A/N: So yeah, I made a mistake writing the chapter and then using chatgpt to 'polish' it. I had so many chapters ready. I will be posting it anyway since some readers are still adding this story to collections. So if you don't mind AI slop please enjoy.
The Sanctum is quiet.
Faint bubbling from the cauldrons fills the room, joined by the soft rustle of leaves. The potion line ticks along at its usual pace, filtering steam into a cooling charm overhead. I check the nutrient flow for the blackroot vines, then make sure the shade is holding steady over the whisperfern.
Everything is stable. Predictable.
Then a message flickers into my mind. Clone report.
Izuku Midoriya. Target observed. Situation unfolding. Alley, northern district.
I wipe my hands, turn to the far corner of the room, and open a portal.
I step through and arrive beside my clone in the shadow of a rusted fire escape. It is dusk now, the golden edge of the sun lingering on the rooftops, a low breeze carrying the quiet of city traffic. The street breathes.
"He was watching a hero take down a bank robber," the clone says. His voice is quiet. "Took notes. Ran off when he heard someone yell for help."
He gestures toward the alley across the street.
Izuku is crouched behind two trash bins, tucked in tight like he's trying to shrink into himself. His bag is slung over one shoulder, notebook half pulled out. He mutters something under his breath. Not a plan. Just words. Maybe fear. Maybe focus.
"He hasn't moved," the clone adds.
I nod once.
Then vanish.
I reappear inside the alley, five steps behind the man holding the woman. He is twitching, sharp-eyed but unfocused, the kind of wild that doesn't come from adrenaline. He has not slept in a day or two. Maybe more. His grip is too tight. He keeps adjusting it like he can't feel it.
The woman trembles. She tries not to cry. He has one hand clamped over her mouth and the other digging into her purse like he expects it to bite him.
I let my steps echo as I walk forward.
He spins, eyes narrowing. "Get outta here, kid. Before I carve something out of you."
I stop just close enough to make him doubt the decision.
"Hurt me?" I ask. My voice is calm. I glance at the switchblade in his hand, the tension in his knees. I smirk, but only faintly.
He sneers. Saliva hangs on his lip. He shoves the woman to the ground and lunges at me.
I do not move fast. I move with purpose.
My left hand redirects his wrist. My right hand strikes his throat. His breath catches mid-snarl. He drops the knife and stumbles, gasping.
I sweep his legs and press my foot against his chest.
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood," I say. "Run before I change it."
He wheezes. Then bolts, scrambling over himself to get away.
He will not go far. My clone will intercept. No unnecessary attention. No police reports.
I turn and help the woman up. She stares at me, dazed.
"You're safe," I say quietly.
She nods, almost apologetically, and runs off without a word.
Then I hear it.
"H-how did y-you do that?"
I turn.
Midoriya is standing at the edge of the alley. Arms tense, bag hanging off one shoulder, green eyes wide with something that is not fear. Not exactly.
Awe, maybe.
"I trained," I say. "A few different fighting styles. Since using a Quirk is illegal, I had to find another way to fight."
His mouth opens slightly. "You're... Quirkless?"
I tilt my head. "Does it matter?"
He hesitates, looks down. "No. I guess not."
I step a little closer.
"You were going to help her."
His eyes snap up. "I... I wanted to. I was going to. I just... I froze. I didn't know what to do."
"That's normal," I tell him. "You still showed up. Most don't."
He swallows, hard. "Thank you. For saving her."
I nod. Not dismissive. Just acknowledging it.
We stand there in the alley for a moment. The city moves beyond the walls, but here, it feels distant.
Midoriya fidgets. "Are you trying to become a hero?"
I let out a slow breath through my nose. "Not officially."
His brow pulls together.
"I don't wear a costume. I don't have a license. I don't give interviews," I say. "But I help when I can."
He nods, slowly.
I let a pause settle, then ask him a question I already know matters.
"Do you think they'll ever let someone like you be a hero?"
He blinks. "What?"
"I'm not mocking you," I say. "I'm asking honestly."
He looks unsure. Shifts his feet. "I... I don't know."
I watch him.
"I want to. More than anything. I want to save people with a smile. Like All Might. But..." He falters. "People say it's impossible. That I'm wasting my time."
"Are they right?"
He breathes in. Breathes out. "No."
I nod.
"You take notes," I say.
He looks startled. "You saw?"
"I notice things."
He blushes, sheepish. "It's kind of a habit."
"It's more than that," I tell him. "You study like your life depends on it."
He shrugs. "It kind of does."
"Don't stop."
He looks up. That surprises him.
"You have a sharp mind. Don't let noise convince you it is not enough."
He nods again, slower this time.
"You've got good instincts," I add. "That is rare."
A car horn breaks the quiet, two blocks over.
"I have to go," I say.
"Wait," he calls. "I didn't get your name."
I stop at the alley's edge and glance back at him.
"You'll figure it out."
Then I vanish.
No smoke. No noise. Just gone.
<><><><><><><>
The second time I saw him, he was sitting outside a takoyaki stand with sauce on his cheek and a stack of notebooks in his lap. I didn't sneak up on him. Just sat on the bench next to his.
He looked over, blinked, and then sat up a little straighter.
"You again," he said.
"Me," I replied.
He hesitated. Then pulled out one of his notebooks. "You… noticed my notes before."
