Naomasa didn't know what he was expecting when he came back to Izuku's room -some shouting, some broken furniture and knowing Katsuki at least some scorch marks- but his charge standing in front of the open window wasn't one of them.
He gives the boy a flat stare. Izuku looks at him like he's got his hand in the cookie jar.
"I'm not trying to jump out the window."
Naomasa squints, closing the door theatrically behind him. "Hm."
"I'm really not." Izuku reiterates quickly. "Kacchan did though. You mentioning All Might got him into a tizzy."
He blinks.
Well, that was slightly more believable.
Still, he didn't like how close to the window his troublemaker of a charge was. Izuku might not be one of those children with no self preservation instincts -although come to think of it, jury was still out on that particular topic- he was however a very unlucky person, especially given his Quirk.
Off the top of his head, he could count on both hands and beyond the worse places Izuku had slipped under Omniscience's influence. The top of the stairs was the number one spot for numerous reasons, but it was far from the only accident. There were those five times he collapsed in the middle of the street and that one time he went under while he'd gone to get lunch from the hospital table.
In that particular instance, a nervous Naomasa had gone to fetch him, only to find him stretched on a cafeteria table while a group of very anxious adult patients called for a nurse's attention.
….to the point, Izuku plus an open window was a bad combination waiting to happen, and Naomasa would breathe better if the boy was far away from it.
Thankfully Izuku strayed away from said death trap and wandered over to his bed on stiff legs, sitting down on it. Reflexively, Naomasa stepped closer and pulled the still-warm blankets up to his lap.
Izuku snorts with wry amusement. "I'm not a child." He chimes, but the way he didn't stop him from messing with the bedsheets told the detective another story.
This time it's Naomasa's turn to huff, this time fondly.
"Of course." He replies, compliant. He steps back once Izuku is tucked in, gazing down at the amused teenager with fond eyes. "Just let me do this, kid."
Izuku's smile wavers.
"...he's right outside, isn't he?"
Naomasa falters. He can almost taste the tension in the air, his charge's nervousness somehow permeating through the room like a dark cloud. "He is." He says after a moment.
Izuku's expression spasms. After a moment, the boy looks away to the window.
"...can't delay it anymore, can I?"
In that moment, Noamasa yearned to ask the question that had been burning at the tip of his tongue for years. Why don't you want to meet him?
Avoidance didn't make sense. Why would he be so apprehensive of All Might? The man was utterly harmless despite One for All; a real bleeding heart, the devoted, compassionate self-sacrificing kind that the detective rarely saw out in the real could understand nervousness given just how reverent Izuku was of the Number One Hero, but this flat out avoidance was a red flag that Naomasa hadn't been able to crack for years.
Unless he knows something he's not telling, a tiny voice pipes up at the back of his head. Something so bad that it makes him weary of contacting Toshinori personally.
It's..it's not a thought Naomasa hasn't had before.
"-something wrong?"
Naomasa swallows. "No." He reassures his charge, but the word taste hollow on his tongue. "I'm going to get Toshinori in here now. Ready?"
The resigned stare Izuku gave him looked more at home on the face of a hundred year old man. He's too young, Naomasa thinks. Too young for this. Too young for everything he experienced.
He knew, intricately, how Izuku's Quirk worked. How it wasn't just knowing things that he had no right to know, that it wasn't just staring out into space and having the knowledge deposit itself at the back of his mind like a well written script, showing him everything he needed to know.
Rather, the knowledge clawed its way in, plenty and bountiful -too much for a child's mind to bear.
In Naomasa's opinion, too much for anyone to bear.
He hold his tongue though, knowing that this was a conversation he would not win. "I'll go get him." He murmurs instead.
His only response was a quiet exhale. He watches the way Izuku closes his eyes and clenches his fists against the fabric of the bedsheets. It's obvious that his charge was trying to avoid him noticing his nervousness, his frustration over the whole ordeal, but he was far too young and Naomasa was far too knowledgeable in body language to not take note.
