Work Text:
Izuku dropped onto his bed with a thump, staring at the ceiling listlessly. Everything felt grey, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Normally when he felt like this, he would stare at all his All Might merch and recite facts about the famous hero. But right now he couldn’t bear to even think about the man.
“No, you cannot be a hero without a quirk. It’s too dangerous, and you would be a liability. Perhaps try and become a police officer, or a doctor instead. Be realistic.”
Izuku felt as though Kacchan had sent a quirk-boosted punch to his throat. The air rushed out of him, and he felt like throwing up. He couldn’t breathe and words felt like sandpaper on his tongue.
Distantly, he knew he responded politely, ignoring the fire of pain and despair and grief raging through his body.
He stumbled home, not processing the explosions and screams and smoke coming from the nearest shopping plaza. He fumbled with the key, cursing as he struggled to get into the house before the tears inevitably started falling.
Except that they hadn’t…
He hadn’t cried, but had instead been overtaken with a sort of numb cold.
So here he was. Lying on his bed, not doing anything productive. His mother had always taught him to be proactive and not waste time, so to be so lethargic left a sour taste in his mouth.
He sighed after a while and sat up. He set up an account on an online selling website and photographed all of his All Might merch that could be sold. He posted everything under ‘auctions’, because he knew the prices could get insane when people fought over rare merch and collectibles.
Especially when it was All Might merch.
He still felt grey.
Unbidden, a memory arose from his mind. He had been no more than five or six, and the day’s beating had been particularly vicious.
He had turned on the radio in the living room to distract himself while he treated the burn wounds, and it had started playing Present Mic!
“Hello Listeners, welcome back to Put Your Hands Up Radio!! Now, before we start the segment, I have an announcement to make.” Izuku winced as he dabbed at a particularly painful spot. “We here at Put Your Hands Up Radio are launching a new call line. For people that are suffering silently, call ** *** ***, or look for the number on our website. The calls are completely anonymous and we’re here to listen and help you through whatever it is you’re experiencing-”
The memory cut off there, and Izuku wondered if the line was still running. Not that he needed it! He wasn’t suffering at all!
Kacchan’s advice from earlier that day swirled in his mind, and the ever-present urge to end himself, the urge to just make everything stop reared its head.
Against his will, his mind travelled out of his apartment and up the many flights of stairs leading the roof.
The urge grew.
Okay maybe he should see if that line was still active.
Hizashi sat down at the desk, slipping on the headset. He was on floor three of his agency building, the one dedicated to their support line. He truly loved being on call for it, and he missed doing it more regularly.
A blinking green light lit up, and he pressed the button to accept the call.
“Hel-lo?” The voice was young, depressingly young.
“Hey, I’m Hizashi. he/him pronouns. Are you comfortable sharing a name and pronouns I can use for you?” He kept his voice soft and warm, keeping the ‘Present Mic’ act tucked away for hero work.
“I-I’m Izuku. He/him please.” The boy’s voice was small and nervous, which made sense if he was calling here, Hizashi supposed.
“Well, it’s nice to talk to you, Izuku. What’s going on for you that made you call us up?”
“I don’t- I don’t know… well, I suppose that could’ve had an impact… ” Izuku muttered, taking a shuddering breath. “My childhood best friend told me to kill myself today. And-and All Might said I couldn’t be a hero because I don’t have a quirk. And I guess the whole world hates me and most people abuse me, too. Also, I’m suicidal, and a really tall roof is looking really fucking good right about now.”
Hizashi’s voice dropped its cheer. “Wow, that sounds really horrible, Izuku. Is there someone that can support you through all that?”
Izuku stares at his now blank wall, realisation hitting him like a truck. “No. No one but myself.”
Where were this kid’s parents? Clearly, they weren’t very good ones(if they even existed at all). “Okay. Well, I’m glad you called us, I can support you right now. Now, I need you to answer me as honestly as possible here, do you think you are in danger right now?”
Izuku wobbled from where he was clinging to the fire escape, halfway to the roof. “I- I don’t feel like saying yes, but the answer should probably be yes.”
