Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s time. His masterpiece has been born and his plan can finally be set into motion. He chose a woman with a weak telekinesis quirk so his will be the one to take hold. Once the child is old enough, he will dispose of the weak woman and train them to be his vessel. Walking up the hospital steps, he holds back the smirk he knows is peeking through his disguise. Now is not the time for plotting, his plan is perfect. No, now he must play the part of Midoriya Hisashi, a doting new father.

He made sure to miss the disgusting delivery, so the child should be all clean for him to view by now. He puts on the face of a worried father and follows the nurse’s directions to the room housing the woman and his masterpiece. He gently opens the door, “My Love? Are you alright? I came as soon as work would let me!”

“Oh, yes, Hisashi! We are both doing just fine! Come meet your daughter!” The woman calls for him from behind the curtain. A daughter? No matter, it should still work for his plans. He pulls aside the curtain to see the woman smiling up at him, a pink bundle in her arms. “Do you want to hold her?”

He looks down at the bundle, it’s sitting at an angle where he can only see the top of the baby’s head, and tries to hold back his distaste. He needs to do this to sell his position. Then he can “move to America for work” and everything will go along as planned. Yes, just hold the disgusting infant now and get it over with.

“Of course! Give her here.” He reaches out and the woman hands over the little bundle of blankets. He expects to find a normal, wrinkly baby. He expects to have to hide his disgust. What he was not expecting was to see himself mirrored in those emerald eyes. To see his natural freckles on a tiny face. To fall in love as a tiny hand reaches out for his finger. This is his. His daughter. He lost his brother all those many years ago, he refuses to lose something else that is his . No, not even for a moment. As he stares into those round, innocent eyes full of unconditional love and acceptance, he knows he will never lose her. A new plan forms.

—

“Our top story tonight! A local hospital was engulfed in flames starting from a room in the labor and delivery ward, the room of one Shimura Inko. There are twenty-three casualties as of this broadcast, including Ms. Shimura. Authorities are currently at a loss as to who would have done such a thing. No terrorist groups have claimed responsibility as of yet, but police are following every lead. Next up…”

—

“Daddy! Daddy! I missed you!” Izu runs up to her father who picks her up and spins her around.

“My sweet, Bunny! I was only gone for a few hours. Surely you couldn’t have missed me that much.” He chuckles.

“But I did, Daddy! I did, mhmm!” Izu snuggles into her father’s neck as he hugs her close.

“Well, then it’s a good thing I’m done with work for today, isn’t it?” Her father smiles down at her as she positively beams up at him in response.

“Really?” He nods. “Yay! Play time! Play time, Daddy!”

“Anything for you, My Sweet.” And he does. Her father kneels to the floor where she had been playing only moments ago and sets about joining the game she had been playing. 

They play for a couple hours before dinner time rolls around. Her father gets up and heads to the kitchen, Izu following close behind, and sets about preparing dinner for the two of them. A simple meal of rice and curry, not too hot for the young three year-old. Once it is served and Izu has begun to eat, her father smiles and speaks up.

“Tomorrow is a very special day, Bunny. Can you guess why?”

“It’s my birthday!”

“That’s right! And it’s a very special birthday.”

“Uh huh, cause I’m supposed to get my quirk!”

Her father smiles wider. “That’s right. And I have a very good idea of what your quirk might be too, but that’s a secret for now.”

“Aw, but why?”

“Because getting your quirk is very special and I want you to be surprised. It’s like an extra birthday present that could come at any time! And if I’m right about what it is, you might even have it already and not even know!”

“Really?! Wow!”

Her father chuckles. “And speaking of presents, I have a very special one for you tomorrow.”

“Is it a new toy?”

“Nope. Try again?”

“Is it… a tricycle?”

“No, not that either.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a surprise!”

“Aw, but I want to know now!” Izu pouts.

Her father chuckles and pinches her cheek which makes her smile. “I know, My Sweet, but I promise it is worth the wait. Has Daddy ever lied to you?”

“No, Daddy. Daddy is the best Daddy in the whole world!”

“That’s very sweet of you to say, Bunny. Now, eat up so you can have your bath before bed.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

Once she’s bathed and settled into bed, Izu receives a sweet kiss from her father and curls up safe and sound in her bed, happy in the knowledge that her father loves her.

—

All For One smiles down at his daughter. If he is correct, she will show signs of having his quirk tomorrow when they leave the house. He’s sure she carries the trait, and he is sure that if she doesn’t already have it, that it will manifest very soon. He can almost feel her quirk factor maturing. 

He brushes a hand through her green curls and smiles. Oh how that tiny baby has grown in only four years. She’s gotten so big, and that unconditional love and acceptance has only grown with her. The feeling is euphoric and unlike the fear and reverence he feels from his followers. Though he enjoys that too, what he receives from his Izu is something much better. He is once again reminded of what a great idea it was to keep her safe and hidden away. This being is his and his alone. No one will ever take her away. He will make sure of it.

—

“Daddy?”

“Yes, Bunny?”

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to one of the places Daddy works.”

This gets Izu excited. “Really?!” Izu begins hopping as they walk through the busy streets, her hand interlocked with her father’s.

Her father chuckles. “Yes, that’s where your special present is waiting.”

“I’m so excited, Daddy! Let’s go faster!” She starts pulling on his hand trying to get the large man to walk faster, but he just laughs and pulls her back so that she’s walking next to him again.

“Be patient, My Sweet. We’ll be there soon.”

As they walk, Izu looks around at all the people around her. There are so many cool quirks around and Izu very rarely ever gets to leave the house, so getting to see all these new people and their special powers is so cool! She starts to skip next to her father as they walk and she watches people, trusting her father to lead her safely through the crowds. 

They make it to a crosswalk and Izu doesn’t stop in time, bumping into a stranger in front of her. The man turns to yell at her father, but something is weird about him. He has this glowing light around him. As Izu looks around, she sees a lot of glowing lights around, well, everyone! She looks back at the man as her father apologizes to him with a malicious grin, scaring the stranger into calming down, and she reaches out and touches the light. When she does, she feels a sort of breeze and then she gets this weird feeling. It’s like a nice warmth but also like a tingly feeling in her palms.

The light eventually changes and the man leaves shaking a little while Izu marvels at her hand as her father pulls her along with the other. They make it to the other side and the man who had yelled at her father starts yelling again. He keeps shouting about something being gone or lost or something, Izu doesn’t know or care. She’s too focused on the feeling in her palms. She thinks for a moment about what it could be when suddenly her palm lights up and a small ball of ice forms.

“Look, Daddy! Look what I made!” She giggles as her father looks down at her. His smile grows wide.

“That’s very impressive, Bunny!”

“Is this my quirk?” She marvels at the ice in her hand.

“I think it’s one piece of your quirk. Let’s do a little experiment, shall we?” When she nods with excitement, he pulls her into an alleyway away from prying eyes. “Okay, first things first, what happened before you made that ball of ice?”

