Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dear Eraserhead,

No, that makes it sound like a love letter, not a tip-off. Shaking his head, Izuku deletes the greeting and tries again.

Eraserhead,

I am writing to you regarding your recent work on the Kobayashi case. I believe I may have valuable information that could assist you in her capture.

I have reason to suspect that Kobayashi possesses a quirk that allows her to store items (or persons) in a pocket dimension of sorts. This is why you are unable to find evidence of her human trafficking, as opposed to some sort of teleportation ability, which is what, from my understanding, yourself and Detective Tsukauchi have been primarily investigating. 

I think it likely that if you are able to catch her with the portal open and activate Erasure, the doorway should stay open as long as your quirk is activated, and you will be able to send in a rescue team to retrieve the victims.

I was able to uncover this by taking into account the fact that there are many instances where Kobayashi is found after an abduction with an accomplice (or multiple). It is logical to assume that if she had teleportation abilities she would also get her henchman out of danger, even if she could not transport herself. This could, in theory, be due to a limit on her quirk, but considering the varying number of victims during abductions, and the same relative amount associates, it’d more probable that she cannot teleport, but rather trap those she kidnaps. From there I can only speculate about the nature of her quirk.

I was also able to find a witness's recollection of events on an online forum, warning others to be cautious. This is attached below. It is the source which makes me believe it likely her quirk allows her to open portals, and the description has also inspired me to think your quirk would be uniquely suited to hold the portal open. 

I surmise that Kobayashi’s ability is not the pocket dimension itself, but rather the ability to open a portal to it, and therefore Erasure should be able to hold the doorway in a state of limbo, as her ability to control it will have been redacted.

I hope that some of this proves helpful to your case.

Please keep in mind that the majority of this information is conclusions I have come to from my own analysis, and limited access to the case. Use your own judgment and double check all information.

If you need to contact me in the future, please use this email address.

Best of luck,

Deku

(Your Friendly Neighborhood Analyst and Consultant)

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He stops every once in a while to think about phrasing and make sure he doesn’t repeat any words too many times. Finally, he reads over the message one last time, takes a deep breath, and clicks send.

Shouta Aizawa is not a man easily impressed or intimidated, but as he reads an email from somebody by the name “Deku”, he finds himself feeling both. If they’re right about this, it would be a huge breakthrough. The only question he has now, is how the fuck the analyst has access to the information they must’ve used. The fact that they have access to the case file definitively means one of two things. They work with or for the police, or, they can hack, or know someone who can. And the fact that they used his UA inbox under Shouta Aizawa and called him Eraserhead means that they have access to his civilian name and identity.

Shouta cuts off his own train of thought and inhales deeply. So far, Deku, whoever they may be, has done nothing to indicate hostile intentions. For all he knows, they’re just a pro analyst with access to police files, and an interest in the greater good. He takes another slow breath and texts Naomasa.

Sleep Deprived Hero

Hey, I just got an email from an analyst calling themself “Deku” about the Kobayashi case

you ever heard of them?

I’m forwarding it to you now

Sleep Deprived Cop

Never heard the name

But kind of weird for an analyst to call themselves useless

Shit. So likely not police affiliated. Or at least not using their real name. His thoughts are pulled back to his phone when it dings again.

I just got the email

I’ll have the tech department at the station see if they can trace it

And pose the concept to our analysts and see what they think

Seems like a thorough enough analysis though

While I’m waiting I’ll talk to the rat

Your choice whether or not you respond to them, though

Sleep Deprived Hero

I think I will

I’ll CC you

Sleep Deprived Cop

Alright

Shouta shuts off his phone and opens his laptop, carefully entering his password and completing the retina scan. Opening his email program, he begins to type.

Deku,

Thank you for sharing your ideas. We’ve passed them on to our analysts and I’ll get back to you when they’ve sent us their answers. 

On another note, how the hell did you get your information on this case? And even more pressingly, how did you come across my email address? 

Eraserhead

Izuku Midoriya freaks out a lot. But this is a whole new level of freak out he wasn’t even previously sure was possible. Eraserhead, the Eraserhead had responded to his email!

He wasn’t expecting to get a response! He was just entertaining himself by browsing case files and thought he might as well share his findings so that he could at least pretend he’d done something. Helped someone. 

He had never expected anyone to actually care.

But now that his favorite hero had seen his message it made sense. Of course, the man would care. Izuku knew his identity! His analysis wasn’t great, but even so, it must’ve freaked the man out when he realized some random guy knew his faculty email. Shit. 

So now Izuku’s managed to piss off his favorite hero and he probably thinks he’s a criminal.

He’s really freaking out.

His breathing must have become loud enough for his mother to overhear because she sticks her head into his bedroom.

“Are you alright, hun?” She asks, concern coating her voice like syrup, sticky sweet.

“Yeah! I’m okay! A YouTuber I really admire just liked my comment!” He lies easily.

He’s already long finished his work for the day, so his mom doesn’t really mind what he does as long as it’s not dangerous.

“That’s great, Izuku!” She says kindly, and leaves, probably returning to her own virtual work.

He takes a deep breath, doing his best not to lose it again, and logs into his computer, intent on responding to the email he received. Upon opening it, he double-checks for viruses and stuff, and notices vaguely that Detective Tsukauchi has been CC’d, before deciding he doesn’t really mind very much.

Eraserhead and Detective Tsukauchi,

I appreciate the update. In regards to your other questions:

• I plead the fifth?

• I deeply apologize if I concerned you for your safety or that of your family. I swear I have no intentions of harming anybody with the information and will guard it with my life. I figured it would be easier to contact you directly, but I now realize that I have caused you alarm through my chosen course of action, and I’m sorry for that. 

Please forgive my thoughtlessness and allow me to assure you I hold no ill intentions for anybody.

I’m so sorry again!

Deku

(Your Friendly Neighborhood Analyst and consultant)

Chapter Text

Shouta checks his email during the independent work period he’s given to his second-year Hero Law And Ethics students and has to actively restrain himself from laughing at Deku’s response.

“I plead the fifth.”

Followed by a shit ton of nervous rambling and apologies. It seems that when they’re not in control of the situation fully, they're a lot less, well, professional.

They likely weren’t doing this as a full-time job and seemed somewhat young. Probably no older than a college student. Despite the quality of the analysis, Deku is likely just a kid.

Who means no harm. 

After a pensive moment, Shouta’s phone buzzes in his jumper pocket.

Sleep Deprived Cop

Talked to the analysts

They say it sounds legit

And that the kid is really good

So Tsukachi had come up with the same conclusion as him regarding Deku’s age.

