Chapter Text
Izuku knew that Aldera was a shitty place and an even shittier school, there was no denying it. From rotting desks and obvious bullying, to daily illegal quirk usage from students and teachers alike - anybody who stepped foot in the school knew that it shouldn't be running, and especially not teaching young children and shaping their futures. Despite studying there throughout his childhood, and still now, Izuku is unsure when school life had transitioned into meticulous torture that he now undergoes on a daily. He believes today may have been a rather large milestone, as he recounts these events alone yet again in a cold, desolate apartment. This morning had not been unusual, at least in his eyes, for he had gone through his normal routine, (getting ready quietly, skipping breakfast, catching the bus) arriving at school and being greeted with disdainful looks and the sight of a muzzle, still stained with dried blood, now becoming a common occurrence.
While usually he was forced to sit in the middle during tutorial, as to undergo teasing from pupils around him, today he had been led outside. His teacher had brought him to one of the janitors closets. It was one Izuku had grown quite familiar with as it never gets locked after school, so he finds it best to hide there in order to avoid his classmates. This specific morning, he was warned to stay silent before being pushed inside and hearing the outdoor lock clicking shut. A year-or-so ago, he may have been filled with panic but considering his middle school experience thus-far, he only stayed calm to assess his situation.
His teacher locking him in a closet was quite unusual, as such an act was very risky. Pupils were always excused of their bullying, and while teachers never intercepted, they also never directly took part in it. The smell of bleach and disinfectant was becoming more prominent around him, futher showing the lack of ventilation in this tight space and he began feeling light-headed and nauseous. Izuku believes he was shunned from todays classroom as a sort of visitor was coming by today. Of course this is only a guess based on whispers he had heard, for no-one attempts to update him or include him in conversations unless specifically to belittle him.
Hearing echoing footsteps passing him, he quickly loses hope that somebody is planning to free him for this space, so Izuku slowly sinks to the floor and begins heavily disassociating. After what feeling like hours - but may well have been minutes, Izuku hears the monotone voice of his principle, one he has grown to recognise due to his countless visits, seemingly showing someone around the school. Without any other alternatives, Izuku beings to quietly bang on the door in a random pattern (one he read about, learning that human brains react to such patters, and that they are commonly used when rescuing people from wrecks as our brains recognize and notice such things) hoping his random trivia is to some use.
After a few minutes with no result, the pair of footsteps fade and Izuku feels his racing mind slip back into the dissociative space he had been in minutes before. After another unknown period of time, Izuku is once again shocked by the sound of footsteps, though this time alone, rapidly approaching his area. Suddenly he hears a somewhat loud clang, followed by a quite curse as the door trapping him in opens suddenly. As his eyes quickly get used to the light change, he notices his savior; an unkept man with dry eyes and long, dark hair looking around seemingly frantically while not reflecting such actions on his tired face. The man briefly introduced himself as Aizawa, a UA representative/visitor. He flashes his badge and leads him out of the school building in a matter of seconds, seemingly avoiding any teachers and staff.
The man, who also identified himself as a Pro-hero (though Izuku had already recognized him as Eraserhead) had asked for Izuku to be taken to the police station for questioning, as well as removing his muzzle, since what the school had done counted as 'Child Endangerment'. When they arrived, an official lock pit kit was brought by an officer, and two different people remove the contraption to put into a bag for 'evidence'. Soon after, Aizawa and Izuku stepped away into a conference room for a private conversation, where the older man explained to process of getting his statement for a report. Once Izuku had recovered from his shock, he began hurriedly explaining that there was no need, as he would likely not be taken seriously due to his quirk status. Eraser assured him he knows a detective personally, and had realized his lack of quirk due to his obvious red shoes, a special brand customised to people with mutated feet left with an extra bone in each shoe. To this explanation, Izuku looked down shamefully, humiliation no doubt showing on his face in the image of buring red cheeks.
His downwards head gesture in turn made him miss Aizawa's not-quite pitying look, one that may be better described as recognition. Aizawa convinced him against his better judgement, and his pervious experiences to meet the Head of the station; Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi where a quick interview, consisting of a few questions and an incident report where filled. Normally Izuku would have been considered unable to be questioned, due to him being a minor, but with such a clear sign of mistreatment coming from the school, and the event in which they could not get a hold of his mother, Aizawa had to act as a sort of temporary guardian.
By the time they finished up, it had already gotten dark outside yet his mother was still not answering. Therefore Izuku got a ride home in a Police car, and Aizawa's scribbled number for his mother to call (as if, he thought to himself). After taking a cold shower, Izuku retreated to his bedroom, laying in the dark and re-thinking the days events. Only at the time that he was finally able to go to sleep, did he realize he hasn't had any food. To him, this was not strange, so he didn't even bother getting up.