Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku smiled down at his brother, Yuzuki who stood at a grand 4 feet tall and skipped along below him with a huge grin on his face as he chatted about whatever TV show he was currently watching. (It was the new SMASH!!! All might series right now), the ‘ears’ on the hand me down All Might hoodie flipped up and down as he walked as if he was on a trampoline for every step.
“Okay Zuki, you got everything you need for school today yeah?” Izuku asked the three year old seriously, he called it school even though it was just daycare, according to Yuzuki it made him seem like a big boy. (which he definitely already was but he just thought that going to school would make him seem bigger).

In response Yuzuki nodded, causing the worn yellow hood to slip off his head and instead revealing his mint green hair and eyes which matched Izuku’s own almost perfectly. He held up his small red book bag with confidence and the same grin affixed on his tiny face. He had paler skin than Izuku, but still the same signature Midoriya freckles smattered across his cheeks. His hair had the same fluffy qualities as his brother’s but was far lighter, with occasional flecks of black amongst the green. There was no doubt the two were brothers.

“Yes! I have my bag and all of the pens.” He announced with pride.

“Alright then, looks like you’re all set. And you know what number to tell the teachers to call if you need something, yeah?”
“*************.” Yuzuki listed the numbers with some hesitation, but he was more confident than yesterday with Izuku’s phone number.

“Yes, good job. Now I've also got to go to school too so you go in there and I'll be here at 4:30 to pick you up.” Izuku ruffled his brother's hair and smiled slightly as he stood tall. “Understood cadet?” He asked in a mock commanding fashion. Yuzuki gave the best salute a three year old could give.

“Yes sir!” And he turned, quickly marching into the building, leaving Izuku alone outside. He briefly nodded a hello to one of the parents who was also leaving their kid for early drop off, Tsukahuchi if Izuku remembered correctly from the rambling of Yuzuki. Rio Tsukauchi was his kid and Zuki and him were pretty close.

Izuku stretched out, adjusting his gakuran slightly before putting his one functioning earbud into his ear and starting the two mile journey to Aldera junior high. His absolute favourite place on earth! (He thought in an extremely sarcastic way).

As always, he arrived ten minutes early, just as a precaution. If the teacher was having a bad day he would be accused of being late. And one late mark could close a lot of doors for him in his education. He took the rare free time to take notes in his journal about a new hero who recently debuted. Screech was an underground hero so there was very little information on them, owl quirk, based on the name one aspect of it would probably involve being able to emit a loud startling, possibly deafening noise. That would suggest a mutation type.

Izuku continued to mutter as the rest of the students filed into the classroom, until the signature smell of burning sugar which followed Bakugou Katsuki around, hanging over him in a warning of the constant threatening presence beneath it, slunk into the room. Izuku quickly stashed his notebook and turned his attention to his desk, pretending to study a particularly interesting groove in its surface. Katsuki sneered at him but made no movement, instead opting to sit at his desk and act as if he didn’t care about anything, that was just fine with Izuku. The rest of the class eventually arrived and the bell sounded, marking the start of six hours of stress and anxiety.

The teacher cleared her throat and clapped to get the class's attention, once everyone’s eyes were on her she started talking.

“Ok everybody, as third years it's time to start thinking seriously about your highschools and the careers that come after. I could pass out some career aptitude tests but hah, who am I kidding? I know you all want to be heroes! ”
The entire class, sans Bakugo and Midoriya, exploded in a display of their quirks, various effects shooting into the air and limbs morphing into spikes or rocks or water. Some just waved their mutation aspects in the air. The room filled with deafening cheers, until one person decided to take hold of the attention of the room.

“Hah, don't lump me in with these extras, I’m the real deal, these losers will be lucky to end up as side kicks to some busted D lister. I’m going to be the first from this crappy middle of nowhere school to go to UA then I'll be the most popular hero of all time! You hear me?”
The class muttered, some praises, some mockery, all too quiet for anyone who wasn’t experienced in listening for slight noises to hear. Bakugo crooned and continued to sing his own praise. Izuku buried his face in his arms and waited for everything to finally settle down.

“Ah yes Midoriya, didn't you want to try for UA as well?”
Izuku raised his head tiredly, The class erupted in a barrage of noise, muttering amongst themselves, some calling out to make fun of Izuku. And frankly, he couldn’t be bothered to deal with this shit today.

