Sero came back the next night. And the night after. And the night after that. Eventually Izuku got tired of trying to scold him, the boy clearly didn't care. Besides, Izuku was getting accustomed to his company in his lonely little room. It didn't feel so dark and permanent when Sero was there. The boy brought a gaming system over on the second night, saying Izuku needed to do something other than read and take notes. Izuku had played very few video games in his life, so it was a little painful to watch him at first.

But god damn did he learn quickly.

It took thirty minutes for him to absolutely kick Sero's ass in any game they decided to play. Not
even Minecraft was safe. Sero would look away to chop down a tree and Izuku would show up in fully diamond armor. If he wasn't sitting right next to the boy, he'd think he was cheating.

So their nightly routine changed from training to video games. Izuku was in no shape for strenuous activity and Sero always shut down the "I'm fine"s and the "It's not even that bad"s. Izuku would try and convince him that the entrance exams were coming up and he needed all the training he could get, but Sero shut him up by saying he was still training on his own. As soon as Izuku's black eye and bruises were gone, he'd let their training start up again.

It was during this new routine that physical affection became a regular thing. Izuku had never had anyone be quite so touchy before, not even his mom (he thought that had more to do with not knowing how to parent a child as strange as Izuku than anything else). It was... a welcome change. It started with head pats and hair ruffles, leaning against the other while sitting, simple things like that. Eventually it got to the point that as soon as Sero stumbled into his room in the evenings, Izuku would drag him over to his bed and curl up at his side, turning a random game on as he went. They'd spend the rest of the night cuddled together playing video games.

And that was how Kurogiri found them, a few nights after Sero had first shown up. He was the one man (did he really qualify as a man anymore?) who didn't bother knocking or even using Izuku's door, he never had. It hadn't bothered Izuku before, Kurogiri was the best father figure in his life, he was normally welcome in his room at any time.

Except for right then.

All three of them froze in a tense silence. Izuku's stomach had dropped all the way to the floor, Sero wasn't even quite sure who or what he was looking at, and Kurogiri? His boy had a boy in his bed.

"Izuku," the mist figure said, disappointment lacing his voice.

His name knocked him out of his shock. Izuku quickly pushed away from Sero, scrambling to get out of his bed. He was ready to get on his knees and beg Kurogiri to not tell his father. His bruises were almost healed.

"Kurogiri, please. You can't-"

"I'm not going to tell your father, Izuku."

Izuku stopped moving, looking at his pseudo father in quiet disbelief. "You're not?"

The mist nodded. "He's never to come back here, though. I do not care who you see outside of the complex, but it is not a place for outsiders, do you understand?" His voice was severe, telling Izuku all he needed to know about the situation.

The boy nodded, "Of course. It won't happen again, sir."

The sir was new. He'd never bothered with titles like that, especially not with Kurogiri. He'd basically raised him, why the hell would he call him sir? But after his little lesson in respect, it was a habit. There were few people that technically ranked above him, but he now knew exactly how to act in front of them.

He still refused to call Shigaraki anything but a toddler though. It was going to get his ass kicked soon enough.

Kurogiri placed a gentle mist hand on Izuku's head, one of the few, and rare, types of physical contact he'd had before meeting Sero. It was something he'd only do when he was incredibly proud of Izuku. The man looked over Izuku's head (which wasn't hard at all), at Sero still sitting awkwardly on the bed. "He's cute," he teased before disappearing through a warp gate.

Izuku's face looked like a tomato as he slowly turned back towards Sero. Kurogiri's words had been quiet, so he wasn't sure if the other boy had heard or not. The shit eating grin Sero wore told Izuku exactly how much he'd heard.

"The mist guy said I was cute," he gloated.

Izuku groaned and walked back over to his bed, circling his arms around Sero's waist and letting his head rest on his stomach. "Don't let it go to that big head of yours," he mumbled into the other boy's shirt.

"Hey!" Sero gasped. "My head is perfectly average, thank you very much."

Izuku snorted at the retaliation, clinging to him tighter.

Sero brought a hand to his mess of curls, slowly working his fingers through it. He didn't think Izuku knew what a brush was.

"You can't come here anymore," Izuku mumbled, his voice quiet and tired.

Sero hummed, something Izuku could feel through his whole body because of their proximity. "Guess you'll just have to come to my house then."