Sleep Deprived Pro

They seem like they don’t mean any harm

And they made sure we double checked their info

I don’t see any harm in continuing to accept their help

Sleep Deprived Cop

Agreed

Nobody could trace the IP

So it’s either that or we just ignore them

But it seems like they genuinely have good intentions

And they’re really damn smart

Sleep Deprived Pro

So how are we gonna catch Kobayashi with an open portal?

Sleep Deprived Cop

Leave it to me

I’ll call you when there’s a date for the raid

Sleep Deprived Pro

K

He turns off the small device and closes his eyes for a minute, giving them a momentary break from the blue light before turning his attention back to his laptop.

Deku,

It’s fine. Please stop apologizing. Just keep my info to yourself and it’ll all be okay. Your analysis was very in-depth and helpful, and it was just verified by our fact-checkers at the station. We’ll hopefully be conducting a raid soon to attempt to execute your plan. 

Also, I assume we’ll be receiving further tips from you, so are you comfortable sharing your preferred pronouns?

Thanks again,

Eraserhead

This has got to be a fucking dream. Izuku has to be dreaming. Because if he’s not, then Eraserhead, the Eraserhead, just complemented his fucking analysis . And there’s no way that happened. Because nobody likes stupid Deku’s analysis. It’s just creepy and weird. Nobody could ever like the fact that he picks apart quirks and people and heroes and villains apart to look for strengths and weaknesses. And nobody could ever think that he’s smart because he’s just a stupid quirkless Deku and he has to be cheating. Because quirkless scum can’t get good grades on their own. And they certainly can’t be smart. God fucking forbid. Nobody likes his analysis and nobody likes him because he should take a fucking swan dive off the roof of a building and hope for a quirk in his next life . 

Eraserhead can’t like his analysis.

But he does. Because Eraserhead has proven time and time again, that he doesn't lie. Still, it must just be a fluke. Nobody likes his analysis. And certainly, nobody. Likes. Him.

Eraserhead,

Thank you for your forgiveness. My pronouns are He/Him, but I really don't mind.

All the best,

Deku

Deku, 

My pronouns are He/Him as well, as are Detective Tsukauchi’s. 

Eraserhead

Izuku sends back a smiley keyboard face as an acknowledgment that he’d received the hero’s reply.

Naomasa Tsukauchi takes a moment to breathe, and begins drafting the raid plan to enter a pocket dimension. What has his fucking life become.

He groans and rubs his eyes. 

He does not get paid enough.

Izuku sits alone in his room, reflecting. 

It’s been two days since he first emailed Eraserhead, and it already feels like his life has been turned upside down and inside out.

Eraserhead likes his analysis.

Not only that, but he expects to receive more. And how could Izuku possibly disappoint his favorite hero?

So a day after it’s in the news that Kobayashi has been caught, and all victims rescued, Izuku gets back to work. 

But neither Eraserhead nor Tsukauchi currently require assistance. So he decides, if he’s doing this, he’s really doing this. It can’t hurt to help a few more people out.

So he emails another hero.

Sir Nighteye,

I am contacting you regarding your current work on the Changeling case.

I have reason to believe that Chanling’s quirk is not shapeshifting, but rather a poison excretion, which is the method by which they kill their victims.

If you look closely at the slight bit of skin that they show, you will notice a sheen that most people don’t possess. Similar protections are often possessed by those with poison or acid-related quirks, in an effort to naturally protect the user from being affected negatively by their own abilities. Additionally, you can clearly see red spots where skin is slightly irritated surrounding the fingertips, which supports this theory.

I surmise that your agency's analysts, seeing Changling’s disguise abilities, simply forgot to account for the fact that not every talent is quirk-related. 

I recommend testing the bodies for remnants of Tetrodotoxin, the toxin produced by the highly deadly blue ringed octopus, which is based on the blue rings, also surrounding their fingertips. I suspect their quirk is a sort of mutation related to the aforementioned sea creature. This poison causes the victim to asphyxiate, which I assume is what you have found to be the cause of death in Changling’s string of murders.

A few photos where my observations can be clearly seen are attached below.

I hope that some of this proves helpful to your case.

Please keep in mind that the majority of this information is conclusions I have come to from my own analysis, and limited access to the case. Use your own judgment and double-check all information.

If you need to contact me in the future, please use this email address.

Best of luck,

Deku

(Your Friendly Neighborhood Analyst and Consultant)

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Chapter Text

Mirai Sasaki allows a curious expression to paint his features as he reads an email from someone calling themselves “Deku”. He takes out his phone, opening his text thread with detective Naomasa Tsukauchi.

Future Seer

Do you know of an analyst by the name of Deku?

Truth Seer

Yeah

He’s good at what he does

Why?

Mirai takes note of the use of “he” rather than another pronoun.

Future Seer

I just received an email from him containing what could prove to be a huge lead

Truth Seer

He’s about as reliable as an unaffiliated consultant gets

Future Seer

Good to know

Thanks

Truth Seer

Np

Validity of the mysterious man confirmed, he sends a message to the lab to test the body for traces of Tetrodotoxin.

Sure enough, a few hours later, the theory is confirmed. Mirai can’t help but be a bit shocked. An unaffiliated consultant had cracked his case far faster than he or any of his analysts could, and Nighteye Agency prides itself on its use of analysis. He sits at his desk and types a response to this so-called “Deku”.

Deku,

I have done as you suggested and tested the bodies for traces of Tetrodotoxin. Your theory was correct. I greatly appreciate your contribution to this case and look forward to working with you more in the future.

P.S.

Q: Why was the octopus dangerous?

A: It was well armed.

Many thanks again, 

Sir Nighteye

If Izuku was gonna keep doing this, he really needs to stop freaking out every time he gets a response.

As nervous as talking to Pro Heroes makes him, the fact remains that he’s helping people .

Actual, real life people, benefiting from his analysis.

This is the closest to a hero he’s ever going to get.

So he keeps going.

Hero after hero, email after email, case after case. There are of course some, like Endeavor, that never respond, but again, he never really expected them to.

About a month later, he’s helped Eraser and Tsukauchi with several cases and made a decent name for himself in the underground and twilight hero communities.

He’s just sent off an analysis for an underground hero called Mothman when he hears a dinging notification that means he’s received a message in his analysis inbox. 

He opens it and sees something he never expected to.

Deku, 

We could use your help on a case. The info is attached below, as are our phone numbers so that you can contact us more quickly, as this is a highly delicate situation.

Thanks,

Eraserhead and Tsukauchi

HagiharaCaseInfo.PDF

Izuku was a bit tempted to call bullshit, honestly. Eraser and Tsukauchi must just be placating him, trying to make him think he’s better than he is. Because the green-haired teen is good at analysis. But he’s not pro-hero-and-detective-ask-for-your-help good. But eventually, he decides if they offered their phone numbers, very personal information, willingly, then they must be serious. Maybe just incredibly desperate or something.

