Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A tiny shadow dashed through the back alleys. Running from the sounds of explosions and howling laughter. The small green child the shadow belonged to did his best to ignore the burning pain in his ankle, the sprain from being shoved into the flower bed earlier at recess rearing its ugly head. 

The tiny twelve year old turned into another opening as it came up, only to skid to a stop as he realized his mistake. The thin space between a hardware store and an old gym wasn't square, and, where the Gym was obviously trying to snag that tiny bit more space, narrowed the alley down until it ended in a dirty wedge piled high with wind blown trash.

The hunted child did his best to make it back to the entrance of the dead space, almost making it out and back into the maze. But an arm caught him around the neck right as he tried to make yet another break for freedom. The choking pressure used his own momentum to launch him backwards to his doom.

Green eyes teared up as the scrawny boy fell to the ground, coughing as his stunned throat fought with his lungs when they lost their breath on impact with the dirty asphalt. A foot to the chest, knocking him back further and pressing with the full body weight of the healthier preteen didn't really help that predicament either. "Damn Deku." His main assailant growled. "You should know better than to run from your beatings. Dirt like you should just lay down and take what you deserve!"

The point was highlighted when the foot pinning the small boy to the ground shifted to lodge itself sharply into his ribs. Izuku Midoriya gagged as bile crawled up his throat. The lack of air and fresh pain making itself known. The other kids who had followed them through the maze of backstreets and sideroads behind their school cackled as they finished surrounding their target in the tight space they found themselves in. Converging on their downed peer at a signal from their leader.

The smallest boy finally managed to suck in a breath, only to release it as a howl when one of his attackers stomped harshly on his already injured ankle. The dark chuckles at his sounds of pain were only accented by more blows. One after the other. Again and again. Kicks, punches, slaps, and stomps. Nothing was off limits, especially not their quirks.

And maybe Izuku shouldn't have tried to run earlier. He hadn't been able to get away fully on his bad foot. And they had instead just caught him further away from any prying eyes. And the adrenaline of a good chase was racing through their veins. His mistake was emphasized by the primal viciousness of his beating.

Claw-like nails raked down his back, shredding the cheap school uniform jacket and shirt. The ruined fabric pulled away as another of his classmates stooped to kneel with his shin pinned across the back of their target's neck, keeping him fairly still as their leader stepped back into play.

Katsuki Bakugo grinned as he raised his palms to the sky, showing off his tiny warm up pops. Basking in the excited whoops and hollers from his goons. His red eyes watched in excited fascination as his ex best friend did his best to thrash his way free, his fear palpable at the familiar sound and smell of the quirk that had tormented him for years.

The blonde let the tension build for a minute or two. Then he crouched down next to his favorite punching bag, the others around them quieting in anticipation. "Dekuuuu… One day you'll remember your place without a reminder. But until then… Well, let's give you something to carry around to jog your memory."

With that Bakugo placed his hands in between the other's exposed shoulder blades, letting his quirk loose with an almost deafening bang. Almost, but they could all still hear the shriek of agony even over the sound of explosive force.

With that they released the pitiful quirkless freak and walked away, laughing and talking amongst themselves about what they wanted to do now that their lesson was over. Debating karaoke and an arcade.

Izuku was left in a dazed heap, doing his best to get air in between his now silent screams. After a moment the shock of his situation started to set in, starting with tingling in his fingertips. His head spinning as his brain tried to process pain and damage. An involuntary twitch of an arm making his vision white out before his body gave up trying to make sense of things and everything went black.

___

Green eyes opened slowly, hazy and unfocused. Not able to process much besides the grey of concrete and the green of a recycling bin. After a few minutes the small teen lying prone on the ground risked a twitch of his fingers. When they responded with minimal added pain he moved up to his wrists, then his elbows. He was well versed in checking for damage by this point in his short life. He decided to hold off on his shoulders for a moment, the familiar tightness of the fresh burns warning him from attempting that too soon.

So he started with his toes instead, hissing when his left ankle very much did not work correctly. Taking a deep breath before testing his knees. Then he gently slid his arms out a bit so he could get his hands to his ribs while moving his back as little as possible though he couldn't get away without his shoulder blades moving a bit. He grit his teeth at the flare of pain, blinking the tears out of his eyes and checking that none of his ribs were too broken.

From there he let himself rest for a minute, taking in the fact that the sun was almost set, twilight settling over the city. He turned his head to look the other way, noting a light high up on the back of the gym that looked whole enough to maybe work. He decided he would try to sit up once it was turned on, he needed to see how bad the bruising on his abdomen was in an effort to check for internal injuries. 

He waited, doing his best to psyche himself up as the last of the sunlight faded from the sky. A few minutes later the timer on the fixture seemed to finally go off and the yellow bulb buzzed as it switched on, flickering steadily. He took a deep breath and forced himself to keep his self-imposed schedule.

He rolled half into one side, bracing himself with an arm as he started to lever himself up. He went slowly, working through the shakes as he managed to get to his knees. The small boy took another breath before letting what was left of his uniform top and shirt slide off of his arms. He hissed as the tender burns stretched a bit but pushed through checking on his chest and belly, cringing at the sight of the red splotches that were already starting to turn into bruises. At least he didn't think he was dying right at that moment.

He took a little bit longer to try and think over his plan of action. Eventually he decided that he had to move. He wasn't sure if this alleyway was safe or not, he needed to get back to his little place in the park. The spot under the bushes behind the gardeners shed. He would be safe if he could get there. Plus that was where his first aid kit was, hidden amongst the overgrown ivy.

He should really get back 'home' sooner rather than later. The small boy took a few more minutes of bracing himself before he shifted to get his good foot underneath himself. He stood slowly, praying his left ankle would be good enough to shuffle around on, he really didn't think he had the ability to hop all of the way to the park.

