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Chapter Text

Izuku had snapped. It had been coming for a while, he knew it. It had been coming ever since he’d been diagnosed quirkless. It had been coming ever since his mother had died and he’d been subjected to living with the Bakugo’s, tormented constantly by Kachaan but only ever out of sight of the boy’s parents. It had been coming ever since the scars littered his body and no matter how much he asked for help, people always called him a liar. It had been coming ever since any words he said were immediately discounted and no level of intelligence was believed of him.

It had been coming for so long, you could barely even blame All Might. That didn’t stop the fact that it was Izuku’s last straw. It didn’t stop the fact that Izuku had numbly walked to the nearest store, bought a sharp knife, and not even registered that there were people around as he dragged the knife across his throat. He didn’t care that people might be upset by the sight. As soon as they saw his bright red shoes, all that care would leave. No, there was no point being quiet about this. Everything that hurt him would be quieted regardless. 

When Izuku woke, he cried. Not because of the horrid amount of pain in his neck, nor the way the bandages scrapped harshly against him, no, he cried because he woke up. He wasn’t supposed to. 

It took a long time for the tears to die down enough for Izuku to register where he had woken up. Unsurprisingly, he found himself in a room with white walls and no sharp edges. Even more unsurprising was the bright red skirting that followed the walls around, marking the room as one of those that were made for the quirkless. It was important to keep the quirkless separated from the rest of the hospital, you wouldn’t want someone somehow becoming quirkless from contact with him. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t how that worked, because it was how people thought. 

Izuku didn’t bother to move, although he did look callously at the IV in his arm, wondering if it would be deep and sharp enough to finish the job the knife hadn’t. He decided it probably wouldn’t do the trick and groaned- or we’ll he tried to groan, but no sound came out. Delightful. He couldn’t even groan. 

Eventually doctors appeared, but they just… talked around him. It was as though he wasn’t even there, even though he was clearly awake and clearly trying to ask for a pen and paper or something to write on. 

“Kid’s vocal cords were completely severed, there’s no way he will talk again.”

“Can’t believe someone could fail that badly at suicide- what!?” That doctor had clearly been glared at or elbowed or something. Izuku appreciated that. 

“Just because it’s true doesn’t mean you should say it in front of the patient.”

Never mind. Izuku didn’t appreciate them anymore. 

“He’s quirkless”

The other doctor hummed in agreement and Izuku gave up on trying to get there attention. He just curled up on the bed, waiting for sleep to over take him. 

He didn’t bother to pay real attention when the nurses came in after the first time they each made their opinions about him known. Izuku didn’t know how long he was in the hospital room, but eventually the bandages were being taken off and he was moved to a patient transport vehicle. Maybe he was going to some sort of rehab to get his voice back?

Yeah that had been too hopeful. They had dropped him off at a quirkless psych ward, with some sort of papers that Izuku wasn’t permitted to see. With that done, he was led into a room with padded everything and left alone. 

Izuku gave up on fighting to stay aware of things when the third day passed and the only interaction with other humans he had was when food was delivered. He let his mind fade in and out, exhausted and dead to the world. Based on the food deliveries- provided they were giving him 3 meals a day, which he wasn’t sure if they were, he had been here for at least a few months. It was hard keeping track, especially since he knew sometimes he was out of it through food deliveries and the food was taken away. 

The first time he really came back to it was when one of the nurses left her phone in his room after delivering his food. It was clearly an accident, and if Izuku took it she would probably never know it was him. Afterall, he was known to never move except when he left the window seat he always sat on to sleep in his bed- even then that wasn’t too common, he often just slept sitting in his spot.

He wasn’t sure why he took it. Maybe it was because in the entire time he had been here he had only seen one hero outside his window and he missed studying them, or maybe it was because he just wanted to prove he could do something. Even he was starting to doubt his ability. 

He took the phone, sitting on it so the nurse wouldn’t find it if she checked in here, and just let himself relax with the knowledge that he could still function. 

She did return to look for it, and Izuku just stared resolutely out the window until she left. She seemed confident she had left it elsewhere, which meant Izuku had succeeded. 

It was a few days later when Izuku decided to actually try and use the phone, which he had fully powered off when he’d stolen it in case she decided to try calling it. 

Upon opening the phone, he found a password lock. Luckily, Izuku had a wierd fascination for memorising things and one of the only opportunities to do so had been memorising the passwords that nurses didn’t bother to hide from him. He wasn’t in any place to do anything about it, so why would they bother?

It took a few tries to get the right code, but he got there, and sure enough, the phone unlocked. Immediately Izuku started looking at heroes, catching up on all the fights he had missed in the last- five, it had been five- months. 

His days continued like this, allowed for by the fact that he’d managed to steal one of the nurse’s chargers from a bag she’d left unattended outside his room. That had been hard to do without getting caught, but he managed it- everything was easier when people assumed nothing of you and didn’t bother to check what you were doing because what damage could a quirkless kid do?

Soon enough though, Izuku ran out of fights he hadn’t seen, and he had to start going deeper if he wanted to be entertained. Faintly he remembered that not long before he’d cut his throat- his vocal cords- Izuku had been investigating underground heroes. He took the chance of far too much time and nothing else to do to research them. That involved a lot more hacking then what a normal person would consider normal, but Izuku had gotten good- really good- at that. As it turned out, he still had some of those skills, although a phone was much more painful to deal with then a computer. 

By the time another month had passed, Izuku had been able to effectively follow four underground heroes through their patrols via the cameras. Sigil was by far the fastest of these four, using his floatation quirk to increase speed, but that speed was clearly something he valued heavily, because he never ever stayed to comfort the civilian, and a few times the criminals had even escaped and left before the police got there because Sigil didn’t wait around for the police. 

Grey was better at making sure the criminals got to the police, but didn’t do much to comfort the civilians, just handed them over to the police for them to deal with.

Crawler was probably the most cheerful of the underground heroes Izuku had found, and he reliably stayed with civilians and criminals until someone else showed up, but damn he really didn’t know when to stop joking and actually calm someone down. Either way he seemed more like a limelight hero then an underground hero, and likely the only reason he went underground was because of how easily he would be defeated if his opponent knew his quirk. 

That is where Eraserhead has everyone beat. He always stuck around with the civilians, even after the police had left if they were shaky. Sometimes he would walk them home and make sure they knew where to call if they needed any more emotional support. It was clear that comforting people didn’t come fully naturally to the hero, which just made the effort more valuable in Izuku’s opinion. Added to that, Izuku had watched as Eraserhead had talked down multiple people from suicide. Even those with red shoes. He always made sure they got home, always spent hours with them, even when it happened right at the end of patrol. 

Every time Izuku saw someone about to commit, he craved to swap places with them, craved to be able to die, to be out of this place that refused to let him. He knew it was Mitsuki who got him out in here, knew it was just because Mitsuki thought she owed it to his mother to keep him alive. No one visited. He knew others here had visitors- knew because the nurses would talk about it, but he never did. So yeah, maybe Izuku wanted to swap places. 

Every time that happened though, Eraserhead would appear and talk them down, and far too often if convinced Izuku not to crave being on a ledge as well- at least for a while. 

The first time Izuku actually felt he was doing more then just watch, was when there was a villain sneaking up behind Eraserhead. He didn’t think the hero had noticed the villains and he couldn’t stand the thought of Eraserhead getting hurt. The only thing he could think to do was press the key that would force the camera to take a photo, which in turn would use a flash. 

Izuku cried when it worked. It was the first time in a long time that he’d felt human. That he’d felt useful. That he felt Deku wasn’t him. 

When the fight was over, Eraserhead started looking around, specifically investigating the camera. Oh. Eraserhead knew that wasn’t a coincidence. What was Izuku supposed to do here?

It took a while- a long while- for Izuku to realise the hero’s mouth was moving in a way that probably suggested speech. It took him even longer to work out how to hear it, which was stupid because he already knew the radio system set up that allowed anyone with the right frequency to talk to the underground heroes- a tidbit he’d picked up on in his investigations. Something he definitely wasn’t supposed to know. Still, he found himself setting his phone to intercept the frequency, and sure enough, he heard Eraserhead speak. 

The hero’s voice was gruff, mildly annoyed, and grumpy. 

“Who did that? Did one of you do that? Someone better come clean,” at the last statement, Eraserhead activated his quirk, clearly for intimidation. It worked. 

“Sorry!” Izuku tried to say. No sound came out. What was he supposed to do? Eraserhead couldn’t hear him, couldn’t see him, he had no idea how to explain himself, unless… could he use Morse code?

S. O. R. R. Y. W. O. R. R. I. E. D. Izuku flashed out in the camera, intermittently checking a translator on his phone where needed, ecstatic to find the hero could understand him. He could speak, be heard, be listened to even. It was so foreign, so new, so amazing, Izuku felt he could finally breathe again. He hated how slow it was, of course he did, but it was so worth it.

“Can you hear me?” Eraserhead asked the camera, sounding thoroughly confused. 

Y. 

Izuku decided that a Y was clear enough as a yes. Eraserhead seemed to agree. 

“And who are you?”

Izuku hesitated. He couldn’t very well say his name. What exactly was he supposed to say?

C. A. N. T. 

Hopefully that was enough of an explanation. He didn’t know what else to go with. Sure he could come up with an alias, but what? What was he possibly going to call himself? For the life of him, Izuku couldn’t think of a good option.

“Do you have an alias?” Eraserhead asked, because of course he had to make Izuku come up with one. 

N. O. T. Y. E. T. Izuku decided on flashing out. 

“Ok, do you have a reason for talking through cameras?”

E. Z. 

It took Eraserhead a long moment to register that wasn’t the start of a weird word and was just a shortened form of ‘easy’. The moment it clicked was obvious, especially with the eye roll that accompanied it. 

“Right, ok, well why exactly are you in the cameras at all?”

U. N. E. E. D. E. D. H. E. L. P. 

It was a bit of a stretch, since he hadn’t known Eraserhead would need help, and the hero seemed to agree with that sentiment, although when he went to ask about it, the police showed up and he had to deal with the hand over. Izuku expected the hero to just give up on him and leave like everyone did, but once the criminals were handed over to the police, Eraserhead returned his attention to the camera. 

“I was fine.”

S. U. R. E. 

“Not sure how you’ve managed to make sarcasm come through in literal Morse code, but it’s honestly impressive,” Eraserhead muttered, “Still, why were you in the cameras to see the attack coming to begin with?”

