I've been adopted. Again. Why does this keep happening?

Needless to say, Shigaraki was speechless. "No way," Shigaraki rasped. Though it was less of a "Woah, you're my grandma? Well gee, that's swell!" And more like "I hope you sit on a tack and die."

"I told you I knew your grandma," Izuku said.

"You told him you knew his grandma?" Nana turned to Izuku.

"Yes, while I was possessing him."

"That was you?" Shigaraki hissed.

"Sorry," Izuku said quickly. "I had people to protect."

"Who's this kid, anyway?" Shigaraki tipped his head in Izuku's direction. "And how come you haven't stopped by any sooner?"

"A friend of mine. And I couldn't find you, for the most part. And for the rest of it, well, I did. It was just really hard to find you."

"Dying doesn't really grant supernatural powers," Izuku added. "With All For One having got you it was probably hard for her to keep track of you. My best guess is he moved you around a lot, right?"

Shigaraki narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything. "He did, actually," Nana said. "It made it hard for me to keep up with him."

"Wait," Shigaraki said slowly. "I remember now, it was you. The shadow that was always in the corner. I thought that was an imaginary friend, but it was you, right?"

"Mhm. That was me." Nana glided a few feet sideways, her cape slowly trailing behind her and settling down a few seconds after she stopped.

"He really is your grandson," Izuku said.

"Hm?" Shigaraki struggled against the cuffs.

"He has the same confidence as you, the same air of 'I can do it.' It's eerie."

"Is that so?" Nana raised an eyebrow. She seemed to hear something and turned towards the hallway. She stood still for a moment, then spoke. "Midoriya, we have to go."

"What? But you barely-"

"I saw what we needed to see. But we need to get out of here."

"Why? We're already dead, what more can-"

"Midoriya," Nana hissed, and for a moment Izuku froze in fear. She was mad at him for what seemed to be the first time. "Sometimes there are fates worse than death. We have to get out of here." Izuku shut up quick as Nana took his hand and raced out of the prison. Izuku wasn't sure what they were running from until he heard a loud screech, and he sped up.

"What is that?" Izuku asked, gliding faster.

"A manifestation of the quirk of a ghost in the prison. They make creatures that can eat most anything, but nowadays since their master is dead, they've taken to eating ghosts instead."

"That can happen?!"

"It can now," Nana said, sounding very worried. "Quirks can do a lot of things, and apparently this time it includes making you double dead. The master of the creatures gets your energy and your memories, but your consciousness goes who knows where. I'm glad I don't know, I've never had the chance.'

"Is it close?"

"No, at least, not yet. We just gotta get out and we'll be safe." Nana tightened her grip on his hand and almost ran into another ghost.

"Hey, are you blind?!" The ghost shouted.

"Sorry! Minato's dogs are out!"

"What? You should have led with that!"

"Get out and let everyone else know too!"

"Got it!" Nana tugged on Izuku's arm a little harder and took a shortcut through a cell, telling every ghost they passed about the 'dogs.' They soon made it out of the prison, with about fifty ghosts standing next to them on the lawn like little kids during a fire drill. The ghosts came in a variety of ages, but most of them seemed to be around their twenties or thirties, a few in their forties or fifties. It seemed that the ghosts that told him as such were right, most people's ghosts showed them at the prime of their life, when they were happiest and healthiest. In the corner of his eye, however, he saw a girl about five years old clinging to the hem of the dress of a girl next to her. She couldn't have been older than sixteen, but she looked at her surroundings critically, as if looking for anything dangerous, and pulled the little girl somewhat closer.

The little girl had tears running down her cheeks and was rubbing them away with the sleeve of her free hand while the other girl slowly stroked her hair, trying to calm her down. However, despite the efforts of the other girl, the little girl continued to wail. Izuku glided over awkwardly. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked gently.

"I'm sure she isn't," the older girl said nervously. "Our mom isn't out yet." The little girl wailed louder. "Shh, it's gonna be okay, Kinoko. Mom's gonna be out soon."

"Mama!" the girl cried.

"Hey," Izuku said quietly, crouching down next to the girl. "You're Kinoko, right?"

Kinoko nodded. "Kinoko Ashido."

"I've heard that name before," Izuku said. "There's a kid with that name in the hero course at U.A."

"She's our niece," the other girl explained. "Our great uncle haunts the place."

"Really?" Izuku raised an eyebrow but wondered, how did a mom and her two daughters die so young? "Well trust me, your mom is gonna get out of there, and you're gonna be safe. Trust me." A woman rushed out of the prison, her hair messed up so much it took Izuku a moment to recognize her. "Juniper!"

"Hey kid," Juniper said tiredly, then spotted the two girls. "Kinoko, Mizuki!" she exclaimed, rushing to give the girls a hug.

"Mom!" Kinoko shouted excitedly.

"You have kids?" Nana Shimura asked.

"Oh yes, I do!" Juniper chirped. "These are my daughters, Kinoko and Mizuki. You've already seen my husband, I was visiting him when you two appeared."

"Really?" Izuku said, a smile starting on his face. "It's cool to meet you two."

"Midoriya," Nana said, interrupting Izuku's thoughts. "I'll be going now. If you want to come with, you can." The words were unfamiliar to Izuku. He had spent most of his life following his parents through public places. It was only after death he had decided to go out on his own.

"Right. I'll see you another time, Juniper!" He followed close behind Nana, as the rest of the ghosts stood nervously on the grass, watching the prison carefully. Nana and Izuku headed back to the city, and Nana stayed silent for most of the journey back. Soon, Izuku spoke up.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Sort of," Nana said, "But I'm still confused. Did you notice anything weird?"

Izuku thought for a moment. "The ghost made of shadows, right? I've never met any ghost like that."

