It took Izuku another three days to be able to freely move around with limited pain. Toga deemed him well enough to go meet up with his 'lover boy', and shooed him out of the complex.

He was in no shape to use One For All to propel himself across the city like he usually did, so he was stuck walking the streets. He sent Sero a short message that only said to meet him at the roof. It was read, but there was no reply. Izuku felt a little bad about the fact Sero would arrive so much quicker than himself.

When Izuku finally reached the building where their roof sat, he took one look around and realized there was only one way up. With a deep breath, he used all his strength (and One For All) to propel himself onto the roof. He landed on his side with a soft thud. He groaned loudly as he rolled, holding onto his still healing torso.

So that wasn't his best idea.

Almost instantly Sero was kneeling beside him, trying to assess the damage. "What the hell just happened?" he asked worriedly, bringing a hand to Izuku's face and forcing the injured boy to look at him. Izuku sent him a wavering smile that only made him worry more.

"Hi," Izuku said softly, looking up at him with profound relief in his eyes.

Sero cradled his head as he sent a soft smile back. "Hey, lightning bug."

"How were the exams?" Izuku asked, seeming in no hurry to move or address his current predicament.

Sero brushed a few curls from his forehead. "Really good actually. They should be sending out results any day now."

Izuku let his eyes close as he nodded. "I missed you."

Leaning down, being very careful not to jostle Izuku too much, Sero placed a kiss on his forehead. "I missed you too. Mind tell me where you were?"

"Passed out, mostly," he mumbled in answer. "I woke up a few days ago, but today was the first I've been able to walk around without wanting to keel over."

"Iz," Sero's sorrowful voice made him open his eyes back up. His breath hitched at how sad Sero looked. He was almost worried the boy would start crying. "What happened?"

Izuku shifted, pressing himself ever so slightly closer to Sero. "I pissed off Shigaraki. Too much this time. My dad took his side and I got another 'lesson'."

It wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't a full truth either. He couldn't just outright tell Sero everything, he'd be risking the boy's life. That was something he wouldn't be doing again. That night would mark the start of the long list of lies and betrayals made by Izuku Midoriya against Hanta Sero. A list that would ensure Sero's hatred for the other.

But Izuku would rather have Sero hate him than end up dead.

Sero leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "I'm sorry, lightning bug. You keep getting hurt."

He reached up and grabbed the back of Sero's head, pulling him down and kissing him upside down. "Don't be sorry, it's not your fault."

So that one was an outright lie. Whatever. Izuku lied to everyone all the time, it barely phased him anymore.

"I just wish I could do something to help," Sero mumbled against his lips.

Izuku shook his head, the ghost of a smile on his lips. Sero was so good. "You can. Go to UA, become a kick ass pro hero and help me take my dad down some day."

Sero laughed lightly at that. "Of course, lightning bug."

Izuku reached up a hand and traced the lines of Sero's face. From his eyebrow over his cheekbone and down to his jawline. "I really do love that nickname," he whispered.

"I'm glad," Sero said with that dopey grin of his. "But you have got to come up with something better than tape boy."

Izuku laughed loudly and suddenly, the action causing harsh pain to shoot through his whole body. He couldn't stop the wince, which Sero obviously noticed.

"Hey, don't move," he instructed.

Izuku bit his lip as Sero's hand reached for the bottom of his shirt. "Hanta, I'm fine, really-"

Sero's hand froze where it grazed over a wet patch on Izuku's shirt. The shirt was black and it was dark, so he hadn't been able to see it earlier. "Iz, you're bleeding." His tone was disapproving, clearly unhappy that Izuku hadn't mentioned it earlier.

Izuku went to sit up, but the pain flared and he didn't get very far. Sero shifted out from behind him, pushing him back to his lying position. He took his hoodie off and placed it under the injured boy's head.

"Let me look at it," he instructed.

"It's nothing, I'm okay-"

"I wasn't asking," Sero snapped.

Izuku reeled at his temper. It had never been directed at him like that. He stayed quiet and still while Sero finally lifted his shirt and assessed the damage.

"Izuku..." He trailed off. He didn't even know what to say. There was a long, deep gash across his entire torso, like someone had tried to gut him. It was crudely stitched together, just starting to show signs of healing together, but Izuku's landing earlier had ripped it back open.

