Work Text:
Izuku Midoriya was hurt.
The pain was blooming all throughout his body. He was swaying on his feet, barely even standing on his own two feet.
He just has to get to his apartment.
Just a little bit further. He could do it, he had to.
The stab wound was angry and bleeding. Why did that bastard have a knife? His ribs hurt like hell. It hurt so much.
Finally, he felt like he could breathe a little better. He saw his apartment building. Just a few more steps. Just a little more...
He opened the main door with his key. When had he pulled out that damn key? Whatever. Just a few more steps. He climbed the stairs to the top. He heaved, his body feeling heavy and wobbly.
This looked like his floor. It hopefully was... He slumped in front of his door.
He'd gotten so far, he couldn’t pass out now. Stay awake, Izuku. He needed to make it inside. He picked up the key, tried to bring it to the door but just hit his fist and keys against the door.
He felt weak. His eyes were barely staying open. Did he have more wounds? Fuck...
He heard sounds from behind the door. Great, now he was imagining stuff. He leaned his head against the door. He could close it for a minute, right? And he passed out.
~
This was definitely not what Hitoshi expected. When he looked through the peephole the first time, there was no one. When another thump came from the door, he decided fuck it and opened the door.
What he didn’t expect was a green-haired kid to fall headfirst into his family’s apartment. What the—
Quickly scanning the child, he realized how hurt he was. Without more thinking, he bent down and started picking the person up to get them inside while simultaneously yelling for one of his parents. Good thing that Eri wasn’t home today.
He must’ve sounded frantic because both of his parents came running at full speed. When they saw the hurt child in Hitoshi’s hands, Dad grabbed the kid quickly and ran to the bathroom.
Hitoshi struggled. He wanted to run after the black-haired parent but stayed here. He knew his dad had it handled. He would just crowd the bathroom.
Pops looked Hitoshi over immediately.
“Toshi, what the fuck happened?” Pops asked, worried, not angry.
“I don’t know...” I admitted, frantic. “He was just there when I opened the door...”
Dad came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, his hands covered in blood that wasn’t his own. His face was unreadable, but that kind of silence never meant anything good.
“He’s alive,” Dad finally said, voice steady but low. “Barely. Shock and blood loss. I patched him up as best as I can, but we might have to call Recovery Girl.”
Pops ran a shaky hand through his hair. “We’ll keep her as a last resort. We don’t know the kid’s situation yet. If he’s running from something—”
“I know.”
Hitoshi didn’t know what to do with himself. The person reminded him of himself, before his dads adopted him. It hurt.
“He’s our neighbor, right?” Pops finally asked, fiddling with his blond hair.
“Yeah, he should live in that back, tiny apartment...” Hitoshi forced out.
Dad sighed. “I’ll put him to bed in our guest room. Did he have anything with him, Toshi?” he asked, kind of hesitantly.
I nodded my head quickly, reaching into my pocket and pulling out the keys that the boy dropped. It was three keys only. One from the mailbox, one from the main entrance, and one from his own apartment. What his living situation must be... The keys had one keychain on them, a small hanging charm of a cute kitty. I slowly gave the keys over to Dad.
“Thanks, Toshi, you did so well,” Pops complimented, hugging me. As soon as his arms wrapped around me, I started sobbing and hugged back. We were still standing in the goddamn hallway of our apartment.
Dad must’ve gone to move the child since I heard the bathroom door open, then the guest room open, the bed squeaking, and the door closing again.
“I’ll knock on his door,” Dad said as if it was final. I looked up through my tears, wanting to join him. Pops let go and told me that I could come with. He was about as old as I was...
So Hitoshi went with his dad. Obviously, the blood trail didn’t go unnoticed by them. It led up all the way to their door. Maybe the kid had gotten the doors confused? Or had he just been too weak to get further?
They reached the apartment at the far end — the one directly across from theirs — and tried the door first. Locked. He knocked once.
No answer.
Aizawa knocked again, louder this time. “Hello? Anyone home?”
Silence.
He leaned closer, pressing his ear against the door. Nothing — no shuffling, no footsteps, not even a TV humming somewhere inside. Just that still, empty quiet that only came from a place left behind.
His knuckles rapped again, harder now. “If anyone’s in there, I’m not here to cause trouble. A kid was hurt — I just need to know if this is his home.”
Still nothing.
The air felt colder in the hallway somehow.