Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

  The doctors were astonished. A patient by the name of Midoriya Inko came in for a check-up with her worried husband. Mrs. Midoriya was pregnant and very worried, everything about the pregnancy was normal, except for the fact that she had just his her 6th month and was still not showing. at all. They did the blood tests and confirmed she was pregnant. They couldn't see anything on any ultrasound they did. They asked multiple times to both parents if they were sure she was six months pregnant. which only made them both freak out more, the husband almost going into hysterics. he was on the brink of tears and refused to let go of his wife's hand. after being there for 4 hours they called in a doctor with an extremely detailed ultrasound quirk. if something was in there, he would see it.

  Hisashi was so freaking worried. He was so excited when his lovely beautiful wife handed that positive pregnancy to him. They went to the clinic to confirm that day. Sure, when she didn't start showing when she was supposed to they were worried but waved it off as the position of the fetus. After the fifth month, he finally talked Inko into making an appointment. He really hoped nothing was wrong with his wife, yes, if there was no longer a baby he would be crushed, but he could take it if his wife was ok. 
A tall man in a white doctor's coat and scrubs walked in, he had bluish skin and classes with dark hair, his eyes seemed to glow as he smiled at the two. "Hello, my name is Dr. Takashi Aito. I was called in because my quirk will allow me to see what is going on and then create a photo of what I saw. Do you mind if a touch your stomach?"
Inko shook her head "I don't mind, I just wanna know what's wrong"
Dr. Takashi smiled "well ill definitely try to make sure you know soon" he set down his clipboard and laid his hand on her lower stomach. his eyes began to glow along with the underside of his hand. His eyes darted up, down, and side to side until they stopped at a specific point. His eyebrows scrunched together and his mouth hung open slightly before slowly pulling his hand away and the glowing stopped. He looked at both parents who stared at him expectantly. After a moment he cleared his throat "um, the baby is... healthy. However, there is something concerning I need to speak with my colleagues about before I tell you. um, do you want to know the gender?"
Inko looked at her husband and swallowed before nodding "yes please, id like to know"
"it's a boy. congratulations Mam" and then Dr. Takashi left.

  If the doctors weren't confused before, they were now. Takashi came out of the room and immediately made a beeline to the boss's office. He knocked and didn't wait for the head doctor to answer before rushing in. "ok, ok, so you know that woman who was pregnant said she was six months but we couldn't see any fetus so they called me in right? I just finished and this is something I have never seen before. The picture is almost done" he held out his wrist which had a slit in it where the photos would come out. After just another second the top of the photo pushed out and he pulled it out "look"

in the photo was of a six-month-old fetus "normal-looking right? wrong, it's no bigger than a grain of rice" 
the other doctor's head snapped up from the photo "what?"
"it's no bigger than a grain of rice. what do you think it is? a quirk?"
"that's the most likely thing it is" the head doctor sighed and pinched her nose "well, we have to tell them. I have no idea how the birth is going to work if they decide to keep it but we can figure it out"

  Inko was still incredibly worried but now she was excited, she was having a baby boy. The couple distracted themselves by talking about what to name the boy and what to paint the nursery. When the door to the room opened again they were both very surprised to see the head doctor, a surgeon, their family doctor, and Dr. Takashi. they looked at each doctor before them as the head doctor spoke "hello, im the head doctor here, my name is Dr. Agari Bimu, this here is our best surgeon Dr. Gamo Naohito, and of course, you know Dr. Takashi and Dr. Sado. We are here to talk about what Dr. Takashi saw when he used his quirk"
the couple nodded "and?" inko prodded.
"well, the fetus is developing just like it's supposed to, it's just on a much smaller scale you could say. The fetus is no bigger than a grain of rice. we believe it's your child's quirk"
The midoriyas stared open-mouthed before saying in unison "what?"

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   After the surprise wore off they planned with the doctors about the next course of action. they decided to carry to full term and then do something close to a c section to get the baby out. 

The birth was extremely easy and izuku was allowed to be taken home immediately. being limited in what would work, Izukus nursery was a dollhouse with a baby monitor in it. one of the ones that could be opened and closed and locked. just so if he somehow crawled out of his crib (which Hisashi made by hand once immediately after finding out izukus size. The couple had spent days upon days trying to find someone with a shrinking quirk so izuku could have toys, stuffies, clothes, cups, plates, and baby bottles. Inko, unable to breastfeed immediately went out to get a pump so she could feed her baby. For being so small he definitely had the voice of a regular baby, probably an upside to his quirk, he was very loud. the doctors estimated based on how they saw his body working, that he would be five inches by five and wouldn't grow any bigger. The Midoriyas didn't care, they had their baby boy and they loved him with all their heart. They were also very protective, izuku wasn't allowed to explore the house without a parent holding him in their hand or watching him very closely. He wasn't outside and was educated at home, Hisashi and Inko even got their teaching certificates. Because he couldn't go to school he didn't have a lot of friends, actually, he only had one, katsuki "kacchan" bakugou. He was a loud, mean, and aggressive child that his aunty Mitsuki had but he was always gentle with his tiny little "Deku", until he got his quirk while playing heros with izuku, it was a very small explosion that to a normal-sized 3-year-old it would have tickled but it burnt izuku and made him fly back a few inches. Kacchan wasn't allowed to play with him anymore, at least his parents agreed to let him video call him. By the time izuku was four he had a love-hate relationship with his quirk. on one hand, he can see how useful it would be as a hero, he loved heros, and when you have nothing to do but watch videos on a phone, read, and learn, you get weird hobbies. izukus was picking apart every quirk he saw, and he was scary good at it. he was reading better than most 2nd graders and knew way too many words. He kept track of every hero, even the most elusive underground heros, his favorite was Eraserhead. but back to his quirk, he thought it was so cool, but he wasn't allowed to do anything! he couldn't play anywhere but his damn dollhouse. and dollhouses were for nerds and wussie girls, that's what kacchan said and izuku was not a wussie girl!!! he wanted to go to school but couldn't, he wanted friends but wasn't allowed. he was bored and lonely, but his momma always makes it better! she will give him juice and give him some of her katsudon and tell him she loves him. he loves his momma so much, and his daddy! his daddy always brang and made him toys or a new bed when he needed it. he loved his parents with everything he had. His favorite days were the days he had to go to the doctor, because he got to see the pretty colors of the flowers, or snow, or the sky, or the trees. he got to smell the fresh air and feel the breeze through his hair and on his skin. his mom would always overpack him a small backpack just for going to the doctors and he always watched, she would put in two plates, two cups, and one bottle, three sets of clothes with extra undies, his action figures, his stuffies, and then his two of his favorite blankies, in that order. she always said when he asked why "because little Zu, anything could happen, you get cold, spill something on you, need the comfort of a toy or stuffie, remember Zu, always over prepare. it may save you" he would always smile and nod enthusiastically.

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  A month and a half after izukus birthday izuku was woken up by yelling and loud thumps. he tried to call for his mom but no one came into his room like they usually would and the noise got louder and louder before it just, stopped. izuku, being the size of a doll he could get out just by walking through the front door of the dollhouse, and since his house was shut and locked like it usually was at night so that's how he got out and waided through the carpet to get to the cracked open bedroom door. in the living room, he saw two men grabbing everything they could grab before bolting out the open front door. once he was sure they were gone he left his room and started walking to the string they keep on the light switch so izuku can turn the light on or off if he needed.. when he turned the light on he was able to see what had happened to his living room... and his parents. he waddled through the red puddles in the carpet to get to his momma. he climbed up onto her neck and his foot almost slipped into the gash that went through it. he tapped her face with his blood covered hand leaving little handprints on her cheek "momma?" he asked after a moment "momma wake up! mommmmaaaaa! momma stwange people took ouw things!" he had hoped that would have made her wake up, it didn't. "momma must me weawwy tiwed. I wake up daddy!" he climbed off his momma's mutilated throat and waddled over to his daddy. "daddy? wake up! youw heads bweeding and so is youw tumtum" he patted his daddy's nose and left little red prints there too. his daddy's eyes fluttered open to see him. 
"izuku..." he rasped out. he knew he wouldn't be alive much longer and he needed to say this "izuku listen closely, you are so smart, and wonderful, we love you with all our hearts. you are going to do great things. I and mommy aren't going to be here anymore, but we will always love you. don't you ever stop being you, you understand me?"
izuku looked at his daddy very confused, and then his daddy started crying and getting sleepy again, his eyes were doing the droopy thing izukus did when he played really hard or stayed up during naptime. He didn't like seeing his daddy cry, so he smiled as big as he could to make him feel better because daddys smiles always made him feel better "otay daddy! I unbewand" and then his daddy went to sleep so izuku waddled back over to turn off the light and went back to his dollhouse in his room.

 a neighbor must have heard the ruckus because a minute later izuku heard a scream and someone shouting for a hero. after the police showed up it was loud and izuku was so sleepy. he went to go ask them to quiet down but before he could ask he overheard the tail end of a conversation, all he heard was "step on the izuku kid" and he freaked out running as fast as his little legs could take him to his dollhouse. he didn't know what to do, they were gonna step on him, but the door is open, he could escape if he was careful. he packed his little backpack like he saw his momma doing and started to sneak through the apartment, when he got to the door he looked back at his full living room of people he believed wanted to hurt him and his parents gone. so he held back his tears and ran. his apartment was on the ground floor so getting out of the building was easy enough. the sky was just starting to lighten up and the early birds were out. one of them was a blind deaf man and his seeing-eye dog, it was a golden retriever! izukus favorite! so he waited for the dog to pass, it was sniffing the ground so it was easy enough to grab its collar. izuku held on for his life as the dog led its master to the train station, onto the train, three stops, and then to a house a few blocks away. he finally let go when they were inside. It wasn't an extravagant house but a very good one for izuku he decided and hurried to find a secluded space to stay in. he ended up finding a mouse hole in the wall that was abandoned and he just sat down in the space in the wall. it was then everything his him and he started to sob and call for his mommy and daddy quietly as to not alert the dog before he remembered what his daddy said, they were gone, and izuku cried harder. he pulled the blankets and stuffies he packed and curled up, crying himself to sleep.

