"I hate that you know where I live," Izuku said with a disappointed huff as he opened the door. He shifted to one side, allowing the pro hero in front of him to enter the small apartment. 

Hitoshi Shinsou wasn't phased by the gruff greeting, having been on the receiving end of it for years. "You should get better at stealth then," he said with a shrug. He had joined up with Aizawa's agency right after graduation and had teamed up with Izuku more times than he could count at that point. He'd trailed the villain back to the apartments when he was only nineteen years old. It wasn't even a challenge for him. 

Izuku let the door shut too hard, the loud noise echoing through the apartment and alerting the other occupant. 

"Iz? Why are you slamming shit- Oh, hi Shinsou!" Toga's annoyance instantly dropped at the sight of the hero, a beaming smile taking over her face. Shinsou was one of the good pros, one that both of the villains trusted almost explicitly. 

"What'd you want, Shinsou?" he deadpanned, turning his attention fully to the hero. He wouldn't just drop by for a catch up and Izuku knew that. 

Using the hero's name was always a fun tease for Izuku. He'd never been told the name and had absolutely zero reason to know it, but he'd found it easily. It always seemed to bother Shinsou that although he knew more about Izuku than he should, Izuku knew just as much about him. They were on an equal playing field and the stealth hero despised it. 

"Did you do something to Sero?" 

Izuku blinked, not expecting the question. He knew that the two worked at the same agency, but he'd made it very clear from day one that Aizawa and Shinsou were not to mention his presence in the city to the other hero. He didn't think they ever talked about him, so why would he assume that he'd rekindled something with Hanta? 

"I'm not an idiot," Shinsou said with an eye roll that was barely visible from the way his eyelids drooped. He looked like a dead man walking, as per usual. Izuku silently wondered when the last time he slept was. "He's been completely off for like two weeks, you're the only thing I can think of that would cause such a drastic shift." 

"Oh, yeah," Toga cut in, one arm wrapping around Izuku's neck and hugging him to her side. "They're talking again!" Her eyebrows rose and fell in a childish manner. 

"Shut up," Izuku hissed at her, pushing her away from him. He didn't want to broadcast his relationship with Hanta to anyone. He wasn't lying to Bakugou when he said the people he cared about ended up dead. 

Shinsou sighed, one hand moving to rub at his temple. He could already feel the headache starting to form and he hadn't even used his quirk. "That's just fucking great." 

"It's your own damn fault," Izuku said in his defense, his arms crossing over his chest as he leveled the hero with a glare. "One of your sidekicks was chasing me and failing because it's me, and he took over for them." 

"You're telling me you can't outrun Sero?" 

"I'm the one who trained his mobility! Obviously, he's on par with me." 

"You slipped up, just admit it." 

"I did not slip up!" 

"You folded like a limp noodle." 

"Shut the fuck up." 

"Would you two knock it off?" Toga grumbled, the bickering finally getting on her last nerve. The two of them had always been like that, getting into little arguments about nothing and then flipping to best friends at the drop of a hat. It got exhausting after a while. 

Izuku ignored her in favor of continuing his actual conversation with Shinsou. "Did you really come all this way to gossip about your coworker?"

"No," the hero said, crossing his arms over his chest to match Izuku. "I want to know why the fuck you attacked UA." 

"I didn't," Izuku said right back, not missing a beat. He had lied to Shinsou and Aizawa about his villainous activities for years, seeing as he couldn't exactly admit anything to a pro hero. It was second nature for him. 

"Don't bullshit me, Aizawa and I both saw those flames." 

Izuku shrugged, still not worried. "Lots of people have pyro quirks. That's not evidence." 

Shinsou's jaw ticked in agitation. "They didn't burn Sero." 

"You two have so much fun with this," Toga said, taking a few steps back toward the kitchen. "I'm gonna go finish dinner." Then she disappeared from sight. 

"Kids got hurt in that attack, Midoriya," Shinsou said, as if the villain wasn't aware. The connection he had with the flames ran deep, he knew everything they did and everywhere they went. He knew exactly how many kids got burned by them and didn't need the hero to tell him. 

"Maybe they shouldn't go to a hero school then." 

"It wasn't even the hero course!" Shinsou snapped, fed up with Izuku's dodging. He'd known the man for years and had never expected this from him. Izuku didn't mess with kids, not since he was a teenager himself. He was a villain, but he still had a few more morals. It was the only reason Aizawa ever agreed to work with him. If Izuku had abandoned the few rules he had, there would be no difference between him and every other villain they had taken down. 

"You went after the kids with no training." 

"I didn't do anything." It technically wasn't a lie. Izuku could control his quirk for the most part, but he still thought of it as a separate entity from himself. He had allowed them off leash for the attack, their only rule was no deaths or life-threatening injuries. Who they targeted was on them. 

"Aizawa's pissed," Shinsou said after realizing he wasn't going to get a confession out of Izuku anytime soon. "He wants your head." 

"Over a couple of burns? That's just pathetic," Izuku grumbled. He didn't want to be on the erasure hero's shit list. Aizawa was probably the only person alive that Izuku was scared of. He'd been on the receiving end of his quirk a handful of times and he hated it. The useless feeling that followed him after he couldn't use his powers was haunting. If Aizawa was set on catching him, Izuku feared he actually had a shot. 

"You snagged one of this year's problem kids, he's not gonna let that slide." 

Izuku gulped. 

"It's just a little burn, I'm sure they'll be fine," he muttered, trying really hard to downplay his attack. It was barely even an attack! Aizawa had no reason to be so up in arms over it. 

