Chapter Text
“Who’s there?” Touya called out into the alley. When there was no response he asked again. Again, he got no response.
“Show yourself right now, or I’ll burn you!” He lit a small flame in the palm of his hand as a warning. The whole alley lit up blue. He heard some footsteps and suddenly a crying boy was standing before him.
“P-please don’t hurt me,” the boy begged.
“Shit,” Touya whispered before putting out the flame. Sure, he’s a bit of an asshole, but he would never hurt a kid. Especially a crying one. He knew better than most that a child doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment.
“I’m not gonna hurt you. Okay?”
The crying boy nodded, but did not stop his crying. Touya sighed. His conscience wasn’t going to let him just leave a scared child in the alley. He knelt down in front of the boy and cautiously held out his hand.
“Do you know where your parents are? Maybe I could help you find them?”
The boy stepped forward, but did not take his hand. He did calm down a bit, though.
“My parents are dead.”
‘Fuck.’ Of course the one time he volunteered to do the right thing, he’d discover an orphan wandering the streets.
“Well, I think the closest police station is a few blocks from here. I can walk you there,” he offered.
The boy shook his head vigorously and began scooting back into the alley.
“No police.”
“Why not?” Touya could feel himself losing his patience. He had much better things to be doing, like figuring out where he was going to get his dinner tonight.
“They’ll send me back to the orphanage.”
“And what’s so bad about that? You’re a cute kid. I’m sure someone will adopt you soon.”
The boy looked down at his feet, unable to meet Touya’s eyes.
“No one wants to adopt a useless, quirkless kid.”
“Even if that’s true, at least you’d have a bed and food at an orphanage.”
The boy shakes his head and retreats further into the alleyway. Touya could tell that there was no convincing him. All Touya could do was leave him at this point. He wasn’t going to drag him all the way to the police station. He didn’t have the time for it, and he really didn’t want to do it.
“Well, good luck kid.” Touya waves as he stands up and starts to walk away. The boy just watches.
The further he walks, though, the stronger the nagging feeling of guilt builds in Touya’s chest. He tries to ignore it, but he just can’t. He’s halfway back to the abandoned building he calls home before the guilt becomes too much. He turns around and walks back to the alleyway.
“Kid? Are you still here?” He calls out as he slowly makes his way down the alley, checking every spot a small child could hide in. Eventually, he comes up empty handed. As he walks home once again, the guilt is gone, but worry fills its place.
Touya absentmindedly remembers the last time he felt this worried for someone and he remembers his baby brother, Shouto. He hopes that one day Shouto will be able to get out just like he did, and he hopes that one day Endeavor freezes in hell for what he’s done. He also hopes that the boy he left alone in the alley will be okay.
About a week later, Touya finds himself searching for some food in a dumpster behind a convenience store. It was definitely not his first choice, but he had almost gotten caught stealing food earlier that day and did not want to risk another run in with the police. He’d been living on his own for quite a while now, but if he were to be caught, they’d send him right back to Endeavor. Trash food was a thousand times better than what Endeavor would do to him if he went back.
Touya managed to find some decent looking food which he tossed into his bag. He was doing one final search before he headed home when he heard the sound of footsteps around the corner.
“Crap,” he whispered to himself, thinking he was about to be caught. He quickly slipped his bag over his shoulder and lit a flame in his hand as a warning to whoever was about to come around the corner.
To his immense surprise, and relief, the little boy he left in the alley about a week ago was the one who came around the corner. The kid also looked a bit surprised and relieved to see him.
“What are you doing here, kid?” He put out the flame in his hand, not wanting to scare the kid off. He looked much worse than the last time he saw him. He was very dirty and looked like he hadn’t had much to eat or drink for a while. Touya also noticed some scratches and bruises littering his arms and legs. Guilt started to fill Touya.
“I don’t know,” the kid replied as he began tearing up. Touya quickly crouched in front of him and the boy threw himself into his arms.
“Have you been wandering the streets this whole time?” This kid seriously couldn’t have been older than 4, maybe 5 years old. Touya had no clue how he would’ve survived alone on the streets for a whole week alone. His guilt grew as he held the crying boy.
The boy shook his head. “I went back like you said, but… things got worse. I can’t stay there! I can’t!” He quickly dissolved into tears in Touya’s arms.
“Shh, it’s okay, kid. It’ll be okay.” He did his best to calm the boy down. He tried to remember the times he did this for his sister and brothers. Eventually, it seemed to work. The boy stopped his crying, but now he was looking up at Touya with expectant eyes.
“Will you help me?” Well shit. Touya wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to do now. The boy clearly did not want to go back to the orphanage, and Touya did not want to force him, but he couldn’t exactly just leave the kid to fend for himself in the streets. He wouldn’t last long, and Touya was sure the guilt of that would kill him. That left him with only one option.
Touya took a deep breath before nodding. “Yeah, kid. I’ll help you.”
It had been about a month since Izuku had begun to live with him. Things were a bit rough at the start since Izuku wanted to follow Touya wherever he went, which not only annoyed Touya, but it put the both of them in danger. Eventually, he was able to convince Izuku to stay put at ‘home’ while Touya would go out and retrieve their food, water, and basically anything the two of them would need.
