Hizashi had just finished his podcast and was about to head home when one of his helpers come up to him, "Oh, sir! Someone is here to come home with you!"

"Uh, what?" Hizashi questions with a raised eyebrow. It's midnight, and there is a decent amount of snow outside. Who in their right mind would come for him today of all days? He knows it's not anyone bad if they are letting them in, but who would it be? The only person who would make sense is Shouta, but he's not off patrol until two.

"He came and waited for you until the podcast finished." A guy, huh?

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have finished earlier if I had known he's been here a while." If he came to wait on him, it's a little concerning.

"He specifically asked me not to. You better get going. He's waiting on the couch in the waiting area. We'll cover from here!"

Hizashi gives his helper a smile, "Thank you."

Hizashi packs his stuff quickly and slips by his helper to see who the person waiting for him is. He can't help but be curious. Who would go this far out to talk to him?

When he enters the room, imagine his shock when he sees Izuku curled up on the couch. He would have have Shouta's backup scarf and one of Nemuri's biggest and fluffiest jackets on. However, Hizashi's attention is on Izuku's face. He looks very stressed.

What is going on? It must be bad if Izuku went through his personal hell called winter to be here.

Izuku hears Hizashi come in and gives him a slightly-off smile, "Hey, bitch."

Hizashi rolls his eyes at him, but he switches to concern quickly, "Are you okay? Not that I don't appreciate you visiting, but considering the out there..."

Izuku shrugs, "I could be worse I suppose."

"Then why didn't you call Shouta or Nemuri? One of them was literally in the same building as you."

"I didn't want to distract him and Nemuri is sleeping. It's not a big deal," Izuku stands up and goes to his side, and Hizashi realizes that the kid is very cold.

Hizashi wraps an arm around Izuku and brings him to his side, "Did you walk here?"

"Uh, no? I teleported."

"That's a lie."

"Then yes I did."

"That was not a smart move. You know neither of them wouldn't mind you interrupting them no matter what it is."

"And if I wanted the most emotionally sane person of the group?"

"You know what? Fair," Hizashi steps outside with the boy and brings him to his car, "So what brought you out here?"

"...I just wanted company."

Hizashi doesn't believe it is a lie, but it isn't the whole truth either. However, he can't force Izuku to spill that. Izuku will hopefully tell him when the time comes before it's too late.

For now, Hizashi will give the company that Izuku wants.

- - -

Where in the actual fuck am I? Why is it dark? Is this a prank or something?

"What an interesting plot twist," I hear from what seems like in front of me.

Then, the place lightens up a little bit, a little bit meaning only in front of me. With the light, I see two figures in front of me. One of them is a bit blurry with some yellow and green, but the other one I can tell simply by the suit and only tan color. Are you fucking kidding me?

"Why am I back in your damn quirk, All for One?" I ask rather bluntly. Honestly, I should be caring more than I am, but I really don't care anymore. Laughter erupts from him for a moment.

Thankfully, he quickly settles down, "Ah, we're not in my quirk, Izuku. We're actually in your dreams. Well, to some extent."

"I know you've been working on your poetry, but can you practice it another time?"

"How annoying. I just want someone to talk to." If this is in my dreams, I hope I can somehow spawn a gun and shoot this guy. Haven't I dealt with him enough?

"And you're talking to a minor, so moving on. Also, who is in front of me? Y'all are kind of blurry."

"Well, let's start with the beginning: what is the last thing you remember?" That actually takes a moment, and when I do remember, I can't help but feel weirded out. That's an odd thing to remember last.

"I remember feeling arms around my shoulders? What the fuck?"

"Ah, so you don't remember what happened after you escaped my quirk. Allow me to explain."

"Are you explaining this with or without lies?"

"Without. You would be able to figure them out relatively quickly, and that wouldn't be very fun. Besides, the sooner you find out, the more we can chat casually."

I raise an eyebrow at All for One, "Get into it, I guess? Just explain."

