Chapter Text
Midoriya Izuku is running away from the bullies, as usual, that day, their eyes promising ill intent the moment the boy came out of his classroom. Izuku knew that the sun was setting and that’s okay, it’s not like his mother is there when he gets home. His mother works graveyard shifts every day except weekends after all. He hid beside a dumpster, making himself small as possible as to not to be seen. After he stopped hearing the shouts of the bullies, he sighed in relief. He stood up and was about to leave when he saw something sticking out in a nearby pile of garbage. It suspiciously looked like a limb.
Izuku gulped. He slid his hand into his pocket to get something only to find…why of all these days this is the day he forgot his phone?! Granted, it’s almost broken due to Kac-Bakugou exploding it almost daily, but it’s still working. He mentally groaned. As he stepped closer, he began panicking and bile started to rise in his throat. God, please don’t let it be dismembered body parts. He thought. When he saw what is behind the pile, he let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. The body is still whole thank god, though…
The man looks too dead for his comfort.
Izuku immediately walked towards the man and pressed two fingers in his neck, his bag dropped to the ground due to his haste.
After a few seconds, he felt a pulse and Izuku sighed in relief again. He tried to shake the man to see if he can wake up, but the man had no reaction.
Izuku closed his eyes. He prayed the man won’t die on him. He can’t call for an ambulance because he had no phone, so he’ll just stick for first aid for now.
The man’s body is soaked in blood, staining his grey scarf that is wrapped around his neck and coloring the white dress shirt under his black coat red. The man’s hair is also damp and matted, and it doesn’t take a genius to connect that is blood too. Izuku is no medic, so he can only guess that the man is passed out here for an hour or two.
Izuku got his roll of bandages in his bag, the ones he always brings because of Ka-Bakugou, he really needs to stop calling him that, burning his skin every time he beats up Izuku. He was about to wrap the bandage on the man’s head when a hand shot up and held Izuku’s wrist in a tight grip, making the green-haired boy shriek in pain.
“What are you doing?” The man hissed, eyes glowing red- he’s probably using his quirk, the grip in his wrist tightens and Izuku bites his tongue to prevent any sound coming from his mouth.
“You’ve been really hurt, I’m just trying to bandage you! Then I-I’ll go in my merry way.” Izuku curses himself for the stutter and closes an eye as he waits for the man’s answer. The man huffs and slowly releases Izuku’s wrist. Izuku felt his lungs breathe again. That was certainly scary.
“Kid, go on. Normally, I don’t kill kids, but when I find out you ratted me out, I’ll make sure you and everybody you loved will have their head cut off.” The man declared as he looked Izuku in the eye, and the green-haired boy gulped. Izuku’s hands tremble at the threat, but he doesn’t know why his mind kept saying to him no one loved me anyway, just go on and add me to the list too when I grow up. His thoughts are downright depressing sometimes, at the wrong time too.
“Can I at least bandage you first? So that you won’t pass out again or worst die from blood loss?” Izuku asked, and once again he didn’t know why he decided to help this man out when his body is clearly trembling in fear. The man raised an eyebrow at him, his breath panting due to the obvious loss of blood.
“…Why do you have bandages with you? Your parents shouldn’t give their child first aid supplies at your age.” The man grumbled before groaning in pain as he shifted from his position and Izuku just shrugged.
“Well yeah, being beaten up does that to you.” He said before slapping a hand on his mouth. Oh, so now his brain decided to spill out his secrets on a possible villain rather than his mom? Fan-freaking-tastic! The man looked at him in amusement.
Izuku didn’t wait for an answer and wraps the bandages around the man’s head. The man didn’t fight him off so he supposes he just accepted the help. He then wrapped the bandage on the man’s torso to stop the bleeding of his relatively large wound (it looks like it had been slashed, ouch that hurts), before standing up and wiping off the blood with some of the tissues he had on his bag.
“Well, mister. I believe I’m done, I want to go but I also don’t want to leave you here when it’s clear that you cannot move. Do you want me to call an ambulance?” Izuku questioned and the man groaned again as he pulled out a phone somewhere from his bloodied suit. How the man can still move with that excessive blood loss is beyond Izuku.
“Go away kid, I’ll manage. Don’t call anyone.” The man said looking at his phone, but it seems that his energy is too low to even type the contact on the phone as he dropped it seconds later. Izuku snatched it away before he can try to grab it from the ground and glared at the man, as if challenging him to get the phone from him in his state. The man returned the glare but before the two of them can make eye contact Izuku turned his attention to the phone.
Oh. It seems the man already opened the contact list but didn’t manage to click on the dial. He clicked on the top contact and dialed it, before dropping it to the man’s lap.
