Chapter Text
[CASE FILE 004 - B23093 - C56]
Audio Recording - Playing
00:03
“Alright, this is Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa, Badge ID Number 632 interviewing Midoriya Izuku, Provisional Hero: Deku. Time is currently 20:05. This interview is only to be used for case file 004 - B23093 - C56 and is recorded for translation purposes. Deku, do you consent to being recorded?”
“Yes.”
“True. Do you consent to being interviewed as well?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Also true.” Tsukauchi shuffled some things around, clicked his pen, and sighed. “In your own words, can you explain what happened this afternoon?”
“Ahh. Do you want everything?”
“I’m sorry. I’m afraid I’ll need you to clarify what you mean by everything.”
“Uhm, well, do you want me to start at the beginning or…”
“Oh, yes, please. If you can.”
“Right.” Izuku wrung his hands, tapping his foot in a random pattern as he thought back to earlier in the day. “Well, I suppose the afternoon really got started when we were walking to the food trucks.”
“True. Why food trucks?”
Izuku chuckled awkwardly before clearing his throat. “Well, we wanted food and the whole class was looking forward to eating there. So we went.”
“True. What happened on your way there?”
Izuku snickered. “Well, Kaminari was…entertaining us as we walked.”
“No, no, no! I almost got it!” Kaminari laughed loudly, taking in another breath.
Mina smacked his back hard. “Absolutely not. You’ll never burp the alphabet better than I can.”
Izuku smiled at his classmates horsing around in front of him, happy that they’ve been able to allow themselves to relax and act like the teenagers they are. He took in a deep breath, enjoying the sun shining on him.
“Shut up, Iida-kun! I swear, it was only for a few seconds!” Uraraka groaned.
Iida scoffed. “Regardless, it is up to heroes and heroines to represent themselves well, which includes following the law-”
“I jaywalked for maybe four seconds!”
“That shouldn’t matter.” Iida huffed. “No matter the act, a hero should always uphold the law.”
Todoroki coughed into his fist. “Hypocrite.”
Izuku snickered, grinning at Todoroki to silently show that he agreed with his assessment. Iida crossed his arms over his chest, obviously pouting.
“Iida, if you say one more thing about the jaywalking, I might send you up to space.” Uraraka threatened.
Iida gasped. “Threatening me?! Uraraka, I would have never-”
“Bakugou does it all the time! Why can’t I?!”
“Don’t act so silly. You know why.”
Uraraka stomped a foot. “Nuh-uh. I don’t. Care to explain?”
“Do you have something against feminists, perhaps?” Tsu asked.
Uraraka gasped loudly, pointing at Iida. “Toxic masculinity!”
“So true. Are we finally calling this shit out, cause I have a list.” Jirou turned around, looking seriously at Uraraka and Tsu.
Tsu, the little instigator, nodded. “I’d love to see what you have written down.”
Both the girls ignored Iida as they walked ahead, sliding up side by side with Jirou and whispering intently with each other as they glanced at a few of the boys. Iida stormed up to them, ready to reprimand them with all of his dramatic-arm-movements and Izuku grinned when he saw Yamomo sigh and move closer to the group.
Todoroki, who was still walking beside him, stared at the chaos in front of them, staying silent and curiously watching the rest of his classmates as Iida started objecting.
Izuku hummed to himself as he turned his attention over towards the parking lot they were finally coming up to. He saw Todoroki tilt his head, probably trying to figure out what was going on and Izuku nodded to himself, completely relating to his confusion. Sometimes it felt supernatural that he had classmates to mess around with and watch harmlessly prank each other. Even in middle school, no one was close enough with each other to tease and poke fun like class 1-A is able to do.
Bakugou’s hands suddenly sparked as he shouted at Kirishima, the red-head laughing it off as he slapped a hand down on his shoulder. Izuku blinked in surprise, but quickly shook it off as they approached the opening.
They had finally arrived at lunch, which consisted of a dozen food trucks, all parked in the same parking lot. They were here for the festival happening next week and the class wanted to take advantage of their service without dealing with the bustle and chaos of the festival, thus why they decided to look in the area for food this weekend.
“I’m going to get some kebabs. Does anyone else want some?” Tsu said as they all came to a stop in front of the food trucks. Izuku and Todoroki shook their heads while Uraraka and Iida both gave lengthy explanations as to why they weren’t going to have some.
A few of his classmates began settling in at the picnic tables that were set out in front of the food trucks, laughing and shoving each other off the seats. More were raiding the food trucks, probably giving the workers more gray hairs by the minute.
He should probably send them thank you cards after this, just so they didn’t scare them away from Musutafu.
“Come on!” Uraraka grinned, grabbing Izuku’s bicep. “We gotta get the best seats!”
She dragged him over towards the edge of the table, the one with the most available exits for everyone and the spot closest to the rest of the picnic tables should they need to be. Izuku sighed a quick breath of relief, watching as Todoroki did the same. He glanced at Uraraka, smiling appreciatively.
“Hey, Iida! Make sure to grab some barbecue!” Uraraka yelled across the way. Iida nodded and the girl finally sat down.
“Is anyone up to play Scrabble tonight?” Uraraka asked.
Izuku hummed. “Probably not. I still need to do that essay for Present Mic.”
“Are you struggling?” Todoroki asked.
“Just with picking a topic. English isn’t too awful to write.”
Todoroki nodded. “I have a notebook full of reusable essay topics if you’d like to take a look.”
Izuku quirked an eyebrow. “You have a notebook like that?”
“Momo left it behind and told me I could use it how I see fit.”
“Ahh. Makes sense.”
“Oh! How are things going with you two?” Uraraka piped up.
