AN: Chapter twenty-one: part two of the trans!Izuku "arc". I've had a lot of questions regarding this one-shot, like what happened in the past to lead up to this point and whatnot, and honestly the answer is this: whatever you want to think. A lot of my one+ shots are very open because I only had a specific idea in mind. If you want to assume when he realized he was a guy, how Inko reacted, how they informed U.A. without informing the teachers (laws ex machina), or why he doesn't tell his friends sooner then go for it. I feel like those little details aren't too important in the grand scheme of things- aka this two-shot. To those who want to know why he would keep him being transgender a secret, I sort of hint at something horrible happening in middle school to make him more hesitant to out himself again. In another one-shot I could just as easily write that he did come out to his classmates right away. But that's another spin on things. Really though him being scared/generally not wanting to share that info is something I feel is true in a lot of real life experiences I've heard about/been part of. That being said everyone's experiences are unique, so whether or not you find this the norm or not this should resonate pretty well for someone out there. Someone, not everyone. Anyway, enjoy!

This is bad, Izuku thought as he dodged Toga's attacks. The crazed girl slashed her knife at him again and again with a creepy blush on her face.

"You'd be so much cuter if you were covered in blood!"

The greenette tried to roll out of the way once more, but a sudden bout of pain in his arms made him falter. This gave the crazed girl the chance she needed to throw him to the ground. She landed on his chest making him grunt in discomfort. A knife glinted above him as she prepared to stab him in the chest.

"Midoriya!"

"Shoji!" He cried out thankfully as the multi-armed hero in training threw the girl off of him. "Be careful, she's fast!"

"And insane."

Izuku took a second to sit up only to bite back a hiss of pain. Not only were his arms screaming, the adrenaline beginning to fade after numbing him for so long, but after Dabi's initial attack the capture tape wrapped around his torso was singed and burnt in several places. He was pretty sure part of the material on his right side had actually burned all the way through to his skin. It felt sticky and wet like it was soaked with blood.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he took one of Shoji's many hands offered to him and allowed himself to be pulled onto the other boy's back.

"We need to get out of here!" Shoji shouted in order to get Todoroki's attention. Said half cold, half hot hero quickly threw up another barrier of ice in order to push Twice back.

"What are you talking about?" Todoroki questioned as Izuku opened his mouth to comment too. "We need to get Bakugo and Tokoyami back."

"Don't worry about that." He showed them the two orbs he'd snatched from the masked villain triumphantly. "I noticed him sliding these things into his pocket while he was getting away. I'm guessing they have to be part of his quirk, and that Bakugo and Tokoyami must be in these."

The other two were impressed.

"We'd better get out of here then." Todoroki voiced before the trio set off in the opposite direction of the villains. Unfortunately, a nomu blocked their path. Just as they turned to avoid it black mist appeared in several places around them.

"It's the warp villain," Izuku acknowledged worriedly.

Kurogiri looked down at everyone in the clearing from where he towered in the air.

"Time's up everyone. We must take our leave."

"Aw man," Toga whined. "I wanted to play with Izuku some more! I guess I'll just stab you later~" She sang happily before walking through a portal. On the other side of the clearing Twice hopped into another portal to wherever the villain's base was.

"Hold up. We're not leaving without Bakugo," Dabi vowed. As he readied himself to fight the U.A. students to collect their target Mr. Compress let out a small laugh.

"Don't worry, Dabi. Those kids were so proud of themselves I couldn't help but let them think they'd succeeded. But look right here." He opened his mouth to reveal two more marbles. At the same time he snapped his fingers, the two marbles Shoji had been holding bursting open to reveal various chunks of ice.

Todoroki cursed. "He tricked us."

Ice filled Izuku's veins. No, he screamed along internally, we can't let them get away!

The trio ran forwards once more, a last ditch effort to save their friends. Mr. Compress continued to gloat.

"It seems my simple trick of redirection worked. How wonderful! For us, that is." He slipped his mask on once more before bowing. "And now the curtain fa—"

A burst of sparkling light broke through the underbrush at that moment. Just as Mr. Compress began walking backwards into the portal in a bow, a laser courtesy of class 1-A's very own Aoyama hit the villain square in the face, making him spit out the orbs containing their captives.

Now's our chance!

