Chapter Text
Izuku Midoriya is tired.
It’s been days since the incident with the Sludge Villain. Izuku felt horrible getting in the way of the heroes, as they so graciously reminded him after the fight was over. All Might just seemed disappointed when he looked at him, like wanting to save someone he cares about was some horrible deed. Or maybe he was upset at him for being the cause of him losing the villain in the first place. Izuku doesn’t blame him for that, he shouldn’t have clung onto his leg like that. It was stupid in hindsight.
He understands. He’s quirkless, saving people is impossible the way he is. He only got in the way.
That day, Izuku gave up on his dreams of becoming a hero.
Going to school only made things worse. People kept on ogling at Bakugo more than normal, while they teased Izuku for trying to ‘play the hero’. He’s frustrated, but also just tired. It’s nothing new.
To apologize to his mom for terrifying her that day, Izuku decided to head to one of their local stores to get her something. She was a sobbing mess when he came home that day and is still fussing over him, so it’s the least he can do.
The people on the street ignore or sneer at him as always, something they did for years now after each store learned he was quirkless. Kind shopkeepers that would give him a small candy or smile when he was younger now ignore or turn him away entirely now. The ones that still let him in now charge more or only sell the damaged goods no one else wants. Inko had to stop bringing him at all by age 6 and shop alone or they had to go out of their way to get normal prices.
Well, her normal.
This will always be Izuku's normal. the moment his shoes are noticed or he has to show his ID with the big red Q on it, he’ll be treated differently from everyone else. His normal changed years ago no matter what she says or tries to not notice. She’s the one that refills the medicine cabinet after all, she just never brings up why.
Izuku’s used to it, but it never really gets easier. Perhaps it would be easier to deal with if he had a friend to rant to, or anyone other than his Mom. He loves his mom, but he already puts enough stress on her by raising a quirkless kid who will grow up to be nothing. It’s not fair to her, so he won’t complain.
When Izuku gets to the market, he looks around at the older pastries he got pointed at by the owner. They might be a little stale but still good if he heats them up with a little water for steam. Izuku finds and buys a pack of cupcakes for an unfair price and begins his walk back home, away from the piercing gazes of those who see themselves as superior. It’s a shame, the bakery is really warm and seems friendly from the outside. Everything changes when he’s noticed as quirkless.
As Izuku walks home, he is so busy looking down at the cupcakes, mentally planning how to get them home without his mom noticing, he doesn't notice the one person that didn't move out of his way to avoid him like everyone else would, as if he was contagious or something.
The man he bumps into is in no way small, he blocks the sun from Izuku's vision and he has to look way up to see their face at all.
Izuku frowns. It’s not entirely uncommon for people to purposefully get in his way to cause issues with him, Bakugo’s friends do it all the time. Still, he’d rather not make enemies with someone as giant as the man he ran into.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to- I’ll get out of your way-“ Izuku takes a step to move past the stranger, but stops when he hears the unmoving man’s words.
“Green…” The man says, looking down at Izuku to observe him. “Double green, tiny, red shoes... fought a slime?”
Izuku hesitates. “Uhm, y-yes?” He should have known more people would recognize him so soon after the sludge villain attacked him and Bakugo, they were on the news, but he didn’t think about it. “But I wouldn’t say fought, more just getting in the way…”
“Nah, fought it. Won." The large man nods. "Takes guts to fight a bigger opponent. Gotta be smart about it, you were. Pretty impressive... for a noodle.”
Izuku blushes profusely from the compliments and embarrassment for being called a noodle. He supposes compared to this man, he is. He can’t imagine how many years of working out it must have taken to get his level of muscle.
“I-It was just normal deducing. I mean, if you don’t have any effect on the slime, go after other things! The eyes and the teeth are the only other things visible, so it was worth a shot?” Izuku shrugs.
“Clearly more than the heroes thought to do.” The man scoffs. “Bah, the cowards gave up. Death arms is all about the fight but even he gave up.”
“Well… At least All Might was there to save us.” Izuku says softly.
“He could have also hit you or the other kid. Reckless to jump into someone else's fight without at least calling out a warning.” The man crosses his arms. "Liquids don’t compress well when hit, whatever is inside gets a harder hit then if out in air. If he hit with the kid inside, their organs would be hurt from the concussive force needed to splatter it, reckless."
Izuku grimaces. “Maybe, but no one else was able to defeat the villain, so I’m thankful anyways.” He looks down, fidgeting with his hands more from the information the man has given him. Is that why he felt so bad after All Might hit him out of the slime? He thought it was the almost drowning and being a puppet thing. His mom had to take him to a clinic for the slime in his lungs. His wrist was pretty hurt from the second incident too, when All Might held his and Bakugo’s wrists together from the wind he made.
“Shouldn't be thankful someone hit at hostages to get the guy, but whatever.” The man shrugs again before he takes out his phone. “Ah, time got away from me. Time to go now.”
“Ah alright. Have a good day?” Izuku says, smiling awkwardly. The conversation was strange, but a nice strange! He isn’t used to the compliments and honestly, he was expecting the man to call him careless and nothing more, like the heroes did.
