I am so genuinely sorry for this chapter. 

Izuku glanced around the dark city block, a night vision quirk activating on reflex as he searched for any sign of movement in the night. "You know, with my quirks, I could patrol the entire city simultaneously. This feels lackluster." 

He could practically feel Aizawa rolling his eyes at the comment. "Yeah, well, this is how those of us with one quirk do things. Get used to it." 

A small huff escaped his lips as he looked over at the other man. "Fine, but did we really need to bring the Deku wrangler with?" 

"I'm gonna pretend I'm not offended by that," Hanta grumbled, bumping his shoulder into Izuku's. "And besides, I'm the Firefly wrangler now." 

"I fear I may never escape that name," Izuku sighed, leaning his back against the hero's chest and letting him support his weight. He was running on... not enough sleep. He actually couldn't remember how much he'd last gotten, but it was starting to take a toll. 

Hanta leaned down to whisper right in his ear. "Not in this lifetime, Firefly." 

"Perfect." The response was sarcastic, but Hanta didn't seem to care. He wore a bright smile as he placed a firm kiss on Izuku's temple. For all his unreadability, the shorter man blushed. 

"He's actually here because we need to split up, and I can't trust you on your own," Aizawa spoke up in a blunt tone, ruining the sweet moment between the other two with no remorse. 

"Awe, come on, Eraserhead. Haven't we been through enough together?" Izuku teased, completely unbothered at the idea of the older hero leaving him alone with Hanta. He'd much rather run through the city with him anyway. 

Aizawa leveled him with an unamused look. "Enough for me to not leave you alone out here." 

"Come on, Hana. We don't need the old grouch, anyway," Izuku huffed, grabbing the hero's hand and pulling him straight off the rooftop they had previously been perched on. 

Without a second thought, Izuku was wrapped up in Hanta's arms as he shot a string of tape out and slowly lowered them to the ground, just like the night they had met. "Warn me before you jump off a building next time?" Hanta asked, but there was clear amusement laced in his voice. 

"You ask for a lot of warnings," Izuku pointed out, already walking down the street. He didn't particularly have a destination in mind, just wandering around and keeping his eyes peeled. That's all heroes did on patrol, right? Damn, he probably should have asked before his first one. 

"If only I had one seven years ago," Hanta mused, easily following after the other man, no questions asked. 

Izuku cast a look over his shoulder, one brow raised in question. "Do you regret meeting me, tape boy?" 

"Never, lightning bug." 

Izuku quickly looked forward again, trying to hide the small smile that had taken over his features. "Ah, ah, Firefly when on duty, remember?" he teased, letting One For All spark up around him. He figured if he was playing hero, he might as well use his most heroic quirk for it, right?

A hand wrapping around his wrist brought Izuku to a halt, turning back to see what caused Hanta to pull them to a stop. What he found was an awestruck look taking over the hero's face. 

"You look gorgeous like that, you know?" 

Izuku was pretty damn sure his heart stopped beating in his chest. If he was physically capable of dying, he thought Hanta might have just killed him. 

"You can't just say shit like that," he mumbled, trying to pull his hand away. 

The effort was in vain as Hanta pulled him closer, not stopping until the two were chest to chest. Izuku couldn't help but marvel at the way their height difference made their bodies fit together almost perfectly. 

"Why's that, Firefly?" 

He had half a mind to push the smirking hero away just because, but refrained. "We're in the middle of the city, right out on a road," he said instead, his voice coming out a lot softer than he intended. 

Hanta shrugged one shoulder. "It's dark." 

"Hana, we're under a street light." 

That was the wrong thing to say, he realized, just as Hanta pushed them back until Izuku's back hit the side of a building, effectively leaving them shrouded in darkness. "Problem solved," the raven-haired man teased. 

Izuku couldn't help it, one of his hands reaching up to Hanta's cheek without his permission. The hero was just so bright, even in the shadows, he shined like a beacon. Izuku was little more than a moth, pulled in with no hope of getting away. 

"I could do it," he found himself mumbling, unaware of the words leaving his lips until it was too late to take them back. 

Hanta's hand moved to rest on top of Izuku's, holding it against his face and placed a soft kiss on his palm. "Do what, love?" 

