Izuku had achieved a green belt by the end of elementary school and was well on his way to blue. The start of middle school, however, was a test of his patience and his restraint as everything he had suffered at the hands of his classmates sharpened.

Gone was the occasional look of guilt, the friendly face in the crowd ducking away out of shame. His tormentors no longer experienced the teacher's reprimands, which apparently made it alright for everyone to use him as the outlet for their anger.

He didn't fight back. Fighting back could get him barred from the studio for using what he learned to hurt others, and Izuku didn't want any of that. No one else was so considerate, and he counted his blessings that none of his classmates went to the same studio as him. Or, at the very least, didn't go on the same days.

It was a sad state of affairs that he lost all faith in his classmates not to try and ruin anything good in his life. But he carried around chemistry and psychology books instead of his hero analysis notebooks. He jotted down notes in a strange shorthand he'd developed to document fights he saw, which had reduced his mumbling to one- and two-word chunks. He had started to do the same thing for other topics he was studying when the mumbling happened over them instead of heroes.

The world had settled for the most part after the loss of All Might. Not that he was dead, but he wasn't an active hero anymore and that was perfectly clear from the footage from Kamino Ward.

Izuku had watched and re-watched the footage of that fight, difficult as it was to see. There were several angles available, everyone trying to do the same thing he did and determine just how strong the players were. Even with the villain, All for One, in prison, the rest of the organization had gotten away clean. It wasn't over and Izuku didn't think he'd be surprised if he heard of someone trying to break people out of Tartarus.

It was terrifying to witness the battle, even secondhand. All for One could steal quirks and use them for himself. Something was different about All Might's power though because he didn't even try to take it. Like he knew he wouldn't be able to.

Suddenly Izuku was fairly certain he knew who All Might had been fighting when he got his injury. Kamino Ward was a bitter victory because while he had managed to stop All for One, All Might didn't have any power left. He wouldn't have pointed at the camera, wouldn't have made such a clear gesture of passing the torch if he were able to continue.

Izuku wondered if there was anyone in particular he had in mind. Perhaps the UA heroics students that had somehow gotten caught in the crossfire? Maybe he was passing his legacy onto the other heroes in Japan, asking them to step up to cover what he couldn't anymore. Whatever the case, it had the hero forums blowing up, everyone trying to understand what was going to happen moving forward. One villain, as terrifyingly powerful as he was, wasn't going to stop the march of crime in other areas. If he understood what some of the underground heroes were saying, there was a sudden uptick in petty crimes following the incident, people taking advantage of the chaos and the uncertainty to benefit themselves.

It was fitting in with some of what Izuku had been reading in his criminology texts, that certain conditions can lower inhibitions against committing crimes. It could be as simple as the weather or as complicated as the death of a popular hero. There were other factors, of course, things that Izuku was still learning to recognize and add to his world view, but the bigger events with the largest ripple effects were obvious.

He had actually made a couple of friends on the underground forums. Gearbox was a hero who worked primarily in the Miyagi region of Northern Japan. His quirk was Hotwire, and it gave him the ability to activate any vehicle, much to the chagrin of his parents growing up. In his own words, he was "great as the getaway driver, provided I know how to pilot the vehicle". He could also disrupt a vehicle's ignition, which made him helpful when it came to pursuit situations. He had to be within a hundred meters of the vehicle, and he had worked to get precise control of which vehicle he deactivated, but the results were more effective for the work he put in.

His other friend, Terabyte, had a Hacker quirk. She could telepathically slip into systems and affect them, whether to open an electronic gate, transfer information, or simply spy on security footage. Her work tended to keep her in the Tokyo-Chiba regions, tracking down and gathering evidence against smuggling rings and other forms of organized crime. She also had a small range, and preferred closed-circuit connections because trying to connect to the internet tended to leave her with a migraine at best, with the threat of cranial hemorrhaging at worst.