Noticing Shoji reaching out to grab the orb on their left, Izuku used the last of his strength and activated Full Cowling in just his legs. With the added power he was able to lunge forward off of his friend's back and grab the second orb.

"I don't think so, kid."

The scarred villain suddenly let out a torrent of flames at Izuku, the immense heat of those vibrant blue flames making him scream. After all the fighting he'd done today he couldn't stop the attack from overwhelming him. As momentum carried him downward it was all he could do but drop the orb as he fell unconscious. Taking this as his moment of triumph, Dabi reached out to grab the orb only for Todoroki to use his ice to slide it into his waiting palm.

"You're not taking our friends," the dual-quirk user stated vehemently.

"Perhaps not those kids in the orbs," he began regretfully before reaching forwards and grabbing the arm of a very much unresponsive Izuku. "But I refuse to go home empty handed. Shigaraki will be happy to be handed one of the kids on his kill list. Say goodbye to your friend, poor little Shoto Todoroki."

"No!"

Before Todoroki could stop him, Dabi pulled the greenette into the warp gate with ease. Mr. Compress followed with an annoyed glare. The instant the three went through the gate the mist disappeared, the villain's quirk deactivating at the same time. Tokoyami popped out of the orb Shoji had been holding and Bakugo appeared next to an absolutely downtrodden looking Todoroki.

"Where did the bastards who tried to kidnap me go?" The blond shouted angrily. When he noticed the look on Todoroki and Shoji's faces he narrowed his eyes. "What's going on? Why do you two look like someone died?"

"Bakugo," Todoroki started with clenched teeth. "The villains just took Midoriya. Unlike you, we weren't a target to be captured. Midoriya and I, we were on their so-called priority kill list. They're going to kill him."

When Izuku came to, there were several things he noticed right away that were wrong.

For starters, he was in a bar surrounded by villains. Sitting at the bar's counter was Shigaraki, who seemed to be brooding. The rest of those from the attack on the camp were all there staring at him with interest. All he could do was stare back at them though, because he was chained to a chair in the middle of the room. He might be able to use his quirk to break free from said chains; however, he doubted he could escape with this many villains around. And with his arms in as bad of shape as they were he would probably just injure himself further.

Secondly, Izuku felt that his wounds were taken care of. Sure his arms were still screaming in pain, but they were wrapped and splinted. The wound over his eye, the one on his cheek, and the burns along his side were also bandaged. Why would they bother to treat his wounds if they were planning to kill him anyway? It would have been better to let them fester.

Third, someone had changed his clothes. This was more distressing than having his injuries treated, especially because whoever changed him definitely saw him naked. This led to the last thing that he noticed.

He was wearing a girl's high school uniform, skirt and all.

My binder is gone. Actually, everything I had on me is gone. Except for my shoes.

"Izuku, you're awake! Finally!"

Finally? How long was I out?

Izuku flinched at Toga's sudden scream, the girl having raced down from the stool she'd been perched on in order to hug him around the shoulders.

"Do you like the uniform? I had a ton of spares and what do you know we're the same size! Oh I'm so excited— you've been passed out for like two days. I was so worried I'd need to stab you to wake you up!"

I've been unconscious and with the villains for two days? What happened to my classmates? Are they alright?

He blinked in a mix of surprise and confusion, trying to squash the wave of unease that wept over him at the information he was receiving. "Uh, thanks. Did you put it on me then?"

She rolled her eyes like it was obvious. "Duh! Kurogiri cleaned your wounds and blah, but there was no way he was going to dress you after realizing you are a girl! For a minute there Dabi was going to dress you, because apparently he didn't trust me not to stab you, but everyone else vetoed that. Anyway, we match now! We're going to be total besties, Izuku!"

Ignoring the psychopath, Izuku looked past her.

"Shigaraki," he braced himself for some sort of negative reaction, "why are you targeting my friend?"

The hand-covered villain sighed before standing up. "Bakugo? Like I'd tell you. It doesn't matter right now anyway, because these idiots managed to lose him." His tone dripped with annoyance. "That being said, they did manage to bring me you. I was going to kill you upon arrival."

When Shigaraki didn't elaborate, appearing to be lost in thought, the greenette opened his mouth.

"Why didn't you?"

Red eyes narrowed behind the hand covering his face. "Master has other plans for you before that."