"How," Sero took a deep, shaky breath. "How did you even survive?"

Izuku stared up at the night sky, watching how the stars twinkled above him. It was peaceful and almost made him forget where he was. "I don't think I did.

"Of course, my dad wouldn't let me stay dead. I'm too valuable, flaws and all," he muttered, more to himself than Sero, but he still heard.

Sero quietly took his shirt off and held the piece of cloth against the wound. "Do you wish you were?" His voice was quiet and he wasn't looking at anything but his own hands, pushing down on the other boy's torso.

"I'm not going to go out of my way to make it happen, but sometimes I think it'd be easier," Izuku admitted into the silent night air. It was something he'd never said out loud, to himself or others.

Sero rubbed his forearm under his nose and sniffled. "We should get you to a hospital, the bleeding isn't stopping."

Izuku tried to sit up, shaking his head violently. He had to push the shorter boy back down.

"No, no hospitals. If my dad finds out, I'm dead. Permanently this time."

"No hospitals then. The complex?"

Izuku shook his head, tears glistening in his eyes. "I don't want to go back there yet."

Sero nodded in understanding. He didn't want him going there either. Ever again, even though he knew that wasn't possible, not yet. "My house it is."

Izuku couldn't even argue, it was that or bleed out on the roof. Not that it didn't sound unappealing in its own way, but he wanted to be where Sero was. He didn't fancy being alone any time soon.

Sero carefully helped Izuku to his feet, but he was unsteady and kept swaying. With one arm wrapped around Izuku's waist, low enough to not affect his injury too much, Sero walked them over to the side of the building. "I need you to keep that pressed against you, okay?" His shirt had been soaked through, so now Izuku weakly pressed Sero's hoodie to his stomach.

Izuku's head faintly moved. Sero couldn't tell if it was a nod, or if his head had just become too heavy to hold up anymore. Either way, he didn't waste time to find out. Slowly and with a sense of care he'd never known before, Izuku was moved over the side of the building and lowered to the ground with Sero. Once they were back on the street, Sero scooped him up bridal style and started towards his home. His pace was brisk, but he didn't want to risk jostling Izuku too much by running.

"Lightning bug, c'mon I need you to stay awake," he mumbled to Izuku when he started to doze off in his arms. The boy jerked awake, looking up at Sero with dull eyes. "There you are. Keep pressing that against your stomach, okay? We're almost there." Izuku moaned quietly in response, letting his head fall against Sero's shoulder again.

When the house was in Sero's sight, he sped up. They were so close and once they got inside, he could help Izuku. Just a few more feet.

Sero burst into the quiet house. Everyone had gone to bed a while ago, but he didn't care. Not when Izuku was losing consciousness in his arms.

"Mom!" Sero yelled towards the stairs. He yelled even louder when he realized Izuku had zero reaction to it.

Aya Sero and her oldest daughter came running down the stairs at Hanta's shouting. Aya saw her son place a passed out and heavily bleeding Izuku on their living room couch and rushed over to them. Akira was frozen at the entrance to the room.

"Help him, please," Hanta cried, stepping out of his mother's way.

Aya grabbed her son's face, forcing him to concentrate on her. "I need you to go get a rag and a bowl of water from the kitchen, okay? Bring that back here and then go grab the first aid kit from the bathroom. Go," she urged him and he took off without another word.

She moved her attention back to Izuku as a tired voice called, "Mama, what's going on?"

It was Hina. Because of Hanta's yells, she had woken up, and if the slightly louder footsteps coming after her were any indication, so had Haru and Emiko.

Aya turned to her oldest daughter, who still hadn't moved or taken her eyes off Izuku. "Aki. Aki!"

Blue eyes finally turned to her mother, tears starting to form.

"I need you to take your sisters back upstairs, okay? Can you do that for me? They don't need to see this." Aya was trying to stay calm, pressing the wet mass of fabric harder against the unmoving boy.

Akira just faintly nodded and turned back to the stairs. Aya heard her softly talking to her sisters, coaxing them back upstairs, promising to tell them everything up there.

She let out a sigh of relief that they were gone as Hanta came running back into the room, water sloshing from the bowl as he placed it down as carefully as possible. Aya got to work right away, trying to wash off some of the blood, so she could get a better look at the injury.