They had been the most open and helpful to him as they were both starting out themselves and saw him as a kindred spirit. He hadn't told them his age, nor had he come up with a fake hero name. The most he had told them was that he was still learning to be a hero and he let them make what assumptions they wanted. Honestly, he was grateful they hadn't asked what school he was going to, because he wasn't sure if he would have lied to them and said something like UA, or if he would have broken down and told them the truth. He didn't want to be put in that position in the first place, and so far he hadn't been.

But it was nice to have people to talk to who were just as passionate about what they were doing as he was. They pushed themselves as much as he pushed himself and they all got to see results. And even though he would probably never meet them in person, he got to talk to them on the forums and commiserate about the never-ending battle to learn.

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: why does math suck so much? D:

itsybitsy_spyder: Universal constant? Death, taxes, death by mathematics?

easybeinggreen: What kind of math?

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: calculus. i don't even know why i need to take it but my advisor says i do and i don't want to -_-

easybeinggreen: oof. Sorry, can't help. Usually pretty good at math, but I'm not that far yet.

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: you could try. can't be worse than me at this point

itsybitsy_spyder: Yeah, what's another subject on top, green?

itsybitsy_spyder: That was sarcasm, btw.

itsybitsy_spyder: Don't pick up calculus just for him. It's not worth it.

itsybitsy_spyder: And don't say you won't and do it anyway. Because you need to sleep sometime, Mr. I-started-learning-mechanical-engineering-for-fun.

easybeinggreen: sleep is for the weak.

easybeinggreen: Also, how long did that take you to type out?

itsybitsy_spyder: Longer than it should have.

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: hows that going, btw? built your first missile yet?

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: if you have, you have to let me come see the test launch. :D

easybeinggreen: no missiles. I've made a Morse code penlight with a couple of preset sequences like help and stop, and I have a disk launcher that can shoot a coin with enough force to chip bricks. That's it.

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: those could be fun! :) :) :)

easybeinggreen: I don't think I should make one for you. I get the feeling you might shoot somebody with it.

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: just my big bro. nobody important. promise.

itsybitsy_spyder: DO NOT give him a coin launcher. If only so he doesn't shoot himself.

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: but tera

easybeinggreen: got it.

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: BETRAYED! DDD:

itsybitsy_spyder: We have to do it once and a while, otherwise we forget whether or not your shift keys work.

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: you could come and check ;D

easybeinggreen: pass

itsybitsy_spyder: HARD pass.

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: eh, worth a try.

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: seriously, though, it would be nice to meet up sometime. i know we're all busy, but it would be cool to put faces to usernames.

Izuku didn't know how to respond to that. Meeting up with them, while it would be nice, would also reveal the fact that he was not 15, as they probably assumed, but 12. He liked the level of anonymity he maintained, liked having people who liked him without the baggage of knowing that he was young and quirkless and still trying to become a hero.

At the same time, though, he wanted to meet the people he'd been chatting with online for more than a year now. He wanted to have friends who had faces that weren't hiding out in news reports or the deepest parts of the hero networks. As much as he's sure the friendships will end as soon as they know everything about him, he still wants that chance to reach out and see if they might believe in his dream too. All the work he's put in has to count for something after all.

He's pushed himself through online psychology and criminology courses. He's started learning mechanical engineering to help him figure out how to turn the ideas he has into a reality. He's picked up computer programming and hacking from advice Terabyte has given him because that's how being an underground hero works most of the time. His martial arts classes have been going well enough that the teacher is considering moving him up to the next class since he's easily the best in his current group and the man believes in challenging him.

Izuku wants to share this achievement with people he knows. To be able to point to it and say that he could succeed in a hero course.

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: guys?

itsybitsy_spyder: I don't know. I have a lot of stuff going on at the moment, but I have time off in a month or so. I could visit one or both of you then.

itsybitsy_spyder: What about you, green?

easybeinggreen: I have class most of the time. And work when I don't have class. I don't think I can get away for long.

c0mbu5t_my_g34r5: we can come to you, dude. its possible.

itsybitsy_spyder: You can set a place for us to meet. Or you can say you don't want to meet. That's okay, too.

easybeinggreen: No, I want to meet. I'll figure out a place. Just let me know when you want to meet.