Izuku lifted his head, blinking at Sero a few times. "You want me... to go to your house? Where your family is? Isn't that a terrible idea? I've literally threatened them."

A firm hand pressed down on Izuku's head, guiding it back to lay on Sero's chest. "I trust you, lightning bug."

Izuku's grip tightened again, he was sure it had to be painful for the other boy. "You shouldn't. I'm a villain, Hanta."

"With a remarkably good heart."

Izuku shook his head, closing his eyes tightly. "You're such an idiot."

"Mm, I'm well aware."

"It's going to get you in trouble one day, you know that right?"

"Good thing I have a badass villain protege to bail me out then, hey?"

Izuku hummed, letting his body relax into Sero's. He didn't realize how tired he'd actually been. "Yeah, yeah it is."

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

The next few weeks passed by in a blur for Izuku. Sero was finally letting him train him again, so their old routine started up again. But now, instead of leaving each other on that roof, Sero pulled him along to his own home.

The first few nights, they snuck in through his open window. They'd lazily change out of their training clothes and crawl into Sero's twin sized bed. It was a little cramped, but neither boy seemed to care, falling asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

But after a few days, Sero asked to cut training a little early. Izuku wasn't thrilled about it, saying that there was only a few weeks before the entrance exams, but he was eventually swayed.

Sero just seemed too damn excited about something for Izuku to say no.

The raven haired boy pulled Izuku along by his hand, running through the streets with a dopey grin on his face. Izuku had no idea what was putting that look on his face, but it was nearly impossible to not mirror it.

They came to a stop in front of the house Izuku knew by now belonged to the Sero family. But he was used to the side view, the one where his friend's window was located. They were standing in front of the front door.

"Hanta, what are we-"

Sero just flashed that dopey grin while reaching for the doorknob.

Izuku snatched his hand away, now holding both. His eyes were wide with alarm, thinking his friend had officially lost his mind. "What're you doing?!"

He shrugged, "I figured it was time you met my family."

Izuku blinked. "You... want me.... to meet your family?"

Sero nodded excitedly.

The shorter boy was about ready to smack him in hopes it'd knock some sense back into that empty head of his. "Hanta, I'm a villain. You can't introduce me to your family. Are you crazy?!"

Sero actually had the nerve to laugh at the other boy's panic. "How many times do I have to tell you that you're not a villain? You're a good person, lightning bug. I trust you."

It didn't matter how many times over the past few weeks Sero had said that, it would always make Izuku's heart stop. Sero trusted him. He trusted Izuku. He trusted him enough to want to introduce him to his family.

"Ready now?" Sero asked him, looking back.

Izuku could do nothing but nod, he didn't trust his voice. He followed Sero into the little house, instantly picking up on all the noise. Sero had four younger sisters, so Izuku knew to expect chaos. There were shrieks and yells coming from every direction, a television playing some kids show, music blaring from upstairs, and the clash of pots from the kitchen.

It was loud.

Izuku couldn't help but think about how much he loved it. The compound was nearly always quiet, especially around him. No one wanted to make a wrong move and piss off someone powerful. This noise... it was completely carefree. They didn't worry about someone snapping and punishing them. It was a new concept for Izuku.

"I'm home!" Sero yelled into the endless noise. How anyone had actually heard him, Izuku had no idea, but there was a round of happy squeals.

The first one to meet them in the little hallway that leads into the house was a small blonde girl. She barely made it to Sero's knee, but she instantly jumped into his arms, giggling loudly as he picked her up.

Izuku tilted his head to the side as he watched the two. Sero had told him about his family, so he knew she must be Hina, the youngest at barely four years old. She was the only one with their dad's blonde hair, but her eyes, those were their mothers. Black and sparkling, just like Hanta's.

"Iz, this is Hina," Sero introduced. The little girl seemed to finally notice there was someone else in their house. She clung tighter to her brother, hiding behind his shoulder. "Hina, this is my friend, Izuku."

Izuku sent the girl a small wave. She seemed scared of him and Izuku couldn't blame her. Even if he didn't look scary, he had an aura around him that made people instinctively fear him. In an effort to not have Sero's entire family hate him, he sent a small little wisp of flame her way. Her eyes lit up just like her brother's always did when he saw Izuku's fire quirk.

The fire danced around her head, completely safe to the touch, and she giggled while trying to reach out to it. Hanta smiled between the two, thrilled Izuku had won the youngest sister over, even if she wouldn't be the hardest.

