The door opened, "Welcome, Marigold!" A lady that Denki was sure was Midoriya's mom greeted. She was quite pretty, Denki noted, and he sees where Midoriya got the color scheme from. "Come on in."

"Thank you, Midoriya-san," Denki replied. He took off his shoes and swapped them for the indoor ones and then walked in. "Thank you for the invitation."

"Anything for a friend of Izuku's," Midoriya's mom smiled, "And why don't you call me Inko? It'll make it easier for all of us."

"R-right, okay, Inko-san," He answered. He didn't exactly feel uncomfortable and his nervousness had subsided a bit, he felt welcomed. "So..."

"Why don't we have some tea?" Inko said, "Do you like tea?" At Denki's nod, she led them to the kitchen where she then started making the tea, "Which types of tea do you like?"

"Any, I'm not picky."

She must've noticed Denki inching closer to the chair ( of course she noticed, idiot) because the next thing she said was, "You're allowed to sit down, sweetie."

Denki was hit with a wave of awkwardness, not having Midoriya here really made a difference. "Thanks..."

"So why don't you tell me about you?"

Inko's eyes were suddenly on him and Denki felt the familiar nervousness return. "Uh, well, why don't you go first? As an example?"

Inko hummed a tune that was ultimately very familiar to him - yet he couldn't place where he last heard it - "I'm Midoriya Inko, as you know. I'm similar to you, Marigold. Apparently, you know about the Garden too, don't you?"

This was the part of the conversation that he was both not waiting for yet expecting, "Uh, yeah." It felt weird admitting it outloud, as if he had just committed a crime; and honestly, he had committed dozens.

( He might not be there anymore but the memories are constantly burned into his mind-)

Inko smiled, "Nice to know someone else like me."

"You escaped?"

"If I didn't, how would I be here now?" Inko said, "I wasn't in the Fields, my sector was the Meadow."

"I was Fields," Denki replied, "So they - they don't know you're here?"

"Oh, they know," Inko said, her eyes darting to different places around the room. It was clear that she was wary of something, something Denki didn't know about. "They found out yesterday."

"Yesterday? How?" Denki asked. Now it made sense why Midoriya was so adamant on meeting his mom now - if Inko was discovered, she wouldn't last long, that's for sure. But the infiltrators also have a mind reading quirk in their ranks (information from Yaoyorozu) so meeting Inko wasn't just a risk for her, but for Denki too. "How did they find you?"

"As you know my husband stayed with the Garden," Inko said, "He's in the Meadow, although he recently transferred to the Forest."

Denki knew where this was going, the Forest section does thorough checks on everyone that's transferred there. He had the unfortunate placement of the Forest before being finally placed in the Fields - and it wasn't good. "So they found however you guys communicate, didn't they?"

Inko nodded, "They found the letters, the information - everything." With a sigh she poured the tea into two different mugs, "He was uncovered, and with him, so were we."

"We?" Denki's heart dropped, of course Midoriya was involved in this, he's a part of the family, he'd automatically be involved. "So that means they're not just coming for you."

Inko shook her head, "Even if they have to tie up loose ends, the Garden would never dare to target UA." It was a lie, Denki knew. A lie just to make Inko feel better. The Garden had all the manpower in the world to target UA, at this point it was just a question of priority. Denki can't even count the amount of times that he's felt watched in the dorms - a sign of the Garden's ever lingering presence. "But just in case, I need you, Marigold, to protect him."

Denki's gaze fell to his lap, where his hands were fidgeting. "Me?" Of course he can protect himself from the Garden, but another person? That's a whole other task. A whole other mission.

He thought he'd escaped the missions.

"You want me to protect Midoriya?"

"Please," Inko's voice tugged Denki's heartstrings. It was clear that she cared a lot for Midoriya, and his dad probably did too. Infiltrating the Garden and getting on their radar sure was a dumb idea, but all considering, they probably did it to protect Midoriya. It was a dumb idea, yes, but now that Denki looks back on it, what other choice did they have? If they went into hiding, Midoriya wouldn't have gotten a normal life. They must've knew this was coming, and encouraged Midoriya to go to UA so they could give them the protection that Midoriya needed, Denki was just an extra - but not unwanted - asset.

