Disclaimer: This has been inspired by Quirkless Unbound by Shadowhuntress and Zyla_SweetBean on Archive Of Our Own. I strongly recommend you read that before reading this. Some scenes and dialogue will be the same, but will take place mainly from OC's perspective. This is to answer the What If..? question: "What if Maddie and Tenko were childhood friends?" A few minor plot points will also be changed. MHA belongs to Kohei Horikoshi.

-------

That evening, Yagi made a call to someone he hadn't seen in a long time. He hoped he wouldn't simply ignore him upon seeing the caller ID. Much to his delight, the phone picked up on the other end. "Hello?" a sleepy voice filtered through the speaker. "Who is this?"

"Dave!" Yagi exclaimed, excited. He felt a wave of nostalgia at the sound of his old friend's voice. "Sorry to wake you at such an early hour-"

"Yagi? It's, like, three in the morning!"

"-but I have a favor to ask." He felt slightly guilty that he called his friend up at an inopportune time due to the time difference, but he could worry about that later. He heard David audibly sigh on the other end. "And I'm assuming you called me because you knew I couldn't say no?"

"Exactly." David groaned at the reply. "The things I do for you," he grumbled. "Fine. Hit me."

Yagi then proceeded to tell the story of how he met Izuku and that he was helping him become a hero. He told David about Maddie and that she tried to save Izuku and wound up getting arrested. "Damn," David acknowledged. "Kid's got some balls."

"Indeed." His mouth suddenly turned down into a frown, David unaware of the mood shift until he spoke again. "I had no idea how awful it is for the Quirkless," he admitted, sounding ashamed. "It's no place for a boy like Izuku."

"No kidding," David said, tone containing a derisive edge. Yagi flinched. "Why do you think I moved out to I-Island?" his friend continued. "They were about to pass the same laws in the United States. Do you have any idea what they do to the girls in those facilities?" Yagi shivered this time, knowing that his old friend wasn't expecting him to answer. David plowed on. "That's why I had to get Melissa and I out of there, before she ended up in one as well."

Yagi's throat was suddenly dry. "I... I had no idea," he said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never asked," was David's curt reply, making Yagi flinch again as if he'd been struck. "Also, it may not have made a difference anyway."

Yagi wanted to protest to that before quickly shutting his mouth. He had forgotten; David was absolutely right. Nezu and Maddie had told him as much. He had seen it firsthand.

The silence was interrupted by David clearing his throat. "So, what's this got to do with the kid?" he inquired. Yagi perked up, remembering why he had called in the first place. "Oh, right," he said, explaining to David that Izuku needed support gear for any future heroic endeavors.

"Oh, there's one more thing," Yagi added. "Do you think you could make a projectile weapon that can handle the power of someone's Quirk?"

"Depends," David said. "How much power we talking?"

"Uh..." Yagi had to think for a minute, going over the events of the day. "Enough power to... blow a massive hole in a solid, six-inch concrete wall?"

David huffed on the other end. "You mean, like, a small nuclear reactor?"

"Uh, yes." Yagi scratched at his chin. "Possibly more."

"Possibly? You mean you don't know?" Yagi was at a loss for words, essentially providing an answer for David. His old friend sighed, no doubt pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay, fine," he said. "I'll see what I can do."

"Wait, really?" Yagi inquired before clearing his throat. "Thank you, David. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Well, if it's to help make the first Quirkless hero, there's no way I could possibly turn you down." An inquisitive sound echoed through the phone. "I should get Melissa on it too; she'll be excited for something like this. And that other weapon of yours will be a challenge, and she always loves a challenge."

"That sounds great!" Yagi said, sounding encouraged. "How soon should I expect it?"

"Maybe about two weeks, three weeks tops. It also depends on what support gear your kid's gonna need."

Yagi's heart clenched with something foreign at David calling Izuku "his kid." If anything, he was more Inko's child. Still, he didn't bother to correct him. He simply smiled. "Okay. I look forward to it."

-------

In the morning, Maddie felt like her entire body had been hit by an eighteen-wheeler. It wasn't a foreign feeling. She's had times where she's had to train before, albeit briefly. Still, she had lost a lot of muscle tone from her time at the facility, and it was a struggle to get it back. She didn't mind, though; she would use it as an opportunity to shape her body from the frighteningly skinny twig that she was.

Inko still noticed her stiffness. She waved off her concern, doing a little stretching before heading out for that day's training. "I'll get used to it again, don't worry," she assured.

