Okay, this is one open-ended mess. I don't know what else to say, but I had fun writing it. Enjoy ;)

(5 years later)

"We just got an email from boss, did you see it, Izu?" a pink-haired girl called Mei shouts from her desk, followed by a crashing sound as she shoves some of the equipment pieces scattered around on the tabletop down on the floor to make some space.

Izuku turns to peer inside the office, shaking his head as he does so. "Nope, I've been out here," he says, showing her the half-smoked cigarette. "Also fuck it, I'm on my break now," he adds with a cheeky grin.

"I've seen it alright," another boy grumbles, standing from his desk with an irritated air and walking up to join his co-worker out on the small balcony. "As if it wasn't bad enough that it's Monday and we already have a shit-ton of stuff to do this week," he adds, plucking the cigarette from between Izuku's fingers and taking a long drag. "I'm seriously thinking of disappearing for a little bit, until they're gone."

"Nobody's going anywhere, Neito!" Mei scolds the blond.

"What's going on?"

"Well, it says that three of the top tier pro heroes are gonna pay us a visit in about an hour or so. It seems they'll need some costume design adjustments," Mei explains.

"But I thought that top tier pro heroes design their own costumes?"

The obscure, side designing department Izuku works for only does design and fitting work for sidekicks and B list pro heroes no one has heard about. There is a lot to do, the pay is shit, but this is the best of the relatively few jobs the Government made available for the so-called 'reformed' villains and he was able to pass the technical design courses needed for it. Izuku is mostly okay with it despite the downsides, because it's nothing he can't handle and two of his co-workers happen to be his own age and they get along great. Ironically enough, both Mei Hatsume and Neito Monoma went to U.A., but ended up doing time and being labelled as villains. Mei – who was in the school's support department - was eventually caught selling her own-design equipment on the black market in the final year, while Monoma, originally in the hero course, bombed it after only one year, sick and tired of what he described as the 'elitist bullshit' going on there. Since he has a copycat quirk, he thought of moving from people's quirks to their belongings, his intended hero name 'Phantom Thief' turning out to be very fitting for his new line of business.

"They do, that's why they look so ridiculous," the blue-eyed blond explains with a dramatic eye roll.

"Don't worry, it's not your wife, not today," Mei laughs.

"Itsuka is not my wife! We're not even dating exclusively!"

"Yeah, but she's the one who beats you every day."

"She didn't beat me yesterday."

Izuku ignores his friends' banter, finishing the cigarette he snatched back from Neito and flicking away the butt before he gets back to his own desk and plops into the worn seat with a sigh. "So, who's coming then?" he asks, waiting for the computer screen to light up anew.

"Ground Zero, Red Riot and Uravity."

"I really need to disappear!" the blond whines. "He's gonna pick on us, Mei, you know he will! And I swear that if he does, I'll steal his quirk again and blow up his fucking face!"

In reply, the girl only graces him with a bored stare. "You're not blowing anything up near my equipment," she says dryly.

Little do they know that Izuku is actually the one in most need of disappearing right now. He hasn't seen Kacchan again after that fateful day when he put the guns in the explosive blond's face, but that's not something the other has forgotten about, he's sure of it. Or forgiven, for that matter. But Kacchan is not a kid anymore, maybe he will act reasonably this time, after all Izuku did four years and a half in a high security villain prison for his sins, so the pro hero's wrath should have been appeased. Yeah, fat chance of that…

"Izu? Are you okay?" Mei asks suddenly and he realizes that all color must have drained from his face.

"What? Oh, yeah… uh, I didn't sleep too well last night." That's somewhat true, All for One requires more sleep that he's getting on a regular basis, but now aside from the usual fatigue a headache begins to creep in anticipation. "Who's Uravity?" he asks, in a futile attempt to distract himself from what's coming.

"Fuck knows," Neito grumbles petulantly, fidgeting in his chair.

Struggling to feign indifference, Izuku picks up his phone and proceeds to access the official page of everything pro heroes-related, absently running a hand through his green and black hair. He keeps it a tad shorter these days and styled with a side parting, with random strands dyed black. He didn't care much about his appearance before coming here, but Mei – who always wears plenty of make-up and a very deep cleavage – convinced both boys that since they'll never really escape the villain brand, they should at least not disappoint and adopt the appropriate aesthetics.

For a while he simply wastes his time mindlessly scrolling down Uravity's profile and info and going over the brief description of her combat costume, but mostly unable to process anything.

"Don't worry, I went through the files of these failed villain wannabes, there's no danger with them!" a booming and very familiar voice resounds in the hallway outside, and Izuku fights back a violent flinch, masking it with a deep breath.

He tells himself that he totally doesn't have to go through this bullshit – he could use All for One just a little bit, to make Bakugo forget about him, right? No one would know, no harm done. No, fuck, someone might find out and then he'll be in hella trouble. No, this is it, he's fucked. At least any injury will heal quickly.

"Fuck my life…" Monoma whines, chewing on his knuckles. He looks ready to dive under his desk.