Izu curls her lip as she thinks. “My hand felt all tingly…”

“What about before that? When did your hand get all tingly?”

“Hmm, I think it was after I touched that man’s glow.”

Her father frowns for a second in confusion. “His what?”

“You know, his glow. Everyone has one now. You have a really bright one! It’s all kinds of colors too! That man’s glow was small and kinda bluish? I touched it and it went away from him and then my hands got all tingly!”

Now her father is smiling really big. “You said you touched his glow, but not him?”

“Yeah! I don’t touch icky strangers.”

“I think that’s your quirk then!”

“What?”

“You know how Daddy can take some people’s quirks And give away some of his own?”

“Uh huh.” She nods.

“Well, I think when you touched his glow, you took that man’s quirk away.”

“Really? Good. He was mean to you, Daddy. He doesn’t deserve a quirk.” She huffs and crosses her little arms.

Her father laughs. “You’re very right, My Sweet. Let’s go look at your present, shall we? You can play with your new quirk if you want.”

“Yay!” Izu takes her father’s hand again as they walk back out onto the street. 

As they walk, Izu looks around at people’s glows and tries to guess what kind of quirk they have. She sees a lady with a red glow and a little boy with a purple one. The lady is yelling at the little boy and making him cry, so Izu reaches out and touches the mean lady’s glow. She feels that breeze again and the warmth returns, but now the tingling is in her chest and throat. She laughs and a little lick of flame pops out of her mouth. She laughs some more as they turn a corner and a man shoves her father. Before her father can say anything to the man, Izu reaches out and touches his purple glow. The breeze hits her and now her head tingles. The man shakes under her father’s glare and the two continue walking. Izu looks up at her father and thinks really hard with her tingly brain. Then she hears, What a success! She received my quirk afterall! And it seems with a telekinetic component like that woman. Not even having to touch the subject! My Izu is so special. I must never let anything happen to her.

“What does com-pon-ent mean?” Izu asks her father, sounding out the word she had just heard.

“Where did you hear that?”

“You. You said it with your brain!” Izu grins.

Her father smiles. “Izu, have you been taking other people’s quirks?”

“Yes, Daddy! But only from the mean ones! Like the lady that was yelling and the man that pushed you! They were mean.” Izu frowns.

“That’s okay, Bunny, but try not to take anyone else’s unless it’s very necessary or I tell you to, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy!” 

He smiles. “Good girl, now, we are almost to where your surprise is!” And he points to a building across the street.

Izu jumps up and down and follows her father into the building. They walk down a long hallway and into a room with another door, this one locked. Izu waits patiently as her father takes out a set of golden keys and unlocks the door. “Now, before we go in I must tell you that there is a little boy in there. You are not to take his quirk away, okay? Never ever. Understand?”

“Yes sir, Daddy!”

“That’s my Good Girl. Now, here’s your surprise!” And he opens the door to reveal a young boy about four years older than her. “This is Tomura, and he will be a sort of playmate for you! He is my special student and now that he has control of his quirk and you have yours, you two can finally meet. You will help him as he learns from me, won’t you?”

“Of course, Daddy! I love helping you!”

Her father pats her head. “That’s my good girl. Now, Tomura,” her father turns to the boy. “When the time comes, Izu will be an essential part of your team. She is a very important player and you must treasure her. Treat her with kindness and respect and you will find that things will work out just right.”

“Yes, Sensei.” The boy, Tomura, says. He looks at Izu and Izu smiles.

“Hi, Tomu!”

Chapter Text

“Happy Birthday, Bunny.” Izu smiles at her father and then turns to Tomura.

“Yeah, happy birthday or whatever.” He responds, never looking up from his game. Izu just giggles at Tomura’s antics. Ever since he became a teenager, he’s been a little distant, but he still plays with her when she uses her puppy eyes.

Izu enjoys time with her father and Tomura, playing games and practicing with some of her quirks. But as the day starts to end, her father gets a notification on his phone and he looks up to Kurogiri. “Take them both to the house. I will call on you shortly.”

Kurogiri opens a portal and ushers Tomura through it, but Izu pauses. “Daddy, is everything okay?”

He smiles at her. “Yes, My Sweet. Everything’s fine. All Might is just giving me some trouble again. You be good for Kurogiri now, okay?”

Izu smiles hesitantly at him. “Yes, Daddy.”

She walks through the portal just as the building behind her explodes.

—

It’s been hours now. Even Tomura is starting to worry, asking Kurogiri if Sensei is okay. Izu is a wreck. She heard the building explode when she stepped through the portal. She knows that All Might is powerful, not as much as her father, but powerful nonetheless. She knows she should trust her father, but it’s hard when he’s kissed her goodnight every night that she can remember. This is the first bedtime he has missed in ten years.

“Kuro?”

“Yes, Miss Izu.”

“Is Daddy okay?”

“I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Can- Can we go see him?”

“I’m not sure that’s best-”

“Please! Just a quick look! You can open a portal and we can just pop our heads through. Please, Kuro.” She pouts a little, widening her eyes and letting her tears show.

“Alright, Miss Izu.”

Kurogiri opens the portal as she had asked and she and Tomura peek through. What they find sends Izu into a panic. She runs through the portal, jumping over the rubble of the building and to her father’s bloody side. He’s breathing but only barely. His face is so bloody, she can’t even see his eyes. His wonderful, kind, loving red eyes. The eyes that sparkle when she uses one of her quirks. The eyes that hold her own so often. The eyes that have always seen her. She can’t find them.

“Kuro! Take him to the doctor! Take him to the doctor NOW!!”

—

She sits in the basement hallway, taking deep, hiccuping breaths as she waits for the doctor to come out with news. Tomura already went back to his room to sleep, but Izu can’t sleep until she knows her father is okay. She needs him to be okay.

“Miss Izu.” Kurogiri appears next to her.

“I’m not going, Kuro. I have to wait for him.”

Suddenly a small sofa appears through a portal next to her holding a pillow and some blankets. “At least rest while you wait. It will most likely be several more hours before you can see him.”

Izu looks up at Kurogiri and then over to the sofa. It’s the sofa from the bar hideout. The one she used to nap on when Tomura and her father would be training in the afternoons. She smiles a little at the memory as more tears spring up.

“He’ll be okay, won’t he, Kuro? Daddy will be okay?”

Kurogiri kneels down and looks Izu in the eyes. “Master is strong.”

Izu begins crying harder, but she allows Kurogiri to guide her to the sofa and cover her with the blankets. She sleeps restlessly for the next seven hours, only waking when the door down the hall finally opens. At the sound of the door hitting the wall, Izu bolts upright and turns to look at the doctor.

“He’s alive, but I must warn you, Izu, it isn’t pretty. He used every healing quirk at his disposal and I used all of my resources to get him to a livable state, but he won’t ever be what he was before.”

“But he’s alive?”

