Izuku woke with a jolt, heart racing. "Where's Eri?" His surroundings were unfamiliar, which only made him more agitated. "Eri? Eri!"
He was working himself into a frenzy when a strong, familiar voice said, "Calm down, Midoriya. It's alright."
Forcing himself to calm down, Izuku finally noticed that he was in a hospital bed, and in the bed next to him was -
"Detective Tsukauchi?"
"It's good to see you awake, Midoriya. How are you feeling?" the detective asked with a tired smile.
The detective looked terrible. Wires seemed to sprout from him, monitoring various things, and a constant, comforting beep filled the room.
"What happened, Detective?" Izuku demanded, not noticing the way his own heart monitor was picking up speed. "Which of the Eight Expendables did this?! I thought my plan-"
"I wasn't at the raid, Midoriya. Your injuries were the worst ones out of anyone on our side, your plans kept them all safe. Especially Eri."
"They're okay?"
"Every last one of them."
"Where is Eri?" Izuku asked, looking around like she might magically appear.
"She's just fine. She didn't have any injuries, they just have her in quarantine while they assess her control over her quirk."
"Where's everyone else? And what happened to you?"
Tsukauchi laughed a little, though he almost immediately winced in pain. "You've been in a coma for three days, Midoriya. I'd be furious with you if I weren't so glad you're okay."
"Three days?!"
"You were caught between two quirks that were both trying to destroy you, Midoriya. They may have cancelled each other out, but it put immense strain on your body. The doctors honestly didn't expect you to wake up for at least a week. Speaking of which," Tsukauchi said, pushing a button, "we should probably let people know that you're awake. The nurse, at least."
Izuku squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head a bit. "That makes sense. My head feels… foggy."
"Yeah, I hear comas will do that to you. But to answer your questions, Midoriya, everyone else is gone because it's the middle of the night. It's actually a miracle we convinced them to leave. Your mother insisted on staying at the hospital all hours of the day until they agreed to put you in the same room as me so you would have company. Oh, and I forgot to mention, Eri is just right next door."
"Thank goodness. So what happened to you?"
"I'll tell you my story, but you have to tell me yours afterwards."
"Deal."
So the detective told Izuku about his assignment with Gran Torino. Partway through, a nurse came in, delighted that Izuku was awake. She checked his vitals and asked a few questions, jotting notes down in his chart, but Izuku only paid as much attention to her as necessary, captivated by the description of the man called Gigantomachia. His quirk was fascinating, but the longer Naomasa spoke, the more Izuku was consumed with the need to stop the man. He wanted to meet Gran Torino as well, an older hero that, shockingly, Izuku had never heard of before.
The story was short, largely because he wasn't conscious for long. However, his stress was visible when Izuku began his story.
The nurse had left shortly after he began. Even with his visits, there were a lot of things about being undercover that Izuku hadn't had time to tell him about. Every so often the detective's heart would speed up, but it usually got back under control fairly quickly.
However, when Izuku got to the raid, Naomasa's heart rate was off the charts - several nurses came rushing in, a crash cart in tow.
"I'm fine," Tsukauchi wheezed. "Actually, do you have any antacids?"
Unsettled, the nurses inched away, glancing at his vitals.
"Let me get this straight. You were facing Chisaki Kai alone, the man obsessed with purity and cleansing the world of disease. And you sneezed on him."
"Y-es," Izuku said uncertainly.
"This isn't supposed to be biological warfare! He literally could have killed you with his pinky!"
"To be fair, he tried and it didn't work," Izuku said with a yawn. "Oh year, did they take the spike out of my leg?"
"You had a spike in- of course you did. Go to sleep, Midoriya, I think we both need it."
Izuku yawned again. "I'll stop getting stabbed in the leg when you stop getting thrown into trees."
"Touche."
He was a little wary of going to sleep again. What if he slipped into another coma? But he was exhausted, and he fell asleep listening to the monitors that bore witness to them living on.
Waking was much kinder the second time around. Sunlight streamed through the room's window, and Izuku felt a hand in his. Cracking his eyes open, he found the person he missed the most at the other end of that hand.
His lips pulled into a half smile. "Hi mom."
Inko's head jerked up from where she had been looking at her phone. "Izuku? Oh, my baby!"
The Midoriyas embraced in a flurry of laughter and tears. Inko pulled him close, murmuring, "I was so worried. I'm so happy you're okay."
He let himself bask in his mother's presence, bask in knowing that he was safe again. He refused to be ashamed of the tears he knew were well-earned.