“No miss, I'm sorry you must have mixed me up with someone else, I have no intention of trying for UA.”
Bakugo’s eyes flicked to him momentarily in confusion, before he quickly turned his attention back to the teacher.
“Ah I see. Well then moving on-”

The rest of the day passed without much effort, he hid on the roof at lunch as per usual, and attempted to sprint out of the classroom the moment the bell rang. He was almost out, when his collar was grabbed by someone and he was yanked back into the classroom.
Izuku looked up through his tangled curls with disinterest.

“Bakugo, you know I need to pick up Yuzuki from daycare, even you are not too big of a dick to appreciate that fact. So please let me go?” He didn’t like talking to Bakugo like this but the other boy had asked him too and he didn’t really feel like saying no. Something about protecting his pride.

“I’ll deal with this Deku alone, you two walk home without me.”
Bakugo waved his buddies out of the room and waited until they were far out of earshot.

“How’s the mini nerd?” He asked in a low voice. Izuku smiled, Katsuki may be a huge asshole sometimes but since Yuzuki had come along he had started to realise the error in his ways, him and Izuku could even be tentatively called friends when they were alone.
“Yuzuki’s fine, he’s even made a few friends at daycare.”

Bakugo grunted his approval. “Damn right, kids fucking adorable, he better have made friends or i’ll beat up whoever turned him down.”

Izuku laughed softly. “Yeah sure, just make sure you don't get arrested. Don't want to lose your chance at becoming number 1 do you?”

“Hmm, guess you’re right. But uh anyway, it's christmas soon so the hag told me to get you and mini nerd presents.” He reached into his rucksack and grabbed two small wrapped gifts and held them out to Izuku.
Izuku took them with a small smile.

“You know you don't have to hide the fact you talk to me from everyone?” he said quietly.

Katsuki shook his head. “No, I can't, because then everyone would think I was weak and the teachers would think I wasn’t strong enough for UA and I-”
He started to spiral off topic and into his own mind, which was way too much to unpack for a monday morning so Izuku quickly stepped in.

“It's alright, I understand. Thanks for the presents, Kacchan. But I swear to god if they explode I will throttle you, I can't have that on christmas morning. It's stressful enough as it is.”

“They don't explode, promise.” Katsuki grinned his sharp grin and turned heel to walk out of the classroom. “See ya tomorrow nerd, oh and the hag says hey.”

Izuku quickly weighed the chances that Katsuki was lying and they did explode, but decided to take his chances and tucked them into his bag, cushioned by his hat and gloves. He checked the time and swore under his breath. At this rate, the only way he could get to daycare in time for Yuzuki would be to go under the bridge, it was a sketchy route and he shouldn’t really be walking it alone but he didn’t want to leave Zuki waiting so he started walking at a fast stride.

It took all of five minutes for something to go wrong. He had just passed the worn down row of sheds which housed who knows what horrors inside of them and now came to the bridge. It was a popular site for drug deals and criminal meet up spots, and also where a lot of muggings often occurred. He tried to walk quickly through it and he was about to step into the sweet sweet light, when the manhole cover popped open behind him with a screeching of metal and he turned to see a giant creature made of slime rearing its head out of the sewer. Two disembodied eyes, a discoloured yellow with muddy green irises, turned in their gelatinous prison and fixed onto him. A grin spread across the rotted teeth occupying what could only be assumed to be a mouth, a cavernous gap in the sewer sludge which homed tombstone-like teeth.

“A perfect mid sized skinsuit for my disguise!” It cackled, before lunging at him.
The creature opened its cavernous maw and dived on him, the goop forced itself down his throat, its oily matter crawling down through his respiratory system like a disease.His fingers went right through the substance, even so he desperately clawed at it as it forced its way down him, blocking his airways and causing him to start suffocating on the slime as it crawled down his throat.
Even as the adrenaline kicked in he let out a gargled scream, he couldn’t die like this. Yuzuki would be left alone with Inko, and he couldn’t let him go into the foster system. Izuku set his jaw and reached down into his own mouth with his fading strength, he grabbed onto something solid and slightly squishy which was trying to slip down his throat, and pulled it, out and away from his precious airways. Just as he fell unconscious a burst of an American themed figure appeared in his vision.

Izuku slowly opened his eyes, squinting past the light- was he dead? Was heaven real? Why was God slapping him on the face? He opened his eyes fully to see the signature smile of All Might leaning over him. Then Izuku promptly remembered what had just happened and leant over to throw up.