U. 

“Me?”

Y.

“I’m not sure I understand, care to explain. 

U. R… izuku wanted to say interesting but that was a painfully long word, so with an inaudible groan, he settled for, C. O. O. L. 

Eraserhead looked truely baffled by the word, staring at the camera with the most confused expression Izuku had ever seen. 

“Will I be seeing you around more then?” Eraserhead sighed, his voice just a little done, but the tone implied he didn’t mind too much- or at least Izuku thought that was what it meant. 

M. A. Y. B. 

“Well, ok then? Thanks,” Eraserhead grunted, “See you around.”

With that, he was gone- although not for long considering Izuku followed him around on cameras, continuing to take notes on the fights. 

Slowly Izuku got more brave, and found that he could direct Eraserhead to a crime if he saw one occurring nearby. 

Mornings became more and more painful, because while the nights were filled with watching the hero, and afternoons were spent sleeping, Izuku was still awake in the mornings, and found himself bored with nothing to do. So he settled into the habit of investigating a little more into the world, searching for crimes more well hidden behind layers of security. When he found something that was too big to simply direct Eraserhead to- a corrupt hero that had gotten away with too much, Izuku specifically finding evidence of sexual assault- he realised there was more work to be done. 

It took a long time, and Izuku dug deep into the hours he would normally sleep through in the afternoon, but eventually he managed to hack into Eraserhead’s work laptop. With that done, dropping the file onto the computer desktop was easy enough. The question was though, how would Eraserhead know it could be trusted? It took him a moment, but Izuku decided to title the document ‘IMPORTANT-From Morse”. With that, his name was selected. 

That night, Eraserhead almost immediately spoke to him upon beginning patrol. 

“Are you there?”

Y. Izuku flashed in response, one day he would get a better system of communicating, but this tended to work, especially with the growing number of shortened words he had. 

“Was that you, the file on my computer?”

Y. Izuku beamed, Eraserhead had understood!

“And all that information is true?”

Y.

“Why didn’t you file a police report? Why did you come to me?”

U. L. I. S. T. E. N. T. O. M. E. 

“Do the police not listen to you?” Eraserhead sounded concerned, although it seemed to be concerned for him rather then about him, which was a relief. If Eraserhead stopped trusting Izuku, he didn’t know what he would do. 

O. N. L. Y. U. D. O.

“Does this have something to do with why you tak to me through Morse code and cameras rather then hacking into my communicator? Because I’m sure you could if you tried.”

K. I. N. D. A. Izuku tried, hesitating for a long moment before adding, I. C. A. N. H. A. C. K. C. O. M. S. I. H. E. A. R. U. 

He hoped Eraserhead would understand what he meant, that he was listening through the communicators. Some small part of him just wanted the hero to know he was capable of it. After all, it had been easy, one of the first things he had done. 

“Ok, but you don’t talk? Is that a choice or a need?”

C. A. N. T. Izuku replied. Maybe it was stupid to tell the hero this, but someone was finally listening to him. It felt so freeing. So perfect. So safe. 

“Are you safe?”

I. G. U. E. S. S. Izuku sighed. He was safe. There was nothing to hurt him here, it was specifically designed that way, but he was always scared Bakugo would one day visit and finish off the job. He was always scared a nurse would snap and kill him for wasting their time. He was always scared and alone and he hated it. 

Eraserhead didn’t seem to like that answer. 

“Where are you? If you’re in danger I can come get you, kid.”

N. Izuku flashed. No. He was not getting caught. He was not losing Eraserhead. What hero would want to work with someone stuck in a psych ward for all eternity? What hero would want to work with someone quirkless? What hero would want to work with someone who had no voice?

“Kid… Morse… I just, I want you to be safe.”

I. O. K. Izuku insisted. Eraserhead couldn’t know. He had to just be Morse. Morse the informant with the weird form of communication. 

“Do you… do you have my phone number? If you could get onto my computer you could probably access it?”

Y. Izuku agreed, because he had found Eraserhead’s phone number weeks ago. Just in case. 

“Ok, if you ever need me to come, message me your location and I will be there as fast as possible, no matter the time of day. If you are ever in danger, I need you to do that for me, ok?”

O. K. Izuku agreed. He could do that. After all,  the last few times he had watched Eraserhead run into someone about to die, he hadn’t felt jealous. He hadn’t wanted to die. Not anymore. Not with Eraserhead, who would talk to him and listen to him. Someone listened to him. Izuku wrote the address and room number of the psych ward into a message to Eraserhead, so that no matter what it would only be a few clicks away. 

“Did you want to hear about the new cat I adopted today?” Eraserhead asked, because at some point Eraserhead had talked about cats and Izuku had gotten a little excited, flashing out responses too fast, and having to apologise for being to excited- although Eraserhead told him not to apologise for that. Ever since, the hero would regularly bring up conversations about his cats. Today he talked about a new one, Smokey, who had lung issues caused by the amount of smoke she had been around. Her home had been a popular smoking place, and when Eraserhead had found her she had stunk of cigarette smoke. Izuku thought she sounded adorable. 

The next time Izuku logged onto Eraserhead’s laptop to drop off some more information, he found a weird folder on the desktop, labeled ‘FOR MORSE’. Curiously, Izuku opened it, and grinned when he found a large collection of cat photos, all named with the cat’s name and a little explanation of the event. Smokey was just as adorable as Eraserhead had said, big blue eyes with grey and white stripes decorating her fur, a gorgeous tabby. Izuku’s favourite photo of her was the one where she was on her back, paws extended above her as she played with a Present Mic themed cat toy. Izuku screenshotted that one. 

Smokey of course wasn’t the only cat Eraserhead had. There was an orange cat, lovingly called Dufus, who Eraserhead had told Izuku about. Apparently the cat had a bizarre fascination with food bowls, and did not care about wether there was something in the bowl when he curled up in them. Sure enough, Izuku found multiple pictures of Dufus in bowls, as well as quite a few where he had rice stuck to him and stood next to a very fur filled bowl of rice. 

The third cat was completely black except for a singular paw that was white. Eraserhead called her Odd Socks, which Izuku found hilarious. She was apparently the most shy of the three, and as such liked to hide in Eraserhead’s capture scarf, which led to many adorable photos. 

Izuku couldn’t remember the last time he had smiled so much, so next to the file he had hacked the computer to add, Izuku left a note, thanking Eraserhead for the pictures, which he had happily added to his camera roll after deleting all of the nurse’s pictures off it. 

Slowly but surely, Izuku began to fully trust Eraserhead, saying more than he probably should if only because the hero listened. He missed people listening to him. Even when he tried to interact with the nurses- and he really had started trying, they would brush him off as the crazy voiceless quirkless kid. None of them seemed to know how he ended up here and none seemed to care. Eraserhead cared though. No matter what Izuku said, Eraserhead cared. 

One night during Eraserhead’s break on patrol, Izuku had mentioned missing being able to listen to Present Mic’s radio show since he didn’t have access to an actual radio. A few days later when he was sending the hero more files about cases, he found that Eraserhead had somehow found and saved recordings of the show for him- something that wasn’t supposed to be possible because Present Mic wanted his work to only be live, not listened to later. He always talked about how listening to old shows carried risks of old no longer true information and that he’d rather people hear the most current things. 

Izuku of course had immediately asked Eraserhead about it that night, and the hero had gruffly replied with something about ‘having friends in high places’ only to admit he was close with Present Mic. Only, the way he said it had Izuku reeling, suddenly making connections he had never expected. 

Present Mic had talked about being pansexual many times on his show, wanting to encourage people to feel comfortable with their sexualities. He had also mentioned a partner who didn’t want to be a public figure. A partner he had nicknamed ‘Sho’ which was shockingly close to ‘Aizawa SHOuta’, the name Izuku had accidentally stumbled across discovering belonged to Eraserhead. Holy shit. 

M. I. C. N. U. D. A. T. E… Q. Izuku flashed, having no better way of signalling a question mark then the letter Q, but it seemed to work. 

“How the hell did you work that out problem child?”

S. K. I. L. L. S. Izuku grinned, insanely proud of himself for the discovery, and quickly switching over to the notes app to write it down. His memory was better then it had been when he had first given up on the days of zoning out, but it still had its weird limits, and Izuku now liked to write down anything important. 

“Don’t tell anyone, alright kid?”

O. B. V. I. Izuku replied with a silent grumble. He wasn’t stupid. It was kept quiet for a reason- most likely to help Eraserhead do his job. He would still be useful if people knew his quirk, but the surprise worked to his advantage. 

“Thanks Morse, I trust you.”

Izuku didn’t stop grinning for the rest of the night. It was only due to the fact that the nurses never bothered to take notice of him that they didn’t question the giddy grin on Izuku’s face. Eraserhead trusted him! He trusted Izuku! Somebody trusted Izuku!

Whatever walls Izuku still had up were dropped after that, and he allowed Eraserhead to become someone he could rely on. Something he hadn’t permitted himself to do ever since his mother‘s death. 

He hadn’t meant for the confession to slip out, but when Eraserhead had offhandedly asked if he had a tech quirk he used to hack, Izuku hadn’t thought twice before answering. 

N. O. Q. U. I. R. K. 

Eraserhead sat up suddenly from where he had been leaning against the roof access door. Izuku panicked. Did Eraserhead hate him? He wasn’t supposed to know! Izuku wasn’t supposed to tell him that! 

“Are you ok kid? Are you safe?”

Huh? Izuku hadn’t expected that…

W. H. A. T. 

“Are you safe? I know what the statistics about quirkless kids say. I need to know, are you safe?”

Y. Izuku replied after a moment’s hesitation. The nurses had made it clear that he was an easy patient, that they didn’t have to work hard with him, so they didn’t seem likely to hurt him, and Bakugo still hadn’t visited. It had been over 9 months. If he was going to visit, he would have already. Izuku was safe, if lonely.

“Good, good, you remember what I said about if that changes?”

M. S. G. U. Izuku replied dutifully, and Eraserhead seemed to relax at that. 

“Thank you, kid. I don’t want to be constantly worried about you when I’m not on patrol any more then I already am. Knowing you can message me helps. A lot.”

Izuku stared at the hero through the camera. How? How had that happened? Why was Eraserhead worried, not angry? He should be angry that a quirkless kid has wasted all his time, not relieved that Izuku would message if he was in danger. And why was Eraserhead worried about him? Especially now that he knew?