Oh god, he needs to stop talking, Izuku thought to himself, knowing he was already in too deep. Hanta Sero wasn't something he could run from; he already knew that. It wouldn't stop him from trying, but fuck did the hero make it hard to want to. 

"I could stay," Izuku found himself whispering. "I could quit the family business, leave it all behind, for you." 

Hanta froze, his eyes widening as the only sign he'd even heard the shorter man. The silence dragged on between them and Izuku thought about taking off. Anything was better than sticking around after that confession was met with nothing. 

He didn't get the chance too, though. He saw the second the gears in Hanta's brain started back up, his grip on Izuku's hip tightening. 

"Marry me." 

"What?" Izuku reeled back, as far back as he could with the bricks pressing in on him. That was the last thing he had expected to leave his mouth. 

"Marry me, Izuku Midoriya," Hanta said again, nearly breathless as he looked down at the green-haired man. 

Izuku quickly shook his head. "I can't." 

"You can give up your entire identity for me, but you won't let me buy you a shiny ring?" Hanta asked, one brow raised in question. He wasn't even offended, purely confused about whatever mental gymnastics he knew Izuku was doing in his own brain. 

"Izuku Midoriya is a wanted criminal," Izuku said, letting the back of his head hit the bricks and rest there. His neck was starting to hurt from looking up. "You can't legally be shackled to that." 

Despite himself, Hanta smiled, the soft smile Izuku loved more than life itself. "I guess it's a good thing Izuku Sero has a squeaky clean record." 

"Well, isn't this a touching scene." 

Izuku's blood ran cold as his fight or flight kicked in, and he was never one to run. In half a second, Hanta was pushed behind him, just in time for them to watch Shigaraki appear from the shadows. 

Izuku was instantly thrown back in time to the absolute panic he felt at fifteen when Shigaraki had first caught them together. It took a moment for him to remember that his father was no longer around and he had nothing to fear anymore. Nothing. 

Shigaraki shook his head, his sickly smile pulling the sides of his mouth apart in a rather horrifying display of teeth. "I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I knew. You have a bleeding heart, Izuku Midoriya, and you're shit at hiding it." 

"Way to go, Shiggy," Izuku spat, taking a step closer to the other man. "You uncovered the truth; I am human. Want a gold star for that?" 

Cackling laughter filled the otherwise quiet night air, sending a disgusted shiver down Izuku's spine. "I knew you would fucking betray us for the hero bastard. I tried to tell Chisaki, but he's got such a hard-on for you that he wouldn't listen. I bet he will now." 

Izuku put his hands behind his head, puffing out his chest to stretch his back. "It's hilarious that you think you're getting out of this alive." 

Shigaraki cocked his head to the side, his smile not even faltering at the threat. "Did you think you were the only one with secrets?" 

A painfully familiar mist started to seep from the ground next to the villain, spilling out until the full shape of Kurogiri stood next to him. 

Izuku was at a loss for words, truly unable to speak as the closest thing he'd ever had to a father appeared at his enemy's side. 

"Izuku." 

He swallowed hard, refusing to cry. "I thought you were dead." 

"I am not." 

Izuku felt Hanta grab his hand, pulling him back. "Iz, we should-" 

The hero was shaken off quickly as Izuku took three staggering steps forward. "Where the hell have you been all these years?" he asked, needing an answer. 

Izuku had mourned him, one of the few people he'd ever shed tears for. He'd mourned him just as he'd mourned his own mother, one of the few people he'd believed ever truly loved him, ripped away and snuffed out. Yet there he was, taking Shigaraki's side. Again. 

"With Master Tomura Shigaraki, where your father demanded I be," the misty shape of a man said, his voice devoid of all emotion. 

A harsh laugh was ripped from Izuku as a hand flew to his forehead. "Of course. How could I possibly forget that you're an unfeeling nomu whose only purpose in life is to carry out orders? Silly me." 

The next moment was a blur. Izuku was glaring down yet another disappointing father figure until a flimsy piece of cloth wrapped expertly around his neck brace, the only physical part of his body left. He ended up face down on the pavement, Aizawa standing on the brace with his hair floating up and red eyes glowing in the dark. 