"The rest of the family is here!" a remarkable loud voice proclaimed. "At least, those of us who aren't on duty at the moment."
Saito stood in the doorway grinning widely. She was accompanied by Sasaki, Sohma, and Nakamura, all bearing gifts of some sort.
"You did it, Little Midoriya!" Sasaki said, her own eyes shining with tears. "Everyone made it out safe, and as far as the yakuza know, you're either dead, in police custody, or on the lamb."
"Someone had to have seen me!" Izuku protested.
"Nope," Saito said, popping the p. "Only Chisaki and Chronostasis know you betrayed them, and they're locked up so tight that their subordinates don't have a prayer of even communicating with them."
"And we have anyone even remotely powerful from the Shie Hassaikai locked up as well. The Deku persona lives on!" Sasaki said.
"Wow, someone in the hospital really likes you, Little Midoriya. It looks like your leg is completely healed where they had to remove the spike," Nakamura commented.
"Let's not talk about that," Inko and Tsukauchi said in unison.
A light knock interrupted the joyful reunion, and a bruised Sir Nighteye stood awkwardly in the doorway.
"You're alright then, Midoriya?" he asked hesitantly.
"I feel a little like I got hit by a train, but I'm okay other than that," Izuku said with a smile. "I hear things were a success - no casualties!"
"Yes, and I came to thank you, Midoriya. Much of our success can be attributed to you," Sir Nighteye said, still shifting from foot to foot.
"Okay, that is complete B.S.," Saito said, looking like she was seconds from exploding. "We were privy to almost all of the information Little Midoriya gave you, and we were there at your briefing. That kid laying in that bed is the only reason that no one died."
"Officer Saito, you're out of line," Tsukauchi warned.
"With all due respect, sir, she's right," Sasaki cut in. "A lot of information was omitted during the debrief. He didn't even warn people he had an undercover agent in the field."
"Oh, that's why Lemillion attacked me," Izuku muttered.
"He what?" several voices chorused.
Inko stepped forward, a storm brewing on her face. "You're the hero that asked specifically for my Izuku, correct? You wanted him to be a part of this mission?"
Unexpectedly cowed by the tiny woman, Sir Nighteye said, "Well, yes."
"And I agreed with the assurance that his safety would come first. And you forgot to inform the team he existed."
"He also treated the police like we were a bunch of nameless minions to do his bidding," Sasaki said with the attitude of a child telling on someone they greatly disliked.
Naomasa's face was stone. "How so?"
"Well, he didn't keep officers together based on their stations, instead he assigned them to heroes alphabetically," Sohma explained. "Saito and Sasaki were in the same group without anyone else from our station to supervise."
Tsukauchi and Izuku gasped in unison.
"If they hadn't been worried about Midoriya, they could have created a national incident!" Tsukauchi spat, his heart rate monitor rapidly speeding once more.
"We behaved," Sasaki pouted. "It could have been Kimura and Saito."
"But he barely treated us like people. As far as I can tell, we were just supposed to be extra numbers to give the heroes backup, which is frankly a little insulting," Saito said.
"Isn't your quirk supposed to be foresight?" Nakamura interjected. "Even if you chose not to use it, one would think you would be at least a halfway decent strategist."
Izuku silently agreed with what his coworkers were saying, but he hadn't been prepared to see the dangerous glint in their eyes. They looked ready to kill Sir Nighteye, and at the moment Izuku honestly wouldn't be surprised if they did.
"As you can see, Sir Nighteye, I'm just fine," Izuku said, very much attempting to send the man on his way. "Thank you for your concern."
"You must understand, Midoriya, I really did care what happened. I-"
"No, you don't need to say or explain anything, Sir Nighteye. Police officers have been the butt of society's jokes for decades now. Your misconceptions are just a result of systemic prejudice," Izuku said, smiling angelically. "It's just like the prejudice against quirkless people, a result of ignorance and lack of exposure."
Every eye was riveted on Izuku, every breath held for fear of enraging the beast they sensed before them.
"I don't know what you've seen in the future for police officers or quirkless people, or if you've even cared enough to look. It doesn't matter, because I will change it," Izuku said gravely. "Everyone is important, and everyone can make a difference."
"Well said, Little Midoriya!"
"Listen, Midoriya," Sir Nighteye said, the smallest bit of his facade cracking. "I know you know about my quirk, but I didn't use it for good reason!"
"I don't need to know the reason," Izuku said calmly. "But you - and most heroes, actually, need to know that you are still humans, just like the people you protect."