The doctor gives her a sad smile. “Yes, he’s alive. He’s awake now if you want to see him.”

She just nods, biting her lip to fight back the sob that wants to burst through her ribs. She walks slowly to the door and takes a deep breath before finally stepping through. Her father is there, his head so wrapped in bandages that only his nose and mouth are visible and there is a breathing mask over them as well. She sniffles as she walks in.

“Izu? Is that you, Bunny?” Her father’s voice speaks and she runs to him.

“Daddy!” She cries into his shoulder, feeling a heavy hand being placed on her back. 

“Shh, My Sweet, it’s okay. I’m right here. I’m never leaving you.”

“I won’t forgive him! I’ll never forgive him!” She screams into his chest as he continues to hug her. She looks up at his bandaged head and stares at where his eyes should be. Eyes she may never see again. “I’ll never forgive All Might for what he did to you. He can rot in hell for all I care!”

Her father’s hand rises up to card through her curly hair. “And he will, My Sweet. He will soon enough. Young Tomura is almost ready to begin his mission and then we will take down All Might and all the pesky heroes who get in our way. This is only a mere setback in my plans. Do not worry, Bunny. Your Daddy will make sure this world is ours once more.”

—

“Tomu, I’m bored.” Izu whines as she lays across the back of the sofa

“Does it look like I care, Izu?” Tomura doesn’t look up from his game as he answers her plea for entertainment.

“What if we went and got ice cream or something?” She sits up and looks over at her oldest friend.

“You know Sensei would kill us if we left without his permission.”

“No, he would kill you. Daddy would never hurt me . The most he’d do is give me a stern talking to. But it’ll be fine! We’ll just go really quick and then come right back. He’ll never know we were gone!”

“Kurogiri will tell him.”

“No, Kuro would never rat us out, would you, Kuro?” She bats her eyelashes at Tomura’s caretaker.

“You know I have to tell Master the truth, Miss Izu.”

She pouts. “Yeah, but that’s if he asks. You don’t have to offer up the knowledge. Come on, please!”

“Whatever you wish, Miss Izu.”

Izu lights up, smile beaming. “See, Tomu! We can totally go!”

“If you wanna go so bad, then go by yourself.”

Again, she pouts, whispering, “You know I can’t go anywhere by myself.”

“Well I’m not going.”

“Ugh, fine!” Izu huffs and flops back down on the couch. It doesn’t take long before the boredom seeps into her very bones. Her dad has been gone for what feels like forever and her gaming system is back at the house. Maybe Kurogiri would take her back to the house? But she can’t be there alone and her caretaker is sick today, which is the whole reason she’s even at Tomura’s in the first place.

“Please Tomu! Just a little exploring! Twenty minutes!”

“... Five.”

Izu smiles, seeing his resolve cracking. “Ten.”

“Ugh, fine!” He throws his head back in frustration as she cheers.

After grabbing one of her father’s really old jackets from a nearby closet, she bounces on the balls of her feet by the door waiting as Tomura moves much slower to put on his own jacket. He looks over at her. “Why are you wearing that?”

Izu looks down at the jacket she has pulled on and zipped all the way up. It’s practically a dress on her with the height difference between her and her father. There’s old cigarette burns on the sleeves from when her father used to smoke and the zipper is a little wonky, not unzipping all the way, but it’s a nice dark blue and still smells like her father. She shrugs at Tomura. “Sentimentality?” 

He rolls his eyes and opens the door to the streets outside. “We are only staying out for ten minutes, okay? Just enough time to get ice cream and then get back.”

Izu nods very seriously, though she can’t hold back her excited grin. “Absolutely!”

—

They hadn’t even made it to the ice cream shop a block away when a fight breaks out between two gangs. The street becomes flooded with people screaming and running in all directions. Izu loses her grip on Tomura’s arm and gets shoved to the side. As people continue to run, she is forced to run with them or risk being trampled. Where’s Tomura? Where did he go? She looks desperately for him or any sign of where she is. She curses not having a phone. She’s never needed one since she only ever goes out with her father and who else does she need to contact? But now she really wishes she had one to contact Kurogiri with.

She tries to turn in the crowd, maybe retrace her steps when something or someone huge shoves into her. She’s thrown into someone else who then shoves her again and she falls, hard, against the ground, hitting her head on something and passing out.

—

“Ah, Tomura, Kurogiri told me you stepped out for a moment.” All For One speaks through the TV in the bar as Tomura walks through the door. “I can’t say I approve but-” Tomura is alone. His clothes are torn and he looks ragged and scared, with wide eyes and sweat dripping down his brow, and He. Is. Alone. “Tomura, where is Izu?”

“There was a fight. People were running and pushing and… we got separated in the crowd. I couldn’t find her. I had to get out of there. Heroes… Heroes started showing up and I couldn’t find her and… Sensei, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

She’s gone. His daughter. His one and only treasure. His Izu. She’s gone. He has to get her back. He has to find her and bring her back.

Chapter Text

“...kid… okay?...kid… hear me? Hey, Kid. Can you hear me?” Izu blinks her eyes open only to find the light hurts and she shuts her eyes again. She tries to sit up but a strong hand holds her down. “Don’t try to move too much. Can you hear me? You might have a concussion.” She squints her eyes open once more and finds a man with scraggly black hair and a really long scarf kneeling over her.

“Wha’ ‘appened? Who’re you?” Her voice is a little slurred as she tries to make sense of what’s going on. Where’s Tomura? Where is she?

“I’m Earserhead. I’m a hero. There was a fight and you were hurt when the crowd panicked. You hit your head. Does anything else hurt?” He reaches out for her when his words suddenly process in her mind.

Hero.

He’s a hero.

Her eyes blow wide and she starts desperately looking around. Where’s Tomura? She’s gotta get out of here. She sees police and firefighters and EMTs and no Tomura. Oh no. She needs to get back. She needs to get back right now.

“Hey, Kid, calm down. You need to breathe.”

“No, no I gotta go. I gotta get home.” She starts scooting away from the hero, desperately trying to get away but her head hurts and she feels nauseous.

“You need to get checked out. I can call your parents and have them meet you at the hospital.”

“No, no you can’t do that. No. I need… I need to go.” She tries to stand but wobbles.

“Hey, it’s okay, but you need to calm down. Everything is going to be okay, but you are going to hurt yourself if you keep panicking.”

“No! No, everything will not be okay! I need to go! Now!” And then she falls, the hero catching her. “Don’t touch me!” She pushes against him, but she’s too weak in her concussed state to get him to let go.

“If I let you go, you’ll fall and hurt yourself. Just let me help you get to an EMT, okay?”

She complies, but she swears as soon as he lets go, she’s gonna run for it. They make it to a nearby ambulance and just as she promised herself, as soon as he releases his grip on her, she tries to run down the street only to trip and fall a few feet away. The hero follows her and picks her up.

