Izuku Midoriya was alive, and twelve years old.
"Yeah, and he looks freaking creepy." Dao Gineki declared, slapping a hand on the lunch table he and his circle of three friends shared.
"Dude, you can pull your eyeballs out of your skull at will." Doi Kanui retorted, rolling her eyes at his declaration. "You don't get to talk about creepy."
"Still, at least I don't look like... whatever that is." Dao said, shaking his head and glancing over his shoulder at the mutant-boy in question. "Seriously, look at him! He looks like he's made out of rubber or something!"
"I heard he's covered in scars," Genji Tonikori added, the green-haired walking-disaster of Aldera Middle School leaning in. "One of my buddies is in his gym class, he's got all these cuts all over him."
"Yeah!" Another girl agreed, one Imi Tenki, who tossed her hair over her shoulder before continuing. "I'm in his gym class, he's wicked fast and strong but he's so stupid! He needs the teacher to explain, like, exactly what to do for every exercise or he just stands there!"
"Yeah, same in class." Dao said. "He once spent, like, twenty minutes staring at a worksheet before Natsuki leaned over and whispered something to him. He started working after that, though..."
What Dao chose to leave out was that once he had actually begun working on the worksheet in question, Izuku had been one of the highest scoring students in the class. As their home room teacher had once tried to explain, Izuku was simply slow to get started as a side effect of his Quirk; he was just as smart as the rest of them. At least... mostly. His social acumen was greatly lacking.
"What's the deal with him and her anyways?" Doi asked. "Like, are they dating or something? They're always hanging out, and looking at those notebooks together. Can he even read?"
"Izuku can read."
Doi squeaked in surprise, turning to find the subject of the table's discussion standing behind her with a lunch tray in one hand and his backpack in the other. He was smiling, the same gentle smile Izuku always smiled, green hair falling partially over his eyes. On a normal boy it would have been kind of cute, Doi could admit, but on a boy with rubbery black skin and glowing green eyes, it was more freaky than cute.
"Izuku can read, and write, and count as long as he wants." Izuku continued. "Izuku can do all the normal student things."
"Izuku can go away..." Imi muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes and looking back down at her lunch tray.
"Izuku can do that too!" Izuku declared, smiling. "What can they all do?"
It took the assembled gang of four a moment to realize Izuku was addressing them, and they all looked at each other. Imi looked bored, Doi confused, but Genji and Dao shared a cruel smile before looking back at Izuku and addressing him together.
"Well, it's hard to say, but we could definitely show you..." Dao said, leaning against the table. "Behind the school, by the dumpsters, after last block?"
"Izuku can be there!" Izuku smiled, giving them a thumbs up with his bag-hand. "Will they show him something cool?"
"Yeah..." Dao said, glancing at Genji again. "Something real cool, you'll see. Oh, and Natsuki can't come, okay? It's only for guys."
"Only for guys…" Izuku pondered that for a moment, before nodding. "Izuku will tell Naachan that she cannot come behind the school by the dumpsters after last block because Dao and Genji will be showing him something cool only guys can see. Right?"
Dao blinked twice, glancing at Genji, before nodding slowly.
"Yeah… ummmm… that." he agreed. "Oh, and… uh… you just shouldn't mention it to Natsuki at all. You should just come after school, tell her you're… um, doing something by yourself. For once."
Izuku nodded again, before turning around and walking away. The four watched him leave, Genji scratching his chin while Dao chuckled malevolently.
"So… what's the plan?" Genji asked, looking at Dao. "Rough him up a little or something?"
"You wanted to try your Quirk on something, and here's something to try it on." Dao replied, laughing. "We'll see what he does when you hit him with that pain-touch thing. Sound cool?"
Genji seemed to hesitate for a moment, flexing a gloved hand before slowly nodding.
"Yeah…" he considered the possibilities. "The freak's been on the receiving end of some pretty bad hits, apparently. He's got that creepy Quirk, so he can take it. One guy broke his nose and it just sort of popped back into place in like, three seconds."
"It Will Not Die…" Dao said, in a faux-dramatic voice. "What kind of loser named his Quirk something like that? Bet he named it himself, thought it sounded cool."
"Yeah…" Doi laughed, wanting to get back in the conversation. "Ugh, he's so dumb. You two looked like you were gonna steal his freaking lunch and he just stood there."