Nonetheless, he installs the Tor app, which protects against tracking using multi-layered encryption, and plugs in the numbers he’d been given. He quickly changes his chat nickname before sending a message.

Deku

Hi there.

Is this Eraserhead and Detective Tsukauchi?

Unknown Number

Yes.

Hang on, let me change the chat names

Sleep Deprived Pro 

Done.

Sleep Deprived Cop

I’m Tsukauchi and thats Eraser

You definitely already knew that

you’re literally an analyst 

Whatever

Sleep Deprived Kid

Ur good

Hey! Who made this my nickname?

I’m not a kid!

Sleep Deprived Pro

You’re not fooling anybody

…

Kid.

Sleep Deprived Cop

Leave the kid alone, Eraser

Sleep Deprived Kid

If i am a so called “kid”

This is child abuse

I’m calling cps 

((╬ಠิ﹏ಠิ)) 💨

Sleep Deprived Cop

Please don’t.

Anyway we have a case.

Sleep Deprived kid

O yeah sry

Got a bit off topic

anyways tho

If im a kid

Why do u need my help on ur case?

Sleep Deprived Pro

Cause you’re a really damn smart kid

And apparently the only decent analyst we know

We wouldn’t have brought you in unless we really needed you

Sleep Deprived Cop

Which clearly,

We do.

Sleep Deprived Kid changed chat name to Sleep Deprivation and Investigation

Izuku smiles genuinely for the first time in a while.

He has friends. Or something like it. He can mess with them and they won’t get angry, and they think he’s really smart. If he had to guess, when they called him kid, they probably assumed college age, but, well, he doesn’t want to lose his friends. So maybe, he can let them believe for just a bit longer that he’s older. 

And maybe, he can let them believe for as long as he can keep the pretense up;

That he isn’t quirkless.

That he isn’t useless.

Because as bad as he feels about lying, it’s really fucking nice to have people other than his mom who care about him.

Shouta’s having a really good day. He had a very nice lunch break with his wonderful husband, ‘Zashi, and after that, he’d gotten a text from the kid.

There’s no doubt in Shouta’s mind that the kid who’d dubbed himself Deku of all things, was incredibly traumatized. But today, in a text thread with himself and Naomasa, he had been gently teasing. And the gruff teacher had to fight hard not to laugh in front of his students, burying his face even further than usual in the depths of his capture scarf. 

And it’s not like they were lying either. 

The kid’s an amazing analyst. Probably one of the best out there. And in this case, himself, and the human lie detector he calls his friend are desperately in need of assistance. And after about an hour his phone buzzes again.

Sleep Deprived Kid

Just sent over an analysis

Sorry it took a while

You guys r right, it's a tricky case

You can say that again, Naomasa thinks as he massages his temples. 

He really does not get paid enough.

Chapter Text

A year passes.

A year in which Eraser becomes Aizawa becomes Shouta.

A year in which Detective becomes Tsukauchi becomes Naomasa (and occasionally human polygraph).

A year in which Izuku’s confidence grows.

And so does his reputation.

Deku has become known to the underground as one of the best analysts around.

And Izuku has nearly finished his college course at thirteen and a half years old.

So as shocking as it would have been for one-year-ago Izuku, now, it’s not all that surprising when he receives a message from Principal Nezu, asking to meet.

But no matter how much more confident he may have gotten, nothing could have prepared him for what the stoat-chimera-thingy had to say.

“I would like you to teach an analysis course at UA.”

“You’re joking, right?”

A beat of silence.

“Right?” He asks again.

“Nope!” the supergenius says, popping the P, and smiling widely all the while.

“I’m literally younger than your students,” he tries to argue, but the rat god seems unperturbed.

“I’m quirkless!” He blurts out, not really thinking much about it. He can’t let Nezu hire him just because he’s unaware of how useless he is. So he tells the truth, even if it means potentially ruining all he’s built for himself.

“I’m aware!” Nezu says, still cheery, as if he wasn’t the first one in Izuku’s life to ever not care about that. Even his mother, for all he loves her, changed after his diagnosis.

“I- I- why not someone else? There are plenty of people out there better than me.”

Nezu seems to think about that for a moment, humming to himself

“Not really,” he’s still smiling, but it’s less terrifying now, more genuine. “And even if there were, I don’t want them. I want you. You have a unique personality and experiences which I believe will help foster a safe classroom environment. I would also like to offer you a hero license.

“What?”

“You would be an intelligence hero, like myself, but I can have Shouta-kun help train you physically, as well. You would just be doing the same duties you do now, just more legally, and you would be paid,” he explains, smile returning to its previous sharpness.

“Seriously?” Izuku says, disbelief likely evident in his tone. But the headmaster merely nods joyfully.

The rest of the meeting seems to go by in a sort of blur of nodding and agreeing when necessary. At the end, Nezu summons Shouta, and he hugs him. It’s nice, having people that care. And it’s nicer to meet them in person. To know that they’re real.

“I’m so proud of you, kiddo,” Shouta says gruffly. He’s the first person to ever tell Izuku that.

Another year later, Izuku takes a deep breath, tucking in his shirt as Shouta fixes his collar.

“You’re gonna do great,” The raven-haired man assures him, his voice somewhere between that of a friend and a father.

He’d gotten his teaching and hero licenses easily enough with Nezu’s help. And training with Shouta and ‘Zashi was fun too.

His hair is cut differently, the sides and underneath buzzed, and the fluffy bit slightly shorter as well. 

A smile grows like a parasite on his face, and it doesn’t fade until long after the day is over.

He walks into Shouta’s class, 1A, feigning a confidence that he doesn’t think he’ll ever really possess.

“Hi everybody! I’m Deku, your friendly neighborhood analyst! But you all will call me Deku Sensei or Midoriya Sensei, whichever you prefer. I’ll be teaching you predictive battle analysis!”

The next day Izuku gets a notification that he’s been added to a group chat.

UA Faculty

‘Well, this will go swimmingly’, he thinks, sarcasm coating his inner voice.

Rat God

Hello everybody!

I thought that this might be an efficient way for us all to communicate.

Bullshit. Nezu just lives for the chaos. His lips quirk upwards nonetheless.

emo caterpillar

Kill me now.

Edward Cullen

The hell are with these names?

Izuku decides to type his own message.

Literal child

the more you guys get angry the more our sadistic boss cackles

I would know

I’m in the teacher's lounge rn

And i can hear him

YEAAAAAAAAAHH

Same

It’s really scary

@Rat God please stop

Rat God

Nope :)

The therapist we all need

Nezu, I don’t have the time nor the energy to give trauma counsleing to fellow staff members because of your evil laughter

Someone call a doctor

I second that.

PEWPEW

I third that.

Concrete

I fourth that.

lunchtime

I fifth that.

Quaaludes

I sixth that.

thirteen going on thirty

I seventh that.

