Nezu's POV

It had taken several weeks to accumulate the necessary evidence about Izuku's past. First steps being to track down his former school and guardians. His guardians were the Bakugo family. They had a son that was the same age as Izuku. Unsurprisingly those who were supposed to be looking after the young wolf didnt file a police report on his disappearance until after he stopped showing up at school. Nezu for his part already alerted Tsukauchi Naomasa to what was going on.

Tsukauchi was a favored detective within the police force. His quirk was Lie Detector which made interrogations much easier. They could tell when someone was lying to them and go from there.

Nezu had done some searching through the school's records. Izuku's records did not match what he had seen of the child. If he simply went by what they said he would think the boy was a quirkless attention seeker. That he constantly caused trouble for those with quirks out of jealousy.

Izuku was not in any way shape or form an attention seeker. Even when he used Nezu as a chew toy the rat could see that. Any attention he was given was met with suspicion even from his soulmate.

According to the records, the main "victim" of the boy's antagonism was Bakugo Katsuki. The very same Bakugo family was supposed to taking care of the boy. Nezu was disgusted by the humans' attitude to the quirkless. They saw quirkless as less than animals. They didn't care if children never become adults because of their interactions.

While Tsukauchi was gathering information at Bakugo's house Nezu went with Fatgum to Aldera Middle School. Under normal circumstances, he would have gone with the detective but he still needed to gather more information from the school. That was best gathered in person.

Fatgum going with him was to put the humans at ease. They wouldn't be nearly as talkative if he went alone. In reality, he could have chosen any hero or officer to go with him but he chose Fatgum for his lack of ties to Aizawa and his attitude towards children. Fatgum was well-liked by children all throughout the country. The feeling seemed to be mutual and by the flash of anger in the blond hero's eyes, he knew he chose right.

Their investigation into the school was what he expected. The teachers regularly ignored bullying by those with strong "heroic" quirks on those who had weaker quirks. Nezu was easily able to find footage of the misdeeds.

With the footage, they received the rat and the hero went back to the police station. Tsukauchi was already back and looking more exhausted than normal.

When Nezu and Fatgum sat across from him Tsukauchi pushed a notepad to them. On it was a list of questions with answers written out under them. Nezu frowned as he read through them.

It seemed Bakugo Katsuki's mother was a family friend of the Midoriya family. She had known Inko for years before her death. It was their hope that Izuku and Katsuki would grow up as brothers. Not that it turned out that way. She didnt know that her son was bullying the younger boy.

When asked about why she never reported Izuku missing she said she had. The ones who took the report never followed up on it though. They didnt seem to care once they heard that the boy was quirkless.

Nezu had to stop reading for a moment at that. Young Midoriya was not quirkless he had seen the transformation in action personally. Yet according to the woman and confirmed by Tsukauchi the boy was legally declared quirkless at 4. Something wasnt right here and he would figure it sooner or later.

After explaining what he had found Nezu tried to formulate a plan. They could go ahead and charge the youngest Bakugo with a range of charges. This would prevent him from going into a hero school and bring justice to Izuku. The problem was he knew that the boy wouldn't want Bakugo's life to be ruined in such a way. He had too big of a heart for one so young. Even if it was hidden under the fear of being hurt by someone again.

Nezu said tiredly, "Knowing Izuku he isn't going to want to ruin young Bakugo's chances at being a hero. As much as I would like to blacklist him from UA and the other hero schools it would destroy any trust I have earned."

Tsukauchi hummed in way of reply as he was going over the information they gathered on Aldera Middle School.

On the other side of things, Fatgum was not so easily placated, "This child acts more like a villain than a hero. If a hero caught him know the act he would be charged with illegal quirk usage. I think we should make note that if he is accepted into UA he will have to have mandatory counseling sessions with Hound Dog."

"A lot of hero schools require an interview now," butt in Tsukauchi, "Even if a student passes the practical and written portions they still have to make it through an interview. UA could add that as part of their regular exams. Have an impartial judge there who would make recommendations based on the answers. This way you cant be accused of favoritism."

Nezu agreed. That would be the best option to take care of Bakugo. Now they would need to take care of the middle school.

"This school is despicable," growled Tsukauchi, "They are severely neglecting their students. Not just young Midoriya. They need to be stopped before it gets any worse."

Nezu agreed, "Even if it lowers the amount of trust he has in me it will protect current and future students."

Izuku's POV

Christmas was fast approaching and Izuku had no idea of what he was going to get for his soulmate. Shouta wasnt a materialistic person which made finding gifts difficult. It was how he found himself in the shopping district.

Most people gave him wide berths as he passed through the crowds in the shops. His scruffy appearance likely put them off and made them think he was homeless. Not that long ago it would have been true and he wouldn't be in this area, to begin with.

However, Shouta was slowly getting him to interact with people more. Small trips to the store were growing longer. Sometimes he would go with Hizashi instead of Shouta. It wasnt something that he minded even if the blond was a loudmouth. Hizashi showed him not all loud mouth blonde's would hurt him like Bakugo.

As he exited one store he felt eyes upon him. His instincts screamed at him that they were not friendly. In the time since he started learning from Nezu, he was slowly becoming more in tune with his instincts. They were no longer blindsiding him by the moon phases.