Y. U. N. O. H. A. T. E. M. E. Q. Izuku flashed, needing to know the answer. It made no sense. 

“Why would I hate you?”

N. O. Q. U. I. R. K. 

“Morse, I’m not going to hate you because you are quirkless. I don’t care that your don’t have a quirk. You are still a kid, a kid with some insanely good hacking skills and an honestly crazy amount of access to information no one else can find. Plus, you love cats, and that alone means I can’t hate you. No, your quirk or lack there of changes nothing Morse. I promise.”

Izuku stared at the phone screen for an agonisingly long time. Eraserhead didn’t care. He didn’t care about Izuku being quirkless. He cared about Izuku, but not about Izuku’s lack of a quirk. Izuku let out a chocked, silent sob. No one, no one ever cared about him after they found out he was quirkless. Even his mother had died to escape him- despite what Mitsuki insisted, his mother’s death had not been natural. 

“Morse, are you still there?”

Y. Izuku flashed out, ignoring the tears streaming down his face. 

“Are you ok?”

N. O. O. N. E. E. V. E. R. S. A. I. D. T. H. A. T. B E. F. O. R. E. Izuku explained, the words coming out achingly slowly, but as he spelt them out, he could see Eraserhead’s face shift into horror, worry and… pain? Why?

“I’m so sorry, kid. You deserve better then that, you are so amazing, don’t ever forget that, ok? A quirk does not define someone despite the bullshit society spews about it.”

T. H. X. Izuku flashed, rubbing his eyes desperately in an attempt to slow the sobs. It was pretty ineffective, but Eraserhead had an insane amount of patience, and gave Izuku plenty of time to recover. Although Izuku still felt the tears soaking his cheeks hours later.  

Chapter Text

Izuku was immediately on edge when the pattern changed. He just barely managed to hide the phone under his pillow before the door was opened in the middle of the morning. That never happened. It was just breakfast, lunch, and dinner, never anything in between. So why was a nurse in here? Why when it was 10am and he knew they always gave him lunch at 12:30?

“You have a visitor,” The nurse declared, and Izuku froze immediately. Who? Who? Had Eraserhead somehow managed to work out who he was or was someone from his past about to show up?

That question was answered when the nurse vanished for a moment and a wave of burnt caramel smell came in. Izuku panicked. Danger. Danger! He knew that smell and that smell meant danger. A memory flashed through his mind, burnt caramel smell mixing with burnt flesh smell and pain. Izuku was not safe. Izuku was not safe and there was only one thing he knew to do, one thing Eraserhead has always insisted on.

Izuku flung himself around pulling the phone out and frantically clicking on the messenger app and hitting send on the message he had typed out months ago. 

Musutafu Psych Ward, 14 Akatami street, room 14B, HELP - Morse

Izuku barely managed to hide the phone again before a loud voice snapped out. 

“Deku!” 

Izuku winced, flinching away from the voice and raising his hands protectively over his head. 

“Deku! Shitty idiot! I know you can hear me!”

Izuku shook, panic driving through him. He was supposed to agree, he was supposed to apologise but he couldn’t. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t. 

“Speak when spoken to fucker!”

Izuku frantically tried to apologise, his mouth moving but no sound coming out. He hated the way his cheeks were soaked, he hated the tears and the fear and everything that was surrounding him. He just wanted to curl up and hide but he couldn’t. He knew he couldn’t. 

“Ugh whatever, I forgot you were so pathetic you can’t even do that,” Bakugo snapped, “Well I’m here because I got into UA like I always fucking said I would and that means I’m going to be a hero. The hag said I should tell you or whatever since you don’t get to be a hero. Which is stupid because you never were going to be but oh well.”

Izuku let out another chocked sob, because Bakugo was right. He was right. Izuku was weak and pathetic. He couldn’t even speak up for himself. He was stuck here, and he would never be a hero. All that stuff he had been doing at nights, it was all just like a kid playing heroes, except that a kid had every reason to believe they could be one and Izuku was just delusional. 

When Izuku heard the pops of Bakugo’s all to familiar quirk, he screamed, the action painfully silent despite his horror and fear and panic. He didn’t want to die. Even if it was all fake, he didn’t want to die. Even if Eraserhead wasn’t coming to get him, because face it, he wasn’t coming to get a kid in a literal psych ward, Izuku still didn’t want to die. 

He heard yelling faintly, but closer he heard Bakugo’s angry snarl telling him to stop gapping like a fish. He smelt the burnt caramel smell, far stronger then it was before, saw a hand flying towards him. Izuku squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the fiery hot pain he knew was coming, only before it did, there was a bang, far different to Bakugo’s quirk, and no hit came. He heard Bakugo screaming, but this time it was not at him. 

Izuku opened his eyes, and stared in shock at Eraserhead, his quirk was activated, staring at Bakugo, who was wrapped up tightly in the hero’s capture scarf. 

“What the hell are you doing to this patient?” Eraserhead asked Bakugo, sounding truely furious.

“He was ignoring me! I had to come in here because of him, I had to wait for hours because of him and I get in here and this quirkless trash refuses to even talk to me!”

“He. Can’t. Talk. His vocal cords are severed. It literally says that on the door.”

“Who are you to speak to me like that!? I’m a future UA student! Have some damn respect!”

“I am Eraserhead, a pro hero and one of the teachers at UA. I can say for certain that even if you have an offer to UA, that will no longer be valid once I talk to the principal about this. Now, get out! You are lucky I’m not arresting you.”

Bakugo was white, whether that was with  fear or rage, Izuku didn’t know, but the boy left, and Izuku broke fully. 

T. H. X. Izuku managed to tap out on his leg, as he sobbed, panic clawing at him. 

“Morse?” Eraserhead asked painfully gently, in a way that made Izuku sob harder as he nodded. Why was Eraserhead so gentle? Why was no one else this gentle. 

“Is it ok if I hug you?” Eraserhead asked gently, and Izuku nodded frantically. It had been almost a decade since he had last been hugged and he wanted it more then anything. 

Gentle arms wrapped around him, and Eraserhead quietly murmured reassurances and promises that he would be ok, that he was safe now. Izuku couldn’t help but believe the hero. How could he not be safe when Eraserhead was here, ready to protect him?

“How long have you been here kid?” Eraserhead asked gently when Izuku finally managed to stop crying. Izuku shrugged, not knowing for sure. He tapped Eraserhead’s arm ten times, estimating ten months of this. 

“Ten months?” Eraserhead asked, and painfully Izuku nodded, to which Eraserhead pulled away, just a tiny bit, to stare at him, “Do you have a computer? I was under the impression this place had no devices allowed for patients, that’s why they were trying to stop me coming in for you.”

Izuku pulled out the phone he stole all those months ago from under his pillow, and guiltily admitted the truth. 

S. T. O. L. E. M. E. A. N. N. U. R. S. E. 

Eraserhead, surprisingly, did not seem upset about the crime Izuku had just admitted to, despite being a pro hero, and instead seemed to be… laughing?

“Only you, problem child, only you.”

Izuku curled up tighter against Eraserhead, relaxing into his hold. This felt good. Safe. Warm. 

“You’ve said some concerning things about this place, Morse. I need to ask, is it helping you or are you just stuck here?”

Izuku hesitated. It was a bit of a long story to explain in Morse code. After a few seconds of thought, he opened the notes app on his phone, wincing slightly at the fact that it opened immediately to his page on Eraserhead, which was titled with “ERASERHEAD, SAFE, DON’T FORGET!”. Quickly he opened a new notes page and started typing, holding so Eraserhead could see. 

“I tried to kill myself right before they put me here. I slit my throat and somehow managed to miss all the arteries and important stuff and pretty much only got the vocal cords. They kept me alive but they couldn’t fix the vocal cords. Not for a quirkless.” Izuku felt the way Aizawa’s hold tightened just a tad at that last line, and he relished in the comfort it brought as he continued, “They sent me here, I’ve been scheduled to stay here my whole life. They say I’m too volatile to ever let out. It was lonely before I started talking to you. You helped. I don’t want to die anymore. I just want to help you.”

“Oh kid,” Eraserhead sighed, his hug tightening again, “We will get you out of here, ok? I’ll use my emergency foster licence to get guardianship of you and get you out of here, ok?”

Izuku nodded his head eagerly. Out… out sounded so good. So amazingly good. 

“Do you think you will be ok if I leave, just to sort that out? I will come right back I promise.”

Izuku couldn’t help the wave of panic. What if Bakugo came back when he was so close to freedom? What if Eraserhead didn’t come back? What if the nurses got mad at Izuku for breaking the rules? What if they took it out on him?

“Hey, Morse, you’re ok kid, you’re ok, you’re safe, I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I can get Hizashi to sort it out for me instead, ok? I’m not going anywhere, you’re ok, you’re safe, ok?”

Shakily, Izuku nodded, hating how pathetic he knew he was. Panicking? Seriously. He couldn’t even let Eraserhead leave for just a few hours? Even at that hypothetical though, Izuku was cringing, hating the idea, hating the fear.

Eraserhead got out his phone, calling a contact labeled Yamada Hizashi, placing it in front of them on speaker. Izuku looked up at Eraserhead in confusion and the hero smiled at him gently. 

“This is Mic,” Eraserhead explained, and Izuku’s mouth fell open. First he’d met Eraserhead, and now he was meeting Present Mic? Well he wasn’t able to speak to the hero, but still!”

“Sho? What’s up? You just sprinted out of school, everyone’s worried about you!” Present Mic’s voice came loudly through the speaker, causing Izuku to flinch, but only momentarily as he immediately leaned in, insanely excited by it. 

“Remember the kid I was telling you about?”

“Morse? Of course, you never shut up about him, did he get you a new case or something?”

“He messaged me for help, I’m with him right now,” Eraserhead explained, and Izuku heard the audible intake of breath on the other side of the line. 

“Hey little listener, are you ok?”

Izuku nodded, looking at Eraserhead in panic, he didn’t want to be rude to his second favourite pro. 

“He’s nodding, he can’t speak,” Eraserhead told Mic, who immediately started apologising and insisting that it was of course completely ok. 

“Zashi, hey, I need you to do something for me, ok?”

“Of course, Shou, anything.”

“I need you to go to Tsukauchi, and get a Midoriya Izuku under our emergency foster licence. They’ve left him in a quirkist psych ward, we need to get him out.”