LAB GO BOOM

I eighth that.

Big Ass Trenchcoat

I ninth that.

Small Might has entered the chat.

Small might

What did I miss?

emo caterpillar

everything.

Literal Child

You didn’t miss anything.

But i have to go teach now

Byeee

Quaaludes

Bye hun!

“Today we’ll be focusing on analyzing your own quirks in order to improve! Now, throughout your careers as pro heroes, you will likely be analyzed by professionals numerous times, and that’s great, cause they can help you improve. Unfortunately, if our analysts can see your weaknesses, so can the villains, so it’s important to make sure you have as few as possible. How do we do this? By taking a good look at ourselves and practicing self-awareness. This classwork will be worth the same amount of points as a test, but it will be graded very differently so…”

Hitoshi tries to focus on Midoriya Sensei’s words, but it’s hard when he feels like he might keel over at any second. His head pounds like it’s being bashed in over and over again. Soon enough, the lecture and period are over, and he hasn’t written a single thing. Shit.

“Shinsou, stay back a minute please,” he says softly.

The purple-haired teen walks over to his teacher’s desk, head down with shame.

“Hey, I just wanted to check-in. Are you okay?”

“Huh?” That is definitely not what he was expecting.

“You seemed exhausted in class today. More so than usual. And judging by the way you’re squinting, you must have a killer headache.”

“I- I’m fine, Sensei.”

“Are you really though?” He pushes, raising an eyebrow.

And too tired to attempt to lie again, he tells the truth.

“No. Uh, not really.”

“That’s what I thought,” the viridian-eyed man says, a sad smile resting on his face. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“Not- not really,” he stutters out, thinking about his foster mom slamming his head against the sink.

“Alright, go to recovery girl. I’ll talk to Aizawa Sensei for you.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

MIdoriya Sensei sends him a final warm smile and waves him off.

Chapter Text

To say that Izuku is worried would be a severe understatement. Something is seriously off with Hitoshi Shinsou, and unfortunately, he thinks he may have a good idea of what it is.

The lavender boy has an amazing quirk, with infinite applications, in hero work and otherwise. But knowing the shitty way society is, most people probably don’t see it that way. Brainwashing, to a lot of people, was probably considered ‘villainous’. And Izuku doesn’t want to think about one of his students having gone through something similar to himself, but in this case, it was, unfortunately, the most likely cause of the boy’s injuries. He had gone home for the weekend, and come back this morning looking like shit. There’s a tiny splotch of dark reddish-brown within the sea of purple that tells him it’s not just a normal headache. And he’s in foster care, which, unfortunately, is rarely a safe situation for a child with a ‘non-heroic’ quirk. Or any child, really.

He has to talk to Shouta.

Problem child

Hey, I sent Shinsou to recovery girl. Don’t know if he’ll make it to your class.

Problem adult

Is he okay?

Problem child

For now, yes.

But I need to meet with you after school

Problem adult

Sure.

I’ll meet you in your office

Problem child

Thanks.

Whatever Izuku needs him for, it’s clearly serious, and likely related to Hitoshi Shinsou. He was rubbing at his temples in homeroom, but he decided not to bother the boy. Hopefully he’ll be alright.

The rest of the day inches by painfully slow, both teachers concerned for their student. Shinsou doesn’t return to class, but Chiyo texts him and Shouta to tell them he passed out after being healed, and she had elected to let him sleep. Izuku shot back a message thanking her and feeling the buzz in his pocket, he assumed Shouta did the same.

As soon as the bell rings, he heads toward his office, as does Shouta apparently, because he’s already waiting when Izuku arrives. He takes a deep breath and begins the conversation.

“I think that Shinsou is being abused.”

“Why do you say that?”  There isn't a hint of doubt in his voice, just guilt.

“He had blood in his hair. I think the scab must’ve gotten ripped off cause I didn’t notice at first. And he was acting concussed. Trouble focusing, bad headache, the works. He’s in foster care, Shouta. We both know it wouldn’t be too unusual.”

“Fuck.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“How did I miss this? It’s not even that hard to see. All the flinching, how scared he is to ask any questions, Jesus.”

“It’s not your fault. If anything, I’m supposed to be the analysis teacher. I can’t even figure out that one of my students is being fucking beaten.”

“This is your first year teaching. You’re a kid , Izuku. This. Is. Not. On. You.”

A beat of silence passes between the two guilty men.

“Do you wanna talk to him, or should I?”

“We can do it together.”

The period ends and students rush to the locker rooms to change out of their gym uniforms and get back to their dorms. Today they had forgone heroics in favor of a lesson on predictive battle analysis in gym Gamma, with Shouta helping out, keeping the hellspawn under control while sparring. 

“Hey, Shinsou?” Shouta’s young colleague calls. “Can you come talk in my office for a minute?”

The lavender-haired boy stops in his tracks, turns to look at them both, and eventually just nods, looking dumbstruck. They walk back to Izuku’s office, all comfortably silent.

Eventually, though, they arrive back at the school building and settle in the office. It’s laid out like a sort of living room, to make students more comfortable with the newer teacher. The teen genius gestures for the other kid to sit wherever he wants, and he selects a cozy armchair, but remains stiff and anxious, sitting up a bit too straight to be comfortable. He and the analyst sit across from him on a small sofa. 

“Kid,” he begins softly. “You’re not in any trouble.”

He shoots them both a firmly disbelieving look.

“I- fuck, there’s no easy way to say this,” Izuku grumbles, not unkindly. “Shinsou, have your foster parents ever hurt you?”

An expression of pure shock and incredulity spreads across the hero student’s face.

“I- what? They- they’re not the best people, but- but they’re not abusive or anything!”

“Hey,” he interjects lowly. “I believe you. But I need to know what you mean by ‘not the best’.”

“I- they- they’re not nice people. She- she pushes me, sometimes. And he says horrible things about me. He- once he told me to off myself.”

“Shinsou,” Izuku says, pure care for the boy bleeding into his tone. “I know it may not feel like it. But that is absolutely abuse. We can’t let you stay there if those people are hurting you in any way.”

“I- no! If you take me from there, they won’t place me again! I’ll get tossed in some group home and it’ll be even worse!”

“Kid, as teachers, we’re mandated reporters. Even if we would keep it to ourselves, legally, we can’t.” A look of despair falls upon the teen across from him.

“ But, ” Shouta continues. “I already have partial guardianship over you due to the dorm system. And I would be more than happy to have you stay with me on the weekends.”

The lilac boy’s eyes fill with tears.

“Shinsou, I won’t let them hurt you. Never again.”

“Call me Hitoshi,” he says quietly. “Both of you,” he clarifies, looking at Izuku.

“I- thank you both. For- for noticing.”

“It never should have happened in the first place,” Izuku says.