But with Denki comes Hyacinth. They're a duo ( in reality, a trio) and thus, a package deal. Denki cared for Midoriya, absolutely so seeing as they're classmates. He hadn't hung out a bunch with him ( although he's sure that would change once he accepts the mission of constantly monitoring him) , but Denki knows Midoriya has a good heart. Denki sighed, he knew he had to make his decision now, "I'll do it."

Inko brightened immediately, "You will?" There was something about that tone that was off - and that's when it dawned on Denki.

The tradition of names. Inko wanted his name , she wanted the promise to be made permanent. Inko had already given her name ( "And why don't you call me Inko?") , she was expecting Denki to return the favor. "Yeah, I, Kaminari Denki, will protect Midoriya." His name felt weird on his tongue, a word that wasn't supposed to be used, a word he had barely used. It held weight both metaphorically and literally, he just hoped that Inko accepted it.

With a smile, Denki knew that she did, "Nice to meet you, Kaminari-kun."

He looked up, making eye contact, "Nice to meet you too."

~~~

After discussing some of the finer information that Inko had found out about Midoriya had come in once the two ex-assassins finished their tea. "Oh, Marigold, you actually came?"

"Yeah, Kaminari-kun was such a good guest." Inko put away the mugs.

That's when Denki saw it dawn on Midoriya, who clearly was taught the traditions of the Garden, "Kaminari...?"

"Kaminari Denki, nice to meet you again, Midoriya," Denki said, "You can call me Denki though."

Midoriya was clearly lost. He looked towards his mom who merely smiled, "Just what happened?"

"We had a chat," Inko answered, "Don't you worry your little mind over it."

Midoriya knew better than to question, "O-kay..." He looked at Denki, unsure of how to respond, "Uh, nice to meet you again, Denki? You can call me Izuku."

"Oh look at you two, already making friends."

Denki smiled, "Okay, Izuku." Maybe this wasn't just a mission, after all, he was friends with Midoriya Izuku before this.

This being a mission was just an add-on.

~~~

Hyacinth stared at Denki and Izuku, "You what? "

"Well..." Denki trailed off as he ushered Izuku into the room and closed the door behind him, "I met Gladiolus, and Orchid."

"Who are they?"

"Midoriya's parents."

"You're shitting me," Hyacinth said, "There's no fucking way."

"Well, yeah, there's a way." Denki sat down on the bed.

"You only said that she knew about the Garden, not that she was involved in it -"

Denki shrugged, "Haha, whoopsies." Seeing Hyacinth's deadpan glare was totally worth it, "But anyways, that proves our theory that there's more people than we thought like us." He turned on his computer, rapidly writing things down, "She shared quite a bit of information."

"Like?"

"There's a new training system in place," Denki replied, "Orchid was one of the scientists, that's the only reason he wasn't Harvested. The new training system is a lot more... easier than the old one. It mainly relies on mental quirks, then physical."

Hyacinth stared, "Mental quirks? That means -"

"They probably know we exist and are trying to combat us," Denki answered, "We should be on guard, especially since we have someone new to protect."

"Midoriya," At the sound of his name, Midoriya looked up at them.

"Yep," Denki said, popping the 'p,' "basically."

"We still have to look for Iris though," Hyacinth said.

"Let's just multitask, we're good at that anyways."

Hyacinth sighed, "I think we bit off a bit more than we can chew."

"We're in a school of heroes. They're being trained everyday, they can defend themselves too," Denki reminded Hyacinth, "Plus - I don't think the Garden can directly attack UA. They have numbers and the power, but to directly expose themselves like that? They would never. They can send a few agents but we all know Aizawa-sensei's Eraserhead, and knowing his reputation of destroying underground organizations, I doubt they would risk it unless they were extremely pissed off. Basically, what Gladiolus said when I met her."

Hyacinth added onto his theory, "Meaning that unless we directly interfere with them or piss them off, there's no way they're going to risk themselves for us. We're not that high of a threat yet. But Iris..."

"If they manage to find Iris before us, there's no doubt to what they would do," Denki said, "We have to find Iris - and fast."

"Did Gladiolus give you any information?"

"No, but apparently, there's a whole network of people that escaped from the Garden," Denki answered, " A network. It's a jackpot, Hyacinth."

"What if it's a trap?"

"I don't think it is," Midoriya spoke up for the first time, "There was one that visited us, and nothing happened. There's a lot of them that visited us. I wouldn't be able to tell that they were from the Garden if it weren't for their names. They're everywhere."

"Did you see someone from UA go there?"

