Izuku was freaking out, but he was pretty sure he had an excuse! What in the world was Kacchan doing in the bad part of town?! And in the middle of the night?! It wasn't safe! What if he got attacked by a villain and didn't have permission to use his quirk to defend himself?! Didn't he usually go to bed at 8 o'clock?!

Bakugo: Well yeah but a lot has changed since the last time we saw each other.

"Kacchan?!" He squeaked. "What are you doing here?!"

"What am I doing here?!" Kacchan looked just as shocked to see him there as he was, which was only a small comfort. "What are you doing here?!"

Dabi: Well this is complicated.

"Well, I..." Izuku hunched his shoulders and stared at the ground. All this time of hiding his vigilantism from everyone and trying to keep the heroes from figuring out he was quirkless and Kacchan was probably going to go to all their old classmates and say hey, guess where I saw Deku last night? He wanted to cry. How was he supposed to get out of this? "I was, um, I was just out for a walk?"

Midoriya: Hey calm down other me Kacchan's good now!

"You're a vigilante." Kacchan gaped at him. "No wonder no one can figure out your quirk!"

Izuku flinched like he'd been slapped. Of course Kacchan wouldn't buy his half-baked excuse, no one would, not when he was dressed as a vigilante and obviously out doing vigilante things. And he was right, no one ever thought that a quirkless kid could be a vigilante, and Kacchan had always known just how to expose his weaknesses, even with just a few words. It was like middle school all over again. Izuku hadn't ever wanted to go back.

(everyone winced)

Mitsuki: Katsuki fix this quickly!

Kacchan gripped his hair as he kept staring at Izuku, eyes wide in shock. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, like he didn't even know what to say and Izuku could definitely relate. Finally, he took a deep breath and let his hands fall, "Does Auntie know?"

Inko: No...

"No." Izuku said softly. Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes, threatening to fall, but he wouldn't let them. Instead he gave a wet chuckle. "Fighting villains is too dangerous for... for people like me, so if Mom knew what I was doing, she'd probably bubble-wrap me in my room for eternity. Um... what about you? Does your mom know you're out here this late?"

"I mean, kinda?" Kacchan shrugged. "The old hag knows I've been making a lot of friends and acting as an informant of sorts for the heroes, but I didn't tell her exactly what info I'm after or anything like that. She's kinda sad I ruined my sleep schedule though."

Mitsuki: Well yeah! Teenagers need to sleep at eight!

"Wait... informant?" Izuku's eyes widened as he connected the dots. "You were the informant from the beach attack?!"

Bakugo: Who else did you think it was?!

"Who the @#$*& else would it be?!" Kacchan complained incredulously. "The easter bunny?"

"I just..." Izuku's mind was reeling. "But, I heard Eraser calling you Kacchan. You never liked that name! How... I swear... no offense, but why haven't you exploded him yet?!"

Kacchan sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he sat down at the edge of the roof, "It's a long story."

Spinner: Because Stain... yeah this is a long story.

Rin: They have a lot to catch up on.

He didn't say anything else, and Izuku didn't want to die a painful death, so he didn't push. Instead he sat down next to Kacchan and debated what to say. He could say something about how he was glad to see that he was alright after the attack, but knowing Kacchan, he would probably think that was pity, so he probably shouldn't bring that up. He'd almost forgotten what it was like to have to walk on eggshells like this. It made him even more grateful for the friendship he'd formed with Denki. He might have to deal with weird quirk situations and willingly get mildly electrocuted on a semi-regular basis, but at least he didn't have to second-guess everything he said all the time to avoid dying.

Bakugo(quietly): Did you really think I was going to kill you?

Midoriya: Well explosions aren't really safe...

"You know you're gonna get arrested eventually, right?" Kacchan said finally. "This @$#*('s illegal, you know that, so what're you gonna do then?"

Tsukauchi: Not for quirkless people. That loophole is ridiculously quirkist...

"Nothing?" Izuku said. "I mean, I'm not even technically a vigilante, when you think about it. Under Japanese law, Vigilantism is defined as using one's quirk to fight crime, so..."

Kacchan looked at him in shock for a long moment before he started laughing, "Oh @#$*&(, that's kinda brilliant. But wait, there's still assault and !@^#$ like that, right? You can't just loophole your way out of everything, can you?"

Mirko: Laws aren't really built with quirkless people in mind.

Izuku shrugged helplessly, "I think you're underestimating just how many loopholes exist. Laws aren't written with me in mind."

"Wait a minute." Kacchan suddenly turned on him, making Izuku flinch. "If they can't even hold you, then why are you working so hard to avoid getting arrested? They can't do @#$&*( to you, so why do you keep running away?!"

"I... I just don't want things to change." Izuku said quietly, hunching in on himself a little more. "Most people... well, nothing's ever the same after people find out, Kacchan. You know that."