"Just what do you all think you're doing?" a nurse shrilly asked from the doorway. "A room this size will only accommodate five visitors at a time, it's posted outside. At least one of you has to leave."
Saito made eye contact with each of the other officers before shrugging. "Inko is definitely not leaving, and we're not leaving…"
"Actually, Detective Tsukauchi looks like he has a few last words for Sir Nighteye. I was wondering if I'm cleared to see Eri yet?" Izuku asked with pleading eyes.
"She's supposed to be in quarantine because of her quirk, but she's been asking about you nonstop. Because of that and the fact that you know more about her quirk than anyone else, we've decided it's going to be better for her emotionally if she sees you," the nurse said, retrieving a wheelchair from the corner of the room.
After helping transfer Izuku, the nurse directed him to the correct room. "We'll let you reunite without one of us in the room because medical personnel seem to frighten her. Mrs. Midoriya, would you be willing to go with him to make sure he doesn't strain himself?"
"Oh, absolutely!" Inko said, hesitantly positioning herself behind the wheelchair.
Izuku blissfully left Sir Nighteye to the mercy of the other officers. He couldn't quite explain it, but he needed to see Eri, to make sure she was alright. When he finally did lay eyes on her, something in him eased, and tears pricked at his eyes.
"Mr. Deku?" she asked in a tremulous voice. "You're okay, right?"
He laughed, wiping away a few tears. "I'm just fine, Eri, just really tired. Are you okay?"
"I sometimes get a fever, but they say it's because of my quirk." Something in her faltered, and her eyes slid to her hands. "I'm sorry, Mr. Deku, even after you tried to teach me, I can't control my quirk very well. I guess you wasted your time."
She startled when he rested a hand on her head. "I thought we got past you calling me 'Mister,'" he teased her lightly. "But can I tell you a secret, Eri?"
"What?"
"Deku isn't my real name, it was a secret name I used so the Shie Hassaikai wouldn't know who I really was. I pretended to be like them so I could save you. I'm actually a police officer."
Her eyes were wide when they met his. "Like the ones who helped save us?"
"Exactly like the ones who helped save us. A lot of them are my friends, actually. You can meet them later, if you want. But can I ask you for a favor?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Well, it's actually two favors," he said, scratching the back of his head. "First, I'd like you to call me by Izuku, my real name. And you're allowed to tell me no, but can I please have a hug?"
Eri thought for a moment before holding out her bandaged arms. "I would like a hug, please."
That was all the permission he needed to cradle the child close to his chest, feeling oddly paternal as he did so. She was warm, and so very fragile, and Izuku could have held her like that for hours if he hadn't heard the familiar sound of his mother sniffling behind him.
"Oh, Eri, this is my mom. Mom, this is Eri."
The child's eyes flicked between the two of them. "You look the same, almost."
"Yeah, we look a lot alike, don't we?" Izuku said with a laugh through his tears.
"You're both crying. Is something sad?" Eri asked.
"No, we both just cry a lot," Inko said. "Especially when we're happy. It's nice to meet you, Eri."
"It's nice to meet you too," she said hesitantly. "But I don't remember you crying when you were being Deku."
"I had to work really hard not to cry a lot," Izuku admitted. "It was part of me pretending to be like the rest of the Shie Hassaikai."
They stayed and chatted with Eri as long as the nurses would let them. She was doing as well as she could, given the circumstances, and Izuku wanted to fight to stay with her when they were asked to leave.
"Can we go somewhere to talk for a minute before I go back?" Izuku asked, pleading with his mom.
"Yes, I think that's a good idea," Inko said, pushing him past his room.
They found themselves at an empty waiting room. Izuku felt a little guilty when he realized just how familiar his mother was with the hospital.
"Mom, I-" he started.
"Izuku, I-" she said at the same time.
"You go first."
"No, Izuku, you go first."
Izuku bit his lip, worried at how she would react to what he had to say. "Mom, I know we're used to it being just the two of us, and I already brought Shoto into our lives. But… I can't just leave Eri to deal with things alone. She's already been hurt too much, and I can't stand the thought of her being put into the system and passed around when her quirk becomes too much to handle. We both have full-time jobs now, so I can help out too. I guess… What I'm trying to say-"
"Izuku, I think we should adopt her," Inko said gently. "It might be messy and complicated, but I saw that little girl, alone in the room next to you for three days. She looked so lost and lonely, and it broke my heart. I didn't know who she was, but she changed completely when you walked in. You make her feel safe, Izuku. She needs that."