“But it did,” Hitoshi replies. “And now all I can do is deal with it.”

“Yeah,” Izuku says, sounding resigned.

“Yeah.” He repeats, softer. As if he’s reassuring himself more than Hitoshi.

Sometimes he forgets that Izuku is just a kid too.

He pulls them both in for a hug.

Chapter Text

“We’ve invited you all here to share the intel we’ve acquired,” Nighteye says, addressing the room filled with heroes and UA students, “regarding the Yakuza group Shie Hassaikai, and what we believe they might be planning.”

There’s some chatter that arises as students try to figure out what’s happening, but he tunes it out. Izuku looks around for familiar faces. Shouta for one, is there with Shinsou, who’s doing a work-study with the older man. Also present was Togata with Nighteye’s agency, Fatgum,  along with Amajiki and Kirishima, Ryuku with Hadou, Asui, and Uraraka. He spots Gran Torino, Rock Lock, Centipeder, Bubble Girl, and a few minor heroes that he’s seen before but can’t recall the names of. He wears his own hero costume, a tight, short-sleeved black shirt, black cargo pants with a utility belt, and a cool-ass mask that covers the bottom of his face, concealing his identity and modulating his voice, but it’s currently pulled down to allow him to speak easier in the conference room.

“Alright,” Bubble Girl announces once everyone has found their seats. “Let's start at the beginning. For the past couple of weeks now, those of us at Nighteye agency have been conducting an investigation into Shie Hissaikai, a small but organized group of criminals.”

A hero with a deep voice speaks next. “What prompted this?”

“An accident involving a gang of thieves called the Reservoir Dogs.”

“Yeah I heard about that,” interjects a man whose hero name is “Mr. Brave”, if he remembers correctly.”

“The police thought the whole thing was an accident but there were a number of details that didn’t add up, so we began tailing them.”

“In my capacity as a Nighteye agency sidekick, I began following leads to see what I could uncover,” Centipeder adds in their modulated voice. “I found that in the past year, the members of Shie Hassaikai have increased contact with those outside of their organization, including other groups whose business dealings are less than reputable. Their aim seemed to be expanding their organization and enriching its coffers. Shortly after our investigation began, they made contact with a member of the League of Villains, Jin Bubaiguwara, villain name: Twice. They were wary of being tailed, so I was unable to follow them, but with the help of the police, I confirmed that an altercation had occurred between the two groups,” they conclude.

“That’d be about when they decided to reach out to Tsukauchi and me. Figured we’d be able to assist, given the League’s involvement,” Gran Torino speaks gruffly.

“Where is Tsukauchi?” Asks the hero sitting next to the old man in question.

“Follow-ups with some other eyewitnesses. Y’know, cop stuff.” Torino shoots back.

“Go on, Bubble Girl,” says Nighteye firmly, clearly annoyed by the side conversation.

“So, after that all went down, we posted a notice on the HN requesting assistance,”

“I think we can skip that part,” Centipeder interjects, not unkindly, and Bubble Girl apologizes before preparing to move on.

“What’s the HN?” Asks Asui curiously. 

“Stands for hero network. It’s an online service that can only be accessed by pros. You can see what all the heroes in the country are up to, and you can ask for help from people whose quirks might come in handy,” Hadou explains patiently.

“Does anybody wanna tell me why a buncha high school kids were invited to this conference?” Questions Rock Lock, clearly aggravated. “I don’t care if they are from UA. If we have to keep stoppin’ to explain this stuff, we’ll never get to the actual plan.”

Fat Gum interjects something about his trainees being involved firsthand and proceeds to introduce himself, but Izuku isn’t paying much attention, already beginning to come up with a plan. He’s snapped back to reality when Nighteye speaks again.

“Hissaikai’s movements are hard to trace, but we suspect one of their main sources of income is illegal drug sales, so I requested help from heroes who have some expertise in that area.”

Fat Gum responds with some comment about having dealt with his fair share of dealers before proceeding to tell a story that Izuku was intensely focused on due to its importance to the case.

“Tamaki was shot, and the bullet contained some kinda drug I’ve never heard of before. One that destroys quirks.”

“What? Tamaki, you’re okay right?” Togata blurts out, tone filled with concern.

“Yeah. The stuff wore off while I slept. Here, look, I’ve got this cow hoof and everything,” Amajiki mutters shyly, looking like he wanted nothing for than for the floor to swallow him.

“Guess we know what you have for breakfast,” the blonde jests.

“I’m glad to know the effects aren’t permanent at least. So this stuff doesn’t zap a quirk for good,” Rock Lock voices.

Nighteye is the one who speaks next. “No, but Eraserhead has some further insight.”

“It doesn’t seem to function exactly like my Erasure does, since I’m not actually attacking the quirk directly.” Shouta proceeds to launch into a basic explanation of his quirk that Izuku chose to tune out, considering he probably knows Erasure better than its own user at this point.

After that Fat Gum speaks up. “But after Tamaki here was shot, we brought him to the hospital, and they found that his quirk genes had sustained damage. Fortunately, they seemed to have healed on their own, and he’s back to normal now.”

“What do we know about the substance he was shot with?” Nighteye questions.

“Whatever it was didn’t harm the rest of his body. Nothing but his quirk was impaired in any way. The guy who shot him clammed up. He won't say a word, and the round that hit Tamaki was totally spent. However, Kirishima bravely defended Tamaki from a bullet, which then bounced off his own body, and should now provide us with a viable sample.”

Chatter momentarily breaks out among the students.

“And when we analyzed the substance from the bullet, we discovered something that made me sick to my stomach. It contained human blood and cells.”

It’s as if you could hear a pin drop in the sharp silence of the room.

“In other words, that effect came from a person. Someone’s power. A quirk that can destroy other quirks,” says Ryuku pensively.

“I’m not connecting the dots here. How is all this connected to Hassaikai?” A small-time twilight hero asks.

Fat Gum begins talking again. “The man who shot Tamaki used an illegal drug to boost his quirk during his fight with Kirishima. The distribution channels for stuff like that are complex. Although things have shrunk since the old days, drugs still pass through various people and organizations before they finally reach the end user. There’s no concrete evidence that Hassaikai handled the drug, but we know for a fact that they interacted with one of the middlemen responsible for moving it.”

“That’s all?” Questions someone Izuku doesn’t know.

Sir Nighteye takes charge again. The other day, Ryuku’s team broke up a fight between two villain groups one of those groups was controlled by the intermediary organization that Fat Gum just mentioned.”

“One of the two giants,” Ryuku begins, “had been given an inferior drug that didn't last long.”

The same deep-voiced man from earlier pipes up . “There have been a rash of gang-related crimes recently, and most could be connected to the Hissaikai if you try hard enough.”

“Which is what it seems like you’re doing,” another masculine voice says. “Trying to make them guilty. Don’t you have anything that implicates them more clearly?”