Shakily he took a step forwards, only to gasp when his bad ankle did indeed give out under his weight. In an effort to keep from falling on his face he shifted back into his right foot quickly. Too quickly as it turned out. The movement sent him overbalancing and crashing the point of his shoulder into the brick wall beside him.

If you asked him later he would say he just slid to the ground. But in reality, as the pain of a harsh blow spread across the blistering skin across his back he screamed. His legs folded weakly as he once again slipped into the void of unawareness. Left slumped leaning against the wall that had caused the issue, glazed eyes half open as he stared out unseeingly.

Time passed by without his acknowledgement. The aftershocks throbbing through the burns and down his spine. He wanted to thrash and scream, but he knew from experience that moving would be an awful idea. It was the slow ticklish touch of warm liquid down his back that brought him back fully into the present. He wondered at the sensation for a moment before he realized that he must have popped some of the blisters. If he could see it he bet the liquid would be blood.

Fighting back a shutter he accepted the fact that he wouldn't be returning to his safe space quickly. He shifted slightly so more of his arm and side was pressed to the wall instead of the now bruised part of his shoulder. The pale preteen settled in to at least wait for the fresh blood to clot up a bit and so he could rest for a minute. Feeling more tired than he thought reasonable since he technically only woke up a bit ago after passing out the first time. He guessed fainting wasn't as restful as a nap.

___

Pro Hero Eraserhead jumped from rooftop to light pole to rooftop. Making his way through his regular second Friday night of an even month patrol route. It was similar to his other patrol routes. But just different enough to be able to stop most people from predicting his movements.

It's not paranoia. He's not paranoid. He has a legitimate concern. And plenty of reasons to take precautions. 

He leapt for a balcony, hanging off one handed and braced with his feet as he peered down the alleyway next to the small apartment building. This was one of the many entrances to his least favorite part of town. A maze of run down buildings and tiny shops. All homes and haunts to the seedier types. He actually passed through there at least four times a night, sometimes more on weekends or holidays. This would be the first sweep of his shift.

Once he was sure the popular drug deal location was empty he launched back up to the roofs, pausing occasionally to check specific trouble areas or to listen closer to sounds that caught his attention. This area was never quiet. The sounds of drunken laughter and loud music a constant. And Eraserhead was proud of himself and how well he had trained his hearing to pick up the distant sounds of fighting or other trouble over the noise of the district.

So when he heard the tiniest of whimpers he stopped in his tracks, trying to determine where the sound had come from. A slight rustle gave him a direction and he hopped over to the next building, an old gym of some sort, peering over the edge when he got to the other side.

Surprisingly the tiny dead end space was sort of lit, even if the yellow bulb was flickering like it was taking its last breath. And sitting propped up by a wall stained with damp was a small child. The hero's first thought was wondering what a kid was doing out so late, his second was wondering where his shirt was.

The kid was moving oddly, disjointedly. That was a bad sign. The hero quickly scaled his way down, landing in a crouch a couple of yards in front of the small figure on the ground. The kid didn't seem to see him, raising their left arm across their body like they were going to press against the wall and try to stand.

Eraserhead figured he should probably stop them. Now that he was close enough he could see the bruises practically covering his small frame, even in the shitty lighting. Whatever had happened here had been brutal. Staying in his crouched position he made an effort to keep his voice calm and low, not wanting to startle him too badly. "Hey kid, need some help?"

Unfortunately he did still manage to scare the tiny thing. Bright green eyes snapped open, fear apparent as the boy reared back a bit before hissing and collapsing back in on himself. The pro raised his hands, showing they were empty. Doing his best to look at least a little less threatening. He knew his appearance wasn't exactly the most approachable, had cultivated it to be that way, but sometimes he wished he had a little less of a love of black. If only it didn't hide blood stains so well. "Hey now. Relax ok? I'm a hero. I just want to know if I can help you." 

Watching as hazy green studied him in the flickering light was a bit surreal. He was almost certain he caught the moment when the kid placed who he was. "Eraserhead?" The name was slurred and a bit garbled from what sounded like a sore throat. But that was definitely his hero name.

Taking a deep breath he nodded slowly. "That's right. So, can you tell me what all hurts?" 

There was a full minute of tense decision making where Shouta could do nothing but sit back and try not to pressure the small boy in front of him. But eventually the decision he was hoping for did come. The tiny scrap of a kid deflating, folding in on himself a bit with a resigned look. "My back." 

The man frowned, wondering what kind of damage he wasn't seeing if the kids back hurt more than what his front must be. "Ok. I'm going to go around you to take a look. I have some first aid stuff in my belt so we can try to take care of it. That alright with you?" The boy flinched like he tried an aborted shrug, before giving a small nod instead. Truthfully he looked anything but ok with that suggestion but if he wasn't going to protest then Eraserhead would take what he could get.

He did his best to keep low as he edged around, not wanting to make things worse by looming. He couldn't hold back a curse when he was able to go far enough to see the bloody burn across the kid's shoulders. "How did this happen?"

The world weary sighed response of, "Pissed off the wrong person." Was too heavy for someone so young. But the hero was too busy pulling out his phone to think too much on it.

He started scrolling through his contacts pulling up one of his most used. "I'm going to have to call help in for this kid. There's nothing I can really do with what I have." The child in front of him stiffened back up at the announcement, starting to protest even as Shouta found the number he was looking for.

"No. I've already wasted enough of your time. You can just continue on your patrol and I'll go home here in a bit!" Green eyes were wide with fear as they looked as far as they could over a burned shoulder. A twitch of a leg as the kid tried to look further without twisting brought some clarity to the situation. Bright red caught the light and Shouta suddenly understood the situation a whole world more.

Dark eyes snapped to the distinctive red sneakers. Eye catching red. Danger red. Quirkless red. He had seen enough of that shade on the feet of the dead to know exactly what it meant. No hospitals then. "Would you mind coming back to a friend of mine's? She has a healing quirk and owes me a favor."