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  when izuku woke up he was very confused, he had no idea where he was. it took a while for the memories to push through the panic, and when they did he just cried harder. after what felt like forever he got up and looked out of his little wall hole to see all the lights off and no living things around. he sighed in relief and wandered until he found the kitchen. thankfully the man whose house he chose to invade was blind so he had dropped some grapes earlier, he also had a dog, and even if izuku didn't like the taste he was hungry enough to drag a piece with him and his grape. he was never so sad while eating a grape. he loved grapes. 

  as the days went on he fell into a routine that followed his unknowing hosts. he would wake up before the sun so he could get water in his cups from the dog's water bowl and go to the bathroom in the backyard because he could get out through the doggy door. then he would sleep some before the old man came home and ate one of his premade meals where he always dropped food. some food was grosser than others or wasn't as much but it was food nonetheless. hed go get his food once the man and his dog left for the second time and then he would stash it. at some point he had been able to steal the old mans phone. he felt really bad about it, but he needed to keep up with the news and heros! the man just went out and bought a new one the next day anyway. after about a week izuku decided to find out how to have a bath so when the old man was gone at some point he went and used the phone charger he stole along with the phone as a rope and he just prayed it would knock over the small hotel shampoo and conditioner that sat on the edge of the sink. it worked! he just needed warm water, which was hard to find. izuku wandered around the back yard until he spotted a leaky faucet. it was small water droplets and wasnt work but it was better than nothing.

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  Two years later was when the old man died. he never figured out about izuku, izuku did almost get eaten by the dog a couple times however. he was maybe a bit malnurioused but he was strong enough now to climb the cabinets to get to food or water when there wasnt any on the floor. he had also found a small enough cardboard box and a ripped up peice of memory foam to be his bed along with a coark as a bedside table / shelf. he found some books in a locked room that had a chip in the wood of the door big enough for him to scoot through. they ranged from child stories and kindergarten education books to collage level education books and izuku read them all. One day izuku noticed that the man never came home after going out in the morning like he usually did. Then throughout people he had never seen who claimed to be this mans family came into the house and took everything. he learned from eves dropping that the man had had a heart attack on the train. Izuku was left with a month and a half of dog food he had stashed away and that was it. thankfully he wasn't starving long before a family of 4 moved in, they were nice and weren't good at putting food away. but they thought he was a mouse. so they would put traps in front of the hole in the wall to try and get him, they started out as live traps and then escalated to sticky paper. izuku had been extra tired when he woke up that night and didn't see the paper, getting his forearms stuck to it as he crawled out of the hole. he didn't know how to get it off so he just ripped it. he had learned to be quiet well enough to not scream but his arms were then bleeding and definitely scared. it was good he had collected scraps of fabric he could use as bandages. that family didnt last more than a year before they decided to move. another family moved in not even a week after the other left. it was a large family with a mean dad and insomniac children. it was the first time he was caught. the littlest put her hand through the hold and grabbed him as he tried to hide from the hand. she undressed his and then put him in a doll dress and played with him like a doll as he struggled for about 20 minutes before her dad noticed and freaked out. not because he was a living boy no older than the girl using him as a doll, no, because he was "that damn fucking rat" and "a spy for the government, probably". he chased izuku trying to squish his before izuku was able to get through his hole and put something in front of it but not before getting a sprained ankel and a couple of broken ribs. the dad made the family move after that and the house stayed empty until after izuku turned 8. his clothes havent fit since he was five and he was so hungry, he was just glad they left in a hurry and left a few cans of vegetables. izuku had enogh left for at least 3 weeks when the real estate agent came by with a couple of men. he listened to their conversation while following through the walls.

"i dont think we need this much space"
"come on sho! its a wonderful house and im tired of living in apartments"
"fine, its whatever you want zashi"
"thank you! i love you!"

izuku guessed he had new room mates soon.

  a few weeks later was when the new men moved in and izuku got a look at the.
they were both tall, one blond with glasses and leather and the other tired eyes, long black hair and a gray capture wepon...

its present mic and eraserhead.

izuku is fanboying and panicing.

Chapter Text

  Izuku watched the pro heros move in their boxes from a crack in between the cabinets and the dishwasher. once they were done they got take out and set it on the dining table but before they could sit down and eat they both got work calls and walked out of the kitchen to take them. Izuku was starving for anything that wasn't cold canned green beans, so he made a dumb decision and climbed up the cabinets, once he got onto the counter he jumped and landed on the edge of the table and had to pull himself over it. He opened the box closest to him and found onigiri, He hasn't been this excited in years. He's so excited he forgets to rip off a piece and run, he just started taking bites. After he ate a good portion of the rice on top he heard the mic’s voice get louder as he approached the kitchen. Izuku dropped the onigiri and made a run for it, sliding down the table leg and hiding back between the dishwasher and cabinets.

  Mic walked into the kitchen as he complained about his job to his husband. “like, they know we are in the middle of moving we can't go on a sup- um, sho? did you leave the onigiri open?” so Eraserheads name his sho?
“no, all the boxes were closed”

“not anymore” mic walked closer to inspect it before gasping “shooooooo, we have a rat or somethinggggg” mic did not like mice, or rats, or bugs. Bugs the most, ugly gross fuckers. 

“how do you know?”

“look! there are little bites taken out, what else bites that small?”

“ill call the exterminator tomorrow”

“no! we can't kill it!”
“ok, then what do you want me to do?”

“catch and realize it! Maybe there is a shelter for them?”

shouta sighed “ok, fine. I will now sit and eat. I want to get to bed before patrol”

mic threw away the nibbled onigiri and sat down to eat.

  Izuku was on the brink of a panic attack. they were about to call an exterminator, thank goodness mic said no. Izuku scurried to the hole he put in the wall behind the dishwasher and ran threw the walls to his living space. he curled up into his makeshift bed and pulled his Allmight figure to his chest. he would sleep all day and then find food and water at night, it worked for him with the previous house owners it would work for these.

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  Well, it would have if Eraserhead or sho or whatever! ever slept! It had been two weeks of avoiding live traps, avoiding Sho and  Mic (Izuku had found out his name was Hizashi) who woke up way too early. To make it worse Sho brought a kitten home with him a week in after finding him in a dumpster during patrol and named it bastard. And a bastard it was! Izuku has been chased by that feline devil, got a deep cut on his chest from her once and bled everywhere, freaked Hizashi out to no end. at least they fed the cat a raw diet so stealing food from the cat was a lot tastier. Sho was on to him and had started patching up the holes he created in the walls, which was annoying. he just kept making new ones, out of spite. 

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  Shouta was beginning to think this mouse or rat had an intelligence quirk. It's been two whole months and he hasn't even seen it but he knows it's there. He hears it in the walls and it keeps making new holes right after he fixes one. There may be no evidence to say that the rat or mouse is giving him a big old middle finger but he sure gets the vibe. He's about to give up and tell Hizashi, he's just going to have to deal with a rodent roommate. Currently, Shouta was on patrol. It was a slow night, he's only had to stop two muggings in the last five hours and his patrol is almost over so he was heading back home when he heard it. It was so quiet he almost didn't hear it, but he did. A child crying and whimpering. He immediately turned toward the noise and looked for the kid, it didn't take long. The kid's light purple hair was like a beacon. He landed quietly in front of the kid, far enough away so as to not intimidate him. He finally got a good look and the shape this kid was in made his blood boil. The boy was no older than eight and severely malnourished, but the worst things were the blackeyes and the padlocked metal muzzle. the boy looked at Shouta like Shouta was going to murder him at any minute. Shouta crouched to make himself smaller “hey, it's alright. I'm a hero, my name is Eraserhead.”

A spark of recognition lit in the boy's eyes and he stood up slowly, still cautious. 

“I can show you my hero ID?” Shouta pulled out his ID that was always on his utility belt and held it out. The boy hesitated before inching forward and snatching the ID before scurrying back. He looked at it before looking back at Shouta. he walked over to Shouta and handed the ID back.

“Do you need help getting that off?” Shouta gestured to the muzzle on the boy's face. The boy looked up at him so surprised before nodding. 

