A/N: Spoiler warning to anyone who doesn't read the manga! This isn't going to go down like it does in canon AT ALL, but there are some characters you wouldn't know about.
Monday morning dawned, and Izuku hadn't slept a wink. Just the knowledge that he was going to start the next day as an actual police officer was enough to keep him staring at the ceiling, hoping it wasn't all a dream. But the dryness in his eyes was a testament to reality. The excitement would wear off one day and he would be able to sleep again. Eventually. Probably. Maybe he needed to go see Recovery Girl.
Anyway, now it was at least a socially acceptable time to be awake (barely). Hoping to take care of some of his nerves, Izuku went for an extra long run that morning. He may have looped around the Police Station a few times, but no one would be able to prove a thing. But he was back in plenty of time to shower.
At that point Izuku couldn't resist any longer. Once the party was over, Tsukauchi had handed a uniform, which he hadn't allowed himself to try on until this very moment. Putting it on was almost a spiritual experience, carefully buttoning the freshly pressed shirt. Somehow his red sneakers even worked with the whole ensemble.
He was still an hour early when he came downstairs. Regardless, his mother was waiting with a warm breakfast. The second she saw him in his uniform, she promptly burst into tears. This led to Izuku bursting into tears as well as the two clutched one another.
"I'm so proud of you, Izuku," Inko sobbed. "You've grown up to be such a great man, and I can't believe you're already all grown up."
"I love you, Mom," Izuku said through his own tears. "Thank you for supporting me."
Inko sniffed, finally pulling away. "The food is going to get cold."
Nodding, Izuku sat down, picking up his chopsticks. It was a nice meal, relatively tearless, and as always, delicious. But soon enough they both had to leave for work, something that thrilled Izuku. Inko offered to drive him to the Police Station, but he declined. He knew he needed to have some alone time to sort out his thoughts before he got there.
As he made his way to the station, he couldn't help but recall the first timehe had set food in the place, Kimiko in tow and a madman on his tail. It had been an awakening for him - he was still able to help people, just like he'd always dreamed of. Apparently Kimiko and Kota had a playdate next week. Sasaki had started referring to them as "the Littlest Midoriyas," and Izuku couldn't find it in him to protest.
"Excuse me young man, just what do you think you're doing?" a stern voice demanded, cutting through the silence.
Izuku startled before turning to face the intimidating suited man. He looked familiar for some reason, but Izuku couldn't quite place him. "Can I help you, sir?"
He was a tall, daunting figure with everything from his hair to his shoelaces immaculately in place. The eyes behind his glasses were completely unimpressed as he surveyed Izuku. "This look of yours could almost be comical if it weren't illegal."
It was beginning to bother Izuku how familiar the man looked, but at the moment he was too… Well, he couldn't quite put a name to the emotions running through him. Regardless, they kept him from identifying the man.
"There must be some kind of misunderstanding, sir, I'm an officer at the nearest police station. I'm actually headed to work right now. If that's all you need, I wish you a good d-"
A thin hand snaked forward, clasping Izuku's shirt collar in an iron grasp. "This was hardly amusing at the start of your charade, but now it's a serious breach of the law. Come with me, young man, you are going to understand the gravity of your actions by the end of the day."
Fighting to get the man to let go, Izuku snapped, "I appreciate your dedication to preserving the sanctity of being a police officer, but at the very least you could let me go. I'm on my way to the police station. Here is my badge, because I am an officer."
His eyes flicked down to the proffered badge, still completely unimpressed. The man let go of the shirt collar, only to clasp Izuku's forearm in a death grip. "I'm assuming you have some kind of illusionary quirk. Luckily for me, I was headed to the police station as we speak, so we can kill two birds with one stone. Once we're done, I doubt you'll ever impersonate someone in a position of authority again."
The stranger was too tall, and he kept his stride long and quick, which meant that Izuku couldn't effectively keep up, instead stumbling behind the man while his face burned in embarrassment. The rest of the walk to the station felt even longer than normal, and Izuku had lost any and all pride in himself. When the man dragged him into the station, he almost cried to have all of his role models see him humiliated like this.
Kondo rose from behind the desk,dwarfed by the man but matching him in spirit. "Just what are you doing to the boy, sir?"
