Izuku, Shoto and Tenya were all having a splendid play date at Nedzu's apartment with Nedzu watching over them as well as Tensei and Touya. Rei was watching over her other children, allowing Touya to sep up as a big protective brother to his youngest sibling. Tensei had the day off from his daily trail to spend more time with his little brother, especially because of Tenya's new development.
"I have a quirk! My legs have engines now!" Tenya exclaimed happily, showing off his engine ports jutting out from his calves.
Izuku gasped in wonder, "Wow! That's so awesome! It's kind of like Uncle Tensei but it's on your legs!"
Tenya nodded, growing a grin on his face, "I know! Now I can be more like my brother and be a hero just like him."
"I can't wait until I get my quirk!" Izuku pumped his fists excitedly filled with anticipation..
Shoto commented, "Me too."
"Shoto, you already got your quirk!" Touya interrupted with a gentle reminder. "Remember? You had both of your sides lit up at dinner a few days ago."
"Oh," Shoto retorted, "I forgot about that."
"Oh! Really?!" Izuku exclaimed. "Can I see?"
Shoto nodded before showing Izuku his left hand with a small flame and his right hand with a small icicle forming.
Izuku's eyes brightened, "Wow, that so cool! It's so pretty!"
"Um, thanks," Shoto answered back, a small blush forming on his cheeks from the praise, his older brother snickered behind him.
Nedzu brought up some new for his son, "If you want us to go see, we can go talk to Recovery Girl this week to see about your quirk. I'm sure she will be very happy to see you."
Izuku smiled, "Yay! I cannot wait until I get my quirk. Then I can help Papa!"
"And we can all be heroes." Shoto offered.
Tenya nodded, "Yes. And we could be like a trio! Working together to stop the mean evil-doers."
"This is so exciting! Ahh!" Izuku yelled out happily, making his friend giggle this overwhelming emotion of excitement.
Izuku couldn't wait to get the news about his quirk.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. Your x-ray results came back, and they show you to be quirkless."
Nedzu watched his son's face grow heartbroken as he dropped his Nedzu doll onto the floor. Nedzu remembers that day that Izuku hot glued fabric and fluff together to try to make his Papa into a he asked, his son said that he wanted to have mercy if his father, so he can support him. Nedzu thought it was adorable and that day he explained that Izuku already supports him by being the best son he could ever have.
He also remembers that Izuku did the same with Eraserhead since the underground hero didn't make any merchandise at all, so Izuku constructed and painted a long piece of glaze to act as the scarf he always wears. Safe to say, Aizawa was blushing so badly that Izuku thought he was affected by a quirk to turn him into a tomato.
Nedzu was thankful that Recovery Girl broke it to him softly, since he knew that any doctor would do just the opposite. They would have probably crush his dreams very harshly. But he was still upset that Izuku's heart was broken. After Recovery Girl gave him reassurance that everything was going to be okay and gave him some gummy bears, Nedzu patted Izuku's back to calm his sadness.
Nedzu prompted, "Cheer up, little mouse. Everything will be perfectly alright. Trust me."
But aizuku didn't say a word back, just slightly nodded to his words, barely acknowledging what he was saying. Izuku clutched his handmade plush closer to him on the way back to their home.
Nedzu watched as Izuku sulked to his room, his emotions felt like they were infecting the air in the room.
Nedzu immediately grabbed his phone when Izuku closed the door to his room. He needs reassurance and support more than anything right now. So time to call in the rest of the family.
"Hello? It's Izuku, come as fast as you can. He needs hugs," Nedzu said, straight and to the point to the person on the other end of the line. Nedzu continued to make calls to everyone that could help bring Izuku back into a better mood. Heaven only knows how much reinforcement Izuku needs right now.
About five minutes after his last call, the door bell rang followed by a series of different placed knocks against the wood.
Nedzu opened the door to his relatively new neighbors, the Fukuyama family, who were standing outside the door slightly breathless.
"Elevator was taking too long. How is he? Where is he?" Rei asked, letting her children slip past her into the house.
"Izuku?"
"He is in his room right now, knock before you go in. He isn't having a good day, so just your presence will cheer him up." Nedzu responded back to the youngest. Shoto nodded with a determined look before marching over to Izuku's room to comfort his friend.
Touya stood with Natsuo and Fuyumi, slowly venturing into the room when Shoto was granted access.
About ten minutes after their arrival, Izuku agreed to move out from his room into the living room to get more air. Izuku sat on the couch between Touya and Shoto while still holding onto his plush for dear life. Then the doorbell rang, which opened up to a frantic Present Mic dragging behind Eraserhead with Midnight right behind them.
"We heard the news." Midnight greeted, taking off her heels in a hurry to rush to wherever Izuku needed the comforting hug.
Present Mic looked at Izuku's bedroom before turning to Nedzu, "Is my little listener alright? Where is—?"
By the time they got the answer of where Izuku was, Eraserhead had already claimed him in a hug.
"Too slow." Eraserhead mouthed to his friends, patting Izuku's back while he started to calm down from his sadness.
When they all settled down, Tenya showed up finally with an out-of-breath Tensei.
"Traffic was a nightmare, so I just ran here. Whew, I took the stairs too." Tensei wheezed out, taking a bottle of refreshing grape juice from his former principal.
Tenya rushed over to where Shoto was sitting to also support his friend. "Izuku, I'm here to embrace you in hug!"
Izuku sniffed, "I like hugs." Tenya made sure to give a good, bear hug to one of his best friends. Shoto joined in for the group hug.
It wasn't until several more minutes of unending quiet support from his close friends and family was Izuku finally ready to start crying.
"I'm sorry!" Izuku cried out, tears unleashing from his eyes. Fuyumi reached over to give him a tissue. She was prepared if something like this were to happen.