Once he had cleared himself up a bit, he took the time to process what was happening. All Might was standing in front of him, and he had nearly died from a villain. So of course the first logical thought to go through his brain was;
“All Might, please can I have your autograph?” He scrambled to grab his notebook off the floor, only to see the signature already scrawled across a double page spread.

“N-no way.. . thank you so much!” He stuttered out in awe.
All Might laughed his booming laugh and patted Izuku on the back with a massive hand.

“You are quite welcome my boy! However I must get going and hand this villain into the police! Plus ultra young citizen!”

“All Might wait!” Izuku yelled, causing the man to stop momentarily.

“I’m very sorry young man, however crime doesn’t rest, I must be on my way now.”

“No I need to ask you a question-” Izuku started, but All Might wasn’t listening, he was crouching down into his launch position, Izuku made the extremely stupid split second decision to grab onto his leg and be catapulted into the sky along with the number one hero.

That decision ultimately led to him standing on a rooftop across from a shrivelled husk of the man he had idolised his entire life.
“Sorry kid, but I don't think you can be a hero, too much danger. Hell I nearly died and I have one of the strongest quirks in the world. Be a police officer or something, it's a very respectable career even if they don't get as much credit as heroes.” And he walked through the door, leaving Izuku alone with his thoughts on the rooftop.

Police officer, that didn’t sound all bad, they couldn’t pay too bad with how high risk it was, they were around villains all day after-all, and he could still get to do good and help people. Which plenty of professions could do but it was the closest he could get to be a hero. Izuku quickly reached for his phone and opened the Japanese Police Department’s official homepage, with a quickly building excitement.

Recruitment requirements:
Highschool graduate
Nation exam passed
1 yr training with the JPD police academy

He could get all of those, he could actually do this, something he wasn’t going to be completely and utterly terrible at. He continued scrolling down the page, making sure to absorb all the information. Mostly it was different prefects, dress code and expectations and qualifications, pay, ranks etc. But he ensured that he read over every single word in detail, just to make sure, just in case something messed him up. He didn’t want to get his hopes up then be kicked to the curb again. Everything was fine, great in fact, up until the fine print at the bottom of the page.

Police academy entrance requires a quirk factor.

And of course, yet again, his hope was taken and laughed at, and crushed against the little joy that had survived in his hollow heart, destroying two of the few positive emotions he felt.

The walk to Yuzuki’s daycare was uneventful, as the rest of his life would apparently be. It felt like the entire world was designed to make him feel like shit. He tried to brush the thin coating of slime out of his hair but it instead stuck to his hands like glue.
He shook his head to clear the thoughts from his head as he walked up to the door of the building, he didn’t walk Yuzuki to see him like this, it would just make him worried. He hid the grimace of pain which had taken residence on his face with a bright smile, and knocked on the door. A young man, probably only 20 or so, opened the door and waved him inside.The first few times he had come to pick up Yuzuki there had been a lot of confusion with a middle schooler coming to pick up a kid from daycare, but after the first week or so it was just an accepted fact. (Although he suspected the visit from CPS might have had something to do with them.)

“Midoriya kun, your brother is here.” The man called into a room filled with soft play items. The other worker, a woman with short black hair who he had learnt was called Suki, raised her hand in a brief greeting before ushering a head of mint green hair out of a pop up tube. Said head of green hair belonged to a three year old who’s smile lit up like a christmas tree when he spotted his older counterpart.

“Zuku!” He yelled and ran full pelt into Izuku’s leg, hugging it tightly. Izuku smiled down at him.

“Hey Zuki, how was school?”

“It was really fun! Me and Rio played police, we took down loads of bad guys and we figured out all of these clues. I still prefer playing chefs but it's OK because Rio likes playing police.”

“That sounds really fun Zuzu, when we get home how about you help me cook dinner? That’ll be like playing chef right?”

“Really? Yes! I love playing chef! You can be my assistant and I will be head chef.” He ran over to the cloakroom and grabbed his bag from a peg with his name on a decorated label above it while Izuku quickly talked with the caretakers about Yuzuki’s day, before the two walked out the door. Izuku grabbed his brother's tiny hand as they walked.
They had been going for about five minutes when Yuzuki got bored of the quiet and decided to start a conversation.
“How was your day Zuku? You always ask about mine but I never get to ask about yours.”

“My day? Well, my day is very boring, you wouldn’t want to hear about it. Just lots of boring learning, words and numbers bla bla bla.” He mentally congratulated himself on his quick question dodging.