“Alright, let's see here. it's a good thing I know how to pick a lock” he took out a pick from his belt and started to unlock the padlock. Once it was unlocked it fell to the ground with a loud thunk. underneath was severely infected with cuts lining the tops of his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, along with under his chin and corners of his mouth giving him a constant gruesome smile, caused by the muzzle being too small and never been taken off.

“There we go, why don't you come down with me to the station huh? I'll get you some food and some new clothes. get you a warm place to sleep? can you tell me your name?”

the boy nodded and  tried to speak but all that came out was a squeak so the boy spelled out S-H-I-N-S-O-U H-I-T-O-S-H-I in sign language.

“shinsou? ok, can I pick you up or would you rather hold my hand?”

the b- Shinsou just raised both his hands and bounced on his toes. Shouta took that as wanting to be picked up so he picked him up before standing. Shinsou held onto Shouta's neck for dear life and hid his face in his shoulder. which most definitely hurt and was getting pus and blood on Shouta but he wasn't going to say anything. He made quick work of getting to the station but once there Shinsou would not let go or move his face out of hiding. After some convincing and the promise of candy they were finally able to get him to let go and sit in a chair so the paramedics could treat his wounds. Shouta brought Tsukauchi to the side “did you find his parents?”

“They put him up for adoption when he was four. he's been jumping from group home to group home since then.”

“and his foster parents?”

“his foster parents called him in as a runaway two days ago. Eraser, how did he get those wounds?”

“I found him with a muzzle on, it's still in the ally I found him in”

Tsukauchi’s face darkened “i'll send some of my officers down to get it”

Shouta was about to say something but was stopped by an 8-year-old crashing into his legs crying. He picked Shinsou up “what's wrong Shinsou? what happened?” 

Shinsou hid his now bandaged face in the crook of Shouta's neck “‘ey said ‘ey were going to send me home. don't send me back please” his voice was so small and scratchy that no one but Shouta and Tsukauchi heard. The two adults looked at each other for a second before Shouta looked at the scared boy in his arms ``hey, hey, I swear we won't send you back. how about, you stay with me and my husband huh?” Shouta knew Hizashi would say yes immediately, they were already looking to adopt, so it was only logical to offer. He also really doesn't want to let this boy out of his sight. Tsukauchi gave shouta a look “that's a lot of paperwork Eraser”

“and I will do it” shouta turned his attention back to the small boy in his arms “can I put you down so I can call my husband and then fill out some paperwork? you can go play with Sansa, the cat guy? while you wait if you want”

Hitoshi looked apprehensive but eventually nodded and wiggled to get down, the prospect of petting the big kitty too appealing to turn down. Shouta put him down with a smile before looking back at Tsukauchi.

Tsukauchi chuckled “Sansas going to get back at you for that”
“I know. i'll deal with it later. right now I have a call to make” he pulled out his phone as he walked off, calling his husband.

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  Izuku was woken up by Hizashis excited screaming. Izuku was sure that if they didn't own this house they would have been kicked from noise complaints in the first week. Izuku was too sleepy to really understand what Hizashi had said, but he did notice the Pro hero frantically cleaning up the guest room and rushing in and out of the house for like 3 hours. Izuku didn't look out to see what he brought in but it sounded heavy. After that it quieted down, izuku was just about to go back to bed when Sho walked through the door, which if it had been anyone else that wouldn't be that weird. but it wasn't anyone else, and it was weird. Sho preferred to go through the bedroom window after petrol because it was faster and could just faceplant and snuggle up to Hizashi. Izuku finally got curious enough to get out of his makeshift bed and check out what was going on. He thought maybe Sho was hurt, or maybe he got another cat. What he didn't think he would ever see was Sho holding a very skinny, passed out, and bandaged eight-year-old with purple hair. 

Hizashi was trying so hard not to fawn over the child and quietly cooed at him “aw, sho, look at him… wait what happened to his face?”
“his foster parents muzzled him”

“ what? they did what ? ”

“ muzzled him. let me put him to bed and then “i'll fill you in”

“ok, ill make some tea”
“raspberry? please”
“Of course kitten” Hizashi kissed Sho’s cheek and headed to the kitchen while Sho took the boy to the guest room and laid him down. Izuku felt so bad for the boy. He had been hurt and couldn't talk or tell anyone. Izuku at least could whisper to his Allmight figures or his teddy bear. This boy couldn't talk at all, not with a muzzle. so he couldn't even call for help. He continued to listen to the two pros talk about the boys (or Shinsou Hitoshii is what sho called him) case and his wounds. how Sho found him and the possibility to adopt him. The more Izuku heard the more he wished he could give people hugs.

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  When Hitoshi woke up he was very confused about where he was. He didn't recognize this place and the last thing he remembered was falling asleep on the big kitty. He looked around the room, it had warm yellow walls and a window that let a lot of sun in. The bed he was on wasn't very big but was very comfortable and the comforters were a nice burgundy. He slid out of the bed and went towards the door, hearing two voices filter through it. He recognized one and immediately opened the door and went to go fid his hero. Thankfully it didn't take too long as he quickly found the kitchen to see his hero and present mic!?!? He stopped short before entering the kitchen, shifting his weight nervously. He didn't want to interrupt and be a bother but not being right next to his hero was giving him major anxiety. His hero looked up at him from where his head had been laying on the table and his lips twitched in what hitoshi read as a smile. 

“hey Shinsou, you hungry? Hizashi made American Pancakes”

Hitoshi looked over at Hizashi and Hizashi smiled at him “Good morning little listener! Ive made three kinds, blueberry, strawberry, and chocolate!”
Hitoshi nodded before walking over to Shouta where he was sitting and looking up at him with questioning eyes. Shouta looked at him and quirked his eyebrow in question. Hitoshi let a high pitched whine and raised his arms to be picked up. Hizashi almost died of cute and went red faced holding in his squeal. shouta chuckled lowly before picking up the small boy “Hizashi can you make Shinsou some tea?”
“yeah of course!”

Hitoshi sat on Shoutas lap and looked around, taking in the whole house. the white walls and red curtians, a couch along with a recliner both a brow color, TV stand with a large flat screen and an extensive pre-quirk era movie colection. He like the marbel counters and redwood dinning table, they were pretty. He just happened to look down and see a mouse hole with a little, very little , green haired boy peaking out of it before ducking back in.

Chapter Text

 Hitoshi frantically looked at the two pro heros who were in the kitchen to see if they had seen the little green boy. They didn't seem to have noticed him but Shouta did notice the little boy in his lap freaking out “shinsou? What's the matter, kid?”

Hitoshi looked over his shoulder at him and just pointed at the mouse hole with a shaky hand.

 “oh, did you see the rat little listener? That's more than we have seen. dont worry im afraid of it so shou has been trying to capture it” Hizashi said with a smile only to get a panicked look from the little boy and a vehement shake of the head. “don't worry! It's live traps so it won't hurt the thing” it was the two pro heros' turn to start freaking out as the little boy started to sob and mumble “ not rat ” over and over. 

“shinsou what do you mean ‘not rat’?” Shouta said as he tried to calm the boy down but no matter what he did the boy wouldn't stop crying. Hitoshi wiggled off of Shouta’s lap and ran over to the mouse hole and stood protectively in front of it. He had thought since his hero had saved him he would be nice to the boy who looked so scared that Hitoshi had seen him, but his hero was trying to trap him in rat traps. his fingers had been subject to many rat traps during his life in the foster system with mean children in there with him. They hurt, even if his faster momma said he was overreacting, they hurt . 

“YOU EAVE HIM AONE. NO TAP!” he yelled, finally gaining the courage to for someone else. He didn't say a few words right, having not spoken in wat to long.

Shouta slowly approached the little boy who looked like he was about to tear his throat out over what Shouta believed was a rat. He kneeled in front of him just a few feet away “It's ok shinsou, he outsmarted every trap there is i cant trap him. we will leave him alone”

Hizashi whined and was about to disagree but got a look from shouta that told him his husband was not changing his mind.

Hitoshi growled “yeah ight! Adult ies! alway ie!”

“I promise Shinsou, cross my heart and hope to die. i'll even feed him three meals a day”
“shou~” Hizashi was not liking this one bit. He just got ignored.

“...he gets chocolate chip pancakes too”
“Sure kid, he gets chocolate chip pancakes too,” Shouta smiled. “I'm sure Hizashi would love to make him his own small ones.”

Hitoshi thought it over before nodding and walked over to shouta, lifting his arms. silently asking to be picked up. Shouta nodded and picked the boy up and headed back over to the table, setting the boy down in his own seat this time so he could eat his pancakes.

Hizashi was going to murder his husband.

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  Izuku almost had a heart attack. The Shinsou boy saw him and he thought for sure he was about to be squished when he heard the boy sobbing. But he wasn't, instead of telling them to kill him he was protecting him. a warm feeling bloomed in his chest as relief washed over him. And just to top everything off with a nice thing he got chocolate chip pancakes! he hasn't been so excited in months, years even. 

 He waited patiently out of sight and only after a few minutes there was a napkin with a small pancake on it set in his mouse hole.  he Waited for whoever it was to walk away before dragging the napkin into the wall more. He used the corner of it to at least wipe the loose dirt and drywall off his hands. He would have been cleaner but the two pros he found himself living with made it their first duty to fix everything, and that included his leaking water faucet in the backyard. He hated the taste of drywall. He ripped off a piece of the pancake and took a bite, fighting the groan building in his throat from the great taste. Izuku has decided that he will protect the boy who protected him with everything he's got… right after eating till he's about to pop.