"So impatient, just like how Shigaraki was," Wait, is he dead or something? I don't get an answer, "To simply put, it turns out that quirks can move onto another person in that dimension without my permission. The quirk you received was not the quirk I was going to pass onto you. That motion saved your life fortunately," It feels like I have dropped a few degrees, but of course All for One keeps talking, "Do you remember me mentioning how quirks are part of our souls? Well, besides yours."

"Ignoring the insult, yes."

"Well, you see-"

What the fuck happened? And why am I back here? I am in the same scene as before!

"Dying is not recommended. You will never figure out the truth if you do that," All for One says out of nowhere. Oh, great! Something I clearly needed to know about apparently! I didn't even see anything when I died! I just saw darkness and shit! Underwhelming!

"Ah, yes, I chose for my body to die," I snark at this bastard, "Explain the quirk soul thing."

"Technically, I did. Then you died."

"Clearly, I don't remember, so say it again. It's not like you're doing anything else."

All for One laughs, "So impatient! Fine. You are in your quirk factor. The reason why you are able to talk to me is due to me previously having the quirk you have now. Do you still not see her in front of you?" What the fuck now? I have a quirk now, but I'm not dead?

"Not well enough."

"How peculiar. Either way, you now have Search." Search...isn't Search the quirk Ragdoll lost? Holy fucking shit. She's practically one of the few people I couldn't save, and they really gave me her quirk? What a sick joke.

"So Ragdoll is in front of me. Why can't she talk to me? I would prefer her over you. Also, why would her quirk keep me alive while the quirk you had in mind would have killed me?"

"I guess I should be surprised that you can see her at all. Usually, only I see the quirk souls in my dreams, not so much the people I pass the quirks onto. As for why her quirk kept you alive, the quirk I was going to give you is high in quirk levels while her quirk is relatively lower in comparison. Mental quirks tend to come off as such. As I said, what an interesting plot twist."

You know, if we weren't having this conversation in my mind, I probably would have gotten sick. I don't want this! This is Ragdolls! I probably wouldn't be comfortable with any quirk, but I rather not know who had the quirk than know! I understand I was literally the chosen one by Ragdoll's...spirit? Quirk? Anyway, I was chosen, but still. I'm probably going to be sent to hell if I die again.

"Ah, don't be so gloomy, Izuku. You finally got a quirk you always wanted! That's a rare feat!" All for One says so casually.

I glare at him, "Yeah, no. It's Midoriya to you-"

- - -

"Honestly, Izuku, you really need to stop dying," All for One taunts as I gain conscious in my personal hell again.

"Honestly, All for One, you really need to shut the fuck up. Also, I'm pretty sure that I was telling you to call me Midoriya," I snap back at.

"But I'm in your head. It's not like you can kill me or anything. I'm just a figment of your imagination!"

I decide not to respond to him. Instead, I choose to keep an eye on what should be Ragdoll, and I can't help but feel like irony is a bitch for doing this to me. How is she even going to react if she learns that I have her quirk? I assume not very well. I wish I could just give it to her, but that clearly isn't possible.

"Are you ignoring me?!" All for One gasps. I continue to ignore him, but he decides to continue annoying me, "I hope you are prepared for the consequences for your actions. I deny the real me is going to be too happy about this." Probably not, but I really don't care much either. He's in jail for a reason. I wish he was dead, but jail is as close as we're getting here for some reason.

All for One keeps rambling on, and I remain in my spot, pretending I don't hear a thing.

Then, this bitchass starts singing.

"You were always quite the loser, Izuku! And then I invaded! And then you upgraded! Beep bop beep boop!"

I know that he's into musicals, but did he really have to choose this one of all songs? I know why he chose it because the situation is pretty damn accurate if shittier, but still.

AND HE SINGS THROUGH THAT WHOLE DAMN SONG TOO!

I hate this world. This man is a menace to society. Does he really have nothing else to do?

He proceeds to start singing another musical villain song when everything suddenly disappears.