"This boy is obviously passing as a police officer," the man said. "I'm sure you understand the gravity of his actions."
"I'm sure you want to let go of Officer Midoriya before I taze you for assaulting an officer," Saito spat, fury blazing in her eyes.
At that the crushing grip finally relented, and Izuku flexed his fingers as feeling returned to them. Once he stepped away from the man, recognition finally dawned on him. "Oh, you're Sir Nighteye, All Might's previous sidekick. I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, but Detective Tsukauchi is expecting me."
"I am actually here to speak with the Detective as well and I'm short on time. My apologies for the whole situation, but-"
"Do you have an appointment?" Kondo asked.
"No, but the matter is urgen-"
"You'll wait," Nakamura commanded.
"Midoriya has important police business. You may be a hero, but our work doesn't pause or wait for you. If you would let us know when you're coming, we could accommodate your schedule. As it stands, the detective is in an important conference call and is currently unable to speak to either of you."
Sansa idled up to Izuku, looking regretful. "I hate to ask this of you, but it's been a hectic morning, Midoriya. Can you take Sir Nighteye to the waiting room and see that he stays there? If he stays in here too much longer Saito might punch him in the face, and we don't need to fill out paperwork explaining why it happened again."
Izuku nodded. "Yeah, I can do that, Sansa. Do we have any coffee to offer him?"
"Mori brewed it today, I would be hesitant."
"Note taken, no coffee unless I decide to enact vigilante justice and poison the man," Izuku said with a small smile.
"Remember Midoriya, you earned your spot here. You are a fully capable and certified Police Officer, and you deserve to be recognized as such. That means that you work adjacent to heroes, even Sir Nighteye. Hold your head up and be rightfully proud of what you've accomplished."
A real smile found its way to Izuku's face as he looked up at the cat officer. "Thanks, Sansa. You're the best."
"Thanks for helping me put out a few fires, Officer Midoriya," Sansa said, ruffling Izuku's hair.
Hearing those words made Izuku feel the same excitement he'd woken up with that morning. He could handle Sir Nighteye for a few minutes for the sake of the station (and Saito's career).
Izuku came into the room at exactly the right time, interrupting a heated debate between Sir Nighteye and Saito. The officer looked about to strangle the hero, and Nakamura was doing his best to restrain his partner, hissing, "He's not worth it. Who's going to prank Kimura when she's back if you're in jail?"
"Sir Nighteye, I'll show you to our waiting room while the detective is still busy with this call," Izuku said, in his approximation of a customer service voice. At least, he'd been told that working with the general public the way that police officers and EMTs do is not dissimilar to working in retail, or food service. Often you have to deal with the worst in people.
The man wordlessly followed, eyes bright and analytical. "So tell me, how did you come to be an officer at such a young age?"
"Well, it was just this year that the Police Force started the Provisional Police Program, and I was the first participant. It hasn't been well publicized because I want to operate like the rest of the Police Force, kind of working in the shadow of the heroes so I can help people more effectively. We can't all be All Might, after all," Izuku said with a bitter smile. "Would you like some tea?"
"No… indeed we can't all be All Might. Yes on the tea, though." Sir Nighteye said, staring at Izuku with an intensity that made him shift in his seat. "How did you come to be the first participant in this program? Why would they choose you? And why did you choose to become a police officer in the first place?"
"Well I originally wanted to be a hero," Izuku said, trying not to wither under the man's gaze, "but I'm quirkless, and I've been informed by several reliable sources that that isn't an option. I would probably have to say that Detective Tsukauchi noticed me the same time I realized I wanted to become a police officer. There was a little girl who had been kidnapped named Kimiko…" He told the story as quickly as possible, ending with, "And that's how I got to be noticed by Detective Tsukauchi."
Sir stared at the boy like he was trying to figure something out when it finally clicked into place. "You were the boy that took down Stain, weren't you?"
"Yes?" Izuku said, fiddling with something he had pulled from his pocket. He didn't know how to react to Sir Nighteye, the hero was unpredictable.
"You've already had a fairly illustrious career, I must commend - must you insist on playing with that… What is that?"
