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“get out!”
“i- uh, w-what?”
“get out of my house!”
Izuku stands in the cold, in front of a closed door, silent.
The cream paint on the wood is chipped and peeling with the constant weather changes, and he finds himself noticing the scratches and sift collected near the bottom.
A breeze passes through, he barely feels it.
The screams echo in his mind, the slam of the door and the near silence that followed with. His stomach turns and twists uneasily with each passing second. The shock is still there, he hasn’t registered it yet.
Because, this, all this , is going to pass over, like normal, she’s going to need a moment by herself then she’ll come crying and begging for him to forgive her.
It’s fine, he thinks, it’s going to pass, he reassures, she’ll come to her senses, he convinces.
It might be different this time, he thinks, it will b e different, he knows.
She’s never said those things before, never raised her voice so loud, never told him to leave.
Izuku’s hands clench, nails digging into his palms.
He takes a deep breath in, sucking the frigid air into his lungs, poking them like a thousand needles. Maybe, a trip to the town will clear his mind, and it’ll give her time to calm down. Yeah, yeah, he’ll- he’ll do that…
His socked feet (he wasn’t given time to slip some shoes on) guide him away hesitantly. It takes a moment for his eyes to follow too. His balance is off, staggering and tripping on air; he feels sick.
The churn in his stomach climbs to his throat. It’s a vivid feeling, it chokes him and takes away his ability to breathe.
It hurts so much; everything hurts. His chest, his arms, his hands, his legs, his teeth—hell, his heart.
A few shoves into the corner of the table or the wall never hurt him, save from the few occasional bruises here and there. But this time, his sides ache and pulse with a dull pain. The freezing air only makes it worse, like a thousand needles poking his skin.
Down the metal stairs, step after step. The sound rings throughout the apartment buildings surroundings. Five, six, seven… he counts each stair. Fourteen in total, from the first floor to the second. Assuming all the flights are also fourteen steps long, there’s eighty-four in total for the whole building.
But he doesn’t know if the next floor up has fourteen steps leading to it, he’s never gone up there to count.
When he steps off and onto the pavement, he misses the mindless task of counting. He wonders if he should walk up the stairs again, but decides against it for the sake of his neighbors.
Izuku looks up at the darkened sky, moon rising and the last traces of daylight fading away. The breeze ruffles his hair and makes him pull his jacket closer. It barely helps.
He sniffles. He wants to go back inside, to the warmth of his home and blankets.
He didn’t mean to aggravate her, promise! There was just a hero fight on the news and he was taking notes like normal, when she saw, she got mad and starting saying how much she hates hero fights and that her son shouldn’t have them on in front of her and- and-
Wiping his cheek with his sleeve, he starts walking again, tired of standing in place.
He’s so tired of her saying that. Can he not just indulge in his hobby? He likes watching hero fights, he likes analyzing quirks; he likes writing things down and learning something new.
But she doesn’t. Even though he lets her have her fun! Bringing people into the house and leaving for a weekend to another city after she’s convinced them to give her money. That’s what she likes, and Izuku doesn’t dare utter a word. She can do whatever she likes, so why can’t he?
“It’s not fair” he mutters under his breath, hands clenching, glaring at the ground angrily through tears.
He walks the sidewalk, mindlessly turning corners while looking at his shoeless feet. This whole situation makes him sad then angry the next then sad again.
Whenever she yelled, she would send him to his room and not give him dinner. And when he’s fallen asleep he’d be violently awoken by her shaking him in tears, apologizing profusely and saying she didn’t mean it.
He believed her the first few times, but after a while, he started to think she does mean the things she says.
But it’s not her fault, he knows, it’s his. A quirkless child in this era? Almost unheard of. He stresses her out, makes her have all these problems that she wouldn’t have if just had a quirk…
Izuku sniffles, rubbing his nose with his sleeve. It’s cold, he complains. He wants some tea and a blanket wrapped around him, to watch a movie while she cooks dinner in the background…
If only he had a better coat on, or some shoes, or money to buy mittens…He’s practically stranded out here right now-
…Oh .
He stops, toes scraping the pavement. He is stranded out here right now. No money, no proper clothing, no food, nothing- he couldn't even grab his phone!
He’s done for, it dawns on him. She just kicked him out , she’s never gone so far before—would she even look for him when she’s ready to apologize?
( will she be ready to apologize? what if she never will be?)