  Izuku decided to take a nap after he ate, he vaguely remembers hearing Hizashi calling it a food coma once. He was woken up by the boy looking through the mouse hole. Izuku stared back for a moment before the boy gave a shy smile “we are going shopping, but i left you some chopped apple if you are hungry. we will be back in a few hours ok?”

Izuku was too shocked and too distracted by the promise of an empty house and more food to actually say anything so he just nodded. That seemed to be good enough for the boy because his smile got just a touch wider, he went to get up before gasping and laying back down to look back in “im hitoshi by the way” and then he got up and ran out, front door shutting and closing behind him. Izuku waited until he heard the car drive off before he got up and fixed his slightly too big and falling apart purple sparkly doll dress back to where it was supposed to sit. After that little girl took his only fitting clothes and put the dress on him, it was all he had to wear. It was scratchy and he despised it.

He looked out and saw no one in the kitchen but he did see the plate with chopped up apples on it in the middle of the floor, it was chopped small enough he could bite it but would have to hold it with two hands. He scurried over to the plate before stopping. He had just ate a lot, and from the looks of it slept well into the afternoon, should he eat more? but when was the next time he'd get a chance like this? He reached out and picked up a piece. What if it's poisoned? They had not poisoned the pancake and they had made it clear they didn't want to kill him. He hasn't had an apple in far too long… maybe just a bite? It's not like he hasn't eaten rat poison by accident before, if it's poisoned he can deal with the sickness he thinks. Yeah, just a bite at first.

           _____________________

  Shouta woke up from his nap to a quiet house, he freaked out for a moment before turning and seeing the note on the nightstand. Just Hizashi being Hizashi and taking the first chance he can to shop. Oh well, their boy needed it… damn it he's already thinking of shinsou as theirs . He got up and pulled the hair in his ponytail in two different directions to retighten it. He walks out of the room to go get some coffee, stopping in his tracks when he sees a very, extremely tiny human in the middle of his kitchen, wild green hair, or at least he thinks it's green. It's hard to tell beneath all the drywall and dirt, and is that a doll dress ??? It's good his quirk is eye based or else he might have never seen the scars littering the tiny person's body, or the conflicted look on their face. He watched them reach out and grab a piece of apple Shinsou probably left for the rat. Oh god they need to use both hands. Shouta watched them shrug before bringing the piece of fruit to his mouth. His mind chose that moment to catch up and he stumbled back, making a noise and causing the person to look over at him, just their eyes, the rest of their body seemingly frozen. They stared at each other for what seemed to be hours but was really just 5 seconds, eyes never leaving the others before the tiny person started to cry silently, clutching the apple to their chest. Shouta closed his gaping mouth before trying to take a step forward which seemed to be the wrong choice as the Person began running into the mouse hole. Shouta was stunned for a moment before jumping into action “wait! who are you?” he went and kneeled in front of the hole. He heard their panicked breathing and sniffles like they were normal sized. After a minute he sighed “how did you get in my house?” he heard a hiccup and then sobbing, a child sobbing. Now he's even more worried. 

“I'm sorry! im s-sorry! Please don't squish me! I'll stay out of your way now, I promise!” Shouta felt his stomach drop, they sounded so young. That could be due to the fact they are so small but he gets that gut feeling that says otherwise. He takes a deep breath “how long have you been watching me and my family?” Just because they sound young doesn't mean they don't work for a villain.

They sobbed harder “I'm not watching I promise! I've been here for f-f-our years!”

Shouta swallowed hard, four years they have been living in the walls for four years. He moved to sit against the wall so he wasn't blocking the hole “how old are you?” Shouta dreaded the answer.

there was a sniffle “eight”

and didn't that make him want to throw up. how was this kid getting educated, getting water, food- wait. He tensed as the thought hit him “were- are you the one eating the food? Did we think you were a rat?”

“yeah, i'm a rat, verman, thief, whatever you want to call me. I wont eat your food anymore! I promise! I'll figure something else out! Please  don't step on me! or call the exterminator! the gas they use hurts”

Shouta thought he was going to throw up. Shinsous  ‘ not rat ’ makes a lot more since now. They had been trying to capture a human . A child , a child that has been here since they were four fucking years old living in a god damn wall . A child that apparently knows what being poisoned by gas felt like. A child that heard it being talked about like a nuisance that needed to be removed. He took a shaky breath “I Won't step on you, or call an exterminator. you can keep eating the food. I promise we won't hurt you. What's your name?”
the sobbs he heard broke his heart “izu-izuku… I can't remember my family name”
“That's ok izuku, can you come out please? I won't hurt you or even look at you if you don't want me too. into just good to talk face to face, not through a wall”

“You promise not to hurt me? or take me to the men in blue who have the shiny badges?”

“The police?”

“Yeah… they took away momma and daddy after they fell asleep forever. Said something about stepping on me” 

Shouta cringed, that's a lot of trauma in one sentence. “i can promise that i will never hurt you and if i have to talk to the police about you, i won't let them anywhere near you”

It went quiet, no sniffling or hiccups. After a few too many seconds Shouta got worried “Izuku?” He looked over at the mouse hole and saw a tuft of dirty green hair and round tear filled eyes looking at him. 

“you promise on coffee?”

That made Shouta chuckle “i promise on coffee”

Izuku slowly inched out of the wall and sat down next to Shouta “Are you gonna make me leave? i don't wanna leave”

Shouta had to think about that. They just got Shinsou, Shouta never thought he would adopt two children one after the other, but… he can't just kick Izuku out, he's been here way longer than them. And no matter what he tries to tell everyone, he's a softy and Izuku just hit him in all his emotional weak spots. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “ hizashi is gonna kill me. No izuku, I'm not going to make you leave. But I'm not going to allow you to live in my walls anymore. patching up your holes is a pain in the a- pain in the butt”

Izuku lit up, how such a small smile can be so blinding Shouta will never know. 

“You're pretty dirty, why don't you wash in the bathroom sink? I'll get you some new clothes too… can i ask why the dress?”
“The little girl that lived here took my boy clothes and dressed me in this and then I had to run away from her dad when he kept trying to step on me. I would really like to get clean please Mr. Sho”

“sho?”

Izuku tilted his head “That's your name? It's what Mr Hizashi calls you. Except when you guys get really loud then he-”
“OKAY! enough of that! let's get you some soup and into that sink so i can find you something to wear” Shouta hides his blush by standing “can i pick you up?”

Izuku looks apprehensive but ultimately agrees. Shouta leans down and puts his hand on the floor, palm up so Izuku can climb on. He does and then holds onto Shoutas thumb for dear life as he walks to the bathroom. 

Once there he set Izuku down on the counter and turned the faucet onto a lukewarm and gentle stream. “ Is that a good temperature?” He held a drop of water on his finger out for Izuku to feel. Izuku touched the water before nodding.

“good, i'll go get you something to wear and a towel, here is some soap” he picked up the shampoo, body wash, and conditioner in little dollops next to the sink, “call my name if you need anything, ok?”

Izuku nodded “Thank you Mr. sho!”

“Shoutas fine kid” he smiled just a little and left, leaving the door open just a crack.

  Shoutas is very happy Hizashi is a sentimental man so there is a tub in his closet full of the Pro heros childhood toys, some had clothes that would fit the kid well enough until they could get custom made clothing. While he dug through the tub he pulled out his phone to text his husband.

grumpycat: the rat was not a rat.

grumpycat: it was and is a human child.

grumycat: anyway, can you pick up some jelly packets on your way home?

cockatoooncrack: WHAT???

cockatoooncrack: SHOUTA WHAT?

grumpycat: I will explain when you get home. get jelly packets

grumpycat: and some nerds so he has a candy he can eat comfortably

Shouta put his phone away and pulled out kens shorts and barbies sweater, they clash terribly but they will work. He went to the closet in the hallway and took out a rag for Izuku to use as a towel before walking back to to bathroom “Izuku i've got your clothes and towel”
“ok! can you set them on the counter please!”

“‘course” he slid his hand in and set the lump of fabrics down on the counter “tell me when you're done ok?”

“okay!” 

 After about 6 minutes Izuku calls for Shouta to turn off the water.

“How are the clothes?”
“scratchy, but not as bad as the dress, it feel good to be clean again”

“I'm sorry it's uncomfortable. we will get you custom made clothes i promise. That is if we can do that before Hizashi decides to make you clothes himself. let go to the kitchen so you can finish your apples”

Izuku looked surprised. “I can eat it?”

“Of course izuku, it was left out for you” Shouta set his hand down on the counter palm up again, but this time his thumb sticking up for something to hold onto easier. Izuku smiled and climbed on, he's pretty sure this is just temporary. It has to be, who wants to keep a thieving rat? so he's going to enjoy the warm feeling in his chest while it lasts.