"Sorry," Izuku squeaked, holding the object up for scrutiny. "I do this when I get nervous sometimes, it stops me from muttering. It's a Chinese finger trap, I always have one handy after I incapacitated Shigaraki with one a while ago."
The hero choked on his tea. "You did what? Are you talking about Shigaraki Tomura, leader of the League of Villains?"
"Yes?" Izuku squeaked again, the pitch even higher this time. "I was at the mall with some friends, and he was there and threatened to kill a lot of people, but I had just gotten these at a joke shop and his quirk is activated through touching something with all five of his fingers, so I just…"
Izuku had to forcibly clamp his mouth shut, ending the deluge of information, terrified to meet the eyes of the hero that was just. Staring at him. He'd royally screwed things up this time, now Sir Nighteye would probably begin proclaiming to the masses that the Police Force was incapable, that they should have never begun the Provisional Police Program to begin with-
After a few moments of staring at the currently panicking police officer, Sir Nighteye laughed. It was a hearty laugh from the belly, and he was in no hurry to stop laughing. Izuku was petrified as he watched the man laugh enough to bring tears to his eyes. Between guffaws, Sir asked, "How did you… How did you get the finger traps on him?"
"He was trying to get me to join him and gesturing kind of wildly, so I just… Slipped it on? And then a second one so he couldn't disintegrate the first one."
This only brought more laughter, which was only interrupted by an alarmed Sansa stepping into the room. "Is everything okay in here, Midoriya?"
"I think so?"
The other officer surreptitiously glanced at the hero whose laughter was only now dying down. "Well, the detective is ready to see you, Midoriya. Shortly afterwards he'll talk with you, Sir Nighteye."
Izuku rose, glad for the opportunity to escape. "Thanks, Sansa."
Once in the familiar office, he immediately felt calmer. Detective Tsukauchi looked up from his paperwork, already smiling. "Welcome to your first day on the force, Officer Midoriya."
With that single sentence, Izuku felt the excitement that had kept him up all night return in full force. "Reporting for duty, Detective Tsukauchi."
"Sit down, we need to discuss the plan. Obviously, right now you are a rookie, but your training was a bit… unconventional. There are areas that you're knowledgeable and skilled in already that usually takes years to gain proficiency, but at the same time, there were things in your training that were forgotten or put off, so we have some things to take care of. First order of business, this." Opening a drawer, the detective carefully laid a holstered handgun onto the desk. "This is yours once Sansa trains you well enough that we're sure you won't shoot your foot off, or anything or anyone you don't mean to. We also have this for you."
The next item to be added to the table was a belt with a multitude of compartments. "While the fanny pack is great for when you're off duty, we do have a certain dress standard that's expected of us. This was the more… professional option. Saito is still trying to come up with a name for the belt, please don't encourage her. It has all the standard police equipment, with a few empty compartments for you to do whatever you deem necessary with."
A small smile spread over Izuku's face, his hands already itching to see what equipment they had found for him this time.
"We also wanted your opinion on something," Detective Tsukauchi continued.
Izuku's eyes snapped to the detective's face. "Yes?"
"Your situation is… unusual. We both know this," Tsukauchi said slowly. "Publicly, the only thing you've done is defeat Stain. You're young, and very few people take notice of their local police officers. We have a unique opportunity for you to consistently go on undercover missions without jeopardizing your cover."
"Are you serious?" Izuku asked excitedly.
"We need to talk it over with your mother, obviously, but Tsuramagae and I were discussing the benefits of having you develop an underground persona. This might not be for a few years, but we think you would be the perfect person for the job. And if you're going to make an impact, you need to be remembered." Rolling his chair back, Detective Tsukauchi produced a long, sleek katana that was all too familiar to Izuku. "Tsuramagae has decided that this would be a sort of proof of your legitimacy. You will not touch this until you have trained extensively with Valiant and he okays you using it. If you get hurt by this sword again, I swear I will have it melted down and made into a helmet for you."
"Is that Stain's sword? I get Stain's sword?" Izuku asked reverently, ignoring the reminder of Izuku's last interaction with this particular sword.
"It wasn't my idea at all, but yes Midoriya, you get Stain's sword," Tsukauchi said, looking exhausted at the thought. "Take this and go find Sansa, your firearm training starts today."
