Chapter Text
The mission should’ve been easy.
He had planned everything down to the bone, staying up for weeks coming up with back up plans, back up plans for those back up plans. He had been determined this would not fall through. A simple info gathering mission. This should have been a ‘get in-get out’ kind of deal. The only problem was that the information he needed had been in different parts of the building, not just stored away on one computer.
Everything had been going smoothly, until he was met with the man; the numberONE hero!
He had planned for everything: Except for All Might.
Now Izuku Midoriya found himself handcuffed to a table in the middle of a police interrogation room. The fluorescent lights above him flickered, and the softbuzzing of a fly was slowly driving him more agitated than he already was.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz
His head rested on the back of his chair, his hands laid flat in his lap. His mask, the only thing hiding his identity, was laid out on the table before him. He felt a small bubble of anxiety rise within his chest, but quietly shut it down. Now wasn’t the time for feelings, not when they were the reason he was in this mess.
He tilted his head down, facing his own reflection. The interrogation room had a mirror that spanned the whole wall opposite of where he was sitting, a two way mirror, he could only guess.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
His face had seen better days. A black and blue bruise was starting to bloom just under his eye. Deep purple bags hung under his eyes, an indication of how long he’d gone without sleep. His face was pale with a dusting of freckles across his cheeks. He stared blankly at the mirror, at whoever it was on the other side.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
The door clicked, unlocking, as a black haired man in a trench coat let himself in. Detective Naomasa, Izuku recognized from the news, being crowded by reporters as he laid out the details of crimes that had happened. Some crimes Izuku had committed himself. A small part of him was disappointed All Might hadn’t walked through that door. He squashed that part of him back down.
“The Quirkless Villain,” Naomasa started, sitting down at the chair across from Midoriya, blocking his view of the mirror, “Also known as Izuku Midoriya.”
He pulled out a Manila folder and opened it, sliding it towards him. A picture of Izuku as a child was on the front, along with several newspaper clippings of his last missions. Izuku didn’t allow his expression to change as he looked over the folders contents.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Naomasa cleared his throat, but Izuku didn’t look back up at him. The detective continued, “Midoriya, I’d like to ask you a few questions,” and started laying more papers in front of Midoriya. The detective folded his hands, finally finishing his thought, “Mostly pertaining to what’s happened to you in the last couple of years.”
Midoriya rolled his eyes. First rule of getting arrested, never speak to the police. No matter what they said, they never had your needs at interest. If you don’t speak, they can’t use anything against you. However, when you’re caught red handed by THE NUMBER ONE HERO, you’re fucked either way.
“I don’t cooperate with the police,” Izuku informed him, not letting his eyes waver as he looked back up.
“Good thing I’m not talking with you for the police then, huh?”
Buzz. Buzz. Bu-What?
“You don’t have to answer if it’s too hard. What you’ve been through must’ve been traumatizing.” Naomasa continued, his voice teeming with concern. It made Izuku’s skin crawl.
“I don’t need your pity,” Izuku spat out, venom coating his tone, “I’m not a victim. It’d be in your best interest not to treat me like one.”
Buzz. Buzz. Fucking buzz!
Izuku knew that threatening a detective while handcuffed wasn’t the best decision. However, between being found, captured, the throbbing pain in his cheek, the pain in the ass this detective was being, and the fly still fucking buzzing around, he felt the snap had been deserved.
“You’d rather be treated like a criminal?”
“That’s what I am, isn’t it? That’s what everyone says. That’s what these handcuffs tell me,” He tugged at them a little for emphasis.
“Ok, well my research tells me you were kidnapped as a child.”
BUZZ.
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I can understand if it’s too hard-“
“I suppose my brothers did have an interesting form of recruitment.” Izuku stated plainly, cutting him off. He wasn’t going to let the detective finish that statement. Izuku Midoriya was a lot of things, weak was not one of them. The detective sighed, pulling out another folder and sliding it across the table. Any control over the situation was immediately dashed as he looked at the UA school logo.
BUZZ. Will that fly shut the fuck up?
“Midoriya, your case is upsetting, but sadly not uncommon. Villains use children and young teens to continue their acts a lot. Luckily the government is starting a new program to help combat this situation. It’s called the Youth Villain Rehabilitation Act.”
He opened the folder for him. Inside were some papers going into more detail about the program, some kind of contract, and a pamphlet UA Academy; the place he had just infiltrated, the best school for training new heroes. More like overpowered brainwashed idiots, in Izuku’s personal and professional opinion.
“You would be attending UA, under the guardianship and protection of the heroes that teach and live there with a free room and board. You’d be taking classes with the rest of the students and some extra ones that will help you accommodate yourself back into society,” Naomasa started explaining, he started going through the papers one by one.Izuku was hardly listening. Why hadn’t anyone in the league heard of this yet? The news was on constantly at Kurogiri’s bar, filling the otherwise dark and quiet hideout with voices of panicked reporters live on the scene of some of the most vicious hero villain battles. Kurogiri always had an ear tuned onto it, just so he could stay updated. He would’ve heard something, anything, about this.
“I don’t need this,” Izuku stated plainly towards the end of Naomasa explanations, “I’m not-”
“A Victim?” Naomasa finished for him, “No, you're not. Midoriya, you are a survivor.”