Izuku forced himself to avoid smirking at his friend. Momo and Todoroki had figured out long ago that they were both playing for the other team and started carrying out gossip sessions instead, if only to have a solid alibi ready to go against their parent’s accusations if it ever got to that point.
He only knew of this because Momo had asked Izuku to step up and play fake-boyfriend in the event that Todoroki came out before she did, effectively keeping her off the market so she wasn’t forced to ‘meet handsome young men’ ever again.
And, since he was one of the privileged few who actually knew what was going on, it was hilarious to watch the pair judge everyone around them who thought they were together.
“We’re both fine.” Todoroki answered, as honest as ever.
Izuku rolled his eyes, getting up from his seat. “Does anyone want a water?”
“Yes, please!”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
Izuku nodded, walking away from them. He got up to the food truck, asking for a few waters. He knew Todoroki was probably being polite by declining his offer, not saying what he actually wanted and he refused to deal with a dehydrated Todoroki ever again. Plus, on the off-chance that he was wrong and his friend didn't actually need anything to drink, at least he’d have more waters to give out to the rest of the class.
It was a quick exchange, something that made Izuku extremely happy. He wasn’t overly fond of being stuck in lines for too long, even if he was the only one in a line. He turned around, balancing four waters in his hands.
Izuku stumbled over himself as he tried to avoid the little child right behind him. He chuckled awkwardly, sending a very sheepish grin towards the kid he nearly took out.
“Sorry about that, kid.” Izuku glanced around, frowning when he realized they were all alone. He crouched down in front of them, bundling all of the waters in one arm so he could have a hand free. “Are you alright?”
The child clenched his fists, bunching his pants as he did so and shook his head. He looked down, sniffling. “I did something bad.”
Izuku nodded, scanning him as best as he could for injuries. “Well, that doesn’t sound good. Can you tell me what happened?”
He hunched his small shoulders up, letting his head drop further. “I didn’t mean to.”
Izuku softly smiled, doing his best to present as comforting as he possibly could right then. “I believe you.”
He looked up, bright brown eyes shining with unshed tears. “You do?”
Izuku nodded. “Of course. You look very trustworthy. I’d just like to know what happened if that’s okay.”
He sniffed, hurriedly wiping roughly at his cheeks before shoving his hand back down. “I-I don’t know. I felt scared and then, something happened and now my mama won’t look at me.”
Izuku stiffened, but forced himself to relax as he kept his smile respectable. From the sounds of it, the family had been involved in a villain attack nearby, although he wondered why he hadn’t heard any pros coming by yet. Perhaps it was a petty villain then, one who used their quirk to quickly rob someone on the street.
“That certainly doesn’t sound like your fault, buddy.” Izuku tried to soothe.
He sniffed again, shaking his head. “But, I was the one who made mama scared. Be’cause I was scared.”
Izuku frowned to himself, trying to figure out what this kid could possibly mean. He wasn’t too sure and it was worth looking into if the child was burdening himself with something that was obviously not his fault.
“Hey! Deku! What the fuck are you doing? Huh?!” Bakugou yelled, storming over towards them.
He watches as the kid’s breathing sped up and Izuku didn’t hesitate to put his free arm around the kid, pulling him closer towards himself rather than letting him face something else that was scaring him.
“Calm down, Kacchan.” Izuku admonished. “I was just talking to this little guy here.”
Bakugou rolled his eyes. “Really? I couldn’t tell. Now, kid, why are you going to Deku over here? I’m the guy you want. Who do I need to beat up?”
The kid gasped, turning to look fearfully at Bakugou. “No!” Bakugou backed up, obviously not expecting such a harsh reaction from the kid. Izuku kept his hand on the kid’s back as he started to shake.
“No! No! No! NO! ”
A burst of blue light engulfed the entire area, sending the rest of the class into a panic. The kid continued to shake and Izuku gripped onto him tighter, more than worried at this point.
That’s when he finally felt it.
The breath-taking fear.
It settled slowly into his bones, like molasses being injected into his veins. He forced himself to grip the child closer, even as his breaths came quicker and he started jumping at every noise.
He watched as the rest of his classmates ran, spreading far too thin and much too far for Izuku to be able to tell what they were doing. He didn’t know if they were being kidnapped. He couldn’t see them; he couldn’t watch over them. He was stuck and alone and oh fuck what was he going to tell their parents when they learned it was Deku who let their children die-
“Please, tell them I’m super sorry!” The child cried in his arms.
Izuku took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!” The child wailed, burying his face into Izuku’s neck. Izuku grit his teeth as the kid kept crying into him.
The fear hadn’t left. It had actually festered into him, digging away at his heart and soul. Izuku finally blinked himself back into the real world, no longer in danger of passing out from how dizzy he was getting. He could still see a few of his classmates running away, but more than a few of them actually stayed at the picnic tables and curling up underneath them or, in Kirishima’s case, made himself unbreakable and guarded Mina, who was in the process of disintegrating the table, murmuring something about how the tables could turn against them at any time.
Izuku swallowed.
So there hadn’t been a villain attack. Just a kid who had, most likely, manifested his quirk and had no idea what to do about it. Perhaps his own fear was the trigger for the quirk. As soon as he was scared, a blue light would settle over the people closest to him and cause them to feel his fear.
Right. Makes sense. And is on par for their class outings.
Izuku flexed his ears as someone ran behind the food cart to his back, tensing up as it happened. He held his breath, forcing himself to stay put instead of running away as he held onto the child tighter.
“I’m so sorry!”
Izuku breathed out as evenly as he could force himself. “Shhh. It’s alright. No one’s mad.”