"Yes, and the fact it's a ghost helping Shigaraki. It's probably how he got into the U.A campus so easily."

"They looked really familiar," Izuku mused. "I'm not sure why, though."

"Maybe they were around you in life," Nana offered. "Or maybe you've met them before."

"I don't know," Izuku sighed. "But I want to." Something was weird about this whole situation, and Izuku wasn't sure what. "Shigaraki's ghost-seeing. Do you think it's a quirk?"

"It might be, or it might be from me."

"How do you mean?"

"The vestiges of One For All. The previous users have talked to me once or twice in a vision, and my son mentioned seeing people that I couldn't when he was young. I brushed it off as him having imaginary friends, but maybe something about One For All brings you closer to the spirit world," Nana mused, staring off into the distance. "Granted, I don't have much proof. We're fully in the thumbtacks and string zone here." She shrugged, and just kept walking.

Izuku was silent for a moment, and then spoke. "Shimura, do you know why I can't remember the stuff that happened before my death?"

Nana pursed her lips. "Well, there's a few reasons. Some young ghosts unintentionally repress the horror that happened before their deaths to protect themselves until they've had the time to process it. But you've been dead long enough to remember it. Or, it might just be a little fuzzy since you died so roughly. Your brain might have just forgotten it a little. Then again, we don't really have brains anymore, do we?" She laughed a little at the joke, but then moved on. "Then again, it could be the work of a quirk, or your mind separating the trauma from your conscious mind."

"A quirk?"

"Yes, a memory erasing quirk. There's a few people with them in the city, but a few of them just don't have control over their powers. Or it could have been a doctor, trying to help you forget it so you could have a relatively normal life."

"That does make sense," Izuku murmured. "They might have thought I would live."

"I wish you had, kid. You died too early."

"It's not really like I had much left to do, anyway."

"Hey!" Nana said, her voice starting to sound a little like a mom scolding her son. "Regardless of what happens in your life, there's always so much more to it. You are worth everything, Midoriya, and I can guarantee you would have made the best hero if you had lived. You were fourteen, and there's so much more life you could have lived. You're worth it, kid, I know it."

"Do you really think so?"

"Trust me kid, I know so."

Izuku smiled. "Thank you, Shimura."

"It's the truth." She patted him on the shoulder. "Now c'mon kid, let's get you back to your mom."

"Does she even know I'm there?"

"Maybe. Maybe she doesn't. But either way, it's a comfortable home base. It's good to hang around your old haunts." She smiled. "Get it?"

Izuku laughed half-heartedly. "Yeah, that's a good joke."

"Either way, it's not like you're a malicious ghost. I'd say the opposite. I've seen you washing the dishes for your mom when she has a hard day."

"I wonder what my mom would say if she knew she lived in a haunted house."

"I mean, if I were her, I'd be a little startled at first. But I'd be haunted by one of the best sons in the world. I think it's worth it."

Izuku chuckled. "I hope so." They made it to Izuku's old apartment, where Izuku found his mom and dad on the couch, each eating a bowl of katsudon while they watched some TV. He smiled softly, though his heart still ached a little. He desperately missed his family, but there wasn't anything he could do about it now. His smile fell, and Nana noticed his face.

"Hey, what's going on, kid?"

"I just miss my mom. My dad, I've been missing for ages, he's always out on those business trips, it's nothing new for me to miss him, but my mom's right in front of me and I can't even tell her how much I miss her."

"I know she misses you too, Midoriya," Nana said softly.

"And my dad starts coming home the minute that I'm in the ground," Izuku started to complain, tears welling up in his eyes. "Why didn't my mom and I matter enough to visit while I was alive? He's visited more this month than he ever did during a whole year while I was still around!"

"Midoriya," Nana started, but she didn't finish, opting to let him speak.

"I know he just wants to comfort Mom. I do." He let out a shaky breath and leaned against the couch, rubbing tears away from his eyes. "It's just not fair. I never got to talk to him much when I was alive, and now he's here. And now I'm dead, with a decidedly unreliable way to be visible." Izuku had found throughout the last few weeks that while he could turn visible, most of the time it wouldn't work properly, like not letting the people nearby hear his voice, or only letting parts of him appear. And so he remained, bitterly waiting and practicing until he could give his mom a proper conversation with her son one day.

"Hey, I get it," Nana said finally. "My dad was the same way."

"Was he really?"

"Mhm. Was never around. He was a vigilante in the early quirk ages. He was a great guy, he just spent so much time helping everyone else…" She trailed off.

"He forgot to help you?" Izuku offered.

"Yeah. That." Nana nodded, pursing her lips. "I miss him. He haunts a bakery in Germany."

"I wonder how that goes."

"I visited him once. He's a local tourist attraction."

Izuku laughed. "It sounds like a great place to haunt."

"It is. He's comfortable. He's happy." She smiled. "I guess he's doing alright."

Izuku stared at the movie his mom and dad were watching, just some old rom-com they'd seen a thousand times. "Do you think my mom's happy? Without me? Or if she'll ever be?"

"Well, she'll obviously miss you every day. But happy? Maybe. That's up to her, I think, if she can move on. I'd sure look forward to the day I'd get to see you again. And when she comes to the other side, I know it'll be the happiest reunion that anyone could ever have."

Izuku watched the rom-com for a second or two more in silence, and listened to his dad's hearty laugh at a joke the main character had made. His mom took his dad's hand, and Izuku hardly noticed his feet just barely floating above the ground. "Do you think I'll be happy?"

"Maybe. But either way, I'll be here as long as you need me, that's all I can say."

"Would you really?"

"Always. Cross my heart, hope to die." Izuku laughed in a way he hadn't in a while, just like his dad.

"I'm glad to have you, Shimura."

"Please. Call me Nana."