“C’mon you must have done somethinggg interesting!” Yuzuki whined with a frown. There was no avoiding this conversation apparently.

“Hmmmmm” Izuku exaggerated his thinking, with a very long hmm. “Well we did think about our jobs in the future today.”

“Ooh what did you pick?”

“I’m not sure yet, you know I can't do lots of things because I don't have a quirk, I did think about joining the police force like you did earlier with Rio, but I can't do that either. What do you think I should do?”

Yuzuki gasped. “No! You would be an extra amazing super police! You’re fun and you’re strong and you’re really clever! Why would they not let you be a police? You have all the right things.”

Izuku sighed, it was hard explaining discrimination to a three year old.
“Well some people are just mean, and they don't like me because I don't have a quirk like them. But a lot of the time it's not their fault they’re mean. There were just a few really mean people, who told them that they should not be nice to me, and nobody told them that what the really mean people said was wrong.”

Yuzuki stared at the floor for a moment, and walked in silence.

“That's not fun..”

“No, it's not. But it's ok because I have you, and mama.”

Yuzuki huffed. “But mama’s barely ever home!”

“Well that's ok because you are.”
They reached the stairs up to the apartment building and started to climb.

“I still think you should be a policeman.”
Izuku laughed and ruffled his hair as they entered the apartment. Izuku saw Inko’s slippers were gone, that meant she was home, but probably sleeping. Izuku crouched down to Yuzuki’s level.

“Why don't you go watch TV for a while while I do some stuff, then we can start on dinner, sound good?”
He nodded and practically ran over to the couch. The telltale sounds of Bluey the theme came on and Izuku was satisfied that he was thoroughly distracted. He took an hour to work on some analysis commissions, did a couple pieces of homework, and carefully hid the presents that Katsuki had given them for Christmas. They would go under the tree soon. He then headed back into the living room/kitchen to start preparing dinner.

Chapter Text

Yuzuki sat on the couch with his eyes scrunched tightly closed in focus, he needed a way to get Izuku to be a police officer, even though people were mean and said he couldn’t. He put all of his thinking power (that wasn’t being used to watch bluey) into thinking of a way to help his brother. He couldn’t do a whole lot, being three limited him a lot in that way, but he knew someone who could definitely help. With newly refreshed motivation he grabbed a piece of paper and his pens and started drawing. He heard Izuku’s door open so he quickly put his mini project into his bookbag and jumped up to run over to him. 

“Are we making dinner now?” He asked with excitement, jumping up and down as he spoke. 

Izuku yawned and stretched his arms with a tired smile, he always looked tired, even though he said he was ok. 

“Yep little chef, we’re making chicken noodles, not super exciting but we still get to make something right?”
Yuzuki nodded enthusiastically and ran to wash his hands. Izuku had told him once that the food was clean, and if it wasn't clean it could make them ill. When he got back to the kitchen Izuku had already got out all the ingredients they would need, Yuzuki didn’t know where he got it all from, when he looked in the cupboards he could never see anything nice to eat. He pulled a chair from the dining table over to the kitchen counter so he could reach the surface. 

“Ok Zuki I’m going to do the chopping and boil the water, but you’re in charge of measuring and weighing, sound good?” 

Yuzuki nodded and took the chicken Izuku handed him to place in the scale. He squinted at the number it showed. 

“We want One One Five. Can you see what the scale says?” Izuku mentioned helpfully as he boiled some water for the noodles.Yuzuki looked at the numbers again. There was a one, a two and another one. 

“It says One Two One, what should we do?” He asked, tapping at the scale impatiently. 

Izuku lifted the chicken out of the pot it was in on top of the scale and cut off a little bit before placing it back onto the scale. 

“That number’s bigger than what we want so we need to cut off a little bit.” 

Yuzuki looked back at the scale, the number was different now. 

“It says…” He took a moment to carefully read the numbers. “One, and another One and a five. That's what we wanted!” He took the pot off the scale and carefully handed it to Izuku. 

“Yes good job Zuki, now can you put the noodles in the pan then i’ll pour the water on them. 

The brothers ate well that night, sitting in front of the newest episode of SMASH!!! And Yuzuki went to sleep, content and happy. 

The next morning when Izuku dropped him off at daycare, he had a plan. He marched inside the building with purpose and quickly located Rio playing with the dinosaur toys. His friend looked up with his yellow eyes through his glasses and gave a big wave. Yuzuki waved back and sat down beside him, he cleared the space in front of them of dinosaurs causing Rio to give an indignant huff.