Standing once more in front of Aizawa on one of the training mats, next to Izuku, day two of their training was about to begin. "Today," the greasy-haired man announced, "we're going to be trying something new." He unwound the cloth around his neck, tossing the bundle at the two trainees. It kind of hit Izuku in the face, and Maddie did her best not to laugh.

"What's this?" Izuku asked. Aizawa simply stood there, giving them a pointed look. "My capture weapon," he replied. Both sets of eyes, one green and one blue, snapped up at him. "Really?!" Izuku squeaked at the same time Maddie squawked, "You're serious?!" The man did not say or do anything that indicated he was deceiving them. Instead, he pointed at them. "We're going to try out which support weapon suits you. The principal, in his infinite wisdom-"

"Why, thank you, Aizawa! I'm so glad to hear you appreciate my ideas." Nezu said this from his spot on the bleachers, pouring Yagi and Inko each a cup of tea.

"-asked me to start you off with this," Aizawa finished, ignoring the rodent. "You're both progressing well enough to at least do well in your classes, but the entrance exam is a whole other matter." He turned to Izuku. "You'll be up against every Quirk in the book, which will give the other potential students a huge advantage." Then, he turned to Maddie. "And since you don't have a proper general understanding of your Quirk, you'll fall behind easily." Maddie knew Aizawa didn't mean that in a condescending way, but it still stung slightly. However, she hid it well.

Finishing his point, Aizawa continued. "You'll each take turns trying it out. Since this is a good start, we'll see how you do. If it doesn't work, then we'll move on to something else." His words were acknowledged by two determined nods.

-------

In terms of training, she didn't expect to be humiliated so thoroughly.

Then again, Izuku wasn't having much luck either. So, she wasn't entirely a lost cause. But still, she could tell that it was frustrating the boy. She could relate. She had lost count of the amount of times she had tripped on the wayward cloth, that didn't seem to want to listen to her, and fell flat on her face. She was glad she wasn't in front of any of her former peers right now. They'd certainly get a kick out of seeing her flail around like a chicken.

She collapsed onto her back, panting and sweating. "This isn't working," she admonished, wanting to do nothing but lay there for awhile. Yagi approached them, crouching down to where they sat or laid on the floor. "It's okay, you two," he assured them. "It's tough to get it on the first day. Don't let it get you down."

"I'll try not to," Izuku replied, trying to hide his frustration. "But I ended up getting tangled up on the floor so many times that it felt like... like..."

He didn't have to finish that sentence for her to know what he was talking about. She side-eyed him, looking him over. This was causing him more stress than she realized. She wanted to give him a hug, but she figured that was the last thing he needed right now. While she had never been privy to the horrors of the facilities, she was no stranger to being called useless. Being told that she would amount to nothing in life. For a long time, she believed them. But then her Quirk came in, unexpectedly. And she was thrust into a different kind of hell. She remembered what it felt like: being bound in a full-bodied straitjacket and tossed into a white, padded room, gagged for good measure. Being wheeled around like a creature without thoughts or feelings. Constantly drugged out of her mind to keep her docile and weak. The pinch of needles. The biting edge of the scalpel. While struggling with the capture weapon had frustrated her, empathizing with Izuku brought all those emotions to the forefront.

"You're getting worked up again, my boy," Yagi said, placing a hand on Izuku's shoulder. Maddie looked over to see that the man was right. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice the boy's breathing picking up. She sat up slowly, watching as Yagi guided Izuku through his breathing exercises that he taught him whenever he felt overwhelmed. He was in the middle of teaching her the same thing currently.

Eventually, his body physically relaxed, slumping over as if exhausted. Maddie couldn't blame him. Emotions like that always took a toll on you. Believe her, she knew. Inko had joined at some point, wrapping her son in a tight embrace as best she could.

"If this scarf is causing both of you this much stress, then we won't use it," Yagi promised. Something inside Maddie's gut curled instinctively. Perhaps she wasn't as silent in her reminiscing as she thought. That, or Yagi was very good at reading people. "I'll talk to Nezu, see if we can find something else you can use."

Izuku and Maddie nodded, but the frustration was still evident in their posture. Yagi immediately shot to his feet. "But fear not!" he declared, sounding similar to his alter ego in his civilian body. "For Izuku and I will go on an epic quest! And when we return, there will be ice cream for all!"

That made Izuku laugh and managed to squeeze a giggle out of Maddie. The sound of it was worth Aizawa cringing visibly some distance away.