"You really shouldn't bother sir. I'll be fine." Green eyes looked away, as if trying to disengage with the conversation. But yeah. No. Shouta was not letting this go so easily.

"Kid. I cannot in good conscience leave you here. So you have two options, either we head over to my friend's place. Or you come back to mine and I call her over. Honestly that second one would probably be better in the end. You could stay in the guest room for the night and then we could figure out what else needs to be done tomorrow-"

"Sir. I'm quirkless. You can go, it's ok."

Oh. The kid honestly thought that. He thought that Eraserhead didn't know his status and would leave when he did know. And the resignation in his voice spoke of experience with that very scenario. But the kid had never dealt with Shouta before. "I know you're quirkless. I saw your shoes. It doesn't matter and I'm not leaving you here. Now I'm going to call a friend to bring a car, he should be able to get to the street so I will have to carry you out to it. Think about where you want to go while we wait."

He hit the call button and brought his phone up to his ear, seeming to ignore the look of bafflement he was being given. He was answered after only three rings. It was early enough in the night that Hizashi was probably still up at the studio doing background busy work. "Heya Shou! What is up on this rockin' night?!"

"Zashi. I need a pick up. Can you bring a car?" The underground hero could almost hear his best friend switch modes. The sound of a rolling chair and the jingle of keys coming clearly over the line.

"Send me your location. What's going on? Do you need an ambulance or the police?"

The dark haired man huffed. "I'm not the one that's hurt. But my friend here can't really go to the hospital. I'll probably call Tsukauchi later when I know more but for right now will you call and wake up Chiyo? I don't wanna. If she gives you hell tell her I'm calling in that favor from the class 3-H in gym gamma incident." There were some grumbles but the voice hero did agree to make the call before he hung up, Shouta immediately sending the blonde his location.

He probably had like 5 minutes if Hizashi drove like his normal demonic self. "Hey kid. You got a name?" He shuffled back so he could kneel infront of the tiny human once more, not wanting him to stain himself by trying to twist again.

The confusion on the battered face before him pulled at the pro's very weak heartstrings. "...Izuku?"

"Ok Izuku. You can call me either Eraserhead or Aizawa. Do you know if you want to go to my friends place or my apartment? She probably won't mind too much either way. For all that she acts like a grumpy grandma she's really a big softie."

"Uhm… y-your place I guess?" Made sense. He probably saw Shouta as the safer option since he hadn't met Chiyo yet.

"Sounds good. Means I get to sleep in my own bed tonight and I'll never say no to that." He tried to get the boy to relax a bit with a joke. He wasn't sure if he succeeded but at least he made an attempt. 

Hizashi chose that moment to pull up to the end of the alley. Quickly getting out and heading in their direction. "Eraser? You ok down there?!"

"Yeah Mic. I'm going to need your help getting him in the car though." By that point the blonde had reached them and quickly squatted down half behind his friend upon seeing the object of his concern.

"Hey there lil' listener. Rough night?" The boy didn't answer the sort of rhetorical question. Instead looking back at Shouta with wide eyes. "YOU are friends with PRESENT MIC?"

"I know right? I'm not sure how it happened either." That atleast got the kid to crack a small smile, bemused as it might have been. "Alright kid. I'm going to have to pick you up to get you in the car. Can you put your arms around my neck to make it easier?"

A moment pause before the boy shook his head. "Uhm… if I raise them I'll probably pass out again."

Well that wasn't worrying at all. "Again? How many times have you passed out?"

"..Twice I think?

He took a deep breath. "Right ok. I'll make sure thats passed along to the medical professional. Ok… I still need to pick you up. So I'm going to have Mic help you move your arms. It's going to hurt but we won't let anything happen if you pass out. That ok with you? Or do you have any other ideas on how to do this that would be more comfortable for you?"

"...No. Let's… just get it over with I guess?"

The pro nodded, impressed and depressed by the practical and composed acceptance of the situation and what needed to be done. "Right. Well then. Mic?" He scooted forwards, further into the kids' space, not ideal but necessary. And the blonde behind him shuffled to be beside the kid and close enough to help manipulate the small body into a hold.

In the end he was holding the, obviously woosy, boy on his hip like one would hold a toddler. It was the best way they could settle him to stop him from touching the burns that were already bleeding again. Mic raced off to open the back door to his car. 

It took a moment to get the kid into the seat. They sat him down and helped him turn and lie flat on his belly on the black leather. Black leather because Mic was a hero and knew well his best friend's hate for ambulances. Once the kid was as comfortable as they could make it Hizashi went around to the driver's seat. Aizawa himself shoved the front passenger seat up as far as he could before crouching in the foot well behind it so he could help keep the kid still as they drove.

Once they were in, Mic took off, trying to go fast but also not be too erratic with his turns and things. No reason to jostle their little rescue after all. By the time they got to Aizawa's building, Chiyo's own car was there. Parked in a visitor's spot. Most likely she had used the spare key hidden behind a loose brick to let herself in so she could set up her equipment.

They managed to get the kid out without too much more pain, and then it was just a matter of getting him to the apartment. It was three flights of stairs, and not the first time Shouta had regretted choosing a place without an elevator 

Recovery Girl was indeed inside, boiling water at the stove to sterilize it. Her shock when turning to find Eraserhead carrying a small child was obvious. But at the first clear sight of injuries on the kid she kicked into gear. "Get him settled on the bed Shouta-kun. Hizashi take over here. Bring the water when the timer goes off."

She rushed to her patient as he sat on the edge of the bed, starting her normal round of basic questions. The boy seemed to clam up fully in front of her though, looking uncomfortable and refusing to speak, only answering with nods or head shakes.

Chiyo adjusted her questions accordingly, asking them all in ways that could be answered yes or no. They wouldn't be getting much info on what happened out of him that way, but that wasn't her job. No. Her job was making sure the kid was alive to tell his story when he was ready.