“But I-”
“That doesn’t matter.” Izuku said. He forced himself to think. He needed to think. What came next? “Was that your quirk, little buddy?”
The kid nodded his head as he sniffled. “I think so, I don’t know! It just…happened.”
Izuku nodded. That was a normal assessment. Normal distress levels coming from a kid who most likely didn’t understand that his quirk was responsible for making others feel scared.
“Did you just turn four then?” Izuku asked, trying to keep him engaged in a conversation. Izuku grabbed him, settling him on his hip as he picked the crying child up and stood.
As much as he hated it, his fear and paranoia was getting to him. He needed to move, to hide, to protect his class and anything that might harm them. He needed to hoard them to himself until he knew for certain that everyone was going to be okay.
“My birfday was yesterday.” The kid murmured, settling in closer to Izuku, wrapping his tiny arms around his neck. Izuku forced himself to avoid flinching at the contact as he smiled.
“Yesterday? My goodness, that was so soon!” Izuku gasped, faking interest as his eyes scanned for every possible exit point, looking and searching for his classmates. “Was it fun?”
“Yeah.” The kid sniffed, using one of his fists to scrub at his eyes. “Mama made a big cake.”
“Oh? Did it have anything special on it?” Izuku pushed.
The kid hummed. “Yep! Mama put heroes allllll over it. There were heroes on the sides of it and on the frosting and on the top, too!”
Izuku gasped in response to the kid, scanning around as he located a few of his classmates, taking in a deeper breath when he noticed them simply hiding, not hurting themselves or others. Good.
“That’s super cool!” Izuku gushed, moving around to the other side of the opening. “What’s your name, by the way? My name’s Deku.”
“I’m Kyoufu.” The kid rescinded, looking proud. “Kumiko Kyoufu.”
“That’s a really neat name, bud. Do you mind if I call my teacher real quick? I promise it won’t take too long.” He asked.
Kyoufu shrugged. “Sure. Mama does it all the time.”
Izuku absentmindedly nodded as he grabbed his phone and forced himself to count to ten, bouncing Kyoufu on his hip to try and let his hands do something as he made the call. He finally clicked on Aizawa’s contact and started walking around, feeling more and more fear build up within him the longer he stayed put.
“Midoriya.” Aizawa answered, already sounding like he was ready to give him detention. Izuku forced his breath to stay the same. His teacher couldn’t know how nervous he was; how sure he was that the man would try and ruin him when he got back to UA. “Why am I being called?”
“Aizawa! Ahm, well, there’s been a bit of an…issue.” Izuku winced when he heard his teacher sigh over the phone, something long and suffering. He did his best to push that all-consuming fear back down, refusing to let it linger for too long. He didn’t have the time for it.
“What. Happened.” Aizawa demanded.
Izuku cleared his throat, being mindful of the child that was still clinging onto him. “There was a child. It’s his first time using his quirk and-”
“Midoriya, please, for the love of everything holy, get to the point.”
“Right.” Izuku took a deep breath. “The kid has a fear inducing quirk of some sort and my classmates are…they’re not good.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Stay put.” Aizawa hung up before Izuku could pretend to even agree with that.
Well, at least he won’t be lying to the man.
Izuku looked around, shifting Kyoufu to his back, deciding to carry him the same way he carried Eri, with him wrapped up and strapped to his back with the help of Black Whip. He needed his hands free from kids if he was going to get his family back in one place.
He jumped up, listening to the delighted gasp come from Kyoufu. Izuku forced himself to smile when he heard it. It was such a child-like sound, something Izuku didn’t think he could fully appreciate because of the situation at hand.
Hopefully he’d appreciate the wonder and awe in Kyoufu’s gasp later on.
“I’m going to say hi to some of my classmates and bring them back here.” Izuku explained. “Would you like to come with me?”
Kyoufu gripped onto him tighter, nodding his head rapidly. “I don’t wanna leave you.”
Izuku grit his teeth, not wanting to cry from the hurt and fear he was feeling right now. That would come later, when he actually had time to do such a thing. He scanned the landscape and stiffened when he saw a huge shadow fly above two trees before screeching and dipping back down again.
Well, that seemed to settle it. Tokoyami was first then.
“Kyoufu, would you like to play a game with me?” Izuku asked as he walked towards the trees, taking a deep breath.
“Okay!”
“We need to play the quiet game first.” Izuku said, walking into the forest. “No one can hear us coming, alright?”
“Deal!” Kyoufu whispered, pumping his small fist before he quickly latched onto Izuku again.
Izuku nodded and made his way further into the forest, getting more and more nervous the darker it got. He looked around, waiting for it.
There.
The darkness moved, as if it was alive. He saw the glowing yellow of Shadow’s eyes and made a face. Izuku forced himself to breathe slowly, pushing down that fear he felt. It would lessen as soon as he got eyes on his classmate.
He knew that for a fact.
Izuku raced around, taking care to keep his steps light. He frowned before he dived into the darkness, hearing Shadow screech out, as if in pain.
Izuku ran faster.
“Get back, child of light.” He heard Tokoyami call out, groaning as he did so.
Izuku lit up with the force of One for All, finally seeing his classmate and nearly collapsing to his knees when the fear flooded out of his heart momentarily. “No.”
Dark Shadow screeched and flew around, circling tighter around Tokoyami, obviously trying to protect him while going berserk at the same time.
“Tokoyami, just listen to me!”
“No!” He heard him scream. Izuku cursed, jumping around Dark Shadow as they swung around, aiming for Izuku. “Leave!”
Izuku raced closer to Tokoyami, forcing himself to slide down when he felt Shadow shift around. He popped up near his classmate and turned One for All higher, forcing the lightning to brighten.