-------

"I AM HERE!"

Yagi's triumphant cry echoed through the gym as he burst through the doors. While Aizawa was not privy to his identity, Maddie and Izuku were, and he hoped the use of his catchphrase would elicit a smile from them. Instead, he was met with Aizawa's pained grimace.

"Do you have to shout that every time you come in?" he asked the skeletal man derisively. "It's bad enough listening to that buffoon yelling it all the time on television."

Toshinori smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I can't help it." He glanced around the gym, only to find Inko in the bleachers today, the woman gathering up her things. Nezu was nowhere to be seen. Most likely, he had work to do in his office. Which means, it had been only Aizawa, Maddie, and Izuku, with the occasional cheer from Inko.

"How was the oversized hero today?" Aizawa inquired. "I'm not going to turn on the news and want to face-palm, am I?" This made Toshinori recall his patrol that day, making a certain lion-based pun. The underground hero took his silence as an answer, groaning. "He made another stupid pun again, didn't he?"

Toshinori merely shrugged. "Perhaps," was all he said. He let out a light chuckle. Aizawa let out an exhausted sigh, turning back to the mats he had been packing up and stacking against the far wall. Toshinori didn't think that the man hated All Might. They just had different ideas on how to present themselves to the public. Aizawa seemed content to stick to the shadows.

Nezu had been urging Toshinori to join the U.A. staff as a teacher. He hoped, when the time came to reveal his identity to the rest of them, Aizawa wouldn't be too upset with him. He thought about this as he followed the man. "How was it today?"

"Not good," came Aizawa's slightly disgruntled reply. "Still no luck."

"Really? I thought the whips would have been it for sure."

For Izuku, it was the eighth support weapon he had tried. Maddie had had better luck; her preferred close-combat weapon seemed to be the sword, but after trying out the katana, she had a feeling that something was still missing. Yagi encouraged her to think of an image in her head, then draw it as best as she could. While she wasn't the best artist, there was a clear picture of what she had in mind, immediately sending it to David. Izuku did his best to hide his jealousy, but it was still apparent. Still, the boy used it as fuel to spur himself on.

Aizawa scratched his stubbled chin. "He wasn't awful, it just wasn't clicking. Regardless, he's got a general idea on how to use them, and there's no harm in learning more than one fighting style."

"But it wasn't quite right for him," Yagi finished with a sigh. The issue here seemed like it was finding the best weapon for Izuku that could hit long-range, but also pack a punch. He was short and small, and he needed gear that could compensate for that. In this, Yagi was severely lacking. He wished he wasn't so he could do more for the boy.

"What about Maddie?" he asked, changing the subject. "How's her Quirk training coming along?"

Aizawa ran a hand through his long hair. "Slow but steady," he sighed. "She's gotten better at maneuvering around her environment with the aerial obstacle courses we set up." He was referring to the numerous hoops, ropes, and bells that hung from metal rafters erected just below the glass ceiling of the gym. They had proved invaluable for the girl's training. However, Aizawa's eyes seemed to have deeper bags than usual. "But she's still not in complete control of it. I'm doing my best to instill some confidence in her, but it's like she's resisting me, subconsciously." He looked off to the side, towards the changing rooms. "Honestly, that's the one thing they're both lacking."

Yagi's shoulders sagged, knowing that the man was right. Izuku had grown increasingly frustrated with each failed attempt, and Maddie harbored guilt over fueling that frustration by finding her own support weapon. That girl tended to put everyone else's happiness above her own. Both had been going to counseling sessions with Hound Dog for these issues but, as it usually was with trauma and abuse, things took time to heal. There was no doubt that both were reaching a breaking point.

As if on cue, the door to the males' side of the changing room crashed open, the greenette stomping out. Maddie followed soon after, appearing downtrodden, dragging her feet. It was truly a tragic sight to behold. Izuku stalked right past his mother who tried to offer words of encouragement, eyes stormy and lips pursed. Maddie made no move to go after him, hanging back like she had done something wrong. Yagi couldn't help but sigh. He had known both for several months now, long enough to understand the currents of their moods. Izuku would most likely shut himself in his room when they got home, telling everyone that he'd rather be left alone. He followed after his boy, sending an apologetic look Inko's way as he passed.