"I did."
He offered it like a peace offering. I took it and flipped through. It was neat, obsessive, and far too detailed for someone his age. Full of stats, strategies, evaluations of quirks. Handwritten diagrams. Calculations I could tell he revised more than once.
"You admire them," I said without looking up.
"I study them," he said quickly. "But… yeah. I guess I do."
"Why?"
He blinked. "Why do I admire heroes?"
I nodded.
He looked down at the half-finished sketch of Mt. Lady he had drawn. "Because they smile even when it's hard. Because they save people. Because they give others a reason to believe."
I closed the notebook and handed it back.
"Sounds like a story," I said.
Izuku's eyebrows pulled in. "What do you mean?"
"A good story has a message. Something to believe in. Heroes are the same. But the message has to mean something when no one's watching."
He was quiet.
"What if being a hero meant breaking the rules for the right reasons?" I asked.
He frowned. "You mean… like?"
"Like saving someone without a license. Fighting when the law says you shouldn't."
He looked away. "I don't know. That's not how it's supposed to work."
"Supposed to," I echoed.
He stayed quiet for a while.
"I think rules matter," he said. "They keep people from doing whatever they want. But I also think… sometimes the rules aren't fair."
"Would you still do it," I asked, "if it meant no costume, no glory, no parade at the end? Just helping people because they need it, even if no one ever thanks you?"
He looked at me. Not confused. Just thoughtful.
"I'd want to," he said honestly. "I don't know if I'd be brave enough every time, but I'd want to."
I nodded. "That's enough."
He looked surprised. "It is?"
"Wanting is more than most ever give," I said. "The rest is just practice."
<><><><><><><>
I say my farewell to Izuku with a quiet nod, then slip behind the alley wall and vanish.
Before I apparate, a message slams into my mind.
Urgent. Breach. One word stands out.
A devil?
I land in the outer garden of the compound. The air is tense. Something hums under the wards like a pulled thread.
The gate is gone. Shattered. A trail of stone rubble leads through the entry path. Burn marks trace the flagstones.
I walk forward calmly and step into the courtyard.
KD is laughing, hair singed and tie half-burned. He skids back with a wide grin on his face.
Across from him stands a six-foot-something wall of muscle. Red skin. Broad chest. Tusk-like lower canines. Horns curve back from his forehead like a crown of bone. His black hair is slicked and wild. His yellow eyes glow beneath his brow like someone who never learned restraint.
He roars and charges KD again.
"Big guy can take a hit," KD calls over his shoulder, still grinning. "But I like a challenge."
He ducks under a swing and lights the Oni's chest on fire with a palm strike.
The demon stumbles back, smoke rising, but he doesn't cry out. He rolls his shoulders, then charges again.
With a low growl, he leaps into a spinning kick that cracks the stone beneath KD's feet. KD flips away and lands lightly. The Oni growls, but as I watch, the burns on his torso vanish.
No flinch. No limp. No slowing down.
Accelerated healing. Deep stamina pool. And clearly not human.
He swings wide again and KD drops him with a sweep and a burst of flame to the ribs.
The demon crashes into the wall with a grunt, stone dust rising.
I step forward, hands in my pockets.
"Are you Tanaka Yamato?" I ask evenly.
He spits a piece of tile out of his mouth and stands.
His eyes snap to mine.
"Yes. Now where is my sister?"
Before I can answer, the slap of feet against stone echoes from the west hall.
Rin barrels out of the corridor, leaps, and lands a clean kick across his jaw.
He stumbles back, stunned, but doesn't retaliate. Just blinks in confusion.
She lands with a roll and points at him, furious.
"Took you long enough, you idiot brother."
"Why didn't you come back?" he shouts. "I've been searching everywhere. You disappeared."
"I didn't disappear," she snaps back. "I left. There's a difference."
"You could've told me. I thought something happened to you."
"I was busy," she says. "Busy not getting dragged back before I finished my training."
He looks around. At the walls, the garden, the scorch marks, the rune-carved door behind her. Then at me.
"You call this training?"
She crosses her arms.
"I'm a full member now. That means something."
"You're a kid," he says.
"So are you," she fires back.
They fall into sharp silence. It's not anger. Not really. Just the weight of too much emotion behind too many days spent apart.
I glance toward Hound near the upper balcony. He watches for a second, shrugs once, then fades back into the shadows.
I turn to the siblings again.
"Tanaka," I say, calm but clear. "Rin is here by choice. She passed her trials. She earned her place."
He narrows his eyes at me. "What are you? Some kind of gang?"
"Not the kind you're thinking of," I reply.
He glances back at Rin. "And you're really okay?"
She softens, a little. "I am. For the first time in a while."
He exhales, the tension leaving his shoulders.
She grins, cocky again. "Also, I kicked your face. That counts as a win, right?"
He laughs, short and sharp. "That was a lucky shot."
"I had three more ready."
I gesture toward the main hall. "You both should talk inside. There's food. And probably less debris."
Rin elbows him lightly. "You coming, or do I have to knock you out and drag you?"
He grumbles, but follows her.
As they walk ahead, I watch his posture shift. Still suspicious, still protective, but not hostile anymore.
I let them go. There's time to sort the rest later.
I look back at the ruined gate.
We'll have to reinforce it again. Maybe with something Oni-proof this time.