“I was playing with those.” He pouted while crossing his arms. 

“I have something very important I need your help with.” Yuzuki reached into his red book bag and pulled out the poster he had been working on the day before. In his best bold handwriting it read ‘GIT ZUKU TO BE PLICE’. He pointed at the poster.
“Izuku wanted to be a policeman but because he doesn’t have a quirk everyone’s really mean to him and they said he can't be a policeman. Do you think your dad will help?” 

Rio studied the poster with as much intensity as a three year old could have before nodding decidedly. 

“I will bring this… pro- propose to my dad. He will help I’m sure.” 

Yuzuki held out his pinky finger. “Do you have a pinky promise?” He asked seriously. Rio nodded with a matching degree and linked his pinky finger together with Yuzuki’s. 

Rio packed the poster into his own bag and they started discussing strategies to get Rio’s dad to agree to help. 

The next day Rio greeted him with a large triumphant grin. 

“My dad agreed to help, and he told me about this experimental programme they were planning on running where instead of going to highschool people can go to an intensive police academy and when they get out they can instantly become detectives!” He reached into his bag and pulled out an official looking paper with loads of words on it.
“He said this explains everything. And even better, he made sure that there’s no rules against quirkless people! And you can only get into it by a senior officer recommending you and my dad agreed to recommend your brother!” 

Yuzuki smiled a massive smile and grabbed the paper from Rio’s hand, tucking it safely into his bag. 

“My brothers gonna get to be a police!” He rushed forwards and hugged his best friend tightly. “But now I want to play chefs.” 

Rio groaned, but Yuzuki could tell he was joking. “Fineeee I guess, we can play chefs, what are we making?” 

“How about… Chicken noodles?” 

“But that's so plain!” 

“And that is our challenge, we need to make a not nice meal, nice. That's what spices and seasonings are for. Izuku told me!” 

“Alright, where do we start?” 

At the end of the day Yuzuki waited patiently for his brother, he was playing a board game with Suki san when Yakoto san poked his head into the room, the words hadn’t even left his mouth before Yuzuki was on his feet and running to his older brother. 

“Izuku! Izuku I have a big surprise for you but I’ll only tell you when we get home.” He was practically vibrating with excitement and the surprise at his enthusiasm was visible on Izuku’s face. 

“Woah slow down Zuki, we’ll go home in a second, why don't you go and get your bag first then we can go home, ok?”
Yuzuki nodded and sprinted towards the cloakroom, he grabbed the bag off his peg, quickly made sure the paper was still inside it before running back to Izuku who had just finished talking with the teachers. 

“Lets go lets go! C’mon!” He grabbed Izuku’s hand and pulled him out of the building. Izuku allowed himself to be dragged along half the way home before he started walking normally instead, making sure to hold Yuzuki’s hand. 

“Don’t I even get a little hint at what this big surprise is?” Izuku asked. 

“Nope! That would ruin the surprise.” 

“Is ittt, a unicorn?” 

“What no! Don't be silly, we could never keep a unicorn in the apartment.” 

“Good point, then maybe it's a tiny unicorn?” 

“No, those don't exist.” 

“Ah yes silly me.” 

Izuku continued to make guesses at the surprise until they got home, where Yuzuki led him to the couch and pushed him down onto it. He reached into his bag and pulled out the paper, but hid it behind his back. 

“Ok Zuku, the surprise is, I figured out a way to get you to be a police!” 

Izuku smiled his tired smile. “That's very nice Zuki, but I just dont think there is a way.”
Yuzuki pressed his hand against Izuku’s mouth, effectively shushing him. 

“No, I figured out a way, a real way I swear. Pinky promise.” He held out his pinky earnestly. Izuku shrugged and locked his far larger pinky around Yuzuki’s. 

“Alright then, show me what you have.”

Yuzuki smiled and started a drumroll on the coffee table, Izuku joined in with his own drum roll on his thighs. 

“I present to you, the super secret police programme!” With a flourish he pulled out the sheet of paper he had held behind his back and laid it on the table in front of Izuku. The older boy leaned closer and started reading the paper, his expression unreadable. Yuzuki sat himself down next to him on the sofa and peered over his shoulder, it was all words in very fine print which he couldn’t read, but Izuku was smart he could read it.
“And I made sure, they let in everyone, even if you don't have a quirk!” He added proudly. 