"What?" Tenya questioned.
"Why are you sorry?" Shoto asked, tilting his head. Touya placed a hand on his shoulder, not knowing what Izuku's news will be.
Izuku cried into his plush,burying his face in the fabric. "I don't have a quirk, now I don't know if we can be a trio."
"What do you mean? Of course, you can still be a trio." Midnight gently replied to him, brushing her hand through his curls to calm his tears.
Izuku sniffled, tears running down his cheeks. He turned to his Papa, the one he looked up to the most, "Can I still be a hero without one? Can I still be a hero like you?"
Nedzu's eyes softened at his son's honest question. "Indeed. Of course, you can."
Izuku's tears started to slow down, "Really? I can?"
"Yeah! All you need is the right training and teaching to become one. And you need to work your hardest." Present Mic encouraged, Natsuo nodding enthusiastically with his words.
"That means we can still be a trio?" Tenya asked before Izuku could.
"Yes! And I can teach you guys the speedy skills of being a hero. Midnight can teach you three about what you can do for your costumes." Tensei states, growing excited at the incoming future plans.
"I will teach you about self defense and support items. And Mic can teach you guys more skills on long reach attacks." Eraserhead explained, making Izuku's eye light up in hope.
Nedzu smiled, "And I can teach you three one of the most important skills: strategy. I will focus on instructing on how to fight with a plan in mind that will bring down the villains more easily."
Izuku's tears dried up at last with a small sniffle. Shoto bumped shoulders with him, making a giggle erupt from his throat.
Nedzu smiled as everyone clamored around, talking about what they could do in the future to help the trio become heroes. Touya watched with a smile as his little brother grew a little more out of his shy shell. Rei leaned Fuyumi and Natsuo's heads towards her in a slight hug. While the three best friends laughed it's each other when Eraserhead wrapped Present Mic up in his scarf for screaming next to his ear.
Nedzu smiled, coming closer to rest his paw on his son's shoulder. He would give up the world to have this moment last forever.
Nedzu opened his eyes expecting to see the cool light blue of his bedroom ceiling. But instead he opened his eyelids up to the white metal above his head. Confused, he slowly sat up only to freeze upon realizing where he was.
He looked around to find himself back in the cage, the horrid cage from all those years ago. The cage that the human scientists forced him in to run tests. The place that he burned to the ground after he escaped.
Why is he here?
He looked down at his uncovered feet, studying the blinding white floor of the cage they forced him into. The familiar coldness felt horrible against his bare paws.
Why is he back here?! He escaped!
His body froze up. The fear started to creep up his throat when he started to hear murmurs coming closer to where he was.
He should 't be back here!
"Ready the next test subject," a jumbled voice mumbled right by his cage. Nedzu's ears flickered at where the sound was coming from. Slowly, he turned his gaze in order to not alert the scientists that he was awake. If he was awake, they would begin the tests straight away.
Nedzu's pupils shrank when his gaze drifted to the small body that one of the scientists was holding. The small body of a boy with curly green hair. Nedzu's breath got caught in his throat.
The scientists must have recaptured him and Izuku. What were they planning? He thought they were dead! They can't possibly be back! Are these scientists new? Did they kidnap him and his adopted son right as his life was starting to calm down?!
His claws dug into his furry arm. Slowly, he approached the cage wall, not making a sound so he could creep up on them. Nedzu's gaze locked on to where they were strapping a sleeping Izuku to a table with leather straps to hold his feet and hands back.
Izuku slowly started to come back to consciousness. His tried treen eyes immediately shot open to the scientists surrounding him. Nedzu locked eyes with him right as the scientists held him down by his restraints.
"What—!"
"Quiet." One of the scientists said, moving past Nedzu's cage. His voice seemed muddled despite Izuku's voice coming out clearly. "Hmm, seems the new test subject has woken up. No matter. It will just make the procedure a little less bearable.
Izuku looked so scared tied down to the table. He moved his limbs, trying to escape but the strong grip of the other scientists wouldn't let him move more than an inch. His terrified gaze met Nedzu's once again, "Papa?"
Nedzu shook himself out of his frozen state, immediately trying to pick the lock on his cage while the scientists were distracted. His tiny claws scarred against the metal. He pounded in the cage while the main scientists took a hold of a syringe.
"No! Don't you dare!" Nedzu called out, his normal soft voice called out strongly in the quiet room. The scientist came closer to a struggling Izuku who continued to call out for Nedzu.
The scientist grin grew almost five sizes as he came closer to Izuku with the giant needle. Nedzu just got his cage unlocked when Izuku screamed out in the most haunting way. His scream echoed towards Nedzu who clenched his paws tightly together from the sound.
Izuku called out desperately, "PAPA!"
Nedzu woke up in a cold sweat with the feeling of tugging at his shirt sleeve. He looked down frantically to see his son at his bedside. Izuku had a worried expression ones his face that seemed to deflate slightly when he had woken up.
Nedzu questioned, "Izuku? Where did you?"
"The secret closet door." Izuku started simply, crawling up next to his father with some difficulty with the large mattress. Nedzu shifted over to give him some space on the comfortable memory foam mattress. "I heard you making sad noises. Were you having a bad dream?"
"More like a nightmare," Nedzu responded. His expression remained calm so he didn't worry Izuku even though all he felt was dread.
If people discovered that Izuku was his son, would his nightmare become true? Would Izuku be taken away from him?
He would never allow that to happen. Nobody would get away with trying to hurt his son.
"Oh. Are you better now, Papa?" Izuku asked, raising his head to meet Nedzu's soft gaze.
Nedzu smiled, holding his son closer to him, "Better now, little mouse. Thanks to you."