Honestly, he shared some of the young teen's frustration as well.
At himself, for letting such an event happen, and at the man who caused this to occur. Once Naomasa was done with him, he'll make sure the bastard never saw the light of day again, at least until he was old and grey.
This silent promise didn't change things, though. It did not change the past, nor did it change the path they were now forced to take. Heart tightening in his chest, Naomasa wordlessly turns to the door; heading for the entrance.
Each step felt more and more heavy for the detective.
No matter what happens they will face it, Naomasa was certain of it. He was resilient; as for Izuku, the boy was nothing if not adaptable. He had to, with a Quirk like his.
He glances back one last time, taking note of the deep breath Izuku let out. The boy looked at him, blue wheels rotating slowly in his eye sockets. Midoriya was silent, but his gaze was enough to convey his reluctant acceptance.
Turning, Naomasa opened the door gently and peeked his head out.
"Toshi? Come in."
.
.
.
"Toshi? Come in."
He rises to his feet at the sound of the door opening. Naomasa's face was peeking out from behind the door, eyes sweeping over the hallway furtively before they returned to him. They were alone in the hall -the floor, even, as this section of the hospital was currently under quarantine and heavily guarded by the police- so there was no true need to do such a move.
For Toshinori, this gesture seemed like a recurring repetition the detective had grown to do unconsciously.
It spoke of habit.
Naomasa regards him for a moment, nods, and opens the door wider
Toshinori is only a step into the room when he catches sight of his friend's charge -and promptly feels like he's been punched in the gut.
No one could really blame him, given what he finds.
The last person he was expecting to see was a familiar small form sitting on a hospital bed, familiar mop of curly green hair shadowing a small, round face. For a moment he thinks he's mistaken -but then his own blue eyes meets slow, spinning blue and yes, this all but confirmed it.
It's the boy from the beach.
It takes Naomasa's sharp tug of his coat -dragging him into the room- to jolt him out of his stupor.
"You're…" The noise that leaves him is choked. He barely hears the sound of the door closing behind him.
Izuku Midoriya bows his head lightly, curls bouncing with the movement.
"Hello All Might," He's smiling at him, a small polite grin, though the waiver of his lips betrays his nervousness. "It's nice to meet you again." He says softly. As he spoke, those luminous eyes of his do that familiar odd little spin that leave no doubt that this was the boy who'd lend him an ear out of the blue.
Though, Toshinori was starting to doubt that encounter was random. The chances were just too slim for that.
"You're the boy from the beach." He knows he's stating the obvious, but his brain was still working overtime to absorb the information he'd just obtained.
And it explained so much about their meeting, Toshinori wanted to smack himself over the head. He'd noticed the boy's oddities, but he'd waved them away like a fool.
The man on the phone, who'd almost stepped into traffic. The sudden change in route and Midoriya's quiet insistence of taking a specific route. The luck he'd had when that sludge villain practically handed himself over.
It all fit.
"...did you plan on-?"
"He did." A voice interrupted, sounding miffed. Toshinori jolts slightly as he spies Naomasa glaring at the corner of his vision, the detective's lips pressed in a thin line as he stares down at the small teenager on the bed. "He went out to meet you. Unannounced, in fact."
Midoriya stares right back, unbothered. After a long moment that was more uncomfortable than it should be where Toshinori thinks he should speak up, the green haired teen replies:
"-how did you know about that?"
"The hospital informed me, like they're supposed to every time to take off." Naomasa answers, walking over to lean against one of the cupboards. "Just because I didn't have the opportunity to come and scold you right away doesn't mean I don't know what's going on, kid. I don't need your Quirk for that, a phone does the job."
Midoriya's lips curl into a wry smile. "Of course. And the phone probably behaves better, right?"
Naomasa huffs, but it lacks any offense. "Right on point."