“I won’t leave you, Tokoyami.” Izuku said, absolute in his resolve.
“Dark Shadow is going to hurt someone!”
Izuku shook his head. “No they won’t. You didn’t hurt anyone.”
“We didn’t?” Tokoyami looked hopeful. It broke something in his heart.
“No.” He whispered, stepping closer. “No, you didn’t hurt anyone.”
Dark Shadow howled, but gradually shrunk down with the help of Tokoyami focusing on something other than his fear and the light coming from One for All as Izuku continued to ramp up the percentage.
It took a few, very long minutes, but eventually Dark Shadow had shrunk and finally disappeared from view. Tokoyami panted and Izuku animated his movements, giving his classmate plenty of time to move away before he put his hand on his back, rubbing small circles to try and help him.
“You did good.” Izuku whispered, reassuring him. “No one got hurt.”
Tokoyami nodded his head then, straightening up and Izuku let his hand fall back to his side. His classmate kept his eyes down, but looked less apprehensive than before as he cleared his throat. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Let’s get out of…here.”
Izuku nodded. “Good idea.”
They walked towards the picnic area with Tokoyami tapping random patterns on his own chest while Izuku counted his breaths, trying to force himself to remain calm. The not-so-great thing about this quirk was that Izuku was stuck in panic mode, even when he forced away all of the other feelings that came with the panic, he couldn’t get rid of it.
Tokoyami walked ahead of him, strolling right up to Kirishima and standing there. Kirishima nodded at him and pushed him behind him, still keeping up his unbreakable form.
Izuku forced himself to turn his back and walk out of the picnic area, hoping to god that everyone would understand that they should stay there and he could round them all up. Izuku turned the corner, coming out to the bare street, a bit relieved that this didn’t happen on a busy street.
Izuku blinked, whipping his head around when he caught sight of spiky blonde hair. He turned, seeing Bakugou and, admittedly, forgot about what he actually needed to do. His fear almost completely disappeared when they locked eyes and Izuku couldn’t help the tears that slipped out as he ran closer towards him. He almost looked around to search for Uraraka because of how weightless he felt right then.
Bakugou growled, snapping his head towards him and dropping into a defensive stance, shocking Izuku enough for him to stop going towards him completely. Izuku took him in, feeling that familiar dread begin to drip back down his spine.
Bakugou stood his ground, hands aimed towards him, eyes sharp but unseeing, and completely ready to decimate him. To decimate Izuku.
Izuku slowly raised his hands in surrender, wincing when Kyoufu whimpered behind him.
“It’s okay.” He whispered, feeling dread fall into his stomach when Kyoufu shook his head.
“He’s angry at us.” Kyoufu whispered back.
Izuku shook his head. “No. He’s just scared. Do you like spiders?”
“Not really. They weird me out.”
Izuku slowly nodded his head, keeping his eyes on Bakugou. “Think of Kacchan as a spider. That’s what this is like right now. Spiders are scary but we’re bigger and stronger than them, which makes them scared of us. Kacchan- he’s just scared right now.”
“Alright, villains- ” Bakugou’s hand’s sparked and Izuku leaped up into the air, whipping around to land on the other side of Bakugou.
“Kacchan!” Izuku swallowed, straining his voice as he did his best to sound like a smug villain. “You’ll never catch up to me if you keep staring in the other direction!”
Bakugou turned around, all but promising murder with the way he looked at him. “Die!”
Izuku ran the opposite way, leading the chase on. He couldn’t let himself get too far ahead where Bakugou would give up the chase, but he absolutely couldn’t let himself get caught by him. He’s certain Bakugou would try and make good on his earlier threats.
He raced up to the picnic tables, now piled around in a half-moon, an obvious attempt at building a fort to protect themselves. Izuku ran into the fort, jumped up and hid behind the picnic tables on the opposite end, making sure to cradle Kyoufu's head as he did so.
He could feel the moment Bakugou had a moment of clarity, looking around at his classmates, before he huffed and started stomping around. Izuku snuck a look, calming something in his mind when he saw Bakugou pacing back and forth in front of the open part of the fortress. Apparently he had appointed himself to take watch over everyone in there and Izuku wasn’t going to complain.
Izuku snuck away, making sure to stay out of sight from Bakugou. He didn’t know if he would look like an intruder or a villain or what and he couldn’t really take the chance to deal with it quite yet.
“Um, Deku?” Kyoufu pulled on his collar, making him slow down. “Who’s that over there?”
Izuku looked to see where he was pointing to and sure enough, there was someone curled into a ball at the base of a tree across the park, opposite from the forest.
Izuku squinted as he watched different small things pop up from the ball and gasped, finally realizing who he was looking at.
“That’s my friend.” Izuku finally responded as he made his way over.
He crouched his way towards the park benches before rising to his full height, confident that he wouldn’t be a big problem for Bakugou, even if he saw him over here. Izuku walked over, taking in the state of Shoji.
He wasn’t doing well by any sense of the word. Izuku could see the white-knuckled grip he had on himself, forcing himself to stay curled up. He was obviously panicking as he switched from having multiple ears and eyes on his arms.
Izuku scuffed his shoe on the ground when Shoji produced another ear and stopped when he looked around wildly, trying to locate the noise.
“Don’t!” Shoji shouted, finally locking eyes with Izuku. “Don’t get closer!”
Izuku approached his biggest classmate, slowly and gently like one did with a wounded animal, his heart breaking for how he had wrapped himself up into a ball, his arms circling completely around his body.