Izuku pointed at a line on the paper. “But it says here I need to be recommended to get in?” 

“Rio’s dad says he’ll recommend you! He’s a detective, he’s even worked with All Might! Isn’t that so awesome?”
Izuku didn’t say anything, instead he sat staring at the paper. Then he suddenly pulled Yuzuki into a tight hug, his eyes filled with tears. His body shook uncontrollably and he said nothing even as Yuzuki nervously tried to ask what was wrong. He hugged his brother back, squeezing him as tightly as he could manage.
Finally Izuku pulled back and with a tear filled smile shook his head and managed to choke out, 

“Nothing’s wrong Zuki, these are happy tears, promise. I’m just so fucki- freaking happy.” 

Then he was back to suffocating his little brother with an absolute bear hug.
“So I did good?” Yuzuki’s muffled voice asked. Izuku gave no verbal answer, only nodded with a massive grin, and let his brother out so he could breathe for a moment. 

“You did amazingly, as a treat we can do whatever you want this weekend, as long as its not too expensive, yeah?” 

Yuzuki nodded, he had achieved his mission, and Izuku was happy. 

Chapter Text

Izuku couldn’t stop smiling, it was infectious, it spread across his face and made his cheeks burn with how much he’d been using them. But it wouldn’t go away. Even as he tucked Yuzuki into bed and read him a story, or as he started to put on his uniform for work that night, McDonalds would literally hire a twelve year old off the street to work the nightshift apparently, and a desperate fifteen year old? Who better! He grabbed his bag, ensured the lights were off, and crept out the house through his window, using the fire escape to get back to street level. He kept to populated areas and well lit paths as he made his way towards his place of work, for Thursdays, Fridays Saturdays and Sundays. Mondays Tuesdays and Wednesdays he worked at a local florist afterschool. He reached town centre and his feet guided him along the familiar route to the location he spent his evenings at. 

He slipped in through the back entrance and pulled on his apron and hat, he briefly nodded hello to a few of his acquaintances and started work on an order, why they ordered ten individual buns and one cheese burger he will never know, and he didn’t care. He prepared the food with the efficiency only a man who has worked at a fast food joint during the holiday season at lunch has, whilst listening to a conversation a few of his coworkers were having, it wasn’t peak time so there were only a dozen or so orders to fulfil, and most of the customers in there were slightly sketchy looking teens who hung around with their hoods up. 

Izuku switched with someone so he was working the till, most people just used the machines, the only reason the till existed was to take cash payments. He stood behind the counter with a bored expression, idly people watching and occasionally taking orders. He saw the sparks of a fire quirk flicker and quickly called, 

“No quirk use please, take it outside if you want to because I'm not paid enough to deal with this shit.” Which was an honest statement. 

The culprit was one of the kids grouped up in the corner, all with their hoods pulled so they were covering their faces. The one who had used their quirk glanced up and flipped off Izuku, Izuku took that to mean he got the message and went back to discreetly messaging on discord. After a moment the kid who had used his quirk came up to the counter. 

“Can I help you?” Izuku asked in his best ‘fuck off dont talk to me’ customer service voice, and smiled sweetly.

“I don't know, can you?” they retorted in a low voice. 

Izuku took a step back, this was starting to look like a mildly problematic situation, and he had school tomorrow. 

“I can give you an extra chicken nugget in your box?” he replied nervously, his hand resting on the panic button under the counter. 

The person activated their quirk, small red flamed licking against their hand and curling around their fingers. Izuku’s hand moved to the silent panic button. 

“I think you could help us by giving me all the money in that register there.” Their voice was sharp now, almost at a growl. Izuku nodded slightly, using the movement to disguise his press of the button. 

“Look man there’s barely anything of value in here anyway, a-are you sure you w-w-want it?” Izuku’s stutter started to come back, he thought he kicked that habit but apparently not. 

The other two people who had been standing in the corner with the current problem walked up behind them, they were both tall, probably around six ft, both wore dark loose fitting hoodies which disguised their physiques. 

“This guy ain’t giving you problems is he Stella?” One said, their voice far higher pitched than their appearance suggested, but the flexing hand and bruised knuckles clearly showed him they had made sure they were not underestimated. The original shook their head and the flames on their fist rose a centimetre higher. 

“I think we’re all good here, aren’t we?”
Izuku nodded silently, eyes fixed on the flames. His coworkers had started to notice the disturbance now and started quietly making their way out the back exit.