That joy doesn’t last long.
“I wasn't talking about me.” The man puts his phone away and suddenly steals the cupcake box. Izuku can’t voice his confusion before the man crouches to grab Izuku around the waist to throw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes!?!
It takes a moment to process what’s happened. “Wh- hey wait a second!!” Izuku tries pushing himself away and wiggling to loosen the man’s grip.
“Nope. Running late, Boss won't be happy.” The man gets a back fabric bird-like plague doctor mask out of his back pocket and puts it on.
For a moment, Izuku hears and sees people reacting to the commotion. He looks around desperately, expecting, hoping, someone will come and help him. However, most only look worried and stare for a few moments before they go back to what they were doing. He recognizes these people, afterall, he’s lived in the same area with them all his life. The only ones that seem worried are a few shoppers that he doesn’t recognize, most talking quickly on their phones. Izuku can only hope they are calling the police, but they also don’t try to stop the large villain.
The praise the villain was giving him almost seems like a joke now. Was he just trying to lower Izuku’s guard? But it didn’t feel like the sarcastic compliments he would normally get.
“No, let go of me!” The boy's heart beats out of his chest as he continues pushing and struggling.
Izuku knows the statistics for people like him. Most quirkless kids die around their high school years for a multitude of reasons, one of which being targeted attacks on them. He remembers being all too curious a year or two ago, and learning he didn’t have long before he’d become another statistic was crushing.
But still, he needs to get home to his mom. He already scared her enough from the sludge villain, he can’t die here!
The villain doesn’t care for his struggling through, it hardly seems to phase him. “Boss’ orders, little fighter.” The man says, voice slightly muffled in the mask. “Wants to meet you.”
“He w-wants to meet me?! Why?!” Izuku asks in a panic.
“Quirkless. Free of sickness others have, only one we've found thanks to the reporters overhearing that loud blond boy.” The villain carries Izuku to a sleek black car with someone in the driver seat waiting. This was planned.
Izuku whimpers in a mix of confusion and fear, trying to wrap his head around the information given, but no matter how hard he tries, he doesn’t understand. All he knows is that he’s been targeted for his quirk status, and Bakugo is the one who told the world.
He eventually realizes fighting is doing nothing and no one is coming to help him, so he stops struggling in the hopes he won’t get hurt if he complies.
“Don't worry, little fighter, you're the guest of honor.” The villain opens the doors to the backseat and tosses Izuku inside. It's built like a police car with a cage between him and the front, likely the doors only open from the outside too. The cupcakes are tossed on the seat next to him as Izuku tries to situate himself in the seat. The villain shuts the door to head up front before Izuku can even try to do anything.
The other person in the car is a terrifying man in a ragged burlap sack mask that covers his entire head and is held by a rope knot around his neck, like a scarecrow. He is grumbling about being hungry as he looks at the cupcakes in the rear view mirror.
Izuku curls up in his seat, tearing up as he looks at the cupcakes that were meant to be a gift for his mom. He just hopes he will be let go in one piece.
He doubts cupcakes will be enough of an apology for this.
He wipes his tears and nervously looks at the other man. “…I-If you want… you can take one?” He offers. It’s not like they’ll be much use to him now.
“Food?” The man seems to perk up at this as the other laughs.
“Focus on driving first, Tabe.” The large man looks back at Izuku, just as relaxed as he was talking earlier. “His quirk's drawback makes him hungry all the time so we try to keep any eating on a time table. You can still share, but not while we are driving or he might eat the car and us.”
Izuku blinks, wiping away his tears. “I-it makes him hungry?” He quickly tries to redirect his mind on something he knows will be comforting. Quirks. “‘Eat the car and us’…. Does that mean he can eat more than just normal edible food?” Izuku asks sheepishly.
"Yeah." The man, who really should give a name, pats his... friend? Coworker? On the shoulder. "Tabe here can eat anything! Still haven't won any eating contests against him, but it's a good fight every time!"
"Rappa..." Tabe says, sounding embarrassed at how happy the other man, Rappa, sounds.
“That’s a really cool quirk.” Izuku nods slowly. “If you can eat anything then the possibilities are endless. The only limitations would be if your teeth are like anyone else's, then you would risk breaking your teeth. If you don’t have those limitations though then you could get through anything if there’s something in the way. Plus if you work smart enough you can get rid of any enemies weapons, break out of any sort of containment, you can do a lot, really. Hard to catch someone who can just eat through any obstacle and…. Stuff… yeah.” He blushes when he realizes he was rambling and curls up on himself more.
“Aww, you got a fan, Tabe!” Rappa slaps his own leg amused. “And yeah, his teeth are stronger so no worries, little fighter.”
“Talks fast and smart, like Boss.” Tabe says as he drives (when did they start moving?) farther and farther away from his home.
Izuku is thoroughly embarrassed by the amount of compliments he’s been getting in such a short amount of time. Don’t get him wrong, he’s still terrified, but he doesn’t think kidnappings are meant to be like this. Where are the threats of murder or mocking words of fake encouragement?
