Chapter Text
Thump
Thump
Thump
The wind going through his fur as the boy leaps.
His long, upright ears flopping with each jump.
The quiet, however thunderous footsteps following after him.
Small gusts of wind whipping around him as the white scarf tries to capture him.
A giant grin is on the boy’s face, hidden away from his mask at the failed capture attempts. The boy risked a glance behind him as the underground hero was attempting to gain on him. The white-haired boy dug a hand into one of his pockets and pulled out a small orb, throwing it at the hero.
He banked a left as the orb met its target, exploding into dust, causing issues with the eyesight of the other. Hearing the muttered curses from the other gave him the sign to get out of the area before the hero recovered. He did feel a little bad harming Eraserhead’s eyesight like that, but he was not willing to be caught tonight. He’d rather go home and have a snack. Hoping that he can sneak a snack from the kitchen in the orphanage. It is after curfew after all.
Aizawa, aka Eraserhead, was pissed. The little rabbit shit messed with his eyesight! He could barely keep his eyes open during that smoke cloud, it burned way too much for it to be regular smoke. The other teachers in the teacher’s lounge had noticed his foul mood, all except one desperate to avoid being on the end of his glare.
“Ah, Young Aizawa! How are you on this fine morning? Your eyes are rather red, are you alright?”
Aizawa gnashed his teeth, wishing for his husband instead of this blonde oaf. “Mind your damn business All Might,” he growled out.
Yes, his eyes were red. He had been crying for a while from the smoke. It was annoying to deal with and he already got teased by his husband for it. He wasn’t even trying to catch the boy this time!
.. Okay that may have been false, but he was genuinely just wanting to talk at first.
That damned Junk Rabbit.
“I was merely asking, Young Aizawa! No need to be so harsh.”
Now this oaf was getting on his nerves. Why can’t he just- why was there a vent open?
“Now, now All Might, Shouta-kun is just not having a pleasant time today. Please refrain from annoying him further!” Ah, that’s why the vent was open. The damned rat came out of it.
“Nedzu,” Aizawa grunted out, the annoyed tone having diminished a little. “To what do we owe the pleasure.”
“Why I merely came to check on you, Shouta-kun. You were in such a terrible mood due to last night, I was only helping you,” Nedzu quipped cheerfully with beady eyes.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow, as did some of the other teachers there, though some did leave to go teach their class. “How did you know about last night, you rat?” Nedzu stared at him like he was making a bad joke, and in Nedzu’s defense, that was fair. He should've known better.
Nedzu clapped his hands together, effectively cutting off All Might, who was about to speak. “Ah, I have just remembered! I am going to be out for today, I have an outing to go on.”
And wasn’t that suspicious.
All Might brought attention to himself by giving a cough. “Surely someone as esteemed as you, Nedzu, doesn’t need to go on an outing himself?” Seems like he was wanting Nedzu to choose someone to go in his stead. “An outing you were planning on going to can surely be taken care of by a more recognizable hero?” A puff of the chest happened with his statement, clearly expecting Nedzu to agree with him.
Aizawa rolled his eyes as did Vlad, who was the only one in the lounge with him right now. The two teachers had their professional rivalry, as did their classes. However, moments like these, Aizawa could find himself agreeing with the man.
It was still unsettling though. He could tell Vlad felt the same way with the startled look his way and the quick turn away.
Nedzu grinned. “I won’t be going as a hero, All Might. Just as simply Nedzu.”
All Might sputtered while Aizawa groaned. ‘Simply Nedzu’ was still terrifying, even more so than the hero, Mr. Principal. Since there weren’t many restrictions on him, if any, just fake politeness if he were meeting others. To say he was curious about where Nedzu was going was understandable, but he knew that the rat would just answer in a cryptid way. All Might didn’t seem to be aware of that, even after working at UA for a year.
“Nedzu, if you aren’t going on an outing as a hero, then where on earth are you going?”
Aizawa had to be truthful, it was a good question, especially coming from an idiot like All Might. That didn’t mean he was going to start liking the guy though. He was still loud. An annoying noise.
Nedzu gave a thoughtful hum, his body language showing that he was thinking. But Aizawa knew the rat, he already had an answer prepared, he just acted like he didn’t for fun. “I came across some information and will be acting upon it!”