"And the way he popped up behind you…" Imi said, pointing at Doi. "He's such a creep. Like, does he not understand personal space or something? Ugh."
Little did the assembled four realize that some ten feet away, Natsuki Bakugou was forcibly repressing a murderous rage, disguising it as cold hard contempt as she walked by. She had only heard the tail end of the conversation and the personal insults, drawn nearer by the fact that Izuku was talking to somebody that wasn't her for once, but now… now she was suspicious.
Behind the school after last block, she noted. She'd have to be there.
[X][X][X][X][X]
"So, why aren't they in fucking prison or some shit?" Natsuki Bakugou was pissed. Ardently pissed. Totally pissed. Pissed beyond belief, beyond the ability of even the most stark, basic, matter-of-fact adjective to describe in accurate detail. Her fists were clenched and shaking, her crimson eyes narrowed and glaring, and her teeth clenched and creaking with the pressure her jaw was exerting upon them.
"Izuku has chosen not to press charges." Detective Komori Tetsuru continued to watch as Natsuki Bakugou's anger elevated to new and exciting levels of pissed, her hands quivering with all the effort it took for her not to use her Quirk in front of a police officer out of anger. "You must remember that in spite of all of his progress, he is still… different. He doesn't…"
"He doesn't think it counts if somebody fucks with him." Natsuki finished, spitting the words. "I know. He's 'lost' a lot of shit these last few years. Books, games, money, clothes… he doesn't get that he's allowed to say no."
The two were sitting at a small cafe on the ground floor of the local hospital, just a few blocks away from Aldera middle school where Izuku's blood was still drying on the concrete behind the school, by the dumpsters. Komori glanced at his watch; half past five. He would be late for his date. That was fine; as lovely as Miss Koumo Hado was, she was also well aware of his job as a detective, and the personal case he had taken to managing in the form of young Izuku Midoriya.
Izuku was four floors above them, confused in a hospital bed having just regrown most of his left arm after an 'accident' involving one of his classmate's Quirks getting out of control. Izuku was fine, more than fine, his Quirk made sure of that. As strange a name as 'It Will Not Die' was, Komori had to admit it was quite impressive. Regeneration on a scale almost unheard of, at the cost of some thinking power as the brain was reworked into a more primitive state. It was a sort of mutant/emitter hybrid apparently, requiring unconscious activation in the face of harm and otherwise dormant, forcibly putting the body into a state of hyper-elevated activity, running all systems on full power to restore functionality.
The doctors had noted that it was very possible Izuku could survive decapitation if one were to stick his head back on and let his cells handle the rest. This was… an interesting thesis, and one that actually saw his mother faint into unconsciousness after it was proposed. Komori certainly hoped it was never tested; Izuku had suffered more than enough in the years since his return, let alone during his three year disappearance.
"And that's the issue." Komori spoke slowly, calmly, trying to explain the situation to Natsuki. "Izuku doesn't understand it. He technically gave consent, though it's suspect, but we can't make a case against his attackers if he refuses to press charges. He genuinely believes they have done no wrong."
"He'll always fucking believe that!" Natsuki snapped back. "He… he doesn't fucking care about himself! I don't even know if he'd eat if his mom didn't fucking force him to! He only cares about other people! He'll get punched in the throat or some shit and just walk it off but the moment you fuck with some kid he'll try and put you in the dirt!"
Natsuki's hands clenched and unclenched, the occasional tiny fireworks-pop displaying just how angry she was at that point. Komori wanted to reach out and put a hand on her shoulder, but he was worried doing so might end up with her blowing something (probably him) to pieces.
"He's so fucking frustrating and I know it isn't even his fault!" she continued, staring down at the table with a look that could melt steel. "I tried to convince him to fight back against these two shitheels who would take his lunch money and he told me it was fine because he could just eat 'the free food'. I asked what the fuck he meant and he pointed at a garbage can and FUCK!"
The last word was shouted, drawing the attention of nearby hospital-visitors and a security guard. The latter began moving toward the two, until Komori silently looked up and shook his head. Unfortunately, the security guard knew Komori's face by now, and his position, and slowly backed away with a nod.
"I just want him to understand he's still a fucking person…" Natsuki's anger was still there, bubbling below the surface now, but she had forced it down and away, body stiffening up. "I want him to be able to fucking smile at people again without them wincing. He doesn't even look that fucking creepy, he's just got weird skin and eyes. Fuck, my mom has weird skin and eyes and half my school wants to fuck her!"