“I just like picking apart quirks… a lot of heroes have weaknesses villains can exploit or things they can do to make themselves stronger that they just don’t think of. As a hero, you want to cover all your bases, so you should know your weaknesses and how to make them not as damaging and generally know what to do when they are taken advantage of in some way.” Izuku sheepishly explains.
“Ahhh, little fighter is a quirk analyst.” Rappa nods sagely. “Pretty good profession, well sought after.”
“It’s just a hobby...” Izuku mumbles. “I didn’t have a quirk of my own so analyzing quirks was the next best thing.”
“Sounded like more than a hobby, little fighter.” Rappa chuckles. “Don't sell yourself so short, you can't afford to lose any more height.”
Izuku blinks.
“…W- Hey! I’m still growing! I could get taller than you someday, you don’t know!” He argues.
“Ha! I look forward to a fight when you get there!” Rappa laughs, but not in the same cruel way the other kids or adults do at school. He is just loud and happy for a villain it seems.
Izuku’s eyes sparkle with a strange feeling, now incredibly conflicted. This is… just really weird. He decides to not speak anymore, or at least not start any conversations, until they get to whatever their destination is. He stays curled up in the corner for most of the ride, looking out the window as they drive to who knows where.
They drive for a long time, past places he recognizes and quickly places he’s never seen in his life, and into an entirely different prefecture even, before they pull up to the gates of a massive traditional looking compound with a symbol of some kind on it. Whatever villains they are, they are powerful enough to not hide in the same way most do. That leaves Izuku far more nervous than he had moments before.
What if he doesn’t come out of this alive?
Izuku’s phone weighs heavy in his pocket, but he knows not to do anything yet, not in plain sight. He might be able to hide it long enough until he's alone.
“We're here!” Rappa says happily as Tabe gets past the gate and heads to an underground garage. There are guards at the entrance.
“Uhm... where is ‘here’, exactly..?” Izuku asks.
“Welcome to the Shie Hassaika, little fighter! The last Yakuza group in Japan.” Rappa says proudly.
Izuku blinks. “Oh.”
Someone needs to explain to Izuku how he got wrapped up in getting kidnapped by a Yakuza group?!?
“You should feel honored, little fighter!” Rappa says. “Not many can say they met any Yakuza, let alone two high ranking members or the Boss.”
“Met and lived.” Tabe adds.
“Ah, true. Met and lived.” Rappa nods as they park.
Izuku holds in any physical or vocal reaction. As terrified as he is, he should try to not show that, right? He doesn’t know what the Yakuza want with him, but showing fear is probably the worst idea. He wipes away his forming tears and squeezes his eyes shut until he can semi-confidently open them again without waterfalls coming out of his eyes.
“Am I… going to live?” Izuku forces himself to ask, the shaking in his voice obvious despite his attempts at hiding it.
“I hope so! We have a fight when you're bigger, can't do that if you die.” Rappa laughs again, yet it's still not the cruel laughs Izuku is used to.
“Impress the Boss and you'll be fine.” Tabe says. “Time to get out. Running is useless.”
Izuku assumed as much. Running when he’s already in the Yakuza’s base, surrounded by criminals, sounds like a horrible idea. But how does he even impress the head of the Yakuza? What do Yakuza members like? All he has with him is cupcakes and a bag full of school supplies for crying out loud!
“R-right, okay.” Izuku half considers pulling out his phone and saying his last goodbyes to his mom, but he knows that’s a bad idea. Just do what they say, and maybe he’ll make it out alive?
Unlikely, but he has to try…
Rappa gets out first and stretches, back and knees popping from being in a normal sized car. Tabe gets out and goes to Izuku's door to let him out, eyes mainly focused on the box he has.
The green haired boy climbs out of the car with the pastries in hand. He looks down at the container of four decently big cupcakes. Frowning at the thought of his mother, he opens up the container and takes out a cupcake, offering one to Tabe. “I-I did offer..”
“Thanks.” Tabe nods as he takes it, the mouth of his mask opening to show a quirk changed mouth, much wider than normal and with larger teeth. A mutation that likely made life harder without the eating quirk added to it.
Izuku tries not to stare, though his quirk obsessed brain is running wild with thoughts. He looks at the container he’s closing instead.
“I guess.. let’s go?” Izuku asks shyly. He’d rather not, but waiting too long isn’t a good idea.
“That's the spirit.” Rappa is smiling behind the mask.
Izuku bites his tongue to stop himself from mentioning he actually has no spirit right now. “I hope it isn’t weird to bring in a pack of cupcakes inside a Yakuza… headquarters-place.” He mumbles to himself instead as he follows Rappa and Tabe deeper into the compound.
“Heh, we still like sweets and stuff like normal people.” Rappa says in amusement. "We don't just do ‘evil’ things and eat ‘evil’ foods.”
“…Should I have brought evil cupcakes instead?” Izuku jokes.
“Ha! This kid is a riot, Tabe.” Rappa laughs, startling some people they pass not in bird masks. Do the masks show rank?
Izuku weakly smiles. At least his last peaceful moments will be… surprisingly nice. Rappa doesn’t seem to be condescending in his words, which is a nice change of pace.