“Please tell him you are injured. I’m pretty sure you need some stitches with that. Even though I wanted to stitch your wound, I have no supplies here so…goodbye?” Izuku bowed at the man slightly before giving a small smile and slowly walked away, even though his body is screaming at him to run away now.
He knows that the man is giving an aura of danger, but he just can’t. He just can’t leave somebody that is injured or worst, on the brink of death. So as much as he knew that the man is probably dangerous- possibly a villain, he still made sure that his injuries are somehow tended.
What he did is measly, but he hopes it’s enough to keep the man alive. Villain or not, no one deserves to die in a garbage pile.
___________
And sure enough, after the kid left, the other line answered. Nice timing, whoever the kid dialed.
“Yo Shouta, what happened with the deal?” The person on the other line asked rather loudly that Shouta winced at the volume even though the phone is in his lap. Out of all the contacts the kid dialed, this one is what he picked. Ugh. He really wanted to rub his temple but it’s hard to move when your blood is draining out from your body.
“The deal is a bust. The guards are killed. I killed most of them and their boss except the one who ambushed me. I don’t know why he left me alive though, I’m just thrown in the garbage.” Shouta managed to get out, although he knew that his breath is heavy when he is saying all of that. Probably thought I’ll die anyway because of the loss of blood. Well, he had to try better than that. He thought.
If Shouta is being honest, if the kid hasn’t staunched the bleeding, he might have died from excessive blood loss. So as much as he hated being helped by other people- strangers at that, he is grateful. The person on the other line seems to begin panicking as Shouta heard some barking of orders and the hurry underlying in the voice.
“Do you know where you are? I already called our healer, we’re on our way.” Shouta huffed, he hopes he can still last awake when they arrived.
“I think it’s an apartment complex near...Yuuei, shit. I think I can last awake, some kid did first aid on me. Just hurry up before the heroes get here, Hizashi.” He grumbled and the man now named Hizashi made a surprised noise and demanded to Shouta that he needs to tell what happened before he called. He’s not looking forward to that conversation…ugh.
Hizashi went to say goodbye, but before he can end the call, Shouta managed to get out,
“Oh, and Hizashi?” He called and the man on the other line hummed questioningly, “Can you have a person to watch that kid for me?”
_____________
The next morning, Izuku groggily walked up to the kitchen and ate the food his mother left for him at the counter. This is already a routine for the boy, he and his mother barely spend time together because his mom works at night and sleeps in the day, while Izuku wakes up in the day for school and sleeps at night.
Deep inside, he knows this is his mother’s way of avoiding him. He knows his mother can’t look him in the eye most of the time because Izuku’s appearance reminds her of his father who left them because he is quirkless. Yes, Izuku knew. He heard them arguing and screaming at each other when they thought he was sleeping at five years old. Then the next day, his father is gone, his mother apologizing to him and saying that dad is on a business trip.
He knows that’s a lie. And if Izuku is being honest, he knows that he is just living through lies.
After he finished eating, he took a bath and dressed, and once he is finished, he packed his things and went to the door shouting “I’m off to school!” to a quiet house then he’s off to endure another day of people doing a lot of things to him. Teachers and classmates alike ignoring him. Some of the other kids bullying him, especially Bakugou. Lead by Bakugou. Some kids hurting him with their quirks and repeat.
The good news is, Izuku is used to it! This is nothing new. Every day, he dresses his wounds and injuries, hoping that it wouldn’t be permanent. He already has a permanent burn scar on his left shoulder by Bakugou constantly using his quirk in it to keep him in place. He doesn’t need another one.
He arrived in school at record time, although he did trip on someone's foot that he hadn’t noticed blocking his way. Once he stood up, he ignored the snickers that the other students are giving him and bolted to the classroom before his teacher can even arrive.
Five minutes later, Bakugou comes in, smugly walking to his seat near Izuku. He sneered at the green-haired boy but Izuku just ignored him. He hopes Bakugou got the message, to leave Izuku alone.
Apparently, he didn’t get the message because the next few seconds had Katsuki slamming his hand on Izuku’s table with his quirk activated. It immediately left scorch marks upon contact. Izuku looked up to the blonde, his lackeys laughing beside him while Katsuki leers at him.
“Why are you ignoring me, Shitty Deku! Are you looking down at me, hah nerd?” The blonde yells at Izuku and the green-haired boy flinches. Izuku flails his arms in denial, stuttering out a response.
“N-no, Kacchan! Why would you think of that?” Izuku replies and that pissed off the blonde more as he slammed his hand on the table again, still using his quirk.
“Listen to me nerd, you have no right to ignore me, I’ll be the first hero that came from this shitty school, and you are just a pebble on my feet, you got it?!”
Izuku can’t respond, a lump formed in his throat, preventing him to speak. Bakugou obviously didn’t like that, so he gripped Izuku’s shoulder.