- - -

I wake up feeling different this time. I feel off. Unlike before where I genuinely felt nothing, I feel weighed down like I am wearing those cuffs we gave the teachers during their midterm exams. However, in that case, it was only in their limbs. Here, it feels like it's covering my entire body.

I am genuinely uncomfortable with myself and tired, two things that should never be together.

Usually, I want to jump out of bed the moment I wake up, but that's not the case here. I really just want to sleep and never wake up. The only thing stopping that from happening is the fact that All for One and Ragdoll-

Shit, Ragdoll.

Despite my better judgement, I open my eyes and nearly close them when I find a bright room. Honestly, who lets someone sleep in a bright room and makes them wake up to it? Hospitals. That's literally the only place besides people who are just not right in the head.

Why am I in hospital anyway? I know I died, but how did I die?

Whatever, focus, Izuku.

When I open my eyes fully again, I have to squint to look around. I recognize that I am sitting upright against a pillow, and there is a bunch of medical shit attached to my arm. Most of it I recognize, so I am not overly worried, but one thing I don't recognize is the red band on my upper arm. It's not attached to anything. It's just there.

A quick scan over on my body shows that my chest is wrapped up, but everything else seems fine. I can't tell by the looks what happened to it though. It could possibly be the reason I died twice, but I don't know.

I am wondering too much. Focus.

On my right side, beside a window, I find Hizashi leaning back in a chair asleep, and he looks fucking terrible. His hair is greasy. There's dark eyebags. He's sleeping in a hospital chair. That should say everything. It makes me worried. Did something happen? Did the raid go okay or did something fuck up-?

I suck in a sharp breath. The fucking raid. I never got the see what happened there. Jesus hell, I hope everything worked out okay.

Why is there so much?

I force myself to look away from Hizashi and towards where the exit should be only to freeze when I notice another bed a couple feet (less than a meter) from me.

Shouta would be in the bed, practically unmoving. I know he is alive purely by the heart monitor, and I can see his even breathing from here. That's comforting. I notice wrappings on his head, but that's honestly it. His body seems fine otherwise.

Forgetting my state, I begin sit up only to feel a pain rip me a new one in my chest. I quickly settle back down. Yeah, that's not a smart idea. That was terrible. I can't help but glare at the distance between Shouta and I. I go to lift my arm to try and reach for him, but I don't get very far and let it flop on the bed when it just feels like lead. I really need answers.

I turn my head towards Hizashi again, and I hesitate. I really don't want to wake my homie up, but I can't lay here in silence. I will drown.

"Zashi-?" I call to him softly, and holy shit, my throat is dry. I know that's expected, but that sounded horrible. It doesn't help that I just don't sound like myself. I sound like a bitchbaby.

I could pray to the clearly nonexistent God as I see Hizashi's eyes open. I really did not want to call to him again, so I appreciate that.

Hizashi sits up slowly: however, the moment his eyes land on me, it's like he tapped into an energy reserve as he jumps out of his seat and immediately appears at my side. There would be so much relief on his face from a smile to teary eyes, and it makes me wonder how bad my condition was if he is acting like this. Hizashi wraps his arms around me the best he can, not too tightly but as tight as he could without hurting me.

It takes me a moment to realize that he is saying something, but it's not connecting for me.

"Zashi," I mutter. That catches his attention.

Hizashi withdraws from the hug, "Shoot, I'm sorry, kid. I'm just so relieved that you're awake," He explains as he clicks the call button, "You probably want some water, huh? Let's wait to see what RG says, alright? If we're lucky, maybe she'll bring some."

I shake my head in a negative. We aren't that lucky. Hizashi huffs out a laugh. Hizashi reaches forward and gently runs a hand through my hair, and I let him. It must have been bad.

"Sorry, Izu, I'm just...I'm going to be clingy for a bit, alright? You went through a lot, and there's no way I'm letting you go anytime soon, got it?" Hizashi explains, making sure to look me in the eyes as he does so. I appreciate hearing that. I need that right now.