(everyone looked at the screen sadly)

Kacchan flinched, "I... I know."

Izuku jerked his head up in surprise. Kacchan's face was twisted with sadness and even regret, which was really confusing. If anything, Izuku had been expecting anger, since his last comment was kind of pushing it. He hadn't expected whatever this reaction was and he didn't know how to feel about it.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry." Kacchan said quietly, which confused Izuku even more. "I should never have treated you the way I did. I never should have called you Deku, and I'm actually trying to use your real name now, but I was a stupid bully and I should have gotten my head out of my ass way sooner than I did. I wasn't a good kid and wasn't doing a good job of being a hero either and you didn't deserve any of that @#$&*(. I'm so sorry."

Bakugo(muttering): Took you long enough to apologize.

Midoriya(whispering): He finally did it.

Izuku just stared at him, an odd sense of wrongness making his skin crawl. This wasn't right. Kacchan didn't make mistakes. He never had. Kacchan was strong and amazing and a perfect future hero. That had been one of the only constants in Izuku's life, even before their quirks were supposed to come in, and Kacchan didn't apologize, so why was he trying to do so now? Izuku was fine! He'd gotten through it and he knew now that he was never gonna be a hero, so he didn't need an apology, especially one from someone who wasn't supposed to apologize! It was all just too much.

Everyone: Wasn't supposed to apologize?!

Hound Dog(almost destroying his notes in frustration): Oh for @#$(&'s sake Midoriya!

Jana: Language but I completely agree!

He realized that he'd probably let the silence drag on for far too long and he should respond, so blurted out the biggest thing on his min at the moment, "Kacchan, what are you even talking about? You don't have anything to apologize for!"

Bakugo: Of course I do!

"What the @#$&* are you talking about, you nerd?!" Kacchan said incredulously. "I bullied you for ten years, of course I have &*$@! to apologize for."

"I'm mean, it hurt, yeah, but... well, it doesn't really matter, right? You said it yourself, Kacchan, I'm useless. I'm just a stepping stone so other people can be great, and I mean, you made it into UA, so that was obviously right, at least on some level." Izuku pointed out. "And, I mean, it's just the way the world works, Kacchan! I'm quirkless. I'm always going to face discrimination no matter what, so why should it matter if it comes from you or from anyone else? Besides, if it had really been that wrong, the teachers would have stepped in and stopped you years ago, so..."

Aizawa: Those teachers are idiots!

"Our teachers were basically villains, Izuku." Kaccan growled. "And can you really look me in the eye and tell me a bully deserves to be a hero without making any changes?"

"But you weren't really a bully? Sure, you got a little rough sometimes, but we were kinda still friends, I mean we grew up together..." Izuku tried, but Kacchan cut him off.

Mitsuki: Whatever that was that wasn't friendship!

"You can't be serious." He looked completely exasperated, which just made Izuku feel worse. "This is exactly why I need to apologize so bad! I obviously messed up something in your brain because you didn't deserve any of that @!#$* you shouldn't have to live with being treated like dirt, and I personally should have been a way better human being! Why can't you realize that?!"

"You're not a terrible human being, Kacchan." Izuku said.

Kirishima: Not anymore but...

"No, not anymore." Kacchan crossed his arms. "But I sure as hell was the last time we saw each other. I told you to jump off a roof, Izuku."

(everyone flinched)

Izuku rubbed his arm awkwardly, "I mean, it's not like you were the only person to ever tell me that..."

Bakugo: But I was the first.

"But I was the first." Kacchan pointed out. "That wasn't okay, Izuku. And before you say you're used to it, you shouldn't have to be."

Inko(crying): You really shouldn't be...

"It's really not a big deal, Kacchan." Izuku didn't know if he believed that or not, but everything was just so weird and wrong right now that maybe if he just kept repeating it enough, maybe it would eventually be true. "And even if it was, it's over now, I got out of the school..."

"Yeah, after you were blamed for bullies breaking your arm." Kacchan huffed. "Great, yeah, that's a !@#* improvement."

Monoma: At least he's not being bullied anymore.

Izuku winced, "Kacchan..."

"Why didn't you show up to the entrance exam?" Katsuki asked. "You fight real villains every single night. A bunch of robots would have been a piece of cake! And then you'd be in a hero course instead of giving Eraserhead a headache every night."

Thirteen: Yeah he could've beat them up with a stop sign or something.

"Kacchan... " Izuku stared at his lap, picking at one of the holes in his jeans, "you know why I can't be a hero."

"I thought I did!" Katsuki sounded exasperated. "But apparently I was wrong, wasn't I? Look at you, Izuku! I've seen videos of you fighting, and you're obviously not weak or useless everybody always said. Like I always said. All those things were just stupid, predjudiced, quirkless lies. I mean, you're basically already a he..."