“Shoji, please-”
“No.” He whimpered and Izuku’s heart broke. “No, I- I’m sorry, but I can’t- I can’t change and I’m so sorry-”
“Shh. Shoji, look at me, please.” Izuku gasped as a shudder racked his body. He couldn’t leave without Shoji. He wouldn’t. “It’s Izuku, okay. We’re friends.”
Shoji violently shook his head. “No, no. I don’t- I’m not allowed to have friends.” Then, Shoji whispered. “I’ll hurt them.”
Izuku swallowed thickly. “You’d never hurt me.”
“But, I’m a monster.”
And that’s when Izuku felt a tear fall down his cheek, staring at his friend curled up at the base of the tree, trying to hide away from the world.
Shoji wasn’t afraid of him. He was afraid of himself.
“I promise I’ll be okay. You’ve never hurt me before.” Izuku tried.
“No. You don’t know me, or that, or anyone.” Shoji kept hyperventilating, creating more mouths and eyes and ears along his arms. “I’ll hurt you. It’s in my blood. I know.”
Izuku shook his head, trying to calm himself down as he took deep breaths. Shoji was trying to tell him he couldn’t go with him. Izuku refused to acknowledge that; he was physically incapable of acknowledging that at the moment. He literally needed Shoji to come with him, or his fear would override every sense of logic he was still holding onto and he was so scared of losing that control.
He counted along to the tapping Kyoufu was idly doing on his chest, using it as a way to push the fog away from his mind long enough to actually finish this conversation.
“No matter what you do, I’ll hurt you and I can’t. So, please,” Shoji sobbed. “Leave.”
Izuku snapped his eyes back to Shoji's and let a cry rip from behind his teeth, trying to avoid going too extreme.
“I’m sorry, Shoji.” He whispered. “I really am.”
He activated another strand of Black Whip, wrapping it around Shoji and gritting his teeth as he ignored his classmates' cries. He raced back towards the picnic tables, coming to a stop in front of Bakugou, who still wasn’t clearly seeing him.
Bakugou held his hands out, snarling at him. “Who are you?”
“One of your heroes was out there, injured and lost.” Izuku said, forcing all doubt out of his voice. If he wanted Bakugou to let Shoji in, he would need to appeal to him. “I brought him to you.”
Bakugou growled, looking behind him. His eyes widened and Izuku didn’t know what he saw, but it must’ve been bad enough for Bakugou to usher him inside the picnic-table fort, shoving him towards Yamomo.
“Heal him.” Bakugou demanded as Izuku set Shoji down on the floor, gently. He curled back up into a ball, refusing to move as he kept an eye on all of them.
Yamomo nodded as she kept making random materials with her quirk, looking more grim than he had ever seen her. “Hai!”
Izuku made his leave quickly after that, unable to look at them for too long, especially when he knew nearly half of the class was still out there by themselves.
“Are they going to be okay, Deku?” Kyoufu asked.
Izuku scanned the area, his heart dropping when he saw Todoroki hunched behind a food truck, pressing himself against it tightly as he hid from something.
“I’m sure they’ll be okay soon.” Izuku forced himself to say. “But, right now, they need a hero. So we’re going to go over to Todoroki and try and help him now.”
Kyoufu nodded. “Let’s go save them, Deku.”
Izuku nodded back. “Let’s save them, Kyoufu.”
He made his way over towards Todoroki as fast as he possibly could, doing his best to lay low since the boy was obviously hiding from something.
“Todoroki?” He said as soon as he got close enough to talk to the boy, sliding up next to him.
“Shh.” He slapped a hand over Izuku’s mouth, glaring at him and pulling him fully behind the food truck he was hiding behind and occasionally peaking around. “He’ll hear you.”
Izuku swallowed thickly, already having a hunch about what this was going to be about. He spoke quietly, even with the hand still covering his mouth. “I can protect you.”
Todoroki shook his head. “She’s gone. The only one who tried to save us is gone. We need to hide.”
Izuku grabbed onto his wrist, not letting him go. “Todoroki, please-”
“Stop, just- stop, okay.” Todoroki shivered, looking around wildly. “You need to call me Shoto.”
Izuku blinked, trying to force back his tears as he did so. Izuku nodded and the tension seemed to fall off of Todoroki’s shoulders when Izuku relented easily to his requests. Izuku tapped him, trying to silently ask if it was okay for him to speak. His friend looked annoyed, but took his hand away, allowing it.
“I have a safe place for us.” Izuku whispered.
Todoroki scoffed. “Nowhere is truly safe from him.”
Izuku shook his head. “I promise. He’ll never find us where we’re going.”
“That’s impossible.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes. It. Is.”
“Then where would you like to go?” Izuku asked, switching tactics. His fear was itching under his skin, beginning to show face every single time Todoroki refused to follow along with Izuku and his plan. And he didn’t have the energy nor the space to truly fight his friend into submission to take him back to the picnic tables.
Todoroki thought about it for a bit before humming to himself. “The commission would come after us. Natsou said that himself. And Fuyumi would get caught, cause she’s in school and probably wouldn’t leave.”
“What if I told you that I already hid your family in the hiding spot I suggested earlier?” Izuku asked, cutting him off.
Todoroki tilted his head. “That’s impossible, I just saw them with him.”
“Are you sure?” Izuku nodded his head around the food truck, prompting Todoroki to look. He did, gasping at whatever he saw before turning back around and forcing himself against the truck, looking more panicked than he had before.
“We’re the last ones left.” Todoroki whispered.
Izuku nodded. “We can make it out of here.”
“You need to promise me, Touya.” Todoroki glared at him, holding out his pinky. “Promise me we’re all leaving him for good and this time, no one will get caught.”
Izuku breathed out slowly, holding out his free hand and wrapping his pinky around his friend’s. “I promise, Shoto.”