Hizashi sucked in a breath. “Okay, Izuku. Can you give me your location?”
Izuku’s alarm bells started ringing immediately. “What? Why?”
“I’d like to come talk to you in person, if that’s okay with you, Izuku.” It was against protocol, but Hizashi owned this place, dammit! He could break protocol if he wanted!
Hizashi was thankful he wasn’t in costume as he climbed the fire escape of the old building. The leather would’ve been a nightmare, not to mention that recognition wasn’t what he needed right now.
When he got to the roof, he spotted a kid sitting on the edge.
“Izuku?”
The boy straightened and moved over to lean against the AC unit in the middle of the roof.
“I’m surprised you actually came.”
Hizashi walked over to the unit as well, sitting against it, though a reasonable distance away from the kid.
“I said I would, didn’t I?”
Izuku looked over to him and froze.
“Everything alright, Izuku?”
Izuku appeared to go through a series of intense emotions, before settling on something calculated and intelligent. “You’re here as your civilian persona, rather than Present Mic, aren’t you?” He didn’t pause long enough for Hizashi to answer. “It makes sense, most people wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about their issues to a pro hero. Not to mention the fact that you portray Present Mic as not particularly intelligent, and a tad immature. Most people wouldn’t think you could help them much if you came as Present Mic. Also, I suspect you like the anonymity of using your civilian persona.”
Shit, he was completely right. How was he so accurate? “Wow, that was really impressive, Izuku. A little bit scary, if I’m being honest, but impressive all the same.”
Izuku reeled back as if he’d been hit, covering his mouth immediately and curling up instinctually. “I’msorryI’msorryIdidn’tmeantoI’msorryI’llstopI’llbequietI’llbegood-”
Hizashi put a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his panic.
“I’m sorry if I said something wrong, I didn’t mean to scare you. there isn’t any reason for you to apologise, and speaking your thoughts isn’t something you need to apologise for. I was caught off guard, but only because you were a hundred percent correct in your analysis. You have an incredible talent.”
Izuku paused. “You- you don’t think it’s creepy?”
“Of course not, Izuku.” Hizashi soothed. “I think it’s really cool that you can figure all that out. Is analysis a hobby of yours?”
Izuku nodded, brightening a little. “Yeah, I love to analyse people and their quirks. Especially pro heroes!”
“Oh yeah?” Hizashi grinned. “Have you analysed me?”
Izuku nodded warily. “Yes. I’m happy to get rid of it if it upsets you, though all of my notes are encoded for protection.”
“Why would I want you to destroy something you clearly worked hard on and are proud of?” Hizashi frowned.
Izuku looked at the ground, twisting his fingers. “Well, I started off analysing my classmates, but when they found out the school made me destroy it all. And people knowing your weaknesses could get you killed. That’s why I code them, to protect the heroes if a villain gets their hands on one of my notebooks. Though I do have a few notebooks on villains as well, in preparation for becoming a hero.” His face fell as the memories resurfaced. “Or, they were for hero prep.”
Hizashi’s brow furrowed in puzzlement. “What changed?”
“All Might said I couldn’t be a hero.” Izuku stated sadly.
“So? All Might is famous, yes. But he’s just one person, and even he can be wrong. He’s still human.”
“But I’m quirkless!” Izuku burst out. “I’m useless and weak and pathetic and I’ll never be able to beat the heroes with quirks!”
“Izuku-” Hizashi’s heart ached for the young boy. “Izuku who told you that?”
Izuku froze, and his eyes widened.
“Everyone.” He said softly. “Everyone says that.”
Hizashi scowled, slammed the door, kicked his boots off, and grabbed some slime from his fidget basket. He sat down on the couch and pulled the green goop out of its tub, yanking it apart roughly, taking vicious pleasure as it snapped and tore in the face of his ire.
It took almost 15 minutes for him to calm down enough to regain the ability to talk.
“I’m going to kill her.”
Shouta looked over from where they had been grading papers at the kitchen island. It was close enough that Hizashi could interact if he wished, but not so close that he felt forced to.
“Do you need silence, sympathy, support, or advice?” They asked. It was the question they asked when the other was struggling with something, and it made communication so much easier to just ask what was needed.