-------

Maddie seemed quiet and distant, more so than usual. She slouched over in her place at the dinner table in their little apartment, her hair hiding her face. She only looked up when Inko brought their dinner over from the small kitchenette that was installed. She stared blankly at the bowl of curry and rice as Inko settled herself in for the meal. The girl absentmindedly poked at the food with her chopsticks, barely taking any bites. She seemed far away.

"You need to eat, hon," Inko chided lightly. The moniker came just as easily as when she used it for Izuku. Maddie's eyes snapped up at her, as if Inko had broken her from a trance. After a moment, her face fell again, staring dejectedly at the rapidly-cooling rice. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "Guess I'm not that hungry." She scooped in another small bite of rice. She handled chopsticks quite well, for an American.

"There's no need to be sorry," Inko said, her eyes drawing down at the corners, revealing her crow's feet. She took a deep breath and let it out. She didn't know if she had the right to ask this, but Maddie was clearly hurting. It was more than the lack of control over her Quirk that was making her feel like this. "Do you... Do you want to talk about it?"

The girl's eyes were clouded in shadow, the blue skies of her irises darkened by pouring rainclouds. "Not really," she answered, going back to picking at her food. Inko felt something inside her gut wilt just a bit. She had no idea what this girl's previous life was like, but she couldn't just sit there and do nothing. Her motherly instinct wouldn't allow it. "It's..." she started off slowly, carefully. "It's okay... to not be okay, you know."

The young woman across from her heaved out a great sigh, setting down her chopsticks. She pushed the offered food away, making room to cross her arms on the table and lay her head down on them. "I know that," she said. "I know." Her voice increased its intensity, displaying her frustration. "And I know that I can improve with practice. But why can't I believe it?" Her head lifted then, revealing the unshed tears gathering in her eyes. "No matter how hard I try, nothing's getting better. Am I just doomed to be a worthless monster? Am I a lost cause or something?"

It then occurred to Inko that these were the thoughts Maddie had running through her head for years, every single day. Even before falling into the hands of her abusers, she most likely had to hear all the things she couldn't be because she was Quirkless. Each failed attempt seemed to validate all the horrible things those people said to her for her entire life. That simply wouldn't do.

"None of that now," she chided, clicking her chopsticks at the girl. "Remember what Hound Dog said? About self-talk? How it can be beneficial or destructive, depending on which words you use?" Maddie nodded slowly, making Inko beam. "If you want to like yourself, you have to talk more positively to yourself. Being negative will only hold you back." She leaned back in her chair. "I don't see a bad person when I look at you."

"But I-"

"No 'buts,'" Inko cut her off, knowing exactly what the girl was going to point out. "None of that matters now. It's all in the past. Like Nezu said, remember?" Maddie just stared at her, speechless. Inko took this as her cue to stand up and walk closer to Maddie, spreading her arms wide. "Would you like a hug?" she asked. At this, the tears spilled, the girl's upper body falling into her embrace. It was so much similar to how her own mother had comforted her a long time ago. This is when she knew she was safe, no doubt plaguing her. So, she let it all out.

Inko rubbed gentle, soothing circles in her back. "First of all," she started, "you are not worthless. And you are most definitely not a monster. Believe me, I've dealt with many monsters in my life. I can tell the difference." Her smile faded, Maddie hiccupping in her chest. "Second of all, whoever told you those things are liars. Others don't define you, you do. And we all make mistakes. What matters is working towards making sure not to repeat it. I know you don't want to hurt people. It's not in your nature."

Maddie's hiccups soon subsided, pulling away so she could rub away the moisture from her cheeks. "Yeah, well," she said, voice still shaking, "knowing it and believing it are two different things."

"I know," Inko acknowledged, her smile growing sad. "I can only imagine what that must feel like. Having those two sides of you war with each other." She met Maddie's gaze then, new determination sparking in her green eyes. "But you're on your way to a better path already. It's going to be a lot of work, no doubt, but I also know you can do it. And now, you have all of us supporting you." She placed her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Me, Yagi, Principal Nezu, and Mr. Aizawa. Even Izuku." Her smile seemed to grow even brighter. "He looks up to you, you know. More than you think."

Maddie's cheeks reddened at the statement, but she couldn't help but smile as well. Inko was right, she realized. Even though she had lost so much, she had equally gained in kind. She still missed her parents terribly, she would never get rid of that. But now, with this new opportunity, she could move forward. Her parents would be so proud to see the person she had become.

Inko and her mother would have beengreat friends if they had the chance to meet.

-------

"So," David said through the video call, "how're the kids doing?" His lips twitched up into a smile. "Judging by the number of pictures you keep spamming me with, things are getting better?"