"...I'm guessing you do that often?" Both blink, and for a brief moment Toshinori thinks they might just have forgotten he was here in their bickering. At least, their taken aback expressions seem to suggest that.
Midoriya makes a discrete little cough, cheeks reddening. "I'm sorry. We tend to get..huh...carried away. Naomasa tends to worry a lot." He apologizes, embarrassed. The boy looked like a kicked puppy in that moment and it took all of Toshinori's strength and will to keep himself from chuckling at the sight.
"Rightfully so." Naomasa pipes up, eyes never straying from the smallest member of the conversation.
Speaking of safety...a question in Toshinori's mind that popped up during young Midoriya's banter with Naomasa reared its head again. "So you're...using the hospital as a shield?" he wonders, eyes drifting between the detective and the teenager.
Midoriya's face spasm, grimacing. "No." He answers after a brief pause where Toshinori panickingly thought he'd managed to insult the boy. "...I'm not ...not really. This is just the most logical place someone in my condition would be." Midoriya admits, more softly. He doesn't sound that convinced of his own argument.
Toshinori frowns. "...condition?"
"Izuku's condition easily qualifies him for a permanent admission in the hospital. It's too dangerous for him to be without supervision." Naomasa speaks up, tone soft. "...and by condition, it's his Quirk...though as far as the hospital knows, it's due to brain damage because of an incident that occurred when he was five years old."
Toshinori flinches. Brain damage..?
Midoriya seems to have noticed his horrified expression, for he speaks up calmly: "That's just what they believe. It's part of the truth, but not all of it." He looks down at his lap; Toshinori spies the way he bites his lower lip. "...just enough that they'll keep me here permanently. Of course," There's a small, bitter chuckle. "...that doesn't matter. Can't do that anymore, can I? He knows where I am now."
He?
He spies the way Naomasa tenses up, back straightening in attention. "As in?" The man presses, expression dark.
He doesn't sound surprised by his charge's declaration. There's something in his eyes that makes Toshinori wonder if the detective already in a way knows what Midoriya was going to say next. It makes his nonexistent stomach twist with apprehension.
"It was him." Midoriya answers, those strange eyes of him spinning twice more. "All for One, he was responsible for the kidnapping. He wants my Quirk."
Oh. Toshinori feels surprise at the information, but it's quickly taken over by a familiar dark feeling well up within himself. Of course the man would want a Quirk like young Midoriya's. All for One was always on the lookout for interesting Quirks to steal and hoard like the monster he was.
But that left him wondering.
"If I may ask, what is your Quirk?" Toshinori pursues carefully.
A pause. Naomasa makes an odd little fidget from his spot, his unease clear.
"My Quirk," Midoriya tilts his head to look at him fully. His eyes make another of those strange spins that only affect the iris and what is left of the pupils. It's the strangest, most eerie thing Toshinori had ever seen but he can't look away. "-is called Omniscience. It does as it's name implies. I can see everything that happens, might be happening, could happen, and has happened."
Toshinori swallows.
"That's…"
Overpowered.
Too powerful.
Too unreal of a Quirk to be possible.
"...is remarkable."
Midoriya chuckles. "Maybe to you. It does have a lot of downfalls though, so I can't say it's that incredible."
Toshinori frowns. As far as he can see, there were no downsides. "What do you mean by that?"
"His brain can only take so much of the information his Quirk gathers." Naomasa speaks up, voice quiet. "Human brains cannot process all of it. Most of the information he gathers doesn't make it past the prefrontal cortex. That's what deals with short term memory." Naomasa clarifies when he catches Toshinori's expression. The Pro-Hero must have looked pretty lost for the man to pick it up so quickly.
Clearing his throat, the detective continues:
"Very little of the information Izuku gets from Omniscience gets stored in long term memory, but that's not the real issue. The constant stream of knowledge is." Naomasa swallows, his eyes flicking down to the floor. Izuku shifts on the bed, hands curling around the bedcovers. He looks like he wants to say something, but there was something holding him back.