Chapter Text

Izuku sat in the middle of the dining table as he ate his apple slices. Shouta watched him as he drank his coffee, just trying to figure out how to explain this to his husband. After a few minutes of watching the tiny kid make a mess with the juice from the apple slices, he got up to get a napkin for the boy. He moved quickly apparently as izuku was on his feet in seconds and just about to run before his brain caught up and he calmed down. 

“Sorry kid, I didn't mean to startle you like that. im just getting you a napkin”

“oh, it's ok, thank you”

Shouta nodded in response before grabbing a couple of cloth napkins from a drawer and sitting back down “here ya go kid”

"Thanks, Mr. Sho- sorry! I mean Shouta"

"It's no problem kid” he paused before taking a deep breath. what the hell was he supposed to say to this kid. He stared into his coffee, thinking about all this child had told him. He had been talking with his husband about “the rat” like it was nothing more than a nuisance like he was sure every other homeowner hes lived with had. he thought back to how Izuku had talked about himself rat, vermin, theif. Did this kid believe that about himself? Who the hell was he? Why did he look so afraid to bite that apple? …. why did he look afraid to eat that apple?!? Shouta studied Izuku’s sunken, starvation-racked face, he seriously looked so afraid. He tilted his head “kid? what's up?”

Izuku jumped looking up at Shouta with a wobbly lip “is it poisoned? my tummy hurts like when I get poisoned”

Shouta had to fight very hard not to throw up, again, at the thought of this little boy knowing what that was like. His eyes did widen considerably.

“No! no, I swear it's not. we don't even have any poison in the house.”

Izuku looked skeptical, which Shouta understood. Shouta thought for a second before something came to mind “Izuku? how much do you usually eat?”

“hm? Oh! uhhhhhh, just little bits. I used to eat more, and every day, but you guys locked up your food pretty well. W-Which I u-understand. You don't want a theif getting your food. so I ate whatever I could get. Which turned out to be like every 3 days and only a little, but it's ok! I can survive!” Izuku tried to smile but from the way, his face paled and he covered his mouth he was trying hard not to vomit. Shouta sighed, now he felt really guilty.

“first off kid, you are not a theif, or rat, or vermin. you are a child fighting to survive. You have done nothing wrong. Secondly, you haven't been eating properly and probably not eating the cleanliest or healthiest of food and now you've eaten more than your body is used to I believe, that's why you are feeling sick. ill get you some water and then you can go lay down” he went to get up but paused how the hell is he supposed to get him water when he's too small to drink out of a cup???  

He looked down at the little boy sitting on the table as said little looked up at him, tilting his head. 

“Hey uh, kid? how do you drink water?”

“oh! I have a cup momma gave me and I took it with me! it's losing its color, and it's cracked but it works!” then, to Shota's horror, the little boy jumped off the table and slid down the leg of it before running back into his mouse hole. How in the sweet heavens is that small creature so fucking fast?!?!? Shouta was sure he had a micro heart attack watching that but sat there waiting for the boy to come back. It didn't take long before the boy came sprinting in with a very tiny cracked sippy cup with the top missing.

“here you go! it's a little dirty but that's ok!” Shouta watched the little boy try and climb up the table leg, cup in hand, and tummy ache slowing him down. finally, he huffed and very shyly looked up at shouta “um- uh, c-can you put me on the table a-again? p-please?”

Shouta’s lip curled up in what Izuku considered a smile and chuckled lightly “‘course kid” he gently held his hand out so izuku could climb on before gently placing him on the table. 

“Can I have the cup?”

Izuku smiled and nodded, holding it out. Shouta took it and got up, tried his best to clean the cup before filling it and setting it in front of izuku, who quickly snatched it up before chugging it down. 

“Woah, woah, slow down. don't want you feeling worse”

Izuku bashfully slowed down, muttering out a low “sorry”.

Shouta sat back down, thinking as he watched the boy sip his water. 

“I think i have a pillow small enough you can use as a bed and plenty of blankets that i can just cut one up for you”

“Oh no! i can't ask you to do that!”

“You're not asking me, im telling you” Shouta sipped his coffee before standing up, very slowly of course. Which unknowingly made izuku feel worse. here he was, wasting their resources and energy on him. Because he just can't calm down, Shouta now has to move slowly. Tears slowly built in Izuku's eyes the longer he thought about being a burden.

Now shoutas panicking, he really wasn't good with kids. Why was the kid crying???

“What's wrong izuku? Did i move too quickly, if i did im sorry”

“N-no i-im s-s-sorry” Izuku hickupped “Im b-being such a burben!” He mispronounced the word but Shouta understood what he had ment.

“No, no, izuku you are not a burden. I want to make sure you are taken care of. im a hero, it's what i do”

Izuku sniffed and rubbed at his eyes to stop the tears “promise?”

“I promise Izuku” 

The little boy stood up and lifted his arms in the universal “upies” signal. Shouta paused for only a millisecond before scooping the minuscule child up and the boy hugged Shoutas thumb and nuzzled into it like a cat. Shouta was now wrapped around this boy's pinky finger, anything this child asked of him, Shouta would get.

Shouta ruffled the boy's hair with his pointer finger “Let's get you set up on my dresser so you can lay down and rest hm?”

“OK” Izuku smiled up at Shouta, practically blinding him.

               _____________________

  When Hizashi got the text they were in a toy store, Hitoshi was shyly, (after many, many, many, encouragements) picking out hero figurines and other things. When Hizashis phone went off he expected a grumpy text from his newly woken husband asking about their well being, not

grumpycat: the rat was not a rat.

grumpycat: it was and is a human child.

  Hiashi choked on his spit trying to text back when another came in 

grumycat: anyway, can you pick up some jelly packets on your way home?

  he made a choked whine in his throught making Hitoshi very quickly put the toy he picked up down and braced. 

“oh, no, its ok! you can get it little listener! im just reacting to something Sho sent me. get everything you want bub” With that hitoshi untensed and picked up the cute, stuffed, round cockatoo plushie, smiling he squshed it to his body while reaching for a similar black cat one while Hizashi tried not to freak out, texting back.

cockatoooncrack: WHAT???

cockatoooncrack: SHOUTA WHAT?

grumpycat: I will explain when you get home. get jelly packets

grumpycat: and some nerds so he has a candy he can eat comfortably

No matter how many times Hizashi tried to get Shouta to clarify he wasn't even looking at his texts. He sighed and put his phone away. He watched hitoshi look at a very small porcelain tea set, the collectors kind. 

“Do you want that bub?”

“i-if you don mind?”

“of course not, go ahead and grab it”

Hitoshi smiled and grabbed the set and rushed to the checkout line.

“After this it's clothes, then decorations for your room and then we are gonna pick up some cand, how does that sound bub?”

“good. it sounss good”

Hizashi mentally noted that he should take hitoshi to a speech therapist. He seemed to have a speech impediment. Probably from his past but they will take care of it for him.

  The rest of their shopping went well. Hizashi tried hard to not let the kid he was taking care of know he was freaking himself out over what his husband just dropped on him. The rat, was a human child… was it some kind of riddle? Was it the truth? Has this kid been there the whole time? Had he heard everything? that would be embarrassing…

“Zafshi? wha’s wong?”

“hm?” shit, so much for he not knowing “nothings wrong little listener, just thinking about the little rat we have at home”

“he not rat!”

“Sorry, right, not rat” he smiled down at the boy as he opened up the door and put Hitoshi in his newly bought booster seat before getting in the driver's seat, turned on a fun pop song kids love and started to drive home.

            ______________________

   The two shoppedrs walked through the front door, and as he was about to yell they were home, Shouta popped up and activated his quirk on HIzashi.

“No yelling. he's asleep”

“Who's asleep sho?”

“izuku, the 8 year old boy that was in our walls for 4 years” 

Hizashi was about to call BS but the look Shouta had on his face told him he was the farthest away from kidding.

“whe is he?”

Shouta looked at his other kid and cracked a very tiny smile “on the top of my dresser on a pillow. dont wake ok? he doesn't feel very good”

Hitoshi nodded and walked until he was out of sight before running to go see the small boy.

Shouta chuckled lightly before flopping down on the sofa. Hizashi looked at his husband worriedly, “kitten? what's going on?”

“Zashi, he's so small. can't be taller than five inches. he's been living in the walls here since he was four years old. he should be a chubby child but you can see all his bones. He- he” Shouta gulped “I gotta call Tsukauchi and try to figure out what's going on with the kid”

Hizashi sat down next to his husband and put his arm around him and hugged him close.

“ok, but take a moment to rest and process your feelings about this. i know it's gonna take me awhile to" 

"Ok, ok" Shouta sighed and tucked his head under Hizashi's chin, cuddling close. One might think that Hizashi is the one that loves cuddling, and he does but Shouta, when no one else was around, always needed some form of physical contact with Hizashi.

              ______________________

  Hitoshi opened the bedroom door slowly so as to not make too much noise and wake the small boy. He immediately zeroed in on the small pillow and what used to be a full black fuzzy blanket that was cut up to be small enough for the boy. He tiptoed over, he was small enough the dresser had at least half a foot on him but he still looked up at him before digging through his shopping bag before pulling out the small tea set and reaching up to set it next to the sleeping boy and then leaving him to sleep. Before he could leave Izuku sat up and looked at Hitoshi sleepily "toshi?"