"Indeed I do, Young Izuku Midoriya," came a voice through the television hung up on the wall. Izuku hadn't even realized it was on, let alone someone was listening in on them through it. The malignant aura of this so-called "Master" managed to cross through the television though. It made it seem obvious that things were going according to plan on his part, and that he was pleased with what was to come. This made Izuku even more worried about what those plans for him were.

"Until then, though," Shigaraki continued as he walked over to where Izuku was sitting captive, the television's connection to his master cutting out at the same time, "I have a couple questions. My efforts in attacking the camp were far more effective in inciting the media than the attack on Hosu, right? Definitely front-page worthy this time around?"

Izuku couldn't believe what he was hearing. Kota and he had almost died. He remembered Uraraka bleeding from Toga's strange needle contraption, Shoji having had his arm cut off by the psychopath in the straitjacket, and the Pussycats having been hurt by some of the villains in this room. Not to mention another two villains in the room tried to kidnap his childhood friend for who knows what purpose. And all Shigaraki could think about was the attention it would put on him?

"You're crazy." He spit out finally, emerald eyes blazing in fury. "Why do you even want the attention, anyway? What's the point? It'll just make everything you do harder because you're purposely putting yourself in the limelight."

"Maybe that's what we want," Mr. Compress replied smugly.

"The people need to know that even with Stain behind bars there are those who follow his ideals." Spinner added, Dabi nodding in agreement.

"What does Stain even have to do with the League of Villains?" Shigaraki tensed at this, knowing if Izuku said something to hint to the others that he actually hated Stain's ideals they would be less likely to work with him. "Last time I checked—"

"Shut up, you brat!"

A hand shot out and grabbed Izuku by the throat, cutting him off entirely. Just like in the mall a wave of horror settled over the greenette at the position he'd been put in. The only thing between him and death was a pinky finger and the word of the villain's master.

"You're so annoying," Shigaraki sneered while squeezing his captive's neck harder. Izuku was beginning to have trouble breathing. "Even more so now that I know you're not even a hero, but some stupid little heroine parading around as something you're not. You call me crazy. Why keep your gender a secret, huh? From an outsider's perspective you're a boy. Are you afraid someone might… take advantage of your weakness?"

The leer and grin on his face would have made Izuku gag if he wasn't already struggling for air.

Suddenly the reptilian villain stepped forward, a frown on his face.

"Let her go, Shigaraki. Your master won't be pleased if you damage her too much."

"The master never said anything about not hurting her," the hand-covered villain argued back, but released the grip on Izuku's neck anyway. "But I suppose I did want my question answered. Why is it okay for a hero to lie to the people they're supposed to be protecting?"

"I was never lying! I'm… I'm a boy, not a girl."

Half of the villains stared at him in surprise, while the other half looked unperturbed.

"You do realize how stupid you sound right now, right?" Dabi questioned. He gestured to Izuku theatrically. "You were born a girl whether you like it or not, so hiding the truth doesn't make you any less what you are."

"You have no idea how I feel," Izuku shot back. "I am a boy no matter how you people view me as. No matter what I'm wearing or what organs I have it's just who I am. It feels right. I don't need the opinion of villains to validate who I already know I am. I've dealt with enough assholes in my lifetime," unpleasant memories from middle school sent his stomach churning, "so dealing with a few more won't change anything."

"You're delusional, kid."

"Dude," Magne exclaimed, "what gives? Is that how you feel about me?"

"I thought you just liked dressing up like a woman every once in a while."

"No! If you'd paid attention you would know I'm transgender too, not a transvestite."

"What the hell is that? Are you making words up now?"

"Ugh! I can't believe this. If I didn't have to work with you, Dabi, I'd kill you for being so ignorant."

He rolled his eyes. "I'd burn you to a crisp if you tried."

Toga of all people turned to Dabi next, her lips pushed out in a pout.

"Wow, Dabi-kun, I didn't know your views were so old-fashioned. It's like you don't know a transgender person when you have one tied up in front of you!"

"Or course a psychopath would ally herself with a schizo."

"Hey now, no need to be a dick!" Twice yelled before his other voice added, "He has a point!"

"You are being quite rude, opinions aside," Compress voiced. "And here I thought we would be a group of villains with class. If you have a problem with people because the way they express themselves it doesn't mean you have to attack them with your words."

