"I think I speak for everyone when I say I never want to see another man-made monster again." Dabi groaned, collapsing onto the ground with the rest of his class, all of them having made it through the forest and to the camp grounds.

"You and me both, my dude."

"Holy shit! Jump scare warning!" Dabi screeched, sending a lick of flames towards Izuku. He snickered when Izuku yelped and barely managed to dodge the flames. "So sorry, I mistook your face for an eldritch horror."

"You just contradicted yourself, Dabi. Man-made monsters and eldritch horrors are not the same at all." Toga sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. "That's just common knowledge."

"Yeah, come on, Touya. Rookie mistake." Todoroki smirked at the glare his brother sent his way, discreetly high fiving Toga when Dabi huffed and looked away.

"All I'm saying is that this food better be worth all this trouble." Kaminari huffed, draping himself over Izuku's shoulders after the villain sat on the ground with the rest of the students. "Because boy am I starving."

Izuku tilted his head, planting a small kiss on Kaminari's cheek. He pulled away with a shit eating grin, projecting his voice in order for his friends and brother to hear him. "Is it food you're hungry for or can I offer you...something else?"

Shigaraki groaned immediately, glaring first at the other students for laughing at Izuku and then at his brother. "You are sincerely the most annoying creature I have ever had the displeasure of knowing."

"Sounds like something you should explore more in our family therapy session later." Izuku blew a kiss at Shigaraki, snickering when the elder rolled his eyes in return.

"I know I already promised to shank your boy toy if he shanks me but I can extend that promise to you too, musty crusty." Bakugou shrugged apathetically when both Shigaraki and Dabi spluttered and cursed at him indignantly for differing reasons. "I'm just saying."

Izuku watched his friends start to bicker amongst themselves, movement from the corner of his eye drawing his attention towards the building they were all gathered outside of. He squinted towards the pillar, gently shoving Kaminari off his body so he could investigate. When he reached the pillar he realized what had drawn his attention, blinking down at the glare he was receiving from a small boy. "Uh, hi th - "

"Don't talk to me, you hero wannabe!" The child spat, his glare hardening even more when Izuku stared back in confusion. "All you glory chasers don't actually care, you - "

"Okay, wow. First off, how dare you call me a hero wannabe, do you know who I am?" Izuku shuddered, returning the child's sneer. "Great, now you got me sounding like some rich nepo baby. I am not a hero wannabe, you brat. Not now, not ever, and especially not with my kill count being what it is. However, I did come over here to see what was going on because contrary to what you assumed about me, I do care about others. I'm psychotic, not sociopathic. But now since you so rudely presumed to know me, I am going to rescind the offer of entertainment I was about to extend to you. Have fun being a miserably bored brat, you brat."

A snort drew Izuku's attention away from the gaping child and back towards his friends, Dabi being the culprit of the snort. "Wow, you sure can be so creative with your insults when you wanna be, you brat."

Izuku glanced back at the child, smiling a toothy grin at him. "Would you look at that, I guess you'll be getting that entertainment after all and a demonstration on how to add to your kill count."

"Oh, I am shaking in my boots, Rabid." Dabi sneered, pulling himself off the ground to approach Izuku. "You want a fight, let's fight. First person to die loses."

"You're on."

Before an actual fight could break out the chaperoning teachers and their hosts for the training camp interrupted them, asking the students to gather around so they could give introductions and explain the itinerary. Luckily it didn't take long for the adults to get through their spiels, dismissing the students to prepare their own dinner. Aizawa stood silently by while the other adults started to chat amongst themselves, opting out of talking with them and choosing to instead keep a close eye on his students, especially those in the rehab program. He watched Izuku joke around with his friends, getting into another squabble with Dabi as the others ignored their bickering in order to feed themselves.

Aizawa sighed, turning away from the scene as he recalled his conversation with Nedzu and All Might the day prior.

"I understand that he has gained our trust but that doesn't change the fact that he is still a child. One that has been through immense trauma and manipulation his entire life. We shouldn't be relying on him to do the jobs of pro heroes. He should be able to actually be a child and breathe for once."

"Toshinori, I understand how upset you - "

"Nedzu, this is my son we are talking about! I just started to repair my relationship with him and now you are telling me you want me to allow him to continue with his plan that will surely endanger his life?! No."

Aizawa was in the same line of thinking as All Might, he didn't believe that Izuku should follow through with his plan to 'betray' UA and the heroes in order to take down All For One once and for all. However, he knew his student. His stupid, stupid student. "All Might, Rabid is going to follow through with it anyways. If we intervene and reveal to him that we know his plan and try to stop him he will just concoct a new plan, this time making sure we have no way of figuring it out. And the new plan has a much higher chance of being more reckless and potentially deadly to not only him but others as well."

All Might turned to Aizawa with resigned fury, knowing logically it would be the lesser of two evils to let his son follow through with the plan they uncovered but he was terrified of losing Izuku again, especially after finally reconnecting with him. The blond clenched his fists repeatedly, internally working through his emotions so as to not let them cloud his judgment. After taking a few minutes to calm himself as best he could he addressed the other occupants of their meeting. "We will be with him every step of the way, correct?"

"Yes, we will always have someone close by in case he needs extraction and we will do damage control with the students and possibly the press so when he returns he won't be alienated." Nedzu sipped his tea, eyeing the heroes calmly. "This is the best option given the circumstances, Toshinori. We have to trust in your son's abilities and drive."