“Their young head. Chisaki, quirk: Overhaul. With this power, he can disassemble things and then reassemble them. A quirk that allows him to completely break down matter, and a bullet that can break down quirks.” He allows silence to settle over the room for a moment before continuing. “Chisaki has a daughter named Eri. There are no records or details about her birth. But when Mirio encountered her, he noticed there were bandages wrapped around her arms and legs.”

Fuck. Izuku could already see where this was going.

“Could he really do something so horrific?” Ryuku asks.

“Unfortunately, yes. In a world of superhumans, if you can dream it, you can do it,” Gran Torino confirms sadly.

“Hold on,” says Kirishima. “What are they talking about?”

Rock Lock shoots Nighteye an exasperated look. “Once again, why do we have children in this meeting? I'll say this one time. We’re wondering if this Chisaki bastard is turning his daughter's body into bullets and selling them on the black market.”

“To be clear,” Nighteye corrects, “We aren’t certain that he’s actually selling the bullets. At this point, the efficacy appears to be questionable. It's possible they’re still in the testing phase, and he’s giving them out as samples to rally more people to his cause. We have no hard evidence, but we do know he’s gathering allies and funds from across the nation. If the completed drug allows him to annihilate someone's quirk, just imagine the devastation he could cause.”

“Just talking about it’s enough to make my blood boil. Let’s go get this monster!” Exclaims Fat Gum.

“No,” Izuku says firmly, the word escaping before he can stop it. 

“Everybody, this is Deku, and he will be the primary orchestrator of our raid plan.”

For the first time since the beginning of the meeting, heads turn towards him, seemingly not having noticed him at all before now. 

“Deku Sensei?” One of his students, maybe Hadou or Uraraka says, shocked.

“As much as I wish we could rush in and save this girl, we can’t. After coming into contact with a hero student, it’s very likely that Chisaki has moved Eri from the main Shie Hissaikai base, where she was probably staying before, based on the location where Lemillion first made contact. There are more than a dozen Hassaikai outposts that we know of currently, and if we go charging into one of them, and it turns out we’re wrong, we lose the element of surprise and almost any chance we may have to save Eri.”

“So what do we do, then?” A random pro asks.

“We plan. We do this right so we only have to do this once.” He stands up. “Bubble Girl, if you will?” She flips the slideshow with a smile.

“First, I’ll be working with the underground heroes of this group, led by Eraaserhead, to scout out some of these locations that I’ve deemed most likely to house her. Once we have updates another of these meetings will be called addressing the official raid plan. Thank you for your time, you’re all dismissed aside from Undergrounders.” Most of the group shuffles out of the room, leaving only Shouta and seven others that he knows and approves of. “ Eraserhead, outposts one and fourteen. Mothman, two and thirteen. Raven, three and twelve. Emerald Whisper, four and eleven. Tokumei, five and ten. Wiccan, six and nine. Thimblerigger, seven and eight. I want reports submitted to me through the HN by noon tomorrow. If you have any questions contact me or Eraser. Thanks for your time, you guys are dismissed.”

Chapter Text

By midday, Izuku had received all requested reports from the underground heroes. Shouta had found outpost fourteen to be a likely holding location for Eri, Tokumei thought it could be five, and Thimblerigger suspected eight. None of the others had been determined possibilities. Now, he was going with Shouta to double-check each of these locations. They had to be absolutely positive about where the young girl was before attempting a rescue, or else risk the possibility of losing their shot.

Izuku throws on some non-threatening clothing before walking out to meet his co-worker at the first outpost they were investigating. The air outside bears a resemblance to the cold inside of a Costco freezer room. Jesus Christ, it’s chilly today. Either way, though, he’s always preferred cold weather to hot. The warmth makes him feel ill, he thinks as he steps onto the subway. Seeing Shouta already there, he walks towards the older man.

“Hi, Deku,” he says, addressing him by his hero name to acknowledge the teen's status as his superior during this mission.

“Hello, Eraser!” Izuku replies enthusiastically. 

They sit next to each other in comfortable silence for the remainder of the train ride before rising from their seats in near sync to get off at their stop. They leave the station and sit on a park bench together before coming up with a short plan.

“Okay, I’m gonna hop on you like a piggyback. I’m young enough that people will think we’re brothers or father and son, and that’s what we need for this. The Hassaikai need to see us as not a threat, which shouldn’t be too hard given the fact I’m decked out in hero merch, but you look like a hobo crackhead, even out of costume. So act normal, please. We can walk like normal and then maybe play some sort of game so that I have more time to observe, then I’ll go hang out nearby and wait for you to do your stalker thing before we meet up and head to the next outpost.”

“I’m not sure how you say all that in one breath, but that works for me,” Shouta agrees with an air of fondness.

Shouta bends down and allows for Izuku to jump up, who does so without issue.

“So, ” he begins strategically. “Have you heard about that rescue Hawks pulled off the other day? I hear they’re gonna make merch from the photo they took!” He allows an only half-fake air of excitement to emanate from him.

“That’s great kid,” says his companion, playing along.

Izuku allows himself to ramble a bit about hero merch while he looks around the outpost. Guarded, but with semi-frequent traffic. Likely not where Eri is being held. Too much risk of someone sneaking in.

Once the pair are about a block away again, he hops down to a bench and allows his accomplice to return to the sight in order to do some more stealthy info gathering.

Twenty minutes later Shouta returns and they both set off for their next destination. This one is close enough to the first that they can walk there, and the discuss findings as they make the short trek.

They repeat the process, this time spilling some nonsense about Snipe and how cool he is. He has to admit, even now as his co-worker, the sharpshooter is pretty damn awesome. This outpost seems like a more likely home for the young girl. More heavily guarded, less traffic, and very high-tech, but subtle security measures, such as an abundance of cameras and alarms.

Once again, he waited for Shouta to do his thing. Afterward, this time, they head to the subway station. The last outpost is a decent while away, deep in Shizuoka. The two heroes talk about random things for a good while on the ride there. Eventually, they arrive at the topic of how Shinsou is doing, both living with Shouta and for work-study.

“He’s been doing very well. Therapy is going about as good as therapy can go. He’s patrolling with ‘Zashi today while we deal with this. He’s a good kid.”

“Yeah. I’m glad he’s safe and loved now.” 

It’s only been a few months and Izuku knows he’s pushing things with the “loved” comment, but Shouta doesn’t disagree. In fact, he smiles a bit, and then opens his phone to show the younger boy photos of Shinsou with Aizawa’s cats, Baby Bear and Bazinga. Grey and Orange tabbies, respectively, who love cuddling with each other, and everyone else around them. 