With our luck, the moment is ruined when the door opens. I turn towards that direction to find Recovery Girl coming in.

RG looks at me in shock as she scatters over, "I shouldn't be surprised that you are awake, but I am. Yamada, go get him some water. I'll take care of him for now." Hizashi gets up, ruffing my hair before practically running out. RG shakes her head, "Worry wart. I told him you two are too damn stubborn for your own good." She then approves my arm with all the needles and shit and makes sure they are in order, "Are you able to talk?"

"Not by much. Water," I tell RG softly.

She nods in understanding as I hear footsteps enter the room again. Oh damn, Hizashi is already back with water at hand. He comes to my left side and lifts it up to my lips for me. I almost want to smack him for that, but then I remember that I only have one arm, and that arm has all sorts of shit on it. I take a sip, and relief immediately fills me. Not a lot, but at least I can talk.

"Thanks, Zashi," I thank Hizashi once I down half a glass. Why is it taking so much energy to just talk? This is literally a talent of mine.

He offers me a smile, "No problem. How are you feeling?"

"Shit. Like, weighed down. Oh, and chest pain." Hizashi looks away from me to place the glass on the table, but I have a feeling it's to hide his expression.

RG fills it in for me, "That's probably from the band on your arm," She explains as she points to the red band on my arm, "It's expected."

"Well, what is it doing?"

Recovery Girl doesn't immediately respond. She looks past me to Hizashi, "Do we want to go ahead and tell him?"

Hizashi lifts his head to reveal a solemn expression. He slowly nods, "He'll figure it out anyway."

Recovery Girl nods and returns her attention to me, "That is a quirk-suppressant, Midoriya. When you came in, you were severely sick, and that lead to many complications to your usually clean operation. After some...issues, we did some testing and found that you have a quirk factor. Once we applied that, everything was fine then." Ah, that makes sense. Even if I knew everything else.

I sigh, "You can be blunt with me. I know that I have a quirk now and that I died twice," I completely ignore their shocked expressions, continuing on, "Do you know what quirk it is?"

RG takes a moment to recover, "No. If you know what it is, you need to tell us. That way, we can prepare for it. You mentioned how you felt heavy, and that's part of the quirk suppressant."

"That's your way of telling me that I can't wear this forever."

"Correct. Midoriya, do you know?"

"...maybe..." I can see ghost All for One lying about what quirk I got. Not a huge reason, but something.

Hizashi looks at me with concern, reinserting himself into the conversation, "What do you mean maybe? How do you know?"

"All for One's...ghost quirk factor or some shit stayed behind with it. Had a conversation with him."

"Hold up, what do you mean by that?"

I sit up, quickly getting assistance from Hizashi, "Whenever All for One takes a quirk, a piece of the person's personality goes with it. In that case, I saw him and...someone else." Hizashi quickly takes note of my discomfort because he carefully sits in the bed beside me and wraps an arm around my shoulder.

"You don't have to tell us. You've been through a lot. You can take a break."

I shake my head, "Can we remove the suppressant for a moment just to see please?"

Before RG can even begin to tell me why that is a stupid idea, Hizashi intervenes, "No. Izuku, I'm not messing up your health just to solve a curiosity. We will figure it out when we are forced to remove it."

"Zashi, I want to know for my mental sanity."

"No." Hizashi is firm on his decision it seems. It's kind of pissing me off. I can feel it building inside me. I haven't felt this in months.

"It's not about the quirk itself," That catches his attention, and he lets me continue, "It's who it could be from."

"That's not a smart idea, kid. If you find out who it is from, what are you going to do about it? There's nothing you can do. You're just stuck with that knowledge, and I know you're going to suffer from it."

Out of nowhere, I erupt, "I don't care! I just need to know! Hell, maybe they can help us or something, but please, Hizashi!" From that single statement, that leaves me feeling tired and guilty. More so. One look from Hizashi leads to me wanting to bury myself, "...I'm sorry."

