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Izuku’s life was never easy.
His dad left his mother as soon as he learned she was pregnant; Kachan ditched him once it was announced Izuku was quirkless; and his mother was killed in a villian attack when he was eleven. Plenty of bullying, discrimination, and just general bad luck was sprinkled in as well.
Despite all that, Izuku wouldn’t say his life was terrible.
Sure, he more often than not went home hungry and yea his “home” was located on a trash beach but it was better than it could have been. He could have not met the nice older lady who offered him lunch if he did some chores for her around the house. He could have ended up in a tent that would have been flattened instead of the old car he took shelter in when that storm hit. He could have been kidnapped and tortured or experimented on.
He avoided a lot of worst case scenarios! He was very grateful that his luck wasn’t so bad that he didn’t survive the few years he had on the streets.
Well, at least he was until one night, out of nowhere, someone grabbed him and covered his face with a sweet smelling cloth till he passed out.
Shouta had noticed someone watching him for a while now.
At first he thought it was a rival gang or a petty criminal trying to move up in the underground but quickly learned it was a child. A child that didn’t seem to be intentionally following him so much as just happening to be where he was most nights. The kid didn’t seem to realize Shouta had noticed him either. Always on a roof or hiding around a corner as he scribbled in a dirt notebook.
After the third time of spotting the kid, the villain decided to follow him around. This led to him learning that the child was out at night to watch fights a lot. Always writing in his little notebook whether it was a hero vs a villain or gang member vs a rival member. He didn’t seem to care.
Shouta also learned that the kid was homeless and barely getting by. He was dirty, malnourished, and got pushed around by almost everyone he ran into. How the child survived alone on the streets till that point was beyond Shouta.
Eventually, he got one of his underlings to look into the kid and by the next day, he was going through the file left on his desk.
Izuku Midoriya. 14 years old as of a couple months ago. Dad out of the picture and mother killed two years previously. Was reported missing a month after his mother’s death and declared dead a week later. The kicker?
He’s quirkless.
The fact impressed Shouta even more. If the kid had some strong emitter quirk or even some kind of mental quirk to help him survive then that was one thing. But to survive without? Now Shouta wanted nothing more than to get his hands on Izuku.
Hizashi and his wedding anniversary was coming up, wasn’t it?
Groggily waking up, Izuku tried to rub at his eyes only to quickly realize his arms were tied behind his back. Panic instantly filled him, his brain scrambling to figure out what happened as he tried to move. His legs were tied together and there seemed to be a cloth of some kind preventing him from screaming. Finally, Izuku’s eyes widened as he remembered someone grabbing him and realized he must have been kidnapped.
Izuku’s eyes watered with the horrible thoughts that filled his brain. He didn’t know what his kidnapper wanted. Didn’t know if this was a human trafficking thing or a crazy killer wanting to have fun with him. It could also be someone’s messed up idea of doing society a service by getting rid of a quirkless kid.
It didn’t matter that he was in what seemed to be a well lit apartment or that the couch he was laying on was actually pretty comfortable. Izuku knew he was going to die and nothing he did would prevent it.
As the greenette was too busy freaking out about his inevitable doom, he didn’t notice when a man came into the room and knelt in front of him.
“Why are you crying?” the dark haired man asked, startling Izuku out of his panic. Using Izuku’s frozen state to his advantage, the man moved to wipe away some of the tears with his sleeve. “I’m not going to hurt you. Calm down. Your Papa is going to be here soon and I don’t want his first look of you being when you're covered in snot.”
Now Izuku was just confused. His dad? He didn’t even know his father’s name. Why would that guy want to see him? Did he send someone to track Izuku down? What for? Why kidnap him like this? What was happening?
As the teen spireled, the man sat Izuku up and pulled tissues out of nowhere to clean up his face. He even instructed Izuku to blow out his nose as he held it. Once the man was satisfied, he retrieved a red ribbon from a pocket and got to work wrapping it around the teens neck. Izuku had no idea how he was supposed to react to having a bow wrapped neatly around him by his kidnapper.
Luckily (or unluckily), he didn’t have to come up with something, as that was the moment someone unlocked and opened the front door to the apartment.
“Shouta! I’m home!” Present Mic shouted before he came into the living room. Izuku could only stare wide-eyed at his favorite hero as the man started back, equally surprised by the random kid tied up in his living room.
“Surprise.” the dark haired man deadpanned.
That finally got the hero to react, turning to the man as he gestured to Izuku. “Shouta, why is there a child in our living room?”
“You said you wanted a kid.”
“To adopt Shouta not kidnap!”
“No one was watching him.”
“So that gave you the all clear to just grab him?!”
“His biological father abandoned him and his mother’s dead.”
“His guardians are sure to look for him.”
“He was living on the streets.”
“Then the police.”
“He was declared dead two years ago.”
The more they spoke, the more concerned Izuku got with how much this man seemed to know him. It also raised questions on who he was to Present Mic. Now that Izuku thought about it, he looked familiar…
The hero sighed. “You're serious?”
“He looked like a stray kitten.” What?
“Is that why you put a bow on him?”
“He’s your present.”
Present Mic sighed again before he finally gave Izuku a proper look over. The teen himself decided this was his chance to give the hero his best pleading eyes. Trying to convey the need for help getting away from this crazy man, he failed to realize how the look could be misinterpreted.
“Alright, fine! We’ll keep him.”
What?! No!!!
Izuku tried to express his displeasure with this declaration but was ignored as the dark haired man wrapped his arms around the hero. “I knew you would like him. Happy anniversary.”
The blonde seemed to melt into the man’s embrace. “Happy anniversary. I don’t know how I’m supposed to top this.”
“Maybe you can give your gift after we get Izuku settled.” the man whispered into Present Mic’s neck, causing the hero to shiver.
The words caused the teen to shiver as well, but for an entirely different reason. He knew this man. He didn’t recognize him before, both hearing his voice so clearly and seeing him in good lighting for the first time. This man, this villain, was Eraser. A man known to be able to erase anyone who crossed him from existence. Didn’t matter if they were a well known politician or beloved celebrity. If he wanted you gone, you were never heard from again.
Izuku had watched him fight a couple times but was careful to stay out of sight after hearing someone address him as Eraser. But seeing as he had been kidnapped by the man, he didn’t do the greatest job.
And if his relationship with Present Mic was anything to go off of, Izuku wasn’t going to be getting any help with his escape.