"Midnight-sensei."

"Midnight?" Hyacinth questioned, "What did she say her name was?"

"Lavender."

"That's..." Denki was at a loss for words. Although he was the one that suggested Lavender be alive, he didn't suspect Lavender to be so close to them - practically under their noses. The fact that Lavender kept their identity so well was amazing. But Midnight had a whole history at UA, it shouldn't have been possible. "It's not possible. The timeline doesn't match up."

"Agreed," Hyacinth said, "The timeline doesn't match up. Midnight-sensei graduated from UA, but by the time that Lavender escaped or got harvested, it wouldn't have been possible."

"Especially since UA students don't graduate with under 2 years of being here," Denki added on.

"Unless someone was helping them," Midoriya said, "And only someone on the UA staff could help them with that, more specifically - The Principal."

Denki's heart dropped at Hyacinth's next words.

"He knows."

~~~

When Hyacinth left, Izuku had a bunch of questions, predictably. "So Shinsou's Hyacinth?"

"Basically," Denki said, "That's why I was looking for him after the Sports Festival."

Izuku hummed, "I get it. I never would've guessed you were involved if I didn't hear the others calling you Marigold."

Denki shrugged, "I mean, it's easy to hide. Just don't murder anyone, or use weird skills. The class might be observant, but they're untrained."

"What was the training like?"

The sudden memories that overwhelmed him sent shivers down his spine, "Well, it wasn't fun." Denki's mouth felt dry as he continued, "They'd make us run until our heart beat was at a certain level, probably the highest - and then maintain it for a few hours. Then they'd make us run faster, that was Mondays."

Izuku frowned, "You weren't allowed to stop?"

"If you had cardiac arrest you were," Denki answered, "Anything other than that was insignificant. On Tuesdays was battle training, usually an obstacle course. Those that got off easy were selected to do the shooting field. Those people were rare, and they were actually the weaker ones. The others like me would usually have to fight each other in a Hunger Games like fashion until there was one left standing."

"I don't think that counts as training..."

"Wednesdays were for missions," Denki recited from memory, "Usually 30 or so. They weren't long term, they were short and quick. When you returned, that was your rest day."

"How long did you guys rest for?"

"Usually 3 hours until curfew." Denki replied, "So, at the time it seemed like a lot, but now it seems like too little." It was weird. As Denki reflected on all the lifetime changes that The Garden caused him, he felt as if the outside world was a different society, because in reality - it was. "On Thursdays, the schedule was split. The morning being the pain training and the afternoons with the Overseer."

"The Overseer?"

"The Overseer ran the place, they were like a parent to us, or they were made to act like a parent to us," Denki said, "Probably for emotional or mental stability now that I think of it. Everything the Overseer said was all propaganda, but we couldn't see that since that was all we knew."

Izuku's words were nearly silent, "That sounds like torture."

"It was all experiments, really," Denki replied, his voice hollow, "Fridays were easy, they were the school days. The days we were taught to read, write, count, do basic and advanced math, and critical thinking. They were the mental days. For me, anyways."

"For you?"

"We all had a different schedule, attuned to our effectiveness and rank," Denki said, "Hyacinth was one of the top mentally, so his schedule was different, while I was average mentally but top physically. We all had rankings and those played a hand in our schedules. We all aspired to rank the top in everything, solely because of the fact that we thought Graduation meant leaving."

"But Graduation wasn't leaving, it was The Harvest."

"Yeah, but we didn't know that." Denki replied, "All the older kids that said that only said it once and never again, except Lavender. And even then, we never saw them again so we assumed they Graduated. Graduation had a big festival too, a break from the training. It was only once a year, and everyone's rankings were released that day too, so everyone looked forward to it."

"So what made you leave?"

"I found out about the Harvest," He said simply, "Before that I hadn't had any thoughts of leaving before Graduation. Everyday might've been horribly boring but, you know, it was the only thing I knew and I didn't have a real reason to dislike it. Hyacinth and Iris thought I was insane when I suggested leaving. But in reality, I didn't want us to get Harvested or anything. I had to take them to the Archives before they believed me."

"We didn't last long in there after," Denki added as an extra thought, "Our escape wasn't planned since the Overseer interrupted us, so we rushed out as fast as possible. And that took us to where we are today."

"Separated," Izuku said.

"Yeah, we're still looking for Iris, although at this point, I don't know if we'll ever find her."