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Izuku’s new keeper was nice. It was strange. He’d let him hide himself away in his cage when they’d arrived. He’d called it a bedroom, and his. Said it was temporary. Izuku could understand why, the floor covering was soft, like the blankets the doctor would dry him with, the bed pushed in the corner looked plush and filled with soft mounds and more cloth than Izuku had ever seen.
It was too nice for something like him.
He pressed his hands over his ears. It didn’t deafen the sound completely, but it was muffled. He wondered if his new keeper knew he needed his hood to fight. Izuku would just have to settle for his hands for now; he used his wings to fight more anyway.
“Kid?” The low voice rumbled in his ears even through his hands. He pressed them tighter, turning to look. It was his keeper, ragged with dark hair and a darker costume. Izuku wondered where his white coat was. Maybe he didn’t have one? Maybe he was like sensei.
Izuku hoped he wasn’t like sensei.
“I need to take you to see someone. Would you mind coming with me?” Izuku stared blankly at the hand the man held out. Was it a test? Izuku scrambled over to his side, eyes down. “Can you speak?” Izuku tried not to flinch, looking resolutely at the man’s scuffed shoes; it was definitely a test. They’d tried to get him to talk with the people in blue and the ones in pretty colours but he hadn’t made a sound, just like he was meant to. He didn’t understand why his keeper had looked so hurt. The man sighed, like he had before, heavy and long. “Come on. We’ll get you some new clothes after.”
UA was massive. He thought the complex was called UA anyway, that’s what his keeper had called it. It was white without being harsh like the doctor's labs, panels of glass lining some faces of the building, shining and beautiful. The bright light stung his sensitive eyes but he couldn’t bring himself to close them, too awed by the structure and how it looked in the daylight. Izuku never got to see things in the daylight.
His keeper pushed him forwards gently, a large hand on the small of his back, between his wings. Izuku scrambled forwards, unwilling to test the patience of someone who’d been so kind. The doors slid open before them with a quiet whir.
The hallways weren’t silent, but they weren’t loud. Muffled voices reached Izuku through the walls even though his hands. They sounded warm. The hallways made a nice sound under his shoes, one that made him want to lower his hands to hear it better but he couldn’t. It wasn’t safe here, outside. He needed to be ready to fight or his new keeper would send him back to the doctor.
His keeper stopped at a particular door, letters Izuku had taught himself to read embossed on it. He didn’t know what a principals office was. A muted response came from within and his keeper opened the door, pushing him through gently.
“Hello, you must be the child Aizawa told me about!” Izuku looked at the desk. Something white and furry sat behind it, looking like a larger version of the creatures the doctor kept in his cages, the ones that tested Izuku’s new quirks. He hated hearing them scream. His keeper patted the chair in front of the desk, motioning for him to get on. It was high, up to his shoulder, but he managed without scratching anything with his wings. “Would you like Aizawa to stay in the room? I feel you and I have a lot in common.” Izuku flinched. It was another test, wasn’t it? But the creature looked like one of the doctor’s; maybe it knew what it was like? Izuku shrugged, bracing for a hit. None came, and the creature looked excited.
“Could you please tell me your name? Mine is Nezu!” Izuku looked at his keeper with nervous eyes. His eyes were soft at the edges, and he gave a slight nod.
“Izuku.” He whispered out with a voice he never remembered using. He hunched down in the chair, wings drawn tight to his body, bracing for a hit. It never came.
“Izuku!” Nezu sounded excited. He looked back to his keeper but the man didn’t seem angry, only relieved. “Am I allowed?”
“Allowed to speak?” Nezu didn’t look angry, only less happy. “You very much are! Not just to me, but to anyone.”
“Not hurt? No sharps? No quirks?” He heard the chair beside him creak, his keeper’s hands white where they held tight to the armrests. He looked hurt, and Izuku felt small. He’d let his keeper get hurt. They would get rid of him now.
“No. We won't hurt you. We won't let you get hurt. We swear.” His keeper’s voice was shaky but he sounded safe, like Tomura and Dabi and Kurogiri. Izuku bit his lip and nodded.
“Do you know the doctor?” Izuku whispered to Nezu, voice already aching. He didn’t like making noise but he had to know. “You look like the doctor’s things, the ones that tested the upgrades.”
Nezu looked sad, his ears flat like the creatures would do when one of them screamed. “I didn’t know your doctor, but I knew someone I think may have been very much like him. I understand what it’s like. I promise you won't be used that way again, Izuku. You’re safe now, you won't ever see the doctor again.”
“What if I break, though.” Izuku pressed, voice crackling as his throat seemed to try and stop him making noise. “He fixes me and makes me better. Sensei always needs me better.”
His keeper turned to him, eyes shining, a broad hand placing itself on his smaller shoulders. “I’ll keep you safe. You won't be hurt like that again.” There was a foreign stinging in his eyes, something wet running down his face. He tried to rub it away but it kept coming. His breath started to hitch so he scrubbed at it harder, not understanding the feeling of breaking apart in his chest.
The warm, strong arms of his keeper wrapped around him, muffling the noises that were becoming too loud. He sunk into the embrace, sobbing uncontrollably.
“I’ll keep you safe.”