A/N: Welcome back~! Today's update is dedicated to my mother (who just turned 60 today!!) Happy Birthday Mom! You're amazing, and I'm glad you gave birth to me!


I know a lot of you are asking about Kacchan, and you want Aizawa to kick his ass for everything he's done to Izuku. Patience. It'll come, eventually. And Izuku still cares about Bakugo, so he—unfortunately—won't really let Aizawa lay into him like you probably want. I've already written this stuff, so please look forward to next week's update. It should be around Friday or so (Pacific Standard Time).

Chapter 5: Bullying

Izuku had been training with Aizawa-sensei for four months, now, and Yamada-sensei for three. He couldn't remember a time in his life where he'd been happier. He was getting stronger by the day, and his combat training had started two months ago.

After the stairs incident, the physical bullying had died down, likely due to the kids realizing that sending Izuku to a hospital would probably get them in trouble. They were lucky he hadn't broken anything, because Izuku wasn't sure if he could've come up with a viable excuse for the bruises (and he was sure that Yamada and Aizawa-sensei would've hunted them down. He had a hard enough time getting them to back off as it was.)

As far as combat training goes, Aizawa-sensei said he was a natural, able to pick up fighting stances and moves after only observing them a couple of times. Yamada-sensei was thrilled with his academic skills, and the two regularly held conversations in English. Sometimes, Yamada-sensei would throw in some German or French to throw him off, but Izuku was slowly getting those down, too.

He'd been gaining a lot more confidence in himself, and his Quirk analysis skills were skyrocketing under his mentor's careful tutelage. He had three new notebooks to show for it, too.

His mother was also now on a first-name basis with the two, who regularly came over to the Midoriya household to eat or just hang out. It was weird, at first, seeing two pro heroes at his apartment, but after a while it became weird to not see them there.

He'd found out halfway through the third month that the two were married, and Izuku honestly found it adorable. He loved helping Yamada-sensei—or Hizashi as he was told to call him when they weren't training—mess with his mentor. He would never get tired of seeing Aizawa-sensei flustered. And if the man made his training that day three times harder, then it was totally worth it.

Izuku got ready for the day, and came out to the kitchen to the familiar sight of Aizawa nursing a cup of coffee, while Hizashi helped his mother cook breakfast (she was helping him improve his disastrous cooking skills at a phenomenal rate). It made him happy to know that his mother had some friends, now. Auntie Mitsuki was her only friend, as far as he knew, and he knew his mother was a lot more social than he was. She liked having friends, but apparently the stigma of having a Quirkless child affected her social standing. Izuku always blamed himself for her stress and lack of a social life.

"Morning mom. Morning Sensei, Zashi." He yawned as he sat down next to Aizawa.

"Good morning, Problem Child." Aizawa ruffled his hair fondly, making him smile.

"Hey, Little Listener! Just in time, breakfast is ready~!" Hizashi grinned as he set down a plate of eggs, toast, bacon, and sausage.

"American?" Izuku's eyes lit up. He loved eating food from other cultures—though American food was one of his favorites.

"Yep! Eat up, there's plenty more where that came from!" The blond grinned, and Izuku happily obliged.

"Itadakimasu~!" He thoroughly enjoyed Hizashi's cooking. Three months ago, the blond's cooking could be called a weapon of mass destruction. Izuku wouldn't even call it food, really. Not when that one thing that Hizashi had insisted was mashed potatoes ate through the plate. Yeah, his mom wasn't too happy about that.

After that incident, she insisted on teaching him how to actually cook. Aizawa was confident in his husband's inability to learn to cook, and took an uncharacteristically confident Izuku up on a bet. Izuku knew his mother, and there were some things that she could pull off that nobody else could.

Izuku would forever treasure the photograph of Eraserhead and Present Mic (in full costume). And as per the bet, it was signed. By both of them. So Izuku was now the owner of one of the only Eraserhead autographs in the world, and he was damn proud of that.

"You should get going, Izuku." Hizashi noted. "Unless you want to be late for school?"

The thought sent a trill down his spine. "Crud! Thanks Zashi! Bye guys! See you after school!" He sent them a grin over his shoulder as he ran out the door.

The moment he was out of sight, his smile dropped. He hated school. His feet didn't drag, like he wanted them to. He made himself jog the way there so he wouldn't be late.

He wasn't sure what had set it off... Maybe it was because he was doing better on the physical assessments at school... perhaps it was because he'd skyrocketed to the top of the class in academics. But recently, the bullying had gotten worse. Well, the verbal bullying, that is. Like he said earlier, the physical bullying had died down a lot.