And boy did she have her work cut out for her. She counted two broken ribs, an ankle that was also most likely broken, 29 contusions, countless bruises, and the massive burn across his shoulders.

How the boy wasn't dead from shock she had no clue. But she wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. No, she was just going to bring the horse back up to health.

It took an hour of cleaning and disinfecting, but she was able to give him a kiss, sending his already faltering consciousness plummeting into a restful slumber.

She glared down Aizawa once she was done, getting the story of what little he knew before she slumped forwards with a sigh. She had noticed the extra toe joint while she was checking his broken ankle. But having this confirmed as a likely hate crime didn't make her feel any better.

With a sigh she started packing up her go bag. "I want him at UA in the morning. You can leave him resting with me for the day and I can make sure those bones heal correctly."

The underground hero nodded. "Of course. Thank you for your help."

"Don't thank me. I owed you after you saved my intern during that whole quirk accident debacle." The man rolled his eyes. "I still don't see how you owe me for that. They were my students too." They settled back into the familiar argument as the dark haired man escorted her to the door.

Once she was gone he all but collapsed against the closed door with a sigh, turing to find his oldest friend standing behind him. "You staying the night?" Hizashi nodded before running a hand through his messy hair.

"Right. You know where the couch is. The guest bed is taken." That got a snort of amusement from the other man as they headed towards the bathroom, knowing this little ritual by heart. Hizashi showered first while Shouta set out clothes for the both of them. Then they switched and Shouta showered while the blonde went through his extensive hair and skin care routine, using the extra products he kept hidden on his personal shelf in the cabinet.

From there they both headed for the kitchen for a quick cup of tea. Aizawa making a call to his favorite detective in order to schedule a meeting for the next day. He might be ok to keep the kid for tonight but they would have to figure out next steps as soon as possible 

Once they both had a mug of sleepy time tea in their hands they parted ways. Hizashi to the couch, Aizawa to his lovely, wonderful, amazing, bed. If he was going to be home early he was going to make the best use of that extra time.

As he passed he peeked into the open door of the guest room, checking on his rescue one more time before he slipped away to get his first full night's sleep in a year.

Chapter Text

Waking up his sleeping guest seemed almost criminal. The exhausted boy was slumbering so peacefully, laid out on his side and snoring quietly.

But they needed to leave in less than an hour and he wanted to make sure Izuku was fed well before he handed him over to Chiyo's tender mercies. So waking him was the only choice. With a sigh he crouched down a bit, gently resting a hand on a thin arm and giving it a little shake.

The poor kid woke with a start, eyes filled with fear before he seemed to process who he was looking at and relaxed a little bit. Shouta scrounged up as much of a reassuring smile as he could manage. "Mornin' kid. Do you want bacon or salmon with your eggs?" 

In the light of day the big green eyes in front of him almost seemed to glitter. It was one of the most adorable things the pro hero had ever seen, like a kitten begging for treats. His attention was focused back in on what he had asked fairly quickly though. Izuku sat up quickly, a frown on his face. "Y-you don't need to feed me Mr. Eraserhead! I uh- You've already done too much with patching me up. I can never thank you enough." The tiny boy twisted around so he could awkwardly bow from his position on the bed.

Shouta shot a hand out to brace a too thin shoulder to stop him, ignoring the flinch. "Woah kid. Your ribs aren't healed yet. No bowing. And of course I'm feeding you, RG asked me to bring you in to see her again today and I'm not letting her catch me NOT feeding you."

The child looked a bit confused but let the hero help him out of bed and to the bathroom, nodding when the man asked if he wanted help washing his hair in the sink. He would have offered a full shower, but the kid was swathed in bandages and there was no way to tape them all up to keep them dry.

Before they started the scrub down he poked his head out of the door to find Hizashi, "He said salmon." The blonde nodded and stood from his place still half asleep on the sofa, stumbling towards the kitchen to get started on their breakfast. Leaving the darker hero to continue helping his guest.

It turned out the kid's hair was actually a deep green, not a weird muddy black like they thought. It made the hero wonder how long it had been since the child had been able to wash, a sinking feeling in his gut told him he probably didn't want to know. Once he was towel dried to the man's satisfaction they headed out to the table, Izuku looking around curiously as they went, taking in the fairly bare bones setting. Black furniture, grey soft furnishings, and a few random colorful trinkets placed around by his friends. Shouta didn't need much. And what he bought was suited for comfort and durability.

The hero pulled out a chair for his little rescue at his table. Quickly shifting around all of the files and reports he had been reading through before his patrol the night before and stacking them out of the way on the counter. Hizashi handed him a couple of plates when he was done, grabbing one of his own and shoving three glasses and the orange juice bottle under his arm as he did so.

They got everything for breakfast settled down quickly, starting to dig in with the comfortable familiarity of two people who had shared many sleepy mornings. After a minute though, Aizawa realized that their quiet little green shadow wasn't eating. He turned to the boy with a raised eyebrow, finding the child staring at his full plate with an odd look.

"Y'gonna eat kid?" The tiny freckled thing jumped at the question, before looking up at his host. After a moment of hesitation a small hand reached out to snag the chopsticks by his plate. He ate slowly, strange for a child, almost like he was savoring every bite. With how skinny the boy was Shouta was really starting to worry about his home life.

About halfway through his plate Izuku slows further. He struggled through a few more bites before Aizawa stopped him, gently grabbing his hand holding his chopsticks when the tint to his face started matching his hair a bit too closely.

"Hey kid. You don't have to eat it all…"

"I-i don't want to w-waste it sir." And if that reply didn't set off a dozen alarm bells in his head. The training he had been through as both a hero and a teacher telling him that something was wrong there. Signs coming together to paint an uncomfortable picture. But he didn't want to push too far too fast.

Luckily Mic decided to jump in to help him, he was always better with civilians than Shouta. His bubbly personality and charisma easing his way. "Yo kiddo. No need to worry! We can wrap it up and eat it later! No big issue ya know?"