Toshinori doesn't like where this was going. As Naomasa's silence grows he shifts his attention fully to Midoriya, who wasn't looking at either of them.
Instead, the boy was looking out the open window. Sunlight was streaming in, lighting the bedcovers and the teen sitting in it. The beams of light caught his face as well, illuminating his hair and bringing out the inner glow of those strange blue irises.
It also highlighted the uniqueness of his eyes, the thinness of his neck and how long his fingers seemed, even though his hands were not particularly large. Somehow, the sight has Toshinori's insides grow cold with a slow, sickening realization.
Slowly, he asks. "...what happens when you overdo it?"
Blue eyes shift away from the window, pinning his own in place.
Now that Midoriya faced him fully, Toshinori could spy the little hits of green hiding at the edges of his irises. This detail however flies right out of his mind when the green-haired boy speaks next, voice flat...and somehow, in it's blandness, still sounded resigned:
"Brain hemorrhage."
The atmosphere in the room was stifling.
"...oh."
In his defence, there was very little Toshinori could say. What could he do, offer his condolences?
Midoriya waves him off. "It's alright."
The silence stretched on, uncomfortably tight.
Then Midoriya suddenly freezes and straightens up on the bed, eyes spinning wildly. His attempt at a detached, expressionless mask breaks under his surprise.
"Oh god." He mutters. His gaze flicks to Naomasa, narrowing to small, luminous slits. "You didn't."
Toshinori watches as his friend shrugs nonchalantly, nonplussed by the glare. What was going on?
"That took you awhile." The detective replied calmly, unperturbed by the glare Midoriya returned in response.
"I'm currently medicated. Screw you." The boy suddenly freezes again, a mortified noise leaving him as he whirls his head to look at Toshinori. It's at that moment that the pro-hero realized that the teen had accidentally forgotten him. "Crap, I'm sorry for my-"
Toshinori waves him off with a raised hand. "It's okay, I've heard worse."
A huff escapes the third inhabitant of the room. Naomasa was smirking. "You mean, you've said worse."
Midoriya blinked, then turned to Toshinori questioningly. The innocent look of curiosity had him quickly spiralling into a panic because this was a kid who seemed to hold him in very high standards, he couldn't have that image ruined by this!
In that moment, Toshinori contemplated jumping out the window. He'll barely fit through and likely would have to send a repair bill to the hospital for the broken frame, but it was a worthy sacrifice if it meant preserving some of his image.
Stammering, he swallows. "H-hey, I-"
"They're almost here." Midoriya cut him off, shaking his head and glancing between Naomasa and the door. "Oh my god, I can't believe you did this. Without telling me."
Toshinori turns his head to the detective, who looked somewhat pleased. Wait no, he was pleased; Naomasa was doing that tiny, lopsided smirk that he often did when he caught the scent of a promising lead or more often enough, of a well made coffee. "What is he talking about, Naomasa?"
"Toshi, I may have made some calls." Naomasa shrugged, standing up fully from his leaning position against the furniture. "So about that…"
Just as he's about to continue, the door swings open.
A woman stood at the threshold of the room. She was small with a slightly plump figure and a tired but relieved expression. Instantly, Toshinori notices her long hair and big, bright eyes, both a familiar shade of moss green that left little doubt that she was related to the boy he came to see.
He has only a fraction of a second to take her in when his attention was robbed by a smaller shape standing politely next to the woman, hands clasped behind his back and head held high. The stature, the nice business clothes and finally, the pale fur adorning the newcomer's body sealed the deal as identifiers, if the long tail waving behind him didn't.
It was the bane of his life, ender of all joy, Toshinori's master for the next year and likely for the foreseeable future if he had his way -Nedzu, the principal of Yuuei.
Behind him, Izuku makes a dying whale noise and nearly falls off his bed.