Midoriya: Other me just listen okay?!

"Look, can we just drop it?" Izuku pleaded. He was tired. Seeing Kacchan was stressful enough, but getting into a fight with him? Hearing him say all the things that Izuku had wanted to hear for years, but had already come to terms with the fact that he was more likely to develop a quirk than to hear them? It was all too much and he felt like he was about to cry if they didn't stop talking about this right now. "You said you wanted some info, right? Can we please just talk about that instead? Please?"

Kacchan had always been stubborn, so it took a few long seconds of Izuku's puppy dog eyes before he finally closed his mouth with a click and scowled, "Fine. Whatever, I won't force you to accept my apology or whatever, but we're gonna come back to this later, Izuku."

Izuku flinched a little at the name, which still just sounded so wrong, especially since he'd spent so many nights as a kid dreaming about Kacchan actually using his real name. What had he done wrong? Has he done anything to convince Kacchan that he wouldn't be a good hero? It must have been Izuku's fault somehow, so the least he could do was try to help him and answer his questions to make up for it, right?

(everyone groaned in exasperation)

Shigaraki: Oh for goodness' sake stop thinking everything is your fault!

Toga(whimpering): He's so messed up I want to help him but I don't think I can...

"So?" Izuku prompted after Kacchan had been sitting in surly silence for almost a full minute. "The info?"

Katsuki sighed. He hadn't thought that it was possible to feel worse than he had when he'd first realized he was acting like a villain, but here Izuku was, proving him wrong again. He'd known that he probably left Izuku with scars, but he hadn't really realized how deep those injuries had really gone. He wanted to shake some sense into the nerd, but did he really have a right to do that after he'd been the one to plant those ideas in his head in the first place? He owed Izuku an apology, but if he wouldn't accept it, then what? Maybe he owed it to him to be patient and let him recover at his own pace? Let him make his own decisions and not get in his way? Let him change the subject without question?

"The villain factory." Katsuki said eventually. "What do you know about 'em?"

Endeavor: A lot.

"Are you sure?" Izuku blurted out, "It's a really dangerous case. Not that I don't think you can handle it! You're amazing! But, um, I mean, I'm not even supposed to be involved, so... "

"I know." Katsuki couldn't help smirking. "Eraser keeps complaining about all the headaches you're giving him by working this case like a dog with a bone."

Aizawa: I know right?

Tsukauchi(sighing): Unfortunately he's not going to drop it.

"I'm not trying to!" Izuku whined. "I'm trying to be careful and I'm not even trying to ki... I just don't know why he insists on worrying so much!"

"It's because he cares about you, you idiot." Katsuki rolled his eyes. "He is a teacher. Give him some credit."

Midoriya: To be fair I haven't really met the best teachers...

Nezu: Those people shouldn't even be allowed near kids.

Recovery Girl: Well you can go get them fired and imprisoned for life or something when we get back.

"I guess..." Izuku frowned. "But anyway, this isn't just taking down thugs in alleyways, Kacchan. There are things going on here that even Eraserhead and All Might are afraid of. Are you sure you really want to be involved?"

Bakugo: Obviously.

"I already am involved." Katsuki grumbled. "You were at the beach attack, right? You ever see the tentacle villain that was tearing up the place?"

Izuku nodded, "We all thought it was a berserker at first, but after I actually looked into it, I realized it was actually a combination of multiple quirks from at least three different people. We're pretty sure that something like this is actually what the villain factory has been chasing after this whole time."

"I..." Katsuki swallowed as his mouth went dry. "He was my friend. Is my friend. We met after you left school and he, well... he helped me out a lot with figuring out what kinda hero I wanna be. Then he disappeared and I couldn't find him, until..."

Dark Shadow: Until he came back like that...

"Oh." Izuku's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I didn't mean to be disrespectful talking about him like..."

"Whatever nerd, it's not a big deal." Katsuki cut him off. "You were always into the quirk stuff anyway, with your notebooks, right? The point is that he told me there were others and made me promise to save them even as the bees were going after him."

Ojiro(looking at Kurogiri): I hope they do manage to save him before...

"I guess that makes sense." Izuku muttered. "If All for One did finally figure out how to force the body to accept multiple quirks then of course he would want to have multiple experiments running at once."

"Wait, back up." Katsuki said. "You've said that twice now, and I thought I just misheard you the first time or something, but obviously not. You keep saying Ogawa's got multiple quirks, but that's impossible, isn't it? You can't just take someone's quirk and give it to someone else! Quirks don't work like that... do they?"

Izuku gave him a look and Katsuki swallowed. He got the feeling he was in for a long night.

(everyone snorted. He was definitely in for a long night.)