Toshinori laughed and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Yes," he replied with relief. "Turns out being honest and open to them really helped, especially with clearing up some misunderstandings."

"Wow, who would've thought?"

"I know. It's just... it's not what I'm used to."

"Neither is having a kid, let alone two."

A rare splotch of redness colored Toshinori's cheeks. "I – uh... I mean, Izuku has a mother, and Maddie... Maddie's practically an adult so I'm just... just looking out for them, is all."

"That doesn't mean that you can't care about them, or that they don't care about you. I bet they're both extremely grateful for everything you've done for them."

His friend's insight sent another globule of blood up his throat, spurting out of his mouth. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to argue with David. There was no doubt that he cared about Midoriya and Young Madeleine. He cared about them since the moment he witnessed them on the street so many months ago. It would be understandable with Maddie because she no longer had a family to go back to. Having Inko here was definitely helping. The girl probably had no idea how much of a difference she made by returning her to her son. Ever since he had been set on his path to becoming a hero, he had been doing much better. Excelling, in fact. For the first time in a long while, his boy was happy.

Madeleine was a bit more difficult to figure out. Knowing nothing beyond the injustices and abuse she had to go through before and after gaining her Quirk, it was more hit or miss. Like Izuku, she was extremely averse to anything that might be considered constricting, which was concerning in and of itself. Not to mention that she obviously had triggers from trauma she had yet to address. Once again, he wished in the very depths of his soul that he could have discovered this shadow organization in America sooner, so that he could've saved her. But there was no use dwelling on the past. As much as he hated to admit it, he was not a god. He couldn't be in multiple places at once. The only thing he could do was be there for her now. So far, it seemed having a solid support system was doing wonders.

"They're both incredible," was all he could say, knowing that if he did, he would be sitting there gushing for hours. Just like last week.

David chuckled at how flustered his old friend was, giving him a knowing look. "Rare to see you like this. I like it." He gave Yagi a wink. "You're lucky that there isn't any press here. Then things would really go to hell in a handbasket." His expression devolved into something more serious. "But what about everything else? Therapy going well?"

Yagi tilted his head back to ponder that, thinking over the sessions with Hound Dog Maddie and Izuku had attended. "Therapy is... a slow process," he said finally, settling with the words he's chosen. "They're both very guarded when it comes to discussing their pasts." He absentmindedly rubbed the back of his neck. "Even though we know about the Quirk that Izuku's previous... abusers used on him, he's still reluctant to delve into what was done to him." David Shield was not one of the few in his close circle who knew about One For All and its connection to All For One. The thought of the man hurting Young Midoriya, his boy, made his fists clench reflexively. Being the monster that he was, it didn't surprise him in the least that the man would do something like that. It was how One For All was forged in the first place. But Izuku did not deserve that kind of fate. He had never established any links with the memories of the previous users, but he occasionally saw the fleeting images of a vault door and a dark room beyond in his dreams. He realized, suddenly, that he was getting too caught up in his feelings, making himself relax, getting back to what he was doing.

"He still has nightmares about it sometimes. And that damned Quirk isn't helping matters. They both struggle with sleeping actually, although Maddie's gotten a lot more used to it." Saying it out loud made both friends realize how wrong that sounded.

"Speaking of," David pressed cautiously, "how's progress with her going?" Yagi sighed. "No different, I'm afraid," he answered. "She has no problem discussing her life when she was believed to be Quirkless, which I'm sure is exactly what you'd expect." David's mouth pursed into a thin line, confirming that he did. "But when it comes to what happened after her parents died," Yagi continued, "she's averse to even broaching the subject."

"Any ideas on what that could be?"

"Well, from what Nezu informed me of and how Young Madeleine only refers to those people as 'them,' I can only think that it was something sanctioned by the U.S. government."

David pursed his lips, putting a hand to his chin. "Yeah, I've heard those rumors, too." He turned back to the camera, something steely flashing in his gaze. "Believe me, I'm no stranger to the underhanded tactics the government uses to boost their arsenal. It's kept well under wraps, I'd imagine, any 'incidents' swept under the rug and any potential leaks silenced." His gaze narrowed. "You ever heard of MKULTRA?"

Toshinori's brain wracked itself if he remembered the name, something about it being mentioned in passing on conspiracy theorist websites he explored while in college. "Vaguely," he admitted. "But nothing beyond the name."