It took another few reassurances but eventually Hizashi managed to gently take the plate away, making sure he stayed visible the whole time he packed the leftover food into a small bento box Aizawa almost never used. Promising the kid he could carry it around to eat as a snack later.

After that it was easy to distract their little stray with the discussion of changing clothes. Izuku asked if they had grabbed his backpack from the alleyway the night before, to which both men had sheepishly admitted to not having seen one. So they decided that The kid would just have to live with Shouta's too big sweatpants and t-shirt for the day, and that they would hurry back and check the alley before taking him to Chiyo's. Mic sent a text to their boss as they finished getting dressed. Nezu hated when people were late without warning after all.

Aizawa had to pause in tying his boots with an amused huff to help Izuku roll up the legs of the pants after the kid tripped trying to slide his own shoes on. Neither of them noticed Hizashi snapping a quick picture while they did so, internally screaming at how cute his grumpy sourpuss of a friend looked while he helped the adorable baby who was drowning in said grump's clothes.

They wandered down to the sports car fairly quickly after that, Shouta making sure to walk down all three flights of stairs first so he could try and catch the slightly wobbly child if he actually fell. And then they were off to the scene of last night's crime, following the recorded ping Eraserhead had sent Present Mic the night before. The alley looked even worse in the daylight. Grungy and dim with stains of unknown substances being partially covered by smatterings of Izuku's blood.

They did find the bag, half hidden behind a recycling bin and a bit worse for wear. One strap ripped clean off and the whole thing singed and barely holding itself together. The men shared a look but said nothing, merely dropping the bag in the back seat with its owner as they climbed back into the car to head to UA.

They heard the rustling as Izuku rifled through his possessions but didn't look back, giving the kid the privacy he deserved while he figured out what was salvageable. They would ask him later what was too far gone and do their best to find replacements. 

The car was peaceful for the whole ride. The only noise being the early morning set being played on Put Your Hands Up, Hizashi always insisting on checking in on his station when he could. And then they pulled up to the side gate of UA. "Wh-why are we here?"

Oh. Oops, they forgot to tell the kid exactly where he would be spending his day, that was definitely an oversight on their part. Aizawa twisted around so he could get a good look at the other passenger. "Sorry kid, forgot to tell you, Mic, RG, and I all work here. Chiyo wanted you to stick with her in the nurse's office for the day."

One blink, two, and then that weird recognition he had seen twice before snapped into intelligent green eyes. "RG. The kiss last night. You had RECOVERY GIRL do a house call for me?!"

"Yes? Is that… a problem?"

Freckled fingers reached up to tug dark curls, an incredulous look on the boy's face. "I just- she's the best healer in Japan. He quirk has sparked so many advancements in the medical field. AND she's a certified pro hero! Surely she had better things to do last night then help some random Null?" 

Hizashi hissed in offense, quickly parking the car in his usual spot before turning quickly to peer around his headrest, frown on his usually relaxed and happy face. "Aye now, I don't like anyone using slurs around me ya hear? I don't care if you're talking about yourself or not. I don't wanna hear that word again? Capiche?"

Aizawa glared at his friend in warning, trying to tell him not to go too far without making things harder for Izuku by arguing with the other hero in front of the kid. "I-I'm sorry sir. I- I uh- I didn't mean to-" And now he was crying. Shouta glowered at his friend before getting out of his seat and rushing around the car to open up Izuku's door.

He knelt down so he was below the boy's height and snagged a hand in his own. "Hey. It's alright. You're alright." He said quietly, trying to be calming. "Zashi's an idiot but he means well, it's just we've both been called slurs alot over the years so he doesn't like to hear 'em is all. You had no way of knowing that. So it's alright, and now that you know not to use that word everything is all good." It took him nearly ten minutes to calm his kid down, as soon as he could without setting Izuku off again Hizashi also crouched behind his friend so he could apologize for being so stern.

Aizawa would be more furious with the blonde if the other hero didn't look so guilty over how badly he had messed up. They managed to get the boy calmed and out of the car. He made it about half way to Recovery Girl's office before he started flagging. Pretty impressive for someone who had been extensively healed only the night before. They waited to see if he would ask for help, but when he started to subtly limp on his still healing ankle Shouta decided waiting wasn't going to fly.

He paused in front of the kid before crouching, his back facing the little green haired child. "Hop on." He saw freckled hands come up, likely to wave off the offer and decided to put a stop to the denial before it could start. "Kid. What kinda hero would I be if I let you walk on a hurt ankle? If that's not enough, if you hurt it more then RG will end up having to heal you more. And I do my best to keep her work load as light as possible. So. Hop on."

It seemed like the greenette had no rebuttal for his logic since he did give in after a moment of hesitation, latching himself onto the hero's back and hiding his face in the rough scarf around the man's neck. Shouta glared at Hizashi as he spotted the man sneaking a(nother) picture of the two of them. But didn't speak his displeasure so he wouldn't make things worse for his lightweight bundle.

They made it to the nurse's office quickly after that. The two men setting the boy up in a bed with his backpack full of books and such, leaving him to the tender mercies of the world's scariest heroine when she came into the room.

They had classes to teach and a detective to talk to after all.

___

"Hello dearie. How are you feeling this morning? Did you sleep well?"

The boy on the bed before her bowed politely from his seat. "Y-yes ma'am! Thank you so much for your help!" She hummed good naturedly before gesturing to his torso.

"It was my pleasure. Now how about we get that shirt and those bandages off so I can check those burns. Or would you prefer to start with your ankle today?" 

"Oh uhm… I don't guess it matters? But are you really sure you want to bother?"

The old lady shot him an unreadable look for a moment before a sad smile slid onto her face. "Of course dear. You're my patient and I want to make sure you're in as good a shape as possible. Now, let me help you with that shirt…" With that any small objections Izuiu tried to make were gently brushed past as she did her examination.