Komori, displaying the wisdom of an older man, chose not to acknowledge that closing statement, instead taking a long sip of his tea and refusing to think of Mitsuki Bakugou. It worked, mostly, and he placed a (slightly glowing, he and Natsuki had the same issue with emotional responses from their Quirks) hand on the table before sighing deeply.
"We can't force Izuku to change." he said. "It's a delicate process. If we push too hard or go too fast we risk losing what progress we've made these last five years. You said he's caught up in school, he's using full sentences and he's aware of when people are paying attention to him. He is getting better, but let us not forget it took him two years to stop accidentally calling himself 'Nine'."
Natsuki nodded, shivering slightly at the memory. Komori couldn't blame her; breaking that particular habit had scared Izuku deeply, to the point where he had tried to run away. Natsuki had stopped him, but at the cost of his trust for several weeks. Izuku had come back around, but Natsuki…
Natsuki still remembered. Komori knew she did because she was doing the same thing she always did when she remembered, she was biting her lower lip and trying not to punch the table. There were many things Natsuki Bakugou could stand for; she had few friends at school besides Izuku, and she put herself through hell with her training for UA in two years. But anything involving Izuku also involved her own zero-tolerance policy. Her anger was almost palpable now, and Komori was aware that any wrong moves on his part could end… explosively, both literally and metaphorically.
"Natsuki," he said, staring her down. "Izuku needs your help. He doesn't need your anger."
"You think I don't fucking know that?" she asked him, slamming her fists into the table. "I've been keeping my fucking calm this whole time! No matter how many times I hear those useless extras at school run their mouths about him I always stay quiet. Even when he's falling to pieces in one of those fucking flashbacks I don't get mad, I hug him and tell him he's okay and shit."
Komori hadn't been certain Natsuki was a girl capable of hugging anything, let alone a friend, but apparently she was to some extent. He found it rather telling that he couldn't even visualize the action in his head, so used was he to the fiery, loose cannon of a girl sitting across from him eschewing all forms of physical contact that weren't typically associated with combat. He had seen her home environment once before; she and her mother had a relationship he would have labelled toxic if he wasn't aware of the genuine affection the two shared under the cursing and shouting.
"So then, what comes next?" Komori asked, giving the rest of the cafe a cursory glance and noting that they had drawn a whole lot of attention to themselves. "Because Izuku has been getting better, but you and I need to figure out what to try and help him with now. People don't just lose their self-preservation instinct; we know Izuku is afraid of pain. We just need to figure out why he's so trusting all the time."
"Those fuckers probably did something to his brain." Natsuki replied. "He doesn't respond so well to suggestions, but give him an order and he'll listen right up. It's fucking annoying sometimes, and the teachers still don't get it. At school, if you tell him to do a worksheet, he'll do it, but if you just sit it in front of him without saying anything he's just as likely to try and eat it."
"He's eating paper again?" Komori asked.
"No, not really." Natsuki replied. "Bug free for a while now too. He eats like crazy though; his mom packs him these huge bentos, and he just seems to be getting bigger every freaking day."
"The doctors said his Quirk produced some sort of super-cells, so it's probable he just needs to eat to make more." Komori said. "He's eating, good, and he's at least trying to do his schoolwork. What about heroism? Is he still interested?"
Natsuki laughed. It was almost mocking, but Komori was just surprised that she could still laugh. She was usually painfully serious, no doubt a result of having to serve as Izuku's caretaker whenever he wasn't with his mother. But here she was, laughing at him, and it made Komori feel just a little better.
"Of course he fucking is." Natsuki said, bringing her laughter to a halt for long enough to catch her breath. "He's a mess, but he's a mess who's gonna be a hero. It's the only thing he cares about any more, besides his mom and every other sorry sack of meat on this shithole planet. He and I write up notes and ideas and shit about it all the time. It's practically his entire reason for being right now."
"So Izuku still wants to be a hero?" Komori breathed a sigh of relief, before Natsuki laughed again.
"Nah, Izuku doesn't want to be a hero." She shook her head. "Izuku is a fucking hero. He just needs the paperwork and he'll be ready to one up every sorry son of a bitch climbing the charts right now."