Trying (and failing) to blink away tears, Izuku embraced his mother. "Thank you mom. Thank you so much."
It seemed that whenever Izuku wasn't visiting Eri, he had multiple visitors at a time. Other police officers were a given. They were actually such frequent visitors that they had to be assigned visiting times, to give others a chance to see Izuku.
"Good work with the reconnaissance, Problem Child," Eraserhead said, standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. "You're one of the best undercover agents I've ever seen, and I'm an underground hero. Although, I will take that back if you keep pulling stunts like the Chinese finger trap and the sneeze."
"Don't worry, just about everyone has threatened me with bodily harm if I try anything like that again," Izuku said with a smile.
"The station and I are contemplating investing in a protective bubble," Detective Tsukauchi said.
"Well don't worry, kid," Aizawa said. "Your involvement has been kept from the media, as well as Eri's existence. And like I promised, I won't mention you or anything you did to any other heroes. As far as they know, I don't even know you."
The smallest bit of tension in Izuku eased. He knew it was an irrational request of the heroes, but he couldn't face All Might, not yet at least. He was happy with his lot in life, but he felt queasy at the thought of the number one hero taking this from him as well.
"Thank you, it means a lot to me," Izuku said. "While you're here, Aizawa, I wanted to ask you and Detective Tsukauchi something. I… I talked with my mom, and we wanted to see what the process of adopting Eri would be like."
He held his breath, uncertain how they would react. The two men traded glances before Aizawa said, "I win the bet, then."
Tsukauchi groaned. "I was sure it would have been earlier."
"Midoriya is a planner. He eliminates uncertainties before he acts, like he did with Todoroki," Aizawa said, producing a manilla folder. "Here's the beginning of the adoption process. If you and your mother fill this out before five o'clock tonight, we can try to expedite the process. Hopefully she can be released to you, when the hospital deems her safe to leave. She would have to have quirk training sessions, but that can be discussed at a later date."
Izuku accepted the folder, shortly afterwards wiping away tears. "Thank you, both of you."
"Don't worry about it, Midoriya. Just try not to make adopting children a habit of yours," Aizawa said.
Izuku opened his mouth to reply when he was cut off by a clamour in the hallway.
"I think this is the room number they gave us," one voice said.
"Or we could just text him."
"Please, keep your voices down! We are in a hospital!" another voice said, rising above all the others.
Aizawa suddenly looked supremely uncomfortable. "That's my cue to leave."
Using his own brand of sorcery, Aizawa disappeared into the hallway, completely unseen by his students that entered only moments after.
Uraraka was the first through the door. "Midoriya, you're okay! I was so worried when I heard what happened."
Izuku was going to respond, but he was cut off by the other four spilling into the room as well. Shinsou looked supremely annoyed next to Iida, who Ojiro was trying to convince to lower his voice. Shoto trailed behind, looking like he dearly wanted to take a nap.
"Hey, everyone," Izuku said, straightening up in his bed. "It's good to see you all."
"You as well, Midoriya!" Iida said, executing his signature hand chop. "We were happy to hear of your excellent recovery!"
"How are you feeling, Midoriya?" Ojiro asked quietly.
"Oh, I'm doing just fine!" Izuku assured them. "I'm feeling better every day."
Shinsou looked him over with his tired eyes. "If you're stuck in the bed too much longer, I might actually have a chance at keeping up with you the next time we go running together."
"Shinsou, that is completely inappropriate for someone currently confined to a bed!" Iida berated.
"Oh, lighten up," Uraraka said, shoving the boy's shoulder. "Midoriya laughed, and he and Shinsou have known each other longer than we've known him. Shinsou wouldn't overstep his bounds. But really, how are you, Midoriya? And how did you manage to be the only person in the entire operation who got seriously hurt?"
"Oh, being undercover tends to put you in the line of fire," Izuku said, attempting to brush it off. "I knew there were a handful of U.A. students, but I didn't know you were part of it. Were any of the rest of you involved?"
"It was only me in this group, but there were also a few others from our class, as well as a few of our upperclassmen," Uraraka said cheerily.
It was forced, but Izuku kept a smile on his face when he remembered his encounter with Lemillion. He was spared from answering when Detective Tsukauchi came limping into the room. "Good news, Midoriya! The physical therapist said- oh, you have guests. Hello, I don't know all of you. I'm Midoriya's supervising officer for the Provisional Police Program. Detective Tsukauchi."