"Hi.." He waved and smiled shyly before wincing, the smile pushing on the wounds on his face.

"Thank you for the pancakes and apples"

"Of couse"

"I'm izuku"

"Is good to meet you iz- izk- zuki!"

Izuku giggled "not zuki! Izuku!"

Hitoshi pouted "I can't say dat"

"Oh, sorry"

"It's ok"

Izuku smiled before turning to look around the room before the tea set caught his eye. 

"What's this?"

"Tea set… fo you" Hitoshi looked at the ground and scuffed his feet on the carpet.

"Did you get it? For me?"

"Mhm, me an 'zafshi did"

Izuku started to cry "thank you! You didn't have too"

"Don cy! Don't cy! Is ok!"

Izuku giggled and wiped his eyes "you wanna play heroes?"

Hitoshi blushed before looking away "I don know how"

"That's ok! I'll teach you! First we decided who or what is the villain!

" oh… I the villain?"

"Only if you wanna be!"

"I wanna be heo"

"Then you can be a hero! Although I also wanna be a hero… we will just have to find something to be the villain!"

"How about me little listeners?"

The boys whipped around to look at Hizashi who was leaning against the door frame. He smiled and waved "I heard crying so I came to check on y'all. It good to meet you tiny listener"

"I-its g-good to meet you too Hizashi"

Hizashi smiled "usually when you first meet someone you use their family name and bow. But i'm guessing sho's not gonna give you up so it's alright if you call me Hizashi" He smiled widely "now, about that game of heroes?"

Chapter Text

  Hizashi made for the door, slipping on the hard wood floor. He had almost made it, by an inch, but was tripped at the last second. His opponents climbed atop his back and cheered in victory.

 "The viwlian had been van- vanq- vancdished!"

 "We win, we win, we win!" Izuku jumped up and down in excitement.

"Good job little listeners! Can I get up now?" They two kids giggled and climbed down, Izuku obviously needing more help than Hitoshi. Shouta looked up from his paperwork to watch them get up "you guys ready for dinner?"

"Well I sure am!" Hizashi smiled down at the boys, getting two small confused looks back.

"I get to eat?"

"I just eat your scraps?"

Hizashi tried not to let the pang of heart break at those words to show on his face. "From now on, you'll both eat whenever you want and you get a say in what you eat. If you don't like something or it makes you sick, make sure to tell us."

The boys looked confused but didn't say anything else, they looked at each other before shrugging then Hitoshi placed Izuku on top of his head and shyly crept into the dinning room where their guardians sat waiting for them. Hitoshi set Izuku on the table before sitting down and bringing his need half way to his chest before freezing and letting his feet down. "You can sit however you want Hitoshi"

Hitoshi school his head "I know wule, no feet on fuw-fuwni-fuwnitwe (furniture), ow elthe youw feet get caned"

"Hitoshi, I swear you will never get caned here. For anything. Sit in whatever way makes you comfortable"

"No! I ok"

Hizashi and Shouta shared a look before letting it go and dishing out the food. Shouta had made a minced cold soba for Izuku, just so it was small enough, a small but high vitamin pudding for Hitoshi, so it gets nutrients in him and is easy on the stomach, and he made just regular katsudon for him and his husband. The beginning of the dinner was quiet other than the sound of utensils on plates. After a few minutes a small green headed figure scootched closer into Shouta's peripheral. He turned his head to look at the tiny boy to see him practically drooling at his katsudon. "Would you like some Izuku?"

Izuku jumped before looking at Shouta embarrassed "no, I'm ok"

Shouta sighed fondly and cut a small piece of his pork to give to Izuku. The boy took it shyly before scrambling back to his much to big plate(small for regular people). The two boys ate extremely quickly and had to be constantly, gently, told to slow down and not to eat too much, the foods not going

anywhere. Both the boys ended up going into food comas after eating more than they could handle Hizashi carried them too bed for a nap before coming back into the dining room. Usually Shouta wouldn't pass up the chance to go take a nap with his husband but they had calls to make, and now that the boys were asleep, they could. Hizashi sat next to his husband, reaching over to take Shoutas hand and bring it up to kiss the back of it while looking into his eyes "you ready sho? We can take a second to prepare"

"I'm fine zashi, I have been preparing enough. We need to find out who he is so we can file to be his fosters"

"Just foster?"

Shouta looked at his husband exasperated "and hopefully-" it was mumbled and unintelligible halfway though.

"What was that love?"

Shouta sighed "and hopefully adoption if all goes well" it was times like this that Shouta wish he never took off his capture weapon, his pale skin made his blush all the more easy to spot. Hizashi awwwed before kissing his husband on the forehead. 

"Its just logical hizashi. Who else better to take care of them then us two?"

"Ok love, if you say so. Let's go ahead and call"

Shouta dialed the number and put it on speaker. The detective must have been waiting for a call because he picked up almost immediately " Eraser? I wasn't expecting to hear from you for at least a couple days, is something wrong? "

"Well umm, long story short our rat problem was actually a five inch tall child living in our walls and we would like to foster him if he has no family"

There was a few beats of silence before tsukauchi sighed "... Okay, I'll search give me a second. I've only ever heard of a five inch human one time in my life so it's shouldn't take too long so stay on the line "

"Thank you tsukauchi" Hizashi said, almost bowing out of reflex. Tsukauchi hummed a reply, the click of his keyboard could be heard. After a moment tsukauchi asked " I think I've found your kid but I'm gonna need a description "

"Crazy green hair, large green eyes, freckles, 8 years old, he says his first name is Izuku" Shoutas deadpan voice held a bit of fondness that was audible only to those that knew him.

" Yep, I got your kid. Izuku Midoriya, born july 15th 20XX, missing since 20XX, parents Hisashi and Inko Midoriya, both were murdered in an home invasion, police on scene new that Izuku was supposed to be there but no one could find him. "

Hizashi and Shouta shared sad looks, they realized that he had probably seen what had happened and got spooked and ran, although they had no idea how he got 3 prefectures away. 

"What about his quirk tsuki?"

Tsukauchi sighed " Hizashi, why must you call me that? Don't answer. Our files say that his quirk seems to be that he is small but can change certain characteristics to if he was big "

"So what would happen if I erased his quirk?"

" You wouldn't be able to hear him, that's the only thing his parents reported he knew how to do, and even then it was more instinctual "

"Thank you Tsukauchi"

" Anytime eraser , I'll need you to bring him in so we can confirm it's him and then we will get the foster paperwork done"

"Ok, I'll bring him in tomorrow morning"

" See you then eraser"

"Bye Tsuki!"

"... goodbye mic"

Shouta hung up the phone before sighing and setting the phone on the table "zashi, we should find a therapist for them"

"I was thinking so as well. Are you ok kitten?"

"Yeah I'm fine zashi, just a little overwhelmed."

Hizashi gently tucked a piece of Shouta's hair behind his ear before giving him a kiss on his temple "how about we go take a nap hm?"

Shouta nodded before grabbing Hisashi's hand and standing up to head to the bedroom, Hizashi close behind him.

          ________________________

  Hizashi woke up to the weight of a 45 pound 8 year old in a 2 inch impact zone right on his spleen. His eyes snapped open as he got the air knocked out of him. he frantically looked around for his assailant only to see a sheepish looking Izuku crawling out of the blankets that had gotten tossed. Shouta had been awoken by the commotion, quickly rising out of the bed and into a fighting stance. Hizashi chuckled and gently lured a very sleepy Shouta into his lap "its ok kitten, just Izu"

Shouta grumbled something before his breath evened out and he was back asleep. Hizashi sighed and decided to let him sleep in. He moved the lump of a man onto his side of the bed and slowly got out of his, slowly and carefully as to not wake Sho. After Hizashi was sure he hadn't woken up his wonderfully grumpy husband he went to figure out what the kids needed. He came out to a horrible mess in the kitchen with a sobbing Hitoshi trying to clean egg off a hand towel in the sink as an egg with quite a bit of shell still in it burning on the stove. Izuku was standing next to the sink trying to calm the other boy down. Hizashi quickly took the pan off the heat and turned off the stove before gently crouching next to Hitoshi. 

"Toshi? What happened?" He had tried to keep his voice soft and quiet as not to scare him but Hitoshi still jumped and started to sob harder. It was obvious getting any words from the boy was going to be impossible, and even if he could, he wouldn't be able to understand him with his speech impediment and his sobbing. So he looked up to the tiny boy on the counter "What happened izu?"

Izuku looked seconds away from bolting buy took a deep breath.

"We woke up, and you and Shouta were asleep, but it was snacktime so we decided to make food!... but I couldn't reach the stove and Hitoshi doesn't know how to cook so I was trying to teach him but then we accidentally got egg on the kitty hand towel and I've heard Shouta threaten to throw bastard outside and never let him back in if he ever messed up the towel and we didn't want to be thrown out so we started cleaning it but even after it was clean 'toshi wouldn't stop washing or crying so I came to get you but then you seemed mad and Shouta looked scary so I ran-" as the kid went on his face got redder and redder as he never stopped to breathe, so Hizashi had to interrupt.