Maybe he should be paying more attention to his surroundings, thinking of escape plans, or how to impress the Yakuza boss, but…
He knows he won’t be able to anyways. He’s not strong or smart or talented in anything. He has nothing to offer the Yakuza, and in the end, that will be his downfall.
…He’ll just focus heavily on what it feels like to be alive until he is unable to.
They pass a few people that give Izuku double takes as they walk. Either because he is a small kid just walking around, the bright happy cupcakes, or the fact two high ranking members are with him casually is hard to tell. Eventually, they reach a large ornate door.
The Boss' door.
“Alright little fighter, here it is.” Rappa nods.
“Okay…” Izuku hesitates, but knows there’s no other option. He takes a deep breath before nodding to Rappa.
“Word of advice,” Taba starts as Rappa knocks. “Boss hates germs, so avoid touching him.”
Izuku smiles. “Thanks for the advice, Tabe-san.” He doesn’t seem that bad too, if you forget the fact the man helped kidnap him.
Tabe nods as a bored voice calls them in, Rappa quickly opening the door for them after.
Izuku follows them inside, fidgeting nervously as he looks around the boring looking room. The only thing that stands out is it’s… very clean? It reminds Izuku of a hospital. There's a few medical and quirk books on the desk, but nothing else stands out to Izuku.
Besides the boss himself.
The man behind the desk is a weird mix of casual business man and... exotic bird? Over-the-top plague doctor? His hair and clothes are pretty plain for a world of quirks, but the big fluffy purple boa and ornate leather mask bring out the bird theme he seems to have.
Do villains always have themes like this? They're like theater kids that went evil.
“We got the little fighter, Boss!” Rappa says, nudging Izuku forward and forcing him back to reality.
The Yakuza leader doesn’t look up from his papers until Rappa calls out. He seems to perk up and looks at Izuku intently.
Izuku tenses up at the attention, but he manages to give a polite, curt bow.
The Yakuza leader gets up and moves his papers to a folder on the desk before he walks around it to stand before Izuku. He has a good 5 inches of height over Izuku and the sharp gold eyes that look at Izuku as if he were a bug he wants to take apart is not helping the terror of meeting him.
“Greetings, Midoriya Izuku.” The Yakuza leader says. Izuku’s mouth runs dry hearing his full name. His mom and him watched the news report when they finally had a moment of peace, and not once was his name said. "I am Overhaul, leader of the Shie Hassaikai."
Izuku’s used to this feeling of wanting to cower and run away, but being forced to stand on anyways. He is used to this from the bullying Bakugo and his friends would put him through, the explosions and burns he constantly got, he knows this feeling all too well. However, it's now more terrifyingly life threatening. At least he knew Bakugo wouldn’t kill him, despite the death threats he constantly threw at him. Bakugo couldn’t kill him if he wanted to be a hero. He can’t say the same now. He could die at any moment.
“Hello… O-Overhaul-sama.” Izuku decides to not focus on however scared he is and just focus on being nice and polite, like always. He doubts he’ll be able to stop himself from shaking in front of the Yakuza when he already trembles just from Bakugo, but he at least can show he won’t back down. So, he makes sure to not break eye contact. Just be the nice, quiet, polite quirkless kid, and maybe he’ll survive.
“How polite, most children are rather rude nowadays.” Overhaul hums and tilts his head in a bird-like way. It would be funny to Izuku if he wasn’t in this position. “Although, with the unfair treatment you receive from the rats out there, you likely have to be polite to everyone. Even if they don't deserve it.”
Shit, he’s gotten caught already. “Ah… k-kind of?” Izuku’s really not sure how to go about this, but maybe making conversation is the best way to go? “B-but there’s also the side of things where if you're too polite, people think you're mocking them or being disrespectful so… you uh, tend to learn what to avoid though.”
“Hmm, true.” Overhaul looks to his two men and waves them away. “You two can go now, clean off the filth of the outside.”
Izuku tries to not panic more than he already is and instead turns to politely wave at them. “Bye Rappa-san, bye Tabe-san...”
“Bye, little fighter!” Rappa waves and leads Tabe out. “Gonna get this guy fed, see you later!”
“See you later…” Hopefully. Once the doors close, Izuku focuses his attention back on Overhaul.
“Now then, Midoriya.” Overhaul goes back to his desk and waves for him to follow. "I'm sure you're wondering why I have you here."
Izuku reluctantly follows the villain, making sure to stay an arms length away. “Yeah... It was uh, not what I expected to happen on a Tuesday afternoon.”
“Have a seat and I can tell you.” Overhaul nods to a normal looking chair for Izuku but it has medical paper over it like an exam seat in a clinic.
Either he really leans into the medical plague doctor theme, or has a legitimate issue with germs that affects his day to day life. Tabe mentioned it, but most people aren’t this strict with their dislikes, and his words earlier about getting clean is making it seem like the latter. Odd, but he supposed this is Overhaul's area to control, so Izuku won’t judge? He just never expected a villain to have a phobia of germs of all things.
Izuku sits down and anxiously fidgets as he waits to hear what the point of this all was.