As he thought, cryptic little fuck.
All Might questioned what Nedzu said as the rat simply disappeared from the room. A true Houdini. All Might tried to ask Aizawa what Nedzu meant but Aizawa just completely ignored him, a hand to his temple. Listening to All Might always gave him a headache. Aizawa was joined by Vlad as they left the lounge, leaving All Might, who should honestly be following, as it was the Heroics period for 1-B.
When Vlad realized All Might wasn’t following, he frowned and doubled back into the lounge, barking at him to follow, giving Aizawa a peaceful rest of the walk to his own classroom.
Peaceful before chaos.
Nedzu was on a mission.
Or rather, he was working on a puzzle. The same puzzle he’s been working on for the past few months.
Granted, Nedzu was a tad ashamed that it took him a year for him to get interested in this puzzle. By puzzle, Nedzu means the vigilante Junk Rabbit.
The young vigilante was active for two years now, patrolling around the same area before randomly switching it up to get pros off his trail. It was quite smart, considering the boy’s age. The vigilante’s name came from his quirk and some of his actions.
Based on the sightings of victims that the vigilante had saved, as well as camera feed, the boy had a rabbit quirk. Similar to Pro Hero Miruko in appearance. The rabbit ears, tail, and it seemed like the boy had the leg mutations as well.
The ‘Junk’ part of the name however, was due to some contraptions that were seen by Heros who have given chase to him as well as some that have been left captured villains. Most reportedly, Eraserhead. He’s gotten caught in a few inventions by the vigilante, an example being the smoke bombs that the undergrounder was caught in last night.
Nedzu gave a small grin to himself as he was making his way to the orphanage. When Eraserhead first told him about the child, finally getting clearance from Tsukauchi to talk about him, the rat had to have the decency to not laugh. Any other day he would, it wasn’t often that multiple Pro Heros were bested by a young vigilante, one that had a quote on quote ‘weak’ mutation. He’s heard the comments made by high ranking heroes about Pro Hero Miruko.
It was frankly disappointing.
As well as sexist.
Once Nedzu caught wind of this vigilante, he was simply trembling with excitement to find the identity. The vigilante had confusing tracks as well as seemingly having no acquaintances to track back to him. Nedzu was a little bit ashamed to say it took him a while. He managed to get more information when Aizawa started complaining about the young person in the teacher’s lounge, usually when speaking with Mic and Midnight. Of course, this was after Nedzu was informed of the existence so Aizawa wasn’t worried about keeping it to himself. He was well aware that Nedzu heard plenty of conversations from inside his office, either by the cameras or from the vents.
He was no stranger to the vents.
The stoat made his way up to the front door of the orphanage, giving rapid knocks. An elderly woman opened it, a little shocked by the appearance before recognizing. “You must be Mr. Nedzu! You’re right on time.” The woman let the 2 foot, 9 inched animal into the building before closing the door.
The woman, dubbed Hara-san after introductions, brought the two of them to an office of sorts, closing the door after herself.
The room was a small one, alluding a cozy vibe. Though he wasn’t sure how he felt about the splotchy wallpaper. Its splotches were there with purpose, maybe they were going for a more marble type look? There was a small couch under the middle window, fitting perfectly between the walls, holding five small pillows. There was an empty desk next to the couch with a chair sitting there and a more comfortable chair across from it.
Nedzu was gestured towards one of the seating spots, sitting in the desk chair herself. Nedzu went and sat on the opposite chair from her, showing a relaxed appearance in it before straightening himself when Hara-san asked one of her rehearsed questions.
“Now, you said that you were interested in adopting one of our children?”
Nedzu’s expression sharpened into a grin. “Yes, I am.”
Hara-san glance traveled up and down the stoat before responding. “Did you have an idea of what type of kid you would like?”
Now, Nedzu couldn’t very well just say exactly the kid’s name, it's not like there was a website listing the kids in need of adoption from this orphanage. However he could provide a description while trying to make it vague. “Due to my work as the principal of UA, it would be most preferable for a teenager. It’d be swell if they could help me with my work sometimes. Perhaps one close to or finished with high-school?” The stoat watched the elderly owner think about his preferences and her options.