“I told you, you need to calm down. Why are you so upset? Are you afraid your parents will be upset? It’s a school day and you’re not wearing a uniform, so I’m guessing you’re skipping right now.” He sets her down on a stretcher and questions her as a medic looks into her eyes with a flashlight.

“I don’t go to school.” She answers in an irritated tone.

“Well, if you’re homeschooled, then that means you must live around here. Look, if this medic says you’re good to go, I’ll walk you home myself.”

“Like I’m going to show you where I live. No way. I’m going by myself.”

He raises an eyebrow at her. “This is a rough neighborhood and a gang fight just ended. There is no way I am letting a what? Fourteen maybe fifteen year old walk home alone.”

She glares at him. “I’m fifteen and I’m fine. I can go home on my own.”

“Sorry, but no can do.”

“If I could interrupt?” The EMT lady holds up a hand. The hero and Izu both look at her. “She appears to have a significant concussion and this head wound will probably need stitches. It’s my recommendation that she go to the hospital for observation.”

“Well, there you go. You’re going to the hospital.”

“I am not going to the hospital.”

—

At the hospital, Izu tries to make a run for it exactly three times before she is settled into a room for observation with the hero sitting in front of the door. Her head now has six stitches and the lights are turned down low so her head doesn’t ache as much. She’s sitting crossed armed in the bed glaring at the hero.

“How long do I have to stay here?”

“Until at least one of your parents gets here. Which would be a lot easier if you told me your name.”

“No way am I telling a hero my name.”

That gets him to raise an eyebrow. “Well, then give me your parents’ contact info at least so I can get them here.”

She looks to the side and mumbles to herself.

“I didn’t quite catch that.”

“I don’t know my dad’s number, okay?!”

“What about your mother?”

“Don’t have one of those.”

“So you have no way of contacting your father?” She looks away from him and shrugs. The hero sighs. “Well you aren’t getting out of here without him or some other legal guardian signing you out.”

She whips her head back around. “You can’t keep me here forever!”

The hero sighs again and wipes a hand down his face. “Look, Kid. This would go much easier if you just tell me your name. I have people who can find your father and get him here.”

“I am not helping you. Besides, your people can’t find my dad. No one can.” She says that last part proudly to the hero’s confusion.

“Whatever, Kid.”

—

The hero eventually leaves and Izu is able to escape from the hospital now that she’s no longer under his watchful eyes. She uses Fire Breath to cause a distraction and then uses her speed quirk, Speedster, to make it out the door before anyone even notices her missing from her room. She walks the dark streets from the hospital desperately looking for anything familiar. She’s gotta find her way home. Kurogiri doesn’t know where she is, so he can’t open a portal and her father is bound to be worried about her. Yeah, he’ll send someone to find her. She just has to figure out where she is and get close enough to home for someone under her father’s orders to find her.

She’s walking past a particularly dark alley when a hand reaches out and grabs her. She screams and then a hand is wrapped around her mouth. “Don’t make a sound, girly, unless you wanna get sliced.” The hand that grabbed her suddenly grows knives from between its knuckles.

Izu doesn’t waste any time. She opens her mouth and lets loose a flame. When the man pulls his now very burnt hand back, she grabs the other and forms an ice ball around it, thick enough that the knives are now hopelessly covered. Then she runs.

Speedster gets her a good distance away before the exhaustive drawback pulls her down. And now she’s even more hopelessly lost. Great. She wanders for about an hour before she feels eyes watching her. She looks around but the street is deserted. She walks a little further, keeping her eyes peeled, but the feeling of being watched only becomes more intense. After walking for another ten minutes or so with the feeling getting worse and worse, she finally looks up. There’s a figure on the roof of the building next to her. Well, crap.

She runs, activating Speedster when suddenly she feels it falter. She tries to call it forth again but it doesn’t work. She tries to call on Fire Breath but only gets smoke. What is happening? She’s so distracted by the strange feeling of quirklessness that she doesn’t see the pole until she runs straight into it.

“Hey, Kid. You okay?” She knows that voice. Sure enough, when she looks up, rubbing her now broken nose, she finds the same hero from before.

“You made me break my nose.” She says as angrily as possible while still holding her nose.

The hero has the gall to chuckle. “You did that all by yourself.” Then his face becomes serious and he kneels down next to her. “Now, what are you doing out here alone again?”

“Trying to go home.”

“And where is home?”

She glares at him. “I’m not telling you.”

“And why is that?”

She glares at him. “You’re a hero. I’m not showing some stupid hero where I live.”

He rolls his eyes before something seems to register with him. “You won’t tell me where you live so I can help you get home safely because I’m a hero?”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it? Now leave me alone.” She stands up and looks both ways before crossing the street.

“No can do.” He follows her. “I’ve been watching you from the rooftops for a while and I’m one hundred percent certain that you have no idea where you’re going.”

“Maybe I’m taking the scenic route.”

He stops in front of her, forcing her to stop and look at him. “I’m not an idiot, Kid.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“Just admit that you’re lost and let me help you.”

“Okay, fine. Help me then.” She looks up at him, voice full of sarcasm.

He sighs. “Finally. Where do you live?”

“No idea.” She crosses her arms and answers him honestly.

That seems to phase him. “What?”

“I don’t know where my house is, hence why I’m lost.” She says this like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, which it is to her.

“You don’t even know your address?”

“Nope. Never needed to.”

“What about when you go out like you did today?”

She frowns. “I don’t leave without someone with me. They know how to get me home.”

“But you were alone when I found you.”

She screws up her face into the nastiest glare she can manage. “Obviously I didn’t start out that way! That dumb fight seperated me from my friend and now I’m lost with no way to get home or even contact my dad and… and…” She feels tears start to prick at her eyes. She really wants her dad right now. He’d know exactly what to do. She lets herself collapse to the ground as she begins to sob. She wraps her arms around herself in an attempt at self soothing, but she’s never had to work through her emotions alone. This is so new and she hates it. She hates being away from her dad and she hates feeling vulnerable. 

The hero kneels down in front of her. “Hey, Kid. It’s gonna be okay. We’ll figure this out.” He rests a gentle hand on her shoulder and she’s too distressed to really care. “But for now it’s incredibly late and this is a bad area, so I need to get you somewhere safe. Can you let me do that?”

Somewhere safe? “Wh-Where do you p-plan to take m-me?” She hiccups through her continuing tears.

“I know a safe space not too far from here. We’ll get you tucked away to get some rest and then worry about finding your home in the morning, okay?”

Against her better judgment, she feels herself nod to the hero. She knows she should run, but she’s so tired and using multiple quirks in the same hour with a head injury has sucked away at her stamina. She just wants to lay down and go to sleep.

The hero smiles. “Good. I’ll call a friend to come pick us up.”

—

Nedzu is just laying down to sleep when he receives a rather odd phone call from one of his former students turned teacher. “I must say, Aizawa, it’s a rather odd time to be calling me. What is so important that it couldn’t wait until I see you tomorrow morning?”