That didn't mean he wasn't still receiving notes telling him to go kill himself, though.

Usually, Kaachan would protect him, in his own backwards way. By making himself the main tormentor of Izuku, people were content throwing jeers instead of punches. Anyone who attacked Izuku physically would answer to Katsuki.

But with his recent jump in, well, everything, he'd painted a bigger target on his back than he'd ever had before, and Kaachan couldn't hog Izuku to himself anymore... especially when a few upperclassmen had taken an interest in him.

Nothing noteworthy happened in class, with Izuku's test coming back with a now typical 100% (which he'd excitedly show Hizashi when he got to the warehouse, and the man would praise him for doing so well). He hid during lunch, and somehow managed to avoid any of the bullies. By the time school got out, he was feeling all right, like maybe he'd have some luck today. He stiffened when he saw a few upperclassmen waiting by the school gates for him. Well, so much for luck. I'll have to wait them out. He realized with a sinking feeling. No. He shook his head. I'm different, now. Besides, Aizawa-sensei and Yamada-sensei will know something's wrong if I'm late.

With that, he quickly scaled the brick wall that surrounded the school. He balanced on the top for a moment, before jumping down carefully, making sure not to hurt himself. Unfortunately, he wasn't exactly quiet when he did so.

"There he is!" A gruff female voice shouted, and Izuku bolted, months of training kicking in. He heard them giving chase, and tried to lose them down a couple of alleyways, making sure not to stray too far from his usual path.

He ducked behind a dumpster, holding his breath and calming his heart rate as he waited for the third-years to pass by. For a moment, he thought he'd lost them.

"You're fast, for a Quirkless Wonder." He whirled around, falling into a defensive stance, ready to run. But the alley only had one way out, and she was blocking it. Damnit! He cautiously eyed the fire escape.

Four third-years leaned against the wall, three guys and a girl. "S-Senpai... I wasn't aware you were here... I-I'm s-sorry for d-disturbing you, I-I-I'll just be on my way..." He hoped they'd let him leave. He knew they wouldn't.

"No, I don't think you are." The girl smirked. Her Quirk allowed her to turn her fingernails into rock-like spears. She activated her Quirk, pointing them threateningly at Izuku. "We just want to have a little chat."

"You see..." One of the boys, Mori Haruto, spoke up as he activated his Quirk. It allowed him to create a soundproof barrier around a small area. Perfect for situations like this, so Izuku couldn't call out for help. The pit in his stomach grew.

Maeda Yuto was a boy with another fascinating—and terrifying—Quirk. He could overcharge the pain receptors in the body through physical contact. It lasted for only three seconds, but the results were horrifying. No physical injuries, nothing to trace it back to him. He would make an incredible interrogator, but the kid was looking to be heading down a more villainous path.

Kimura Hayato smirked as he stepped forward. "You see... I don't think you understand where you are on the food chain." He idly checked his nails. "You're Quirkless. A disgusting piece of filth that stains society. Your place is to bow to us. You're a leftover from a weaker era, and honestly you should be grateful to have the opportunity to help us practice our Quirks." He glared before placing a hand on Maeda's shoulder. "I think you need a reminder of just where you stand." His hand glowed, activating his own Quirk—an amplification Quirk.

Izuku froze for a moment. That meant Maeda could use his Quirk for up to a minute. He went to run, when Fujita Yuna—the girl—shot out her spear. A sharp pain flared in his shoulder as the spear went through it and into the brick wall behind him, pinning him so he couldn't move. Izuku shook with fear as Maeda stalked towards him. Shit...

Izuku went for his phone, trying to call for help, but Maeda knocked it out of his hand. For a moment, he saw the time—he was supposed to be at training three minutes ago. Hopefully, Aizawa-sensei would know something was wrong.

"No. You don't get to call for help." Maeda gave him a sickening grin as he placed his hand almost gently on Izuku's shoulder. "Not like anyone would come, anyways. Now, scream."

Blinding white pain overtook everything. Izuku couldn't think. It felt like his entire body was being torn apart atom by atom, before being welded back together. He was in too much pain to even pass out. His own screams were drowned out by the agony that grew with each passing moment. Knives of pain stabbed him, thousands of volts of electricity coursed through his body, and scorching flames slowly ate away at his skin. His muscles peeled layer by layer as his nerve endings were flayed open. He couldn't process anything but the pain.

After what felt like years, it faded. The hollow empty wake left by the agony left him trembling. The only thing that kept him on his feet was the spike that pinned him to the wall.

"Lookie here. After only a minute, he's shaking like a leaf." Maeda mocked him, and Izuku's brain faltered. That was only a minute? It felt like an eternity. The third-year looked over at Kimura, who activated his Quirk again.