“I don’t know.” Hizashi groaned. “I think I want to talk about it, but what I really want to do is fix it.”
Shouta joined their husband on the couch, and he immediately curled into their side, playing with their hair.
“What happened, ‘Zashi?”
“So I answered a call on the mental health line at the station, and it was a kid. A middle schooler called in because he was being abused. Severely. By pretty much everyone in his school. His mum’s neglectful too.” A tear freed itself from his eye and carved a path down his cheek. “Fuck, Shou he hasn’t been able to rely on anyone but himself since he was six.”
Shouta didn’t say anything, just squeezed tighter.
“I broke protocol to go see him in person. His ex-best friend told him to kill himself, and then All Might said he couldn’t be a hero. You can’t expect me to ignore that, Shou.”
Shouta stiffened. “Why the fuck would All Might say that to a child? Or anyone?”
“Because,” Hizashi sighed, rage turning into grief “because he’s quirkless.”
Shouta deflated, nodding sadly. While both they and Hizashi had been abused and neglected for having ‘villainous’ quirks, they knew full well that being quirkless was many, many times worse.
“Hizashi-”
“Yeah Shou?”
“We-” they hesitated, “we’re both pro heroes… and- and we both have emergency foster licenses.”
Hizashi sat up. “Shou, are you- would you-” He couldn’t put it into words, but there was hope blooming in his chest.
“We’ve discussed adopting before, and it’ll take a while to actually adopt, but we can emergency foster while we get paperwork shit sorted.”
Hizashi’s hands started to flap in excitement, and Shouta smiled too, weathering the accidental hits easily.
“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!”
“It’s okay, ‘Zashi. But we need to wait to check if he’s okay with it, and then get evidence of the neglect.”
Hizashi’s excited smile stretched into a Cheshire grin. “Oh, he has receipts. Their fridge is consistently empty, his mother will shout at him if he asks her for something, and he regularly has extensive and obvious burns and injuries on his person that she blatantly ignores. Photo and video evidence. She also never cares if he skips school, to the point that the school doesn’t bother contacting her anymore. But I agree that we should check if he’s okay with being adopted.”
Shouta nodded, a proud smile on their face. “Well, we can do that tomorrow and-”
“We could call him now.” Hizashi cut in. “He has insomnia and will most definitely still be awake. That way he can collate his evidence and we can talk to Tsukauchi. We can meet them at the station tomorrow and do paperwork and interviews and shit.”
Shouta chuckled. “Well I guess that would be pretty efficient.”
Hizashi immediately whipped out his phone, dialling the green-haired boy.
“Hello?”
“Hey Izuku, it's Hizashi.”
“Oh! Hi Hizashi! Is everything okay?”
Hizashi smiled. “Yeah, everything’s okay. Just had a question. Are you okay if I put you on speaker? It’s just me and my spouse.”
“Uhh, sure?” Izuku was unsure, but he trusted Hizashi, even though he’d known the man for less than twelve hours.
Hizashi clicked the speaker icon, and elbowed Shouta lightly.
“Fine.” The unfamiliar baritone voice made Izuku jump slightly. “I’m Shouta, they/them. I’m Hizashi’s spouse.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Shouta-san.”
“Just Shouta please.”
“Oh, sure.”
Hizashi was bouncing up and down restlessly, so Shouta gestured to the basket of fidget toys on the table. He grabbed a different slime, a sparkly purple one, and started fidgeting with it.
Shouta held the phone for a moment, trying to figure out how to word the offer. “Izuku, Hizashi has shared some of your situation with me.”
Izuku flinched, but kept silent. He felt somewhat betrayed, but also trusted Hizashi to make good decisions. It was selfish to expect him to keep everything a secret.
“We both agree that your current situation isn’t okay.” They continued. “due to our work, we both have emergency foster licenses.”
Wait, what?
“We were wondering if you would be okay with us fostering you. Hizashi said you have evidence of your mother’s neglect, which would be immensely helpful in getting you out of her custody permanently.”