There’s a sigh over the phone. “I found a kid and I think you’ll be interested in her.”

“And why is that?”

“She tried to run away from me at first using her speed quirk, but when I used my quirk on her, it felt like I was canceling multiple people’s quirks at once. I got dry eye in minutes.”

“How fascinating!” 

“And that’s not all. The reason she ran was because I’m a hero. She kept talking like heroes were the scum of the earth. The way she talks and some of the things she has said to me make me think she may be the child of a villain. “

“Now that is concerning.”

“That’s why I have Tsukauchi bringing us to UA right now. I figured it was the best place to bring her given the situation.”

“That is absolutely right. I will be awaiting your arrival.”

“Alright.”

Aizawa hangs up first and Nedzu can’t help the shiver he gets down his spine. A child with multiple quirks who just might be the offspring of a powerful villain. He’ll need to interview her and find out for sure before he brings All Might into this.

Chapter Text

Izu wakes up when the car stops. She looks around groggily before her situation comes to the forefront of her mind and then she bolts up, now wide awake. How could she have let herself sleep in front of a hero? Hopefully they’re at the foster home or whatever place he decided to drop her off at and she can actually relax. 

The passenger door opens and she watches as the hero gets out. She takes a breath then opens her own door. Once out of the car, she looks up and is immediately confused. “Where are we?”

“UA.” The hero answers as he comes around the car to her side.

She looks at him with a quirked eyebrow. “You say that like I should know what that is…”

He looks at her incredulously. “You’ve never heard of UA High School?”

She points at herself. “Homeschooled, remember? I don’t get out much and I don’t really watch TV, so…” She shrugs. “It’s a high school?” He nods as he begins walking. She jogs a little to catch up. “Why’d you bring me here? I thought you said you were taking me somewhere safe.”

“UA is the safest place to be in Japan.”

Now it’s her turn to look at him incredulously. “And how exactly is a school the safest place in the country?” She follows him through the gates, where he scans a badge, and up a set of stairs to the entrance. 

“Because of who runs it. He’s a nut for security.” His answer is vague enough that Izu knows he’s hiding something. She just doesn’t know what.

She ends up following him through several confusing corridors and up two flights of stairs. Once they make it to the third floor, he guides her to a set of double doors down another set of confusing hallways. The doors open revealing a small white creature in a three piece suit. Looking at the creature, she can see that the animal has a purple glow. So it’s a quirked animal then.

“Am I a mouse? A bear? I’m the principal of UA!” 

“What’s your quirk? It’s mental related, right? Does it give you heightened intelligence? How smart are you? And why are you the principal of a high school?”

The creature smiles. “So many questions! Such curiosity is a marker for higher than average intelligence. And how did you know I have a mental quirk?”

She gives the animal a stern look. “You answer first.”

The animal’s smile doesn’t waver at her insolence. “Alright. My quirk is called High Specs. You are correct that it gives me higher than average intelligence. My IQ is higher than that of even the smartest humans. And I am the principal of this school because that is what I want. Your turn.”

“I know because of my quirk.”

“And what is your quirk exactly?”

She stares at him for a moment. “Your last answer wasn’t a real answer, so I don’t think I will be giving you one in return.”

The animal claps his hands together. “How interesting! What a fascinating young human you are.”

Izu looks between the animal and the hero. “He’s always like this.” The hero answers her unspoken question. She shrugs and looks back down at the animal standing on the desk.

“My name is Nedzu. What is yours?”

“Why do you want to know?” Izu crosses her arms.

“She refused to tell me, too. I’ve just been calling her Kid.” The hero butts in.

“As you said, you first.” The animal, Nedzu, looks at her with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Izu looks between the hero and the principal. She chews her lip as she thinks through how to go about this. What was that name her dad used when he was in disguise? Mid-something… She thinks on it harder before it pops to the front of her memory. She hasn’t heard him use the name since the fight, but she still remembers it. She smirks down at the principal. “Midoriya. Midoriya Izu. Now it’s your turn.”

“I simply want to know so I can help you find your way home.” The principal tries to sound innocent, but she’s suspicious of him. 

Izu turns to the hero. “You said you were taking me somewhere safe so I could sleep. How am I supposed to sleep at a school?”

“The infirmary has cots. You can rest there.”

“Lead the way, Hobo Hero.”

—

Izu wakes up to the sound of voices nearby. The infirmary was empty last night when the hero brought her down here, but now that she’s coming back to consciousness, she can hear multiple voices, most of which seem to be far away but two are right beside her. She peeks her eyes open, staring at the curtain separating her cot from the others in the infirmary and listens to the conversation being had.

“...just saying a little warning would have been nice, Shouta.”

“I would have warned you, but I brought her here at midnight and I assumed you wouldn’t want to be woken up at that time of night.”

“And you couldn’t call me this morning?”

“...I was asleep.”

The other voice sighs. “Alright. I will watch over her, but what should I tell her once she wakes up?”

“Just tell her you’re the school nurse, which isn’t a lie, and call me down. I’ll handle the rest.”

There’s silence for a moment and then footsteps heading further away. Izu waits for a moment to make sure the voice she recognized as the hero doesn’t return before sitting up and pulling the curtain away. A short, elderly woman looks over at her, her body language showing surprise even if her face stays neutral.

“Good morning, Deary. Feeling better?” The woman rises from where she had been seated at a desk and hobbles over using a large syringe as a cane. She’s dressed in a white lab coat, but the outfit underneath is odd. Almost like a hero costume…

Izu looks at the woman with suspicion. “I’m fine. Who are you?”

“Shuzenji Chiyo. I’m the school nurse here at UA high school.”

Izu gives the woman a soft glare. “That’s what the hero told you to tell me, but who are you actually?”

The woman smiles at her. “What I tell you is the truth even if it may not be the whole truth.”

“So you admit to hiding something?”

“Only for your own comfort. I’ve been told you may become very upset with the whole truth and my job is making sure you are able to heal comfortably.”

“I told you, I’m fine.” Izu moves to get out of the bed she’d been laying in.

“I was told you had a severe concussion and a head wound that needed stitches.”

“Yeah, and now I’m fine. See?” She moves her now messy hair out of the way, showing the woman her now healed head. All that’s left of the injury is a small white scar, but even that seems to be fading.

“So you have a healing quirk?” The woman looks intrigued, her own peachy glow giving away that she has some type of healing based quirk.

Izu doesn’t answer her, just stands up and begins walking to the door. The woman moves to stand in her way.

“You really should wait here until Aizawa returns. He told me he was in charge of helping you get home.”

“Is Aizawa that hero guy?” The woman nods. “Yeah, I don’t really care what he wants. If he’s not here in the next five seconds, I’ll find my own way home.”