"I leave you two idiots alone for five minutes!" he hissed, once again ready to throttle Izuku. 

Izuku paid him no mind, instantly shooting off after Shigaraki as the villain decided to high tail it out of there on foot. 

"Izuku!" Hanta called, already chasing on his heels. 

"Arrest him!" Aizawa shouted after them. "We need him alive, Midoriya!" 

Taking Shigaraki into custody wasn't even a blip on Izuku's radar. The only thought going through his mind was ripping the man's head from his body. 

Night vision surfaced, giving Izuku a clear view of his target, which was all he needed for his own teleportation. With the snap of his fingers, he stood in front of Shigaraki, cutting off his escape. 

"I warned you," Izuku said in a low voice, his eyes narrowed into slits. "You're fucking dead, Shimura." 

Shigaraki snarled at him like a cornered animal. "Am I supposed to be shaking in my boots because you know my real name?" 

Hanta caught up to them then, his tape shooting out and wrapping around Shigaraki almost exactly as Aizawa's scarf had done to Kurogiri. His foot slammed into the villain's back, knocking him to the ground with a pained groan. "We can't kill him, Iz," he panted. 

"Then leave," Izuku snapped, but it didn't quite seem like him. His eyes had gone red, something Hanta had only witnessed a handful of times, and his voice was low and grave. Whatever was happening to the shorter man, it wasn't Izuku. "I can kill him just fine on my own." 

"Izuku," he said slowly, hoping to reach the villain, wherever he was trapped in there. "We need him alive." 

"Get out of the way, Sero." 

That was the last nail in the coffin. It wasn't Izuku. The other man hadn't called him by his last name since the first month of knowing each other. It was foreign and wrong coming from Izuku. 

Before Hanta could speak, a scream pushed itself from his lips as his knees buckled. Unbearable pain shot up from his right leg, where Shigaraki had managed to wiggle a hand out and fully grasp it. 

Izuku erupted, literally. One second, he stood there, barely contained rage hiding behind labored breaths, the next, he was nothing more than a walking bonfire. As he started for Shigaraki, fully intent on destroying every atom of the man, an explosion to the left side of his face knocked him off route. 

"What part of alive don't you understand, Deku?" Bakugou's gruff voice shouted as he fully abandoned the burning man in favor of pulling the injured Hanta as far from the action as he could in one movement. "Sparky, get the dust bastard out of here. Don't let him fucking touch you!" 

"On it!" Kaminari appeared in a flash, grabbing at the tape on Shigaraki's back and yanking with all his strength. 

"Get out of the way," Izuku hissed, pushing himself to his feet once again, the fire roaring around him. 

"That's fucking terrifying," Kaminari exclaimed, looking down at the villain he was trying to transport. "You willingly choose to get on that guy's bad side? Are you fucking dumb?" 

Izuku's head tilted as he looked Kaminari up and down. "Move, hero. I don't want to hurt you, but he needs to die." 

"Bakugou!" Kaminari shouted. "I'm kinda freaking the fuck out over here!" 

"Izuku!" The sound of his first name from the explosion hero made Izuku, or whoever he was, stop in his tracks. "Knock it the fuck off and help me save your boyfriend's fucking leg!" 

"Let me do this for you," Izuku mumbled as if he was talking to himself. 

Whatever, Kaminari wasn't about to waste the extra seconds it earned him to run. 

Izuku violently shook his head, his eyes flicking from green to red and back again. "No, you don't get to fucking kill him for me," he snapped. 

The flames that had previously been engulfing him shot off down the road with an unclear target, burning anything in their path to ash. Izuku had enough time to widen his eyes and shout, "Blaze!" 

Screams ripped through the streets. Horrible, agony-filled screams that rocked Izuku to his core. It had been years since a single sound had pierced through him like that. 

"Kaminari!" 

Okay, okay, this was awful, but hear me out. Currently quitting weed bc ya boi greened out a little too hard and is now terrified, which means I will be unable to sleep for at least a week, which means I will have nothing better to do with my time than sit around and write silly little gay fan fictions. So yes, this was nothing but pain, but also so many more new chapters in a timely manner. Little wins, right?