What does he do? Izuku can feel himself start to cry, throat closing up and chest tightening. He can’t breathe, it’s too cold.
No one would help him. He’s quirkless , no one but his mother would welcome him and he isn’t even sure she did it willingly anymore. The police look away from him, he knows the system sucks already and he can only imagine what it’s be like for him , and the people at school say he just wants attention whenever he asks for help.
Kacchan hates him, and while his family is nice to him, he doubts they’d want him there.
He’ll die . Either by villains, starvation, or hypothermia—he’ll die one way or another.
But… he doesn’t want to die. Why can’t he live too? Why is it so unfair?
Izuku sobs, turning around and bolting back to where he came from. He doesn’t know where he is—these streets are unfamiliar—but maybe he can retrace his steps back home? Maybe he’ll get lucky and make the right few turns? Maybe he’ll—
The air in his lungs gets knocked out of him when he runs into something and falls to the ground.
It burns, painfully. His lungs hurt so much, he can’t catch his breath, it’s too cold, it stings.
“Woah, boy, calm down now.”
Izuku grasps at his shirt, pulling at it like it’s choking him. Stop, stop! He tells himself, calm down, you’re fine, you’re fine, you’re overreacting, you’re being a nuisance, stupid, stupidstupidstupid just stop!!
He wants to bang his head into the concrete.
“Hey~” a female voice calls out. Izuku jumps, holding his breath and letting his lungs burn like Kacchan’s smoke is in them. He can’t let her see him like this- she’ll get mad and refuse to let him go back home.
“I-I’ll” Izuku wheezes, “I’ll- I’ll b-be good- l-let me s-s-stay!” He pushes himself up from the ground only to fall down again, dizzy from the lack of air.
“Just calm down first, okay? We can talk about that later…”
That’s.. a relief. She isn’t screaming, or crying, this time.
It’s too cold. Izuku takes the collar of his shirt and pulls it over his mouth, trying to make the air warmer and not freeze his lungs on the way down.
“Now now, none of that.” Her hand comes closer, he squeezes his eyes closed. He’s startled when she gently takes his wrist and pulls it down, taking the shirt off of his mouth.
He still doesn’t dare open his eyes, too scared of seeing her disappointed stare and angry eyes.
She doesn’t let go of his wrist, instead leading it over to her chest. She holds his hand firmly so he can feel the beat of her heart and each breath she takes. “Follow me…” She inhales, holds it, then exhales. Then does it again.
It takes him a solid moment to figure out what she means.
Izuku struggles to follow with her slow pace, choking and coughing whenever his lungs decide to give out, but she stays silent, firm grip never wavering.
After a while, he’s almost on par with her. Only a few hitches here and there.
He sniffles and wipes the tears still streaming down. “I’m s-sorry,” he squeezes his eyes tighter. He knows he has to open his eyes sooner or later, but he isn’t ready to look at her; doesn’t know if he’ll ever be ready, to be honest.
She hums, squeezing his hand before leading it back to his lap for him. “Don’t be silly. It’s okay.”
…that isn’t her voice.
Izuku gasps and opens his eyes. His vision is a little wonky from the tears but he’s sure that this woman has black hair, not green. Blue eyes, not green ones. This lady is even wearing glasses, she doesn’t wear glasses
This isn’t her.
This is a stranger .
“I- I-“ Izuku chokes up, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t- I thought- thought you were s-someone else-“ His throat closes before he can get any more out.
“Yeah, I figured you did.” She flashes him a tight smile before turning serious. “But how old are you? Where’s your parents?”
Izuku pointedly ignores the last question, “t-twelve” His cheeks are burning with humiliation.
She nods and stands up, extending a hand towards him.
Izuku stares at the hand, a little conflicted. No one has ever given him a hand without it being a trick to push him down again. But, she seems nice, this lady, she helped him stop his little panic.
It even looks like a nice hand! Slender fingers with rings on them, nails done professionally, little to no scars on them. They look like kind hands.
She wouldn’t have helped him if she knew what he was.
The thought makes him flinch. It’s true; he shouldn’t be taking advantage of this woman’s kindness. He’s lying to her and making her waste her time.
Izuku looks away from the hand and down at the ground. He would rather continue sitting on the ground than take advantage of someone. Besides, he’s a big boy! He can get up by himself.