“I suppose the simplest way to say this is that you have a gift the rest of the world needs.” Overhaul starts, the intense look he’s giving not going away. Izuku is finding it very hard to not break eye contact.
“A... gift?” Izuku fidgets nervously. “I don't think I understand..”
The villain continues. "Quirks are a sickness that I plan to destroy to clean the filth away, clean like it used to be before them." Overhaul states, no joking tone or humor in his voice. "You, Midoriya, are clean from the filth and the perfect example of my goal."
“You want to destroy quirks!?” Izuku’s mind starts racing faster than he can keep up with. “But that shouldn’t be possible, you would have to destroy the entire biology of a person's quirk, which hasn’t happened ever. You have a higher chance of killing the person rather than just getting rid of their quirk. There are quirks that temporarily disable other quirks, but fully destroying quirks is unheard of because of the way they are ingrained in human DNA and not like pre-quirk era fantasy stories where you can just take the powers away-“
Izuku slaps a hand over his mouth and mumbles an apology, less embarrassed this time and more nervous. His mumblings get him yelled at a lot, and he really rather not upset the Yakuza boss.
"You know your quirks." Overhaul says, sounding... impressed? Izuku blinks at him in confusion before letting his hand fall back down to his lap.
“…W-what I meant was just that it sounds like a near impossible task.” Izuku says sheepishly.
"Exactly, near impossible." Overhaul does the head tilt again. "We found a way."
Izuku’s eyes widened. “You did??” He’s entirely terrified, but he wonders if he’s allowed to be ever so slightly fascinated.
"It still has some... issues to work out to make it permanent unless we undo it, but we can stop quirk factors for up to a day now." Overhaul says.
“That’s-” How does Izuku even respond to this? The thought leaves a cold chill down his back, but he doesn’t want to sound rude either, and it's not like he isn’t curious. “-Incredible in a technological view. Having the ability to disable a quirk for up to a day without it being a quirk’s work is unheard of, and… it does show how close the process is to doing what you want…” He trails off.
"Mhm. We mostly use it to stop Tabe's quirk drawbacks when they get out of hand, but the goal is to stop the quirks of the world." Overhaul says. "Which is why we collected you.”
“Because I was born quirkless...” Izuku looks down at his hands. “I’m a prime example of what you want to achieve…”
"Correct." Overhaul nods. "We also wanted to get you away from the filth and pain from the outside before they killed you like the other quirkless we found, we never got them in time, not before you."
Izuku shifts nervously in his seat. On one hand, the reasons Overhaul is telling him he’s here are weirdly kind? Too kind for the Yakuza, there’s likely some sort of catch. And on top of that, their obsession with causing the world to go back to being quirkless is terrifying because he’s now kind of involved?
Izuku quickly goes to defend. “I-it’s not all bad! I mean sure, my classmates tease me but what kid hasn’t gotten bullied in school? People don’t respect me but children aren’t usually anyways. Heroes think I’m in the way, and no one believes I can accomplish my dreams, I get charged unfair prices at stores and… I...” Izuku looks down, memories of the treatment he’s faced his entire life making his eyes sting. “…maybe it’s pretty bad...”
"Yes, my men have seen how you are treated when they were researching you." Overhaul sounds like he is frowning behind the mask. "We all have similar backstories due to our own quirk status but you, oh, your treatment was something surprising even to us for one so young and free of sickness."
Izuku fidgets uncomfortably. “No one likes the quirkless… and no one knows how it feels to be one. Being a kid means nothing.” Izuku glares at his hands, resentment he often pushes away suddenly bubbling up. “I’m quirkless before I’m human.”
"Which is a shame, being quirkless makes you human." Overhaul says. "Before the sickness of quirks, everyone was quirkless and the world worked perfectly. Science was constantly advancing, we were exploring space, and finding ways to better the world. Quirkless people did far more than any quirked person ever did. In fact, the obsession with quirks and hero sickness has moved progression backwards ."
Izuku finds himself agreeing quietly.
“It’s so stupid how everyone treats me like I’m glass! As if I’m just some- some weak and frail thing that needs protecting or is in the way. And it's all just because I don’t have a quirk.” Izuku huffs in frustration, a strange feeling of relief appearing inside him. “Quirkless people can be just as strong if we lived long enough to become that strong.”
"That's what I am going to offer here." Overhaul says, his tone of voice more curious as the conversation progresses. "The compound is safe from the outside and can help you grow. It will only get more dangerous from here for you out there, no high schools accept quirkless children, even if they say they do.”
“Oh.” Izuku’s fingers fidget and tap against each other as he remembers the situation he’s in. “I don’t mean this at all in a rude way, but what’s the catch? You're a Yakuza boss so... you’d want to make use of me in some way, right?”
"Smart questions." Overhaul nods. "There would be a few tests to find what makes you quirkless and how to replicate it, but my quirk can undo those in seconds and without scars. The other thing is as a babysitter."
“A… babysitter?” Izuku tilts his head.
"Yes," Overhaul takes a photo from a shelf behind the desk to show Izuku. It has an older man sitting with a little silver haired girl on his lap, they are smiling with two other people behind them. They look like the girl's parents.