“Midoriya Izuku,” Mic repeated under his breath- which was more like a normal person’s voice volume then anything, but Izuku didn’t really mind, “Ok, yeah, I can do that, I’ll send my class over to join yours, Midnight can deal with them.”

“Thank you Zashi, and be quick ok? I want to get him out of here.”

Mic agreed quickly before ending the call with a quick ‘I love you’, and leaving Izuku and Eraserhead alone again. 

Izuku looked up at Eraserhead, and after a moments hesitation decided the hero’s sense of humour would get that it was a joke. 

G. A. Y. He tapped out, making sure the smile he had in his face showed he was teasing and not at all malicious. 

“Gremlin,” Eraserhead sighed, ruffling Izuku’s hair gently. Izuku couldn’t help the way he leaned into the touch. 

I. S. C. A. R. E. D. Izuku admitted after a long moment of silence. 

“Of what?” Aizawa asked immediately. 

E. X. P. L. O. D. E. Izuku explained weakly, waving his hands around at the room awkwardly. Eraserhead seemed to understand that though. 

“He’s not coming back, and even if he is somehow dumb enough to, I will handle him, I promise. He won’t hurt you again.”

Izuku relaxed slightly. Maybe everything would be ok. 

Izuku spoke too soon. Not even minutes after that thought crossed his mind, a nurse appeared, insisting Eraserhead had no right to be here and if he wanted to visit Izuku he could do it at a pre booked time. 

Izuku was terrified that the hero would agree and leave, but he didn’t. Instead, he just glared at the nurse. 

“I am a pro hero, I walked in here under suspicion of at least one crime, and found someone trying to use their quirk to harm this kid. I am now making sure the kid is ok, and as such, I am on the crime scene and have every legal right to ask you to leave this room or make you leave by force if you refuse. It’s your choice.”

The nurse left, and Izuku buried his face in Eraser’s shoulder in relief, taping out a quick. 

U. R. S. C. A. R. Y. W. H. E. N. A. N. G. R. Y. Izuku made sure to let his shoulders shake with laughter and to look up at the pro with a grin to show he wasn’t upset. Aizawa seemed to gage Izuku’s unspoken tone for a moment before nodding and laughing lightly. 

After what felt like years but he knew was only a few hours, Present Mic appeared, and it was his turn to fight with the nurses. Mic was very loud, but Izuku couldn’t bring himself to mind when the hero was referring to him as ‘his kid.’

When he appeared in the doorway eventually, Izuku could see the way the pro visibly softened. It made him feel a whole lot safer. 

“We can pack up your things and go,” Mic said, and Izuku relaxed completely. He was getting out of here. Finally. 

Izuku grabbed his phone and the charger, before looking at the two heroes expectantly. They were still watching him, clearly expecting more. Oh. 

T. H. A. T. S. A. L. L. Izuku tapped out, and for some reason the heroes seemed… sad? Izuku wasn’t sure, but they got up to leave, Eraserhead offering a hand to hold. It was like the hero somehow knew how scared Izuku was of being left behind. 

He was nervous as he left the room that he hadn’t been allowed to leave the entire time he was here. He was just waiting for a nurse to appear and start yelling at him, but no one did. The nurses still glared at him, but no one spoke. Izuku could deal with that. 

What Izuku apparently couldn’t deal with was long periods of walking- or well anything much more then short sections. He hadn’t realised how much damage had been done by the fact that the only distance he ever walked was between his bed and his window. Everything hurt, his legs felt like they were on fire and embarrassingly, he kept stumbling in front of two of his favourite heroes. It was the fourth time he’d stumbled that Eraserhead stopped. 

“Are you ok?” He asked quietly, and Izuku hesitated. He didn’t want to seem any more weak then he already was but at the same time he really didn’t want to lie. 

W. A. L. K. L. O. N. G. N. E. W. Izuku tapped out, hoping the hero would understand. He seemed to. 

“Do you want me to carry you? Or I can just support you more as we walk?”

Izuku tapped twice, and Eraserhead nodded, moving so that his arm was holding Izuku up more effectively, carrying some of his weight. Izuku in turn leaned into the hero more, allowing the help that took some strain off of his sore legs. 

They were stopped from leaving by a manager, but Present Mic pointed out that he was Present Mic and also presented the man with some documents that Izuku presumed would prove their guardianship over him. The manager begrudgingly permitted them to leave, and for the first time in maybe ten months, Izuku was breathing in fresh air. He stopped, just to marvel at the fact he was outside, and the two heroes didn’t appear to mind. 

Eventually Izuku pulled himself together enough to look to Eraserhead and tap out a question of where they were going. 

“Did you bring the car Zashi?” Eraserhead asked, and Mic pulled out some keys, pointing towards a small black car. With that, they started walking towards it, and Izuku relaxed, glad they wouldn’t be walking a large distance. 

They stopped by the car and Eraserhead seemed to hesitate for a long moment before turning to Izuku properly. 

“Do you think you will be ok sitting in the back with Mic so I can drive? Mic isn’t a great driver.”

“I can drive!”

“Not without giving me a heart attack,” Eraserhead snapped back, and Hizashi reluctantly agreed. With that, Eraserhead turned back to Izuku, “Does that sound ok?”

Y. Izuku replied, not knowing what else to say. He trusted Eraserhead completely, and he had already trusted Present Mic, so Eraserhead’s trust in the hero just solidified that. Nervously, Izuku followed Present Mic into the car, unsure how he was supposed to act. Eraserhead for his part got in the front and immediately turned on Mic’s radio show, which was just playing music at the moment. 

“Morse?” Aizawa asked after a few minutes of driving, and Izuku loudly tapped out a Y for yes to signal he was listening, “you have a few names you go by, Morse, Izuku, Midoriya, and maybe some I don’t know about, but are there any you would prefer we call you?”

Izuku thought it over for a while, he didn’t have any real negative connotations with Midoriya, but he thought it would be weird to be called that. Afterall, he’d only ever really been called Izuku by his mother and the Bakugo’s, and the rest of the people who knew him called him Deku, which he definitely did not like. He didn’t mind Morse, it made him feel a little more like a hero and a little less like a weak quirkless kid, but he wasn’t sure if that would sound weird. 

M. O. R. I. 

“Morse or Izuku?” Eraserhead clarified, and Izuku tapped out a Y in agreement, “Ok kid, let us know if that changes, alright?”

Y. Izuku hesitated a moment before adding T. H. X. E. H. 

“Of course kid, and you can call me Aizawa or Shouta if you want. Or Eraserhead works if you prefer, that’s up to you.”

Izuku decided that he would either use E. H. as he always did for Eraserhead, or A. S. depending on how he felt. That seemed ok. 

“Same goes for me Listener, you can call me Mic, Present Mic, Yamada or Hizashi, anything works.”

P. M. Q. Izuku tapped out, wincing when Mic gave him a weird look, clearly trying to decipher the letters. He went to explain but Eraserhead beat him to it. 

“Morse uses Q as a question mark to make sure the question comes across. He also calls me EH instead of tapping out my whole name, he’s probably chosen PM as a name for you and is asking if that is ok,” Eraserhead explained, perfectly explaining Izuku’s thoughts, so he tapped out a quick Y. in confirmation. 

“Oh! Of course, PM works fine little listener!”

“Morse, did you have any questions for us, or anything you want?”

R. U. L. E. S. Q. Izuku tapped out, because he hated not knowing what the rules were in new places. He could deal with rules, he could follow them, but he needed to know them. He needed to know the rules and the punishments. He hated not knowing. Hated waiting to find out wether he would be punished for everything he did. 

“Are you asking what rules we have?” Eraserhead checked, and Izuku tapped out a Y. in agreement. 

“I can’t think of much…” Mic mumbled, “You know the kid more Shou, you got anything?”

“Look, what I care about first and foremost is your safety, if you are going to do something that could get you hurt, just talk to us first, and we’ll work out a solution. Try to minimise the crime as well. I don’t mind if you keep hacking and getting information if that is something you’re interested in but under no circumstances are you to put yourself in danger gathering information. Come to me or Zashi if it comes up. Other then that, just tell us where you are if you go out and keep your relationship with me and Zashi a secret. We have a lot of enemies, and we don’t want you getting targeted, does that seem fair?”

Y. Izuku agreed, wishing there were more because he knew there would be but now all he was sure of was that he didn’t know all the rules. P. U. N. I. S. H. Q. 

“Morse, it’s important to me that you know you will never be hurt, kicked out nor neglected even if something huge happens, ok? We will talk about it, and Zashi and I will always hear you out, ok? If it comes to it, the most we will do is confiscate your phone or ground you, does that sound ok?”

Y. Izuku agreed, hesitating for a moment before adding, W. H. Y. S. O. N. I. C. E. Q. 

“Kid this is… this is just basic decency. You deserved to be looked after, you know that, right?”

Izuku hesitated, but he nodded, tapping out a Y. in response since Eraserhead couldn’t see him. He wasn’t sure he understood, but he didn’t argue. 

Not long after that, they pulled into the parking lot of an apartment complex, and Izuku followed Present Mic and Eraserhead out of the car, anxiously gripping onto his phone as he looked up at the building. He hoped they would either have an elevator or be on one of the lower floors. He wasn’t sure he could manage many stairs. 

“Morse, I know walking is hard, do you have struggles with stairs too?” Eraserhead asked, the hero somehow reading Izuku’s mind. 

I. D. K. Izuku admitted, N. S. T. A. I. R. S. A. T. P. S. Y. C. H. W. 

“Ok, so you haven’t done any stairs in the last ten months?” Eraserhead asked, and Izuku shook his head, habitually tapping out the N. 

“Shou, why don’t you take him the way you come in from patrol, I’ll meet you up there,” Mic suggested, and Izuku looked awkwardly between them. What did that mean?

“Are you ok with me carrying you and scaling the building with my scarf at the same time?” Eraserhead asked and Izuku blinked at the hero in shock. He knew Eraserhead was strong but that… carrying him wouldn’t be easy, especially not while scaling the building. 

I. C. A. N. T. R. Y. S. T. A. I. R. S. Q. Izuku tapped out, looking at his feet. He really didn’t know how many stairs he could manage, but he didn’t want to be even more of a bother.

“We are on the top floor, that’s a whole lot of stairs, I usually scale the building just to avoid them, I can do it,” Eraserhead replied, once more seeming to know what Izuku was thinking. If it had been anyone else with that level of uncanny knowledge of him, Izuku would be scared, but he trusted Eraserhead. And if he trusted Eraserhead, he should trust the man to help him up. He had a feeling reaching the top story would take hours if he tried the stairs. That seemed like more of a burden than doing it this way. 

