"You were out late last night," Toga said with a knowing look in her eyes as she sipped on her coffee. 

It was the next morning and Izuku was dead tired. He hadn't been out that late, despite his best friend's words, but sleep had completely alluded him. The meet-up with Hanta had his thoughts racing the entire night. 

"I'm always out late," Izuku mumbled, grabbing the mug from her hand and downing the rest of its contents in a few seconds. The coffee was still steaming from the heat, but he appreciated the slight burn it caused. It helped clear his head better than caffeine could. 

Toga was already grabbing a new mug and filling it while she hummed. "But you only look like that after tape boy late nights." 

He held out the mug in his hands, silently asking her to refill it. "What's your point?" 

She shook her head with a smile, complying with his wordless request. "Absolutely nothing, Izuku. I'm happy you're talking to him again." 

Izuku raised a brow at her, taking another drink of his hot beverage. "You're happy I'm going to get him and his entire family killed?" 

Toga rolled her eyes at his melodrama, used to it after seven years as his best friend. "He's a pro hero, hun. You're not the one who invited death to his door, he did that all on his own." 

"I just invited Shigaraki," he spat, leaning back against the counter and glaring holes into their wall. 

"Whine about it if you want," she said with a flippant wave of her hand. "But you love him and I'm not going to apologize for being happy that he's back in your life. You've only been stalking him for seven years." 

Izuku shook his head as his eyes drifted up to the ceiling. "If anything happens to him-" 

"Izuku," Toga cut him off in exasperation, setting her own mug down a little too hard. "You need to give him more credit. You need to give yourself more credit. He wouldn't be a hero if he couldn't take care of himself, and even if he can't, you can. You like to pretend that you can't annihilate the country with half a thought, but you literally can. Nothing is going to happen to your tape boy." 

Izuku let his neck go lax, his head falling forward so his chin almost touched his chest. "Why don't I have his family back, then? I'm not a god, Himiko." 

Toga snorted at that, picking her mug back up and taking a sip. "Only because you won't let yourself be one. You hold yourself back because you have morals, but if they were in mortal peril, you'd get them out in seconds." 

"You think too highly of me, poodle." 

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

"I can't believe I'm fucking doing this," Izuku huffed under his breath. He was currently walking down the streets of Musutafu, preparing to launch a full-scale villain attack for the first time since that fateful summer camp. 

Izuku worked from the shadows, rarely making an appearance when he attacked. The heroes didn't know he still existed and the underground had never seen his face. He was a shadow, a myth that was only discussed in hushed whispers. 

He was about to throw that reputation out the window for Hanta's family. 

He was stepping into the spotlight for the first time in seven years because when Shigaraki told him to jump, all he could do was ask how high. 

He wasn't a god and Toga had been wrong. 

He'd gotten a text that morning with very detailed instructions on his next assignment. Shigaraki and Chisaki were doing another trade-off, but both of them were being heavily monitored by law enforcement. If they couldn't slip past the heroes charged with watching them, the whole deal would go up in smoke. 

Izuku was being used as another distraction. He had expected to play guard dog, not circus freak, but it didn't matter. They had already struck a deal, for every errand he ran he got one of the girls back. 

He took a quick right turn down an alley he knew had a rusted fire escape. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it right and his way. He needed higher ground. 

Once he was on the top of the building he'd chosen, he let his flames materialize next to him. They were still insistent on keeping the wolf form and he was too tired to fight it. It tilted its head up at him, waiting for their instructions. 

"If anyone dies Shinsou and Aizawa are gonna be on our ass," he said, taking a seat on the ledge and letting his legs dangle off the edge. 

The giant dog just took a seat next to him, the soft roar of flames filling the silence. 

"Do I need to remind you that Aizawa's quirk shuts mine off?" Izuku asked, eyeing the fire next to him carefully. "You hate when I leash you, imagine failing to exist entirely." 

