Chapter Text
‘You can be a hero.’
The words echoed in Izuku’s head as he lied in bed, curled up and hugging a pillow to his chest.
‘You can be a hero.’
‘You can be a hero.’
He sat up, settling into a cross-legged position, his head cradled in his hands.
This can’t be happening. There’s no way this is happening. This has to be a dream.
He thought back to earlier that morning, when Aizawa was preparing to leave Aldera.
“Are you sure you’re okay to stay here today?” Aizawa seemed hesitant to let Izuku return to class.
Izuku stood a little straighter, his eyes still stinging a little from crying. If Aizawa was offering to train him to be a hero, then he’d have to show the qualities of one. He changed his expression into one that he hoped made him look more confident than he felt.
“Yes sir! I can’t afford to fall behind on my studies, even if it’s only one day of class,” he replied. Aizawa didn’t need to know that Izuku had already read ahead in all his textbooks and had gone past what they were learning in the classroom. He continued in a lowered voice, “I really meant it when I said I was used to the bullying. One more day won’t hurt me any worse.”
Aizawa sighed heavily and muttered, “Saying things like that makes me even less willing to let you go.” He paused to look Izuku in the eye before speaking again. “But I’ll trust that you know what you’re doing.” Aizawa pulled out his phone and after a few seconds of typing, he put it away. He and Izuku had already exchanged numbers and Izuku had given him a slip of paper with his address on it.
“In any case, I’ll get going. I have to go speak with Principal Nedzu, and then we’ll head over to your house together to discuss our options with your mother present.” Aizawa reached out a hand to lay on Izuku’s shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze. “I’ll see you in the evening, kid.” He turned around and began to walk away.
Izuku bowed at a near 90-degree angle even though Aizawa couldn’t see him.
“Yes sir! Thank you for your help, Eraserhead-san. It… It means more than you could possibly know.”
“Don’t thank me just yet,” Aizawa called over his shoulder as he continued walking. “And don’t call me Eraserhead. Just Aizawa is fine. Lose the honorific.”
Izuku straightened, but before he had the chance to argue that he couldn’t possibly drop the honorific, Aizawa had disappeared around a corner.
Izuku glanced at the clock hanging above his bed. It was nearly 6 in the evening. Aizawa and Principal Nedzu should be here soon. What would they be coming to discuss? Had they come up with any plans? What would they tell his mom? Izuku always tried his best to hide the fact that he was being bullied. He hoped they wouldn’t be too detailed when they spoke to her.
Most importantly, would Izuku be able to work up the nerve to refer to Aizawa without the honorific?
He heard the doorbell ring, dragging him away from his thoughts.
“Izuku, honey, could you get the door please?” his mother called from the kitchen.
Izuku bolted out of bed and ran the short distance to the front door before coming to a stop and straightening. He pulled the door open, surprised to see not only Aizawa and the famous UA principal Nedzu, but also another man.
“Good evening Midoriya-kun!” Principal Nedzu chirped as he stepped forward and held out his hand, paw?, to shake. “I’m Principal Nedzu!”
Izuku stared at his outstretched arm for a second before finally reacting and reaching out with his own. “Oh! Yes, of course! It’s an honor to meet you, sir!”
“You’ve already met Aizawa-kun,” Principal Nedzu continued as he gestured to his right towards Aizawa, who grunted in greeting. He then gestured to his left towards the other man, who nodded. “And this is Detective Tsukauchi from the police force.”
“…the police force… a detective?” Izuku’s eyes widened. Why is there a detective here? He suddenly remembered his manners and opened the door further, stepping to the side. “Please, come in.”
All three stepped through the doorway and into the living room as his mom came out of the kitchen.
“Who was…” she trailed off, noticing the men in her living room. “Oh. Izuku? What’s going on?” she asked in a small voice.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow at Izuku. “Problem child. You didn’t tell her we were coming?”
Izuku waved his arms as he scrambled to respond, “Ah, I’m sorry! I just, I didn’t know what to tell her! I wasn’t sure what would be happening today… And I… I couldn’t be sure you’d actually come. I’m sorry.” He averted his gaze, instead focusing on his slippers.
“No worries at all, Midoriya-kun!” Principal Nedzu answered before turning to his mom. “Ms. Midoriya, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Nedzu. I am the principal of UA High School. These are my associates Aizawa Shouta and Tsukauchi Naomasa, who are a UA teacher and a police detective respectively.” The other men nodded politely as she seemed to process the information, blinking slowly.