O. K. Izuku agreed hesitantly. Eraserhead moved to his side, leaning down and motioning to his back. 

“Hop on, it’s the easiest way for me to carry you,” Eraserhead explained, and Izuku nervously did as he was told. Once done, the hero wrapped Izuku up in his scarf, clearly making sure Izuku wouldn’t fall, before he began to climb, swinging with the rest of his scarf and propelling them up at speed. Izuku tightened his grip and refused to look down. 

“Are you ok?” Eraserhead asked immediately, clearly noticing. Izuku tapped out a Y on the hero’s shoulder in response, and the man continued up the building. 

Izuku allowed himself an audible breath of relief once they had climbed in the window and Eraserhead had let him down, his feet now planted on solid ground. It wasn’t so much the height that was the problem, rather it was the way his life had been completely and utterly out of his hands and at someone else’s mercy. Even if he trusted Eraserhead, that was terrifying. It reminded him of the times Bakugo- so clearly substantially stronger then Izuku- had held him by the throat, one explosion away from finally killing him. 

“Are you ok, kid?” Eraserhead asked, and Izuku nodded, “Would you like a tea or hot-chocolate? Or coffee?”

Izuku hesitated, gaging how genuine the question was before nervously tapping twice. Eraserhead smiled and busied himself in the kitchen, clearly making drinks for Mic and himself as well. 

Izuku practically jumped out of his skin when he felt something press up against his legs, but he melted the moment he looked down and saw the familiar creature. It was Dufus! Eraserhead’s infamous orange cat! Immediately Izuku was kneeling down to pet the cat. It had been so long since he’d seen a cat in person, and he had been wanting to meet Eraserhead’s cats ever since the hero first told him about them. He wished he could whisper words of affection to the cat who definitely would not know Morse code. 

“Morse I was thinking- oh, you found Dufus,” Eraserhead’s voice seemed to warm at the last bit, cutting himself off. If Izuku bothered to look away from the adorable orange cat, he was sure he would see Eraserhead with that soft smile he usually tried to hide in his capture weapon- the one he got whenever he talked about something he really cared about, namely his cats and his husband. 

H. E. C. U. T. E. Izuku tapped out on the floor next to the cat, his other hand still petting Dufus gently. 

“Yeah, he is, when he’s not sitting in your cereal,” Eraserhead chuckled, “Smokey and OddSocks are probably around here somewhere, it might take a while for you to meet Odd though, she’s very shy.”

I. R. E. M. E. M. B. E. R. Izuku smiled- a smile that only widened as Dufus pushed his way onto Izuku’s lap. 

“He likes you.”

R. L. L. Y. Q. Izuku asked, looking up in surprise. Why would the cat like him?

“Dufus is friendly, sure, but only to those he likes, you sure you don’t have any cat treats on you?” Eraserhead asked, a wry smile tugging at his lips. Izuku shook his head with a silent laugh, scratching Dufus lovingly behind his ears. Back when he had a voice, he would find cats in alleyways, and he always found himself apologising profusely to them for his lack of treats. He wished he could do the same now. 

“I’m here!” Mic’s voice called, cutting Izuku out of the sad thoughts as the hero opened the door and stepped into the room. 

“I made you tea. Morse, your hot chocolate’s ready, but you’re going to have to either get Dufus off or wait until he leaves before you get it, because his shenanigans cross over into mugs as well and I don’t want him burning himself in your hot chocolate only to cry when I have to give him a bath.”

Izuku laughed, and nodded, continuing to pet the cat. His first hot chocolate in almost a year could wait. 

“Do you mind if we ask you some questions, kid?” Eraserhead asked, moving to sit on the couch nearest to Izuku, but still a reasonable distance away. 

Y. Izuku agreed, not willing to argue. He knew he would be fine. 

“We’re you able to walk longer before you were hurt?” Eraserhead asked, and Izuku nodded, hesitating for just a moment to work out how to explain. He was about to start tapping when Eraserhead passed him a notepad and pen, saying, “This might be easier.”

Izuku stared at the two items with reverence, it had been so long since he’d been able to properly write notes. Once he had taken them in fully, he started scribbling down his words furiously, grateful to finally have a faster mechanism for communication. 

“I was able to walk fine, I still am physically able to, but I haven’t walked further then the distance between my bed and my window since I was put in there. I think I’m just out of practise.”

“That’s ok, kid, do you think you would be interested in doing some physiotherapy to help your legs recover?” Eraserhead asked, and Izuku nodded after a second of thought. That didn’t seem too bad. 

“You told Shou early on that you couldn’t speak, and the nurses at the ward said your vocal cords were severed, is that true?”

“yeah, after I” Izuku hesitated, not sure if he wanted them to know, only to register they would know as soon as they looked at his file, maybe they already did know, “after I tried to kill myself, I woke up in the hospital. Some doctors said I managed to miss anything that would have immediately killed me and just severed my vocal cords completely. They said I would never talk again.”

“Did they try using a healing quirk on you?”

“I’m quirkless,” Izuku didn’t know why Eraserhead had even asked that. There was no way they hadn’t recognised the bright red of the shoes and the red trim in his room. He was quirkless, obviously no healing quirks would be used on him. 

“So?” Mic asked, but Eraserhead just looked sad. Had he not noticed the red shoes? Was he upset that the kid he’d saved was a useless quirkless idiot?

“Doctors aren’t allowed to use healing quirks on the quirkless,” Izuku replied, because Mic really did sound confused. When the hero read the words, his face turned red with clear anger. Izuku suppressed the full body flinch that had come naturally. Of course Present Mic knew that. He must have sounded so condescending. What was Izuku thinking?

“We’ll take you in to see Recovery Girl tomorrow, ok?” Mic insisted, barely keeping the anger out of his voice, in a way that implied he wasn’t angry at Izuku? But… why?

“Why?” Izuku wrote, truely confused. There was no way the healing hero would break the law and heal him- he wasn’t even sure if it was possible so long after the injury, but it didn’t matter since it wouldn’t happen. 

“UA is very firmly anti quirk discrimination. You will be safe there, and Recovery Girl will treat you.”

That seemed… wrong, but who was Izuku to argue with a pro hero? So, he just nodded, accepting that there would be a weird and ineffective outing the next day. 

“We are going to need to go shopping and get you some things, would you like to do that today or tomorrow?” Mic asked after a few moments of silence, clearly unsure how to continue other then simply moving on. Izuku appreciated that, but at the same time, shopping was a scary thing. Money. How much would they want to spend? How would Izuku know? What would he be expected to want?

“I don’t mind” Izuku wrote, because that felt like the best option. 

“You’ve had a big day today, how about you borrow some of my clothes to sleep in and we go tomorrow?” Eraserhead suggested, and Izuku hesitantly nodded. His current clothes were hospital issued sweatpants socks and a gown- not exactly something he wanted to stay stuck in, especially since it was far from comfortable. 

“Since we are letting you continue with your hacking hobby, would you like a computer to do it on instead?” Mic asked, and Izuku had to hesitated for a long moment, trying to weigh his words before he wrote. 

“I am ok with just the phone, it has worked for me this whole time and I know computers are expensive, that’s way too much to ask for.”

“Izuku, listener, do you know how many jobs Shou and I work?” Mic asked, Izuku shook his head, not sure where this was going, “I work three, teaching, hero work and my radio show. Shou works two jobs. Hero work pays well too, we have plenty of money, little listener.”

“But why would you spend it on me?”

Izuku wasn’t sure if he was seeing things, but he could have sworn Eraserhead flinched while reading what Izuku wrote. Either way, it was Mic who spoke. 

“Kid, ever since that first night you saved Shou- he’ll deny it but you did save him- I have been in your debt because he came back to me unharmed. Added to that, Shou has barely shut up about you. When Shou found Smokey, the first thing he wanted to do was tell you about her. When you hacked his computer, he wouldn’t stop talking about how his informant was one of the most skilled hackers he’s ever heard of, let alone had the pleasure to meet. So yeah, we care about you. A lot.”

Izuku stared at the pro in stunned amazement. Eraserhead had liked him that much? Oftentimes Izuku thought the hero simply put up with him but… maybe he did actually like Izuku?

“Thank you” He wrote out, tapping the letters T. Y. repeatedly to emphasise his point. 

“Of course kid, and how about when we go shopping tomorrow we can go to a computer store and you can pick out whatever you want. We can talk to someone there and get there advice on what the best there is!” Mic suggested eagerly. Izuku decided it was probably best not to argue with the pro hero, so he simply repeated the two letters of gratitude again. 

“Alright kid, was there anything you wanted to ask us?” Eraserhead asked. Izuku thought about it for a long moment before finally sighing and asking a question that had been on his mind since they said he was allowed to hack. 

“Are you just keeping me because I can hack? I don’t mind if you are I just want to know.”

Eraserhead let out a sharp- but almost inaudible breath as he read Izuku’s question. 

“No, Morse, of course not. In fact, if you want to stop, you are welcome to. I just thought it might be something you enjoy?”

“It is. I was just… nervous? I want to know where I stand so I can be in the right place for it,” Izuku explained with a soft sigh, passing over the notebook for the two heroes to read. This was a lot, and he was exhausted. Today had been huge. Way more then he had gotten used to handling. 

“As it stands, we want you to be our kid, our son, but only if that’s what you want. To us that means we want you to be happy more then anything else,” Present Mic explained, and Izuku, ever the observant one, noticed the way Eraserhead squeezed his husband’s hand gently as he nodded in agreement. He hoped that meant Eraserhead really did agree. 

Izuku wasn’t able to hold in the yawn at that point, it was only early afternoon, but he was used to sleeping at this time. 

“You’re always awake when I’m patrolling, so I guess your sleep schedule’s all out of whack, what times do you normally sleep?” Eraserhead asked, clearly noting the yawn.

“Afternoons. Usually around 12ish-7/8ish?” Izuku wrote down, and Eraserhead looked at the clock that very clearly showed it was well past that time. 4pm. 

“How about I go grab you some clothes, and you can head to bed, Hizashi can show you your room,” Eraserhead suggested, and Izuku nodded in agreement, giving Dufus an apologetic head pat before extracting himself out from underneath the cat. With that, he quietly collected his now much less hot-but still warm- hot chocolate, and followed Mic down the hallway. 