"We trust him, Nedzu, but does he trust us?"

Nedzu looked down at the burner phone they retrieved from Izuku's room while he was in class, recalling how he had used it in plain view of one of the security cameras within the dorm. If he hadn't done that then they would not have been clued in on the fact that he had stolen Bakugou's burner phone, prompting them to go back through all the footage of him and the other rehab students to piece together what was happening. Nedzu would admit he was a bit shocked and impressed when he dug further into Izuku and Bakugou's relationship and uncovered all their scheming and plotting. He didn't voice the whole story to All Might and Aizawa or anyone else, choosing instead to only tell them what was necessary. After all, if Izuku had wanted them to know the whole story he would've laid it out more plainly for them, just like he did when he purposefully tipped them off to the fact that he was planning to take All For One down.

Nedzu did not believe it was by pure coincidence that Izuku forgot about the cameras and used the phone in view of them. That boy never did anything or said anything without a carefully thought out intent.

"He trusts us." The principal smiled at the heroes, taking another sip of his tea. "And as long as we don't do anything to betray that trust, he will continue to allow us to work with him."

Aizawa shook his head, deciding to turn in for the night after he saw the small boy from before approach his class as they finished preparing their dinner and Izuku smiled at him, handing him a plate after flicking his nose.

Yeah, everything was going to be alright.

-

"Everything is not alright!" Shigaraki grunted at his smirking brother. "I can't believe you actually convinced them to put us in family therapy together!"

"What, like it's hard?" Izuku snickered, yelping when Shigaraki flicked his water bottle cap at him. "Hey!"

"Boys, please. This is our first session with all three of you, let's try and make it a smooth one, yeah?" Hounddog sighed, choosing to ignore the mumbled bickering that began between the brothers. "Now, what is everyone's goal here in therapy?"

"I'll go first!" Izuku shot his hand up as if he were answering a question in class, glaring at Shigaraki when he mocked him. "I'm actually being serious for once, so shut up." He cleared his throat, lowering his hand into his lap to twiddle his fingers. "My ultimate goal is to merge my two families into one big family. Cause yeah, All Might is my dad, but Tomura is also my brother and I don't want to give up either one for the other. I want to be selfish and keep them both."

"Izuku - "

"I don't want to force anything between the two of you, like I don't expect you to act like father and son if you don't want to but I at least want you to get along so that we could maybe try being a family?" Izuku started to get quieter as he continued to talk, avoiding the stares of the others. "You're both really important to me and you're two of the people I trust the most in the world - well, dad is getting there again - and I-I don't know, I think it would be nice to have a family again."

Shigaraki groaned. "Great, now that you are being vulnerable and shit I can't make fun of you without being an asshole." He crossed his arms, letting out a long sigh. "You do realize that our 'family' with All For One was incredibly messed up and unhealthy, right? He was using us for his own gain, preying upon our vulnerabilities and molding us into his perfect weapons to deal as much damage as possible. He never cared for us."

"Oh, I know. That still doesn't change the fact that you are my brother and I want you to continue to be my brother. You understand me the most, what with being used by the same person and all. I just want you to be happy and to experience a real family." Izuku glanced at All Might, giving him a tentative smile. "Yeah, things got real rough for awhile there but when we were actually a family, it was good. And I want you to have that same experience, Tomura. You deserve it."

Shigaraki clenched his jaw, turning away from the others to glare at the wall in an attempt to compose himself. "Damnit, Rabid, when did you get to be such a softie?"

"Well, this family can only have so many emotionally constipated and secretive members in it so I took one for the team and exposed my heart for y'all."

All Might chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I am willing to give it a try. I will admit I am a bit scared to mess up again, but you two deserve to have a positive adult role model - I don't want to say father figure in case Tomura does not want me to - and I would be honored to do my best to be that for the both of you." All Might cleared his throat, following in Shigaraki's footsteps as he too tried to compose himself. "And maybe if we follow your example, Izuku, it will help us not be so secretive and 'emotionally constipated'."

Shigaraki snapped his gaze to meet All Might, understanding immediately what he meant by that. The two of them shared a silent conversation, both agreeing with one another. With another sigh, Shigaraki nodded. "Fine. Let's give being a family a shot. And who knows, maybe the third time will be the charm for fathers with me."

"And Himiko thinks Dabi and I have daddy issues."

"Okay, you know what - "

All Might laughed when he saw his son and his brother fall back into their bickering, warmth spreading through his body. He had a feeling everything would work out once Izuku completed his mission to take All For One down, and who knows, maybe along the way they could free Inko and be a complete family. That is, if Izuku forgave them for keeping such a huge secret from him.

-

"Ugh, this is so boring!" Mustard whined.

"I agree. I am having the time of my life!"

Mustard huffed, leaning back against the nearest tree. He looked to their leader, the one wrapped in bandages, before speaking again. "Why do we even have to wait? Why not attack now?" The woman said nothing, she just continued to stare at the campsite in the distance. "Hello?"

The woman grunted. "Sensei hasn't given the orders yet, so we wait." Inko narrowed her eyes, peering back through her binoculars at the gathering of UA staff and students, observing as her husband returned to the group along with Shigaraki and Rabid. Seeing the trio laughing amongst themselves sent a pang through her heart, a feeling of longing and jealousy nearly suffocating. "And I need to make sure he is really my son before I act."