Gradually, the locomotive slows to a stop at their station and they exit onto the platform, taking an extra minute to enjoy the warmth of the heaters before stepping outside into the chill. After a few minutes of walking in comfortable silence, he gestures for the raven-haired man to stop a minute and bend down so that he could get on his back again.

The older man just does as directed before continuing walking, if not a decent bit slower so that Izuku had time to absorb while blabbering about some newly released All Might documentary, despite the fact that Shouta must be acutely aware, by now, that Izuku is not the former Number One’s biggest fan. Especially since at work, he avoids Toshinori at all costs.

This outpost has even more foot traffic than the first, but security is super uptight. Large crates moving in and out. Probably some sort of factory. Possibly for Trigger, quirk destroying bullets, or both. Overall, Eri is likely being held in the second facility they investigated, but this one needs to be seized simultaneously to that one by a different group of heroes so that they don’t have any time to evacuate or move supplies. As his companion goes back to investigate some more from the shadows, he sends out a message on the HN.

Hassaikai Raid Group

Deku

Everybody, please be in the same meeting room at 5 pm. If unavailable, alert me immediately.

He sees a few people shoot back affirmatives before he opens a blank encrypted document, and begins dividing everybody into raid groups.

“Hello everybody. Thank you for coming on such short notice. Now that we have sufficient intel, we’re ready to begin raid preparations. It is currently set to occur two days from now at 12 noon. The plan is as follows,” Izuku says, pulling up a slide of his PowerPoint showing the teams he’d assigned. “If you are a pro hero, your name is on one of these two lists. If you’re a UA student, you’ll be going with Group 1 to retrieve Eri. The heroes in Group 2 will be heading to a different location, where we believe the bullets and trigger are being manufactured. You will follow traditional drug-bust procedures. You all may go if you wish, or stay to hear the plan for Eri’s rescue.” There’s a shuffling of a few chairs as some undergrounders who need to eat before patrol move to leave, but most of Group 2 stays put. “Alright, initial defenses will probably be pretty intense. Team Ryuku will stay behind and handle them. After that, there will likely be some small-time thugs sent our way before Chisaki eventually deploys the Eight Bullets. They are his inner circle, each very powerful and dangerous. Names, quirks, and photos are on screen. Thats just about all we know about them. Overhaul will try and buy time to get Eri away from us, but we’ll be one step ahead. Gran Torino, Fat Gum, Fat Gum’s work-study students, Nighteye, Lemillion, Bubble Girl, Centipeder, and any other spotlighters will stay behind to deal with the Eight, and Underground heroes will move on to deal with Chisaki. Eraserhead will go straight to Eri, since her quirk is likely very powerful if it's being used to make the bullets, and she's probably not great with quirk control because of how young she is. Anyone else will be going against Overhaul, and anyone who’s already finished their assigned jobs can catch up and help them out. Alright, thats it. Let's do this.”

Chapter Text

Izuku is stressed.

This certainly isn’t the first raid he’s been involved with, or even the first one he’s orchestrated, but it is his first time actually going along . For the most part, he’s just going to help Shouta out once they get to Eri, since for some reason, the green-haired boy has a knack with traumatized kids. 

He takes a deep breath and pulls up his mask. Heroes and police surround him as they prepare to enter the facility. Everyone waits for his go-ahead.

“Move out,” he says, voice monotone from seriousness. They can’t afford to fuck this up. It’s a child’s life on the line.

“Ryuku squad!” He yells as a sort of giant appears to face them. He recognizes the man as Rikiya. He’s the first of the eight bullets to show their faces. Seven to go. The dragon hero, her sidekicks, and her work-study kids stay behind as planned while the remainder of group 1 advances. As predicted, they’re met with some small-time villains that they defeat without much tussle, before another masked man shows up. That’s Mimic. And judging by his confident posture, he’s either very egotistical or there are other bullets nearby. And they’re about to be separated. 

“Anyone assigned to Overhaul or Eri, run! Everyone else stay back to fight.”

Everyone follows instructions quickly, and suddenly, there’s a small mob of heroes running beside him.

Eventually, they come to a halt at a small empty bedroom. It seems to be a child’s, as Izuku wants to be sick.

“Fuck! Emerald Whisper, where are they?”

She takes off at a run. Her quirk allows her to echolocate. The rest of the groups jogs behind her. Nobody wants to risk losing Eri.

Eventually, they come to a tunnel, and nobody slows down until two figures are in sight. A man, and a child, struggling in his arms, seemingly in excruciating pain. But as they get closer, he sees blood. A frightening amount of blood on the ground. But as he looks at the little girl, drenched in blood, she seems un-injured. The same could unfortunately be said for Chisaki. 

“Eraser,” he begins cautiously. “Help with Overhaul.”

“You sure?” The older man questions, clearly worried.

“Positive.”

The dark man simply gives him a nod before quickly using his eyedrops and activating his quirk.

“Tokumei.” He orders, and the man activates his quirk. Chisaki’s scleras immediately go black, indicating that the quirk has worked, and he can’t see. Thimblerigger took the opportunity, snatching Eri from the villains arms and depositing her in Izuku’s. 

“He’s all yours!” Izuku yells as he takes Eri as far down the tunnel and away from the fighting as possible. 

He places her down gently before sitting beside her.

Tears are flowing freely, and her breathing has quickened enough that she must be having a panic attack. 

“I’m going to help you out, alright? It’s all gonna be okay. Take my hands, kay?” She does, albeit hesitantly. That’s fine, though. She’ll need time to recover from the way her shitass abuser treated her for so long.

“Can you tell me five things you can see?” Her face looks almost pained, and he can tell she wants to communicate, but can’t talk. “Hey, thats totally fine,” he says comfortingly. “Let’s try something else, until you’re ready for that. I’m gonna squeeze out a pattern, and all you have to do is squeeze it right back.” She nods once gently. He starts easy, slowly making the patterns more complex. It’s a grounding exercise that Shouta once taught him in the midste of his own panic attack, also unable to talk. 

“You ready to try the senses thing now? It’s totally fine if you’re not.”

“ Yes, please,” she agrees in her high-pitched voice.               

“Five things you can see,” he prompts.

“The- the tunnel. Your hair. Your eyes. Your mask. Um, dirt, on the ground” she responds, keeping count on her fingers all the while.

“Great job, hun. Can you tell me four things you can hear?”

“ Your voice. My voice. The wind. Talking, back further in the cave-thingy.”

“You’re doing so well. Three things you can touch?”

“Your hands. My dress. My hair.”

“Awesome, only a few more. Two things you can smell.”

“S- sewage. And your shampoo.”

“Perfect. Last one. One thing you can taste.”

“B- blood.” His heart clenches, but he can’t let in show. No need to stress Eri out even more.

“That was so good! But I have to ask, just to make sure you’re okay. Are you hurt?”