As she expected, five seconds later the hero is nowhere in sight, so Izu again tries to leave. When the woman tries to block her way again, Izu taps into Speedster and shoots past her and down the hallway. Once she’s a good distance away, she stops running and takes in her surroundings. The hallway she stopped in is empty, but she knows she heard people outside the infirmary earlier. She wanders down various corridors and looks into dozens of classrooms, but finds absolutely no one. 

About to give up, she looks into one last doorway only to find it doesn’t lead to a classroom, but to an auditorium instead. Looking around she sees hundreds of students dressed in dozens of different uniforms. If they all go to different schools, why are they here? All the kids are sitting and talking until someone steps up on stage. Izu knows this person. He’s on the radio, but her dad never lets her listen to his show. She has seen him on TV sometimes though, when she does her analysis practice. His hero name is Present Mic. Voice quirk. Weakness is his broken hearing due to his own quirk. He also gets frequent sore throats and needs time to take deep breaths before using a screaming attack.

“What is UP, EVERYBODY?!!” He shouts in English and nobody responds. He continues on as if unbothered and introduces them to their practical exam. Practical exam? Practical exam for what? Apparently the students will be fighting robots, which is odd. But more importantly, why on earth does this school have a hero introducing the exam? What is going on?

When students start standing to get their assigned areas, Izu quickly slips away and heads to a nearby empty classroom. It takes a few minutes, but soon enough she watches as they leave two different doorways in changed clothes. She watches the kids pass by her and decides on impulse to follow them. She’s going to figure out what these heroes are hiding if it kills her. Metaphorically of course.

She follows the crowd of kids her age out to some buses. She boards the first bus she sees and rides it to an on campus cityscape. A strange thing to have at a high school, but who is she to judge? Maybe all high schools have mock cities? She follows the other kids off the bus and all the way up to a giant set of doors. Present Mic screams for them to start and suddenly she’s running. There are robots everywhere and she happily takes them out using her favorite quirk. Fire Breath melts the metal with ease, turning the robots into scrap metal within seconds. She laughs at each hulking mass and then uses Speedster to make her way to the next robot. She’s actually having fun. She’s done combat training with her dad and then Tomura after The Fight, but it’s never been this all out before. 

She takes out another robot when the ground begins to shake. She looks down the road and finds a robot there taller than the rest of the buildings, a giant 0P painted on its chest. She grins maniacally. A perfect test for her quirk reflexes. Using Speedster, she makes her way to the robot, jumping over a kid trapped under some rubble. She switches to Agility Enhancement at the last second and, adding Claws to her active arsenal, climbs up the robot’s side. Once at the top, she retracts Claws and pulls forth Fire Breath to burn through the robot’s sensitive wiring. It comes to a complete stop, jostling her and causing her to fall. Just before she hits the ground, something slaps her across the face and she stops in midair. When her gravity returns, she falls maybe a foot to the ground. Groaning, she turns to look at who had slapped her only to find the kid trapped under the rubble, a girl with abnormally pink cheeks.

“Thanks… for saving… me!” The girl says between heavy breaths. And then she pukes. Gross.

“Times UP! Everyone exit the cityscape carefully! If you are in need of medical attention, please see Recovery Girl at the exit!”

Recovery Girl? Who is that? Izu slowly sits up, her body sore from so much quirk use. She stands and turns to leave when the girl from under the rubble speaks again.

“Can you help me out of here?”

She turns to look at her for only a second. “No.” And then she turns back around and follows the other kids to the exit.

She makes it to the exit only to find the woman from the infirmary, only now she’s wearing some kind of headgear. Crap. Is she a hero too? Is that what the hobo hero was trying to hide from her? This is starting to get really irritating.

“There you are, Deary. Aizawa has been looking for you.”

“Well he can keep looking. I’m getting on that bus and then I’m going home.” She starts to walk away, but then she’s stopped by the woman’s weird cane.

“There’s no need for you to get on the bus. He’s waiting for you upstairs.” She points to the tower behind her where Present Mic had been announcing. “Just head on up. Nedzu is there as well and he’s expecting you.”

“And if I don’t?” She crosses her arms, daring this elderly woman to try and force her to do anything.

“You’re close to, if not already suffering from quirk exhaustion, Deary. It’s in your best interest to do as I say.”

They have a staring contest, neither willing to back down. Unfortunately this battle of wills is a sufficient enough distraction for Izu as it only ends when that hobo hero’s scarf wraps around her. She looks up in outrage to see him and several other hero-types exiting the tower’s door.

“There you are, Problem Child. That was quite the show you put on out there.”

Izu struggles against the scarf-thing and sassily retorts, “Wasn’t trying to put on a show. Just having a little fun before I go home.” She gives up and glares at him. “Now, if you would oh so kindly let. Me. Go. I will be on my way.”

“Oh, have you suddenly remembered where you live?”

That causes her bravado to deflate. And with it goes her will to remain standing. So, like a toddler throwing a tantrum, she plops to the ground and pouts. The action causes the hobo hero to lose a little of his grip on the scarf, but not enough for it to loosen. He steps forward and kneels in front of her.

“Just come with me and talk to Nedzu. I’m sure we’ll figure out where you belong soon enough.”

She glares up at him. Does she really have a choice here? No. “Fine.”

He releases her and they follow the other heroes toward a more private bus. The rat principal is waiting for them, sitting happily on a raised seat. They ride in silence back to the school where the principal leads her and the hobo hero upstairs to his office. She plops down into a chair, arms crossed, and waits for them to speak. No way is she breaking the silence.

“It seems you are quite powerful.” The rat principal smiles down at her from his spot standing on the desk.

“What can I say, I am my daddy’s daughter.”

“I noticed you using an array of quirks out there. Care to explain?”

“Not really.”

The principal’s ear twitches in what she can only assume is irritation. Good. “I’ll cut to the chase then. Who is your father?”

She actually laughs at that. “Like I’m telling you anything. I’ve started to figure out your little game. I know this high school isn’t just a normal school. It’s overflowing with heroes. So either only the super rich go here, or you’re a hero school. I’ve heard of those before and I’m assuming that’s what this place is.” It had taken her a while to figure it out, she blames her head injury, but now that she knows it’s all clear. The hobo hero was trying to hide it given her obvious distaste for heroes, but he couldn’t hide it forever. Her daddy has always said she’s a clever little bunny.

“UA is the premiere hero school in Japan. We are quite famous, so it’s odd you didn’t know to begin with. I admit I was curious how long we could keep you from finding out.” The rat’s smile is back and wider than ever. “And judging by your excellence in the entrance exam, you have quite the aptitude for heroics. So maybe it’s fate that has brought you here.”

Izu is gobsmacked to say the least. “Aptitude for heroics? Excuse me? What on earth gave you that idea?”

“You saved that girl. Uraraka Ochako I believe her name was.”