Touya also learned very quickly how hard it is to take care of a child. It’s one thing to babysit your baby brother or sister for a few hours, but it’s another to be taking care of a child full time. Touya did not know what he was getting himself into when he first agreed to help Izuku, but the kid was really starting to grow on him, and it wasn’t like he could back out now. Well, he technically could, but he didn’t think his conscience would let him.
“Touya, I’m cold,” Izuku calls out once Touya returned home with food. He was lucky enough to find food that didn’t come from the trash this evening.
Touya glanced over at the boy who was still wearing the dirty, old clothes that he had found him in. Touya was fine with the cold due to his quirk, but clearly Izuku was not. It was that time of the year where it really started to get cold at night, and Izuku was going to need new, warmer clothes. Touya glanced down at the boy’s bare feet before mentally adding shoes to his ‘shopping list’.
He grabbed one of the blankets off the bed and wrapped it around Izuku’s shoulders before handing him his dinner.
“Eat this and I’ll be back before you know it,” he promised, heading for the door.
“Wait!” Izuku called out, “Where are you going?”
Touya shrugged as he turned around. “I don’t know, maybe that mall across town. It’s open late and it has plenty of clothing stores. I’m sure I’ll find you something there.”
Izuku frowned. “But Touya, stealing is bad.”
Touya couldn’t help but laugh. This caused Izuku to frown harder.
“It is bad!”
“Kid, how do you think I get our food every night?”
Izuku looked shocked. “You stole this?!”
Touya couldn’t resist laughing once again. Izuku picked up his dinner and gently set it on the table in front of him before crossing his arms, indignantly.
“I won’t eat it.”
“Come on, Izuku. You need to eat.”
The boy shook his head stubbornly. Touya rolled his eyes.
“If you don’t eat, you’re gonna starve.”
“I’m not a bad person. I won’t eat stolen food.”
Touya sighed. He knew Izuku was obsessed with heroes and ‘doing the right thing’, but this wouldn’t fly. This was the only way he was able to get food for Izuku and himself. He couldn’t have the already tiny kid going on a hunger strike. He kneeled in front of Izuku and took his tiny hands into his own.
“Listen, yes, stealing is bad, but neither you nor I have any money, so we have to steal to get food or we will die.” It was a bit harsh, but he knew Izuku was a smart kid. He didn’t have to sugarcoat the truth for him.
Izuku pouted. “Fine. I’ll eat, but you can’t steal me clothes!”
Touya rolled his eyes yet again. It wasn’t like he was going to walk out with half the store. He was going to get enough to keep the boy warm through the upcoming winter.
“Come on, Izuku. You need new clothes to stay warm.”
He shook his head adamantly. “No. Clothes are not food. I won’t die without them.”
Touya chose not to point out that he technically could die from hypothermia if he got too cold, but he decided he would convince Izuku to accept new clothes another day. He was really hungry anyway and he desperately needed a nap.
“Fine. Just let me know if you start feeling cold again. I’ll start a fire.” Izuku nodded as he began eating his dinner, finally.
The lack of electricity and heat in the abandoned building they resided in had never been a problem until now. Touya was really getting tired of how complicated taking care of a kid was. Everyday there were new problems he had to deal with, and he was still kind of a kid himself, but when he thought about the alternative, he knew he wouldn’t change a damn thing about their situation.
“T-touya?” Izuku whispered into his ear. He groaned. He just got to sleep and he really didn’t appreciate being woken up.
“What?” he asked, half asleep.
“I’m c-cold,” Izuku whispered again, and something didn’t sound right. Touya quickly sat up and lit a small flame in his hand to see.
Izuku sat next to him, a blanket wrapped around his tiny body, tight, and he was shaking. As Touya’s flame grew, he noticed the blue color painted over Izuku’s lips.
“Shit.”
He quickly stood up and gathered every piece of clothing and blanket in the room and began wrapping Izuku up, but it wasn’t enough. Touya glanced towards the broken window and noticed it was snowing outside, hard. A storm must have rolled in while he was sleeping.
Touya picked up Izuku and held him to his chest as he continued to hold a small flame in his hand to warm the boy. The boy continued to shiver in arms, so Touya held on to him tighter and made his flame bigger and hotter.
“W-what’s that s-smell?” Izuku commented after a minute.
Touya could feel the skin on his palm burning. It was a horrible sensation that he’d become well acquainted with when he overused his quirk. He couldn’t find it in himself to care this time, though. Izuku was literally freezing in his arms. He would burn off his entire arm to keep the boy warm if he had to.
“Don’t worry about it. Just warm up, okay?”
Izuku nodded and burrowed further into the mess of clothes and blankets. Slowly, thankfully, he stopped shivering and he fell back asleep. Touya couldn’t, though. The guilt of almost letting his Izuku freeze to death, and the fear it may happen again, kept him awake until Izuku finally woke up in the morning. Only once he smiled up at him with warm, rosy cheeks, was Touya able to finally turn off his quirk. He made a point of not looking at the blackened skin on his palm. It was a small sacrifice to keep Izuku alive.