That also felt wrong. The young child in the photo in front of him had died long ago.
“You’ve been through something traumatic, and this is a way to help you heal, avoid a lifetime sentence, and hopefully rejoin society,” Naomasa continued, wringing his hands together, “There’s always Isengard. With the extensive charges you have on your record, it’s possible you’d receive a nearly lifetime sentence. You’d be treated like every other inmate there, Quirkless or otherwise.”
Deku fell silent for a moment. The detective was playing games with him now. Isengard was a maximum security prison, capable of holding some of the worst of the worst. Izuku couldn’t stop the slight swell of pride he felt that the detective straight up said that that’s where he’d be going. That his list of crimes was impressive. However, no matter the ego boost, jail was a place Izuku tended to avoid.
One for the obvious reason, he couldn’t work with the League if he was handcuffed and behind bars. Two, because the justice system was especially cruel to Quirkless criminals. Quirkless criminals were often forced into longer sentences, and weren’t even put into different prisons from their arguably more dangerous cell mates. Quirkless criminals were known to die in prison. No matter what the charge, if you were Quirkless and going to jail, you would die there.
Just another statistic to make Quirkless people complacent and force them to stay in their own lane.
Either way, Izuku was basically fucked. On one hand, he could be basically on house arrest, surrounded by pro heroes and wannabes. On the other, he was basically doomed to die the moment he stepped in.
God, Izuku really hated heroes.
This was a seriously tough choice. This wasn’t just a rock and a hard place, it was either the rock or the hard place.
However, he was just in that school. He knew every entrance and exit like the back of his hand. He’d be able to escape. He’d be able to see his brothers again. He could still be useful.
“Fine.”
Naomasa smiled and continued to tell him about the benefits of the game program. Izuku wasn’t listening anymore. He had signed away his fate. As he finally saw the annoying fly land on the floor by his foot, he felt the gnawing ball of anxiety curl around in his stomach.
He squashed it.
———
One very small part of Izuku Midoriya was actually excited to be here. One very small part. One very, very small part.He clutched the tote bag at his side that contained most of the things he had with him at the police station. It wasn’t much:His villain outfit, a few coins and wadded up bills, and a small compact mirror. Naomasa had given him some civilian clothes in order to ‘not be recognized.’
Which was ridiculous, Izuku knew that. He’d done his best to keep a few photos of him in the papers. Most shots of him were blurry at best, and him with his mask on at worst. Nevertheless, he had complied, putting on a light teal shirt and a pair of black sweatpants. It wasn’t much, but he supposed it would be alright.
The car stopped just outside the gates of UA. Naomasa got out first, rounded the car, and unlocked Izuku’s door.
“Here we are!”
Izuku got out of the car, an unimpressed look on his face. The school didn’t look much different in the day as it had at night. It was pretty early, but students were already swarming the front. Izuku shifted, feeling like everyone was looking at him. He supposed he did look a bit suspicious, walking around without a uniform with a well known detective. It started to make his palm sweat and his heart race. A small bubble of anxiety started to rise in his chest, as a hand clapped down onto his shoulder.
“The principal is waiting for us inside.”
Naomasa started leading him to the front doors. Inside, students and teachers were milling about, getting ready before the first bell rang. Smiling, chatting, being friendly with one another. God, Izuku stuck out like a sore thumb. His heart continued to pound in his chest. He balled his fists, keeping his gaze set directly ahead. Even as he tried to ignore them, he could hear the whispers of other students. Whispering about him. God, why couldn’t they all just-
“Welcome to UA academy, Izuku Midoriya!”
Izuku was immediately pulled from his own thoughts as the principal of the school greeted him loudly. He recognized the mouse…bear...dog? Whatever he was from some of the pamphlets from the folder Naomasa had given him. He had also seen him on the news a few times in the news and from his research.
At his side were two of the teachers and pro heroes, Eraser Head and Midnight. He had never actually fought them himself, but one of his many talents his brothers utilized was information gathering and observation. Any information that could be used against heroes was always an advantage, and information from Midoriya always went to the highest bidder. Although it wasn’t surprising they decided to bring two top heroes who could also restrain anyone without necessarily having to hurt them. Eraser Head and himself were on level playing field, since Izuku was Quirkless there wasn’t much of an advantage. Midnight was a different story. All she had to do was show a bit of skin and he’d be out like a light.
Again that ugly small part of himself reared it’s head, kinda disappointed All Might hadn’t shown up.
Izuku told it to shut up.
“From what I’ve been told is that you’ve already been here! Isn’t that right?”
The principal’s high pitched amused tone pulled Izuku back from his thoughts. He didn’t grace that with a response. The principal was teasing him, trying to get some kind of reaction out of him. Izuku kept a firm glare.
“Hmmmm? Not much of a talker, huh? That’s perfectly fine. Let’s get started on that tour! Shall we?” The Principal waved his hand, gesturing that their group heads towards the elevators. Izuku stepped in, feeling like the weight of the student body's eyes on him. He turned just as the doors were closing. For once, his mask slipped. Just before the doors shut, he caught the eyes of the ones he’d been looking for.
Tenya Iida and Todoroki Shouto.