Izuku wasn't ready. He didn't think he'd ever be ready, but he had given the address of a small coffee shop near his apartment, a place he had gotten coffee for one of his neighbors before. It was typically a calm atmosphere and he spent a few afternoons there working on all of the psychology assignments, wanting to use the exposure to people to help him. It was a safe space, and he needed that for this meeting.

He was half afraid he was going to lose that sense of safety, a bit like developing taste aversion, except for a place, but the safety was more useful to him at the moment.

The door of the cafe swung open, rattling the bell as a tall woman with dark hair walked in. Her skin was tanned, and there were darker lines right around her eyes that didn't look like make up. She was wearing a shirt with a science pun about atoms on it, and black pants. Her electric blue eyes swept across the room, passing over him briefly before checking the time on her phone.

Izuku checked the time for himself, and it was four minutes past two. Since they had agreed to meet at two, he was mostly certain that this was Terabyte, despite never being able to find a picture of her. He swallowed thickly, debating whether he should draw attention to himself.

Before he could decide one way or the other, she was almost knocked over by a man who shoved the door open in his haste to get in. They both stumbled, trying to regain their balance. The man was Gearbox. Izuku had been able to find pictures of him and he was instantly recognizable even without his costume. He had brown hair and brown eyes, but other than that he looked a bit like the recently elevated Number Two hero, Hawks. Minus the wings, of course. But it was the same feathery eyebrows and flyaway hair, the same general body type, even the shape of his face was similar when it wasn't hidden

"Spyder, I presume?" he asked, holding her arm to keep her from falling. "Sorry about that. I thought I was going to be late."

"It supposed to be a casual meeting. But yes. I assume you're..."

"Yes." He looked around, his eyes also passing over Izuku where he sat. "Is green here?"

"I don't know," Terabyte replied dryly. "I got run over when I was trying to figure that out."

Izuku could walk away. He could leave and they would probably be disappointed, but he would be safe. His secrets and his age and everything he was trying to do would remain his and undamaged.

But he would be left wondering what might have happened.

He stood, swallowing down his anxiety as best he could. "Hi. I'm green."

Gearbox snorted. "Holy fuck, yes, you are."

Terabyte blinked down at him. "Oh."

Izuku flinched. "Sorry. I know I'm not what you expected."

"No. I mean, that's true—" She cut herself off. "It's not a bad thing, I'm just surprised."

"You actually have green hair." Gearbox was grinning widely. "It looks so fluffy! Can I touch it?"

"Gear!"

Izuku led them over to the table he had claimed in the corner. "I suppose?"

Gearbox ruffled his hair lightly. "You are not what I imagined, but I think this is better. I mean, part of me was afraid I was going to be dealing with an emo chick and an angsty teen, but neither of you are like that." He sat back. "I'm Saitou Yuta. Best to leave my other name out of things."

"Midoriya Izuku."

Terabyte looked between the two of them and sighed. "Hayashi Koharu. And I'm sorry if this is rude, Midoriya, but I have to know. How old are you exactly?"

"I'm 12."

Gearbox—Saitou—stared at him. "You're 12? Shit, you're 12 and you're taking all those extra classes when you don't have to? Are you sure you're not crazy or something?"

Izuku knew what it looked like from the outside. They didn't have all the information, but what they did know was that he was trying as hard as he could to learn everything he needed to fit into the community. He didn't have classes that demanded it, he didn't have any external obligation to do what he was doing. Maybe it was a little crazy, but it was exactly what he wanted to do with his life, and he had to make them understand that.

"Midoriya." Hayashi folded her hands in front of her. "Why are you learning all of this now? You could take classes in or after high school, couldn't you?"

Izuku shrugged. "I need something. I don't exactly have anything else going for me, but I have a plan."

He pulled out the goal notebook and pushed it toward her across the table. She picked it up and opened to the first page, where his initial goals and line of thinking were listed. At this point, it was almost half-full between all of the speculation, planning, and connections he had written in. There were tabs marking the beginning of each section for ease of access.