"Yeah, attack them with knives instead!" Toga exclaimed.

Mr. Compress looked like he wanted nothing more than to argue with that, but at the bright clueless grin on the girl's face he just let it go.

"Not what I was getting at, Toga, but your enthusiasm is appreciated. Anyway, Dabi, I'll have you know when I was in school theater classes were filled with people who expressed themselves differently. Why, it was with one of these people that I even found love. Sure it ended, but it was mutual and a beautiful thing while it lasted. My point is—"

"Nobody wants to hear about some high school love interest, Mr. Compress." Spinner broke in. "And honestly I don't care whether this kid is a guy or a girl. All I care about is that we recognize Stain gave her— him— whatever— his seal of approval. We shouldn't be harming him at all. We should be treating him with respect."

Kurogiri made a sound of disapproval. "Izuku Midoriya is our captive, Spinner. There is no room for respect in this case."

"This is so boring," Toga complained. "Can Izuku and I go back to my room? I want to talk about his friends at U.A.! That Ochaco and Tsu girl especially."

"Would all of you shut up?" Shigaraki shouted, a hand scratching his neck erratically.

In an instant the chatter died down.

"Good. Compress, first things first. Put the brat chair and all in one of your orbs. Kurogiri and I have some stuff to attend to really quick. Don't let him out until we're back, okay?"

"It's Mr. Compress, but yes I will make sure to do as directed."

Izuku tensed as said villain made his way over to him.

"Night-y night, kid."

A moment later, it all went black.

Everything that happened after was a blur.

Izuku remembered being released from his prison for Shigaraki to show him the news. Apparently he was supposed to be scared because it seemed as if the heroes had no idea where he was and were no closer to finding him. Truth be told, he was a little worried; however, he knew Aizawa wouldn't put what actual information they gathered on air just to placate some reporters. Being scared wouldn't help his case anyway.

"Kamino pizza delivery!"

The villains had about one second to look amongst each other in confusion before the door to the bar burst inwards into a pile of rubble.

In other words, the heroes had arrived.

"All Might!"

"Young Midoriya," he answered just as the other heroes swept themselves inside to detain the villains, "are you alright?"

"Kurogiri!" Shigaraki screeched. "Quickly, get the—"

It was already too late though. Edgeshot had rendered him unconscious. Kamui Woods was right behind him too, using his move Lacquered Chain Prison to render the other villains immobile. Dabi on the other hand found himself knocked unconscious by a kick courtesy of Gran Torino.

"I'm sorry it took so long to find you, Young Midoriya." All Might stated sincerely once all of the villains were dealt with. "I know it must have been scary."

Izuku managed a relieved smile. "I'm fine, All Might. What do I have to fear when you are here?"

"That's right my boy. Now," he turned to the leaden-blue-haired villain staring at him with absolute hatred, "you've lost, Shigaraki."

"Is that what you think?" He seethed, a crazed grin splitting his face.

"It's what we know," Gran Torino countered. "You were trying to get that warp gate of yours to bring those monsters to your aid, right? That's not going to happen."

Shigaraki eyes narrowed. "I don't know how you knew about them, but Kurogiri isn't the only player with a warping ability."

At his words various portals of black liquid manifested in random places around them. The inhuman screams of every nomu resonated in the air, which would have been horrifying enough if not for something even worse happening a moment later.

Izuku's eyes widened as a gush of the black tar-like substance rushed up from his throat. He choked on it much like the villains around him did, the lot of them disappearing all at once.

A moment later the greenette was standing before the very villain All Might had warned him about.

"Izuku Midoriya," All For One droned as Izuku coughed up the strange liquid that had transported him there. "My apologies for the less than pleasant trip here. That quirk isn't very pretty, but it is very functional, not to mention rare. That's exactly why I took it."

The sheer malevolent energy radiating from the villain sent Izuku staggering back. Within a couple steps he found himself tripping over his own feet, falling onto the ground hard only to keep staring at the man in horror. His arms burned from being agitated from the fall, yet Izuku could not fully register the pain. Before him was the man that had murdered seven of the previous One For All holders and nearly killed All Might. He was the man Izuku would have to one day face if he wanted to end his reign of terror once and for all.

All For One began to walk forward.