The fire died out as pouding footsteps came barreling down the stairs. Izuku's attention was instantly snapped to the two girls that showed up. They looked like carbon copies of each other, except for the fact one was slightly shorter. Black hair and eyes, just like Hanta.

"Who's this?" the taller of the two asked, her head tilted to the side as she walked around her brother and right up to Izuku. The boy blinked in surprise at her lack of caution. The shorter girl followed, but stayed just a step behind her older sister.

"Izuku! He's Hana's friend," Hina excitedly explained.

Izuku raised a brow at 'Hana'. He rolled his eyes, "Hina had a hard time with t's when she was younger."

"Okay, Hana," Izuku teased, bringing his attention to the two girls in front of him. The tallest of which was almost his height. Jeez, he really was short. Both of them giggled at what Izuku had called their brother.

"That's Haru and Emiko, the two trouble makers of the house," Hanta told Izuku, both girls, who Izuku knew were eleven and eight respectively, smiling sweetly at him despite the description they were just given.

Izuku almost wanted to point out that Hanta was in fact a criminal, but he knew the girls had no idea what their brother got up to in his spare time. He didn't want their image of him ruined. He kept his side comments to himself for once.

"You two, where's Aki?" Hanta asked, shifting Hina to his other hip. Izuku knew that he'd landed on his right side pretty hard earlier that night, it was probably bothering him.

Hina was playing with his hair as she answered instead of her older sisters. "Upstairs, on that site you told her to not go on."

Haro and Emiko shared a worried look. Hanta squeezed his eyes shut tightly as he took a deep breath.

"Thank you, angel," he said to Hina softly. "Iz, can you?..."

Izuku looked between his friend and Hina skeptically. Hanta wanted Izuku to hold her?

"Izu! Izu! Izu!" the little girl cheered.

Sero sent him an amused look as he handed the little girl over. Izuku awkwardly held her as Hanta disappeared up the stairs, saying he'd be back in a moment.

"Izu, do the fire thing again! Please? Pretty, pretty please?" Hina begged, poking Izuku's cheek.

Haru and Emiko looked up at him expectantly, clearly wanting to know what their little sister was talking about.

Izuku relented, of course, who could possibly say no to Hina? The girl was the cutest thing he'd ever seen and was nothing but sweet. He lit up a small flame in his off hand, letting the fire wrap around his fingers and wrist, absolutely dazzling all three girls. He sent the small flame over to Haru, letting it wrap around her shoulders then pass off to Emiko, who daringly touched it with the tip of her finger. She squeaked when she discovered that it didn't burn. The fire came back to Izuku and he let it circle his hand.

"You're not dad! You don't get to tell me what I'm not allowed to do!"

Izuku closed his fist tightly at the yell, the fire going out instantly.

All the girls frowned at his actions, not seeming phased by the yelling upstairs.

"Well someone has to! You're going to get yourself in trouble, or worse, hurt! What the hell are you thinking, talking to strangers on the internet. You don't know who those people are."

Hanta's voice sounded angry. A type of angry Izuku only heard when he'd tried to work out before he was fully healed and ended up hurting himself. It was anger fueled by worry. It was something Izuku couldn't help but think these girls were incredibly lucky to have. They had someone who loved them so much, cared for them so deeply, he abandoned his cool and calm demeanor to try and protect them. Oftentimes from themselves.

The yelling from upstairs seemed to alert whoever was in the kitchen that Hanta was home. The faint noise they had been making from cooking came to a halt. Footsteps made their way into the hallway.

It was a tall woman, the older female version of Hanta. She was wiping her hands on her apron as she walked, not paying attention to the gathering in front of her door. "He just got back and they're already fighting again?" she asked, coming to a stop in front of her daughters, where she finally looked up.

She was shocked to see Izuku holding her youngest, her wide eyes reflected that. "And who are you, dear?" The question wasn't meant to be rude, Izuku knew that. She was simply curious.

"It's Izuku," Haru said, her voice suggestive.

Her mother's face shifted to one of recognition. That was the first time Izuku realized that Hanta talked about him at home.

"Oh! It's so nice to finally meet you. Hanta talks about you all the time," she said with a kind smile.

Izuku let out a small grunt of surprise. He had absolutely no idea Hanta had said anything about him to anyone, let alone his family. He didn't even know what to say.

His voice came out gravely and strained as he said, "He talks about you guys a lot too."