Saitou was reading over her shoulder, his feathery eyebrows rising steadily as he skimmed though the depths of Izuku's mostly stream of consciousness notes. "You certainly don't do anything by half, do you? I don't think I was thinking this far ahead when I was your age."

It was Hayashi who mentioned the one thing Izuku was dreading. "I notice there isn't anything about quirk training here."

"That's because I don't have one."

There was a moment of stillness and Izuku braced himself for the worst, for all the arguments of why this was a stupid idea and he should just give up. He had enough confidence to say it without flinching or acting guilty, enough to know that he wasn't about to give this up, but he knew better than to expect that anyone would be just as on board with his plan as he was.

"That's why I need to know these things," he continued when all that followed was silence. "I have literally nothing else going for me if I don't know how to fight or think my way through a problem. Eraserhead fights mostly quirkless anyway, especially with mutant quirks he can't cancel, so I decided to focus on underground work, things where what my quirk is or isn't shouldn't matter if I'm fast enough and smart enough to take people down."

Saitou and Hayashi shared a look over him that had a whole conversation packed into it. Saitou took the notebook from her hands and gave it back to him.

"This," he said, "is amazing. You know what you want to do, and you are trying to find ways to make it possible and that's amazing."

There was a 'but' in there somewhere. Izuku could feel it like a lump in his throat. He started slipping the notebook back into his bag

"But you can't tell anyone else about this," Hayashi finished.

That was not what he was expecting to follow. "What?"

She sighed. "You're on the forums. You know what we do on there, how we operate. It's more than just social media for us. It's work. And you've actually helped with that before. But you can't tell anyone about that. You can't tell the forums how old you are, and you can't tell your friends about the forums."

Izuku blinked at them. "You're my friends." Then he paused as an awful thought occurred to him. He had always considered them his friends, he still did, but now they knew about him and how young he was. He was probably half their age, and they might not want to be his friends. Few people did. "Are you still my friends?"

"Of course, we are," Saitou said, ruffling his hair again. "I mean, I thought you were pretty mature for a 15-year-old. Come to find out you're really mature for a 12-year-old, but that doesn't change who you are. You're still our friend, green. She just means your other friends."

"What other friends?" The self-deprecating giggle escaped before he could stop it. "I'm quirkless. I'm more likely to get spider lilies than friends."

Something subtle shifted in the atmosphere at their table, and both Saitou and Hayashi straightened.

"What?" Hayashi asked, her tone suddenly dark and crisp.

Izuku realized he might have said something wrong, but he couldn't bring himself to stop. He couldn't tell anyone else about this and these two were his friends. Saitou said they were. "I don't have other friends," he clarified. "Just you."

"No, no. What was that other bit?" Saitou pressed. "About the spider lilies."

"It's not a big deal. It's just that sometimes I find one on my desk when I get to class."

"And what school do you go to?" Hayashi's voice was suddenly breezy, but that was somehow more terrifying.

Izuku narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't think I should tell you."

She sighed. "Don't make me search this up. You know what having to connect to the internet does to me."

"And we're not trying to do this to hurt you," Saitou added. "You have to understand that. We care about you and if someone is essentially leaving death threats on your desk—multiple times, from what you said—then someone should be doing something about that."

"The teachers don't really care. They see it, but they haven't done anything about it because I'm not really worth much in their eyes."

The words were spilling out of Izuku now. He hadn't been able to tell his mother about this because she couldn't do anything about it. It would cause her to worry every day and he didn't want her to have to deal with his problems. He didn't have anyone else to confide in, especially when he had been so careful not to mention his age or his school on the forums. Now that they knew, though, it was much too easy to say all of the things he had been forced to ignore to keep himself from breaking.

"Midoriya. Kid. You know this isn't okay. You know that there is no good reason for these people to hurt you, right?" Saitou asked.

Izuku nodded.