“This will be your room, I know it’s very bland, it’s just been a spare bedroom for a while, but we can get some decorations at the shops tomorrow, also, you can leave the door open or closed, that’s up to you, but if it’s open, there’s more of a chance the cats will come in?” Present Mic explained in what was almost a ramble but not quite. 

T. Y. Izuku tapped out greatfully, looking around at the room that was fairly similar in size to his one back at the psych ward, and while this one didn’t have a window-barred or otherwise- it was still much more vibrant, with a lot less plain white. Izuku noticed belatedly that the corners of the drawers weren’t rounded off like they were at the ward- which reminded him of the sharp knives that weren’t hidden away in the kitchen. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. After not being trusted with so much as sharp edges, he had access to knives only a hallway away from where he slept. 

Izuku pulled out his notebook, not wanting to tap out the lengthy question. 

“Why aren’t you scared I will kill myself? Or hurt myself?” Izuku wrote, ignoring the way Mic read over his shoulder as he wrote. It made it easier anyway. 

“Should we be worried?” Mic asked, sounding nervous at the prospect, but not like it was something he hadn’t dealt with before. Right. Pro hero, he had probably dealt with suicidal people before. 

“I don’t feel jealous of the people EH finds about to jump anymore… not usually at least, but I don’t know. I was in a psych ward. I’m not used to people trusting me with my life I guess?” Izuku explained awkwardly, dropping his gaze away from the paper. 

“How about we have a deal then. If you ever feel jealous of those people again, or if you ever think you shouldn’t be trusted with your health, you come straight to me or Shou, ok? Just like when you were in danger and you messaged Shou. Does that seem ok?”

Hesitantly, Izuku nodded. It wasn’t like he wanted to die, he hadn’t for a while, honestly. At some point while knowing Eraserhead, that desire had just faded, although Izuku couldn’t pin point where. Still, he didn’t know if he should be trusted. 

“What happens if I hurt myself?” Izuku asked nervously, his hand trembling slightly as he wrote the words. He didn’t think he could handle being sent back to the ward. Especially not if he didn’t have his phone on him to interact with Eraserhead. 

“Would you feel safer if we got rid of the sharp things in here for now?” Mic offered and Izuku hesitated, it wasn’t the sharp corners that worried him, and it definitely wasn’t anything like the shoelaces and cords they were so scared of at the ward- he’d had the phone charger on him for ages afterall. No, what he was scared of were the knives. What he would do if he was having a bad day and he saw them within reach.

“Knives scare me. Like the ones in the kitchen. I don’t know if I could stop myself going out there and trying again if I had a flashback,” Izuku admitted, once again unable to meet Mic’s eyes. He heard Eraserhead arrive and winced as the hero read over the page of writing, catching himself up. 

“Here kid, I brought you a change of clothes, is there anything in this room that you don’t trust yourself with?” Eraserhead asked, gently pressing the clothes into Izuku’s arms. Izuku looked around and shook his head. Eraserhead nodded at him in encouragement, “Ok, you get changed, and Hizashi and I will lock up the knives, does that sound ok?”

Izuku nodded awkwardly, appreciating that comforting smile Eraserhead sent his way. With that, the two heroes left, shutting the door behind him. Izuku dropped the clothes onto his bed changing into the black sweatpants, which were insanely comfy, although definitely too long for him, and the plain white t-shirt. He hesitated, looking at the yellow hoodie that looked just a little too comfy to ignore, even if he already felt like a leach, and he slipped into it as well, smiling when he realised it was a Put Your Hands Up Radio hoodie, and it was just as fluffy and comfortable as Mic always said on his show. 

Nervously, he reopened the door, both because he liked the idea of the cats joining him and also because he didn’t want to be locked in here and trapped like he was back at the ward, unable to leave. He thought he would miss the window dearly if that was the case. He found somewhere to plug his phone in, before sitting nervously on the bed.

“Morse?” Eraserhead’s voice asked from the door. Izuku looked up, meeting his gaze with a tilted head, trying to signal he was listening. It seemed to work and Eraserhead continued, pointing across the hall, “See that door just there? That leads to Hizashi and my room, if we aren’t in the living room or kitchen, that’s where we will be. You can come there whenever you want, even if we are asleep, you can wake us up, ok? Please, if you have a nightmare or a flashback or you feel lonely or… jealous of people… or you just want company, anything, you can come to us, ok?”

Izuku nodded hesitantly. 

“I mean it kid, ok? Don’t hesitate to come find us if you need someone,” Eraserhead insisted, and Izuku couldn’t help but relax. Eraserhead only got this insistent on a few things, one of which had been messaging him when he was in danger. When Izuku had, Eraserhead had done exactly as he said he would. He had come to save Izuku. Maybe this would be the same. Maybe if he asked for it, Eraserhead would come to save him again. Maybe.

Chapter Text

Izuku should have known something would go wrong. When it came to him, something always did. 

He knew it was a nightmare, knew it because it wasn’t possible, but that didn’t help the throbbing, panicked phantom pain spreading out along his neck, his chest, his body. At first it had just been the normal, Bakugo taking his anger out on him again, but then it had focused on his attempt, only instead of the hospital, dream Izuku woke up to the memory of the sludge villain, but All Might didn’t save him, just beat him harder into the ground. Worst of all had been the last, the one where Eraserhead looked at him in disgust from the door to his room at the ward, and simply let Bakugo go at him, walking away. 

It wasn’t real. It wasn’t real. Eraserhead hadn’t left him. He hadn’t. He was ok. He was ok. Eraserhead had stayed. It wasn’t real. It wasn’t real. Izuku repeated the mantra again and again, still gasping for breath, his hands ripping at his hair, desperate for something to drag him back to reality. 

Izuku didn’t hear the window slide open and closed. Didn’t hear the footfalls of Eraserhead returning from a short patrol. He didn’t notice the hero’s presence until he felt arms wrapping around him, hands gently untangling his own from his hair. 

“Zuku, hey, you’re ok, you’re ok, breathe with me. You’re ok,” Izuku sobbed harder into the arms, hating how silent and unable to speak he was as he shook uncontrollably. Eraserhead was here. Holding him. Caring for him. How had he known Izuku needed help? How? Izuku didn’t know. Maybe it didn’t matter. Eraserhead was here. 

“Kid, you gotta breathe, can you breathe with me? There you are; there you go, that’s good, that’s so good.”

Izuku tried to match the hero’s breaths, tried to focus on Eraserhead’s soft voice and gentle slow heartbeat. That was real, not the fake memory of the dream. His heart beat was calming, unlike Izuku’s own panicked one. 

He felt himself being rocked gently from side to side in Eraserhead’s reassuring hug, and Izuku couldn’t help but feel safe. 

It took him a long time for the shaking to stop enough to coherently tap out a few letters on Eraserhead’s arm. 

T. Y. Izuku settled with, still melting in the hero’s hold, hoping Eraserhead wouldn’t leave. 

“Do you want to talk about it kid?”

Izuku shook his head. No. No. He had to be strong. He had to be strong. He couldn’t be out here admitting to a nightmare about Eraserhead following in the footsteps of everyone else Izuku knew. 

“Can you tell me how long you were in here like this before I came?” Eraserhead asked, and Izuku hesitated. That was a good question. He knew it had been a while, by the time Eraserhead showed up, he had been pretty close to fainting from lack of oxegyn. If Izuku had to guess, 15 to 30 minutes. 

Izuku held up his hand, waving it horizontally to show it was a guess and then holding up 1, then 5 fingers. Once that was clear, he added a 3 and 0. 

“15 to 30 minutes?” Eraserhead guessed, and Izuku nodded, dropping his hand again, only for it to immediately be scooped up into Eraserhead’s hold, “Oh kid, you should have gone to Zashi, he could have helped you.”

Izuku shook his head, hesitating only a second before tapping out the admission, I. W. E. A. K. 

“You’re not weak Morse, you are so strong, you’ve been through hell and back, it’s ok to need help, especially after nightmares.”

Izuku shook his head. No. Nightmares were childish. They were something kids had before they grew up. He was being childish and weak and pathetic. 

“Kid, I get nightmares, a lot, and I usually wake up in a panic like this. Hizashi helps calm me down. I do the same for him. It’s ok. You’re not weak, you’ve just been through some awful things.”

U. Q. Izuku tapped out, staring at the hero in surprise. Eraserhead got nightmares? That seemed so… wrong…

“Yeah. I’ve had nightmares since I was a year or two older then you are now? I don’t get them quite as much anymore, but I do still get them. It’s normal, if you’ve been through something traumatic. It’s normal to react like this.”

“Y. Q.” Izuku tapped, watching to see how Eraserhead would respond. The hero tiled his head slightly. 

“Can you tell me what you are asking why about?” Eraserhead asked, and Izuku registered what he meant. Right. It could sound like he was asking why people got nightmares, or why specifically Aizawa got them, or why Izuku got them, or why he was so weak or something else entirely. 

“Y. M. E. Q.”

“Are you asking why you get nightmares?”

Izuku nodded. 

“Well kid, you went through a lot, didn’t you? You were attacked by a villain, you were hurt by the boy with the explosions before that I imagine, people bullied and abused you, you lost your mother, you tried to kill yourself and lost your voice instead, and that’s just barely scratching the surface. Any one of those things could cause nightmares, all of them combined is a recipe for nightmares.”

Y. U. Q. Izuku tapped out before hesitating and quickly tapping out an apology for intruding. 

“It’s ok kid, I can tell you why I have nightmares if you want?” Eraserhead offered calmly, his voice soft and encouraging. Izuku nodded hopefully, “When I was in high school training to be a hero, one of my friends got killed on an internship, that’s what started the nightmares, I blamed myself for his death. Sometimes I still do, even if I know I shouldn’t. Emotions aren’t very logical, hey? Anyway, that’s where the nightmares started, but I also have ones about certain villains ot close calls or times where some of my other friends are in danger. Most heroes have nightmares, we just learn to cope, and to go to someone for help.”

T. Y. Izuku tapped out, grateful to the hero for telling him the truth. It meant a lot that he wasn’t just telling Izuku the world would be perfect and lovely for other people. It was nice to know he wasn’t alone, even if he didn’t want anyone else to go through what he had. 

“How about you try to go back to sleep kid, and I’ll stay here so that if the nightmares come back, I can wake you up. Does that sound good?” Eraserhead asked, and Izuku nodded, letting himself relax onto the bed. 