Hanta had stopped moving next to her. She looked back for a brief second, seeing that all of his attention was on the boy's stomach. "Hanta, the first aid kit," she reminded him gently.

Without another second delay, he took off in the direction of their bathroom.

Aya turned back to Izuku's prone figure. "What happened to you, darling?"

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

When Izuku woke up, the first thing he thought was, ow.

His second thought was, where the fuck am I?

The question was answered when a little girl called out, "Izu's up!"

He winced at the loud voice, but did his best to smile at Hina as she came scrambling over to him. That's when the memories of the previous night came back to him. He almost bled out on that rooftop. Oops.

There was a sound like glass falling on the floor and a few seconds later Hanta came running into the living room. He dropped right next to the couch, pulling Izuku into a fierce kiss.

Izuku's eyes went wide at the sudden gesture, in front of his sister no less. Before Izuku could even think to kiss back, Hanta pulled back and rested their foreheads together. "Never, do that again."

Izuku just mutely nodded.

"Izuku's alive!"

He looked over Hanta's shoulder and saw Haru and Emiko running towards him. They both dropped to their knees next to their brother and youngest sister, lining themselves down the couch and staring at Izuku with wide eyes.

"I'm surprisingly hard to kill," he told them. It was supposed to be a joke, but it came out a little too serious.

"Well, thank goodness for that," Aya said while walking into the room. "Girls, why don't you go wash your hands and head into the kitchen for lunch, okay?"

All three whined in protest, but a stern look from their mother sent them on their way.

"Now Izuku," oh, he didn't like where this was going. "Mind tell me why my son showed up here at nearly two in the morning with you half dead in his arms?"

No, he really didn't want to tell her.

Hanta sent her a pleading look. "I already told you, mom, he can't say."

She glared back at her son. "He almost died in my living room, I think I have a right to know why." She looked back over at Izuku. "Hunny, who did this to you? Was it a parent?"

Izuku's eyes widened in realization. "Shit, my dad." He looked over at Hanta, his fear clear as day on his face. "My phone, where's my phone?" he asked, his voice tight and loud as he patted his pockets, trying to find it.

Hanta reached behind him and grabbed it off the end table. It fell from his hand when Izuku lunged for it.

"You're going to pop your stitches again," he hissed. "Be careful."

Izuku glared back at him. "I'm gonna need more if I don't get back soon. How long was I out?" He was completely ignoring Aya at this point and, thankfully, the woman took the hint. She clearly wasn't going to get anything out of him, so she just stayed quiet and watched her son and Izuku.

"A little over a day," Hanta told him, pushing him back down. "You need to stop moving."

Izuku shook his head, looking through his notifications. A single missed call from his father. Shit. "Hanta," he looked up at the boy, his eyes wide and afraid. "I need to get back."

The black haired boy clearly looked conflicted. "I don't want you to get hurt again," he whispered, trying to keep his mom out of it as much as possible.

"He's going to kill me if I don't get back," Izuku whispered back.

Hanta leaned back and took a deep breath. He nodded. "Let's go then."

He started to help Izuku up, but the other boy protested. "No! No, you can't come with. You know that."

"I'm not letting you limp back there all by yourself," Hanta said with a frown, letting Izuku use him like a crutch.

Izuku thought it over. His dad already knew about Sero and he wanted to use him for info. He wouldn't hurt him, not yet anyway. It'd be safe.

He still didn't like the thought of Hanta being anywhere near the compound.

"Fine, but you're not coming in," he compromised.

Hanta nodded. "I know, I know. I'm not allowed in."

The two slowly hobbled out of the living room, passing Aya on the way. "I'll be back soon, mom." Hanta said over his shoulder.

Aya wanted to tell him to stay, that he wasn't allowed to go anywhere, neither were. But she knew her son and she knew Izuku. Neither of them would listen to her, Hanta never did anyways. So she was resigned to watch them limp out of her house and disappear behind the front door.

"Is Izuku going to be okay?"

Aya turned on her heel, looking over at her oldest daughter. Akira was holding onto the rail of the stairs, leaning her body weight against it. She looked tired and Aya knew she was exhausted, they all were.

She smiled as she walked towards her daughter. She took Akira's face in her hands and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Of course he will, sweetheart."

They walked into the kitchen, neither of them believing the lie Aya had just told.