"This is Eri. She is my Boss' granddaughter and was intrusted into my care after he went into a coma and I took over." Overhaul goes on to explain. "I... am not good with children. They are sticky and can carry so many germs. I need someone to care for her, someone that isn't a criminal that would scare her, and younger so she doesn’t get uncomfortable."
Izuku looks at the photo, his expression softening. He’s always had a soft spot for children, they are so full of light and joy, he even remembers begging his parents for a little sibling before his quirkless diagnosis.
He looks down at the pack of cupcakes on his lap.
His mom….
His mom would be better off without him, wouldn’t she? She gave up on her aspirations and dreams to help raise a quirkless kid who would likely die before adulthood. She deserved so much more than that. Maybe leaving without saying goodbye is cruel, but there's a chance that if he doesn’t agree, his mom might not even get his corpse to bury. At least like this, there's minimal amounts of pain on both sides, right?
He misses her already.
“…Alright.” Izuku says softly. “Yeah, I can… I can do that.”
"Glad you agreed." Overhaul sets the photo back before he gets up. "I can show you to your new room and meet Eri."
“Right, okay..” Izuku stands up, breathing a sigh of relief as he realizes he managed to survive.
Overhaul waves for him to follow, and as they walk he keeps a slight distance between them. Most people did that because he is quirkless, but this doesn't feel the same. Overhaul has a very high status, and it's another point to the fear of germs again.
Izuku wonders if he should get a normal medical mask or something. Nothing fancy like the cool bird masks the higher ranking Yakuza have, but he rather not stand out or make Overhaul uncomfortable with his fear of germs.
That’s something for later him to figure out. For now, he follows Overhaul, at least now less anxious than before and able to focus on the hallways around them. He doesn’t really get the Yakuza vibes from this place, though he supposes it makes sense that the place isn’t decked out in weapons like villains from shows have. It just feels out of place for everything to look so normal.
They get some bows as they pass people that notice Overhaul but no one stops them as they go down the halls. Overhaul leads Izuku to a normal looking wall that opens up to a secret part of the compound that only bird masked people pass them in, even the guards outside the room Izuku is taken to have bird masks.
Izuku feels horribly out of place for many, many reasons, one right now being the lack of a bird mask. But then again, that might be reassurance to Eri that he’s not a criminal and just another kid that somehow managed to be in this place. He hopes that will be the case at least.
"Move aside, we are here for Eri." Overhaul orders. The guard bows and steps aside, sparing a glance for Izuku but not saying anything.
Overhaul opens the door to a small room, childrens toys laying around and there are some comfort objects but... it feels more like a cell than a kids room.
Izuku frowns as he peeks inside wondering just how long she’s been in such a limiting environment. He doubts he’ll have much influence here, but maybe he can suggest things to help? Overhaul did say he was bad with kids, maybe he just doesn’t know what kids need?
On a bed in the corner sits the little girl. She seems weary of the two of them, but not fully scared from her pile of blankets and a couple plushies. Her big curious and confused red eyes look at Izuku’s green ones.
He steps inside the girl’s room, but doesn’t get too close to her fortress. He never liked it when people intruded on his safe space, especially when he didn’t know them, so this seems like a safe bet. “Hello Eri.” Izuku says softly. “My name is Izuku Midoriya. It’s nice to meet you.”
"H-hello." Eri’s voice is soft and quiet. "Why... Why are you here?" She glances at Overhaul only for a second, but Izuku notices the fear in her eyes.
“Overhauls hired me to be a babysitter for you.” Izuku says. “I’d basically be watching over you and making sure you're safe.” He explains with a soft smile.
"A... boy nanny?" Eri squints at the new word. He shouldn’t be too surprised, being the granddaughter of a Yakuza boss means she likely had high class versions of things, so nanny instead of babysitter is probably all she had before now.
Izuku chuckles. “I don’t think I would be too different from a nanny, so yeah! Think of it like that.”
"Oh... You don't look like a nanny, you're not old!" Eri says in that ‘offended’ way kids do.
The masked guard snorts, but coughs to cover it up as he looks away. Overhaul just sighs and side steps away from the guard.
Izuku snickers at Eri’s words and the reactions it caused. “No, I’m not. I’m probably closer to your age then I am to most of the people here.” Izuku explains. “Babysitters are usually around my age actually. We’re different from nanny’s in that way, but it’s also good, cause we can get along better! We can play games and complain about stinky adults.”
Eri wrinkles their nose and nods. "Adults smell like cleaning stuff and American pennies grandpa showed me."
“Exactly. You can complain all you want to me about stinky adults since I am not a sticky adult.“ Izuku smiles brighter. He’s making progress!
Eri giggles softly and wiggles in her nest to get closer.
A quiet alert goes off behind him, causing Overhaul to check his phone. He looks at Izuku for a moment before nodding to himself, as if deciding things are going well enough for him to leave and the guard closes the door. Izuku perks up at this, now seeing an opportunity to try and get closer with Eri without the uncomfortableness of a Yakuza boss watching. He takes a couple steps closer to her while he talks.