Naomasa watched Izuku scurry from the room clutching the gun with far too much enthusiasm. He had the utmost respect for the boy, and he was extremely grateful for the day that he had wandered into Naomasa's admittedly dull life. But as much as he saw the boy's potential, he worried for Izuku's well-being. He would just have to hope that they had trained Izuku well enough.
His office door opening pulled Naomasa from such thoughts, and he found himself meeting eyes with a person he hadn't seen for quite a while. "Sir Nighteye, it's been a while."
"Where did you find Midoriya? He's one of the singularly most remarkable children I've ever met," Sir said, taking a seat.
"Midoriya found us," Naomasa said a bit hesitantly. "How can I help you, Sir Nighteye?"
"Onto business, I suppose. You may have already caught wind of this, Tsukauchi, but I'm currently leading the efforts against a specific sect of the Yakuza, a sect led by a man named Overhaul," Nighteye said. "I've come to enlist your help."
"I assume Toshinori isn't among your force," the detective speculated. "I'm willing to hear you out, but I need more information than that. How much information do you have? What exactly do you need from me?"
"This was my initial plan," Sir said, sliding a folder of papers to Naomasa. "Look over them as you will, it's got all of the details and facts that I have. I initially wanted to simply request you and a handful of your officers for reinforcements, but my request has changed a bit."
At those words, Detective Tsukauchi had to resist reaching for the bottle of antacids in his desk drawer. He could feel the ulcer already. "And how has your request changed?"
"I want Midoriya undercover."
A heartbeat passes with the two men staring one another down, until Tsukauchi firmly said, "No."
"Hear me out, if we had Midoriya-"
"He's fifteen, I said no. I'm not sending him into the heart of Yakuza as his first mission."
"He's the same age as the hero students we consistently put into danger," Sir Nighteye argued. "I haven't looked into what the results would be with Midoriya on our side, but I can feel it in my bones that he's a vital piece of this."
Naomasa clenched his hands into fists under his desk, refraining from speaking for a few moments. "Tell me how Midoriya would modify your plans. I will think about it, and after discussing with him and his mother, I will give you my answer."
Excerpts from Izuku's Analysis
Name: Sohma Ukyo
Age: 59
Height:183 cm (6')
Occupation: Police Officer - Partners with Mori
Physical Description: Officer Sohma is exactly what you picture when you think of a kindly grandfather. He has salt and pepper hair, although it is admittedly more white than black anymore. His body is in great shape for his age, even though he may have a bit of a belly from his wife's cooking.
Personality:Sohma is very kind and calm. He's always willing to lend a hand, though he's not afraid to reprimand people when it is absolutely necessary. (This may be why he was paired with Mori.)
Quirk: Icy Gale- Sohma can summon (not generate) cold bursts of wind. The limit to his quirk seems less to have to do with how strong the gusts of wind are, and more with the temperature of the wind. More tests to follow.
Notes: Sohma is known as the Station Grandpa, but he also loves talking about his grandchildren as well. He will show them off at every opportunity, and bring them to the station whenever there's a hint of a reason. For some reason he started keeping a picture of me in his wallet along with them. I've attempted to ask him about it, and he just replied, "Well, I have to show you off too," before changing the subject.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait! College has been insane this semester, but once I'm settled into a schedule this semester I should hopefully find better windows of time to write. This chapter ended up being a lot longer than I expected, but it's here! Izuku is a cop! Kit hates that he's wearing the red shoes with the uniform, but that's an essential part of writing Izuku. Things are going to start picking up again soon. We've got a little bit of time before we see Overhaul, and after that arc, we're going to have a time skip to where the prologue started. You'll get some answers soon! Let me know what you thought about my portrayal of Nighteye, I wasn't feeling super confident since I haven't seen him animated, really. Characterization can be hard to fully grasp on a black and white page.
If you read my other fic, you'll have seen that I have an idea for a story after I finish Arson (only a few more chapters to go!). I'm a sucker for fics where Izuku and Aizawa get stuck in familial situations. If that's something that would interest you, let me know! Kit initially hated the idea, but she's warming up to it more and more. We're roommates, and last night she knocked on my bedroom door at like 1:30 am to tell me an idea for that story.