“Yeah, by accident. I just wanted to see if I could take down the big guy. Helping her was an unfortunate side effect.” Izu huffs out a breath causing a lick of flame to escape. “The only reason I even broke into the exam was to play around with my quirk and have a little fun. I didn’t do it to be a hero or whatever you’re thinking. Now, I would really like to go home. Like, right now.”

The rat sighs, his smile dropping into something more serious. “Unfortunately that is not an option at this time.”

Izu freezes, her blood running cold. “...What?”

“Given your performance and what we suspect of your parentage, it is our belief that you should remain here as a precaution.”

“Precaution against what exactly?! I want to go home! Now!” She turns in her seat to the hobo hero. “You promised to take me home! I want to go home!” She’s gripping the back of the chair with white knuckles as she stares at him.

“Unfortunately that is not an option we are comfortable with.” The rat speaks, but Izu just stares at the hobo hero’s blank face.

“You promised.” She whispers.

“Whatever Eraserhead may or may not have promised, it is in everyone’s best interest that you stay here.” The rat continues to speak and Izu finally turns to face him again.

“You can’t keep me here. That’s kidnapping. Which is highly illegal last time I checked. Aren’t heroes supposed to be the good guys?”

“You say kidnapping, I say placing you in a safer environment.”

“My home is a safe environment. My daddy keeps me very safe. Much safer than you can.”

“And yet you were caught up in a gang fight and injured, left to roam the streets lost and confused.”

She stands up, enraged at what this filthy animal is insinuating about her father. “Only because I disobeyed him and left without his permission! It’s my fault I got lost, not his! And how dare you make it seem like my daddy isn’t good enough to take care of me! My daddy is the best father in the world! He loves me!”

“And he can come and pick you up any time he likes.” The filthy rat smiles a malicious grin knowing very well that her father can’t just come and pick her up.

“He doesn’t know where I am.” She tries to make any kind of excuse to save face.

“Well, that can be remedied. I’m sure you can call him. I’ll even give you my phone to use.”

“I don’t know his number.”

“Then it’s much safer that you stay here where it is safe until such a time as we can locate him.”

“No.”

“No? And why not?”

“Because you can’t just keep me here! That’s not fair!”

“Life, as I am told, is not fair.”

Tears begin to stream down her face as her situation really begins to settle in. “So, what? I’m just your prisoner here until you find my dad?”

“Why of course not! You will be accepted into the hero course! You will be trained by our best to be your best! We will house you here on campus, I have someone working on a staff dorm right now, and you will be taken care of by none other than Eraserhead here.”

She turns to look at the hobo hero, a look of utter betrayal in her teary eyes. The man who took her away from her father is now going to replace him? Can life get any worse? Then the rat’s words really sink in. They are going to try and make her a hero. They want her to be her father’s enemy. Tears pour from her eyes and she drops to the floor, quiet sobs escaping her throat.

Chapter Text

Izu refuses to get off the floor of her own volition, so the hobo hero walks over and picks her up in a bridal carry. He takes her out of the rat’s office and carries her all the way outside, only stopping when they reach a building that definitely wasn’t there this morning. A different hero is waiting at the door, opening it for the both of them. 

“Welcome to your new home!” The female hero calls to her as they near the doorway. Izu breaks into new sobs and the hero glares at the woman. “Sorry…” 

Hobo hero carries her through the sparse living room, up a set of stairs, and down a hall before stopping outside a door. “This will be your room. Mine is next door. We’ll see about getting you some new things tomorrow. Get some sleep, Kid.” Then he sets her down gently and walks to the room next door, disappearing from view.

Izu takes a deep, shaky breath and opens the door. Inside is a simple room with an empty closet, empty dresser, empty desk with a chair, and a full sized bed with white sheets and a baby blue comforter. She immediately collapses onto the bed and sobs. She wants her father. She wants to hear his laugh and listen to him talk to Tomura about their plans. She wants to watch Kurogiri clean the same glass over and over as he watches over Tomura. She wants to see her regular caregiver, Miss Machi, and annoy her with her “incessant mumbling”. She wants to go home. Her home. But most of all, she just wants her father to hold her again. To tell her everything will be alright and that she is his most important treasure. He promised that she would always be with him and now she’s all alone. And it’s all her fault. Why did she have to be so impulsive? She curls up, pulling the sleeves of her father’s jacket over her hands, and falls asleep to the comforting smell of her father’s cologne. 

—

Morning comes bright and early and Izu has a headache from falling asleep crying. She groans and rolls over, covering her face with the blanket.There’s a knock at the door and then a voice telling her it’s time to get up, which does not improve her mood at all. She does eventually get up, but only after the knocking comes again a few minutes later.

She pulls herself into the attached bathroom, splashing some water in her face and staring at her reflection in the mirror. It’s been a long couple of days and she knows it’s going to be an even longer few weeks. But surely her dad will find her eventually, right? Then he’ll get his minions to storm the gates of UA and get her and everything will be okay. Yeah. She just needs to be patient. With that self pep talk, Izu straightens her shoulders and heads out of the room, not needing to change since she’s basically been wearing the same clothes for the last two days.

“Good morning, Midoriya. Sleep well?” Who the h- oh, right. That’s the name she gave them. She’ll need to remember that. 

“No.” Is her short and honest, if not a little angry, response.

The hobo hero doesn’t comment on the mood behind her answer, just sips his coffee and gestures to the kitchen nearby. “Have some breakfast and then we’ll discuss our plans for the day.”

Without much choice given her limited food intake the past two days, Izu grumpily obeys. She heads into the kitchen to find another hero cooking. Well, she assumes he’s a hero, but he’s mostly just dressed like a chef. Then he turns around and she sees the weird pipe-like headgear. Yeah, definitely a hero. What is with heroes and the weird costumes?

The hero hands her a plate filled with grilled and salted salmon, mashed tofu and greens, pickled daikon, and two hot spring eggs. She carries the dish to the dining table and settles down. Before she can begin eating, the hero who cooked the food brings her a bowl of miso soup and a cup of green tea. She stares at him with a singular raised eyebrow until he leaves her alone. Digging into the food, she finds it’s actually pretty good. She still prefers breakfast with her dad, but this will be fine until she can go home. Thinking of home makes her tear up, streams of salty tears making their way down her cheeks while she chews.

Once she’s finished, she stands and leaves the dishes where they are. Pulling the sleeves of her dad’s hoodie down over her hands and wrapping her arms around herself, she walks into the common area where the hobo hero is waiting for her. She drops down onto a sofa as far from the hobo hero as possible and glares at him. “What now, hero ?” 

He rolls his eyes at her snide tone and sets down his coffee cup. “The first thing we need to do is get you some new clothes and toiletries.” She perks up at the thought of getting to leave the campus. “Obviously we don’t trust you to leave campus and not try to escape, so we will be doing our shopping virtually. You will pick out the things you need and one of the trusted heroes here will go to pick them up and bring them back here.” Izu immediately deflates.

“That’s stupid.”

