Mhm."

They stayed like that for a few minutes. Izuku just let his flame dance around the two of them, and Sero following it like it's a beacon.

Izuku could tell that Sero was working up the courage to ask something. He was fidgeting and trying to discreetly look at Izuku's face.

"What?" he finally asked, breaking the silence.

Sero blinked back his surprise. "If your dad is some super villain..."

Oh, Izuku really wasn't looking forward to where this was going.

"Does that mean you're some badass protege?"

Izuku's fire abruptly went out as he looked up at the other teen with shock. Is that seriously what the boy was working up the courage to ask? How lame. Izuku only responded with a slow nod.

"So you're really good at fighting and stuff, right? And you're really smart?"

Izuku raised a brow, lighting his flames again. "Why do you ask?"

"I was... I was wondering... Would you, pretty, pretty please, consider... maybe..."

Izuku slammed his hand down on his bed, flames out, and glared hard at Sero. "Out with it already."

"Will you train me?" Sero all but yelled at the green haired boy.

Izuku blinked. Once. Twice.

"You want... me to train you?"

Sero eagerly nodded.

The villain narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Why?"

Sero groaned. He had foolishly been hoping that Izuku wouldn't bother to ask, just answer yes or no. "I, um... I want to be a hero," he admitted quietly.

Izuku almost laughed, thinking it was a joke at first, but the look on the other teen's face... it was truly his dream to be a hero. "You're a petty thief?"

"I know!" Sero exclaimed, startling Izuku, although he didn't show it. "I know I am, but I don't want to be. I want to be a hero. I want to get into UA, but their entrance exams are so competitive, I can't do it without some help."

"Why should I help you become a hero? I'm a villain," Izuku pointed out, thinking it'd be obvious he'd turn Sero down.

The raven haired boy shook his head. "No you're not, you're a villain's kid. It's totally different. And from what you said on that roof, I don't think you want to be the bad guy anyway. So help me get into UA and become a pro hero, and I'll help you get out," Sero offered, holding his hand out to shake on the deal.

Izuku eyed him suspiciously. He didn't trust it, obviously, he didn't trust anyone. "What makes you think you, of all people, could get me out? Who says I even want out?"

"I can see it in your eyes. You don't want this kind of life and I can't say I blame you," Sero said, his voice more sincere than Izuku had ever heard him. "As for how, you'd be surprised what a highly trained pro can do." A wink thrown in at the end. Sero was back to normal it seemed.

Izuku looked back and forth between the boy's smiling face and his outstretched hand. Did he truly want out? Of course he did, all he ever wanted was to get his stupid father's stupid revenge and disappear from the world. Maybe own a bookstore or something. Something calm and quiet, where he can try and forget the ghosts of his past.

Somewhere where his mother could live with him and not have to worry about if he'll come home at night. Somewhere where she can be truly happy, lord knows she deserves it.

With that thought in mind, he took Sero's outstretched hand.