 "breathe Izuku, we aren't mad I promise" after Izuku took a couple deep breaths Hizashi turned his attention back to Hitoshi.

"toshi,can you close your eyes for me?" Hizashi had to say it a couple times to get a reaction from Hitoshi, which was a scared look before clenching his eyes closed qnd bracing.

"You don't have to toshi, I'm not going to hurt you" again, he had to say it a few times but after a moment Hitoshi peaked through one of his eyes before opening them again. "I need you to take deep breaths toshi, in through your nose" Hizashi demonstrated as many times as Hitoshi needed to copy him, smiling when he finally did "good job!! now hold for this many" he held up 4 fingers "can you count to there?" Hitoshi nodded and counted with Hizashi.

"Une, two, twee, fouw"

"One, two, three, four. Good job! Now breathe out through your mouth" Hizashi once again demonstrated and Hitoshi got it down much quicker.

"Can you try that again?" 

Hitoshi nodded, he was still crying just not as much.

"Very good! With or without me?"

"Wif?"

"Of course" Hizashi smiled as he breathed through his nose dramatically.

  After a couple minutes Hitoshi was just sniffling and had calmed down enough to understand what Hizashi was saying the first time. Hizashi held his hand out for Izuku to step on so he could bring him closer for this talk. "Thank you guys so much for wanting to make dinner. And what an amazing job you did at teamwork, you are going to need that skill as you get older. But for right now, until we have taught you both how to cook, whole meals, not just eggs" he grinned and ruffled Izuku's hair with a finger "if you are hungry, wake us. I promise we won't be mad. I wasn't mad when I woke up, and neither was Shouta, I was just not expecting how heavy you were. And we will talk about that later, and must be due to your quirk huh?" Izuku giggled and Hizashi focused on both boys again "and don't worry about the towel, Shouta was just joking about throwing bastard out, we would never do that. Not to bastard, and most certainly not to you, ok?"

Izuku and Hitoshi looked at each other, not really believing what Hizashi said, but they both nodded anyway, "good, now go play and I'll make snack, we are having an American snack, drum roll please!" He paused and made his own drumroll sound "mini sandwiches and potato chips, and or onion rings."

Both kids 'ooooo'ed before running off to play. Hizashi stood up and looked around at all the broken eggs. He sighed before going to get the mop. Shouta waddled out of the room only seconds after, sleepily rubbing his eyes before stopping and the kitchen entryway "what the fuck happened in here?"

Hizashi chuckled before telling Shouta what had gone down. 

"I would chuckle at the kid Shanahangans but I just can't stop thinking and getting mad that someone did something to that little boy to make him dissociate like that" Shouta said as he started a pot of coffee. Hizashi sighed "yeah, I've been think about that too, I say we call Inui tomorrow… Shouta, we have to call the rat menace and tell him we won't be in for the next couple weeks" the growing dread on both heros faces intrigued and upset Izuku. He ran over to Shouta and pulled on his pant leg to be let up. Shouta picked him up and set him on the table "who is the rat menace?"

There came a simple "I am" from behind them all, and there was Nezu, in his furry glory.

Chapter Text

  “You’re principal Nezu the Intelligence Hero!” Izuku shouted as he bounced up and down before scrambling to jump off the table. Shouta caught him before he could and set him on the ground where Izuku raced over to the not-rat/bear/dog. “you just became the principal of UA! you must be so smart! Do you know how to fix phones? I have one that I used for an- ana- analysis but it stopped turning on a while ago and wont charge, oh but I've just met you so asking you to help me would be rude so you don't have to, now I'm talking too much and you really won't like me, and Shouta will throw me out-” the three adults shared a look before Nezu knelt down, which didn't really change his height due to his small legs but it was good enough. 

“Well hello, yes I am principal Nezu, and I am very smart. I'd love to take a look at your cellular telephone to see if I can help. I'd also love to read your analysis. I have no qualms about you asking for help or about you talking so much, I rather like that you so freely speak your mind. Aizawa would not throw you out, or else he would have to find a new job!” Nezu’s smile took a creepy edge as he looked up at Shouta. 

“and I never would anyway,” Shouta defended.

“yeah little listener! We would never!”

Nezu looked back down at the tiny child “so why don't you and your friend” he gestured to hitoshi who was hiding behind shouta “go play while I talk to my employees and when we are done, bring me whatever you wish me to see” 

Izuku looked back and forth between the adults before slowly nodding and running over to Hitoshi and started to pull on the boys pants in the direction to the bedrooms. After the boys had gone Nezu hopped up to sit on the couch, swinging his little legs. “I guess congratulations on finally having children is in order.”

Shouta opened his mouth to explain and ask for time off but was cut off.

“Do not worry, you have paid time off until you feel you can come back. Now, tell me how they came to be in your care” Nezu took a sip of tea. how did he get that??

“I found HItoshi, the big one, on my way home from patrol. He is malnourished and obviously abused. I found him wearing a metal muzzle that had cut into his face. and Izuku has been living in the walls for 4 years apparently”

“Do we know who hitoshis care takers were? I assume it took you weeks to figure out that it was a child and not a rodent, so I'd like to speak with the small child about his time here”

“Hitoshi had lived with some foster parents, the police are in the process of removing the other children from the home and investigating the adults. Izuku has been, from what information i could get from him, poisoned and gassed due to people believing he is a rat, and has also been used as a doll for a young child. i'm sure there is other things, but we have only had him for a day so I can't expect him to tell us everything. although we do know that his parents Midoriya Inko and Midoriya Hisashi were murdered and he witnessed them dying”

“I see… I shall speak with both of them. Can I assume you wish to have the children speak to a therapist? hounddog should have some slots open for them”

“yes, we were going to call him tomorrow seeing how late it is”

“I shall get it set up and email you the details. now, the reason I'm here” he pulled out a folder and opened it up on the coffee table. again where did he get that??? “we need to choose who is going into which hero class”

Shouta groaned before sighing “fine, let's get this over with”

         _________________________

  “wha you tink dey awe tawking bout?” Hitoshi looked nervous “ith he a thothial worker?”

“dont worry! hes not a social worker, hes a hero! He's also the principal of the school Shouta and Hizashi work at!” Izuku said while climbing up onto the bed.

“oh, okie” Hitoshi crawled up next to him and yawned.

“Are you tired?”

“Onwy a wittwe bit”

“Well, it is late. you should sleep if you tired”

“but we were thuppothed pway”

“we can do the tomorrow! you need rest”

“you pwomithe we pway tomorrow?”

“Of course!”
“okie, good nigh” Hitoshi crawled underneath the blankets and was out like a light within seconds.

“goodnight” Izuku smiled before climbing off the bed and headed to his hole in the wall, because he knew dragging that heavy phone out would take a while. he was correct, he had just gotten it out and was dragging it down the hall when Hizashi came to get him. 

“Hey bud, you need help?”
“Yes please” Izuku huffed “usually I can pick it up due to my quirk but but it's hard to tell when it's gonna work, I think it's due to my ability to want it and also how much energy I have, it is late so I might be too tired”

“That's a good theory” Hizashi smiled as he bent and picked up the phone for the boy.

Izuku went red “I didn't mean to say all that”

“that's ok, I like hearing your theories”

Izuku couldn't help but doubt that, Kacchan always said it was annoying.

When they got out to the living room, everyone had a cup of tea and the air smelled of raspberry and chamomile.

“Izuku! please come sit! I'd have tea set out for you but sadly I don't have a small enough cup”

“I do! Hitoshi and Hizashi bought me some today!” Izuku went to run and get them but before he could Nezu asked Hizashi to go get it. 

“Oh, uh, sure. where is it Izu?”

“It's next to the bed Shouta made me in your room”

“Got it” Hizashi set the phone on the table before going to get the tiny tea set and Izuku went over to Shouta so he could lift him onto the couch.

“So, Izuku, tell me about yourself. tell anything you wanna say, I wanna hear it all '' Nezu smiled a smile Shouta's never seen. there was no malice or chaos in it, just warmth and intrigue.

“Oh, ok ummm, My name is Izuku, i can't remember my family name, my quirk makes me this small and mama and the doctors said I wont get bigger than five inches but I have the ability to make things like my voice and weight like a normal kid although I can't quite do it on command yet unless I'm really concentrating. My momma say's that I'm much smarter than anyone my age, or at least she did and I was but then momma and daddy had to go to sleep forever and I had to run from the men in blue suits cause they were taking momma and daddy and I didnt want them to step on me like one of them said, before that I read a lot and I analyzed heros a lot, Eraserhead was and still is my favorite” Izuku had only then remembered who else was in the room and stopped talking, his whole face was red and he suddenly found the couch very interesting. Shouta felt like he might cry, he was this small child's favorite. He had a fan and that was a weird feeling. 

“I'm honored to be your favorite hero Izuku, it's rare for anyone to know I exist let alone be my fan”

“Awwwe, come on! That's not fair~ how am I supposed to be the favorite parent if you are already his favorite!” Hizashi dramatically pouted while he handed the small tea set to Izuku, sending the small boy a wink making him giggle, successfully making the kid feel better.

“you can continue if you want” Nezu said as he filled the small tea cup with his own blend of tea.