He clears his throat, “uhm, I’m, uh.” He closes his eyes, nails digging into his palms. “I’m quirkless! …ma’am.”
It’s silent, his stomach churns uneasily. He knows the outcome, he’s seen and heard it all before. Disgust will show on her face and anger will leak from her voice, then she’ll tell him to go away and never come near her again like he’s contagious.
The silence continues. C’mon, please just say something, anything! He begs, shivering from the cold. He just wants to go back home, where it’s warm.
“Okay.”
…That’s an unexpected answer. Izuku looks up and blinks at her, surprised
“I don’t know what you want from me.” She shrugs. “If you’re waiting for me to kick you, then stop because that won’t be happening.”
Izuku isn’t just surprised now, he’s shocked . “W-what?”
She frowns at him, “I don’t care;” she shakes her head. “A quirk doesn’t identify someone.”
Izuku… has never heard that before. It almost sounds ludicrous. A quirk doesn’t identify someone —then look at him! He’s nothing without a quirk, if he had one he would be someone. Kacchan has his explosion quirk; she has her telekinesis quirk; quirks are how you identify someone. If someone’s a hero, a civilian, or a villain.
She nudges him with her shoe. ( heels , he notices, she’s dressed nicely. A dress that hugs her form with a necklace around her neck. She must’ve been doing something before. He must’ve just distracted her—ruined her night, her day, her life- )
“No one is a hero or villain just by their quirk.” Oh. He said that aloud. Stupid habit—it’s so creepy. “It’s the person's actions that make their place in society.”
Izuku soaks in the words. That’s… true? He isn’t sure. The villains on the television sometimes have good quirks, ones he would think were heroic if not for their usage. But Kacchan has a heroic quirk! Perfect for being a hero; it’s flashy and strong. Even though he acts like- like that doesn’t mean he won’t be a hero.
And- and Izuku is quirkless . Weak, useless, worthless, pathetic. Not even worth saving.
“ Maybe I’ll kill you! Haha! Yeah—I’ll be a hero for killing someone who’s a waste of space! ”
He winces at the words of a school mate. He remembers that well… the boy had a wide grin, his quirk going off on Izuku.
Izuku is… Izuku is nothing . His actions mean nothing. Actions don’t mean anything in this world of power.
“Hey,” the woman’s voice brings him back from his thoughts. “You have anywhere safe to go?” She sounds… hesitant? Izuku can’t place the tone.
“A-ah, yes- yes, I do…” Stammered Izuku.
He shudders, suddenly remembering what had happened. Words slip from his mouth before he can close it. “At least, I hope…”
She furrowed her eyebrows, lips tightening. “So, you’re not sure you do.”
Izuku clasps a hand around his mouth, preventing it from making any more noise without his consent. Attempting to fix his mistake, he hesitantly shakes his head.
She sighs, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “You’re confusing me here, sweetie.” He blushes at the pet name.
Humming, she puts her hands on her hips thoughtfully. After a moment she drops the pose and speaks up, “alright. I legally can’t allow anyone to endanger themselves under my watch, so you’ll either have to be truthful and come with me, or I’ll drag you. Your choice.” She winks.
“…what?” Legally not allowed to? What does that mean? Civilians aren’t legally bound to helping others, heroes are.
She leans down, “hey boy, think you can keep a secret?”
Izuku looks back at her, a little fearful and more confused than he has ever been in his life. He nods mutely.
She grins, “good boy.” She purrs, and Izuku shudders. He doesn’t like that.
Pulling out her wallet, she opens it, takes out a card and hands it to Izuku.
He takes the card carefully, keeping his eyes on her the whole time. Only when her hand is back to her side and the card is in his hands and his alone, does he look down at it.
Hero is all he sees the second he looks down and suddenly he feels like he is holding something worth a billion dollars.
Hero License. Izuku skips the codes and numbers and looks at the code name.
Midnight. It says.
Pro Hero Midnight.
…This can’t be real.
His head shoots up, looking at the woman with wide eyes. The black hair, cyan eyes, slim figure, the way she talks, and now she’s even in her signature pose —hands on her hips the same way the pro hero does.
She’s in civilian clothes; Midnight is in civilian clothes—that’s why he didn’t recognize her!
Izuku is going to pass away.
This could be the work of a quirk! A hallucination quirk or a copy quirk and the card could be fake. There’s no proof this is actually Midnight—the only way he’d believe it right away was if she was in her costume doing hero work.