“I see… and what can I help you with?”
“Actually Ms. Midoriya, we were hoping we could help you.”
She turned away from Nedzu to look at Izuku. He’s not sure what she saw in his face, but whatever it was, she seemed to have made up her mind. She clasped her hands together. “Well, you may as well have a seat, gentlemen. I was just about to make some tea.”
Nedzu’s eyes lit up as he smiled. “Tea sounds fantastic, thank you!”
Izuku’s mom disappeared back into the kitchen as everyone else settled into seats around the living room.
Izuku squirmed slightly in his chair before working up the courage to address the men. “I don’t mean to come off as rude, but I do have one request before we start all this.” He stopped to make sure they were listening. They were. He looked down. “Please be vague when discussing my bullying. My mom… she worries a lot. She knows I’ve been in a few fights, of course. I can’t always hide the bruises. But she doesn’t know about… everything,” he finishes, sending a meaningful glance to Aizawa, hoping he’d understand.
Aizawa returned his glance with a small nod just as his mom came back into the living room carrying a tray with five cups. She handed them out before taking her seat.
“So, may I ask what exactly about our small family managed to grab the attention of the UA principal, a UA teacher, and a police detective?” Sounds like a setup for a bad joke. Wait, no. Focus, Izuku.
Aizawa is the one who spoke. “To put it simply, I visited Aldera today on UA business and I witnessed Midoriya being harassed by some of his peers. After speaking with him alone, it was brought to my attention that this is a regular occurrence. From what I can tell, your son is bullied on a daily basis. No one stands up for him. Not even his teachers.”
His mom’s hands flew up to her mouth as she gasped, a horrified expression on her face. She turned to Izuku. “Izuku, is this true? Has it really gotten this bad? Sweetie, why didn’t you tell me?”
He winced, bringing a small smile to his face to alleviate some of the tension. “It’s nothing I can’t handle, mom. I didn’t want you to worry.”
“Honey, it’s my job to worry. I’m your mother,” she pleaded.
Saving Izuku from having to respond to his mom, Principal Nedzu cut in. “The reason we’re here today, Ms. Midoriya, is to discuss with you and your son the possible actions we can take against Aldera. After Aizawa-kun informed me of his discovery, I took it upon myself to review Midoriya-kun’s school records. The notes on his academic files, along with incident reports and logs from the nurse’s office, all paint a fairly clear picture.” He stopped to put down his teacup and bring his hands, paws???, together. “Midoriya-kun, Ms. Midoriya, what I am saying is that there is enough evidence to build a solid case against Aldera.”
“Oh my…” Izuku’s mom looked slightly overwhelmed. She wasn’t alone in that. Izuku couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Enough evidence to make a case? Was that really true? But… was this what Izuku wanted? He didn’t think he wanted anyone to get into trouble. After all, getting bullied was his own fault. If he wasn’t quirkless, those kids would’ve had no reason to go after him. And the teachers had no reason to step in.
“That’s why I’m here,” Detective Tsukauchi finally spoke up. “I can walk you through what opening a case against Aldera would entail. I’ve already had a look through the files Nedzu-san compiled. In my professional opinion, there’s enough for you to win a lawsuit against them. If you take this to court, the school would be heavily reprimanded and possibly even be shut down until they could create and successfully implement new policies against bullying and quirk discrimination.”
“And if I don’t want to?” Izuku spoke softly without looking up from his hands wringing in his lap.“If I don’t want to take it to court?”
“Well, we could always keep it a private matter. This would mean presenting our case to the staff of Aldera directly, and pressuring them into taking actions to better their school. Of course, we’d still demand new policies against bullying and quirk discrimination, but we would also have to discuss options regarding your status as a student of Aldera.”
“My… status?”
“Whether you would remain and attend Aldera, or transfer to a new school.”
Izuku’s jaw dropped indignantly. “I don’t want to transfer!”
“We figured, kid,” Aizawa interjected, leaning forward and putting up a hand to placate him. “No one’s going to force you to transfer. We just want to make sure Aldera can actually be a safe environment for you. If we can’t come to an agreement with them, transferring may be the best option. Plus, if you transferred, you’d probably be able to make some actual friends.”