“Um, can you just ask me questions? That would be easier”

“of course Izuku. What kind of analysis do you do?” Nezu asked as he picked up the phone on the table and started to fiddle with it.

“oh! I analize quirks! strengths, weaknesses, how they work, how to make them better and how to defeat them” Izuku seemed to keep peaking at Shouta and Hizashi, like they may get mad at him.

“really? that sounds impressive” Nezu smiled before turning to the two husbands who seem to feel awkward just sitting there but want to hear what the kid says “can you two go find a charger for this?” He wiggled his ears and made a gesture with his hands letting them know to go and just listen in to the conversation from the hall. 

“Yeah, we should have one, let me see what kind he needs” Shouta said as he and Hizashi got up. Nezu offered the end of the phone for them to look at before they headed into the hall.

“Once we get this fixed I would like to review your work. of course if you rather I dont then I will not”

“I would like you to look at it, I wanna know if I'm doing it right, daddy used to check it but he cant anymore”

“Then, as soon as we can, we will look at it together. Now, do you have any questions for me?”

“um… I- I have a lot of scars cause people thought I was a rat. Is that why you have yours?”

“you could say that. as I'm sure you know, humans can be horrid cruel creatures. a group of these humans found me as a pup. a animal that could talk and walk and was smarter than everyone was an amazing test subject to them, and so that how they used me. It wasn't fun and they were not nice so after a while I escaped, and that's how I got this scar. Would you tell me how you got yours? you don't have to”

“I'll tell you, I don't know why I'm so comfortable with you but I am. These” he pointed to the scars on his ankles “are from the first house owners dog. I don't blame them. The old man couldn't see or hear and it was just a dog. He didn't understand. these” he pointed to the still healing gashes on his chest before turning and showing the ones on his back “are from bastard. I do blame bastard. He's mean. I don't blame Shouta and Hizashi, Shouta loves cats. these” he lifted up his arms to show the red rubbery scars that stretched the entirety of the bottom of his forearms “came from a sticky rat trap. I didn't notice it when I was crawling out of my mouse hole and had to rip it off. the rest of them are from accidentally hurting myself through out the years``

Nezu's smile was now strained, to say he was pissed was an understatement. He knew humans were very stupid but the thought that they couldn't tell it was a tiny human after so long boggles his mind. Or maybe they did know but didn't care, that thought only made him angrier. “I am very sorry you had to go through that, I can promise it won't be that way anymore. Aizawa and Yamada will take good care of you, I'll make sure of it” the sharp edge to his voice made the two eavesdropping adults shivver. 

“Thank you, I'm sorry you had to go through what you did”

“Thank you for your empathy, Izuku. I'm very happy to have met someone as unique as you. you are a very kind young man”

Izuku beamed at the praise before yawning widely.

“ah, I'm sorry Izuku, I seem to have forgotten how late it is and how much a small human needs rest. Since I promised we would look at your analysis, we shall get on with it so you can go to sleep at an at least semi appropriate time. your new guardians should be back anytime”

Just a few seconds later Hizashi came in with a charger, he was smiling but his eyes looked wet and a little red. He hoped the small boy didn't notice, which he didn't, too excited about getting tips from a hero on his analysis.

“Thank you Yamada, it is much appreciated” Nezu took the charger and plugged the phone in. After a few seconds it turned on and Izuku scrambled to show Nezu where he kept all his analysis, in the notes app. His tiny hands were almost the size of the buttons on the screen. “Here you go! Which hero do you wanna start with? I have one on you, it was hard because even though you are on the news and hero forums nothing of real importance comes out, which I'm guessing is on purpose however I was able to stitch together enough information on the personal encounters forum although some of it may be wrong due to people making stuff up for clicks but I tried my best! I also have one on Present mic and Eraserhead, Eraserhead was harder due to him being an underground hero but I think I got enough information, Mic was easy”

“I think I shall look at mine first if that is alright with you”

“Ok!” Izuku practicly vibrated as he clicked on the right folder. Nezu picked up the phone to read it. If he had no fur they would see him pale more and more as he read. How in the world did this small child analize him so thoroughly??  The section of weaknesses unnerved him but also intrigued him, he could teach this child to be the most powerful analysis hero in the world. Yes, that is what he shall do, he shall teach this boy.

“this is extraordinary Izuku. If you would like, I would love the opportunity to teach you and encourage you to continue with this”

“Really!? it's that good?”

“It is Izuku. you are a very bright young man, and I want to help you learn even more”

“Yes! please! I would love to be taught by you!” Izuku's smile was blinding.

“Can I send these to myself? that way you shall have my number if you need it and I can go through them more thoroughly”

“Yeah, that's ok”

“Wonderful, thank you Izuku. You can go to sleep now. I need to speak with your guardians for a little longer before I leave. I shall see you soon”

“Ok, thank you for wanting to talk. I'll see you soon, bye bye!” Izuku hugged Nezu's arm before climbing off the couch and running to Hitoshi's room. Nezu waited a few moments before his smile dropped and he looked at Hizashi “If you could please get your husband, I wish to speak with you about what we just heard”

“Sure” Hizashi was unusually quiet as he got up and walked to his and Shoutas' shared bedroom. Shouta was sitting on the floor, in the process of calming down from the anger, sadness, and guilt that had threatened to drown him when he listened to what his boy had told his boss. Hizashi hadn't been in better shape, He's just always been able to cry out his feelings faster than Shouta and that's why he had been the one to bring the charger. 

“Hey kitten” Hizashi knelt down in front of his husband and gently moved Shoutas' hair out of his face so Hizashi could caress his cheek. 

Shouta took a deep breath and looked up at Hizashi's tear stained face and bloodshot eyes “hey ‘zashi”

“Nezu wants to talk to us about Izu, but I'll kick him out if you don't want to”

“No, it's ok. let's go talk to him.”

Hizashi helped his lover up before giving him a quick kiss and leading him out to the front room.

“Ah, thank you for joining us Aizawa. I understand what we just heard was horrific, it is because of that, that I ask you to take him to Recovery Girl in the morning. When he lifted his shirt to show me this back scars his torso looked misshapen, as if he had broken ribs that never got set. I also would like to let you know that I shall be finding the past owners of this house. I shall keep what I wish to do with such information a surprise for now. And lastly, I shall take Izuku on as my personal student. He is a genius, he was able to accurately describe my quirk, and facets of it along with weaknesses, so I didn't even know I had. Such a mind needs to be nurtured and I believe I am the only one smart enough to do it.”

“Nezu, I don't think he should be raised as an intelligence weapon, grooming him to be another you would be detrimental if that was not what he wished” Shouta pointed out, not in an unkind way, just stating facts.

“Than it is a good thing I plan on doing neither, I just wish for him to get the education fitting of his extraordinary brain. He may take my teachings into any occupation he so chooses”

The husbands looked at each other before nodding and turning back to Nezu “ok, sounds like a plan Nezu” Hizashi said after he cleared his throat, it had once again been constricted by emotion.

“Wonderful, thank you for your hospitality after I showed unannounced. I shall email you in the morning with the children's therapy schedule. It was an informative visit. I shall see you all tomorrow as well as speak with little Hitoshi” with that the small mammal left before they could respond.

“Bye, I guess” Hizashi said softly. “Come love, let's go to bed” he stood up and held a hand out to his husband. Shouta took the offered hand and stood as well, following his lover to their room where they changed into their sleep wear and crawled in.

 Shouta laid on his back staring at the ceiling while his husband put his hair in a bun before laying his head on Shoutas chest “talk to me kitten”

“This has been the craziest day I've ever had. We gained two sons in the span of 48 hours. We learned the 'rat' we've been treating like an inconvenience was a child, who has heard every single thing that we have done in this house. Yes 'Zashi, everything. And- oh god, I set out the traps, I kept blocking up his way out of the walls, I talked of getting a exterminator while he was probably right there, there was no way he ran far enough not hear me say it when we ate that onigiri, I brought Bastard home and encouraged him to chase the ‘rat’, how am I supposed to gain his trust? How am I supposed to make up for the pain and trauma I caused? I don't know if I can do this ‘Zashi” he didn't cry often but he felt on the brink of tears “and if I can't do it with Izuku how am I supposed to do it with Hitoshi? They deserve better than me. I'm brash and emotionless and a hard ass and cruel and- and”

“Breath kitten, breathe. It sure has been crazy and hectic, but I see this as a blessing. Not just for us but them as well, we finally have children and then finally have a happy, healthy home. You can do this, we can do it. You had no way of knowing at the time what you were doing. And you heard Izu, he doesn't blame us, he understands. Hitoshi trusts you completely and we are the perfect match for them, with both our childhoods we had to work though we can make it easier for them to get through. You know how much I hate when you call yourself those things, just because others call you that due to their own ignorance does not make you them. You are logical, compassionate, and kind. you are a strict teacher because you have to be not because you are that way in nature” Hizashi scooted up and up as he talked until his face was tucked into Shoutas neck “lets sleep Sho, you will feel better in the morning”

 Shouta nodded before kissing the top of Hizashis head “what about you love? How are you?”

Hizashi Sighed “I'm heartbroken for those boys.” He didn't say any more, neither of them did, there was nothing more to say, and soon they fell asleep.