“Look on the back, there’s a copyright of the HC on it. It’s illegal to use that print if you're not with the commission.” He turns the card over, and lo and behold, there it is.
He’s speechless, frozen, brain dead. Is this real? Is he dreaming? He both hopes he is and isn’t.
“I can also show my quirk if you’d like~”
There it is… Izuku’s mood sorta… declines a bit. “I thought you said quirks don’t identify someone.”
Midnight frowns, “I meant that figuratively.”
“O-oh.” Izuku’s cheeks heat up. What is he doing?? Back-talking a hero—he must be insane! Of course she meant that figuratively! What is he doing?????
She snorts, much to his surprise. “don’t sweat it honey. Now, c’mon, what’s happening?” Her bangs fall over her face as she tilts her head.
“uhm…” Izuku holds the hero license close, still barely convinced he is talking to a real pro hero. Does he trust her? Tell her that he isn’t sure he can go home? That she has just yelled at him to leave?
But, if he does, there might be consequences for her—he doesn’t want that! She hasn’t done anything wrong, he’s sure. It’s surely a misunderstanding on his part, she probably just needs space. Space that she couldn’t have if he was locked up in his room deadly silent.
Surely he could go home right? She won’t abandon him (yes she would) she loves him (does she?) she didn’t mean it (she didn’t )
“I’m- I’m sorry! T-thank you for your con-concerns, but I’m sure it’s okay.” He hands her the license back, she doesn’t take it.
“Hm, then let me walk you home! To make up for taking your time.” She gives a look . (something Izuku can’t place, but it’s… it’s something. Makes a shiver go down his spine.)
Ah. Well. Fun fact: he doesn’t know where home is….
“Well then that's a problem isn’t it?”
He said that aloud. Curses .
Izuku bites down on his bottom lip hard enough it might split. He hates that dumb habit, it’s creepy and annoying.
He mumbles trying to configure a sentence. Un-biting his lip, he tries to fix his mistake. “N-no, sorry, I meant that,.. figuratively?”
That is the lie he comes up with? He’s hopeless.
Midnight laughs loudly at his failure, clutching her side. “I like you kid! You’re funny” she pauses to take a breath, sobering up, “and a terrible liar!”
You know what? Leave him here to freeze—this is too much. He feels tears prick the corners of his eyes. Why can’t he just go home? He’s tired.
“Now,” she gives the look again, but this time it’s softer. “Serious mode. Do you have somewhere safe to go? I can’t allow you to go back if you’re in danger, and from the looks of things, you probably don’t even know your way back. You can come with me if you don’t and we can work something out from there.”
Izuku is in awe . Personally, he isn’t a very big fan of the r-rated hero, but she just climbed up the ranks of his mental hero list. To think, despite her persona, she is a true hero at heart.
“I- I don’t…” The words come out before he can think about it. But he doesn’t try to correct himself this time, knowing she’d persist if he denied.
She smiles at him softly, a gesture he’s never seen from her on TV before. “Alright. Is there a reason why?”
Izuku sucks in a breath. “Uhm, she yelled… she told me to get out of her house…” Tears start to threaten the barrier and he tries not to blink.
“Has that happened before? Or is this a first.”
“A first… She- she normally t-tells me to go to my room and doesn’t feed me but this time was different and she said some really mean things that she normally doesn’t and-“ Izuku stops to catch his breath. It’s cold, it burns his lungs. But this time he welcomes the burn.
“Okay kiddie, you don’t have to tell me anything else.” She pats his head, and Izuku’s brain shuts down. No one’s ever done that before. He can barely hear her words, too focused on the lingering feeling of her hands.
“—I don’t have an emergency foster license, so you’ll only be able to stay with me for the night. Don’t worry, it’s a nice house—big guest room. And I’ll contact the police in the morning before my patrol and have them take you from there, that alright?”
Izuku can only nod.
She hums happily, “I'll take you for a ride then.” He doesn’t like how she said that, despite knowing exactly what it actually meant.
Before she starts to walk, Izuku stops her by holding his hand out. “Take this back… don’t you need it?”
She looks at him over her glasses, “oh, yeah.” Midnight says dumbly. “Hehe forgot about that.” She takes the card and puts it back in her wallet before starting down the sidewalk again.
It takes Izuku a moment to follow her, his mind still trying to catch up with the situation.
He just got help from a pro hero?