Hanta's mother nodded fondly at the information. "He's such a good boy."

A crash from upstairs made all the girls flinch. Izuku looked at the stairs worriedly.

"Give that back, you bastard!" A girl's screech sounded.

Hanta came into view, sliding down the railing with a laptop in his hands. "No," was all he shouted back as a black haired girl, the oldest Izuku had seen, stood at the top of the stairs.

"Mom, tell Hanta to give me my laptop back! It's mine!" she yelled.

So that must be Akira. Hanta didn't talk about her much, just that she was a daddy's girl and took his leaving the hardest.

Hanta's mother let out a tired sigh. Izuku thought this sort of thing must happen often. "Hanta, give Aki back her laptop."

Hanta simply said "No." He wrapped it up completely in tape and leaned over to whisper to Izuku. The green haired boy looked between him and a fuming Akira. The girl looked about ready to explode.

But Izuku shrugged at the instructions. Oh well, it wasn't his place to decide if Hanta was right or wrong in this situation. He let One For All crackle to life around him, taking the laptop and jumping from one wall to the next until he could press the taped up laptop to the ceiling, then landing with a huff back where he stood before.

Hanta smirked at his stunned family. "He's pretty cool, huh?"

Izuku nudged him in the ribs. "I'm not a show pony, ya know."

The taller boy ruffled his curls," Oh, of course not, lightning bug."

Akira finally tore her gaze away from her laptop and glared harshly at Izuku before finally looking back at her smug brother. "That's not fair! You know my tape isn't as strong as yours."

Izuku looked long and hard over the girl, who he now realized had striking blue eyes. Must be from their dad.

She was also taller than him at thirteen. He tried to not let it bruise his ego too much. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the barely visible bumps on the back of her knuckles. Where Hanta could be described as having duct tape in his elbows, she had the equivalent of scotch tape in her knuckles.

Hanta just shrugged. "Get crafty then."

Izuku had to cover his mouth to suppress the laugh that was bursting to come out.

Akira's eyes zeroed back on him. It was a glare he couldn't help but match. He didn't like being challenged and it was instinct to challenge back. He hadn't even realized he'd done it until Hanta nudged him. He snapped back to reality, blinking and turning back to his friend.

The girl had fire in her, Izuku could give her that. She also despised authority. Izuku could relate. He liked her, just a little bit.

"Just give it back, it's not yours." Akira hissed at her brother.

Hanta crossed his arms over his chest. "Once you start listening and respecting the people who are trying to protect you, maybe I will."

The word respect rang in Izuku's head like a siren. His own lesson in it came rushing to the forefront of his thoughts. He had to strain himself to not visibly flinch.

He shot a glare at Hanta, who finally seemed to realize what he'd said. He sent an apologetic look at his shorter friend, but Izuku had already jumped up and grabbed the laptop. He threw it into Akira's arms. Those icy blue eyes blinked over at him.

Hanta face palmed.

"Thanks," she mumbled to Izuku, turning and rushing off to the kitchen, probably to find something to cut through her brother's tape. Haru and Emiko scurried off after her, Hina following along, but getting scooped up by her mother and taken into the living room. The woman said over her shoulder, "It's lovely to meet you, Izuku."

Once all the girls were gone from the hall, Hanta turned to Izuku with a sigh. "Iz-"

"They're all just like you told me," Izuku said, cutting him off. He didn't know if Hanta planned to scold him or apologize, but either way Izuku didn't want to hear it. "Your sisters. I knew who they all were before you even introduced them."

Hanta leaned against one of the walls, nodding. "You were really good with them. I don't think I'll be able to get Hina to stop talking about you. Ever."

Izuku's faint smile was pointed at the ground, but Hanta still easily saw it. "She really is adorable."

Hanta hummed in agreement and the two fell into silence.

"Akira," Izuku said, startling Hanta. "She's..."

"A pain in the ass," Hanta said with a huff.

Izuku shot him a glare that made him raise his eyebrows. "She's pissed," Izuku corrected.

"She always is."

"She thinks she's the reason your dad left."

Hanta was shocked into silence. He didn't know how to respond to that. Did Izuku get a mind reading quirk he didn't tell him about? Or was he just that good at reading people? Because Hanta had known Akira for thirteen years, and even he didn't know that.

"C'mon, food's probably done."

Izuku just nodded and followed him to the kitchen.