"We care about you. You're our friend, and bottling things up like this isn't healthy." Saitou never raised his voice, never shouted or got angry because of the situation, and it was a balm on Izuku's soul next to the cold fury radiating from Hayashi. "And the people who are doing this to you, they need to learn that there are consequences to their actions. Most kids your age want to be heroes of one kind or another but bullying someone they think is weaker than them is not very heroic behavior. And they definitely aren't the sort of people we would want to work with in our field. People who don't care about others just give everyone else a bad name."

"So, what is your middle school's name?" Hayashi asked.

Izuku knew they were right. He also knew he wasn't a particularly good person himself since his first reaction was a flash of vindication. Part of him was darkly satisfied with the fact that most of the people he went to class with wouldn't become heroes, that he was further down that path than any of them had even considered, and he had gotten there through hard work in spite of everything others told him.

"You think I could really be a hero?" he asked quietly. "Even without a quirk?"

Hayashi softened slightly, a sigh slipping out as she looked at him. There was pity in her eyes, but also more than a little bit of pride. "I think you've put more work into your hero career than most first year students have put into theirs. I'm ashamed to say I think I fell into that category when I was in school too." She smiled. "I can't think of anyone who deserves to be a hero more than you right now."

"Aldera Middle School." Even as he said it, he knew he was probably saying it for all the wrong reasons, but he was just a bit tired of trying to be the better person when his classmates were eagerly waiting for his premature demise. And wasn't there a quote somewhere about the spread of evil and those who do nothing about it? Maybe it was time to stop carrying that responsibility himself. "I go to Aldera Middle School."

Aldera Middle School was under investigation. Ito Kenji, the principal, had received an official notice that the school was going to be examined based on the recommendation of a pro hero.

At first, he hadn't thought much of it. Theirs wasn't a big school, but some pro heroes preferred to keep their names and the names of their children out of the media. Thus, an investigation instigated by a pro hero seemed to him to herald the arrival of a pro hero's child.

Except suddenly the focus was directed at the teachers, and not in a good way.

Actually, it began with the observers placed in certain classes, each of them with a student identified as a disruption by the teachers themselves. Ito trusted their judgment on these matters and dutifully had the secretaries add the requisite notes to the proper files on the matter. He had spoken with the students themselves in most cases, and most seemed reticent at his very presence, as one should in the principal's office. These meetings didn't stop them from ending up in his office again later, though.

Now he was forced to wonder just what he had missed in these meetings. He rarely heard anything from the parents on the matter, other than a promise to discuss their student's behavior once they arrived home. He never had reason to believe that anything more was going on. If he was honest, he was rather glad that there were so few troublemakers in the lot, as he remembered considerable rowdiness from his own school days. By comparison, the students of Aldera, but for those few exceptions, were positively demure.

Except, as he discovered from the reports compiled by the observers, this was apparently not the case. The so-called problem students he had been dealing with were not the instigators but the victims. He had been treating victims of bullying as troublesome students whose behavior needed to be rectified. It was little wonder they were reluctant to say anything in his office. Before, he probably wouldn't have believed them. Worst of all, one student received a red spider lily on his desk during the week the observers were watching, and it had been placed in full view of the homeroom teacher who proceeded to do nothing about it.

Actually, Ito was fairly certain the worst part of that particular incident was the level of resignation the observer in that particular class noted in Midoriya as he picked up and discarded the flower in the trash can in the back of the class. And no one had bothered to ask after the boy's state of mind after the incident. It spoke of a systemic level of abuse that was honestly terrifying in its scope and the near laser-focus on the most vulnerable of his students. As an educator who prided himself on his teaching methods, based as they were partially on the example of Nezu, UA High School's principal, he was horrified by the mere implication of what was going on.

He didn't know what had brought the attention of a pro hero to his school, but he was grateful for their assistance in recognizing the rot within it that had somehow slipped by him. He intended to take this opportunity to reach out to the families of all the students most affected by the bullying. Starting with Midoriya.

Sorry about the sort of long wait. It's not because I didn't have the chapter written, I was just publishing/updating other stories. Thank you in advance to those who leave reviews, follows, and favorites! I always enjoy getting the notifications for them!