He heard one day that Nezu hoped it would return his voice to him. It was the rat's theory that his voice would return when he accepted that he was both wolf and human. Izuku wasnt sure about if it would work but he was willing to keep trying.

Moving through the crowds of people he kept to the more populated stores. If someone was looking to kidnap him they would wait until he was alone. If it was someone looking to attack him they would have done so already. The moment they claimed he was quirkless adults would look the other way.

Discreetly he sent off a message to Shouta before placing himself in the perfect position to watch who came in. While he was watching he got a return message from Shouta but he couldn't take his eyes off the entrance. The feeling of being watched had only intensified. If he let himself get distracted then he would be attacked.

His nose twitched and the wolf inside him wanted to be let out. The feeling of being watched and so many scents were making him antsy.

Before he could consider different ways to make an escape the ground shook. Izuku had to grab the wall to remain standing even as the lights flickered.

An explosion then rocked the building even further. The lights went out and the concrete above them began to crack. Pieces of the ceiling fell towards him and the frozen civilians. Izuku didnt have a moment to think instead his body moved on its own. He pushed the civilians out of harm's way. Large pieces of debris that would have seriously injured or killed them landed where they had been seconds before.

A woman said tears clouding her eyes, "Thank you! Are you a hero?"

Izuku paused as he was turning to help other. For a moment he considered the question before he shook his head. No, he wasnt a hero. Just the soulmate of one.

"Thank you anyways. We would have been dead without your help."

Izuku gave a smile before he focused on his wolf. It would be easier to get people out in his wolf form. They might not trust him but he could track scents.

Shifting from human to wolf was like second nature. It no longer felt as if he was being torn in two. Instead, it felt as if he was coming home. Scents nearly overwhelmed him but he forced down his nervousness. People needed help and he was the best person to help.

The ground shook again causing more of the ceiling to fall. He had to grab the back of a dark-haired boy's shirt to pull him away from debris. It was followed by a push towards the entrance of the shop. The boy glanced at him and nodded before rushing towards the entrance. He barely waited for the other to reach the entrance before moving through the building.

Izuku could hear fighting going on outside even as the feeling of being watched intensified. There was a slight vibration in his chest but no sound. It was progress from what he had been before.

Moving through the collapsing building was dangerous and a task in itself. Civilians were understandably wary of him but one by one he led them out. For the most part, the civilians were high schoolers or older. Very few of them were his age or younger unless they were accompanied. Children were the first ones he led out followed by women and finally men.

As he was finally finished with the main room the roof over the entrance collapsed. Dust filled the air and sent him into a coughing fit. There was a cry of pain from further in the building. It was muffled but Izuku's enhanced hearing caught it.

Izuku moved carefully through the building sniffing trying to catch a scent. There were too many scents that belonged to the civilians. He couldn't figure out the difference between them and the one who cried out.

His ears perked up when he heard another cry out. It was coming from the backroom and he wanst that far. Finding the backroom was easy and the door was pushable rather than have to shift back to his human form.

The backroom had a mostly caved in roof and he could see a person laying on the concrete. Part of the person's leg was trapped by the rubble. The person was a male wearing a long white raincoat, plague mask, his being black with gold trim, and also including circular glasses over his eyes.

Another pained sound came from the person and Izuku rushed over. From the corner of his eye, he could see the way the man stiffened but he ignored the other. Instead, he began to dig the man's leg out from under the rubble. It took a moment but the man carefully sat up next to him and began to pull rocks away. There was a flinch of pain every now and then when the weight of his leg shifted.

His ears perked up again as he heard more rumbling outside. Explosions were sounding closer and closer. He wanted to flinch away from the sound. To find a place to hide but he couldn't leave this man.

Finally, they were able to pull his leg free but the damage was extensive. From what he could see the lower leg was broken and the ankle likely was as well. It would be impossible for the man to walk without help.

Izuku moved around to the back of the man and closed his jaws around the collar of his shirt. A yelp escaped the man as Izuku pulled the man towards where he could smell fresh air. There was a brief moment of the man trying to get free but he soon stopped. He must have realized that Izuku was trying to help him.

Another explosion rocked the room and pieces of the ceiling fell. Izuku protected the injured man from the falling concrete. It knocked him down and he felt his ribs crack painfully. A silent whimper went through him.

As he tried to get back up the room spun and he collapsed back down. A voice said worriedly, "Hey puppy! Come on get up. If we stay here then we will both die."

Dazed green eyes glanced up to see grey eyes staring down at him. The goggles had been pushed up onto the man's forehead. A gentle warm hand ran through his fur as Izuku forced himself to stand. He was right they would die if they stayed here.

An unfamiliar voice called out, "Chrono where are you?"

"Kai," said the man, "He won't be able to hear us in here with the fighting going on."

Izuku grabbed the man's collar again and slowly moved them towards the exit. They were by the exit down when the roof gave way completely. He threw the man Chrono as the voice called him into the door. He wasnt able to lunge forward in time to get completely away from the debris.

His head cracked against the floor as his lower half was buried by the rubble. It was reminiscent of the way he found Chrono. The world faded into darkness seconds later.