Izuku wiped away the tears that were already falling. “Do you- do you really mean that? You’d foster me?”
“Of course, kid. Hizashi likes you, and I trust his judgement.”
Tears came faster, and Izuku blew his nose loudly a few times, scrubbing at his face with his sleeve. “I’d- I’d really like that. But what will happen if she loses custody? Where would I go?”
Hizashi and Shouta had a silent conversation, and Hizashi softened. “Well, if everything works out and you settle in with us, we’d like to adopt you. As long as the cats like you, that is. Everyone knows they rule the household.”
Izuku lets out a watery laugh. “You have cats?”
“Yep! Three of them.”
Hizashi held his spouse’s wrist, dragging them into the precinct. “Hi! We’re here to see Detective Tsukauchi!”
The receptionist glanced over their hero ID’s and directed them to an interrogation room without a word.
Hizashi released his spouse, practically skipping to the room. He pushed the door open immediately and bounded in. “Izuku!!”
Izuku spun around, grinning, and waved enthusiastically. “Hi Hizashi! How are you?”
While they were distracted, Shouta slipped into the room to stand next to Tsukauchi. “How much of a handful is he?”
The detective’s face fell, and he downed the last of his coffee. “I’m pretty sure he interrogated me. I had no idea how much I didn’t know about my quirk until today.”
Shouta smirked, well aware of Izuku’s analysis. Hizashi had made sure of that.
“Oh my god Eraserhead?!?!”
Shouta looked at the shocked teen and grinned, briefly flashing their quirk. “Sorry, did I forget to mention that?”
Izuku’s mouth dropped open, and he whirled to stare at Hizashi. “Your spouse is Eraserhead? How did both of you forget to-” His whole body was vibrating in excitement.
He turned back to Shouta, notebook in hand. “I have so many questions! Does your quirk disrupt the quirk factor, or does it just block it within the person? It makes sense that it blocks within the person, since mutant quirks are within the person and you can’t erase them. In your fight against the Scarlet Cobra you showed that your quirk works through glass and clear plastic, so why don’t you make your goggles out of that? Then you don’t need to worry about villains throwing sand or dust or other irritants in your eyes. You could also design a mister of sorts, that dispenses eye drops within the goggles. Then you’d be able to use your quirk for longer. Does it work through live-feed security cameras? What happens if you activate your quirk while looking in a mirror? Does your hair float because you have a secondary minor telekinesis quirk? It would then also make sense since you can use your capture weapon, but no one else seems to be able to, even though it’s such an effective weapon. Then again, it could be quirk treated and linked to your DNA. The Asteroid Hero: Astros was well known for having quirk treated knives that she could summon to her person, even though her quirk was completely different.”
Shouta blinked at the word vomit, and Hizashi stifled a smirk.
Tsukauchi awkwardly cleared his throat. “Well, those seem to be very interesting questions, but if you could write them down somehow and ask them later, that would be good.” Izuku nodded, and the detective continued. “Excellent. Well, I have the evidence you gave me to look over, and all questions have been asked and answered. Now we just need Aizawa and Yamada to sign some paperwork, and we need to inform your mother.”
Once all the forms had been signed, Izuku pulled out his cell phone and dialled his mother, putting it on speaker right as she answered.
“Hi Inko, this is your son Izuku, since I know you don’t have my cell saved to your contacts. Just letting you know that I’m going into emergency foster care due to your neglect, and there’s going to be a court case against you. The paperwork is all signed, there’s nothing you can do. I’m coming to collect my stuff later today, and I’ll leave my key in the kitchen when I leave. I hope I never see you again.”
He set the phone on the table and signalled the three adults to be quiet. A few seconds later, Inko started screaming and ranting about how ungrateful he was, and that it was so hard for her to have a quirkless child, and that it was his fault his father left, and a hundred other horrible things.
This went on for almost an hour, but Izuku hung up as soon as she mentioned the Bakugous. “Well, I’m sure that recording is going to be helpful for the case, huh.”
Tsukauchi went to say it hadn’t been recorded, but Izuku pulled a voice recorder out of his back pocket and threw it to the detective.