When he woke again, it was Present Mic, not Eraserhead who was in the room. Or well, it was Present Mic yes, but he was only recognisable with the knowledge that he would be out of costume and after having seen a photo of what he looked like normally. How one man could change so much in and out of costume, Izuku didn’t know, but it was fascinating to see. 

“Hey little listener, I sent Shou off to get a few hours of sleep, I hope you don’t mind,” Mic explained, and Izuku nodded, accepting the explanation easily. Eraserhead did need sleep after all. 

H. I. Izuku tapped out, painfully aware of how little he knew about how to act. 

“Hi little listener, I’m going to go make some breakfast, how do you feel about pancakes?”

P. L. S. Izuku tapped out excitedly. 

Mic left and Izuku slowly extracted himself from the bed, wrapping his arms tightly around him. Mic’s hoodie was insanely warm and comfortable, but it didn’t exactly make him feel fully at ease in a place he didn’t know particularly well. 

The pancakes were extremely good, Izuku had kind of forgotten food could taste… well anything really. He’d assumed it was the injury that somehow made everything tasteless, but apparently it was just the hospital and Psych Ward. 

When he was done, he silently helped Mic with the dishes, hoping that doing more chores would make them like him more. That had always worked with Mitsuki- or at least it always worked unless she was in one of those rage fits where nothing he could do would be acceptable. Those ended with him getting hurt no matter how hard he tried to be perfect. 

Mic told Izuku he didn’t have to help, Izuku nodded and continued helping anyway. It was a test, he knew that one. 

Izuku couldn’t help the way he watched Mic closely, not so much because he didn’t trust the hero- really he did! He just… well he had trusted All Might, and that hadn’t gone so well. 

Still, being here and watching Mic do whatever it was Mic did was far more entertaining than the Psych Ward, which was probably the biggest win.

Mic convinced him to play a few games and also showed him a few words in sign language- not much yet, but now Izuku knew ‘happy’, ‘scared’, ‘sad’, and ‘overwhelmed’. Mic said it would be good to be able to convey emotions quickly if he needed to. Izuku couldn’t help the desperate hope that Mic would teach him more. He missed speaking, even if he knew no one really listened. It has been nice to at least try to get a message across back when he could speak. 

Mic was teaching Izuku the sign for ‘nightmare’ when Eraserhead appeared.

“Hey kid, let me get a coffee so I can function, ok?” Eraserhead said as he walked into the room, going straight for the coffee machine. 

“Shou is very much not a morning person, so I usually let him be before his coffee,” Mic explained. Izuku nodded, that made sense. Eraserhead definitely lacked time to sleep, so the caffeine would likely help. Plus based on his varying patrol times, his UA class and the different times Izuku had found him on his computer, his sleep schedule was hellish. 

When Eraserhead joined them not long after, he was nursing a black coffee that Izuku was sure had more caffeine in it then it should. He tried not to ask questions. 

“Alright, we need to go to the shops to buy you some stuff today, but before we do, is there anything you particularly want? We can go to as many places as you want, even if they aren’t at the first mall,” Eraserhead explained, and hiding Izuku confusion took all of the practice he had in not showing any reactions. Why would they go to multiple malls? That seemed… excessive?

Izuku went to tap out a response, before hesitating. It wouldn’t be a short message, writing it would be quicker. He scanned for where he had left his notebook, quickly finding it on a nearby coffee table. 

‘Any mall should work fine, I just need clothes and some toiletries really, I don’t need much.’

“Morse, this isn’t just about getting the necessities. While that’s important, and we will get those things, we also want you to have items that make you happy, maybe something to decorate your room. It can be anything.”

Izuku wanted to ask if that meant they weren’t kidding about getting him a computer, but that still felt way too good to be true, and he didn’t want them to think he was trying to take advantage of their kindness. 

“How about we go to a mall and see what we can find, then if you want to get more we can go somewhere else as well?” Eraserhead said, and Izuku nodded. That he could do. That he could face. 

“Did you want to do anything before we go little listener?” Mic asked, and Izuku just shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head slightly.

“I need another coffee, then we can go,” Eraserhead said, getting up from the couch and downing the rest of his coffee in one motion. Mic rolled his eyes fondly at his husband before turning back to Izuku. 

“Are you ok?”

Izuku nodded, and thankfully Mic accepted that as an answer. He really was ok. Nervous, sure, deeply uncertain of where he stood, certainly, but he was ok. He would deal with it. 

“Oh, Morse, I have some crutches that might help spread out the weight as you walk so you can get more used to walking, do you think that might help?” Eraserhead asked from the kitchen. Izuku hesitated, shrugged and tapped out a Y. He really didn’t know if it would help, but it could be worth a shot. Right? 

Surprisingly, the part of the trip to the mall that got Izuku’s stomach tying in knots wasn’t the rappelling down the side of the building with Eraserhead to avoid the stairs. It wasn’t even trying the crutches out on the way to the car, nor was it the drive. No, the part that had Izuku frozen terrifyingly still, was the sudden realisation that the moment he got out of the car, they could just leave him here. It wouldn’t be hard for two heroes to outrun him. Then he would be alone. Again. He couldn’t deal with that. He couldn’t deal with losing what he had finally found, even if he didn’t trust them yet. He couldn’t cope with that. He couldn’t. 

So, here he was, staring unseeingly at the door handle that he hadn’t let go of, trying to calm his racing mind down enough to step out of the car. They wouldn’t leave him. They wouldn’t. They are heroes. They wouldn’t leave him. Right?

“Morse?” Eraserhead’s voice was a soft question, not pressuring for an answer, not really asking anything specific, but Izuku still felt he should answer.

‘Scared’ Izuku signed the word he’d learnt this morning, staring at Eraserhead apprehensively. He knew he shouldn’t be scared. He should be fine. He should be ok, but he wasn’t and he didn’t know why and what if this meant he was supposed to be in that psych ward? Maybe they somehow knew how afraid he was about being abandoned so they didn’t let him leave? But that hadn’t helped, he’d been left alone and that has been the same? Didn’t they know that? They probably didn’t. Did that mean they would send him back? He couldn’t go back!

“Hey, Morse, kid, you’re ok, try to breathe with me, ok? Nice and slow, there you go, that’s good, in and out,” Eraserhead spoke slowly, his voice quiet and calm as he helped Izuku work down from the panic he hadn’t even realised he’d worked himself into. 

“Can you tell me what you’re scared of?” Eraserhead asked softly. Izuku gesitated for a long time before tapping out a word. 

A. L. O. N. E. Izuku watched as Eraserhead’s eyebrows furrow and he realised he needed to clarify. 

I. F. U. L. E. A. V. E. M. E. 

“We aren’t going to leave you kid. We aren’t.”

Izuku wanted to explain that he knew that but at the same time, what if that changed? What if they changed their minds? Izuku couldn’t survive out here alone. He couldn’t be alone. Not again. Not after people had finally started talking to him, listening to him. He couldn’t loose that. Not again.

“Would it help if you held onto the car keys little listener? That way we can’t leave without you?” Mic offered, and Izuku thought about it for a long moment, trying to find a fault in the idea and not landing on anything. So, he nodded.

Without questioning or argument or anything else that Izuku had expected, Present Mic just passed over the keys to his car, letting Izuku grip onto them tightly as he got out of the car, anxiety still following him closely. 

“Would you like to only use one crutch so you can hold onto us as well?” Eraserhead offered, and Izuku had to stop and think about it. Which would be better, less strain on his legs or less strain on the anxiety? He had the keys, that was helping… Izuku shook his head, pulling both of the crutches out of the car and tapping out a grateful T. Y. at the offer. 

Still, as he walked into the shops, he kept a careful eye on at least one of the heroes at all times. They walked into the mall and Eraserhead immediately nudged them towards a clothes shop that was way to expensive. Izuku shook his head, stopping completely. No. That was too much money. This was a test, right? He was supposed to say no thank you and they wouldn’t hurt him. Mitsuki had done this a few times. He was only ever allowed to wear nice clothes if someone from the fashion industry was coming over. He knew the rules. 

N. T. Y. Izuku tapped out. No thank you. He knew this test. He could pass this test

“Hey, Izuku, remember what we said about money yesterday?” Eraserhead asked quietly. Izuku nodded, and Eraserhead continued, “There is nothing here that we wouldn’t buy for you. You can say no to anything because of how it looks or how it feels or anything like that, but you don’t need to worry about the price, I promise.”

T. E. S. T. Q. Izuku tapped out, looking at the hero in confusion. Eraserhead didn’t seem like the type to lie about what he was allowed to do in order to get him in trouble. He was known for logical ruses, sure, but there was nothing about this that felt logical. 

“It’s not a test, kid. I promise you.”

Hesitantly, Izuku nodded, accepting that as an answer and looking back towards the shop. Still, it felt like too big of a start. Thankfully, Mic seemed to understand.

“How about we start somewhere a little easier to swallow and then we can always come back?”

Izuku nodded, that seemed doable. Silently, he followed the heroes through the mall and didn’t argue when they led him into another shop that was less expensive, but still not as cheap as Izuku was used to. Somewhat of a middle range. 

Mic pointed out some shirts of varying patterns, and after a silent check with Eraserhead- who nodded encouragingly at him- Izuku pointed to the one he liked. 

“Is it ok if I go look at the other side of the store Izuku? I won’t be far, I promise,” Eraserhead asked, and Izuku nodded. The hero wouldn’t leave Mic, so he was alright. Just as long as he wasn’t alone. 

“Ooh, look at this one Little Listener! The red goes so well with your green hair, see?” Mic asked excitedly holding up a dark red shirt with a cool white Phoenix design on the back that reminded him of Hawks. Izuku smiled, nodded and tapped out the name of the hero. 

“Oh! I see what you mean, I like it!” Mic grinned, dropping the shirt over his arm. They kept looking around the shop which had a surprising amount of shirts with funny jokes on them. Every time Izuku laughed or even smiled at one of them, Mic added it to the pile. Izuku blinked as what had to be the tenth shirt was added. 

T. O. O. M. U. C. H. Q. Izuku tapped out questioning my, but Mic just shrugged. 

“You don’t have anything, so we’ve got to get you a whole wardrobe right?” Mic pointed out, and Izuku really couldn’t find it in himself to argue. He just nodded with a look of mild confusion. He didn’t understand, but that was ok. 