“You can think whatever you like, but that’s what’s going to happen. Now, follow me.” He stands and leads her to a room down the hall. Inside are a few desks with computers set up. A female hero dressed in a very tight and almost revealing costume is settled next to one of the computer desks with another chair pulled up next to her. “This is Midnight, Kayama Nemuri being her civilian name. She will be assisting in the shopping and be the one to pick up the orders.” Izu glares at the woman and pouts as she falls into the seat next to her.

“Hi, Sweetie! I’m so excited to get to do this with you!”

“Whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

The woman frowns but complies. They sit there awkwardly as Izu answers the woman’s many questions with as few words as possible. What is her favorite color for the bedding? Red. What scents does she want for her soaps? Lavender and vanilla. Any other decor ideas? No. What about posters? No. Favorite heroes? That one got a laugh and a glare, but no answer. What kind of shoes does she want? High tops and converse. What about clothes? Instead of answering, Izu pulls the mouse away and just starts clicking on things, adding them to the cart. It ends up being a bunch of ripped jeans, crop band shirts, crop black shirts with various rude or odd graphics, flannel shirts, and oversized sweaters in various dark colors. She may or may not be trying to pick clothes Tomura would like to feel a little closer to home. When she finishes picking out her clothes, she leans back in her chair and crosses her arms.

“Are we done yet?”

“Um, I guess-”

“Good. I’m going to my room.” And then she’s up and moving to exit the room.

“What about things to do until school starts?” Hobo Hero calls after her.

“Video games.” And she’s gone.

—

It only takes the heroine about two hours to pick up all the things they’d bought for her, so it isn’t long before Izu is dressed in ripped skinny jeans, a crop black shirt with a skeleton hand giving the middle finger on the front, and a pair of red converse. She sits on the floor and plays with the new nintendo switch in her hands. She’s trying to beat a boss level when a knock comes to her door. 

“Go away.” She doesn’t look up from her game, too engrossed in the level.

“It’s time for lunch.”

“Not hungry.”

“You have to eat.”

“Like you actually care if I eat or starve to death.” She rolls her eyes. “I’m just a prisoner you tricked into trusting you. You don’t actually give a crap about me.”

She hears a sigh and then her door opens slowly. So she doesn’t even get to mope in privacy now. What did she really expect from heroes. “Believe it or not, I do actually care about you. I want you to be safe and healthy. I want to encourage you to grow your skills and use them for the right reasons.”

She can tell he’s telling the truth, Lie Detection hasn’t gone off once. It’s still a very new quirk of hers, but it’s not a hard one to figure out. So he’s being truthful about caring about her, “Then why did you do this to me?” She finally looks up at him, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “Why trap me here? Why not take me home like you promised ?”

“Because I’m not convinced that your home is a safe place for you to be.”

Her jaw drops. “My home not safe? Are you seriously kidding me right now? My home is the safest place I could possibly be! Being with my dad is the safest place I could be!”

Hobo Hero just frowns. “You got caught in a gang fight and were injured. You were then unable to contact any family member to come get you from the hospital. Both of those things don’t sound like responsible parenting to me.”

“I was breaking a rule when I got hurt! I wasn’t supposed to leave without my dad’s permission! And I only didn’t know how to contact him because I’m always with someone who can! You’re gonna need more than those stupid excuses to convince me my home isn’t safe for me.”

“You’ve never been to school.”

“Hundreds of people get home schooled. Next.”

He sighs. “I didn’t want to have to do this, but if it will convince you that we only have your best interest at heart, then I see I have no choice. Your father is suspected of being a very, very bad man. Based on what we’ve seen from you, we suspect your father is in a lot of trouble with the law. Being with him will only lead to you getting hurt.”

She laughs. A good, whole body laugh. She laughs so hard licks of flame leave her mouth. “You think I don’t know who my own father is? You think I care that you have labeled him as “bad” or “evil”? He’s my dad ! I love him and he loves me! That’s all that matters. Now, get out of my room!” She reaches up and grabs a pillow, throwing it at the man. He thankfully leaves, and she lets herself cry.

—

She ends up eating dinner with the heroes, too hungry to skip another meal. She sleeps restlessly and the following day is filled with her just locking herself away from everyone and playing her games. They didn’t give her any games that allow her to access the internet, so she can’t try and find Tomura through them. But still… She feels closer to him just by playing. Her days at the UA Hero Dorms pass just the same. She gets up, gets dressed, eats, plays games, refuses lunch, eats dinner, then cries herself to sleep. It’s all quite depressing really. On her tenth day there, she refuses to even get out of bed for breakfast. What’s the point if she’s never going to see her family again?

The depressing monotony is broken when, exactly two weeks since she was essentially kidnapped, the rat principal wants to talk to her. She follows the hobo hero up to the main campus and down the various halls to the office. Once there, the principal welcomes her with a smile that she does not return.

“Welcome back to my office, Miss Midoriya! I hope you’ve been doing well?”

“Like you actually care.” Is her sarcastic answer as she flops into a chair.

His smile doesn’t even falter for a second. “I have summoned you here today to discuss your education. As you know, you will be a part of the hero course here at UA.”

“Yeah, against my will.”

“As such,” he continues like she’d never spoken. “Classes will be very rigorous and I want to make sure you can handle the course load, academically. You’ve already proved you can handle the practical aspect.” He points to a small desk and computer at the corner of the room. “I have devised a small test to measure your current educational level. Please do your best.”

Izu glares at the principal, but then gets up and walks slowly over to the computer. Should she bomb the test just to spite him? No. No she’ll pass his little test and prove that she doesn’t need him or his dirty education. She sits down and finds the questions are far too easy. The beginning is all stuff she did years ago. The middle amps up the difficulty, but even then it’s child’s play. By the time she’s reached the end of the exam and begins the written portion, she wants to laugh at how stupid most of these kids must be. If this is how hard their entrance exam was, surely they’re all either idiots or they were really counting on the practical to knock kids out of the running for the course.

“Done.” She announces exactly an hour and fifty-seven minutes later.

“A new record! I hope you didn’t rush too much.”

“Rush? That was the easiest test I’ve taken since I was like five.”

That seems to excite the rat principal for some reason. He clicks through a few things on his computer while she walks back over to her chair and flops back down in it. His grin grows wider as he reads through what she assumes is her written responses. They were mostly questions on various moral quandaries and how certain heroes could better utilize their quirks in battle. Child’s play really.

“This is marvelous! I say, Miss Midoriya, you truly have a unique mind. You made a one hundred percent on the multiple choice questions and your written answers really opened up whole new conversations! I’m delighted by your work.”

“I was taught by my daddy personally. So you can give the credit to him and his ability to teach. I told you he is the best.”

The rat’s nose twitches and he keeps talking as if her words meant nothing. “I’m excited to see what you can accomplish here at UA. School starts in a week. Prepare yourself.”

Oh, she’ll prepare herself alright. She’s gonna show them why they never should have taken her.