The dog shifted where it sat, a low whine sounding from its throat. 

"Well, that's new," Izuku mused, patting the fire on its head. "Didn't know you could make noise. I still can't figure out what quirk you fused with." 

The flames, as if trying to impress him further, barked. 

The villain fixed his unruly quirk with a hard glare. "You are never allowed to learn human speech, got it? You being able to talk out loud would be the absolute worst thing to ever happen to me. At that point, I'd just get rid of you." 

The dog seemed annoyed at the statement, the flames burning a little brighter now. 

"And since you're two or more quirks fused together," Izuku continued, feeling crazier than he had in years as he blackmailed a quirk. "When I release you, you'd break down into the original quirks and go back to their original owners. You'd never seen me, or Himiko, or Hanta, or Hina ever again. You'd cease to exist as you are now." 

The dog's head bumped into Izuku's, the flames completely harmless to him as always. The villain thought it was done as if to say "Yeah, yeah, I get it already." 

"Just making sure," Izuku said while stroking the dog in between its giant ears. "Try not to kill anyone," he said again. "It'll probably be impossible, given the scale of disaster we're about to cause, but at least try. Hina will cry when she finds out." 

The wolf chuffed, which Izuku figured was as much confirmation as he was going to get. 

A thought crossed his mind and backtracked for a moment. "Actually, if you see anyone familiar, go for it. Shigaraki's men can burn to death for all I care." 

Since Izuku stuck to the shadows, the only people his flames knew were the people it wouldn't hurt or the people he'd done business with. 

"Go on," Izuku urged, waving his hand down to the street below, it was time to begin. "Go have some fun." 

The flame-wolf didn't need to be told twice, darting off in the streak of fire toward the ground. Its first hit was the convenience store on the first level of the building Izuku was currently sitting on. 

"Of course, just to make me work harder," he mumbled with a roll of his eyes. He activated Air Control, making an invisible platform from the roof out over the street. To any onlookers, it would appear like he was levitating. 

Screams had already erupted from below him, a few people catching sight of him in the air and pointing. He really thought they'd be more focused on the fire that was rapidly spreading through the street, but oh well. 

He wasn't sure what the reaction time for the heroes would be, but he didn't think he had long. Not after making himself known at UA. Another almost identical attack would have pro heroes on his ass in minutes, if not quicker. 

He scanned the streets, deciding he needed to be closer to the action. Being so high up made all the people look like ants and that made a dark feeling twist in his gut. It reminded him that people were ants compared to him. He'd run into that feeling too many times, given into it once or twice, and he didn't want a relapse. 

"This really is a nifty quirk," he said to himself as he started to sink toward the ground, Air control acting as a makeshift elevator in the sky. He stopped a few stories up, still wanting to be above the action, just not so high. 

Fire had taken over the block, cars, and buildings burning away as the clock ticked. "Any time now," he shouted, waiting for some hero to show up and try to stop him. 

As if speaking it into existence, ice shot down the street, putting out a few of his flames with an angry hiss. 

Izuku's eyebrows raised as he followed the glacier back to who had caused it. Pro hero Shoto was on the scene, appearing more focused on civilians than taking down Izuku. The villain could respect that, but his efforts would be wasted if Izuku just kept sparking up more flames. He saw the hero glance in his direction, so at least he was aware of him. 

In one quick movement, Izuku adjusted himself so he was seated on the solidified air of his stolen quirk, wanting to be comfortable while he waited the attack out. It looked like it would take a while. 

It had been a full minute, and Shoto was still the only hero on the scene. The hair on the back of Izuku's neck stood up, getting an awfully bad feeling. Why was there only one hero? 

The answer to his question came seconds later when he was suddenly tumbling out of the air as every flame on the street went out like a light. 

He gritted his teeth and fought against the hold on his quirk, desperate to get it back before he smacked into the tar of the road below. Of course, Eraserhead was sent in, he thought bitterly. 