Todoroki nodded, looking mildly satisfied and silently got up, still crouching low. “Do you have a plan to get out unseen then?”
Izuku nodded, looking around. “He’s distracted now. I say we run for it.”
Todoroki frowned, then shrugged to himself, obviously trying to find the fastest route away while still playing it safe. “Okay, but only because you promised.”
Izuku grit his teeth. “Right.”
He felt Kyoufu squeeze his arms around his neck, obviously starting to feel the panic coming off of Todoroki. Izuku brought up a hand and squeezed his arms back, gently, grounding, bringing him back towards Earth.
He didn’t know what he’d do if he was forced to lie about Kyoufu’s presence if Todoroki noticed him at all. Honestly he didn’t know what worried him more; his friend seeing the kid strapped to his back or knowing that Todoroki was so out of it that he couldn’t process that.
Either way, it didn’t matter. He had to sneak Todoroki away from a threat Izuku couldn’t currently see.
“Come on.” Izuku whispered, beckoning him to the side of the food truck. He ran with a crouch, sprinting over to the other food truck, a few meters across from them.
Todoroki quickly followed, glancing to the side before freezing like a deer in headlights. Crap.
“Shoto.” Todoroki didn’t respond and Izuku felt his fear spike. “Shoto!”
“Shh! He’ll hear you!” Todoroki whispered back harshly.
Izuku didn’t give two shits about who could hear them or not. He needed Todoroki safe and sound. Now. “Shoto, it’s okay, I swear. Let’s go-”
“Run ahead, Touya.” Todoroki turned to him, his eyes ablaze with determination and his fists clenched. “I’ll be fine.”
Izuku growled as his fear ramped up with the thought of his friend sacrificing himself. “No. We’re leaving. Together.”
Todoroki shook his head. “He won’t stop until he has me, Touya. Not you.”
“I won’t stop until I have you.” Izuku promised as he stepped forward, grabbing Todoroki’s hand, jumping up into the air as he activated One for All and landed on the roof of an apartment building. Izuku forced Todoroki’s head down, pretending to look out at the landscape.
“What are you-”
“Shh.” Izuku said, wrapping his hand around Todoroki’s mouth, craning his neck further. After a few more seconds, Izuku forced himself to drop his shoulders and pretend to relax. “I think he’s gone.”
Todoroki furrowed his eyebrows, taking Izuku’s hand away and looking out to see for himself. “Where did he go?”
Izuku shrugged. “Far away from the hideout the rest of your family is in. That’s for certain.”
“Our family.” Todoroki said with a frown, turning towards him. “You mean our family, right?”
Izuku nodded. “Of course.”
Todoroki nodded again. “Then, how are we getting there?”
Izuku looked down. It wasn’t a huge building, five stories tall, but he’d still prefer to carry everyone down, even if that wasn’t exactly feasible at the moment. “Can I give you a lift?”
“I can just use my ice.”
“True…” Izuku eyed the space. There wasn’t much to work with but the wind from his landing could knock a picnic table and Todoroki’s ice could potentially cover his classmates, especially since he wasn’t positive as to how much Todoroki could actually see since he still thought Izuku was his brother.
“How about I just jump down?” Izuku suggested.
Todoroki gave him a flat stare. “Your bones are as fragile as a small stick and your fire would cremate the entire safehouse. We’ll use my ice.”
Izuku glared, but couldn’t exactly refute his point unless he wanted to tell Todoroki that he was seeing things and he had no wishes to do that. The boy was already difficult enough getting back to safety without Izuku being forced into a rematch of the sports festival with him.
“Fine.” Izuku relented, doing his best to crush his fear and shove it in the back of his mind. He didn’t doubt Todoroki’s abilities, not by a long shot, but he absolutely hated making his friend do all the heavy-lifting here.
Thankfully Todoroki was careful about it, only creating what he deemed necessary to create a slide of ice.
“Are you ready?” Izuku asked, bouncing Kyoufu up and down a little bit.
The kid’s breath caught when he realized what was happening. “We can really go down that?”
Izuku nodded. “Yep.”
“Wow.” He breathed, leaning forward a bit to take it all in. “I’ve never seen a slide that long.”
Izuku nodded. He hadn’t either, now that he thought about it.
“We’re good to go.” Todoroki confirmed, turning back towards him. Izuku gave him a sharp nod and moved closer towards his friend.
“After you.” Izuku gestured to the slide.
Todoroki made a face. “You first.”
“I already said you should go.”
“I’m not going first.”
“Yeah, well,” Izuku floundered. “I’m the oldest?”
“So?”
“So,” Izuku huffed, lightly shoving Todoroki closer to the slide. “You have to listen to me.”
“Because you’re the oldest?”
“Among other things.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Yeah, but that’s a part of life.”
Todoroki scrunched his nose. “You sound old when you say that.”
Izuku pointed to the slide. “Go down or I’ll make you.”
Todoroki huffed, but finally caved and sat himself at the edge of the slide, sending one last glance Izuku’s way before letting himself go down, all the way to the other side of the street before wrapping back around.
Izuku quickly followed, already feeling his fear rear its ugly head once Todoroki left his arm’s reach. He heard Kyoufu giggle lightly, his warm and airy laughter following them the entire way down.
Izuku landed on his feet, stumbling a bit before coming up next to Todoroki. Todoroki grabbed his hand unexpectedly and Izuku stared at him for a few seconds before ignoring it. He nodded towards the picnic shelter and Todoroki nodded back, walking towards it. Izuku jogged a bit to keep up to him, sucking in a breath through his teeth when he realized Bakugou was staring them down from his position.