“I’m back, I found the hoodie I was looking for,” Eraserhead explained, returning to their side, “I knew it was here somewhere, but it’s a good one for nonverbal communication.”

Izuku looked at the hoodie, seeing how it had the words “I don’t know” and “help” on the bottom of each sleeve, as well as a collection of little cats with different expressions on the front. 

I. L. I. K. E. Izuku tapped out happily. Eraserhead nodded, seeming satisfied with the response.

“Zashi, did you get any pants at all?” Eraserhead asked Present Mic as he took in the armful of shirts. 

“Not just yet, but look how cool these are!”

“I’m sure they are very awesome Zashi, but we need more then just shirts,” Eraserhead said with an eye roll before leading them over to a different part of the store.

Before they bought anything, they got Izuku to try it all on, which was a bit of a lengthy process in which only one shirt got sent back because it hugged his neck a little bit too tightly. 

By the time they left that shop, Izuku had plenty of clothes, and Mic was bragging about how awesome they were at shopping. Izuku tried not to question it too much as he followed the heroes into a shop that sold sheets and pillow cases. 

“What’s your favourite colour?” Mic asked, clearly trying to gage what Izuku would want, but as much as he tried to wrack his brain for an answer, he couldn’t come up with anything. Izuku nervously put out the arm of the hoodie Eraserhead had found (he’d put it on after they bought it), showing the words “I don’t know”

“Oh, that’s ok, how about we look through and see if you like any of these designs?” Present Mic suggested, and Izuku nodded, looking through them curiously. Eventually he stopped on a set that were clearly inspired by Present Mic’s colour scheme, a fact that was proved when Izuku looked closer and saw the hero’s name, radio show and some famous quotes of his scattered throughout. Anxiously, he pointed at the set, tapping out a Q. 

Eraserhead looked over, and his eyes seemed to shine as he saw it. 

“Zashi, it’s you themed,” Eraserhead pointed out in his normal neutral tone despite the smile he was clearly trying to hide. Mic spun around, looking at the bed set closely before squealing in a way that would have probably deafened the entire mall had Eraserhead not used his quirk. 

“Do you want it?” Mic asked Izuku, sounding weirdly excited. Izuku hadn’t been sure if the request would be seen as creepy or weird but thankfully Mic didn’t seem to mind, so Izuku nodded, letting the man practically bounce to the cashier with the sheets.  

They continued around the mall for a while, going into other shops and collecting bits and pieces. Izuku just followed the two heroes around, uncertain as to what to do. 

They lead him into a computer shop, and after talking to one of the experts there- because as much as Izuku knew about hacking, he didn’t know the first thing about hardware- they chose an insanely high tech computer for him. Izuku tried to tell them he didn’t need it- he’d done so much on just a phone, a laptop would be plenty, he didn’t need this level of fanciness. 

“Morse, let’s take a step back from what you need, and can you truthfully tell me you don’t want it?” Eraserhead asked quietly, and Izuku looked at his feet. He knew he should say he didn’t want it, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie because the thought of having a computer like that had him feeling giddy. There would be so much more he could do. So many more programs he could run at the same time without fear of it crashing. 

“Exactly, we have the money for it, and we want to splurge on you, can you let us?” Eraserhead asked, and the way he sounded to almost be pleading with Izuku was enough to convince him not to argue. Still, he winced at the price and once again checked that the hero was sure it was ok. Eraserhead just nodded and continued to pay for it. 

Izuku kept watching Eraserhead carefully as they walked through the mall when one of the shops caught his attention. He stared at the hero merch shop as they walked past, intrigued by the collection of merchandise. 

“Do you want to go in?” Eraserhead asked, pulling Izuku out of his revere and making him suddenly aware that he had not been subtle about his interest. Stupid. He knew better. 

I. O. K. T. Y. Izuku tapped out, shaking his head, but Eraserhead and Mic both stopped, not continuing but also not walking into the shop. 

“It’s ok if you want to, kid, that looked the most interested I’ve seen you all day,” Eraserhead pointed out and Izuku hesitated. No. No it was too expensive. Everything in those shops were far too expensive. Yeah he just wanted to look, he knew he could never have them, but what if Eraserhead and Present Mic thought he wanted all that stuff? What if they thought he was going to be too expensive to keep? What if they left him because of it?

“I wonder if they have any of my new stuff, let’s check it out,” Mic said, sounding excited and heading into the store. Eraserhead nodded to Izuku, and they followed the hero in. Izuku wasn’t stupid. He knew the hero had done this on purpose because he knew Izuku wanted to go in, but still. It felt less threatening. He could look around under the guise of just looking for new Present Mic stuff. 

If he got a little over excited about a new Hawks figure or the Wild Wild Pussy Cats’ new cap, or 13’s poster, or well pretty much all of the things that hadn’t been here when he was last here. 

“Did you want to get something Izuku? We haven’t gotten anything to decorate you room yet, so maybe some posters and figurines could be a nice touch?” Eraserhead asked, coming to stand next to Izuku as he looked at a new All Might poster trying to work out what he felt about the hero. It wasn’t really All Might’s fault, but All Might had been the last straw and it had hurt so bad. With a soft sigh he looked away from the poster and towards Eraserhead’s curious gaze. 

R. U. S. U. R. E. Q. Izuku tapped out, uncertain as to how much he should trust the hero. Maybe it would all be fine, but what if… 

“Yeah, I’m friends with a lot of these people- or Zashi is so I am by extension, and the money goes to them, so why wouldn’t I? Plus, most heroes donate the money made from merch to charity, Mic certainly does.”

R. L. L. Y. Q. Izuku tapped out in astonishment. Heroes already helped so much, this was just another layer to it. 

“Yeah, so go ahead kid.”

Hesitantly, Izuku pointed to the Present Mic poster, then when Eraserhead collected it and nodded for him to continue, Izuku pointed to the Hawks one. Once again, Eraserhead collected it and nodded for Izuku to continue. Four more posters (Wild Wild Pussy Cats, Mirko, 13 and Ingenium) and a Hawks figurine later, Izuku forced himself to stop despite Eraserhead’s encouraging nods. He shouldn’t push it. This was already a lot. 

T. Y. Izuku tapped out, insanely grateful to the two heroes. He had no idea why they were so nice to him, but he tried his best not to question it. 

While Eraserhead paid for the merchandise, Mic seemed to be looking Izuku over, clearly trying to gage how tired he was. Izuku did his best not to look too dead on his feet, but he’s not sure how well he does that. Especially when upon Eraserhead’s return, Mic speaks. 

“How about we get some lunch and then head to UA to visit Recovery Girl?” Mic suggested, “I think we’ve got everything we need, unless either of you can think of something?” 

Izuku shook his head. He had far more then he needed. Eraserhead also seemed satisfied, so they moved to the food court, where Mic bought some food for them all. It wasn’t as good as the pancakes, but it was still far better then the food he had gotten used to at the ward. 

By the time they got back to the car, Izuku was just about ready to fall over, but still he helped the two pack the car with his bags, anxiously passing Mic the keys. Surely they wouldn’t leave him now? Right? Not after paying for all this stuff? Izuku wasn’t certain. 

They didn’t leave. They waited until Izuku was in the car with his seatbelt on before they drove away. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised, but he was. He really really was. 

Something he thought was reasonable to be surprised about was the fact that the two heroes really did take him to UA. Why did they think Recovery Girl would heal him? She wasn’t allowed to, regardless of her morals, it was illegal!

“Kid, are you ok?” Eraserhead asked softly as they walked, probably noticing the furrow of Izuku’s brows as he tried to work out what they would gain from this. He nodded his head and tapped out a short explanation. I. L. L. E. G. A. L. T. O. H. E. A. L. M. E. Q. 

“We’ll see if we can work around that, ok?”

Izuku shrugged and agreed without too much of an argument. 

What Izuku hadn’t realised until they stepped inside the school was that it was not in fact the weekend. It was a Thursday. Which meant the entire school was here. An entire school worth of people who were staring at them as they walked past each class. 

“They won’t touch you,” Eraserhead murmured quietly, stepping carefully to block Izuku from their line of sight. At the same time, Eraserhead turned his head to face the nearest class of curious students and from the way his hair floated up and the fear on the students faces, Eraserhead had just used his quirk on them with the scowl Izuku had grown accustomed to the hero directing at villains- or just annoying civilians really.  

Izuku dropped his head, making the official decision not to let himself focus on the students. Just walking. He just had to think about walking until he got to Recovery Girl’s office and the hero would tell him she couldn’t heal him. 

“Aizawa, Yamada, I heard you had the day off, what brings you here? And who’s this one?”

“This is Izuku, we brought him in to see you. He had his vocal cords cut through almost a year ago and no one healed him. We were hoping maybe you could do something?” Eraserhead explained. 

“Ahh, my quirk doesn’t do magic fixes like that Aizawa. If the body couldn’t heal it, I can’t. I just speed up recovery.”

Izuku wasn’t sure if he was more desperately curious about Recovery Girl’s quirk or if he was more unsurprised she wouldn’t heal him. 

“My healing quirk is far from the only one though, and I know that some doctors have the ability to heal things like those, although he should have been healed at the time of injury, why wasn’t he?”

Q. U. I. R. K. L. E. S. S. Izuku tapped out, not bothering to try to avoid it coming up, he knew it would either way. 

“Ahh, that law should never have been made. It’s the reason I became a hero and a nurse but never fully finished my doctorate so that wouldn’t apply to me. If I could, I would definitely heal him, in fact, I can give it a go, but I’m not sure it will do much.”

Izuku stared at the old lady in surprise. Why… why would she do that? For people like him? That was… that felt wrong. Why would she care?

“Kid, there were a lot more quirkless people in my youth. I lost multiple of my friends to discrimination. I’m not going to let them force me to be like that.”

Ok, so maybe Izuku had a new hero to truely respect, but she had truely earned her space there. 

T. Y. Izuku tapped out, and Eraserhead translated the grateful shorthand. 

The kiss from Recovery Girl really didn’t do much in the way of anything- something she could tell based on how little energy he had lost? (Another interesting aspect to her quirk)- but it seemed to have lessened the strain on his sore legs, so Izuku would take it. 

Still, Izuku couldn’t help but admit to himself that he’d really thought it would have either been worse (Recovery Girl would simply refuse him) or better (a magic heal) but he really hadn’t expected this… this soft disappointment.