"You know," he continued to drawl as the other transported members of the League of Villains were deposited on the ground nearby, "you remind me of All Might's mentor. She started out as a foolish U.A. student too. Unfortunately, her dream of being a great hero was what brought about her tragic demise, the poor girl. It pains me that you will only follow in her footsteps. My brother's meddlesome quirk will finally cease to exist."

Izuku almost forgot to breathe.

He knows, he panicked. If he kills me One For All will die with me. There's no way I can beat him in my current state, and even running away right now is impossible. What should I do?

Then the villain looked up, a pleased note in his voice.

"Here he comes."

Here who comes?

The question was answered less than a second later when All Might's fist connected with All For One's arm.

"Unhand my student, All For One!"

"Funny how you think a simple plea will stop me from ending your successor's life."

"You'll have to go through me before you can even lay a finger on him!"

Between the two of them a shock wave sent everyone within the vicinity flying. Izuku managed to find himself a little ways away from the villains. Taking advantage of this, he quickly got to his feet meaning to get off the battlefield.

As long as I'm here All Might can't fight at his full strength. He reasoned as the number one hero fought his arch enemy. I need to get away.

However, it would have been too easy for him to just be able to run away. Within a couple yards of running a flying knife cut him off, and before he knew it Toga, Twice, Spinner, and Magne were pursuing him.

This isn't good, he thought as he dodged another one of Toga's blades and attempted to stay out of the other villains' reaches. With my arms like this I can hardly fight. All I have to utilize are my legs, but if I want to fight them that way I'd need to get closer to them which would be stupid considering how outnumbered I am. I could try to run away regardless, but Twice is so fast that by the time I could outmaneuver him the others would be on me. That and if Magne uses her quirk they'll either get thrown at me or I'll be pulled towards them. There's no good way to get out of here like this! Think, Izuku. There has to be some way…

A resounding crash caught his attention, the following iceberg that appeared sending both fear and relief coursing through him; relief that it seemed help had arrived, and fear for his friends.

From what he could see Kirishima had used his hardening to shatter the concrete block not too far from him, Iida carrying him while using his quirk to scale the giant slab of ice at incredible speed. How could they be going that fast though? They were far too heavy to be launching into the air that easily, which meant—

"Deku-kun!"

An explosion followed the call, Izuku turning around just in time to catch sight of Uraraka and Bakugo speeding towards him. Bakugo must have been weightless as well.

"Uraraka-chan? Kacchan?" He spoke mostly to himself. Had so many of his friends really come to rescue him?

"Close your eyes, dumbass!" Bakugo shouted as he landed a couple feet away, Uraraka sliding off of his back so he could throw the flash bang Yaoyorozu had created for them. He'd been against not using his own quirk to blind the villains, but while more or less weightless he'd use it only to make sure he wouldn't send himself flying away.

Uraraka took advantage of the distraction to make Izuku weightless as well, instructing him to get ready to fly as she quickly jumped back onto Bakugo's back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Wait, how am I supposed to grab on when my arms—"

"Consider us even, Deku."

"Huh?"

Before he could protest Bakugo scooped Izuku up in one arm and used the other to create a massive explosion. In an instant the trio shot up into the sky and towards where Kirishima was ready to grab Bakugo's free hand.

"Midoriya, are you alright?" Iida questioned as they began to descend after taking on Uraraka's weight. "Your arms…"

"That was from the training camp," he assured. Unfortunately, his voice wavered as he took in what had just happened. His friends had come all the way out to Kamino Ward in the face of the League of Villains in order to rescue him. No doubt there would be consequences for their actions later. Despite that though, they had still come to save him.

"You guys," he stated warmly, "thank you."

The sincerity in his voice made Kirishima shed a manly tear. Uraraka looked like she wanted to say something, but it appeared by the hand she was using to cover her mouth that she was struggling not to throw up. Iida made a comment about their friendship being important to him; the Stain incident playing in his mind's eye. Bakugo just grunted something about the pros taking too damn long.

"Hey, Midoriya?"

"Yes, Kirishima-kun?"

"You don't have to answer, but, uh, why are you wearing a skirt?"