Izuku began to explain as they came to stand in front of Bakugou. “We’re-”
“Get in.” Bakugou demanded, hardly sparing them more than a few seconds.
Todoroki didn’t let go of his hand and, instead, gripped him tighter, pulling him through and whispering to him. “What do we do now, Touya?”
Izuku breathed slowly. “Find the other two. They’re here somewhere.”
Todoroki nodded and took a few seconds before he released his hand and started wandering around the area, looking intently at his classmates before shaking his head and moving on to someone else.
He avoided Todoroki as and snuck his way out of the picnic fort, feeling part of his fear chip away when he left to go find someone else.
“Alrighty.” Izuku spoke to himself, turning around and walking away from the fort, ready to do this all over again.
“Who’s that?” Kyoufu pointed out.
Izuku looked over, his breath catching when he realized who was hiding behind a dumpster in the neighboring alleyway. “That’s one of my classmates.”
“Then let’s go save them!”
He nodded, too distracted to properly respond to the kid.
Izuku approached his classmate slowly, trying to look like a friend rather than a threat. He sat down next to him, simply letting Aoyama get used to his presence before he started talking or doing anything.
“I never wanted it.” Aoyama whispered, shaking like a leaf.
Izuku forced himself to breathe. “You don’t need it if you don’t want it, Aoyama.”
Aoyama groaned. “You don’t understand- no one understands. I don’t want it.”
“That’s okay.” Izuku assured, trying to figure out what exactly was going through his head.
“It’s not.” Aoyama gasped, tears falling out of his glassy eyes. “I’ll never survive.”
“I’ll make sure you do.” Izuku promised, feeling his fear flare up again. He couldn’t think about one of his classmates not making it. That was too much.
“You can’t promise me that.”
Izuku nodded. “I can promise you that you will be protected as long as you’re with me.”
Aoyama shook from the force of his cries, attempting to suppress his sobs as he did so. “No. I’ll never let you.”
“Then let us. Let UA.”
“I can’t be protected in that school.” Aoyama whispered, burying his head into his knees as his sobs started up again.
“I swear-”
“Please don’t.” Aoyama gasped, sniffling out a sob as he tried his hardest to get his breathing back to normal. “Don’t promise me anything until you know the truth.”
Izuku nodded his head. “Then tell me. Tell me what I need to know.”
“I can’t.” He whispered.
“I believe in you-”
“No.” Aoyama looked pained, glancing around to check their surroundings before he leaned in again. “I literally can’t. It’s too dangerous.”
Izuku clenched his jaw but didn’t push it, already feeling that all-consuming fear begin to crawl up his throat once again. “Then just come with me for the moment.”
Aoyama eyed his outstretched hand wearily. “For the moment? Nothing else.”
“Nothing else.” Izuku forced himself to say, ignoring the stabbing pain that knocked the breath out of him and stabbed through his heart.
He took his hand, finally standing up and accepting Izuku’s temporary help. “Alright. Lead the way.”
Izuku nodded, not saying anything else. He didn’t let go of his hand the entire way, only forcing himself to let go when Bakugou checked Aoyama over feverishly, nodding at him and allowing him inside the fort.
Izuku saw Aizawa coming his way and almost collapsed from the sheer relief that he could feel right then. They were going to be okay, his classmates would all end up back here, safe and sound, and Aizawa was going to save them all. Izuku felt a few tears escape and wiped them away hastily.
Aizawa walked up to him, standing next to Izuku and completely ignoring Kyoufu. “I’m assuming you’re responsible for that?” Aizawa spoke up, eyeing the picnic table fortress.
Izuku tried to play it off as he shoved his stress and fear and worry back down. “Not really-”
“Fine.” Aizawa rolled his eyes. “Just stay here. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Izuku nodded, moving Kyoufu back onto his hips as he stood around.
“Hey, kid!” An officer yelled, jogging up to them. “Can you tell us what happened here?”
Izuku nodded, trying his best to explain what happened without making Kyoufu feel worse about the situation than he already did. Izuku scratched at his back slowly, trying to give him something soothing to focus on as Izuku caught the officer up to speed with everything.
“Are you sure that’s what happened, kid?” The officer looked them over.
Izuku took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain still and calm. “Yes, and like I said before, my hero name is Deku.”
“And you’re positive that the kid’s quirk manifested?”
Izuku nodded. “Yes. He just turned four so it makes sense-”
“Then hand him over. Now.” The officer demanded as he got closer. Izuku backed up a few steps, ignoring the fact that Aizawa was next to him, presumably because he had gathered the rest of his classmates. Hopefully they were all okay. Oh, fuck what if they weren’t-
Izuku glared at the officer approaching them, looking all too ready to snatch Kyoufu from him. He was ready to tear this man down if he so needed to. No one was going to hurt them any longer-
“Midoriya.” Izuku snapped his attention over to Aizawa, softening his stance.
The officer grabbed Kyoufu from his arms and he stiffened, the bright blue light engulfing the officer before Izuku grabbed him back. The officer dropped to the ground, hyperventilating and scurrying backwards, away from the two of them.
“What was that?” Aizawa growled out.
Izuku forced himself to calm down as a new rush of primal fear flowed down his spine, rubbing Kyoufu’s back as he counted down from ten. “That was his quirk. He can make people feel a bit…afraid.”
Aizawa nodded, looking at the both of them intently. “Alright.” Aizawa activated his quirk and Izuku immediately felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest, breathing in deeper than he could before. “Exchange him, now.”
Izuku nodded. “I’ll see you soon, Kyoufu-kun.”
“You promise?”
“Promise.”
With a smile directed at the kid, he handed him over to the other officer, feeling a million times better when they gently placed him in one of the cop cars, letting him look around in wonder before presenting the kid quirk canceling bracelets, kept on hand for these exact situations.