 Izuku’s heart rate began to rise as his eyes fixed on the brightness which coiled around the outstretched fingers of its master, a serpentine creature which made its way ever closer to him, and he could do nothing to stop its advance. They were going to burn it down, it would go up in flames, he would be stuck in the smoke filled room- again. The ash and dust creeped down his throat, infecting his lungs so he couldn’t breathe. 

His vision distorted as he reached into the register and pulled out whatever was inside, he needed it to go away, his hands shook as he handled the money, placing it inside the bag, eyes never leaving the fire which smouldered a few feet from his face. He felt his face dampen with tears, he didn’t know how to stop it. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, the blood rushing to his head, his breathing became short sharp gasps. He didn’t know what they were saying anymore, he just needed to leave, but with the fire in front of him there was nowhere to run, he couldn’t run. Why couldn’t he breathe? 

The ringleader of the group peered into the bag and nodded to their friends, they grabbed the bag filled with cash and calmly walked out of the building. Leaving Izuku alone behind the counter, the building empty of employees or customers. He leant over and threw up. 

The police came at some point, he gave his statement, he couldn’t really remember giving it. He just wanted to leave, to get out. He walked out with his uniform still on, his feet guided him home, it was like he was playing a video game and he was the character. One foot in front of the other, climb this ladder, go through the window. Stay silent. Don't wake them up. Lay in the bed, sleep. 

He closed his eyes, and climbed into bed, not bothering to change, his pillow quickly grew sodden with tears. 

Izuku’s eyes snapped open, his breathing came in short bursts, he jumped up and scanned the room. Wait- what was he looking for? And why was he in his work uniform? He must have had a nightmare. He looked out the window, the sun was rising, that meant it was morning time, time to wake up. He got out of bed, and rubbed his eyes. His forehead was covered in a cold sweat, but he needed to make lunch for Yuzuki. And eat breakfast, food was important.

He wandered out of his bedroom, contemplating the apartment around him, he hadn’t really contemplated in a while, it was weird to just look and think. His body worked on autopilot, the routine was so familiar he hardly even needed to focus as he prepared the bento. He ate breakfast, did a few commissions, finished up his homework and finally decided to check his phone. 

He blinked blearily at the bright display and squinted past the bright light, the time read. 

04:38 AM. That was.. Earlier than he thought, a lot earlier. He also had a lot of notifications, he ignored the ones from social media and looked at his messaging apps. 

Boss(MaccyD’s): Where are you?
    Why didn’t you finish your shift? 

[unknown number]: Hello, this is Naomasa Tsukauchi, I was hoping to discuss with you about the training programme I recommended via my son. You sound like a very bright young man. 

Mum : I'm going out, be back tomorrow, keys and money are in the bowl. 

He decided to deal with that later. Instead he took the free time to do some analysis. When the memories of the day before hit him with the force of a sledge hammer. The fire, the people leering over him. His heart began to beat faster again, he now noticed his room was dark. He turned on the lights, the creatures in the corners of the room retreated for now, back to the relative safety of his mind. He sat back down, but when his phone gave the same alarm tone it did every day at 5:30 his doc remained at the same word count as it was before. 

He sat down at school with a blank expression, trying to make as little noise as possible, to shrink in on himself. It worked in elementary school. Why wouldn’t it work again? Bakugo kept stealing glances at him, Izuku noticed out of the corner of his eye, he ducked his head lower and focussed on his algebra worksheet. The tasks on the sheet almost felt too easy, like they were teasing him, lulling him into a false sense of security. But he refused to be tricked. They would find him, the fire would follow him and the smoke would choke him, its creator would stand and laugh whilst Izuku desperately clawed at the air with tears blurring his vision. The same laugh he had all those years ago, with a voice raspy from years of fire breathing. 

At break he found himself alone in the room with Bakugo, who walked over to his desk and slammed his hand down, Izuku did not look up, he continued to stare at his shoes. If he ignored it- it would go away. It might go away. Bakugo huffed and ignited a small explosion to get his attention, Izuku jumped, leaning backwards away from it. 

“Nerd, you’ve been off all day, it's weirding me out.” Katsuki inflicted the words with his usual venom but Izuku noticed something different, an almost concerned undertone. 

“I’m fine, just a long night.” Izuku continued to cautiously eye the hand which produced the explosion, Katsuki seemed to notice and took a step back and allowed Izuku some space.
“Bullshit, i’ve seen you with bags deeper than that under your eyes, something else has got you all fucked in the head.” The words seemed distant. 