Izuku’s mom finally gathered herself and spoke with more confidence than before. “What options would there be for Izuku to remain at Aldera? What could possibly make the kids who have bullied him for this long finally stop?”
Nedzu’s eyes glinted with something that scared Izuku. “They will be properly motivated, Ms. Midoriya. You see, the biggest problem currently contributing to Midoriya-kun’s harassment is that Aldera always finds ways to conveniently absolve his bullies of any blame. I could not find a single classmate of Midoriya-kun’s with any bullying on their record, though Midoriya-kun’s own records state otherwise. Aldera covered up the incidents because, as you may know, students with bullying on their permanent records rarely get accepted into hero schools. If we bring this information to light, Aldera will be forced to update their student records accordingly and have them properly reflect what is recorded on Midoriya-kun’s files.”
Izuku stopped him again. “You mean, all the fights that have gone on my record in the past two years…Those will be added to the others’ permanent records?”
Nedzu nodded. “We could make that happen.”
For the first time since the men’s arrival, Izuku spoke firmly. “No.”
“Sweetie…”
“I said no. I don’t want them getting into trouble for things they did in the past.”
Aizawa narrowed his eyes at him. “Need I remind you that ‘in the past’ includes earlier this morning?”
Izuku looked right back at him, a determined expression on his face. “I don’t care. I don’t want any of their past actions ruining their chances of being heroes. If you insist on using this as a threat to get them to back off, then make it be for any future actions. That way, the threat still stands. If anything, it’s even more incentive this way since they’ll still have clean records and won’t want to risk damaging that.” I can’t ruin Kacchan’s future.
Nedzu smiled, there’s that glint again, as though Izuku had done something interesting. “Very well, Midoriya-kun. I was only saying it was an option. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
Izuku visibly relaxed, unclenching the fists he hadn’t realized he’d made. “Thank you. Sorry, I… I didn’t mean to speak out of turn.”
“Not at all. This is your life we’re discussing. You have every right to have your voice heard.” Now there’s something I’m not used to hearing. “In any case, there are small variations that can occur, but I believe we’ve covered all the bases in terms of the actions we recommend you take. All that’s left now is for you to decide what you wish to do. And just so we’re on the same page, ‘nothing’ is not an acceptable answer. We will not allow your situation at Aldera to continue as it has.”
“I understand. I…” Izuku rubbed his elbow unsurely. “This is all happening so fast… Is it okay if I take some time to think about it?”
“But of course.” Nedzu rose to his feet, PAWS???, quickly followed by Aizawa and Detective Tsukauchi. “Then we will take our leave.” Izuku and his mother rose to their feet as well.
“I’m admittedly a bit overwhelmed...” Izuku’s mom began to speak, her hands clasped together. “I wasn’t expecting this at all. But I’m very grateful you’ve all come here today. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. And thank you for helping my Izuku. It’s… I’ve spoken to Izuku’s teachers before, but I’ve never seen them take any action. This means so much to us.” She reached out and put an arm around Izuku’s shoulder, bowing her head with tears in her eyes. “Really, thank you.”
Izuku mimicked her actions and bowed his head too. “Thank you so much.”
Nedzu raised a hand, pAw? “Please, it’s our pleasure. I’m only sorry it took this long for you to get help.”
Izuku lifted his head and smiled gently. “I’ll let Aizawa-san know what decision I make by tomorrow.”
The men made their way to the front door, Izuku and his mom trailing behind them. Detective Tsukauchi exited, followed by Principal Nedzu. But before Aizawa could walk out, Izuku called out to him.
“Aizawa-sa – I mean, Aizawa?” Aizawa turned around to look at him. “About... about the other thing you mentioned… the, um, training…?” His voice trailed off and he shuffled unsurely on his feet, averting his eyes from Aizawa’s. His mother regarded him with a curious expression.
Aizawa’s expression softened, “The offer still stands, kid. But let’s get this stuff sorted out first. My top priority right now is making sure you’re safe, okay?” He reached out and ruffled Izuku’s hair. “We’ll get to that other stuff after.”
Izuku looked up and beamed at him. “Okay!”
Aizawa scoffed and pulled back his arm. “… too bright, kid,” he muttered under his breath.
“What was that?” Izuku asked, having been unable to make out what he said.
“Nothing. Talk to you tomorrow, problem child.” He walked out, closing the door behind him.
Izuku’s mom just blinked, getting the impression that whatever they were talking about was a conversation for another time.