Once they were on, Izuku felt the aftereffects of Eraser wash over him, shuddering when he felt One for All settle back into his bones.
He turned, only to see a few more UA teachers accompanying Aizawa. They all gathered the rest of class 1-A and Izuku couldn’t help but settle back into himself as he saw each and every one of them. Sure, they looked tired and fearful and nervous and Yamomo looked far too skinny but at least they were alive.
Alive and well.
That was all Izuku ever wanted for them.
They all walked back to UA with teachers on either side of them, obviously refusing to let anyone out of their sight for too long. Aizawa led them into the dorms, huddling everyone into the common room.
It took a few silent minutes for everyone to find their bearings again, looking a bit put-out by ending up in the dorms and not noticing that that had actually happened to them. Izuku shuffled around, getting comfortable as he sat near his friends but refused to sit too close.
He needed to watch everyone. Count them all and ensure that they were sound and safe, right in front of his eyes. The death grip his fear was previously strangling him with was lessening, but that still didn’t stop his desire to need to see everyone right then.
“How’d you do that?” Uraraka suddenly asked him as she glanced at him, still panting a bit as she came back from her fear-induced state.
“Do…what?”
“All of that. Help us.” Uraraka clarified.
“I definitely didn’t help everyone.” Izuku winced, looking over at a thoroughly exhausted Iida, who had ice packs on the engines in his legs, looking like he ran a few dozen marathons before Aizawa ended up stopping him.
Todoroki shook his head. “I don’t remember a lot, but I know you guided me back to the picnic area where the teachers picked us up.”
“Yeah.” Tsu pointed out. “So how were you able to help us? I was so stuck in my own fear I didn’t move until Yamada broke me out of it.”
Izuku shrugged, trying to look casual. “I guess I just don’t scare easily?”
“Uh no, bro.” Kaminari spoke up, shaking his head. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but that wasn’t just being scared.”
“Yeah, I’ve never felt more terrified in my life.” Kirishima backed him up.
Izuku cleared his throat, feeling more than worried about all of the attention on him. “Well, maybe I wasn’t as affected as you guys? I mean, I was holding him the whole time. I probably didn’t feel what you were feeling.”
“Midoriya, let’s go.” Aizawa interrupted them as he walked through the common room. Izuku shot to his feet, jogging after the man.
“Where are we going?” He asked.
Aizawa didn’t look back as he pointed to Izuku’s shoes and opened up the front door. “Police station. They’ve asked for an interview with you about what happened.”
Izuku nodded, slipping into his shoes then. “Alright.”
“And, that’s about all that happened.” Izuku wrapped up his story, picking at his fingernails.
“True. No questions at this time. End of interview. Time is 21:15.” Tsukauchi clicked the recording device, falling back into his seat as he stared at the papers in front of him.
Izuku cleared his throat, feeling weird as he simply sat there with the detective.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Midoriya-kun.” Tsukauchi finally said, sighing and rubbing the bridge of his nose. “You’re free to leave.”
Izuku smiled awkwardly as he stood. “Of course. Have a great night.”
Tsukauchi waved goodbye to him distractedly as he buried his nose back into his paperwork. It didn’t take Izuku long to walk from the station to UA, opening the gate and rushing through it. Izuku took the long way around the school, trying to arrive at the dorms so late that he wouldn’t be forced to speak with anyone.
Izuku blinked when he saw the lights in the common room still on, glancing up at his balcony curiously. He powered up One for All, only using a few percent, and launched himself up, climbing around the railing and facing his door. He rattled it, smirking to himself when it slid open easily.
Ah. The joys of being irresponsible with his locks finally paid off.
Izuku sighed to himself as he walked around, quickly hopping into pajamas, promising himself that he’d take a bath in the morning, and finally laying down on his bed. He just wanted to sleep for a few days and forget about everything that had happened.
He closed his eyes, willing for sleep to overtake him.
Of course, that meant he was up and down all night. He couldn’t force himself to sleep for longer than a few hours at a time and Izuku was tired of going through the motions by the time it was five in the morning.
He shed his blankets, pulling on a hoodie to combat the cold and sat at the edge of his bed, blinking the sleep completely out of his eyes. He stood, groaning as his back cracked and made his way to the door.
He felt a paper crinkle under his foot as he opened his door and looked down, annoyed at the fact that someone had slipped papers underneath the door sometime last night. Izuku grabbed them, glaring at the sheets before his brain finally registered what he was reading.
[CASE FILE 004 - B23093 - C56]
Victim: Kumiko Kyoufu
Next of Kin: Kumiko Nami (mother) and Kumiko Masaki (father)
Age: 4 years old
Incident: First time quirk appearance; caused reactionary fear
Quirk: According to doctors, the quirk is officially called Fear Monger and does as the name suggests. The quirk envelopes its selected victims in a blue light before disappearing, forcing the victim to feel deep fear and react to the feeling.
Notes: Victims may experience hallucinations, panic attacks, loss of quirk control, etc. Time and distance helps the victims overcome the quirk, although the effects seem to lessen once the victim’s have reacted to and actively fought against what caused them such fear in the first place. [REDACTED - MEDICAL INFORMATION ON A MINOR]. Persons touching the child are hypothesized to feel the most fear, since proximity is involved with the lessening of the severity of the fear victim’s feel. [REDACTED - PATIENT/DOCTOR NDA]. End.
Izuku gulped as his eyes drifted down to the side-note written at the bottom.
My office. 8 AM, tomorrow morning. Do not be late.
Aizawa
Ah fuck.
This wasn’t going to end well, was it?