Afterwards she rewarded him with a small handful of gummies before telling him to rest and wandering over to her desk with his full name in order to look up and update his medical history. The heroine kept an eye on her current charge as he dug through his battered bag and brought out what seemed like homework to amuse himself with. 

She made a mental note on how he seemed to be hard working as her screen loaded into the national database. It took a moment to find his file but when she did she felt her heart clench at how small it was. All of 50 pages, most of them from before his diagnosis as quirkless. The boy hadn't even gotten his booster shots. And he was… 12. He was way too small for 12. She had noted how skinny he was but now she was sure he wasn't eating enough, or at least not eating things with nutritional value.

She sent a quick text of a summary of her findings to Aizawa to pass along to the detective and CPS agent that afternoon. And then she sent a message to Lunchrush for a special lunch for their guest. She might not be able to help him for long so she would do everything she could for the kid while she had him in her grasp.

___

Shouta spent the day keeping an eye on his phone and sending what little info Chiyo wrangled out of the kid onwards to Tsukauchi. The man sent him an email at some point but the hero didn't have a free moment to read it until halfway through the afternoon. He managed to distract his ethics class with a study period and dragged his laptop free of his sleeping bag so he could see what the detective found.

The class would later tell their peers about the look of pure confusion on their normally stoic teacher's face.

___

Hizashi hummed to himself as he headed back to Chiyo's office. Shouta was bringing Tsukauchi and the CPS officer in from the gate and would meet up with them in one of the conference rooms off of the teacher's lounge.

He knocked quietly before entering, pausing a second to give anyone inside the change at privacy if they so chose. When he slid the door open it was to a nearly empty room, only one bed was occupied. Izuku was out cold, tattered books and papers scattered over and around him. Mic snorted in amusement before looking over at the medic sitting in the corner, focused on her computer.

He made a notable effort to whisper, a trick that took him ages to master. "Hey RG. How's he doing?"

The nurse turned around with her signature grandmotherly smile. "Ah. Good afternoon Hizashi-kun. Little Izuku here is doing fairly well all things considered. I gave him another kiss after lunch and he fell asleep soon after. He's probably going to be exhausted for a few days while his body replaces the energy my quirk used, but he's almost healed. I'd say a bit of tenderness on those burns for another week and some stiffness in his ankle for about as long. After that as long as he gets regular healthy meals he should be fine."

She handed the man a packet of stapled papers. A list of things to watch out for and foods he should try and incorporate into his diet to put on healthy weight. Plus a few other things of note, like the three therapists in Japan that still took quirkless clients, one of those being Hound Dog. While the blonde man was looking through the information the old lady hobbled over to her patient to wake him up and help him get ready to leave for the day.

She cooed at him as bottle green eyes looked around in bleary confusion before he automatically started following her directions, cleaning up his homework as she gathered a small to go baggie of snacks and her special gummies. By the time he was packed and his shoes were back on his feet he was a lot more aware of his surroundings. He hobbled stiffly over to the pro who had come to pick him up and greeted the man politely.

He was then led out the door where he paused to bow deeply and sincerely thank the hero medic one more time. And then he and Mic were on their way, chatting about the weather as they headed to the conference room upstairs.

Eraserhead was already there with the other guests. All three of them set up at the table with their laptops. Upon entering the room the tiny kid in front of Mic froze, eyes locked on the CPS agent. A red flag for the other adults in the room. They all also paused in an effort to figure out what was happening.

The woman sent from CPS stood with a large smile. "Ah! Izuku! So glad to see you again. We thought you died after you ran off!" The boy in question flinched before looking down at his feet. "No ma'am… I'm still… around…"

"So I see! Around and bothering pro heros apparently." Another flinch and Mic stepped in between the two with a frown. "Hey now! He's not been a bother at all. Why don't we all sit down and discuss what's going on, yeah?"

He ushered the kid into the room to the seat the furthest away from the lady as he could manage without anyone looking rude. And then placed himself between them just in case. Tsukauchi then took the chance to gather their attention. Forcing the irritable CPS agent to focus on him.

"Right well. Izuku, it looks like you've been listed as missing for about eight months now. We will need to go over events leading up to that and then what happened during your absence… and how you ended up so injured last night. To make this easier paperwork wise I will be using my quirk, Lie Detector, and recording an audio file to refer back to later. Is that alright with everyone here?"

There were easy nods from the adults and a more reluctant one from the boy at the center of everything. The detective set up his tiny recorder in the middle of the table, introducing everyone there for the people who would have to look into this case later. Then he turned to the boy they were all there for. "Ok Midoriya-kun. First of all, your file says you ran away from the group home 8 months ago. Can you tell me more about that?"

Freckled hands fidgeted in his lap for a moment, before Izuku glanced over at his CPS agent uncertainly. The boy tugged on his fingers harshly, making the three men frown before Aizawa reached unto his scarf to grab a fidget cube he kept on hand for when his friends needed to stim. Gently the man wiggled his own fingers in between tiny ones to deposit the toy. The boy looked confused at that development but didn't comment on it, instead clicking some of the buttons experimentally. Eventually he did try to answer the question posed to him.

"I-uhm… the other kids… well… I-I'm quirkless so uh… sometimes things would happen with the other kids… just like- getting pushed or uh… whatever. But that wasn't so bad. I'm just like… weaker or whatever and got hurt because I c-couldn't handle it. And that was… ok… but then one of the older boys… he… uhm- he wanted to uh…" Izuku was shaking, obviously distraught at whatever he was remembering. He couldn't seem to make himself continue. The greenette made the mistake of looking at his agent, as if to ask her to finish the story. 

She rolled her eyes with an exasperated huff. "I told you Midoriya. Yamaguchi didn't want that. He told me so himself. I can't believe THAT incident is why you ran away. We took care of it!" She was absolutely glaring at him by the end of her rant.