"Even better, because we're both kids, we both can have a silent agreement to not snitch on each other, yeah?" Izuku says softly. It might be good to establish this sort of trust early on. With them both being kids stuck in the Yakuza, there’s no way they won’t get in trouble or break some sort of rule at some point. He doubts punishments here would be sitting in a corner and thinking about his actions.
Eri tilts her head. "Snitch?"
“Snitches are people that tell on others and get them in trouble.” Izuku says. “So if we agree not to snitch, we agree to not get each other into trouble. I’ll have your back if someone suspects you of any child-crimes.”
"Ooooh, we can commit crime?" Eri asks, eyes sparkling. "Grandpa said I was too small for crime."
The older generations are talking about crime younger and younger nowadays, huh? “Child sized crime.” Izuku explains. “Like stealing an extra cookie from the cookie jar. Big kid crime will be allowed when you're bigger.”
"Oh, okay." Eri nods and whispers. "Are we committing child crimes? Is that why you asked?"
“Not now…” Izuku whispers back. “But later we can commit some child crimes.”
Izuku is now standing in front of Eri and her bed, with no negative reactions yet. “Mind if I sit with you?”
Eri nods and scoots over in her nest. It's a little small for Izuku to get in but he’s able to sit down next to the nest, which is the next best thing.
“Thanks.” Izuku smiles and sits down. He looks down at the cupcakes and opens the container. “Actually , the first crime of our friendship...” He takes out and offers her one of the cupcakes.
Eri gasps as her eyes sparkle. "Is that okay?"
“I’m offering! If anyone finds out, you're free to blame me.” Izuku says with a grin.
"But..." Eri frowns. "I don't want you to get in trouble. Overhaul is mean."
Izuku keeps his smile up for her. “That’s very sweet of you, Eri. But well… I think he’d be more upset if I wasted them or let them rot and get all gross.” He shrugs. “Overhaul put me in charge of watching over you, so it’s my job to keep you happy and safe. If he doesn’t like the way I do that, then it’s his fault for not being specific.”
"Hmm… okay." Eri nods. "You are in charge."
Eri reaches over and takes the one Izuku offered. With a seriousness normally seen in a hard task, she takes off the wrapper and proceeds to pull the lower part in half and flip it onto the icing to make a little sandwich, her movements slow and careful to avoid crumbs in her nest.
Izuku only smiles fondly as he watches Eri.
This isn’t so bad. He can handle spending his days taking care of this kid. He gently pats Eri’s head, careful to not accidentally brush over the little horn on her forehead.
Eri twitches and looks up at him for a moment, staring at him as if she expects him to do something, before she shyly leans into his side and goes back to munching. She seems much more relaxed, and he spends the next few moments in comfortable silence with Eri, allowing himself to slowly process everything that’s happened. He’s tired but strangely happy that he’s here if he can help this kid. Though it probably helps that he hasn’t processed anything that’s happened quite yet.
Eri eventually finishes her cupcake and yawns, rubbing her eyes. Her arm raised allows Izuku to see some small band-aids on her arms that were previously covered by her blanket fort. He frowns slightly, his first instinct to ask what happened, but deciding not to. There are far too many band-aids for comfort, but she also could just be a clumsy kid. He can’t jump to conclusions yet.
“Hm, it is pretty late isn’t it?” Izuku asks, trying to distract himself when he really has no clue what time it is. “Ready for bed, Eri?”
"Yeah.” Eri looks around her tiny room. “Where will you go?"
“Overhaul said I have a room, so it’s probably separate from yours?” Izuku shrugs. “I don’t think I should leave until he comes back though… that sounds not safe.”
"Oh..." Eri frowns. "You have to go..."
“It’s okay! I’ll be back tomorrow.” Izuku reassures her.
"You will?" Eri asks.
“Yeah! I’m your babysitter for… until further notice.” Izuku smiles brightly.
"Okay..." Eri nods and burrows back into her nest. "I don't like being alone."
“I’ll spend as much time as I can with you.” Izuku says softly, continuing to gently pet over her head. Eri nods and settles into his side more, getting more and more tired until she curls up and falls asleep.
Izuku doesn’t move much, letting the girl sleep on his side while he waits. He can’t imagine being surrounded by adult Yakuza members all the time would be very fun for a young kid like Eri. Little kids need kids their own age, way more toys, really just a lot more than what she has now. He hopes that he can at least help her let out her inner Child Chaos™️ in a way the adults probably wouldn’t be able to.
It's not long after Eri falls asleep that the door opens with a click and who enters is Overhaul again. He looks pretty much the same but there is some blood he is cleaning off his gloves with a cloth that makes Izuku’s face pale.
"Sorry for the delay, there was an issue with some lower level members." Overhaul explains. "It has been dealt with."
“I-it’s alright.” Izuku keeps his voice soft to not disturb Eri. “It gave Eri some time to warm up to me, so it all worked out.” He pointedly avoids looking anywhere near the blood. He needs to remember that the people here are dangerous criminals, he has to be careful.