“I- no. He- he pulls me apart. But when he puts me back together, I’m okay again. I know it’s stupid to complain since I’m okay in the end- I- sorry.”

“Hey. None of that. You did absolutely nothing wrong. It doesn’t matter if there’s no physical remnants of the pain you endured, he hurt you. And that is absolutely wrong. But you did nothing to be sorry for.”

“Your name’s Eri, right?” She gives him a small nod of affirmation. “I’m Izuku Midoriya, but my hero name is Deku.”

“Deku? But doesn’t that mean useless?” She asks, innocence dripping from her voice like caramel.

“It does. Or it did,” he corrects himself. “There used to be some pretty mean people in my life, and they liked to call me that. Now, I use the name as a reminder of all that I’ve overcome to be here, helping other people. Nobody is useless.”

“But- but my curse! The bad men! They all say I- I’m evil. And a mur- murderer. And especially that I’m useless!”

“Hey, I want you to really hear me when I say this, Alright?” Her big red eyes meet his. “ You are not cursed. You are absolutely not useless. You are perfect, just the way you are. And it’s okay if that’s hard to believe sometimes. I’ll help you remember. Everyone needs help remembering sometimes.”

“Even you?”

“Even me.”

Eventually, the noise dies down enough that Izuku thinks the battle must be over.

“Alright, we’ve got to go to the hospital now, but I promise I won’t leave you. I’ll be there the whole time, okay?”

“Kay,” Eri says softly into his shoulder as he holds her. He begins the walk back to the main entrance, and somewhere along the way she falls asleep. 

He smiles softly to himself and lets out a breath he wasn’t aware he had been holding. Eri is safe. She’s okay. He hadn’t failed her. 

A relieved tear falls from his eye.

She’s gonna be okay.

Chapter Text

Izuku lies, eyes closed, on a soft pastel pink rug. It’s dimly lit, but he basks in the light and warmth of the sun, shining through the window and beating down on his face. A soft face nuzzles against his left hand, whiskers tickling him gently. Then he feels the pressure of four paws, climbing onto his leg, across his stomach, making him wince slightly, and onto his chest. He opens his eyes reluctantly, pets the cat on its head, and squints to read the name on its collar.

Cosmic Brownie.

It’s actually a very fitting name, he finds himself thinking as he examines the small creature, mostly dark brown, but with a few rainbow-colored spots. This cat cafe is called “Quirky Kitties”, and houses only quirked cats, mostly rescued from kill shelters. He wonders if the spots are the extent of Cosmic Brownie’s ability, or if there's another aspect. He rubs his eyes, sore from the bright sun, careful not to jostle the divine animal resting on him.

On his right, Hitoshi sits on a soft bench petting a cuddly black kitten with bright red eyes. On his left, Eri plays with a ribbon and a fluffy white Maine Coon. Glancing forward, he can see Shouta and Hizashi, sharing a chair, and swarmed by cats, feeding them all treats. Beside them sits Naomasa, smiling softly. 

He’s surrounded by those he loves, and who love him in turn. A wide smile spreads across his face, but his eyes carry an unspoken sadness. Shouta must have freed himself from the cat pile at some point because he appears silently next to him. Cosmic Brownie hops down and curls up by his hip, so Izuku sits up, trying not to get dizzy from the sudden rush of blood. His friend-turned-colleague-turned-father-figure sits carefully.

“What’s wrong, kid?”

“Just thinking about all the people who will never get to have this. To have a family.”

“Ah,” and then there's a long moment of silence between the two. The world around them keeps moving, but within their little imaginary bubble, all is still.

Then the dark-haired man speaks again, more softly. “It’s not your fault. The hardest thing to accept, as a hero, is that we can’t save everybody.”

There’s a moment when Izuku thinks Shouta might just get up and walk away, leaving him to his sorrows, but then he hears the familiar voice begin, louder now.

“But, kid. Izuku. You’ve saved a lot of fucking people. And you’re just getting started. You’ve saved me with your analysis more times than I can count” he states, like a determined fact. “You saved Hizashi,” he says, glancing towards the blonde in question. “And Naomasa, god knows he would have died from sleep deprivation by now if he didn’t have you helping out on all his cases. And Hitoshi,” he looks at the purple-haired boy, gaze gently, holding affection that could only be described as fatherly. “Eri,” they both look her way and smile sadly. “We’re all sitting here together because of you. You’re a good hero, and you’re a great person.” The raven-haired man inhales deeply. “You can’t save everyone. But you saved all of us. Maybe that will be enough, eventually.”

Tears pool in Izuku’s eyes, but he refuses to let them fall. He gives Shouta a genuine smile. Smaller than the one before, but eyes full of true happiness. Suddenly, there’s a loud noise that startles him out of his thoughts.

“Everyone! Pastries are here, come get ‘em while they’re warm!” ‘Zashi calls out with his usual level of excitement. It may be true that he’s less loud when he’s not hero-ing, he’s just as enthusiastic. He gives the brown cat by his side on more pat on the head before standing up to retrieve his choice of sweet treat, a little miniature fruit tart. He also grabs a double shot of espresso and has to repress a laugh when Eri cringes at the bitter drink. 

“How do you like that?” She says indignantly, face scrunched with disgust.

“I need the caffeine, and it hurts my stomach less than normal coffee,” he says with a shrug and a smirk. She shakes her head and takes a small sip of her own hot drink, some cocoa with whipped cream and sprinkles.

He watches as Hizashi and Shouta squirm nervously, the former bouncing his leg to the point it was practically vibrating, and the other ringing his fingers like a washcloth. They have nothing to be worried about. He nods in their direction encouragingly, and it’s ‘Zashi who seems to finally work up the nerve to broach the topic.

“Hitoshi. Eri. We have something we’d like to discuss with you both,” he says, anxiety creeping into his gentle voice. He takes a slow breath, eyes closing for a moment. “We love you so much. You’re both already a huge part of our family, but- if you’ll let us, we- we’d like to make it official.”

“We want to adopt you,” Shouta clarifies, a sliver of restlessness bleeding into his tone, full of hope.

The two kids just look stunned. Absolutely shellshocked. They seemed to be surprised at the very idea that somebody might want them. Might love them. It’s sad that anyone is ever conditioned to think that way.

It’s Hitoshi who responds. “I- I- yes. Yes! Of- of course! Please.” The last word is spoken barely above the volume of a whisper, and Eri can only nod along to her big brother’s words.

Izuku smiles as he sheds a tear. Looking around, he sees Hizashi and Naomasa doing the same. Maybe Shouta too, but he can’t tell for sure, as the mans face rests in the hair of his son and daughter, both bawling into his capture weapon. After a moment, Hizashi runs forwards to join them, and then, voice slightly muffled by his husband’s scarf, he calls out to Izuku and Naomasa.

“C’mon you two. Get in here! You’re family too.”