“Most teenagers right now here just started high-school but.. There may be one boy that may fit your preferences. He’s a polite child, and quite good at chores should you need help. Due to his quirk, he is a vegetarian however, that won’t be an issue now will it?” Hara-san eyes Nedzu with a raised eyebrow waiting for his response. She would hate for the boy to be denied his diet simply because it doesn’t match the guardian’s diet.
Nedzu shook his head, his grin never wavering. He had suspected that after all, seeing as the boy had a rabbit quirk. Quirk can influence lifestyles after all, for example Momo Yaoyorozu needs to eat more calories than the average person to replace the lipids that are used in her body to create objects. Vlad King needs blood in his diet or he’ll get ill and lose himself until he can receive said liquid. “I can easily provide whichever food that he requires, it is not an issue at all!” He responded with a little cheerful chirp to the edge of it.
Hara-san gave a small nod while she stood up. “I’ll go get him, make yourself comfortable, Mr. Nedzu,” she said, quickly exiting the room, leaving the office door cracked open.
It wasn’t long for Hara-san to return, this time with a white-haired boy. The boy had long, large ears, the fur a brown coat yet fading into white at the bases of them, blending in with his hair. The boy was wearing his hair in a short braid, assuming to keep it out of his face. If he wanted, Nedzu would be happy to take him for a haircut. Glancing down at the boy’s legs, Nedzu was right in his assumption that there were rabbit feet. No doubt needing custom made shoes. From Nedzu’s point of view he couldn’t see a tail, but he recalls seeing one from security cameras.
The white stoat lifted his beady black eyes to look at the boy’s face as he sat down on the couch, Hara-san leaving them alone to chat, this time the door closing with a click. He had dark green eyes, filled with curiosity as Nedzu was stared at, waiting for the conversation to start. He could see freckles on his face, something that was normally hidden.
Nedzu’s polite grin took on a feral edge. “Nice to meet you, Izuku Midoriya.” Nedzu saw a glint of surprise in those eyes before they hardened into thinly veiled suspicion.
“What does the principal of UA want from me?” Midoriya asked, his hands clasped together in an attempt to hide his nerves. Nedzu saw the hands grip tighter before Midoriya broke into a sly smile. “Possibly to arrest me?”
Ah, so the boy was aware that Nedzu knew. Shouldn’t have been surprising, Nedzu is ranked as the smartest being in Japan.
Nedzu’s ear flicked, showing his displeasure at the idea of arresting the other. “No, not at all,” he paused, adding some dramatics to the statement before giving a solid clap. “I am here to adopt you!”
Midoriya’s ears straightened in a state of shock.
Izuku could not believe what he was hearing. The Nedzu, wanting to adopt him? It had to be a trap. “I assure you, Mr. Midoriya, it is not a trap.” Okay now he can read minds, he did not remember that being a part of Nedzu’s quirk.
“You’re just very expressive, Mr. Midoriya.”
This little-
Izuku leaned back with a sigh akin to a groan. “Please, just call me Izuku if your cover is to adopt me. You are aware who Junk Rabbit is after all.” The white haired boy lifted a hand to rub at his forehead, trying to think clearly.
“Alright then, Izuku. It’s no cover, I do genuinely want to adopt you. In fact, I already have paperwork filled out, I just need the signatures.” Nedzu didn’t appear to be lying in that aspect.
(Nedzu did indeed have paperwork already printed and filled his parts out, he just needed the signatures of Izuku and Hara-san. Of course, he could have done this without Hara-san’s signing but he did want to at least appear as a legal person, it wasn’t like he ran around doing illegal things. Not at all.)
Izuku could understand having paperwork already printed, he’s heard Eraser and Tsukki complain good-naturedly (?) about him from one of the bugs he’s planted in Tsukki’s office. He, of course, switches it every few times so they don’t end up being found, he’d rather not be mistaken for a villain (despite what Endeavor and All Might say), he rather likes Tsukki and Eraser. What Izuku couldn’t understand was why Nedzu was adopting him. So he asked just that.
Nedzu shrugged.
He shrugged.
“You’re a very interesting boy, I’d like to see you thrive. Plus it may be a way to mess with Eraserhead even more,” Nedzu said with a grin.
Did Nedzu really think he could get Izuku with that?
Because he can.
To which he did.