Introductions were made and Tsukauchi made his way back to his bed. Curious, Izuku asked, "What good news did you get?"
"Our physical therapist said that we should both be released tomorrow, or the next day," the detective said with a smile. "We need to go to our follow-up appointments, of course, but that should give you plenty of time to get a room ready for Eri."
Izuku felt his heart stutter in his chest. "Do you mean…"
"Because it's such a high-profile case I may have pulled some strings and gotten the adoption process expedited. As of this morning, your mother is officially approved to adopt Eri."
Izuku couldn't stop himself from crying, a huge grin stretching across his face, while his guests were left in a spiral of confusion.
"Who's Eri?"
"Adoption?"
Shoto yawned. "Does this mean I'm getting a new sister?"
"Why would she be your sister?"
It was a circus as Izuku tried to explain exactly what was going on, although that seemed to be the precedent set by U.A. students. He was happy to have them there, but he couldn't help but be the slightest bit relieved when they left. The second they were gone, he whipped out his phone to deliver the good news to his mother, who was making up for lost shifts. They cried together a while, and finally it was time to tell the most important person: Eri.
He was allowed to walk on his own now, so he carefully made his way to the next room over. Eri was busily coloring, but she looked up to see him. "De-Izuku! Hi!"
"Hey Eri, what are you drawing?"
"I was practicing my name some more," she said, showing him the careful kanji. "I want to be better at it, more like you."
As with most time spent around Eri, it was all Izuku could do not to cry. "You're getting really good! Soon you'll be able to write anything! But Eri, I have something to ask you."
"What?"
"I… Before long, you're going to be able to leave the hospital," Izuku started, "and you're going to need somewhere to stay."
"Oh," Eri said, in a tiny voice.
"I talked to my mom, and we wondered if you wanted to come stay at our house," Izuku said hesitantly.
"For how long?"
"Forever?" he cleared his throat. "Like always, you're allowed to say no. I told my mom how much I would miss you if you were gone, and she already likes you a lot, so we were wondering how you would feel if we adopted you."
"You would really want to?" Eri asked, eyes shining.
"More than anything."
A small smile spread over her lips. "I would like that very much."
Kit's Korner
Eri's eyes were wide when she walked into the house for the first time. "It's so bright, your windows aren't covered."
"We like the sunlight, and if the weather is good we open the windows for fresh air," Inko explained with a smile. "Welcome to your new home, Eri."
She stopped and looked at just about everything, clearly curious, but hesitant to ask a question.
"You show her around, I'm going to go start dinner," Inko said, making a beeline for the kitchen.
"Okay mom!" Izuku smiled, taking Eri's hand in his. "Do you want to stay in here and look a little longer, or do you want to see your new room?"
Eri thought for a moment. "I would like to see my room."
"Okay, that's where we'll go. If you have any questions, just ask me."
She looked at the rest of the house with complete wonder, especially her bedroom. Eri looked euphoric (well, as euphoric as she ever looked) by the time dinner was ready.
Inko and Izuku did their best to keep up some small talk to put the newest Midoriya at ease. Eri seemed to relax marginally before she said, "Izuku, I did have a question."
"Yes Eri?" Izuku asked before shovelling a bite of food into his mouth.
"Are you my new dad?"
Izuku almost immediately choked on his bite of food, coughing uncontrollably. When he recovered, he wheezed, "What makes you ask a thing like that?"
"Well, I was curious, so I asked one of the nurses what having a dad was like. She said they were people who played with you, and made food for you, and lots of other things, all of the things you do with me."
"No, I'm not your dad," Izuku said a little frantically. "I'm just too young to be a dad! But you can call me big brother, because they do the same things as dads."
"Oh, that makes sense," Eri said, continuing her meal as if she hadn't just given Izuku a heart attack.
A/N: I forgot to mention last chapter that Kit has hated the idea of Izuku sneezing in Overhaul's face with her whole soul when I first pitched it to her. She's accepted it now, but she still hates the Chinese finger traps. Sorry for any typos towards the end, I just wanted to be finished typing and go to bed.
I've started writing the first chapter after the time skip already, so prepare yourselves. I won't agree to a timeline for the next chapter, because I'm not great at meeting those. I thought I was going to have tons of free time thanks to quarantine, but my Hebrew professor had different plans. Enjoy the extra long chapter of fluff! Keep yourselves safe and as healthy as possible, stay home, do your part to limit the spread of COVID-19. In the meantime, prepare yourselves for the time skip! I can't wait to bring it to you guys!