“Just a little problem at work.” Izuku stated absently. 

“What? Burnt a patty or something and your boss got pissed?” 

“No no, just a little robbery, nothing bad happened. Some people got a bit too power hungry with their quirks I expect, I dealt with it just fine.” 

Katsuki’s eyes widened.

“You got held at quirkpoint and you just came into school like nothings wrong?” He spluttered in disbelief. Izuku laughed softly. 

“I already said, no biggie, dont worry about me.” 

Katsuki pulled a chair up opposite Izuku and stared into his eyes, Izuku stared back into the blonde’s. Red eyes, they were dark with flecks of reflected light making them look almost gold at times. Like fireworks at the point of explosion, just as all the power and intensity struggled to get out, reaching and sparking out of their spherical prison in a final power struggle at the peak of their ascent. 

“I’m going to stare into your damn nerd ass face until you admit you’re not ok.” 

Izuku blinked owlishly. “Ok.” 

“Ok like you’re admitting you’re not ok or ok I can stare at you?” 

“Huh?” 

“Ok I’m taking that as a Im not ok, ok and now i'm going to.. How do people comfort?” 

He pulled out his phone and typed something, he frowned at the screen.

 “Well this shit’s useless, make them happy, what do you think i’m trying to do Felisha Blogs 23?”

 He continued tapping on his phone with a frustrated expression, Izuku laughed lightly. 

“According to Felisha, laughing is a sign of happiness so I guess I did something right.” Katsuki commented with a satisfied smirk. He paused for a moment. 

“Wiki how says I should give physical contact? Like hugging? Hah! Like I’d do that!” He snorted and continued scrolling. “Ok how about initiating conversation. What do you like talking about? Ok so you like your dumb little notebook, and heroes, there’s some common ground. And we both like mini nerd.” 

“Yuzuki likes cooking.” Izuku blurted out. Bakugo grinned like a feral dog.
“And he’s learning from you? I need to hang out with you guys sometime so he can learn from the best.” 

Izuku gasped with offence. “No, I’m certainly the best, I don't know what you’re talking about.”
“You? I have seen and tasted your cooking, it tastes like you used dog crap for seasoning.” 

“I use normal herbs for seasoning, thank you very much.” 

The two continued to banter, and Izuku found himself distracted with the mindless talking. 

The bell rang, and Katsuki started to move back to his seat but he paused, and gave Izuku a short, tight squeeze. It happened so fast it could almost be passed off as a trick of the light. A hug, from Bakugo Katsuki. 

That night Izuku smiled as he tucked Yuzuki into bed, despite the deep bags under his eyes and the fatigue that he was dragging around like a ball and chain. He went to work that night with a smile, and only slightly hesitated at the back entrance, before stepping inside with something that could not quite be described as confidence but perhaps tentative hope. He was on a roll with his orders, (and thankfully didn’t get put on till duty again), burgers were flying off his grill like it was a rush hour, he even talked to people. Actually interacted with his coworkers for once. It was a nice change of pace, almost like the universe was giving a big thumbs up sign and saying ‘go for it!’. 

His shift ended without a hitch, and he arrived home to collapse on his bed. Instantly falling into the comforting depths of the dream world. 

He awoke the next morning and stretched, smiling at the satisfying pop his joints made as he stretched them out. He prepared Yuzuki’s bento and his own lunch before going to wake up his brother. 

Izuku tentatively opened the door and moved to open the blinds, only to find them already open, the string tangled in the shelves beside it. Behind the haphazard blinds the window was open, scorch marks covering the window sill. With a slowly rising heart rate he moved to turn the light on and surveyed the room, toys and pillows were strewn across the floor, the lego set Yuzuki had been building was unceremoniously crushed under a far larger foot than that of a three year old, the pieces scattered around the room likely never to be reassembled again. The bed lay empty, aside from a small paper note which lay on the pillow. Looking as innocent and unremarkable as a bug, but Izuku’s hands trembled as he picked it up. 

I have your son, Inko

Don't call the police and don't try to find him. It will only make things worse. 

You can have him back, if he does what I want him to do. 

-Your dearly departed. 

Izuku crumpled the note in his hand, his heartbeat audible in his ears. Whoever this was he was going to fucking murder. And they had done it to get at Inko, they clearly didn’t know what she actually cared about, not her kids, money and booze. 

Izuku wasn’t going to find his brother, and he would not let anything stop him.