David appeared solemn in a way Yagi had never seen before. "Was an old top-secret government experiment way back in the day. Highly classified. Became a huge deal when the information about it was released to the public about three decades later." Yagi could feel himself gulping, bracing himself. For what, he didn't know. "Sometime before the 21st century rolled around," David explained, "an assigned research team took a group of about forty or so men to attempt to make super soldiers out of them through intense psychological conditioning. None of the participants knew what they were signing up for, and by the time they did, it was too late." David looked off to the side, as if this physically pained him. "Ultimately, the experiment failed; too many ended up dying with little to no results. The project was scrapped. I have a feeling," he said, the tapping of his finger from the other end filtering through the call, "that this is similar." He looked Yagi dead in the eyes. "This stuff is no joke. Shit like that fucks up grown men for life."

Yagi leaned forward to put his head in his hands, groaning. It was obvious that both his kids had some form of PTSD from everything they had gone through. And they were so young, too. It made his heart ache. "It's just so frustrating," he murmured. "Sometimes, I just want to demand that they tell me what happened so I can help them. But that's not how this works. It requires patience. So far, what they've both told us is severely limited. I just feel..." His breath caught as the words came to mind. "I just feel so useless. Me, All Might, the Symbol of Peace, is useless when it comes to this."

"Welcome to parenthood," David sympathized. "Went through the same thing with Melissa."

"Does it ever get easier?" Yagi asked, his tone bordering on desperate. All he got was a weary sigh from his friend. "Not really, no. There's no right or wrong way to nurture a child as they grow up, even if they're an infant or a young adult." David broke out into a smile then, full of fondness. "You're always going to worry about them, even when they leave home for good. They'll make their own mistakes and, hopefully with your guidance, they know how to learn from them. You just have to support them in any way you can."

Yagi's head flopped against the couch cushion behind him. "I still have a lot to learn, haven't I?"

"This field is one where you're always learning," David informed him. "You'll think you've got it down until something new sends the whole building crumbling down. Speaking of which," he looked a little sheepish at this, "this is quite the challenge you've given Melissa and I. But I think we're close to a breakthrough."

"She always did take after you," Yagi commented. He lifted his head to face the screen again. "What kind of breakthrough are we talking about?"

"Well," David launched, "we've come up with an apparatus for Izuku that can make someone like him navigate around his environment more easily. It's based off an old anime, believe it or not." David chuckled. "It's piston-based so that it can shoot out projectile grappling hooks to latch onto any surface. It's built in with fuel jets to grant the user better momentum and control."

"Interesting," Yagi said, only understanding half of what his friend explained. "And what about Madeleine's project?"

"Ah, yes," David perked up, clapping his hands together. "I will admit, the first half a dozen tests were trial and error. All the models ended up shattering from the strain." Yagi internally grimaced but didn't say anything. "But I think we finally have a design with an adaptable core for the amount of power you described."

"It's not going to be too massive, is it?"

David chuckled again, nervously this time. "Hopefully not," he supplied, denying Yagi a straight answer. Getting back to business at hand, he added, "Regardless, you told me to try to come up with something to accommodate Izuku's size and Maddie's level of power. Judging on the results so far, we believe this will work for them."

"Ah, that's good to hear," Yagi sighed, relaxing. "I was worried for a moment. But I'm sure they'll both be excited for whatever you've come up with."

"Aw, shucks," David said bashfully, in a playful way. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually liked me."

Yagi snorted as he sat up. Bending his head, his bangs covering his face, he said, "Thank you so much, old friend. You have no idea how much you've done for me. For us."

"Don't thank me yet," David replied. "Wait till it works."

-------

Author's Note: I just love Inko so much, in case you couldn't tell. Mom of the Year Award goes to her, for real.

We get some more glimpses into what Maddie went through when she was fifteen. David touches on this later. MKULTRA is a real, government-sanctioned experiment that was declassified more than twenty years ago. I'm not sure if I got time periods and certain details accurately, since this was my understanding of the whole thing. It was the basis for the Outlast games, which I also love. Go figure.

Shadowhuntress and Zyla have started the second season of their AU! I've basically written the entire second season already, and it's significantly shorter than the first. This makes sense because it takes place mainly from my OC's perspective, and she isn't privy to a lot of the experiences Izuku goes through. However, as they write the second season, I may add a scene correlating with that chapter. But that won't be for a while. We're barely halfway through this first season as it is.

Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged.

See you next time!

-The_Mayflower