Izuku grinned, then turned to Shouta. “I’m a little mad that you didn’t tell me who you were, but you can make it up to me by answering my questions.” He paused thoughtfully. “And I want ice cream.”
Hizashi laughed and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Sure, we can get ice cream, kiddo. And those goggles you were talking about sounded pretty cool!”
Shouta and Tsukauchi shared a commiserating glance, and then Shouta followed the two out of the precinct.
Izuku stood with his two foster parents at their front door. He was fidgeting anxiously with a magnetic orbit spinner.
Shouta opened the door after a moment, and Izuku was ushered inside.
Immediately, he noticed the three baskets by the door. Two of them were full of stim toys, and labelled ‘Hizashi’ and ‘Shouta’ respectively, and the third was empty and labelled ‘Izuku’.
Hizashi saw him looking and smiled. “We both use those baskets for fidget toys, but you can use yours for whatever you want. I know Shouta has some hair ties in theirs.”
Izuku laughed a little and dropped the orbit spinner into his basket.
Almost exactly as he did that, a cat poked its head around the corner.
She trotted up to Izuku, sniffing him cautiously.
Hizashi scooped the calico up, scratching under her chin. “Izuku, this is Noodles. She was found in a noodle box and adopted.”
Their other two cats came around the corner; one pure black and the other pure white.
Shouta knelt down, the white one immediately jumping into their scarf. “The black one is Keith, the white one is Cloudy.” They glanced at the faded polaroids framed on the wall for a moment, before lacing a hand through Cloudy’s fur.
Hizashi grinned. “Izuku! Who named which cat and where did they come from?”
Izuku blinked, then seemed to startle into breathing. “Well, Noodles and Cloudy were named by Shouta, and Keith was named by you. Shouta found Noodles after a long patrol, and their tired brain saw a cat and went ‘mine’.”
Hizashi giggled. “Entirely correcto!”
Izuku smiled in return. “Cool! Uhh, Keith is definitely the youngest. I think that since Shouta adopted the other two, they like them more. You got jealous so you adopted Keith while Shouta was undercover or something, and Keith likes you a lot more.”
Hizashi abruptly stopped giggling, and Shouta smirked at him. Hizashi stuck out his tongue.
Izuku bit his lip. “I have an idea about Cloudy, but it’s…”
Hizashi nodded encouragingly, and Shouta shrugged. “I don’t think you can really hurt us, kid. And we asked.”
Izuku sighed, staring intently at the wall. “Shouta, you adopted Cloudy when you were in your second or third year of high school after you lost a close friend to a villain attack.” The two adults froze, but Izuku ploughed on, words tumbling out. “I came across a news article about a UA hero student dying in a villain attack, and the dates matched up. Also, Shouta you looked at the polaroid of you, Hizashi, and someone I don’t recognise. You three appear to be teens, and they have a cloud quirk. So I’m guessing that that’s the person you lost.”
The two adults were silent for a solid few minutes, before Shouta breathed, “Holy shit I didn’t expect him to be that good.”
That broke the ice, and Hizashi cackled while Izuku covered his face as it turned bright red.
“Come on, listener! Let’s get all your bags inside so you can unpack. And then how does takeout sound? I have the energy to cook today.”
Izuku perked up. “I can cook!”
Shouta waved a hand. “No, you don’t have to worry about that. It’s our job to look after you.”
Izuku frowned a little. “But Shouta I like cooking. It was one of the few things my mother taught me as a kid. Even though she did it so she didn’t have to worry about feeding me, I treasure those memories. And I find it relaxing regardless, though bread making is honestly better for stress relief.”
Hizashi’s eyes lit up. “You like to cook? That means we can cook together! It’s infinitely more fun with two people, but Shouta can and has burned water, so they’re banned from the kitchen.”
Izuku giggled, and both adults felt something warm and protective surge inside them. This child was theirs, and they would protect him and his precious giggles.
“Shouta?”
“Yeah kiddo?”
“Do you- do you think I can be a hero, even though I’m quirkless?”
Shouta pulled the young teen into a hug.
“Of course you can be a hero Izuku, of course you can.”