Maeda grinned as he approached Izuku a second time. Tears pricked his eyes and he wanted to beg him not to. He bit his tongue, though. A hero wouldn't beg like this. A hero would only beg to save someone else, not themselves. "But first..." Maeda leaned in with a sickening grin. "I have a question for you."

What?

"It's fairly obvious you're training with someone. Your confidence, intelligence, and physical abilities have improved drastically over the last few months." He chuckled as Izuku's eyes went wide.

"A friend of mine wants to know who's training you." Izuku stiffened. "He's trying to find a certain someone. Perhaps your mysterious trainer is him?" Izuku's gut twisted violently. Was this friend of theirs after Eraserhead? Maybe Present Mic? Heroes often had a lot of enemies, and it wasn't unheard of for someone to seek them out for revenge. He wondered if Eraserhead had pissed off someone with power, recently. "So unless you want a repeat of what just happened, you'll tell me what I need to know."

"I-I won't t-tell you a-anything!" Izuku growled, even though his muscles wouldn't stop twitching and spasming. He would protect them. Both Aizawa-sensei and Hizashi. He wouldn't put them in danger. He would not sell them out.

"Oh... a brave one, then." He smirked, placing his hand on Izuku's neck this time. "We'll just see how long it lasts."

Izuku was once more assaulted by the most blinding pain he'd ever experienced. It was more than anything he could've imagined. The pain was beyond bone-deep, and he was sure that if he could pass out, he'd do so in a heartbeat.

Suddenly, the pain stopped. It was more abrupt this time, and Maeda scowled, glaring at his hand. "What the?"

A moment later, Aizawa-sensei's Capture Weapon wrapped around Maeda and Kimura, knocking their skulls together with a sickening crack.

"Midoriya!" Hizashi rounded the corner, a look of fierce concern on his face. Aizawa glanced at Izuku with just as much concern.

"You with us?" He asked, voice calm and deep. Izuku felt tears run down his face in relief as Hizashi reached him, carefully pulling out the spike that held him up.

Izuku clung to Hizashi, not caring that he looked weak and pathetic in that moment. Aizawa made quick work of the other two teens, tying them up.

"Hey, look at me, Izuku." Aizawa carefully tilted his head. "What happened?"

"T-they wanted to know who was teaching me. S-said that a f-friend of theirs was trying to find someone. T-they wanted inf-formation." Izuku smirked. "I didn't say anything." Aizawa carefully held Izuku in his arms, and the child felt himself melting into his safe embrace. "They're th-third years at my s-school. M-Maeda's Quirk l-lets him overcharge pain receptors in people he t-touches."

The two heroes' eyes widened in horror at that.

"How long did he use his Quirk on you?" Hizashi asked. They could hear the ambulance in the distance, and he was already texting Inko.

"A minute the first time." Izuku found his thoughts somewhat muddled. Was that the aftereffects of the Quirk? His limbs felt heavy and numb, and he was suddenly incredibly tired.

"Hey, stay awake for me, Izuku." Aizawa gently tapped his face to startle him awake. "You've got a nasty concussion."

"I... I do?" He puzzled. Maybe he'd thrashed against the wall when he was under the influence of Maeda's Quirk?

Izuku wasn't sure entirely what happened next. The adrenaline was leaving his system fairly quickly, and it was taking his coherency with it. He was vaguely aware of Aizawa and Hizashi's worried faces, and they were saying things to him that didn't have any meaning in his muddled brain. It was almost like he was watching a show rather than experiencing something himself. Like nothing was real. He felt like drifting. Everything was quiet and muffled and so far away... He didn't even fully register his pain anymore, and it was kind of nice. A gentle throbbing at the edge of his mind was all that remained of his headache.

Though everything around him moved strangely. One moment, he was in Aizawa's arms, with his teachers looking at him with concern and growing alarm, and the next he was in the back of the ambulance. He panicked for a moment before Aizawa leaned into his vision. Then he relaxed again. If his mentor was here, then he was safe.

People were saying things, talking to him, but he couldn't understand them. It felt like cotton was in his ears, and he was so tired. But Aizawa told him to stay awake... right? He couldn't remember why, but it was important to stay awake. So he'd do his best to not disappoint him.

He must've spaced out again, because now he was moving through a hallway... hospital? Was someone hurt? His eyes were so heavy... One nap couldn't hurt... Surely, his sensei would understand.

The last thing he saw before blacking out was Aizawa's face, alarm and concern shining openly in his eyes. He distantly heard his voice. "...better wake up, Izuku..."