Naomasa is the only one close enough to catch him.
.
.
.
"You were right."
From across the bar, he eyes the way the boy preens at the praise, chapped thin lips curled back into a low, almost satisfied grin. It's a unnerving sight, but nothing Kurogiri hadn't seen before.
Shigaraki wasn't really his responsibility; his only job was keeping the young man from killing the wrong person or getting discovered by the police. The man's loathsome behavior didn't impact his paycheck.
"Hitting anyone listed with a foresight Quirk was a...interesting alternative solution. But well done, Tomura." There's a pause. "...we finally have who we are looking for."
The smirk on Shigaraki's lips drops out of sight.
"Not have." The young man hisses, gritting his teeth. "Not have. Cheater's not here. We don't have him, we just know who it is!"
Kurogiri is glad he doesn't have a human face, as he can keep his expression from showing his displeasure when Shigaraki digs his long, dirty nails into the smooth wood top of the bar. The counter top he'd only just finished cleaning.
If he had nostrils, he would be letting out a repressed exhale.
"Which is more than we have ever had for the past two years." The voice reminded the irate teenager from the other end of the bar. Kurogiri turns his attention to the source of his boss' voice, setting the now clean glass down. The television on the wall flickers once, the words sound only splayed on top of a background of static displayed on the screen. "This wasn't a complete failure."
This is when he decides to step in.
"No doubt All Might will make his move." Kurogiri reminds the two politely, crossing his hands on the counter top of his meticulously clean bar. "We will have to tread carefully. We still do not know the full range of Midoriya Izuku's powers."
Shigaraki grumbles under his breath, but falls silent when a soft sound escapes the television.
"...true, we don't. But that is the joy of it, no?" All for One drawls, tone wondering. "The unknown. The potential." Kurogiri did not miss the curious, almost wistful undertone. "A Quirk on the scale of Midoriya Izuku's is something that happens once in a century. It's an opportunity we cannot miss."
Kurogiri pauses, mist flicking around him at the promise in his boss' voice. For someone who kept to the shadow and preferred resolving his problems through underlings or with his persuasion, there was no doubt in the portal user's mind that the man would raze hell of Midoriya Izuku was to be harmed to the point his Quirk would be unobtainable.
"I will not have it squandered by you, Tomura." "You did well, but you will be more careful. We might have an unlimited amount of criminals to use, but we will have very few openings from now on." "I have no doubt Yuuei will protect this child viciously."
Kurogiri frowns. "How do you know Yuuei will take him in?"
"Simple," Tomura suddenly interjects. Kurogiri turns to him in time to see the young man dump a newspaper on the table. "The liar will want the brat nearby."
All Might Takes On Teaching Position At Yuuei!
Naomasa and Izuku banter are best banter. Sleep deprived and caffeine addicted dad is the best dad.
Boi, this took a while. Like, I was meant to finish it so much earlier but I got work finally so I'm working overtime on that and in between struggling with some personal stuff (aka bills) I was too stressed to finish this chapter. I feel really really bad but at the same time I'm glad I finished this finally.
This story is particularly hard to write because even if I have a lot of the overarching stuff cleared out, Izuku's OP Quirk makes it hard to get the details right without it being bullshit or just leaving glaring plot holes bigger than the last four episodes of Darling In the Franxx.
Yes, I watched that, yes, I'm mildly salty about it.
PS: Inko ain't fat in this fic like in canon; it's implied that it was the result of Izuku being Quirkless and all the stress of being a single mom. In this fic I almost went the same route, but then I remember I made the Bakugo family closer to the Midoriya family and like HELL Mitsuki wasn't gonna slap plates out of Inko's hands and drag her to the grocery to eat healthy food. She got a support group here so she's a lot better.
We'll see more of her next chapter, no worries~! As well as more explanation on Omniscience's drawbacks and how it really works! I worked real hard to really limit how OP it is, you'll see the main drawback next chapter :D