Shinsou impatiently tapped his foot on the hardwood floor of the apartment, looking less than impressed with Izuku's excuses. "Still not hearing a why." 

Izuku's frown deepened at the hero's prodding. He muttered something under his breath. 

"What was that?" 

"You're gonna make fun of me!" Izuku snapped. 

Shinsou raised one brow at the outburst. "Seriously? You're scared I'm gonna tease you about your reason for attacking a fucking high school?" 

The green-haired man chewed absently on the inside of his cheek. It sounded stupid, but he really didn't want to deal with Shinsou chewing him out over this. "It was to get Akira back," he muttered softly. 

"Come again?" Shinsou asked in unabashed shock. There was no way he'd just heard him right. 

Izuku dragged a hand down his face, ready to spill his guts to this stupid, underground hero he loosely considered a friend. "Hanta's family got caught up in my bullshit and now his sisters and mom are being used as leverage over me. The attack on the school got me Akira back and I will continue tearing apart this fucking town until I have them all back, okay? Run back to your boss and tell him that." 

Shinsou blinked hard at the villain in front of him. "If you weren't so batshit crazy, you'd actually make a good pro," he mused, not for the first time. Izuku hadn't been linked to any crimes since he became an adult, and even the ones from his childhood didn't result in any deaths. Shinsou knew that between Aizawa and Nezu, Izuku could get a hero license if he wanted to. The problem was making him want it. 

The villain gave a hard laugh at that comment. "I just told you that I'll burn this whole city down for them and you think I'm heroic? Seriously, Shinsou?" 

Shinsou gave a shrug, trying to ignore the chill that always went down his spine when Izuku flaunted his knowledge. "You have a good heart, just seriously fucked up ideals," he told him honestly. 

"Sure," Izuku said, dragging the word out and looking at Shinsou like he was insane. "Let's go with that." 

"So, you're active again?" Shinsou asked, deciding to steer the conversation back in the direction he needed it to go. 

Izuku shrugged, not sure if that was the right word for it. "I'm getting the girls back." 

Shinsou frowned, starting to pace the length of Izuku's living room. "We can't count on you for help now, right?" 

Izuku followed him with his eyes, getting dizzy just watching the hero. "Probably not," he confirmed. 

The pro hero came to a halt, his clinic glare locked onto Izuku. "You gonna kill people for those girls?" 

Izuku matched his gaze, not faltering or backing down. Shinsou didn't scare him, not in the least. He'd broken out of the hero's quirk enough times for both of them to know it was useless. "If I have to." 

"Innocent people?" 

Izuku tilted his head to the side. "I'll do my best to avoid it." 

Shinsou loosened a breath, his shoulders sagging at the promise. From Izuku, it meant something. It meant that only during the absolute worst-case scenario would someone innocent die, and if it came to that, all hell would be breaking loose anyway. "Good, we'll try to stay out of your way, then." 

He turned toward the front door, having covered everything he'd set out to. His hand was hovering over the handle when Izuku called out. 

"Keep Hanta as far away from me as possible," Izuku instructed despite himself. "If he keeps showing up, I will slip up. None of us can afford that right now." 

Shinsou's face morphed to one of contemplation at the order. "Do I talk to him about it or just nudge him away?" 

"Nudges," Izuku said with a nod and a tired sigh. "I don't want him finding out about my work with the agency, which means he can't know that we know each other." 

The hero gave a mock two-finger salute as he stepped out the door. "Got it." 

Izuku slumped back on his couch as soon as his front door clicked shut. Keeping himself standing was getting more and more difficult as the days wore on. 

"Ready for dinner?" Toga asked in a quiet voice, peeking her head out of the kitchen. The timing wasn't a coincidence and Izuku knew that, she had waited for Shinsou to leave. 

"Ready to die," Izuku grumbled back, tossing her a lazy look over his shoulder. 

"Hm," she hummed, looking up at the ceiling as she thought. "Doesn't look like that's on the menu tonight." 

Izuku gave a dry laugh at her attempt to play along. "I'm tired, Himi," he admitted, letting himself sink further into their tattered couch. 

Toga quickly scrambled to his side like the good poodle she was, bringing his head to rest in her lap as she started to comb her fingers through his hair. "I know you are, Izu. Do you want me to come with the next time they call? We can be little lap dogs together," she offered, hoping that her joke would at least get him to crack a smile. 

Instead, the room heated up an extra ten degrees at the suggestion. "Like hell you're coming with," he said through gritted teeth. Shigaraki and Chisaki were his problems to deal with. He'd already dragged enough innocent people into his mess, he didn't need Toga to get a shiny new target on her back. 

"Just a suggestion," she cooed, never slowing her ministrations. "If it's stressing you out this much, I want to help." 

"You can help by staying out of it. The last thing I need is to worry about your safety on top of everything." 

Toga's usually bright smile dimmed. "Hey, you're not the only feared villain in this apartment. I can hold my own just fine." 

Izuku sighed, knowing that she had a point. "I know, I know. I just... No one's indestructible, ya know?" 

The blonde woman couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped her lips at that. "You are." 

He rolled her eyes at her slight exaggeration. "Exactly, which is why this is my mess to deal with." 

"Fine," she said with a pout. She forced Izuku to face up at her, a stern glint in her eyes. "But you ask for help if you need it, understand me? You're not doing this shit alone, as much as I know you want to." 

He shook his head with a fond smile, unbelievably grateful to his father for a moment. Without him, he never would have met his psychotic best friend. "Of course, poodle." 

Wrote the first half of this chapter like weeks ago and just forgot about it. Wrote the second half today while I was literally at work.