For a split second, he actually thought that was the end. He couldn't get any of his quirks to respond and the ground was just a few feet below him. All of his backup plans were reliant on his quirks, all of them. If he didn't have access, he was completely useless. 

Before he could land and die in the most embarrassing way, Aizawa's capture weapon wrapped around him and gave a sharp pull. It threw off his momentum enough for the landing to only bruise. 

He landed with a harsh thud, groaning as he sat up without the help of his arms. "You could have fucking killed me!" he shouted as he saw the dark-haired hero standing a few feet away. 

"I should have!" Aizawa instantly shouted back, an anger in his eyes that Izuku rarely saw. Sure, working with the hero resulted in him pushing his buttons frequently, but he'd never made him that mad. Izuku actually felt an inkling of guilt before he quickly shoved it aside. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" 

Before Izuku could open his mouth, Todoroki appeared. "Eraserhead, Uravity and Ingenium have arrived. They're leading the rescue efforts." The heterochromatic eyes shifted to Izuku, who still couldn't use his quirks. 

"What're you looking at, candy cane?" Izuku hissed, itching for Aizawa to just blink already. He was vulnerable without his quirks, way too vulnerable for someone with so many enemies. 

Todoroki didn't respond, just looked back to his old teacher. 

"As soon as I blink, we'll lose him," Aizawa stated, speaking to the hero but not taking his eyes off Izuku. 

"What'd we do?" 

Izuku laughed loudly at the question. "Start by not strategizing in front of him?" 

"Why are you doing this, Midoriya?" Aizawa asked instead. 

"Let's not use real names out here, Eraserhead," Izuku chided. He didn't closely guard his legal name, but he still didn't like the idea of everyone in the city knowing it. 

"Just answer the question," the hero persisted. 

Izuku shook his head with a sick smile creeping onto his face. He knew Aizawa's exact time limit, needed to for some of the missions they had gone on together. He knew the hero was almost there. "Let go of the scarf, Aizawa." 

"Why would I do that?" 

"Let go of the scarf," Izuku said again, jerking his body back to knock the hero off balance. Between the pull and his limit, he couldn't stop himself from blinking. 

Izuku instantly had all five fingers touching the scarf around him and smiled with sick satisfaction as it started to disintegrate and slowly travel toward the end the hero was wearing. Fortunately, the hero was well-trained in the art of bailing on the capture weapon and had it off before the quirk could touch him. 

Todoroki was already set in a fighting stance, waiting for Izuku to make the first move. "That was Shigaraki's quirk. How the fuck did you do that?" he asked in utter disbelief. 

Aizawa didn't seem quite as shocked, but even he hadn't known what Izuku's quirk actually was. Only three people alive did, Hanta, Toga, and Shigaraki. 

"You knew my dad's quirk," Izuku said with a shrug, climbing to his feet and brushing himself off. "Why are you so surprised that I inherited it?" 

Todoroki's eyes had widened, the only visible sign of his distress. "You can take people's quirks?" 

Izuku didn't answer, not wanting to give them any more information. Instead, he tilted his head back and looked up at the building they were standing next to. "There's still three... make that four people on the top floor of this one." 

He looked back over at the two heroes while his flames took shape next to him. He saw the second Aizawa went to reactivate his quirk and was faster, zipping the power to himself for safekeeping. "C'mon, Aizawa. You should have seen that one coming," he tutted, feeling the quirk as it nestled itself next to his others. This one felt cold and dark compared to his fire, a weird contrast in his body. 

He looked down at the wolf beside him, relaxed and in control of the situation once again. "Go get 'em, boy." 

The building was ablaze faster than either of the heroes could comprehend. 

"You can stay and get your asses handed to you or you can go save those people. Choice is yours," Izuku said with a shrug. "And don't worry, Eraser, you'll get it back eventually." 

Ta-da I updated. Can't think of anything else to write here.