"Whoa now!" Yamada cut in, leaning forwards to completely hide Izuku from view. "What exactly happened? We can talk about whether it's true or not in a moment. Miss… Yoshida was it? Why don't you tell us what Izuku reported this Yamaguchi did and we can go from there."

The woman rolled her eyes, obviously about to argue. But was cut off by Aizawa placing his hand on the table and getting her attention. The slightest bit of red glinting in his eyes as he enforced the request. "Now. Please."

Yoshida grumbled a bit but relented. "Midoriya reported a failed sexual assault. Apparently one of the bigger boys tried to force themselves on him but he kicked him and ran away. I TRIED to tell him that there was no way Yamaguchi would do that and that he must have misunderstood the situation. But a week or so later the little ingrate ran off. Again."

The three other adults looked at the woman, horrified by everything she had just said. "What. The Fuck?" Aizawa growled out. His eyes fully glowing now as his protective streak flared up in defense of the kid he had saved the night before.

"I know right?!" The woman went on, fully going in on her rant now that she had started. "I mean really. As if anyone would touch someone quirkless without being absolutely forced to! There is a chance you could be infected by their disease after all! And Yamaguchi is such a nice kid. Shame about his quirk being so grotesque, but he's a star student and model resident at the home! I know he will be able to make something of himself at least. Unlike-"

"Get out."

She stumbled to a stop at the demand. So uncharacteristically restrained from the blonde man sitting next to her. Mismatched green and red eyes glared at her over his shades. She blinked at him, confused at his shift from friendly and professional to hostile. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Get. Out " His fists clenched as his voice strained with the effort of staying at a reasonable volume. Luckily his best friend noticed the signs of his impending explosion and jumped in to keep Mic from getting sued for bodily harm, again.

"Do as he says. As of this moment I'm invoking my right as a hero holding an emergency foster license to remove this child from your care. Tell your boss we will be in touch with your office by tomorrow morning to ask for a different agent to be assigned to this case." The dark haired man looked her directly in the eyes, daring her to argue.

The detective spoke up again, choosing that moment to make his own announcement. "You might also want to warn him that as we speak I am filing a report on you and taking the first steps for an investigation into your whole office for quirk discrimination and child endangerment." 

Yoshida sputtered in indignation. Denying the claims and yelling about how they had no right. It wasn't until the door opened and a small white creature in a suit entered that she stopped trying to defend herself, if only so the could look down at the rat thing that had just entered in confusion. "Hello. Yes. My name is Nedzu, and I am the principle of this institution. And unfortunately due to what I have overheard I cannot allow you to stay on the premises Miss Yoshida, as I believe you pose a direct threat to students. If you would follow me and Pro Hero Snipe to the gates?"

With ease the mammal hustled the woman out the door, shutting down every complaint and protest with just a few words. Before the door closed behind him he looked over his shoulder at the men he had been spying on through the cameras. "Call me if you need anything for the case. I am quite well versed in laws and regulations as you know." With that the enigma wrapped in white fur was gone, dragging their problem away as he went.

Aizawa and Yamada immediately turned to the kid now solidly in their care as Naomasa frantically typed away on his computer. Izuku was hunched in on himself, head down, fists clenched around the toy he had been playing with, a defensive posture if they had ever seen one. Aizawa decided he needed to drag the kid out of that shell in order to move them forwards.

The raven haired hero rounded the table slowly before sitting crisscrossed on the floor by the boy he needed to get through to. "Kiddo. Hey." He started, voice low and as gentle as he could manage. "Can you relax your hands for me kid? That doesn't look comfortable and I'd prefer it if you didn't hurt yourself." 

It took a few more minutes, Shouta spending the entire time reassuring the boy that they weren't mad at him and sprinkling in stories of wild plans Nazu might come up with to keep Yoshida away from UA now that he decided to not like her. But eventually the hero was rewarded with a tiny sliver of a green iris as Izuku peeked out of his huddle. "There you are. You feeling ok kid? If you need, we can do the rest of the interview tomorrow though we will need you to answer at least one question before we leave today."

"...I'm alright sir. I can do whatever…" Came the meek and submissive reply, the boy making it obvious through his body language that he was too scared to say no to the adults he had really only just met.

"That's not what I asked, Izuku." The admonishment was so kitten belly soft there was no way for the greenette to really take it badly, Shouta taking a chance and slowly reaching forwards to place a hand on the boy's knee, making sure to give him plenty of time to signal if he didnt want contact. "I asked if you were feeling up to talking more today. I know you're used to being uncomfortable, but that's not what we want here. Yes we need the information but most of it can wait a day or two until you're ready."

He waited patiently as the quirkless boy worked his way through his words. No doubt looking for traps or double meanings. Eventually Shouta could assume that he found none because with a small nod Izuku affirmed. "I'm sure. I need to get this over with."

"Alright. But if you change your mind at any time then we will stop. No issues. Whatever you need." Dark eyes held still half shielded green, doing his best to make sure his point was made and accepted.

"...o-okay."

"Good." He gave his knee a gentle pat before easing back a foot or two and standing to return to his seat. He nodded at the other two men in the room, silently thanking them for their tact in acting like they weren't paying attention to his and Izuku's little 'moment'. He knew Hizashi would rag on him about it later but for now he was thankful they were making this as easy as possible for their little stray.

Tsukauchi took the moment to step in, checking that the recorder was still going before turning to the tiny freckled child across from him. "Ok. I'm thinking we ask the absolutely necessary question first. And then give you another minute if needed to decide if you really do want to continue today."

He waited until he got a nod from the boy before he continued. "Right. As a quick reminder my quirk needs a verbal response, so please answer out loud. Midoriya-kun, did your housemate, this Yamaguchi-kun, try to force himself on you sexually?"

Izuku drew back in on himself at the question. Eyes returning to his feet as he obviously expected to be dismissed yet again. However, the brave boy did reply like he was told. "Y-yes sir."

"Truth."