Izuku whimpered in pain, feeling the heat under the hands as Bakugou used his quirk on him. “Do. you. got. it?” The blonde glares at him in the eye and Izuku just mindlessly nodded.
Bakugou released his grip and huffs in annoyance, before leaving Izuku alone, his lackeys following behind. At the same time, the bell rang- indicating the start of classes as a teacher walks in the front of the class. He scanned the students before his eyes landed in Izuku for a few more seconds. The teacher just sighed and shook his head, before diving into the lesson.
___________
The day passes by a blur to Izuku as he found himself running away from his bullies again, this time with more vigor because it seemed that they managed to pull Bakugou into catching him.
He swerves alley to alley, his heart pounding in his ears and his breath fastening at every step he takes. Eventually, he lost them like he used to, but this time he doesn’t know where his feet brought him.
He doesn’t know where he is and it was already dark. He gulps and looks around. Hopefully, he’ll not come across another man near a garbage pile this time or just any other suspicious persons in general. He walks and tries to remember the way he took that landed him in his current location.
After some time of mindless walking, he finds himself cursing as it seems that he just got more lost. A few minutes later, he finally saw an alley that doesn’t end up in another alley and has a road on the other side. At least he can find some help once he gets out of this alley.
He walks towards the other end but stops when he heard some crashing behind him. He whirls around and saw a blonde man in a suit fighting another man that had a knife poised to stab the other.
Izuku just knew, what he was about to do was the biggest mistake of his life.
He ran towards the fight and pushed the man that holds the knife, but in the end, the perpetrator managed to shove him aside and Izuku being the dumbass he is, managed to hit his head on the wall.
The man just glanced at him before having his attention to the blonde man again.
Izuku might feel dizzy and he is about 85% sure he had a concussion but that doesn’t stop him from getting a pen from his pocket and jumping on the man, and stabbed it through his eye. Thank god for the element of surprise.
He ignored the squelching sound that his pen made while it buries itself in the man’s eye and kicked the man in the crotch as hard as he could. The man shrieked in pain but didn't drop like Izuku planned to, it just made him off-balance. So that’s why the man managed to kick him to the wall again, this time Izuku is now fully sure he had a concussion, added that he feels a part of his head wet, he is absolutely bleeding.
At least he managed to save someone or at least gave some time for the man to escape.
His vision is blurring when he looks up to see the man he stabbed look at him in rage and lunged towards him, but is stopped when grey bandages? Scarves? Wrapped around the man and was thrown in the wall much like Izuku, before hearing a gross sound of metal slashing flesh.
He hears the blonde man that he tried to save speak to the man that arrived, and he felt his head spin when he heard the other man’s voice. It was so familiar.
It was only by then when he closed his eyes he realized that it is the man by the dumpster yesterday. He mentally screamed.
Well, at least Izuku dies before the man can kill him.
__________________
“Fucking Shigaraki.” Shouta growls as he kicks the dead body while Hizashi just snorts. The blonde’s eyes then landed on the green-haired boy and he immediately scrambled to the kid, checking if he still had a pulse. Shouta follows his eyesight, and upon seeing the boy, he cursed under his breath.
How the fuck did the kid managed to get himself in trouble anyway? Hizashi questioned himself. He is really grateful that the kid somehow bought Shouta time to kill Shigaraki’s hitman, but he doesn’t know if the kid is just dumb on jumping like that or just had rotten luck. He is heavily relying on the former.
“Shouta, might want to help me with the kid. I don’t want him dying after what he did,” Hizashi sighed in relief when he still found a pulse, albeit it was getting weaker. Shouta just dumped his scarves to him, and Hizashi gave him a small smile as he gently wrapped some on the kid’s head. Thankfully they are near their base, so the boy will be treated immediately.
“How did Matsuo even lost his eye on him? I knew the kid might have no self-preservation if he is helping people without knowing they are dangerous, but I didn’t know it was this extent! Does that mean the kid jumps on every villain fight he sees? What kind of parent allows that?!” Shouta all but yelled in frustration and Hizashi looked at him incredulously. Shouta is not the type to get that frustrated for someone, especially kids so why…
Oh. Oh. Why Hizashi didn’t connect it sooner? Shouta himself had neglectful parents back in the day and probably seeing a kid practically throwing himself to die, that might hit close to home to the man. He scanned the kid again and sucks a breath. Now he understands why Shouta might be attached to the kid. This is the kid that Shouta described to them yesterday, the one who tended to his injuries. And now he saved Hizashi too.
Hizashi just gave Shouta some space when he crouches in front of the kid and carries him up in bridal style before walking away.
All Hizashi can do is follow them, and hope the boy will be okay. He is also certain that the kid will hate them after this, because if the blonde knew his friend, when Shouta get attached…
He doesn’t let go.