Hizashi pulls me against his side, "You're stressed out. It's okay to have your moments. You've probably been needing one for a while."

"That was still being a dick."

"Happens to the best of us. However, I still don't think this is a good idea." I don't know why I am fighting Hizashi so hard on this. Maybe it's a hope that I don't have Ragdoll's quirk. I know that if I confirm it that I will break, but if there's a chance that it's not her quirk, I want it.

"Ten seconds max."

Hizashi sighs, asking for an expert opinion from RG, "Would you recommend this?"

She shakes her head, "No. He's simply too fragile right now. We don't know what will happen if I remove that, Izuku."

I don't say a word. I get what they are coming from, but I don't want to accept it. I know it will stick in my mind until I find the truth. I know this is beyond the unhealthiest thing I could do to myself; however, I genuinely don't care.

I look down at the suppressant and observe it. When I see how it's attached, I realize that it's attached in a way that I can rip it off without help. They are going to hate me for this.

With the last spurt of energy, I raise my arm up to my mouth, grab the suppressant in my mouth, and rip it off without hesitation.

The moment it comes off, I feel completely different. I don't feel heavy anymore but rather sick. I am so uncomfortable that I am sick. It feels like I am not in my own body. I feel something crawling up my throat, and I swallow it down. Not yet.

I didn't realize that I had closed my eyes until I open them.

All around me, I see tags with profiles of everyone within my range. From their name to quirk to their fucking weaknesses-

I am unable to hold down a scream.

I have Ragdoll's quirk.

- - -

Hizashi POV

Izuku looks terrible when he is asleep.

His skin is pale. His hair is limp. He has lost some weight. He has dark eyebags just like Shouta.

Izuku just didn't look right.

When Izuku does wake up, I can't help the relief that floods me as I hug the kid as tightly as I can. However, when I pull back and see just how tired he is, I recognize that he isn't okay.

That is scary seeing it in a close friend, let alone someone you see as a little brother.

Recovery Girl eventually comes and asks me to leave to get him water, and I leave and come back as soon as possible. I don't want to leave Izuku alone anymore.

As the conversation starts about Izuku's help, the kid throws us off by revealing that he knows that he has a quirk and that he died twice. Don't even get me started on the All for One crap.

Then, Izuku starts asking me to remove the suppressant for a few seconds just to see what it is. Obviously, I decline, but he keeps asking me, practically begging me. I've never seen Izuku so desperate for something, and it's not for the reason I think at first.

He doesn't care about the quirk. He cares about who it is from.

It's concerning, especially when he explodes at me rather quickly. Izuku can be short, but that's bad.

When I finally think that Izuku is done asking, he suddenly grabs the suppressant with his teeth and rips it off.

"Izuku!" I call as I grab the suppressant from Izuku to force it back on him. However, I freeze when I see Izuku's expression.

Distraught.

Izuku agonizing scream pierces my heart. It makes me move again, triggering me to shove the suppressant back on his arm.

The scream becomes screams, and sobs wreck the poor boy's body. I can't help but pull Izuku closer to me, and he practically clings to me as he spirals. I try everything to calm him down. However, he doesn't hear me.

This is part of why I didn't want him to remove it. I didn't think it would be this bad, but I knew it was going to be bad enough.

I pull the boy into my lap and rock him slowly back and forth, trying to give him the comfort I can. I don't even pay attention to my surroundings. I focus on trying to get Izuku back to the present.

I just want him back so he doesn't have to suffer anymore.

It takes way too long for that to happen, and I feel Izuku's weight collapse against me as he heavily pants.

"Izuku?" I ask softly, running a hand through his hair to gently try and detangle it.

Izuku curls against me more, and I almost didn't catch him speaking for how soft and broken he speaks,

"Ragdolls..."

I feel my blood go cold.

Izuku is left with such a sick, cruel joke weighing him down.

That's so unfair.