___

It had taken the men an hour to ease Izuku through the bare bones of the rest of his story. They rushed past the sexual assault once Tsukauchi had the confirmation he needed for the case he was building, but the rest of the last 8 months weren't much better.

Izuku had wandered the streets for a few days,  running afoul of a homeless man who didn't like a kid trying to take his alley way, beating him fairly well as a warning to move on. But Izuku had wanted to stay near enough to his school to continue to try for his education. That and he knew he could use the access to showers and clean water to ease some of the burden of living on the streets.

That was when he found the huge park on the edge of town. Large swathes of it were overgrown and rarely visited so he had chosen a hidden corner between an old building and a stone fence and set up his little home. A piece of sheet metal propped against the fence to keep off the rain was his main claim. He also used one of the parks' provided metal bbq grills to make a little heater when it got too cold. He had taken the rusty old thing off of its stand by working the bolts free and propped it up on stones right outside of his shelter. 

He made sure the men knew he didn't let himself sleep more than thirty minutes when he had a fire going, using an old kitchen timer he had found to wake himself up and check that nothing was burning that wasn't supposed to. Still not the safest thing but all he could do if he wanted to be able to survive the winter.

He went over some other basics of life over the time he was legally 'missing'. It wasn't until Yamada asked why his school hadn't told anyone that he was still coming in that the kid really clammed back up.

Aizawa offered to stop for the day, sensing that school was another sensitive topic. Surprisingly green eyes actually fully met his own for the first time since he had left the boy in the nurse's office that morning. There was a tense moment where the kid seemed to be searching him for something. Something he apparently found as he very obviously made a decision.

"The school didn't report me because they didn't want to acknowledge I exist if they didn't absolutely have to. The only time I caught the attention of any adults in that place was when they could take the opportunity to drag me into the line of fire. The last time I heard my name from a teacher's lips was when they were riling my bullies up by lying about how I cheated off of one of their tests. He knew full well when he said that what was going to happen after school when he left me to the kids he had set against me."

"And what happened kid?"

"I was chased into an alley and beaten until I couldn't move. I might have actually been in real trouble if a hero hadn't found me."

___

Izuku was sitting with Aizawa, once again back in the man's apartment. They were eating takeout they had grabbed on the way back from their long meeting with the detective. Yamada had walked them to their door before leaving to go to his own building down the street with a cheerful enough, if unusually quiet, goodbye and hair ruffle to the kid.

Aizawa had gotten confirmation that Izuku could take a shower as long as the water wasn't too hot so the boy was looking forward to that after he finished eating. The problem was that he was once again having trouble finishing his food. There was just so much to eat all in one sitting.

Shouta eventually stepped in and took his plate, promising the food would be in the fridge and that they would have the leftovers for dinner the next night. The too skinny boy reluctantly agreed and followed his host to the bathroom where the man set him up with more oversized clothes to sleep in and the fluffiest towel Izuku had ever seen.

He then left the greenette alone to use the facilities to his little heart's content. The genuine thanks he received for doing the bare minimum for the CHILD in his home made his soul ache. The hero retreated to his bedroom so he could make a call, ringing up a group call with Hizashi and Nemuri. Needing the support of his two best friends for the idea that was buzzing around in the back of his head. 

He paused the conversation long enough to see the child to bed. Before returning right back into the thick of trying to get his friends to talk him out of what might be a mistake. It was midnight when he sent a long and well edited text to Nedzu with a request for help.

___

Izuku had been staying with him for a month. A whole month of slowly sinking into a routine with the boy at the center, Hizashi or Nemuri spending nights he patrolled sleeping on Shouta's couch. A month of breakfasts and lunches and seeing the kid off every morning to his temporary tutoring set up in the corner of the teacher's lounge. 

A month of absolutely losing his heart to this quiet, shy, battered, but bright, smart,and immeasurably brave child. Shouta was a goner. And today, now that he had gotten the news that the raid on Aldera had been successful and that the CPS agent was being held on suspicions of child abuse, today was the day the child in question would be given a choice on his future.

He sat the greenette down on the couch after dinner, sitting across from him on his old coffee table so he would be a bit below eye level. "Izuku… I have a question for you. You don't have to give me an answer tonight, but I wanted you to be able to have the last say. This last month we've looked into everything needed to get you into a safe home. And we've decided that there are three acceptable options. 1. We send you as a foreign student on scholarship to Sweden where a host family will take care of you until you finish school. We figured their quirkless population is so much bigger than Japan's that we would be able to find a family with experience with all of your needs such as those with your shoes. 2. We send you to a quirkless group out near Shirakawa. They have a whole insular compound and no quirked people are allowed on site. It's safe enough and they have things like doctors and teachers so you would be able to stay healthy and continue your education… and 3… uhm… I know this is really… forward… of me. But I've really enjoyed you being here and I-"

"Yes!" The tearful squeak brought the man's attention away from where it had drifted away to his toes unintentionally. Dark eyes snapping up to meet tearful green.

"You didn't let me finish…"

"I-i don't care! I wanna stay with you. Yo-you've been so- so nice to me and I haven't had anyone care about me since Mom died. And you've just… you've actually cared? Even when I was really mean and suspicious at first. And you're so patient. And you don't mind being quiet when I'm having a bad day and not even Mom did that and I- I just… I don't wanna leave. I've never… I like it here. So please… don't make me go?"

The pro hero, the most feared underground hero in Japan, Eraserhead, the beast of the alleys, was frozen with shock that his offer was being accepted. That this sweet little kid liked his grumpy and slouchy personality enough to actually Want to stay. After a moment, in which the boy started to fidget with his hands in uncertainty, he managed to croak out, "Sure kiddo. You can stay. I'll let Tsukauchi know to put the foster paperwork through."

The small figure in front of him blinked and then burst into tears. His new foster dad rolled his eyes in amusement, sure they were happy tears, but opened his arms in offer of a hug anyways. If he slipped a few happy tears of his own while he held his kid, well, no one else was there to see.