The conversation between Izuku and All Might had happened not too long after the hero's retirement. Surprisingly, at least to Izuku who had been so worried about his mentor's judgment, All Might hadn't been perturbed in the slightest.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," Izuku apologized as he lied in his hospital bed. His arms were in new casts nearly healed; however, the knowledge that they were in danger of permanent damage after how far he'd pushed himself in the fight against Muscular was a constant thought. "I'd just been hiding the fact for so long it was easier not to mention it. I read stories on the internet of how badly some transgender people are treated, and after something I dealt with in middle school I just didn't want to have to worry about it happening at U.A. too."

"My boy, there's no need to apologize. Nothing has changed. You're still Young Midoriya in my book," he assured with a smile. "You're also still my reckless successor who will one day become the next symbol of peace. After all, you're next."

He'd spoken with Aizawa-sensei too, who reassured Izuku that Principal Nedzu knowing about him being transgender made it a non-issue. As long as the mammalian in charge of the new dormitory policy had a clause for students with specific preferences then the teacher wasn't worried.

"I am going to switch a couple rooms in the dorm layout around," he mentioned offhandedly. "I originally had you next to Mineta since you two are on well enough terms, not to mention that you are a good influence on him, but it might be better to put him as far away from the first floor as possible seeing as it will be a shared space for all of your classmates. How do you feel about being on a floor with Aoyama and Tokoyami?"

"I'm fine with anything, Aizawa-sensei. We're getting our own rooms as it is, right? Mineta-kun wouldn't pull anything anyway."

"Perhaps, but after his stunt back at the training camp I'd like to be safe. He'll be placed right between Iida, Shoji, and Sero."

As for his classmates, it was much later that Izuku finally had the chance to talk to them. Of course Izuku had told Bakugo he could explain some things to Iida, Uraraka, Kirishima, Todoroki, and Yaoyorozu. His friends had seen him in Toga's clothes during the chaotic events of Kamino and at Kirishima questioning why the villains had dressed him as such it had been easier to pawn off the explanation on his childhood friend. Izuku had been too mentally and physically exhausted to bother with a silly excuse, and at the time he'd been more concerned about All Might fighting All For One to tell the true story.

As it was none of his classmates reacted badly to his admission. To be perfectly honest none of them save for Kaminari and Todoroki were even confused or shocked. They'd taken it in stride similarly to how Bakugo had all those years ago.

"My uncle is trans too," Jiro stated while Hagakure among a few others voiced their own support.

"Thanks for telling us, Midori!" Mina grinned.

Tsuyu trilled in agreement. "In a world of quirks being transgender isn't all that uncommon, ribbit. It means a lot that you'd trust us enough to tell us. People can be cruel, but if anyone gives you trouble they'll have to get through us first."

"I knew there was a reason you struck me as cute when I first saw you!" Mineta bellowed in triumph. A glare from Uraraka, Sero, Iida, and Bakugo made him quickly add on: "I mean— you're still my friend, Midoriya! Even though I now find myself picturing you with boobs…"

Izuku pretended to look away when Jiro stabbed the grape-haired student in the eyes. In doing so he noticed Todoroki staring at him seriously.

"Um, Todoroki-kun?" He asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"I don't get it."

"You don't get what?"

Bakugo face-palmed.

"Not this shit again. You know what? You guys deal with the half-n-half idiot. I tried explaining this to him five times already and he still doesn't understand."

Sato seemed confused.

"What doesn't he understand?"

"That Izuku is transgender."

Yaoyorozu turned to Todoroki surprised.

"You don't know what it is to be transgender, you mean?"

The dual-haired teenager stared at the class's vice president blankly.

"Izuku is a male, right? How can he be transgender?"

"Todoroki-kun, he's a transgender male." Uraraka restated.

"So he's male."

"This is what I'm talking about," Bakugo fumed before retreating upstairs in a huff. As soon as he was out of ear shot Todoroki's mouth quirked up in a tiny smile.

Izuku squinted in disbelief. "Todoroki-kun, were you just messing with Kacchan?"

"He kept treating me like I was a preschooler the other day, so I decided to act like one if only to rile him up. Anyway, Midoriya, you should know you are still my rival and I respect you sharing something so personal with us all. I think we both know how hard it is to speak when the past has a way of making us fear our own voices."

"Wisely spoken," Iida agreed.

Izuku remembered those conversations with warmth in his chest. Now, sitting in the shared lounge surrounded by his friends and classmates, he could finally breathe easy.