"Wonderful to hear." Overhaul nods. "I can take you to your room. Rappa will be by later to bring you food, it is too soon to join the others in the cafeteria as they may attack you."
“That’s okay. It will take some time to get used to the new environment anyways, so eating with a bunch of people might be overwhelming.” Izuku would shrug, but then remembers Eri still cuddled against his side.
Carefully, he leans Eri back and on to her nest. Once he makes sure she doesn’t stir, he makes sure to cover her with her blanket before standing up. “There we go.”
"Hmm..." Overhaul seems to be observing how he acts with Eri with a slight head tilt. "You're very... kind, for someone treated like you have been. Are you not angry?"
Izuku blinks at him. “Angry?”
"The world has hurt you many times, why are you not angry at it? Why are you still kind?" Overhaul asks.
Izuku is silent for a moment, his smile falling. He’s never really thought about it. “If I got angry at the store owner for giving me damaged items or always pricing their things higher for me, would that convince them to change the price?” He looks over at Overhaul. “I do sometimes get angry, but… if I wasn’t kind, I think I would already be dead by now.”
"Hmm." Overhaul nods and leads him out, Izuku following behind. "It's commendable you stayed kind for so long."
“Is it?” Izuku shrugs as they walk through the halls. “It’s just second nature for me.”
"All of us have faced oppression and the cruelty of the world, we are not kind like you. We can be nice enough to each other but that is mostly a necessity for working and living together as an organization." Overhaul points out. "You are just kind to be kind. That is suspicious to us as people always want something."
“Oh.” Izuku nods in understanding. “That makes sense… I think I’m just spineless though. Can’t be mean to people if you don’t have the confidence to be.” He jokes.
Mostly. He mostly jokes. There’s some weight to it.
"Keep the kindness, Eri will need it more than we will. We can just teach you to be mean when you need to be, but don't lose it."
Izuku hums in understanding, looking at the tall villain curiously. He doesn’t seem too bad now that he’s not fearing for his life as bad.
Eventually they stop at another cell-like room. "This is yours, it has a shower attached unlike Eri's. She is too young for one alone." Overhaul explains.
Definitely a new change compared to what Izuku’s used to, but he’ll survive. A cell-like room is better than an actual cell. He walks into the room, but turns to smile nervously at the Yakuza boss and give a polite bow. “Thank you, Overhaul-sama.”
“You’re welcome.” Overhaul nods. "Rappa will be by later for dinner, have a good night, Midoriya."
“Goodnight.” Izuku wakes as Overhaul leaves. The door closes without the lock click like Eri's did.
That feels odd. Sure, he agreed to stay, but for all Overhaul knows, he could be planning to leave at any moment. Wouldn’t locking the door ensure he couldn’t?
Izuku decides not to question it and waits patiently instead, just in case Overhaul comes back. When he doesn’t, he pulls out his phone to check if anyone’s called or messaged or tried to make any sort of contact with him.
There isn't anything.
But the full bars of service stare right back at him.
After a long few moments of contemplation, he looks through his contacts and picks a number on the short list. As it rings, he goes into the farthest corner in the room and sits down, setting the cupcake container down next to him. The phone rings for a few times before it picks up and a rough voice answers.
"Why the fuck do you have my number, Deku!?" Comes Bakugo’s voice.
Izuku tears up. Finally, something he knows and understands. He’s at least used to this.
“S-sorry Kacchan..” Izuku weakly laughs, keeping his voice low and quiet. “I-I know I’m not supposed to call you but Auntie Mitsuki gave it to me for emergencies...”
"What do you want Deku?" Bakugo grouches out. "And why not call the hag? Bother her with your issue."
“I…” Izuku fidgets, trying to give a good enough reason for Bakugo to not hang up on him. “She wouldn’t have a good reaction or be able to think clearly… you can think rationally… so…”
"Spit it out already!" Bakugo snaps.
Izuku tenses up. Bakugo’s yelling already causes spikes of fear, and in such a tense moment, it’s not helping.
“…” What’s even the point of this? Why did he think this was a good idea? Kacchan is the exact thing Overhaul described when they talked. Why isn’t he angry? Why is he begging to be heard and listened to and saved by someone who doesn’t care and never will?
“…Right. Nevermind.” Izuku mumbles. “Thanks for your answer, I guess. Bye Kacchan.” He doesn’t want this to be the last time they speak, so he doesn’t hang up just yet, waiting, hoping he’s wrong. Hoping that Bakugo will say something. He’s gripping onto any last grains of hope that the loud teen will notice something is wrong.
"Whatever. Don't bother me again, Deku." Bakugo hangs up abruptly.
And that’s that. Izuku lets out a weak sob. “...I won’t, Kacchan.”
He spends a second looking at Bakugo’s contact before shutting off his phone completely. It won’t be any use to him anymore. He knows the police probably wouldn’t try to track his phone, so there’s no point in getting rid of it. Besides, it will stop him from being tempted to check if anyone bothered to check on him.
He’ll only get hurt from the horrible truth he’s been ignoring for years.
With nothing better to do, Izuku heads to the shower to get clean. Maybe a hot shower can help him feel better, wash off the past as he lives his new life.