A few moments later the door opens widely but Izuku remains motionless, chin resting casually in the heel of his palm as if he wasn't frozen in horror, his eyes still glued to the screen of his phone.

"Hey, Mei!" a cheerful voice greets, dissipating some of the bad vibe. Red Riot.

"'Sup, Eijiro?" the equipment expert replies with a large smile, sitting up and straightening her back. "What can we do for you guys?"

Aside from this, it's much too quiet, suspiciously so, and Izuku still doesn't look up aside from a furtive glance towards Monoma's desk, which is closest to the door. Only Neito isn't there, the bastard has disappeared at the last second.

"They need some help with their costumes, I just tagged along because I was free and I wanted to see you," the red-haired pro hero explains, making Mei giggle.

"I thought Monoma was supposed to be here too?" the voice from earlier grumbles, not as hostile as he's expected but not exactly friendly either.

"He's under his desk, but please leave him there," Mei divulges mercilessly. "So, what's the problem?" She walks out from behind her own desk, keen on examining Bakugo's equipment. "Is there some kind of technical issue? Because the design itself looks pretty good to me and-"

But then Izuku feels eyes on him and his head jerks up, tuning out the rest of the others' conversation, suddenly faced with the third pro hero in the room. Uravity – Ochako Uraraka as per the site info – is small and plump, with large chocolaty eyes and hair styled in a cute bob. She's really pretty and a light smile plays on her rosy lips as she looks down at his surprised face and then at the phone in his hand, the lit screen showing her official profile picture in full (he even tapped to make it full size). Fuck. Biting his bottom lip awkwardly, the boy stands up, tucking a rebel strand behind his ear, letting Uravity's gaze to trail in a bit of awe over his Quirkless tattoo as he puts the phone away and clears his throat.

"Uh… what can I help you with?"

The girl fidgets a little, deep brown eyes meeting dark green a bit shyly before she points at her combat costume. "Well, all the accessories are designed to press my acupuncture points, aside from the shock-absorbing footwear… But I wasn't very specific in my initial design request and the rest came out a bit too tight for comfort. I was wondering if, I mean, I could use some suggestions in that department, I guess."

"Sure, I'll take a look."

"Um, what's with that tattoo on your neck? Are you really quirkless?" Uravity asks tentatively as Izuku moves closer and proceeds to examine her wrist equipment with a black-nailed hand.

"Yes, I am. Quirkless. Do you have the technical specifications with you?"

"Yeah, I've got them right here!" The brunette pulls out her phone and thumbs it quickly. "But then… are you a villain too? Even if you're quirkless?" she questions in a low voice, not meeting his gaze this time.

"Oh yeah, believe it or not, Deku here pulled off this seemingly impossible feat… But I didn't know you like to flirt with villains, Uraraka…"

"S-Shut up, Katsuki-" the girl scolds the blond who now pushes past her to get in Izuku's face, an ominous grin on his face.

"Isn't that right, Deku?!"

Oh, fuck it! Izuku pulls back against the shelves behind him, green eyes widening and an odd gleam sweeping over their surface for the briefest moment. You don't hate me, Kacchan. You like me. One hand covers his mouth nervously as Ground Zero halts his advance, frozen in mid-movement with a scowl as All for One 'rewires' his thoughts and blinking a couple of times before his body relaxes visibly. The malicious grin melts into a light, out-of-character smile and Izuku cringes inwardly, fearing he's made it worse – after all, it's the first time he ever tried something like that with someone.

"Anyway, Deku's quirkless ass is mine so back off, pink cheeks," Bakugo says, reaching forward and completely oblivious to the other boy's flinch when he grips his wrist with a gloved hand. "I need you help too, nerd," the blond goes on to say, pulling him closer and smile never faltering as red eyes trail appreciatively over his childhood friend's black-and-white striped shirt and skinny, ripped black jeans.

"Y-Yeah?"

Okay, this isn't disturbing at all. Fuck. He was right – this IS worse! And he didn't even really mean it that way! How long is the effect going to last anyway?! Great. Just fucking great! Past Ground Zero's shoulder, Izuku sees Neito creeping from behind his desk on all fours before making a soundless dash out the door.

"Actually, some little kid on the street laughed at his costume," Red Riot interferes chuckling.

"Shut the hell up, shitty hair!" Bakugo growls, doing nothing to dampen the other's amusement. "So, it looks like we both need some new design ideas and Mei says you're the best," he goes on, finally releasing Izuku's wrist. "Can you do that, say, by Wednesday evening?"

The designer nods quickly, using the side of his desk as support. "I will need your sfp-.. uh, specifications too." Fuck...

Fortunately Mei steps in to ask some technical details, distracting Ground Zero, and Izuku finally collapses back in his chair, feeling physically exhausted. As he does so, he notices Uravity discreetly replacing his own phone back on the desk, with an air of complete innocence.

"Well, I guess that does it, we'll see you again on Wednesday," the blond concludes. "Oh, And Deku? You and I have a lot of catching up to do..." he adds with a devious smirk, winking.

THE END